I’m giving a new look for this website. Sadly this site got hacked recently and if you’re using some browsers, it’s probably saying it’s a phishing site. And there was a plan that went out the window!

Seriously, though, it’s a bit of a pain and I’ve had to do a lot of updates to file permissions which have been very painful. I’m trying to get it delisted but it might still take some time. So advice to you all, make sure your site is looked after.

But while I was doing the cleaning up, I thought I’d look for a new theme and found this one. I kinda like, so I’ll stick with this for a while. I’ll fine tune this over the next few days.

In the meantime, I hope you like it and I’ll try to post some new content on here soon.

A very happy Christmas to everyone! For those waiting on my second post about my trip to California, I promise it’s coming, but I have some photos to sort out first.

In the meantime, just to say, I had a good Christmas Day with relatives. I realise now that we are a very stoical family, as we seem to have coped with the loss of my paternal grandfather pretty well.

But somehow, I’m now beginning to feel the pressure as family members start to pressurise me (all light-heartedly of course) not only to get married, but also to have kids! My uncle even offered to fund their university education.

Nice incentive, but I think I’ll let my stoical side take charge and let things happen as they choose to themselves.

Anyway, hope you’re all enjoying the festive fun!

Although my philosophy in life is never to look back and have regrets on doing things, in the past I have wished that I never gave up two things as a young child. Firstly, giving up learning Chinese at a very young age, which I am now rectifying in studying at SOAS’s weekend Mandarin course, and the second, giving up the piano.

I had made a promise to myself before that I’d try to always learn something new. Having given up a musical instrument, my life agenda would be to take one up again. Yesterday, a freak piece of luck gave me a shove in the right direction.

For the last year, I’ve been going to Stompin’, a weekly event which the London Swing Dance Society organises, featuring Lindy Hop dance classes and a live band to follow. It’s been good fun and I’m okay at it now. Can’t be so flashy as to do lifts and jumps with a partner, but at least I can dance. Has even come in useful with the weddings I attended last year!

Yesterday (Easter Monday) though, they had a special occasion. They were running a charity raffle in which the top prize was a guitar. Which I won. Well, it’s a lot better than the only other thing I’ve won in a raffle and that was a CD of an unknown German choir. Not surprisingly I was absolutely thrilled with my new prize.

As I had to go to my parents last night to return my mum’s car which I borrowed for the weekend, I had to carry my new guitar on the Tube. On my fairly dull journey (not brightened up by the fact that it was extended by a person under a train on the Piccadilly Line), thoughts ran through my head. Did people who saw me think I was a musician, maybe a busker. There was a feeling that I could get up and start swinging it around, singing I Have Confidence like Maria von Trapp from The Sound of Music. Ok, maybe it wouldn’t have been very much like Maria von Trapp, Julie Andrews or Connie Fisher, but still, the thought ran through my mind.

So what next to do. Well, I might start to learn to play from a few books and DVDs to start with, and then take lessons once my next Mandarin lesson run ends in the summer. But whatever I do, I doubt that I’ll get to Antonio Forcione’s ability to play the guitar, just like I’m not going to be a great public speaker in Mandarin, but who knows, maybe I might eventually be able to combine the two and do a karaoke performance in Mandarin and know how to play the chords as well.

Footnote: Just to let you all know, on a more serious note, that the charity raffle was in aid of Cancer Research UK. Not surprisingly, Cancer Research UK has been a charity I have continually supported a very long time (the other being Unicef), and I have decided to make a donation the equivalent value of the guitar to the charity.

As you may have noticed, a slightly new look to the front page of the site, with a big photo and a neater layout.

With nearly 400 photos currently in my gallery, Bright Intervals, I thought I’d show them off a bit more. After all, a few of them ain’t half bad. As for adding to them, I currently have no plans to travel as yet in 2007, but I’m bound to be going somewhere, so there will be some additions.

I’ll be playing around with the layout and colours a bit over the next few days, so if for some reason, the site breaks or you find all the text a garish colour, please excuse the mess, I’m probably working on it!

Anyway, hope you enjoy the changes.

Anyone who tries to read my blog on the road will be pleased to know that I have installed a Wordpress plug-in, Wordpress PDA, which allows PDA users to access my site (subject to internet connection, of course!). Previously, a bug would force Internet Explorer on Windows Mobile PDAs to crash.

Hope that helps someone!