Categories
in the uk

bletchley park

so, this gorgeous place where we had our afternoon tea is called bletchley park, and it’s not just a gorgeous park…

… but also the home of the WW2 codebreakers, and a fantastic museum!

it was a beautiful sunny day this past august when we took the train to bletchley from london, not knowing very well what to expect… but optimistic on the prospect of exploring 2 things i enjoy: science and history! having seen the imitation game not that long ago, and having studied cryptography some years ago in university, we were definitely curious.

on the entrance, we got ourselves 2 spy kits (supposedly for children, but way too much fun to pass on) and then just followed the clues, decoding the mysteries of the park one by one.

we were stoked to discover that bletchley park is wonderfully interactive! not only did they preserve much of the furniture and materials from the war time, they also use clever projections to show people talking and working on the actual rooms, along with screens that you can use to learn the basic concepts of cryptography.


the museum takes place in several huts and houses around the park, and you can see the effort that went into giving the visitors a sense of what life was like here… and the dimension of the puzzle they were trying to crack against the clock, over and over, every single day.

one of the highlights of the trip was to see a demonstration of (a reconstruction of) the bombe, the machine used to decrypt enigma’s messages!

with our geeky hearts filled to the brim, we hopped on the train back to london at the end of the day, ready to finish our kits and write some postcards for friends. it was the perfect day! :)

Categories
foooood in germany

thai park

after the clouds cleared out on sunday, we made our way to the thai park. the park would be a very normal (and boring) park, if it wasn’t for the the thai community, who gathers here weekly to mingle. the whole thing reminds us so much of the filipino ladies in hong kong!

anyway, as you can probably imagine, it wouldn’t be a gathering without food! happy to feed all nationalities, the ladies there have their tiny gas cookers and thermo boxes ready, smiling at the curious passerby.

here’s what we had yesterday:



clockwise from top-left: baozi, pink lotus buns, crispy slices of banana fried in coconut flakes and amazing pad thai made on the spot!

it was all so good… and the baozi! i almost couldn’t believe my eyes (or my luck!), i’d been missing them :) all of this while laying around in a towel, enjoying the sun and the laughter of our nearby neighbours, buzzing in a language we didn’t understand… it was perfection, the perfect afternoon.

Categories
in germany

summer goals



just one: spend as much time as possible outside, soaking up on all the vitamin D while this gorgeous weather lasts! :D
(thank you cecilia for the cute cinemagr.am!)

Categories
in china in shanghai photography

spring: color version

tree tops

with spikes


not that different from the black and white version. i like the fact that, despite it being a color film, the colors turned out so subdued… spring can be like that too. and i haven’t got tired of looking up to the tree tops yet… :)