9 Nov 07 (Friday, Delft)

Another day of lessons at 8.45am day .. ewww.. after some msn-ing with a few frens, a quick breakfast & coffee, I headed straight into the cold morning to make my way to IHE. As I walked to IHE, I cant help but noticed that the trees have mostly gone bald .. a sure sign that Delft is indeed entering the winter soon, if not already in ..

The 1st lesson is on hydraulics, but it was a side-talk tat stole my attention. The lecturer had been caught in a tram-delay from Den Hagg (where he lived), caused by a storm in the region and the super strong wind blowing right into Netherlands. Apparently, the strong wind is so strong that it has caused the sea water level to rise as much as 3m! Scary huh? And the sea level was at its highest since 1950s, and so high tat the Storm Surge barrier built to protect Rotterdam 20 years ago was closed for the 1st time last night in 20 years! Sounds like a scene out of some Hollywood disaster movie, ya? Haha .. but the lecturer (and later an email from the school) assured us tat Delft is no danger so far, so dun worry abt me, k?

Then in the midst of the lecture, it started hailing - rains of tiny little ice cubes! Wow, this is the 1st time in my life tat I've seen hailing! It's amazing how it looked just like rain, just tat they bounced off the ground upon impact!

After the lecturer, I went to buy a spoiler for my bicycle, especially seeing the really wet weather these few days. Got one at €14 .. yeah! Finally can cycle with a peace of mind even when the roads are wet. Then I went for lunch at IHE .. had the sausage with garnish & a French something soup. The food is yummy, and I feel so warm & rejuvenated after the lunch.

After lunch, I headed to the computer lab to try (yes, "try",which means I didnt) to do some Matlab while wating for a 3.30pm appointment with Alice (a fellow Romanian student), Franto & Arman to go buy some ingredients to cook for dinner tomorrow in celebration of Franto's birthday.

After the grocery shopping, Alice, Franto & myself went for some coffee, something I had wanted to do for the longest time.. We went to this cosy little coffeeplace and sat at the outside (they preferred outside) facing the central market (where the ancient church is). I ordered the Irish coffee and an apple pie (4th pix), and goodness, the Irish coffee is really strong in alcohol! I would well get drunk if I drank more than 1 cup & end up falling into a canal! It was really nice to be there enjoying a hot drink (I dun consider it a coffee) in the really cold weather, having a leisure chitchat in the nice decor, watching people walk by ..

Then it was a long walk to home sweet home.. goodness, it was REALLY REALLY cold with the rain come splashing in my face, made so much colder by the freezing wind.. If I have this kind of weather everyday or worse in the coming winter, then there is little doubt whether I will survive or not.. After much numbness in my face and fingers & with exceptional determination, Im finally back home! I whipped up a bowl of warm soup noodles as dinner for myself. It has 8 shrimp wantons, 3 short cutle little sausages, 2 pieces of ham & an egg. Dessert was 2 Royal Gala apples.