Saturday, September 17

Holiday No More

We've been driving around Scotland, and i am impress with how much effort they put into their tourism industry. U could tour the country along its many trails (eg. Castle Trail, Coastal trail, distillery trail etc.), without a map! The roads are smooth and pretty easy to adapt to, and coming from right-hand drive Singapore (the right way) helps alot. The other motorist are really patient, and the sound of the horn is really really rare. In Singapore, the horn probably means &@$%!, in China it's a warning, and maybe a "hello mate" here in Scotland.

Dunnottar Castle's ruins which overlooks the gorgeously blue North Sea
Anyway, the tourist routes are so easy to follow. Just follow the brown signboard which signifies tourist attractions. Along the trails that span acoss many miles, there are simply so much history and nature to breathe in! The towns are filled with guesthouse and Bed&Breakfast house, which are pretty much apartments being rented out. A great way to immerse into the local's way of living :)

The night spent in Inverness, before heading to find Nessie @ Loch Ness

Eating out is completely not worth it. I miss the cheap and good home cook food back home :( Eating out here is terribly expensive, and it doesn't help that £ > SG$. My parents n I learnt from the locals here. Picnic in random sight-seeing spots, or even in the car!

A table for 4 by a canel! (My bro's not there, but he's replaced by the 'head' of lettuce)
Hall opens tml. I've travelled through and stayed in the 4 major cities of Scotland. Edinburgh the capital, aka. the Athens of the North. Glasgow, the CBD equivalent. Dundee, an industrial-based city which reminds me of Jurong East, where the oil rigs and refinery are just at ur door step. Inverness, the 'Capital' of the Scottish Highlands, where i would be attached there for a moment, in FOUR years?!?!

And Aberdeen, the Silver City. The place that i will call home for 5 years. Tomorrow is, Day One of Life in University.
P.S.: Aberdeen got its name not literally. It deserves the title "the Granite, Grey City", but the sunlight supposedly flashes on the surface of the city, creating its sparkle.

Sunday, September 11

Next Stop - Aberdeen

For all the days of counting, the many hours wasted tossing n turning on my bed, or idling in cyberspace - It's finally here. The departure at the airport wasn't as emotional as i had pictured it to be. Countless times did i replay the scene in my head, just so that i could prep myself. Well, 'thankfully' for the baggage issue, the stress helped dull the senses. So little time to immerse into the hard fact. In the end, i had to entrust my beloved guitar to my dearest girl. *Hazel, hug it to sleep every night!

Well, she was the only one (duh.) that managed to put me into tears. With love, pain, and her awesome calender surprise! I'm gonna remind myself everyday, how many more days before i will feel her soft skin...

But time wasn't really on my side, neither were my kanchiong parents. I rmb Keet Yeng's first departure was pretty hectic too, having to offload some campbell soup to meet the weight limit. But I, was conned but the British Airway customer service lady. Never mind, i've learnt, and after 5 years, i will be a master!

We were clearly overpacking. This is probably a third of the arsenal.
Hence, we clearly had problems fighting them all into the car in Aberdeen.

HopScotch (The Red Bunny) told me that he had to come!
Apparently, he is scottish O.o

Thursday, September 8

One Day More!

I rmb being presented Les Miserables during Music Lesson in Secondary school. I thought it was gonna be another time waster, but in the end, most of us sat through the whole musical, captivated, in awe. Till this day, i rmb most of their songs. They are brilliant.

One. Day. More.

Monday, September 5

Operating on Adrenaline

I see where i get most of my habits from. After our family gathering, i was crazy enough to stay up with the cousins till 7am. And before i went to bed, after the sun rose, i noticed my mom was awake. Apparently, she have yet to sleep too. Even better, she wasn't planning to as she browsed through her office stuff on the laptop. Respect, my mom pwned me.
I think my mom believes "Sleep is for the weak" too.
I think some of my family/relatives are vampires. At 9-11pm after dinner, we feel so darn lethargic that we are so convinced that we are gonna sleep before midnight. Somehow, a refreshing shower or the Internet will pull us through till midnight. It's midnight, the fatigue is gone, and now we can't sleep. There's the endless browsing of cyberspace or work, and next moment we realise dawn has broken. It all awkwardness, we sleep, even though we know we aren't gonna wake up on the schedule that awaits.

And i can't study in the day. Thankfully Scotland has four seasons, with about 70% darkness in winter. Hence, increased productivity.

Over the past 2 days, i've meet 3 groups of ppl i treasure a lot. JC schoolmates, Cathigh bros, and relatives. I feel really bad for taking so much time from Hazel. She needs to study, she has so many commitments to settle. I shouldn't be bogging her down.

So little time. My final weekends are over. I had my last lunch, supper and dinner respectively. I'm 4 days away. Denial, but packing has to begin. I'm excited, after not having studied for so long. And finally, to be able to study something that i like and know that i will fall in love with. But dreading, for there's so much to leave behind. I can't believe this is happening still.

Saturday, September 3

Aussie is the GMT+8?

It is teacher's day in Singapore! But not that i have any teachers to directly wish currently. BTW, do you know that Singapore's teacher's and children's day no longer fall on 1st of September and October respectively? MOE has decided to fully maximise the holiday and relocating it to either the first monday or friday of the month. So guaranteed long weekends! Not that i'm gonna enjoy any of these.

I've never used Skype to keep in touch with someone overseas. So my experience with Keet was a first, and very enjoyable one. Though physical barriers may exist, the Internet have really brought us closer together. It's so easy to forget that u are not together in the same place.


Webcam-ing is fun, esp when u have the arsernal of props within reach to amuse your friend.
Didn't know she grew a moustache!
Conversation topic bounce from one to another as easy as throwing a basketball.
Epic late
It's not really a new record for me, since it's my first. But this certainly sets the benchmark.


It's amazing how ppl in the past kept in touch through carrier pigeons. The letter was probably drenched in bird droppings when it reaches its destination.