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Category: Newcastle Upon Tyne

  • Jogging To The West By River Tyne During Sunset

    Jogging To The West By River Tyne During Sunset

    Jogging To The West By River Tyne During Sunset – All the while, it was just running on the treadmills at the gym here in Newcastle as the weather was quite cold previously, but as it’s getting warmer and my assignment is over right now, I can head out for a run. It was a late evening on Sunday that I went for a run by the River Tyne from Quayside. Windy, but quite fun, I ran in a direction to the west of the river, trying to chase the sunset. 4.5km down by the river side and I was at no where, very quiet on a sunday evening and only came across one of two individuals fishing by the river.

    It’s really peaceful out there like suddenly I was like so far away from the city, just like being in a ‘kampung’ (village)! Newcastle is really a kampung in my opinion. HAHA. The boardwalk by the river is like never-ending and I only stop at a place when I was exhausted. Not decided to run back, it took me an hour walk back to my place! But it was fun one, as the sun was still up at 8pm and I got to see a bit of the sunset skyline by the nature.

     

     

     

     

     

    Sunset, rocks!

  • Newcastle: Za Za Bazaar – World Buffet With An Asian Street Food Theme

    Newcastle: Za Za Bazaar – World Buffet With An Asian Street Food Theme

    Newcastle: Za Za Bazaar, World Food Banquet – Are you a fan of buffet? No, I am not, but then I still head to buffet some times, especially during any festivity, like friend’s birthday, or just a celebration of some events, like the very most recent one at Za Za Bazaar in Newcastle, sort of a little Chinese New Year meal with a few friends from Malaysia and Hong Kong.

    A little bit on why I am not a fan of buffet is I don’t enjoy the bloated feeling every time after a buffet meal. HAHA. Buffet is fun of course, with a plentiful choices of food to choose, but then some times it’s hard to try everything, moreover the heart is always thinking that, ‘I must eat the most out of the money I’ve paid’, which is a typical ‘kiam-siap (stingy)’ Malaysian attitude. That’s why, I rather pay the same amount for a decent few-course meals with people serving me. I am quite lazy.

    Talking back about this Za Za Bazaar that I’ve just visited recently, at The Gate, Newcastle,  I was quite amazed with the interior setup which have an Asian street food concept that feels very graphical, food stalls and Chinese. In compare with another buffet restaurant in Newcastle – Kingdom Buffet, I find Za Za has a better interior setup which somehow psychologically made my meal better (hey, I study interior design, so it’s the decor is very important to me). =D

    Food type ranges from oriental, Asian, Indian to British, American, Mexian, Italian and beyond. It’s not surprised though that most of the food served are oriental > western (local) as most buffet restaurants in the UK are operated/founded by Asians. Well, forgive me for not taking any photos of food as I was busy eating and enjoying the interior space, but I can share with you some food that I like. Japanese sushi, American and British section did not capture my taste buds, whereas Indian curry gave me the best sensation of all; Italian, Chinese on the other hand leaved an OK-good impression in my mouth and some of the fried noodles were rather salty. I encountered a few weird food too, but I think some would like it. For £13.99/person (dinner, weekday), I find it quite reasonable, but if really-really-really would like to compare, Momiji in Singapore and Jogoya in Kuala Lumpur are so much better.

    For pricing, contact details and opening hours, please visit Za Za Bazaar’s website for more.

  • Snow In Newcastle

    Snow In Newcastle

    Snow In Newcastle – I finally see the first snow of the season in Newcastle after like 2 months of Winter. I thought winter is skipped for this year as the temperature and weather seems pretty constant since Autumn, wet and windy and no sign of snow before this except 5 minutes of hailing back in November, and I also thought that I never get to see snow in my one year study in United Kingdom, and have to go to the SnowWorld @ Genting Highland to experience it, but oh yeah, it snowed just now, for like 10 minutes, stopped and snowed again!

    I was working on my assignment, only until my friend text me and told me that it’s snowing out there. I quickly popped my head out of the window with excitement, it’s dark out there, but yeah, it was snowing, heavily. Too bad it was dark, so I didn’t really bother to head out for some photos. Though, I did grab my camera and started shooting and flashing the sky from the bathroom window which has a better view of the bright highway. The road users must be feeling weird and ‘WTF is that’ that there’s flashlights flashing off the window.

    It snowed for like half an hour, not much, but hey, at least, I saw snow! I am anticipating Newcastle covered in white snow, hopefully, as it’s not really a common scene. The last time I saw snow was in Zakopane, Poland and Poprad, Slovakia, it was not snowing, but the street and railway tracks covered in snow. For a person like me who came from a tropical country, snowing is like alien thing to me. The Americans might be hating the snow now, but I am looking forward, by this month? =D By the way, do you like it when it snows?


    It does looks like rain. I captured this from the window at my bathroom.


