Back in Bristol (after 12 years!)

On 24th Jan 2009, I was back in University of Bristol & Bristol City for the first time since Jul 1996. It was amazing to be back. No words could describe the experience of placing each step - walking through the old memories, the lanes, those landmarks - they are still fresh in my head, although I have left all these behind 12 years ago!

+ St Micheal's Hill.

+ Kingsdown - Somerfield, provider of my chocolates

I started off early that morning. It was calm and cold - no one to be seen. No students. From the central bus station, I walked up St Micheal's Hill, heading to Kingsdown. Anna used to work at Somerfield. Somerfield was also my source of Snickers and Walkers for my trips to the library. I couldn't imagine how Anna managed to divide her time between Sommersfield and she being a medical student.

+ The Orborne Villa. Was it the left most?

The house – Osborne Villa - what a memory. This is the house that I used to attack on Hari Raya or weekends for that matter. I have never lived in a house with housemates when I was in Bristol - it was always Goldney Hall (more about this later). So, when Raya came, when I just needed that touch of being surrounded by close friends, ‘femily’ and, a real house atmosphere – I headed to Osborne Villa (even it meant skiving classes for the day). The Big Brother housemates were - Anna, Mag, Amy, Nora, Ida & Filia. Have I added one housemate too many? I am sorry if I’ve mixed this up. :)

+ Main library is on the left, and the other is Computer Centre

This is the University Main Library where I adored spending my time studying especially in the 3rd year. I love the small cubicles and I liked to doze off as well. Nothing beats the feeling of getting up after 15 min doze-off in a library. When it came to studying, I had this habit either studying at main library (above), medical school library or law library - simply because I did not want to be disturbed by fellow nerds from Comp Sc dept (they’d ask for past year questions and my notes! I am not kidding). Hence, when they were around, we would end up chatting and getting not much work done. The red building next to the library (on the right) is the Computer Centre - a hub of computers where we could come around and do the assignment or to some (read: Mag) to ‘online chat’, when Internet was spirally diffused :) Oh my god, the word 'Telnet' brings so much memory. I had to 'Telnet' in order to get connected to the Internet server and from there we’d be connected to the rest of the world.

+ The University's new sports centre that I never got to use

This is the new add to the University of Bristol – University Sports Centre. I used to suffer playing volleyball and Squash at the small sports centre on Woodland Rd, but now there is this massive Sports Centre for everyone. It was ready a year after I left, just not my luck really. The same unfortunate fate occurred to me when I left The Leys School, Cambridge - the school sports complex was completed when I left. This reminds me of Ed – a friend and my squash partner who is now living in Indonesia.

+ Queens Building for the engineers and computer scientists. Some of the familiar faces that frequented this building - me, Idham, Akmal, Azlan, Edwin, Hezly

Queens Building - where the Comp Sc. Dept used to be located in alongside with other Engineering departments (it moved to new location i.e. Merchant Venturer Building in 1996). Located next to the medical school, this is the place where for three years I gained the skills and knowledge to program in various languages incl. Jawa. Yes! Oh I so remember the crazy lot, not so nerdy computer scientists that I used to hang around with - Nat (and married to Ko now – how sweet), George, Anne, Tai and Mumin. I remember there was this one morning that we convinced Mumin to skip class to go for a picnic. Mumin was the only one who had a car, and Mumin being Mumin - it was a sin to miss class! :)

+ Queens Library

On that very day, I was allowed to enter the Library in Queens - very interesting. Thanks Diane, the librarian duty on that Saturday. Nothing changed. Except, they allow students to bring food/drinks now. Well, I used to smuggled my foods anyway - always in my bag; Snickers, Oasis Orange Drinks and Walkers.

+ The art gallery that I never noticed when I was in Bristol

+ The Victoria Rooms - I remember taking an exam paper (was it Psychology) in this building

Before heading to Student Union – I had to cross the main road, before Clifton Hill where the Music Dept. (The Victoria Rooms) is. I used this route on daily basis anyway. Across the Victoria Rooms, stands the Royal West of England Academy of Art. I did not even notice this building when I was in Bristol. I bet at that time, my soul didn’t yearn for that cultural stuff. I took the chance to check out the art exhibition in there that was called Drawing Room II.

+ The Student Union - it also houses the swimming pool

The Student Union - there are some great memories here. Especially when I was mandated to coordinate Malaysian Night (if I am not mistaken we labelled it being Gemilang Nite, yes way before Pak Lah stole our tagline), and of course the most talked about Malaysian Night in UK (I won’t tell the reason). It was a must to attend Malaysian Night organised by Bristol Univ. Anyway, we made a lot of profit out of that even. If I can recall, we charged about £10 per person for food and performance. This time around, I bought some T-Shirts from the University Shop. BTW, when it came to Malaysian Night, the post-graduates always had something to say. The night being ‘social’, sinful etc. when the whole spirit was to promote Malaysian culture as well as the food. We used to ignore them.

