• Europa Universalis 4

    Europa Universalis 4 A computer game that I have spent a lot of time playing is that of strategy game Europa Universalis 4. The game itself is designed by Swedish company Paradox Interactive. I have over 6000 hours of play time on my Steam account. The game itself is a historical simulator. You take control… Read more

  • The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

    I attended mass this morning (September 21st) at my local catholic church. It had been a while since I attended. The two leading priests were American and Nigerian (men). The Homily (as read and explained by the American) was about that of the parable of the Dishonest manager from Luke 16:1. The story is an… Read more

  • More on Paul Theroux

    I originally read ‘Kingdom by the Sea’ by Mr Theroux and reviewed it on this blog site. That book is especially funny and probably the book I enjoyed the most. However Mr Theroux does have some other interesting books especially his Dark Star Safari. This is the book where he travels from Cairo to Cape… Read more

  • Charles Dickens

    It’s a very warm Friday here in Inverness and I am sitting inside in the cool shade of my bedroom on my laptop. Recently I have been reading the classic books of the brilliant Charles Dickens. I mostly read them when I am sitting around in the shop where I work. I have read the… Read more

  • ‘I Capture the Castle’ by Dodie Smith

    A book I very much enjoyed reading was Dodie Smith’s ‘I Capture the Castle.’ The book is set in pre WW2 England (1930s) although there is no mention of the war in the novel. The story starts with the narrator who is the daughter, Cassandra, and who belongs to an impoverished but well educated and… Read more

  • ‘The Man Within’ by Graham Greene

    *contains spoilers* Another book that I enjoyed immensely was Graham Greene’s first published novel ‘The Man Within.’ Like Brighton Rock but unlike The Quiet American or unlike The Power and the Glory it is set in England where Graham Greene is from. The story starts with Andrews on the run having betrayed his smuggling gang… Read more

  • ‘Stir Fried and Not Shaken’ by Terry Tan

    This excellent book I also picked up in my charity shop Carr Gomm. Having read the title and read the synopsis on the back cover I was intrigued having spent a year living in the city state of Singapore. I had not heard of Terry Tan but according to the book he is a big… Read more

  • ‘Twelve Minutes of Love: A Tango Story’

    By Kapka Kassabova Another book I picked up in the last few months sort of randomly and enjoyed was ‘Twelve Minutes of Love’ by Kapka Kassabove. I think I picked it up in one of Inverness’s charity shops like Highland Hospice or Carr Gomm (where I work). I have a real love of music nowadays… Read more

  • ‘The Kingdom by the Sea’ by Paul Theroux

    When I was in Budapest recently, in a cafe, drinking my coffee, I saw a man with a sort of cart full of second hand books outside. I asked him if he had any English books and he pointed me to a section. I purchased Paul Theroux’s Kingdom by the Sea for a bit over… Read more

  • Carr Gomm shop, Victoria Market

    So this year I started writing lots of posts on this blog. However a lot of my writing has focused on my past experiences such as university life and my time in China and Singapore. However, something in my life at the present that brings a lot of joy to my life is my part… Read more

  • 2nd year at Strathclyde (September 2011)

    In my 2nd year of Strathclyde I stayed in the area of Maryhill beside the Firhill stadium. I stayed with 5 other guys from Oban, all of whom were at colleges as opposed to universities. I actually referred to this flat situation in my very first post on this blog. The accommodation was private halls… Read more

  • 1st year at Strathclyde (September 2010)

    One topic I would like to discuss is my mechanical engineering cohort at Strathclyde university which I attended from September 2010 until May 2013 at which point I dropped out of the course. Of course I was in Singapore for the 3rd and final year so I only spent 2 years in Glasgow. The original… Read more

  • Schizophrenia

    I was just now reading about how Trump has done the dirty on Ukraine with Putin. In moments like this its hard not to feel a sense of doom! In the 1st world war huge numbers of men in Scotland and England were drafted into the army to fight against the rising German Empire. We… Read more

  • London, St Vincent’s plaza

    In this blog post I want to talk about a very strange time in my life (in 2018) when I ran away from my home (parent’s house) in Oban. I was initially sleeping in a tent up on a hill in the woods in Oban but after a while I decided to get the bus… Read more

  • On the Students at Henan College

    I know I already made a post on the Henan College of Finance and Taxation but I did not talk about the attachment I formed with the students there. I was reluctant to talk about this for fear of condemnation by the people around me and who read my blog. Actually it was the attachment… Read more