    A little bit of snow, covering the bench.


    Not too white.

    Snowing In Newcastle
    A little bit of snow covering the bridge at Northumbria University.

    Snowing In Newcastle

    Snowing In Newcastle

    Snowing In Newcastle

    Snowing In Newcastle

  • Angel of the North – A Huge Piece Of Steel Structure By A1 Road

    Angel of the North – A Huge Piece Of Steel Structure By A1 Road

    Angel of the North – A Huge Piece Of Steel Structure By A1 Road – Sometimes, my friend would ask me what to see in Newcastle, or is there anything that represent the Newcastle? Anything as in Big Ben, Tower Bridge for London, Petronas Twin Towers for Malaysia, and Newcastle? I would say the Angel of the North, and the Millennium Bridge. 😀
    Funny that my friend who went there and back told me, “It’s just a piece of useless steel standing by the major A1 road”. Haha. No matter it’s useful or useless, I still insisted to visit it to check it out. Indeed, it’s a huge piece of steel, doesn’t look like an angel (I don’t really know how an angel looks like, perhaps with a ring floating on top of the head, with feather wings.), I don’t really know the purpose, but it’s just an art installation to me, and I find it interesting!
    JUMP!
    It’s not easy to stick a huge piece of steel in the ground at North East where it often windy here. It’d been here for a long time since 1998, designed by artist Antony Gormley. It was a good, clear blue sky day and I just glad I visited it. Heading there is pretty easy, hop on the Angel 21 bus from Elton Square Bus Station or Durham and just alight when you see the angel. You can visit the angel when you are visiting Durham, it’s just in between the route from Newcastle to Durham. Cheers!
  • Laing Art Gallery & High Bridge Quarter Festival

    Laing Art Gallery & High Bridge Quarter Festival

    Laing Art Gallery & High Bridge Quarter Festival – I am now spamming my blog with all the lovely blue sky days that I had on last month in Newcastle. Feeling bad not updating my blog occasionally, which causes me to spam it all out. Haha. Nevertheless, I don’t care, I just like to share, and post, that’s it.
    This is Mr Laing.
    Forgotten on which day of last month, I went to the Laing Art Gallery in the city just for fun with a bunch of friends from my hometown, Penang! Great! Although I am an interior design student, art gallery with paintings still feels very boring to me. I prefer contemporary, modern, installation art. Full stop. The only thing that interests me is that all of the painting collections are dated back many years ago. That’s a wow, which the place is more like a museum for painting. Yawned all the way out and it’s time to walk around the city.
    KFC is better back in Malaysia in my opinion. There’s no Thai Chilli Sauce and you have to pay for ketchup. Sad.
    So relaxing ah!
    Hi Penang-lang.
    A friend brought us to High Bridge at Grainger Town where there was a festival going on – High Bridge Quarter Festival. Happily, it was happenings, filled with music and laughter, but sadly, it was almost the end of festival at 5pm where the stalls were starting to pack up. Too bad, but then I enjoyed the day with a good weather and a good time with people of Penang. It just feels home.
  • Beautiful Sunday At Tynemouth Beach

    Beautiful Sunday At Tynemouth Beach

    Beautiful Sunday At Tynemouth Beach – Throwing back some old stuff that happened a month ago where there was still plenty of beautiful sunny day, one of which, a good day out to the beach! Well, previously I talked about wandering around the weekend market at Tynemouth Station, this actually continues from there.
    Located on the far east end of Newcastle is the Tynemouth Longsands beach and shore. It was still early Autumn where the weather was still not at a freezing temperature, though it’s still chilly and cold at times, a day out to the beach was ideal. Tynemouth is a small little town by the sea, the main attraction of course is not the town, but the beach and the Tynemouth Priory and Castle. We didn’t go to the castle because we need to pay for it, so we spent most of the time by the shore, enjoying the chilly breeze, as well as fish & chips!
    You know, I just love sitting by the seaside, listening to the sound of wave hitting the shore. The beautiful sound just calms the mind a lot. Moreover it was a good blue sky day. At Tynemouth Longsands, I was surprised that there’s people playing in the water, and surfing too! I wonder what’s the coldness of the water and I took of my shoes, then went to put my feet into the North Sea. It’s cold! I just wonder how could they stand the cold in the water. Perhaps I’ve been living in the tropical country where the sea water is always warm.
    It was a good day. I want to come back here for a sunrise, but it’s super cold in the morning and I am not sure whether I can wake up or not. Ha.
  • Beautiful Sunday At Tynemouth Beach

