• Coldplay and the Dandy Warhols

    Two memorable bands of my childhood and the Noughties are Coldplay and Dandy Warhols. The reader is probably thinking these two bands go together a bit strangely. Very few people haven’t heard of Coldplay but Dandy Warhols are much less played and well known. The original reason I listened to both these bands was my Read more

  • ‘The Quiet American’ by Graham Greene

    One of my favourite books since I discovered it in a library is Graham Greene’s Quiet American. I first read Brighton Rock after I found it by my Dad’s bedside when I was a teenager. My father often influenced my reading growing up. I was intrigued about Quiet American when I read the synopsis on Read more

  • A Real Pain

    I am just back from seeing ‘A Real Pain’ which is directed by an actor called Jesse Eisenberg who also stars in the film as one of the main characters. I must have seen the trailer to this film at one of the other films I saw recently at my local cinema since I was Read more

  • Summers in County Clare

    One very much happy time of my childhood and teenage years was spending summers in County Clare in the Republic of Ireland. My mother’s big sister had inherited the family cow farm that my mother had grown up on. My mother’s big sister had 3 children of similar ages to me and my 2 younger Read more

  • Loneliness and Living on my Own

    One problem I am increasingly confronted with in my adult life is lack of quality social contact, especially when I am not working. If it wasn’t for close family members who answer the phone in the evening I don’t know how I would cope. I firmly believe I am an introvert, however from my upbringing Read more

  • Teaching English as a Foreign language (TEFL) in Zhengzhou

    From previous posts you will already know I had visited China in 2013, meeting people via Couchsurfing.com. I also knew PRC (People’s Republic of China) people from my social groups and classes at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. My first job in China, was actually in the province of Henan, in a very small city Read more

  • Dune part 1 & part 2

    One of my favourite films recently was Dune part 2 (and Dune part 1). The films are based on books by Frank Herbert who was an American writer who died in the 80s. The film series is a science fiction film based in a futuristic period where there is advanced space and weapon technology and Read more

  • Visiting China for the First Time 

    If I recall correctly it must have been during the 2nd semester of my NTU course that I visited Mainland China (maybe Easter 2013). I visited Thailand and Malaysia with Ryan during the break between semester 1 and the beginning of semester 2. A lot of my Strathclyde cohort travelled back to Scotland during this Read more

  • Intro to R reflective essay

    Introduction The subject of this essay is firstly about my learning journey with the programming language R and secondly how it is applicable to future work or study. Course Background In September 2024 I began an MSc in Data Science with the UHI. In the first semester I began the module ‘Intro to R and Read more

  • ‘Hard Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World’ by Haruki Murakami

    An exceptional book I just finished reading yesterday is ‘hard boiled wonderland and the end of the world’ by Murakami. Murakami also wrote Norwegian Wood which I also loved when I read it. This book was recommended to me by my favourite Waterstones employee in Inverness. ‘Hard boiled wonderland and the End of the world’ Read more

  • The Decision To Visit To China

    This blog post will be dedicated to why I decided to take my first trip to China in the holidays of my Nanyang Technological University course. Around this time, after spending a lot of time with Ryan from the US, I was growing in daring and confidence. In the past I would have been afraid Read more

  • Popo, Niu Xiao Qing

    Undoubtedly one of my strongest friendships from my Zhengzhou period was that of the high school teacher Popo. His Chinese name was Niu Xiao Qing. But he immediately asked me to call him Popo. I say high school teacher but I don’t believe he actually taught a class in the time I was there. He Read more

  • Henan College of Finance and Taxation

    During my 18 months in China one of my main employers was the Henan college of Finance and Taxation. The college was situated several miles outside of the city of Zhengzhou.The students were mainly 18-21 years of age and I was only around 21 years old myself. The college taught various degrees including tourism and Read more

  • City of Zhengzhou

    Another very notable year in my own life is that of the period from June 2013 to October 2014 when I lived and worked in the People’s Republic of China. I understand that this experience is one a majority of people in the UK will not be able to relate to, in fact in the Read more

  • Nanyang Technological University

    A very memorable year of my life was that of my 3rd university year in the city state of Singapore in Asia from August 2012 until around May 2013. To qualify for the year abroad at my home university you had to a certain grade average across your subjects. I remember at the end of Read more