231206: Bath, Lacock and Stonehenge

Supposed to wake up at 9am. But the nua-ness in me took over when the alarm rang, ‘cause I saw Huijie and Shimmie still sleeping. Ha. But by 9.30am, cannot nua anymore. Nua anymore and I’ll forfeit my 5 quid. Ha. The girls woke up by then also. After washing up and packing our stuff, we managed to check out by 10.30am. But we haven’t had our breakfast yet. Borrowed their TV lounge and kitchen for breakfast. For dunno what reason, Huijie’s finger was bleeding. The 1^st conclusion was the air is too dry. So the skin breaks easily. Whatever. Lucky I bought the handy 1^st aid kit in Boots. Gave her the antiseptic wipe and a plaster. They had the cross raisin buns and chocolate muffins, I had my pain au choc and milk. Very filling. Ha. Shimmie wanted to finish up the remains of plain chocolate digestives. She’s got a slight sore throat and she gave up her will soon after. Gave the final few pieces to the Caucasians in the room.

We left for Sally Lunn’s at 11.30am. Supposedly the oldest house in Bath. When we reached there, it did look old with a cottage sense of building. Well, we went in and the waitress wanted to serve us in their restaurant. Once we said we wanna look at the museum and buy a bun or 2, she gave us a another-ghiam-siap-gui face and directed us down to the cellar. The room is very small. Slightly bigger than the toilet in my hall I think. Ha. There’re 2 rooms we can look in, shielded by glass panels. They are set up to show what Sally Lunn’s life then was like. Well, not too bad. It would have been more interesting if we could have some farmstay lifestyle to experience it instead of just see-see-look-look. We wanted to buy a single bun due to the heavy breakfast we had just now, but the lady at the counter said the bun wouldn’t taste good alone. Well, we gave face and bought jam too. Ha, Shimmie tried to convince us to take the blackcurrant jam. Well, I didn’t really like blackcurrant, so I chose apricot instead. Now, we were both looking at Huijie to make a choice. Yay, she chose apricot. Ha. Shimmie just can’t hide her disappointment. Well, for the sake of her pride, she picked the blackcurrant jam too. She paid for the bun and 2 small jars of jam, we would pay her later.

Leaving the house, turned right and passed by a sweet shop. Bath Sweet Shop. Boring name. Anyway, it says inside that it’s the oldest sweet shop in Bath. I bought 70p worth of marshmallows for us to share. 113g of it. But the lady took some 118g and charged me 73p for it. Well, all the more to get rid of my pennies. We came to a big old tree, dunno what species it belongs to but it looks damn damn old. There were a group by the tree caroling. Nice voices, I couldn’t have imagined if I were in them. Probably squeaking through all the songs. Ha. 12pm. The Stonehenge trip starts at 1.15pm, we had nowhere to go. Ended up in McDonalds, I treated them to hot tea and hot chocolate and crinkle fries. Accompany that with the bun and marshmallows and we had a light lunch. Took more stirrers from the counter to use for spreading jam. Ha. We had another good chat, talking cock most of the time. Shimmie grew so bored she started mixing the jams together on her bun. We forgot to take a picture of the bun when it was still nice and whole, we took it only after we tore it into 3 pieces. Ha. Well, still whole but with lines. Anyway, Shimmie meant to treat us with the bun. Ha. Great. Ghian png as I am, I would never mind a treat. Ultimate ghian png. Ha.

Passed by the Roman Bath shop again, we tempted Shimmie to buy the book of rhymes she wanted to buy. She refused, saying that she’d probably find it in London. Well, hope she does find it. If not, it’s a opportunity lost. Tried to look around the city centre, but with Huijie’s big backpack, we didn’t wanna walk too far off. Finally reached the bus. It’s more like a little van, can’t take more than a dozen I think. At first there was some disappointment. The driver, Charles, mentioned he doesn’t have any luggage space for Huijie’s backpack. We offered to have it on our laps, and he offered us the backseats which spans across the vehicles. Apparently the biggest seats and most space available. Nice chap. The cost at first was £15, but he decided to charge us the admission for Stonehenge which was £4.40 for students. I guess no one would not wanna go Stonehenge without going in, meeting the stones in close proximity. Total cost around 20 quid, including a tour of Lacock, a village where home of Harry Potter’s parents is filmed. I guess it’s not too bad, we get some sightseeing as well. The 1^st stop is Lacock. Nice village, a place I would wanna retire in. Slow paced, small community of hundred odd people, cosy feeling. There’s only 4 roads, making the village look like a square. Everything is a reduced size from what we usually see in cities, which makes them look more like dollhouses. Ha. Cutesy stuff. Walked around 30 minutes, it’s time for the highlights: Stonehenge itself. Charles drove into Salisbury plains, where Stonehenge is found. It is on these plains that the British army conduct their live firing. Looking at the plains, I’m not fazed by why they used it for military purposes. The plains are humongous. Can’t even see the nearest village or city, which happens to be Salisbury. Just roads and acres of land, flat grassland. Wow. Anyway, Charles got us tickets to go in, with audio guides (typical British museum fashion). The stones are definitely an amazement. I probably wouldn’t see it anywhere else in the world a stone formation with this kind of amazing geometry, geology and geography. The mass that these stones possess can only be measured in tonnes, when there were no efficient way of transporting and erecting these stones in those days a few thousand years ago. Wow. Simply amazing. My eyes just can stop feasting on this majestic formation, what more with its station stones marking summer and winter solstices and how the geometry works out so well. Now that I remember, the ghost walk guide yesterday did say that the Royal Circus in Bath was built in exact dimension with the Stonehenge. Anyway, there’s a part in the tour which made me kinda furious. It was said that tourists in the past often rented hammers and chisels from nearby towns and cities to knock pieces of stone of the Stonehenge to keep as souvenirs. Well, Huijie and Shimmie do see the logic behind wanting to keep a portion of its majesty as remembrance of the Hanging Stones. But in my mind, my instinct and love to see ruins and scenery untouched got over me. Maybe because technology nowadays allows us to possess a camera each and hence we could have pictures to remember our nice memories of trips to places that I forget people of the past lack these capability and luxury. But I would still have preferred an unspoiled world to go to. Haiz. But to have the Stonehenge for company as the sun sets is simply a luxury I can’t deny. By the time we got back to Bath, it was 5.10pm. Our coach departs at 6.30pm. Time for dinner. We went back to Wetherspoon. Again. My 4^th dinner there in a week. I guess they could make me a VIP discount card or something. Ha. But can’t deny that their meals are pretty affordable for a pub/bar. Moreover they enforce non-smoking rules. Ha. Dinner was fun, the girls had vegetarian food. Well, maybe they feel a bit guilty as they did yesterday. Ha. Forget to mention that they order beef meals at Wetherspoon yesterday, so when I offered my chips to them they wouldn’t take any of it since I can’t take beef. Today, they ordered vegetarian food instead. Being considerate is just so endearing. Ha.

