Library

After AL showed me that lovely piece of calligraphy in the morning, I went to the other side of the harbour in the afternoon - I was invited as the external examiner for one of their PhD students.

And this is the time for her oral defence.

There were six of us: the candidate, her supervisor (an eminent clinical professor), the chairman (a microbiologist assigned by the graduate school), two internal examiners (a biochemist and a pathologist), and myself. We met in their department library - named after their chairman in 1970s.

I was the first to ask questions and finished early - I could play dove if I wish to - but one of the internal examiners prepared three whole pages for this event, and, because of this happy accident, I have over an hour to sit there, taste the tea, and admire the library per se. Although I have been here for not less than a dozen incidents, I never had a chance to appreciate the internal decoration.