    Beautiful Sunday At Tynemouth Beach

    Beautiful Sunday At Tynemouth Beach – Throwing back some old stuff that happened a month ago where there was still plenty of beautiful sunny day, one of which, a good day out to the beach! Well, previously I talked about wandering around the weekend market at Tynemouth Station, this actually continues from there.
    Located on the far east end of Newcastle is the Tynemouth Longsands beach and shore. It was still early Autumn where the weather was still not at a freezing temperature, though it’s still chilly and cold at times, a day out to the beach was ideal. Tynemouth is a small little town by the sea, the main attraction of course is not the town, but the beach and the Tynemouth Priory and Castle. We didn’t go to the castle because we need to pay for it, so we spent most of the time by the shore, enjoying the chilly breeze, as well as fish & chips!
    You know, I just love sitting by the seaside, listening to the sound of wave hitting the shore. The beautiful sound just calms the mind a lot. Moreover it was a good blue sky day. At Tynemouth Longsands, I was surprised that there’s people playing in the water, and surfing too! I wonder what’s the coldness of the water and I took of my shoes, then went to put my feet into the North Sea. It’s cold! I just wonder how could they stand the cold in the water. Perhaps I’ve been living in the tropical country where the sea water is always warm.
    It was a good day. I want to come back here for a sunrise, but it’s super cold in the morning and I am not sure whether I can wake up or not. Ha.
  • Morning Walk By Quayside & Sunday Market

    Morning Walk By Quayside & Sunday Market

    Magnificent panoramic view of Gateshead & Newcastle.
    Morning Walk By Quayside & Sunday Market – It’d been a while since I am writing about my life in the UK. Well, so far, so busy! Although it’s so far, so good, but it’d been very busy for me. Life of an interior design student – work! College back in Taylor’s was like more work, less fun, and now I am trying to balance up work and play and I am struggling on it, but am working towards it. 😉
    Baltic Contemporary Art Gallery on the left.
    Life in Newcastle is brilliant. Waking up early on a Sunday is good because you can always visit the Sunday Market by the Quayside, which starts early till sunset. But then waking up early is not an easy thing especially when you have a Saturday night out. Haha. Well, I managed to wake up early on a Sunday morning a few weeks back and it was on a lovely sunny Sunday!
    “What are you looking at dude?! Asian…” LOL
    A lovely couple. 😉
    Gateshead Millennium Bridge. It tilts for boat to pass through. A fun thing to see when you are at the Quayside.
    Chillax.
    The Sage, awesome music venue designed by Foster + Partners.
    The Tyne Bridge, part of the Great North Run’s route.
    Mr LC with a thumb up. =)
    A group photo of Asian. Nicholas, Charles, Zenny, En Yi, Ling Er, Wayne, Val, Jon, and LC.
    Quayside is a lovely place by the Tyne River, windy, yet beautiful with the magnificent Millennium Bridge and the Tyne Bridge. I have always wanted to go for a jog by the riverside, but still haven’t get the chance – lazy, and cold. Too much of lazy reason on that. LOL. Actually I like Newcastle because it’s close by to the sea and also there’s the river; being raised up in Penang Island, I am somehow connected to water nature. For the past 3 years in Kuala Lumpur, it was not perfect living because the sea is faraway, so do the river Klang is not well-maintained. That’s why I like Quayside.
    Alvin Yang.
    It’s quite fun strolling along the stalls selling street food, vintage CDs, second hand books and small little gift stuffs. Food is the main attraction because it reminds me of home where street food is a culture in Asia. Best food at the Quayside Sunday Market? I would say the German Wurst (German Sausage), although this is England, yet having a taste of German is good. I cannot be sure how good the wurst in Germany, but this is good enough! Plenty of sauce for you to top your sausage with and eating a fresh and hot wurst in by the chilly riverside is just bravo.
    Deutschland in England.
    Hell lots of sauce. I like!
    An Chyi art saucing with her wurst.
    Eat, or cheese?
    Add this into your Newcastle trip if you in case to drop by the small city at the North East!
    Random pose with random graffiti art. Cheers!
  • Newcastle’s Chinatown Without The Feel Of Chinatown