The coach ride back was pretty fun for the later half. 1^st half wise, me n Shimmie were both sleeping. Poor Huijie, she couldn’t sleep because she was sensitive to changes in sound, touch and smell (according to her). The rumbling of the coach engines and its constant movement made it almost impossible for her to sleep. Moreover, despite the no smoking signs behind each seat, there was a big-bellied (likely to be pregnant) woman smoking in the toilet. Huijie noticed it, but I couldn’t smell it till a while later. Haiz. The 2^nd half of the ride, all of us were awake and Huijie grew hungry. We had the remaining milk chocolate digestives. But boring as it is, Huijie came up with the idea of biting the digestives into shapes. Ha. Made me really full with the biscuits one after another. Huijie was shaping the digestives like a beaver, grinding the biscuits into shape only to fail time and again. Ha. Typical artist.

Anyway, I failed to mention this one last point about the 2 girls. Huijie was labelled a fluffy pink ball by Shimmie the moment she got off the train. Her pink coat and hair band were the cause of it. Meanwhile, because of the cold and freezing weather, Shimmie layered up like mad. Originally with 3 layers (2 tees and 1 coat), she added on her sleeping sweat and a woollen layer. According to her, she had 6 layers in all (no need to ask why), making her look like a blue bah zhang. Ha. Flanked by a fluffy pink ball and a blue bah zhang, I’m still the plain old Winston. Kudos.

221206: Bath

Agreed on 7.30am at Victoria tube with Shimmie. End up she late! By around 10 minutes only lah, not a lot right? But we almost missed the coach! Haha, barely make it on time. Got up the coach, not really many people in there. Could get seats comfortably. Half the journey time, we were chit chatting. Ha. The other half I was playing chess with Uncle Zhou. Ha. Eh, we reach Bath pretty much on time, around 11.10am. Went to the bus station to pick up some pamphlets. Smsed Huijie on the coach, she said she’d be 10 minutes late. Well, guess we need to go to the train station to pick her up. Then I received a 2nd sms from her. Utterly delayed. Would reach at 12.10pm instead. Well, we could do better than wait out in the cold for her. We went in the travel centre and waited for her in the warmth. Ha. Was hoping to see some pasty shop to buy some hot pasties for lunch. Guess what, Shimmie brought lunch! Moreover, she said she woke up at 6.30am. Wah, wake up, wash up, pack lunch, have breakfast, all within that little bit of time. Quite fast wor.

Finally, Huijie reached. Couldn’t really spot her, her bag is taller than her. Ha, ouch for Huijie. Started walking to Bath Backpackers, stopping at a café along the way. I was so hungry, I picked up a cheese lattice (full of cheese), a sausage roll and a chicken curry pasty. Huijie wanna survive on half a box of chocolate biscuits and some hot tea. Moreover she offered her biscuits to us. Quite pathetic. Let them eat some of my pasties. We walked on to the hostel, pushed open the door, wah! The entire place so colourful, full of cartoons. I supposed they draw themselves de. As usual, I’m the one handling the check-in. Need to pay up on the spot, with additional 5 quid deposit per person! Actually, the deposit is refundable la, but need to return them the bedsheets and pillowcase. They are really slave masters leh, come and stay at expensive rate still wanna charge so expensive. Haiz, lucky I got extra cash. Got our room, room RIP. WTH! R-I-P, what kind of room is that? No keys, everything is by code. Go up to the room, tried many many times to open with the code. The stupid thing is that need to turn the knob left, not turn right. But simple minded as we are, we keep turning the knob right. Ha. Finally got in. actually inside not too bad, looks like the hostel I had in Edinburgh. But this one had colourful bedsheets. Put everything down, prepared to move to our 1st stop. The girls are still a bit shaky about the room name, ha. How inappropriate a name. Huijie managed to bring a Crumpler bag stuffed within her backpack. Ha, we just put all our stuff in her bag. Eh, a bit made use of her leh, but since she don’t mind, we just keep it like that huh.

Out of the hostel, we turned the wrong way. Ha. Got lost somewhere near a church, actually we were next to a ma ta chu. Well, lucky I got print out the jigsaw map. Managed to get us there. Wow, haven’t get in yet, can see mist coming out of the Roman baths. Student concession £8.50. So expensive, but if come to Bath don’t visit Roman baths then come for what? Got free audio guide, a bit like elongated telephone. The place quite ancient, and see Roman sculptures around. Then follow through the history and story telling blah blah blah. Before we get to the baths, we came to this hot spring overflow. Wow. Damn cool. Then there is a drainage system still working, and we managed to see part of it. Romans must have been damn advanced in their civilised architecture. Woot. Then they led us to the site of the temple. It was discovered that the Romans built a temple beside the hot spring, along with a big public bath. The spring itself was made a sacred bath. They merged the Celtic water goddess of Sulis with their own goddess Minerva, giving due respect to the locals and so the temple became a place to pray to Sulis Minerva. The ruins are truly terrific. Can’t believe they are so good 20 centuries ago. A sacrifice altar in the middle, flanked by the temples of the Sun and Moon, symbolising the beauty of duality. Seems like all ancient civilisations revered the duality aspect of nature, male and female, light and dark, yin and yang, sun and moon. Cool. Seriously, sometimes I think this temple itself is cooler than the bath, maybe it is (pun intended, ha). Then we finally came to the baths. Cool place, but the pillars had been reconstructed to reflect its original shape. It used to be ruined pillars and dusty baths. There is the east and west baths, which had ruins of their own. Within 1 of the ruins, there’s a pool supposedly for nobles to bath. Now it became a pool full of water and coins. Tourists made it a wishing pool instead. Of course I also made a wish with a euro 5-cent coin I picked up earlier. But sorry, the wish is sacred and SECRET. We hurried through all these parts, since time is getting late and we needed to go to Bath Abbey as well.

Bath abbey is quite a cool place. The inner walls and floor of the abbey is filled with tombstones. All shapes, all sizes. Wow. The abbey isn’t really big, but there are chapels within the abbey. A church within a church, so says Shimmie. Anyway, our prime objective here is the heritage vault, which supposedly is worth the £2.50 that we paid. It’s in the cellar, the basement below the abbey. We went down and got in. Actually, it’s just abbey history. Which I’m not really interested in. I was more interested in the skeleton in the grave displayed within the vault, but wasn’t anything much. Well, we got out soon after. Decided to go and buy tickets for ghost walk instead. Shimmie planned a ghost walk for the night! I haven’t been on ghost walks in UK yet, this would be my 1st. The place is at Garrick’s Head, which was pretty easy to find. But where’s the ticket booth? There isn’t any. We went in to ask the bartender, he said to just appear at 8pm outside the bar for the walk. Well, since it is so, might as well go to the Sainsbury’s we passed by just now. Needed to buy breakfast for tomorrow, and maybe some snacks. Went back to hostel after that to put down our stuff and the bottle of bath water I bought from the Roman baths. Don’t laugh at me, it’s just a souvenir. I’ve sort of made it a point to get some small souvenir from each of the major attractions I’ve been to, except certain ones where I can’t get any like the necropolis in Glasgow (what can I get from there? Tombstones?). Anyway, we walked towards Nandos near Garrick’s Head to check out the price of main meals there. Guess what? We found the Wetherspoon in Bath! Well, it did seem a plausible choice for dinner, since it’s cheap. Even cheaper than Liverpool, 2 courses for £6. My 3rd Wetherspoon dinner within a week. But I can’t miss the minted lamb burger, the piece of mutton is just so huge.