+ The majestic Goldney Hall main entrance

+ My old room, top floor with the balcony (on the right)

The Goldney Hall (the hall of residence) – when I applied for Bristol Univ, I had to prioritise which college/hall to attend. With no hesitation I put Goldney Hall as No. 1. Goldney attracted me too much. The new cluster of Goldney buildings was not ready when I arrived in 1993. So I had to live at Richmond Terrace. Upon completion, I got my huge room in K-Block. It is huge, with balcony and massive bathroom attached to it. I liked staying in the hall of residence for I did not have to deal with hassles like bills etc. But it also meant that I had less scholarship allowance every month! I think Goldney is the most beautiful of them all :) I also came to learn that Chronicle of Narnia was shot in Goldney Garden. The garden is gazetted as the national heritage of UK and it has a very old grotto in the garden – it can be a bit eerie as I entered the grotto once in summer of 1996.

+ Another majestic landmark Bristol offers - Clifton Suspension Bridge

Clifton Suspension Bridge - is located in Clifton Hill. Yes Bristol is rather hilly – that explains my slim body when I was a student (I think it was more of lack of money to go around for some real nice meals!). I guess that is the reason why I was reduced to bones when I was at Bristol. Clifton Suspension Bridge is a famous bridge and it is really beautiful. I remember going there with Mag, Amy and Anna and Mag and I sledged our way down. I went to every spot of this are when I was in Bristol last weekend. How wonderful. I have never known Bristol is extremely beautiful, and in the summer there is hot-air balloon festival and, this really enhances what already is beautiful. I told my friend Faris to read his PhD here in Bristol, instead he went to Newcastle. Otherwise, he'd have three wonderful years, in this beautiful place.

+ The Browns Restaurant

Browns Restaurant - I guess we, the students then, would spare the trip to Browns for some special occasions. Yeah, the food is nice. The ambiance is great. It is fine dining after all - but as students, we did not have money. So, I could remember that I went to Browns for 4 times throughout my tenure at the University. 1 - With Anna, Amy, Mag, Alfie for lunch, during our final weeks in 1996, 2 - with Alfie, for drinks in the sun (the same summer), 3 - with some of my cohorts to celebrate good food in nerdy way, 4 - with my sponsor who came to visit us (read: To visit UK really at the expense of the co.). After the meeting, Puan B asked - "What are we having for lunch?" Me - "We have booked a table at Browns" Puan B - "Uh, you guys are so unlike our students in Manchester, when we were there last week A and his friends cooked for us!" Me (silently because I still needed the scholarship money to fund my way thro.) - "Do I give a flying ****? You are spending the co's money anyway, so if you want lunch, I am showing you where Browns is. You think I have the time to cook and feed you!" That's how I felt at that time, and I am standing by it till today.

+ The Wills Memorial Building

+ Check out the intricate design on the ceiling

The Wills Memorial Building - this is where Law School is. It is really nice building. The architect - Sir George Oatley was told to "build to last". He produced a design in the Perpendicular Gothic style, to evoke the famous university buildings of Oxford and Cambridge (this is apparently the last gothic building in England). This is also the venue where we had our congregation, or degree ceremonies.

+ The new Merchant Venturer Building

The Merchant Venturer Building – Starting from 1996, this is the new building that houses Comp Sc. dept among others. It is a new place. This is where I received the results, my final results. I was so nervous to walk in and then I saw Didi (Electrical Eng, she just got her result), and she said, upon seeing me entering the building with that nervous look on my face, "Zul, you did well, I mean really well". Alhamdullillah. All I did remember was that I gave it all throughout my university years and I guess all the efforts really seemed to be so worth it.

+ Park Street

Park Street - It's fun to walk down this street on the way to Broadmead (the city centre, the shopping area), from Clifton area. Shopping trips to town were always fun. But, to walk up back to our hall - it was so painful. Normally what we did, we would walk to Broadmead and on the way up we would either take No. 8 or No. 9 bus that would take us to Clifton Hill. It is nice to walk down this street since there are a lot of shops on the left and right. Even there was a club we used to go to. Those were the days.

+ College Green

+ Bristol Cathedral

College Green & Bristol Council Hall - at the end of Park St, there is College Green. This is one of the places that I took for granted. I never stopped when I passed this area. Apparently it is so beautiful. I went into the Bristol Cathedral for the first time (the priest asked me to join the mass, but I was there for the architectural essence of it). That is one thing about being a student – I was selective in terms of what I did. Well, then again there was always financial limitation that governed most of the things that I wanted to do. Now I appreciate it more – things like cathedrals, monuments, galleries, museums etc.

+ Watershed & Arnolfini

Watershed & Arnolfini - the variety of geographical characteristics Bristol can offer is beyond words. Watershed is the area that is surrounded by water - something like Stockholm if you may. It is beautiful indeed. There are some nice restaurants by the water, and there is Arnolfini - the place to watch art-house films. This is where, I was for the first time introduced to the works of Pedro Almadovar, introduced by none other than our cultured Alfie.

+ The main train station - Temple Meads

Temple Meads Train Station – When I was at the University, I would use the train once in a while if there was a need to head to London for a break, or adjacent places like Cardiff. Well, when we are at University, we are considered to have a base already. So, we hardly go down to London except occasional visits to friends' at some other universities. Unlike then time when I was at The Leys, I would kill to leave the school (public school with too many rules), so I would look forward to train station to head to London for a break.

All in all – it was a great trip back to visit the University of Bristol – a trip down the memory lane. One thing for sure – I have never seen the University and Bristol the way I perceived it during that weekend. This place where I spent my formative years in the UK is amazingly beautiful, and it makes it more special when various special memories are buried in her hilly landscape.