Ryan's World of Nonsense

Copr Bay Bridge, Swansea I sincerely apologise for the delay of posting the next parts of this series. If you haven't read part 1 of this series yet, click  here  to have a readthrough. Welcome back! You're joining me on the second day of my Wales trip! But before any exploring can be done, I quickly popped down to the local Savers to get myself a toothbrush and toothpaste. Yes, I've left them in my accommodation in Exeter. (Sighs)  So, after I've freshened up back in my hotel room, I headed to the train station to explore a place where I've heard so much about:   Swansea.   Back in my A-level days, my (part Welsh) English teacher was working in the University of Swansea. Can't quite remember what her actual job title is but anyway, she works there. She told me what a nice and lovely place it is and she very much enjoyed working and living there. So, I thought to myself: I've got to visit this city someday.  And what better time to do so while I'm...

Violet Evergarden I don't really watch anime. But recently I've been recommended the award-winning anime series "Violet Evergarden". And boy, was I impressed.  The story is basically about a girl called Violet Evergarden, a soldier, later turned "Auto Memory Doll" (a ghostwriter writing letters for people) in a postal company, in order to understand what "I love you" means, which is said to her by her former commanding officer Major Gilbert in the army with his dying breath.  Now, I'm not gonna go into the story with too much detail so I don't spoil it for those of you that wants to watch the show and have yet to do so (The series is available on Netflix). But I'd like to talk about one of the things that made the entire story such a powerful "tear gas" - The words in the letters. Violet was raised to be an emotionless killer. It wasn't until her transition into an "Auto Memory Doll" where she starts to learn and...

English Bridge, Shrewsbury Shrewsbury. Not exactly a world-famous travel destination (perhaps more locally renowned?). Home to the famous travel youtuber Mark Swain, who introduced me to this town through his videos. I didn't expect much of Shrewsbury before the trip as I thought it'll just be one of them generic British towns, but I was properly surprised by this town, and I'll tell you all about it in this post.  'Welcome to Shrewsbury' Signs As I arrived at Shrewsbury station after reviewing the Class 196 (click  here  for the review if you're interested), I was greeted by two "Welcome to Shrewsbury" signs down the stairs to the exit. You'll notice that the one on the top is actually from Transport for Wales (TfW). Yes, despite not being in Wales, this is a TfW managed station, with services to North, South and West Wales, and of course, to Birmingham, Crewe, and Manchester. So, Shrewsbury station kind of serves as a hub for TfW in the west midl...

Charlie Kirk (1993-2025) Image credit: https://tinyurl.com/3bymtxkr I don't normally talk about anything related to politics here. But what happened yesterday is heartbreaking. Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, famous for debating students across different universities, was shot dead during an event at Utah Valley University.  Personally, I didn’t agree with all of Charlie’s views, but no one should lose their life for their beliefs, especially in a democratic country built on free speech. This tragedy shows that we, as humans, have lost the ability to disagree without turning violent with each other. Social media echo chambers and escalating rhetoric can turn differences into perceived threats, sometimes with deadly consequences. Charlie wasn't even a politician. He's a media influencer that debates with students and gets the world thinking by posting it on the internet.  And the thing that makes it ten times worst is that his wife and children are present duri...

Myself (left) with a cosplayer (right) Yep. It's true. I went to an anime convention. You can't believe it? Neither do I! Given that I'm a 20-year-old Asian nerd that does engineering in uni, you'd expect me to be familiar with stuffs like that (just like my fellow Hong Kong friends). But no, I have no idea what's the hottest anime on right now, and I still don't understand people's obsession of them anime girls. The last anime I've watched is either One Piece or something to do with Gundams. My dad used to play it on his iPad, and I'd watch along on how Luffy smashes someone's head in or how Gundams are shooting at each other in outer space.  "Gawr Gura", one of the most famous virtual YouTubers In recent years these anime girls and getting more and more popular. One example would be the rise of "VTubers". I've once discussed "VTubers" (Virtual YouTubers, i.e. those anime girls doing livestreams of themselves p...