At around 7.55pm there were already people gathering at Garrick’s Head. A 60+ year old man was collecting money for tickets. We paid, and didn’t have to wait long to start. He gave us a brief introduction to ghosts in Bath, whitish, greyish or simply human like. Actually, there’s a grey lady at Garrick’s Head. When she comes, lights are supposed to flicker and things happened, particularly at closing time of the bar. Next to the bar is Theatre Royal. It has a ghost that always sit at the top right box. Ha. The ah-peh guide says ghosts appear because they died tragic deaths. Well, I suppose that is true, we Singaporeans believe in that as well. Next to the Theatre Royal, there is another grey lady at Strada. The Strada wasn’t there 2 months ago, and it was called Popjoys. Supposedly a friendly ghost. At the turn on the left, we came to the original front entrance of Theatre Royal. Here, the ghost is not a human, but a turquoise butterfly. Only appears in January. Wow. We walked further down and turned right. As the story goes, there are 2 ghosts here. One of them is supposedly the most boring ghost in Bath, a military soldier who only stands at attention on the right hand side of a flight of stairs leading into a park. On the left side, there exists a ghost in grey wig and black cloak who disappears as he walks down the stairs. We saw nothing, wasn’t supposed to since the guide emphasised that they never use gimmicks. Walking into the park, we came into a little flight of stairs on the right and another flight of stairs on the left. There used to be a duelling ground below the stairs on the left. The ghost that is here was always seen holding a drawn sword walking towards the duelling ground. We followed the guide down the stairs to the left, to the spot where the duelling ground used to be. There’s a holly tree around that area. A supposedly evil site. We walked around the holly tree, it suddenly became freezing cold and I was shivering. Walking out of the area, temperature suddenly became quite normal again. Guess the area really had something wrong. Further up the path, we came to the Royal Crescent. It’s a splendid building to admire, we never came anywhere near in the day. Seems that they dug up a Roman road in front of the crescent, and skeletons were found next to the road. They buried their dead beside roads. Ha. So pitiful. Roman soldiers were supposedly seen around the area. Wow. But the more interesting thing that the guide mentioned was the existence of a kind of energy lines that linked up historic sites in Bath and UK. Well, that involves more scientific explanation than ghosts themselves. Ha. Turning right from the crescent, we came to the road leading to the Royal Circus. The ghost here is weirder. According to the guide, the owners of a particular window never draw the wooden shutters. Once they drew, there’d always be a screeching sound on the noise like someone is trying to get in. If they leave the shutters open, the sound disappeared. Cool. There’s another ghost nearby that gives off fish smell. Eh, don’t really understand why but something to do with paints. Ha. Around the corner, there’s a short ghost in tall hat that appears most frequently. Supposedly the ghost of a general, and always lean against something. Ha, like no backbone. The last ghost we were told about was this poltergeist that haunts the room no. 18 of a hotel in Bath. The poltergeist disturbs habitants by pushing them out of bed and chasing them out of the room. After WW2, the owners of the hotel decided to get rid of room no. 18. The poltergeist stopped appearing. But when the hotel is bought over by Americans, they demand that room no. 18 be reinstated. However, since renumbering the rooms will incur extra costs, the managers requested that room 18 be allocated to the extension being built at that time. After they allocated the room, the poltergeist came back again. Seems like the number has a problem. Ha.

Well, the tour ended nicely. Enjoyed a lot. Started to feel hungry le. Bought a giant hot dog near our hostel. When we reached our hostel, we went to the TV lounge to play Monopoly, Simpsons edition. Some people weren’t asleep yet. The Monopoly was quite fun, simply because I was the only one winning. Ha. Shimmie ended up owing me more than 3000 and Huijie owed me 1400 bucks. Ha. And those are estimated sums when we grew tired of counting. Hehe. Today is supposed to be winter solstice, but we never eat glutinous rice balls, tang yuan. We will be younger then. Ha.

201206: Liverpool, Manchester

Woke up at 7am. All of us managed to pack and get ready for breakfast by 7.30am. breakfast is full English again, good and fulfilling. Guess the breakfast itself is worth 4 quid, which makes our stay about 11 quid a night, absolutely worth it. Set out for Liverpool Cathedral at around 8.

Simply amazing. Not even close to the cathedral, but can feel it majestic size by the view of it. It towers over its surroundings, usually cluttered by cottages and houses and terraces as well. As we close in, it gets harder and harder for our wide angled cameras to get the cathedral in its entirety. Simply big, huge, humongous. Whatever you can use to describe its size. Jiaxuan did say it looks like Mordor on the outside, ha. A red building, decorated with copper figurines and structures coated with a green coat of copper corrodes. Finally reach the building. Went to its main entrance, was mistaken that its closed despite Evelyn saying it opens at 8. Managed to find its entrance. Keeping my eyes glued to its architecture.

The inside is as amazing as its exterior, if not more. Can help devouring the sights I have in front of me. The ceiling itself would have enclosed a 5 storey building within. Beautiful tinted glass panels of about 2 or 3 storeys high lined the walls. Apparently, we arrived just after a morning service. It says so on the schedule. The tables and chairs within is arranged for the upcoming Christmas, the preparations are still on-going. We keep on snapping pictures. Can’t stop. The architecture is breathtaking in itself. Lucky that Jiaxuan and Evelyn wanna come to the cathedral, it would have been a pity to miss it. According to its records, its currently the largest Anglican cathedral in the world. Not surprising. With its size, even the Westminister Abbey would have look insignificant, if not for the latter’s royal use. Walk through the well, just can’t resist admiring how exquisite the internal sculptures are. Each detail encased in another. With the arrangement of chairs for the Christmas service, it’s grandness is overwhelming. Reached the altar. A golden yellow picture of about 2 stories high. There is a red tape forbidding closer look by visitors. Never stepped in a church much, but this view displayed how revered Jesus is by his followers. The kind of detailed art you find on the altar is no less than what I would find in a pagan ritual of Taoism in Singapore. Jiaxuan went up to pray in front of his Lord. Respect him for his piousness. Just when yesterday me and Jiaxuan were discussing about the different religions and what and how they manifest human kindness in their individual teachings and essence. There’s a graveyard just in the foreyard of the cathedral. Would have wanted to go in and look, if not for the fact that it’s 9.30am and we gotta go off for the coach station if we don’t wanna miss our bus.

