Scottish Sensations

Blog Entry - December 2007

AK, one of my 'ji mui's, came to visit her sister in the UK recently, so I decided to go visit her.. Unfortunately, she decided that she wanted to go visit the land of Scotland up north, so I had to haul my lazy ass all the way up to Edinburgh and Glasgow to accompany her. Sighh, the things you do for friends eh?

3 and a half long hours later, I arrived in gloomy Edinburgh.. As it was my third time visiting this pretty city, I wasn't superbly excited. Luckily, I got to ogle at Scottish men (especially Scottish men in uniform) who were, by the way, absolutely yummy - enough to get my adrenaline pumping! Plus, their Scottish accents were soooooooo delicious!!! Yum!

So the 4 of us - AK, her sister VK, our old school friend KT and myself decided we'll do the touristy thing and go visit all the touristy sights of Edinburgh - even though I've been to Edinburgh about 3 times now and frankly, as beautiful as the city is, it doesn't really change, does it? So we trotted about Princess Street, visited the Edinburgh Castle (this would be my 3rd time now!) and went walking around, enjoying the Edinburgh scenery. A costly affair to see these sights for the umpteenth time but we had lots of fun hanging out and I definitely enjoyed myself! So I guess no biggg sacrifice there huh?

Anyway, here are some pics from Edinburgh!

Now I can't remember exactly what this place was, but something along the Edinburgh Council Place or something like that.. some administration buildinglah! KT was just impressed with its architecture! hehe..

.

At Edinburgh Castle.. good heavens was it cold! Wintertime in Scotland, not a good idea..

.

Enjoying the view!

.

While some enjoyed creating some sort of view...

.

Edinburgh City certainly looks amazing from up here..
.

Christmas market time! Hot chocolate and yummy pancakes galore!
.

On our second day in Scotland, it was decided that we go visit the Scottish highlands.. By highlands, I mean Loch Lomond and its' surrounding lakes. Not that far from Glasgow, where KT stays (btw, thanks for letting us stay at yours!), but far enough to make both myself and VK nauseous.. (the poor girl was actually physically sick! Lucky for me, I had Stemetil at hand so I was alright! ;) )

The scenery was gorgeous and the photos were beautiful.. but rest assured, I won't be visiting these lakes again - not worth my motion sickness! Heehee..

Look at how beautiful everything is!
.

Cheese!

.

I love this shot - absolutely gorgeous! Oh, and the scenery looked stunning too! :P

.

For old times' sake!

.

Meet the superheroes! Or was it James Bond & his Bond girls? I forget..

.

Look at how gorgeous the sky is.. and the crystal clear water.. Sighhh..
.

KT's a more professional photographer than I am, so.. we end up with an artisty shot! Not bad..
.

More artsy-fartsy stuff!

.

We are his car models.. oh btw, KT drives like a bloody maniac, as if the Scottish B-roads were the bloody F1 race track!
.

Young, sweet VK and me.. we're at another Scottish lake spot!

.

Better remember this shot - won't be back in a looooong time!
.

And that concludes our Scottish trip. It was really good to see AK & I'm glad that she enjoyed herself! Was it worth all the trouble? Hmm.. lemme think.. haha, of course it was!

Road Trip 2008

With the real problem of the credit crunch, we (myself, WS, YJ & AT) decided that we couldn't really afford a holiday abroad, no matter how cold this stupid country can get. Although places like Malta, Tenerife, Gran Canaria & the Caribbean all sounded like nicer (and warmer) places to be, our wallets are as thin as supermodels. Not ones to give up, we decided that a road trip in the UK would be an acceptable alternative.

We decided to drive down South and visit the historic town of Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon, then be real tourists and visit Stonehenge. Finally, our trip would be concluded in Bath, another historic city which YJ & AT have not visited. So, in true Jeanie in a Bottle fashion, here are our pictures!

Shakespeare's statue stands proud at the entrance to the historic town of Stratford-upon-Avon!
.

The four pillars of Shakespeare's work - History, Comedy, Tragedy & Philosophy..
.

Visiting Shakespeare's birthplace. Although our visit to this 16th century cottage was very historic, we reckon living in the Elizabethan period would not have been very nice...
.

Visiting Anne Hathaway's 16th century home.. (Anne Hathaway, as we learnt, was William Shakespeare's wife. Did you know that he was 18 and she was 26 & pregnant when they got married?)

.

How many cottages have you seen with a real thatched roof?

.

One of the more modern shopping arcades in Stratford-upon-Avon town centre..
.

Lunch was served at a very swanky restaurant - Bensons. The food was absolutely, amazingly delicious!
.

Unfortunately, we were so hungry (& greedy) that we devoured our lunch before any pictures could be taken. Fortunately, dessert was not forgotten..

.

Stonehenge.. arguably, the most famous pre-historic site in all of England!

.

Thanks to our tripod, we managed to get a group shot.. cheese!

.

Can you believe that these stones are over 5000 years old?!!

.

UNESCO has named this one of its World Heritage Sites.. no wonder, they truly are a wonder!

.

No one really knows why they were built.. A place of worship? A sun-calendar? Aliens?

.

We got to meet the Stonehenge model of the year.. we all have to take pics with him! :P
.

Chilling out at our hotel, the Express by Holiday Inn, Bath. We were thoroughly impressed with the hotel & its affordability..

.

WS & I visited Bath many years ago but unfortunately only managed to catch the Roman Baths.. so this time round, we just had to go see The Royal Crescent!

.

Busy Businessman?

.

Don't be fooled by the clear blue sky... it was coooold!!!
.



Stuck in a traffic jam with nothing to do!
.

And with that, we took a slow drive back to wet ol' Manchester.. Even though it wasn't the most exotic or exciting holiday, I think the company was brilliant so we really enjoyed the trip! Plus, I definitely got to learn more about English history.. so that's always a plus!