    Newcastle’s Chinatown Without The Feel Of Chinatown

    Newcastle’s Chinatown Without The Feel Of Chinatown – There’s like approximately 300,000 population in Newcastle Upon Tyne and there’s 7.6% of Asian living in the city according to Wikipedia, I don’t know does it includes International student like me or not. Interestingly, there’s a Chinatown in the city. I was pretty excited cause I thought it would be like New York or San Francisco’s Chinatown where it really has a blend of East & West with Cantonese language flooding the air of Chinatown.
    This way to Chinatown!
    Here’s me and Alvin!
    Found a cemetery nearby, found it interesting and I took a photo of it. LOL.
    St James Park Stadium at background, home of Newcastle FC.
    Surprisingly, met a Chung Ling High School friend here – Matthias.
    He’s Wayne.
    Just love the post box.
    LOL. Bangkok’s Ladyboys comes to Newcastle!
    Well, it’s not what you think it is. Chinatown in Newcastle is small with mainly Chinese restaurants, 2 Asian grocery supermarkets and that’s all. The only Chinese-looking thing is the Chinese-style arch entrance near St James Stadium. Bahhh. You don’t really see many people here, people come here just for food, or just to buy Asian food.
    Siu Mei! 烧腊！
    Do you feel Chinatown? NO.
    A plate of saltish Chinese dish.
    Asian of the day, I would say, Malaysian. Kay, Eunice, Ling Er, Wayne, LC, me and Alvin.
    I went to tried out a Chinese buffet (Lau’s Buffet) here, which costs £6.75 per person and I thought it gonna be filled with good food. Oh no, it’s a place that I’m not coming back again, they are salty. Somehow, I saw a lot of local British came for their food, bring their kids and family here, maybe they like it the way it is and 70% of the dishes are chicken, fried chicken, Si Chuan chicken, sweet and sour chicken, kong pow chicken and more chicken. In short, Chinese buffet is just like mixed rice in Malaysia but it’s eat-all-you-can. Ang mo likes it, but not me.
    A1 Bak Kut Teh herbal pack. =)
    Oh MILO and it costs a bomb. Guess Cadbury Chocolate is a better choice here.
    Wing Hong Supermarket.
    After checking out the Chinese supermarket here (Wing Hong & Hiyou), I can tell you that you can find almost anything here. It’s like Cold Storage or B.I.G. (Big Independent Grocers) where you can find many imported food, just that they are imported from Asia. Spices, Asian’s vegetable, sauces, instant noodles and more are all available. It’s just that they are in £. If you happens to come to UK for study, don’t bother to bring food stuff if you have a limited luggage., you can find them all here.
  • Hello UK: Kuala Lumpur – London – Newcastle Upon Tyne

    Hello UK: Kuala Lumpur – London – Newcastle Upon Tyne

    Hello UK: Kuala Lumpur – London – Newcastle Upon Tyne – Ladies and gentlemen, Nick Chan is now in the United Kingdom! I’ve been here for about 3 weeks and no, I am not here for travel, I am here to further my studies! It’s just a one year program for me to get a Bachelor Degree, like some sort of an advance entry into the final year program.

    Farewell Penang!
    Rainy night, I almost late for my connecting flight in KLIA, damn the delay,
    Farewell Kuala Lumpur from sky. I miss KL actually.
    London, here I come!
    It was my first time taking such a long flight trip from Kuala Lumpur direct to London Heathrow Airport. I was excited at first, you know, flying on A380, and travelling backwards in the timezone, but it’s not as fun as I thought. Trying hard to sleep in a 12 hours flight is a very difficult thing for me and A380 is just like no other flight when you are in economy zone. However, food was pretty good, nasi lemak and something chicken, mash potato thingy.

    My travel buddy – Alvin!
    Welcome to London Heathrow Airport!
    All the Penang-Lang at LHR!
    Oyster Card is a must for travelling in London.
    Tired face after 11 hours of flight.
    So, yeah, London, after 12 hours of direct flight from Kuala Lumpur, but I didn’t feel London actually because once arrived in London, I was stuck in the airport for about an hour to get through the immigration as there’s a bunch of international students like us. Then, I took the London Underground Tube to King’s Cross Station, I didn’t see Big Ben, nor the Tower Bridge, nor the city. The only London that I saw was King’s Cross Station and that’s it, and perhaps the surrounding. It’s just a transit for me to Newcastle Upon Tyne, the real current location of mine right now.

    First thing to do upon reaching King’s Cross Station is head to the ground and breath the London’s air. Oooo, just like this.
    King’s Cross Station! Modern shell on a classical terminal.
    Londeners, hello!
    Flying to Hogwarts at Platform 9 3/4.
    Bye London, time to head North to Newcastle!
    King’s Cross Station is not as huge as I thought, it’s just a train terminal connecting everywhere in the UK and the Harry Potter’s Platfrom 9 3/4 is just a fake prop at the station. First English breakfast in UK was quite pleasant, thinking of 5 times the currency rate, yet enjoyed the meal.

    The train ride was pretty smooth and fast; passed through vast green grasslands and farms and many horse and sheep, there’s nothing much to see out of the window actually and 3 hours later, I am in Newcastle. Wet, colder than London and still feeling energetic despite the long hour of journey.

    Newcastle Central Station. Checked!
    Welcome to Newcastle!
    Hailed for a cab, initially thought of Blue Line Taxi (a company), but I couldn’t find it so just simply hopped into one and it took us to my hostel. Checked in, and the rest and relax part haven’t started yet. I have to sort out the bedding thing as I have to sleep at night. Went for a small shopping at Primark (wow, everything is so cheap!), got back to hostel, no idea about what to eat for dinner, made an instant noodle, felt dizzy and floating, then fell into the bed of Newcastle and slept till the next day. Hello UK!
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