We all slept on the bus. For a short while or for the entire journey. 55 mins of coach ride. Quite warm actually. A lady who was sitting beside Joanne offered to exchange places with me. In turn, I offered to exchange with Evelyn. She declined. Haha. Well, for once, I gladly know that they are not inseparable, and they don’t mind my presence. Hehe.

Manchester is simply a industrial and modern city with no feel of the past. We enjoy Liverpool, proud of their history and culture. But Manchester is different. What we see here is like a replica of London, maybe London has more old and aging buildings than Manchester. It does remind me of Singapore in a cooler climate. Even the temperature here is warmer than anywhere else I’ve gone in my UK travels. We went to the train station to get a local map, but surprisingly they had none! Can’t believe it, especially when they had so many ‘i’ symbols signifying information counters. Not a single portable map. Evelyn managed to ask someone about where we wanna go, he pointed us in the right direction. Arndale Centre. Walking there is straight path, without any turnings. The store that captured our eyes is Primark, no doubts. Its famous low prices and mediocre quality items is a major attraction. We agreed to spend an hour there before lunch.

The girls disappeared into the ladies section. We went for the men’s. Jiaxuan tried on a leather jacket which he bought eventually with a sweat internal. 17 quid for the leather. Not bad. Most leather goods in UK would have cost a bomb, certainly not a price like SGD 50. That’s about the price I paid for my leather jacket from Singapore. I got myself a beanie for a quid, and sweat internal to layer up for the winters. Zhen Qiang got his sweat internal also, with a long sleeved top that look like he supports Celtic. Ha, green and white. On our way out, I spotted a 3 quid umbrella. Got it straight away, it will be useful. While queuing, Joanne was there. Offered to help her pay. A bit weird for a man to be holding an electric pink lady’s top with a small umbrella. Paid for them, then told Jiaxuan and Zhen Qiang I got an electric pink top for myself. They don’t believe me. Show them the top. They had a very puzzled look on their face haha, even speculating I’m getting for my girlfriend. I told them I wanna cross dress, which made them frown even more. What a laugh. Called Joanne and they came out to meet us. Then I passed her the top, finally see a moment of revelation on the 2 guys’ faces. Went for lunch at Arndale. A so-called food court, except that it sells fast food like KFC and pizza hut here instead of the Chinese food we have in Singapore. We got ourselves the family feast from pizza hut, and had a good chat about how cui our halls are. Ha.

The next 4 hours after lunch was supposedly exploration of Arndale Centre. The guys went straight to the market, but soon sat down. Bought some big Fuji apples for a quid. It’s expensive, but a luxury like this comes only once a blue moon. The 2 of them decided to go for a haircut, I offered to look after the bags. Tried reading, but soon grew tired and was gonna fall asleep. To keep myself awake, I thought maybe I can start on my travel log, but on a stroke of luck, there was free wireless internet access at Arndale! With only an hour left on my lappie, I browsed through my backlog of emails for the past 5 days. Check out on the match that we missed too, its re-arranged date and time. There was a guy working at a café stall next to where I was sitting, he came beside me and ask “is there internet access in here?” It’s so puzzling, he’s working here yet he didn’t know there’s internet access. Somemore a strong signal. Pretty fast also. Haha. The 2 of them returned soon. Earlier I had smsed them about the changes. Soon we started checking out the National Express Coaches and NatRail timings and fares. Incredible fares for train and coach rides through the night. 94 quid for a trip from Liverpool to London at 11pm, moreover it’s a 6 hour train ride! Unbelievable. We couldn’t decide on anything till we discussed with the girls. The 4 hours on our own is unbearable, keep counting down to the hour.

Met the girls at around 6 for dinner. Walked back to the station, deciding that we’d grab some dinner along the way. Bypass Wetherspoons. Again. For once again, we are tempted to grab the curry offer for Wednesdays. Would make a big joke, that we had been eating from the same chain for the past 3 days for dinner. Finally, we agreed that we had the choice of choosing something else. Walking further led us to Subway. That’s where we’d have our dinner. Jiaxuan, bugging us for the past 2 days to have Subway, finally gets his wish. Ha. The funnier part is on the Subway staff. For us Londoners, we had Subway discount coupons for students. But apparently the Mancs don’t. The staff were having exclamations when we displayed our coupons, despite accepting them. ‘99p for a meatball sandwich!’ ha, can’t help laughing over their ignorance and expressions. Train ride back was rather uneventful, though I got myself a giant sausage roll before our journey. It cost £1.80, when the same thing cost £1 in Liverpool. Kaoz. Manchester suck.

191206: Liverpool

Woke up at 7.30am for breakfast. Supposed to have a long day ahead, especially after all the last minute changes to our schedule yesterday night. Went down for breakfast at 8. impressed with the YHA breakfast. Full English. Cereal and milk, juice, scambled eggs and sausage with hash browns and bread and croissant, not to mention cappuccino and hot chocolates. Simple incredible. Estimated worth of 4 quid. Wow. The breakfast is heavy. Very fulfilling meal no doubt. Jiaxuan did mention something funny. He noted that the people here multitasked like mad, because the man serving us breakfast is also the reception man last night and the repairman for our room lights. Ha. Clever observation.

Went to city centre at 9. Stepping out of the building, we noticed the fog at once. Maybe not yet a fog, more like a mist. Zhen Qiang needed to go Lime Street to get his new train ticket, while I had to check out the coach fares to Manchester. The girls followed Zhen Qiang, while Jiaxuan came with me. Along the way, we saw the World Museum and the library. Looks much like Roman buildings. Makes me anticipate the visit later. We asked a policeman about the directions to Norton Street. He showed us in a very gentlemanly manner. Kudos to Merseysiders. Reached the station, Jiaxuan had to visit the loo, and it cost 20p. Ouch. I queued up to the counter. The fares bought last minute cost 6 quid a person! WTF. Double the price we paid for online. But the frequency is not bad, every hour has a bus departing for Manchester. Soon Jiaxuan came out and complained that he wasted his 20p. He wanted to shit, but there was a gay fellow occupying the cubicle for ages, like he slept in there. Haha. In the end he just gave up waiting. Wow. Interesting introduction to the day. Called, Zhen Qiang, they agreed to wait for us at the World Museum.

As we approached the museum, we started snapping pictures of the buildings. Nice architecture. Ha. When we reached, Evelyn mentioned that they got chased out by the museum curators since its not opened yet. Had a couple take a group photo for us. Seems like we were intruding their privacy, but it’s alright: let Evelyn do the evil job. We went in, and agreed to go on our own, meeting downstairs at 11.30am. The guys went to the World Culture, simply because Zhen Qiang wanna see the cultures and I wanna see the ancient civilizations. When we reached the exhibition, the girls were also there! Ha. We cruised through the exhibits. Browsing the religious exhibits, particularly the Buddhist ones, Jiaxuan was questioning me about it and we had a good intellectual discussion on his religion and mine. Ha. Nice good feeling.

