kevin's in europe

madrid

kevcheng — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:23:24 +0000

Even though I’m already back home in Australia, I feel like I’m obligated to finish my blog! I went to Madrid in early January with Matty and Dan. Nacho was kind enough to put all of us up and we had a great weekend! Love everything about Spain…the nightlife, the women, the food and especially the people! Will have to go back in summer though, somehow all of us thought we would be walking around in shorts and a tshirt but we were met with freezing temperatures!

the boys

madrid's crest

nacho the tour guide

royal palace

near the end

kevcheng — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:36:43 +0000

So it’s been awhile since I last posted (it pains me to write that) but I’ve been really busy with travelling and I think the general cold in Europe has transformed me into a lazy slob that refuses to go outdoors or exert himself in any intellectual activities. The last time I posted, there was 20 days left on my half year journey away from home, now there are 3 DAYS!! I’m in Taiwan at the moment which has been amazing as usual just visiting family and EATING everything in my path.

So what have I done in the past 16 or so days? Trips to Madrid and Berlin, packing up all my things in London and of course a long plane ride to Taiwan. In that time I’ve said goodbye to friends, old and new which is sad but I guess that’s just how things are. I’ll try and catch up with posts on what I’ve done in between

busy busy busy festive season

kevcheng — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:25:06 +0000

What a great Christmas and New Year’s it has been. A trip to Poland and upcoming trips to Madrid and Berlin…plus I’m heading home in 20 days!

Poland was a great trip, but bloody cold. We visited Maciek’s old town which was just a small village and it was obvious that they were rather isolated as everyone couldn’t stop staring at us! Haha Maciek was right, we were a big sensation! We then travelled up to Krakow and spent 3 wonderful days there…my friend Slawek travelled all the way down from Poznan and it was great to see him again. Visited Auschwitz (a humbling and unforgettable experience) as well as a salt mine and walked around the city of Krakow. Overall I think Poland is a must see and it is becoming more popular amongst tourists. I think what we loved most about Poland were the nice people and delicious food! A few pics:

auschwitz...the original sign was stolen recently

remains from barracks for jews

on the way to krakow...delicious pizza thingy

me and slawek

london life

kevcheng — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:02:03 +0000

Been settling into London for the festive season and it’s been good that a few of my class are still here for the time being! Arrived on Monday and headed out to meet Dan, Matt and Nacho (Madrid gang) out in Clapham and has an incredible time…just talking crap and discussing our upcoming trip to SPAIN.

Tuesday was spent again with people from our class and we went out to Camden Markets then Chinatown for dinner which was lots of fun. Thursday I went to watch Avatar which Gemma accurately described as a “cinematic experience of epic proportions,”!!!! Seriously one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, either in or out of cinemas.

Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner with Annie and her housemates, who are so nice. Traditionally in Poland, they don’t eat meat on Xmas eve, except for fish. Maciek really cooked up a storm and I haven’t stopped eating since!

Tomorrow I’m heading to Poland early in the morning, am very excited and hopefully will catch up with some of my friends.

danish snow!

kevcheng — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:31:39 +0000

Some snaps from the wonderful snow that farewelled me from Denmark.

view from my dorm

outside the journalism school

snowfight!

winter wonderland

kevcheng — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:31:24 +0000

a lot has happened since I got back to Denmark last week…school has finished and most people have packed up and left Århus. I leave for London tomorrow and boy has it been an emotional but unforgettable week. I flew into Århus and the white landscape was actually quite captivating as snow had been falling for consecutive nights. Dress any town in snow and it just looks simply stunning.

Its sad that the people that I’ve met in my class have all disbanded and spread themselves out across in the world but in fact I could not be happier meeting some of the characters in the International Program. We had a farewell party on Thursday (which was also Shannon’s birthday) and have been trying to spend as much time as possible with friends.

So this ends the Danish chapter and my European trip is on the home straight…5 weeks to go and I’ll be back in Sydney! Still lots on the cards though, with trips to Spain, Poland and Berlin planned.

kevcheng — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:53:06 +0000

Been a great week so far in London…been to Camden, Notting Hill, Winter Wonderland near Hyde Park and so much more! But the most interesting part of the week was definitely going to the Stop Islamification of Europe protest in Harrow yesterday. Got plenty of footage so it will take me a long time to edit it down I think. I get back to Denmark on Wednesday and fly back here will all my things next Monday. Its getting so damn cold here, and its even colder in Denmark! Can’t wait for the Australian summer. Few pics from the demonstration below.

harrow central mosque in the distance

living it up in london town

kevcheng — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:49:05 +0000

I feel like I’m on a proper holiday here in London instead of just doing work for my final project. The whole crew went ice skating on Tuesday night, at a makeshift rink outside the Tower of London. It was a marvellous setting, skating on the moat outside the fortress…the lighting was spectacular and it was slightly eerie skating in front of the Tower of London. Yesterday I interviewed someone from the Muslim Council of Britain, which was very useful as a spoke to an intelligent chap from the Youth division. MCB’s offices were in Whitechapel which was a predominantly Muslim area and it was very interesting just walking around and mingling with locals. Then last night we went to an Evermore gig at the Institute of Contemporary Arts…it was quite an intimate gig with a couple of hundred people max but it was an awesome time. They really are great live and it was one of my favourite gigs that I’ve been to.

What’s next? Obviously more work with my assignment, but will be going out to dinner tonight with Wilbur, one of Scott’s friends that came to Edinburgh with us. Also hope to go to Spitalfields and Camden Markets to pick up a few things.

the end is nigh…

kevcheng — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:50:08 +0000

Our whole class has split up for the final project part of the course, which started this week. The majority of the class went to Copenhagen to cover the COP15 climate conference, where hopefully an agreement can be reached to save our planet. I however, decided to come to London yesterday and explore the issue of anti-Islam and Islamophobia, which I hope will yield some interesting stories.

Annie’s place is a full house at the moment as Scotty and his 2 friends just got back from America, so it will be a fun and interesting week methinks. Got lots of work to do, but also lots of fun to be had! Going ice skating tonight near Tower Hill and tomorrow we will hopefully be seeing Evermore perform. I love London!

John Frølich or Jerry Springer?

kevcheng — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:56:00 +0000

One of my tutors. You be the judge.

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!