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Hua Hin Jazz Festival 2007

June is the time of the year when 'jazz on the beach' occurs at the annual Hua Hin Jazz Festival. The popular event attracts world class jazz musicians from Thailand and all over the world, including performers like Lazaro Valdes from Cuba and Bill Bruford from the UK. Stages are set up right on the beach and performances take place each evening.

There are also a variety of booths set up offering everything from a chance to get your hair braided to an opportunity to buy Thai handicrafts. Sponsors offer a variety of promotions, including the chance to win valuable gifts. This is an event that encompasses all of Hua Hin and provides and opportunity to have a good time and enjoy jazz on the beach.

[Source from; huahin.bangkok.com]

by Jour ~ Monday, June 18, 2007 0 comments

Last Exam and a Movie Set in Oxford

I am finally all done with my master's degree! I still have the verbal defense of my dissertation coming up, but don't have to prepare much for it, so I am essentially free! Hooray!!! It feels really great.My second exam went much better than my first and I even finished early this time, at 11:50 instead of the scheduled 12:30. That was actually unfortunate, because when it's your final exam you

by Jour ~ Friday, June 15, 2007 0 comments

C.S. Lewis Pilgrimage

I'm a big C.S. Lewis fan, so it's pretty bad that it took me almost two years of living in Oxford to do the proper pilgrimage. But we finally did so yesterday, with a visit to his parish church, a revisit to his grave with better cameras, and a stop at his house. 1. Holy Trinity ChurchOur first stop was Holy Trinity Church in Headington, an eastern suburb/village of Oxford. The church looks old

by Jour ~ Monday, June 11, 2007 0 comments

West Wycombe and the Other Place

On Saturday we had an appointment to visit a couple prospective flats in High Wycombe, and we took the opportunity to do some sightseeing while we were out.On our way to Wycombe we stopped at West Wycombe Hill, which is topped by a church built in 1760 by a rich family called the Dashwoods. David had visited it briefly in the rain on the way home from work a few months ago and wanted to show it

by Jour ~ Tuesday, June 5, 2007 0 comments

Our esteemed neighbor

We went for a short evening stroll tonight, just around the block in our neighborhood. As usual, we were checking out all the houses and deciding which ones we'd like to live in, when David spotted this:It says J.R.R. Tolkien lived here from 1930 to 1947! I don't know if we've missed the plaque on previous walks or if it's new, but it was a really fun discovery so close to home. It's a very

by Jour ~ Monday, June 4, 2007 0 comments

Friday evening drive

Our perty car in front of Great Milton's church.Last night the weather was finally nice again, so we took the new car out for a spin. It was the first time I've gotten to ride in it for any distance and I looovved it. So comfy! It's funny how fancy and luxurious an economy-sized Toyota feels to us, but it's all relative!The first stop on our drive was Headington, which was once a separate village

by Jour ~ Saturday, June 2, 2007 0 comments

April 7: Casablanca

We stayed one night in Casablanca, specifically to see the gleaming new Hassan II Mosque (and secondarily the enjoyable Sacre-Coeur Cathedral). We aimed for the 11am guided tour on Sunday, April 7.We got a little lost on our way to the mosque. We had assumed it couldn't be too hard to just head for the tallest minaret in the world, but the streets twist and turn and buildings often blocked our

by Jour ~ Monday, May 28, 2007 0 comments

April 5: Tarifa and Bolonia, Spain

After our adventures in Gibraltar, we took advantage of our rental car and spent the rest of the afternoon driving along the coast towards the west. The scenery was beautiful after we passed Algeciras - lots of rolling hills and trees. Most of the hills were covered in windmills, which was so impressive. Apparently it is one of the biggest wind farms in Europe. Our first stop was Tarifa, a port

by Jour ~ 0 comments

April 5: Gibraltar

The little country of Gibraltar was quite a bit different than we expected. We imagined it to be a wealthy little British community, all quaint with red phone boxes and changing of the guard at a palace. The expectation of affluence came from what we'd read about how expensive it is to live there or even get a hotel due to lack of space. But Gibraltar turned out to be larger than we thought, not

by Jour ~ Friday, May 25, 2007 0 comments

Three Churches and a Roman Villa

After a long rainy spell we were blessed with mostly-sunny weather this weekend, so we headed out for some local sightseeing. We started out at the North Leigh Roman Villa, which is not far from Blenheim Palace to the west of Oxford. It is the ruins of a country estate built by a rich Roman aristocrat in the 4th century AD. There wasn't a whole lot to see, but the location couldn't be beat! It

by Jour ~ Monday, May 21, 2007 0 comments

An evening in Windsor

This evening we were in Windsor to look at some apartments for rent. Windsor is of course home to Windsor Castle, where the Queen lives (sometimes). But it's also only 10 minutes' drive from Slough, where David works, so it would be ideal for his commute. I took the train there from Oxford (only 48 minutes), arriving with enough time to wander around a bit before our appointment. I had a great

by Jour ~ Thursday, May 17, 2007 0 comments

A grey Saturday

After watching the Formula One qualifying race this afternoon, we headed out to the village of Great Milton (just outside Oxford) to try out David's new wide-angle lens. The weather was very grey, we were rained on frequently, and all the churches we visited were locked, but we still had a good time and the lens looks like it is going to be a great addition to the family.Parish Church of St. Mary

by Jour ~ Saturday, May 12, 2007 0 comments

A weekend of abbeys and churches

We had a very nice weekend trip for the May Bank Holiday. We saw some new things and got lots of photos for my website, but also relaxed and took it pretty easy (comparatively). We also stayed flexible, which was unusual - we chose a general direction and found a couple sights to aim for, then left it open from there.Saturday May 5We headed out sometime after noon on Saturday and drove northwest

by Jour ~ Tuesday, May 8, 2007 0 comments

Iffley Church, Oxford

This Monday is the annual "May Bank Holiday" which means that David has a three-day weekend. The holiday doesn't celebrate anything, but is just a spring holiday on which most businesses are closed. There is also one in September, so they end up being British equivalents of Memorial Day and Labor Day in the USA. So we are going to take a mini-break, as Bridget Jones would say! Since most everyone

by Jour ~ Saturday, May 5, 2007 0 comments

April 4: Driving from Cordoba to Algeciras

Okay, here's a quick post to get the rest of April 4 out of the way. It was pretty uneventful, but I have a few pictures to share, and then the next travel report can be devoted to Gibraltar! In Cordoba we didn't feel we had time to stop and have tapas or a proper meal and we had a surprisingly difficult time finding any quick street food. We made do with a scoop of ice cream from a shop near the

by Jour ~ Thursday, May 3, 2007 0 comments

Sunny May Day in Oxford

Happy May Day! It really feels like May here, as the weather is just glorious. It is at least mid-70s with a clear, blue sky. I had another outing with my camera in the sunshine today and had a wonderful time. Today started off (but not for me) with the annual Oxford ritual of May Morning, where the Magdalen Boys' Choir greets the sunrise from the top of the tower and everyone goes to the pub

by Jour ~ Tuesday, May 1, 2007 0 comments