Almost noon but we were still suffering from the heavy breakfast. Maybe not suffering, but we just didn’t feel hungry. Went on to maritime museum. The fog is still there. And its getting worse. Can’t really see anything beyond 15 to 20 metres. As we neared Albert Dock, it got worse. Much worse. Went to Merseyside Maritime Museum, a world famous one. There are several sections, the ground level being the HM Excise and Customs. Had fun distinguishing the parcels and detecting the smuggles. More amazed with what kind of illegal stuff people tried to bring in. There’s an exhibit on the swallowed packets of heroin also. Absolutely disgusting. 1^st floor starts maritime stuff. Nothing much interesting. We came to this exhibition called ‘Shipwrecked’. Supposedly for kids, there’s a trail and some chopping to be done to collect a souvenir. Ha. All of us acted like kids, going around to play the games and get the chops. Great fun. But the girls went a step further. They went around posing with the items, acting kawaii. Ha. Damn funny. Helped them take a couple of photos. We were finally getting hungry at around 1.45pm. Got out of the museum, thought maybe can stop by a café to have lunch. But seriously, this is not a tourist attraction for nothing. The cafés here had exorbitant prices, particularly true for poor students like us. We ended up walking around the entire dock and came to the Beatles Story instead. Paid 6 quid for a concession ticket to get in, accompanied with a audio guide. Jiaxuan got really funny with all his hilarious poses and he even got Evelyn to pose with him dancing at a Hamburg bar like background. Ha. The exhibit didn’t really leave too much of an impression though, but the significant part came when we reached the tributes to Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon for their contributions. It particularly focused on John Lennon and his passion for peace, as well a white room dedicated to his memory and his assassination. What’s more shocking is that his killer was a fan of his. Seems like politics can blind even the most hardcore fans.

By now, all of us were hungry like wolves. The heavy breakfast lasted till now. We went back to the city centre, looking for a place to eat. In the end, the place we chose was another branch of Wetherspoons, the same chain that we ate yesterday. But today got grill special. The guys ordered mixed grill and for me chicken melt, while the girls order burgers. The fog still hasn’t disappeared. By 6, we left Wetherspoons for Anfield. Got up the bus with a horde of Anfield fans. But that’s not the end. As we got nearer to Anfield, the road started to be jammed. There were more and more stalls selling Liverpool FC merchandise. Wow. When we reached, the crowd was amazing. Can’t believe it. It was almost like a sea of red, like what we would have seen on National Day. Started towards our turnstile, the one that’s supposed to lead us to where we sit. As we proceed, we saw more people moving out of the stadium. What happened? Then came the announcement: “To the supporters of Liverpool Football Club, this is an announcement that the 5^th round Carling Cup match against Arsenal has been postponed. The referee deemed the adverse weather unsuitable. Please keep your tickets for the re-arranged match.” WTF!!! Our dreams burst. No match! Damnit. Gotta go back to city centre. Need to come back again for the match. Haiz. Back to the bus stop. There’s a stall providing the service of you taking a photo with a fake European Cup. What a laugh. There’s another stall selling a CD for Anfield songs, supposedly 56 tracks. They were playing songs that chant about Steven Gerrard. Ha. Further down another stall was selling LFC scarves, with some scarves being half LFC and half Celtic or half Rangers. How can they sell these half hearted scarves? Furthermore they look ugly.

On the bus, we had to stand at the back. There were no seats available. Next to where we were standing, there was a girl giggling. She kept squeaking about something red. The guy behind her started shouting curses at her. Because it was a cold day, the glass panels on the windows were filled with condensed mist. The guy started writing “Blue shit” and “EFC sucks”. Apparently the girl is a Evertonian supporter. She couldn’t stand LFC and start laughing at us. But the guy wouldn’t tolerate the girl dishing out such insults, even to the extent of saying “Have you ever see the real European Cup?” meant to hit the girl’s pride right in the ugly spot. Of course, more and more ‘shut up’s from the girl could be heard. In the end, she wanted to get off the bus full of the Kop. Another group cursed at her while she was alighting. What a scene. She could have kept her mouth shut, given that the streets were filled with red supporters. Moreover, all she had to do was to remain silent and no one would know she supports Everton. She simply deserved it. Meanwhile, Joanne and Evelyn were pleasantly surprised and smiling at the entire comical scene. Guess they don’t really know how much passion we have for the club.

We stopped in the city centre, entered St John’s building’s 99p shop. Had grabbed a few snacks and drinks. Then we made our way back to the hostel. The night is usual, Monopoly with snacks and drinks. I survived the 1^st round, but died the 2^nd. Ha.

181206: Liverpool

Woke up by Caucasians today at 4.30am. Bloody hell move in and out of the room. try to go back to sleep. Finally give up at 5am. Pack up my stuff, do some washing up. Had some tea and digestives. Left hostel at 6am, thought I was early. But by the time I reach Edinburgh Waverley, I barely need to wait long for the train. Met a Malaysian at the train station, barely managed a few words of conversation.

Damnit, I got a seat that’s facing the back of the train. Lousy seat. But the interesting thing about the train is they did label my seat electronically as reserved, for Edinburgh to Preston. Well, there wasn’t any scenery to see then. At 7.19am when the train left Edinburgh, the sky is still dark and nothing to see. Read up my paperback, but soon went to sleep. Was woken up by the train manager, it says so on his tag. Wanted to inspect my ticket. Since I booked a discounted ticket to be used with the Young Persons Railcard, I was prepared to pay for the difference, since I don’t have the card. But the manager didn’t ask for it! Damn heng, maybe the manager embarrassed that he woke me up, so he never ask for it. Haha, save 5 quid. By the time he woke me up, it was already light. Can see the surroundings. Damn nice. A lot of pastures with sheep, buffaloes and horses. Ok not maybe horses, I’m not really sure if I did see them today. And got different sheep, white and black. Black sheep are just black faced with black skin, their wool is still white. Buffaloes are brown! And their fur covers their face almost entirely, quite cute. The landscape is very chio, pastures after pastures of farmland. The train did bypass Lake District, but I never managed to catch a glimpse of any lakes. Like a burst dream.

Stopped at Preston. Changed for a smaller train to Liverpool Lime Street. the train ride is uneventful, fell asleep in intervals. Reached Liverpool Lime Street at around 11.45am, almost as expected. Zhenqiang, Evelyn, Jiaxuan and Joanne had already reached, and walk walk around already. Went to buy pasties, got a minted lamb and giant sausage roll. We walked to YHA Liverpool, our hostel. Never expect it to be this nice. Somemore, they gave us a surprise when we checked in. supposed to have 2 rooms, male dorm and female dorm. But they offered to give us a 5 bed mixed dorm! at the same price somemore. Wah seh, damn lucky. We went up to leave our stuff there, then picked up our hand carry stuff and started on our trip to Anfield.

Went to the bus station as told by the receptionist. Bus 26 at stand 2. Supposed to have taken a bus at 1.15pm, but the stupid bus stopped at stand 1 and left without picking us! WTF, we gotta wait again! Nabeh, the next bus is 8 minutes later. Cursing n swearing for about 5 minutes, the next bus came! Joanne and Evelyn started asking about student fare, which puzzled the rest of us. Eventually we show the driver our student cards and he let us up the bus without any charge! Amazing! After settling down, both of them told us there’s a sign that tell students to ask for student fare. Wow. Need to keep our eyes bigger.

Almost missed our stop. But it can’t really be missed actually. There’s quite a number of people alighting. Rushed down the bus, and marveled at the gate. Shankly’s gate. The famous Shankly’s gate. Whipped out our cameras and started snapping. Snap and snap and snap. Can’t stop. Went in and continued snapping. Especially at the Bill Shankly’s statue. Step into the building, the gift stop is right in front of us. On the left, there’s the reception. Got stuck at the reception. There’s a machine where u can insert a penny and a 50p coin, then the machine will reshape the penny into a momento coin. Busy digging out our change to make the coin. Turned around to ask for museum and tour ticket . but apparently, because of the 5^th round Carling Cup match against Arsenal tomorrow, there wouldn’t be any tours. All of us paid 5 quid for the museum. We revived all our memories, of Bill Shankly, of Bob Paisley, of the golden eras of dominance. WOW. Then there are the replays of the glorious 2004/2005 UEFA Champions League Victory when we turned AC Milan around from 0-3 down to 3-3 draw. Under the eyes and cheers of the Kop, we won the League by penalties! The 5^th Champions League/European Cup Victory! Never in the history of English football had a club been so glorious in its achievements. We were more surprised by the banners that the Kop made for the team. “Victory is momentous; Pride is forever”. There were also digs at Everton, like a picture of an astronaut on the moon, with a commentary that says, “Just like Goodison, no atmosphere.” Then there’s also the European Cups. The 5 different cups. Wow. Can’t help being proud of LFC. Of the Kop. Of the Scousers. “You’ll never walk alone.” In the museum there’s another of the coin minting machine. This time round it shows the European Cup achievement of LFC, the star studded trophy with a 5 on top. Next is the gift shop. Go in, like being in paradise. I grabbed a scarf, 2 banners, 1 for myself and 1 for Uncle Desmond, 2 keychains, 1 for myself and 1 for Darling’s brother. I’ll never buy for the Old Trafford supporting brother. Not for a rival. My scarf is a 1 with Liverpool FC on 1 side, the other side says “You’ll never walk alone”. Damn swee. Total spend 26 quid. Include the museum entry fee and the coins, I spend over 30 quid. Kaoz.

Now for the orgasmic part. We went to the ticket office to purchase our fan card. More like apply for it. All 3 of us, Jiaxuan, Zhen Qiang and me. Then, we wanna try our luck and ask if got any tickets for the 5^th round League Cup match against Arsenal tomorrow. Guess what, it’s on general sale! Meaning we can buy it! The dream of a Liverpool match against another giant in Anfield is too irresistible to pass. No way. Moreover, 30 quid for a big match is cheap. On the spot, all of us agreed to (1) forfeit our National Express Coach fare to Manchester tomorrow evening, (2) forfeit our deposit with Manchester Hilton Chambers hostel since the match starts at 7.30 pm and will likely end beyond 9.30 pm. Zhen Qiang also forgo his train fare to London Euston tomorrow. Everyone’s plans for the trip suddenly change, with the highlights now on the match itself, right in Anfield, watching our heroes against a giant who used to have a Premiership record of 49 matches unbeaten run, inclusive of a Premiership title. On the bus back, I contacted Hlton Chambers to cancel our reservations, call YHA Liverpool to extend our stay, and went to dinner on a high note. The bus driver requires us to pay the fare this time round, £1.10 per person. But it’s ok, we were too high to take note of that. The girls had never seen guys so fanatic before. Ever.

We had dinner at the Liverpool city centre, at a pub. 3 of them had meatball penne pasta, I had fish & chips and Joanne had minted lamb burger. The orders came with a beer, and I ordered a Foster. Went to buy Zhen Qiang’s jersey after dinner, then I went to transfer money from my Flexisaver to my current account. But WTF, the fucking machine transferred money from my Online Savers again! I gonna complain to them when I get back to London. This is ridiculous. WTH.

Anyway, I went to the YHA reception to pay for our accommodation. Turns out that they are charging us 172 quid for 2 nights! That’s impossible! I bargained with the guy, then he came out with the expected 142 quid figure which I’m satisfied with. The rest borrowed Scrabble and Monopoly. After showering, we spent the evening playing a 5 person monopoly twice, once won by me and the 2^nd won by Zhen Qiang. The 2^nd game was particularly weird, since he had virtually no property to start with! Anyway, all of us are tired after all the changes in plans. Can’t believe so much happened in a single day. Tomorrow, we gonna go visit Beatles Story, World Museum, Mersey Maritime Museum, all of which are world famous, and most importantly, catch our match and a winning game against the Gunners. Be prepared to be gunned by us instead.

171206: Edinburgh

Woke up at 6am. Damn tired. Last night sleep 11pm because of the stupid Bluetooth transfer. Anyway, since fucking tired, decided to skip sunrise at Calton Hill, go straight to the castle. So I sleep further till 9am. But fucking hell those people in my room all leaving around that time. Then a lot of people wake up around that time also. End up gotta wait for the toilet. Sian. Decided to eat breakfast instead. Make the coffee they supplied, very tasteless. Pay peanuts, get monkeys. Can’t help it. Change and pack up my stuff, decided that right after I wash up, can pick up my bag then go walk walk liao. Anyway, reach the castle at around 10am. Along the way, all the scenery damn beautiful. Take a lot of pictures. At the castle, finally get to see Arthur’s Seat in daylight. Damn swee. Paid my ticket, and ask for BOE (Bank of England) note since they gave me BOS change.

Went in, really like fairy tale scene. People who are Lord of the Rings fans and do know about castles, will know that it is very similar and familiar to those castle scenes. The 1^st gate I pass through is the gate tower, built in 1887. Walk through the tower, got a guard room on the right. Now the guard becomes a gift shop. Starting from the gate, paths are mostly cobble stones, which means damn slippery when wet. Need to be damn careful. Approximately 15 steps from the 1^st gate is a place called the 1^st barrier. It was the site of the gate and drawbridge before its current location in the 16^th century. Then walk further uphill, on the left got a monument on the wall (the Brits like to do that, save a lot of space) in memory of Sir William K-something, can’t really remember. Dunno what he does anyway, will know later. Right in front of me was a gate called Portcullis Gate, those wooden ones that slides upwards (or do you call it draws upwards?) and got spikes below the gate. Typical of a castle defence. Pass through the gate, there’s a iron flight of steps leading to a platform beside the castle wall on the right. Apparently people add that on for perfect view of the city. And it really is. Fucking breathtaking. In the morning sun, can see everything below the castle. From the St Giles Cathedral on the right to Firth of Forth at the very horizon and I-dunno-what’s-there to the left, the north view is damn beautiful. Partially is because I’m on top on a castle rock, but that’s another issue. Right beside the wall of terrific scenery (I dunno what the wall is called) is a battery of cannons, placed perpendicular to the curved wall forming a obvious round defence for this face. Behind the cannons, there’s a cliff with some signs below. Those signs tell of the general outline of castle history. On the left of the cliff is a flight of stairs called the Lang Stairs, lang meaning long. It leads up the Portcullis gate to the Argyle tower, right above the gate, where 9^th Earl of Argyle was supposed to be confined before his execution. What he is beheaded for I dunno, but definitely something that make his beheader mad. Within the tower is a model of the castle, made during the 19^th century. The modeling skills then were really good, comparable to the ones we have now. The room a slightly dark, and definitely got the I’m-imprisoned-here-before-I-died-against-my-will atmosphere. The room also documented a blueprint of a supposed major alteration to the castle, make it look like French chateau. But because of widespread opposition (the Scots are really proud people), it was scrapped. Out of the tower, the Lang Stairs should lead me up to the summit of the castle rock, which it did.

At the end of the Lang Stairs, there’s a battery (under preservation maintenance) on my left, a half-crescent battery further left, the Scottish National War Museum right in front of me, the gradual slope that leads down the castle, and a chapel on my right. I went to the chapel 1^st. I’m not a Christian, but the Chapel sounds very interesting. It’s the oldest building on the castle, built around the 12^th century for Saint Margaret. According to Scottish history, Margaret was a Queen by marriage (meaning she married a King) and was made a Saint by Pope Innocent (I dunno which Pope, but definitely not the 1^st and this Pope recognizes the Scottish Crown a lot, as I’ll tell in the later part). Anyway, the chapel is really small, smaller than my bedroom in Singapore. There’s a simple altar, then some seats at the side of the chapel, with tinted glass windows. Simple and sweet. The entire internal walls were whitewashed, to make it look brighter I guess. Right outside the chapel is a big big cannon. The cannon ball is even bigger than the caliber size of FH2000’s 120mm round. The cannon is called Mon Megs, made in Mon, Belgium and presented to King James II in 1457. It was used in the war against the English, but soon after only used in ceremonial salutes for VIPs. Its broken after its barrel burst in 1681, but given the size of its barrel it can fit 1 normal human being in! By normal I mean slim and tender type, not those with fat asses, big bellies or inhuman busts. Beside Mon Megs lies a sign that says Dog Cemetery. Used to bury ceremonial mascots and officers’ dogs. Even dogs get to be recognized and allowed to bury in the castle. Kaoz. After this part, I went to the other side of Lang Stairs, the other end where the half-crescent battery lies. This battery platform was built after a massive invasion that results in a lot of destruction. Anyway, the battery doesn’t really seem that interesting to me, only a few cannons in a crescent formation. Between the Scottish National War Museum (its backside) and the half crescent battery, I found a path of steps leading downwards. It’s the remains of David’s tower that once stands on that site before the half crescent battery was built. Going down the steps and into the room, it’s a shocking comparison. Right in front of me was a room with some red light, quite a bit of debris and quite dark. It is said to be the burial spot of the Honours of the Scottish Crown during WW2. At that time, Germany is really fucking powerful in 1941 and Britain is worried about a German invasion. Hence Scotland made the decision to bury the Honours at the David’s Tower (more like a cellar) and its location was only known to 4 people, the King, Secretary of State, Duke of Edinburgh I think, and for some fucking reason, the Governor General of Canada. They suppose the secret is safer across the Atlantic should Britain fall. What a laugh. Anyway, on the left of the main room was a dark cellar like cavern (not even like a room). Here is a room where a lot of soldiers died during an invasion. I can’t remember what invasion, but around 15 skeletons of soldiers were found in this room. They were supposed to be firing a cannon at the higher corner of the room, the cannon hole was later covered by the half-crescent battery. Very sad life. Out of this 2 rooms, there’s another door that leads to a room. Supposed to be the site of a Black Dinner. The Stewart King then wanted to suppress the rivals to the Crown, especially Black Douglass. So he invited the 2 brothers over for dinner at the David’s Tower. Somewhere along the dinner, someone served a buffalo head which is a sign that someone was supposed to die (I dunno why). The King accused the brothers of treason and had them executed. The next room is just plain cavern carved out of rock and sand. Got 2 models, 1 holding a crossbow and 1 kid holding a arrow. Should be a crossbowman during the medieval era. And the spot is where they fired. Came out of David’s Tower to the most important part of the castle.

The main part of the castle is 4 buildings built with a square in the middle. There’s the Royal Palace, the Great Hall, Queen Anne’s Chambers and the Scottish National War Museum. I came to that part through a path between the Royal Palace and the museum, and there’s another path out between Queen Anne’s Chambers and the museum. The museum should be a fairly new structure. Anyway the Royal Palace 1^st.

The Royal Palace is the place where the Royals stay, duh. But the Honours are placed here as well, i.e the Crown room. Actually, the palace is now a museum showing what the Honours are and how they are significant, particularly highlighting the life of the Scottish Kings and Queens. The Honours of the Scottish Crown refer to the Crown, the Sword of State, the Sceptre and a rock called the Stone of Destiny, often referred to as the Scone. The circlet Crown was 1^st used by King Robert the Bruce, subsequently modified to the current velvet type full Crown. The more unusual thing would be the Sword of State and the Sceptre. They were presented to the Scottish throne by Popes! Once Catholic, the Kings had requested for the coronation and anointment of the throne in the Catholic tradition from various Popes. Finally they get to do it, and it’s supposed to signify that the Pope had recognized their Kingdom as independent and sovereign, i.e the Vatican is of even higher authority than the monarch of the kingdom! Scottish history focus quite a lot on Queens, particularly Queen Mary. It was in history that Mary is the Queen of Scots, with a claim to the English throne. She was crowned when she’s only 5 days old! After that she went to France to live till she was 18 then move back to start her reign. This Queen was forced to abdicate in favour of her son, James, after being accused of murder. She escaped to England and was imprisoned for 20 years before being executed. Her son finally did become the King of Scots and subsequently also the English King. In defence of the Queen and her Crown and Honours, Sir William K-something that I talked about previously defended Edinburgh Castle with the Honours in them against the King’s supporters. There’s a party supporting the Queen, and a party wanting the Queen to step down for her son. Simple as that. The King’s party invaded Edinburgh Castle successfully, then executed Sir William K-something (I still can’t remember his surname). Now to the Stone of Destiny. A very funny story. It is said that Scottish Kings are crowned on the Stone of Destiny, i.e they did not have a throne to start with. This Scone became the central point of the monarchy, and was brought to Westminister Abbey to be kept there after the invasion of the English. Recently, the Scone is returned to Edinburgh castle. After the palace, I went to the Great Hall, supposed to be a place for banquets now. Inside, there’s lots of displayed spears and swords, breastplates and helmets with small little mortars. Nothing much in there. Queen Anne’s Chambers is now a café that’s quite expensive, I didn’t go in. I went to the museum instead. It’s a building with a lion holding a shield with the Union’s symbol on the right of the main entrance, on the left is a horse holding a shield with the Scottish symbol. The museum is largely a monument to commemorate the men of the various arms and regiments of the Scottish armed forces, which is part of the British Royal Armed Forces. They even recognize the efforts of Scottish women and combat support people such as the medics and logisticians. Proud people, definitely.

Out of the museum, I went on the bath between the Queen Anne’s Chambers and the museum, to the gradual sloping path up the castle which I did not take earlier on. Going down the path, I came to a lower point in the castle, where it’s a crossroad of a few paths leading to a few places. I went down to the Low Defence, which is a garrison of cannons built by a general called Wade. Nothing much, but again the view of the city is mesmerizing. Back to the crossroad, I went to the western defence instead and was shown what’s a one-o’clock cannon. Its basically a cannon that works complementary to the time ball on Nelson’s monument on Calton Hill, telling old Edinburgh of the time. Back to the crossroads again, went down another path. This time to the War Museum, where it showcase Scottish military. This is more like a museum compared to the Scottish National War Museum. That’s more like Scottish National War Memorial lor. Anyway, the museum is alright la, nothing much to see, except that I finally understand why Britain got such a flag. The Scottish fights in kilts, which are skirts that men wear. Then saw a oil painting with Scottish soldiers in typical British red tops and kilts fighting a war in Egypt, WW1 or 2 I think. Quite funny to see men fight in skirts, but I guess they are really really proud of their roots and traditions. Even British armies now sometimes have the Scottish flag used. The museum used to be ordnance storage and a garrison hospital. In fact, within the castle, there are wells 34m deep and also a military prison. Never went to the Prisoners of War museum, kaoz. Can’t help it, no time. The military prison was used to imprison soldiers, Scottish included, who commits military crimes such as drunk on guard and desertion, common ones we see in all military today. Finally decided to exit the castle, it’s almost 2.30pm.

Went to buy lunch, hot panini. Kaoz, 3 quid but since it’s hot, it’s worth it. Decided to go Calton Hill to watch sunset, it’s almost time. On the way, I chanced upon a cemetery. It’s full of mausoleums like necropolis in Glasgow. Kaoz, damn nice. Then right in the middle got a obelisk tomb that’s so damn fucking high, I didn’t know it’s a tombstone when seen from the outside. Beyond the cemetery is the Calton Hill. Finally climbed up the hill. Like the castle, the view here is breathtaking. Unlike the castle, it gave a 360 degree view of Edinburgh. As what Ian would have said if he’s here, ‘I went to heaven and came back again’. Pictures taken here often can form a good contrast between urban developments and organic landscape. Particularly good is the view to see Arthur’s Seat. Gotta climb up the unfinished Partheon like monument. Damn damn beautiful. Being a dormant volcano, the sloping land is so fertile, the grass growing on it is simply orgasmic. 3.30pm. I once contemplated about climbing the hill. But fuck, it’s so damn far away! Nabeh. Since it’s only 3.30pm, might as well go to the Museum of Childhood I passed by yesterday. But fuck, I can’t find it anymore. Then an idiot like me still don’t wanna consult the guide. I end up not seeing it. My trip to Edinburgh ends with a almost complete exploration of its beautiful castle, a trip to Calton Hill, a nice surprise of Christmas and a whole lot of half fuck useless pride by not checking up the guide I paid 10 quid for. Damnit. Tomorrow I’m leaving Edinburgh for Liverpool. Hope it’ll be as fun as this city. I missed too much here, I’m coming back for more, including the Lothians and Highlands trip as well as trips to Loch Ness and Lomond!

161206: Glasgow, Edinburgh

Couldn’t sleep to prepare for the trip. In the end only got 2h of sleep. Had v early breakfast, at around 2am. Depressing weather on Saturday morning. Raining 3am in the morning. Left Bankside at 3.40am. Suppose can be in time. Walk in the drizzle to Liverpool Street station. A lot of people waiting for Terravision coach. Missed the early bus, because it was full. The right bus left 20 minutes later than it should.

Barely make it in time to check in at 6am. Went to departure gate straight, but the queue was fucking long. Can’t believe it. Most of the people at Stansted airport seem to be Arabs. Not many Caucasians, not many Asians either. The queue takes fucking long. 30 minutes pass by and I still haven’t gone through the security screening. Finally my turn to get screened, easy come easy go. But got a second screening to go through. Need to take off footwear to screen! Fucking hell, I was wearing boots today. Difficult to take out, even more difficult to wear. Never tie my bootlace, ran to the boarding gate. Got a nice air stewardess guide me to the plane. Not swee zha bo, but kind enough to help. Gotta walk down to the airport ground, then walk all the way to the plane. Plane is Boeing 737-800, more like a flying bus. Across the width only 6 seats, with a corridor in middle. I sit around 10 rows from the front, can’t remember. Can even see cockpit and pilot. Super cui. Bought a juice and still water from the air stewardess, can’t bring water in my hand luggage. Then got a lucky draw coupon. The lucky winner gets a free return trip from Glasgow to London. Guess who won? No prize for guessing it right, I won. Dunno whether really lucky or not. Lucky number is 356488. The flight to Glasgow quite alright, nothing much. Pretty fast also. But then, the pilot like no skill, fly plane till very jerky. And Glasgow airport is damn cui. Even more cui than Stansted. Can’t believe it. So bloody small. Didn’t even ask where the coach stand is, just walk straight to the railway station. Got 50% discount if got air ticket. Not really that expensive, only £2.80 to city centre. My Terravision coach cost £8 to Stansted, and not even half as comfortable as train. Damnit.

Reach city centre. Went to Costa to get a hot chocolate to warm myself up. For 1 thing, Scotland is fucking cold! And it not even full blast winter yet. Weather has been sub 10, maybe even sub 5. My hands are freezing. Walk around Glasgow. Then saw a outdoor ice skating set-up with many people skating. Beside got a nice old building, thought is Glasgow cathedral. Start to take a lot of pictures. Damnit, start to drizzle again liao. Run to the cathedral, realize it’s not opened. Suddenly saw a sign that says ‘City Council Chambers’. Damn malu! The drizzle last only a few minutes. Then start walking to the actual cathedral after looking at illustrated guide. Just now gek kiang, don’t want look at map. Now must hold map in my hands. Thought walk to the junction then turn right can liao. Turn right only hit cathedral street, gotta chiong all the way to the end then is the cathedral. But seriously, it’s worth it.

The cathedral quite swee, copper roof top then corrode to give cyan green colour. Quite nice. But still it is close today. Dunno why. Take a few photo of cathedral only, because I came for the thing behind the cathedral, the necropolis! Seriously, chua chu kang cemetery can’t fight the necropolis. CCK cemetery may be big, but it’s too uniformed. Here, the grave is humongous. People actually rich enough to built concrete houses for the dead. Some of the houses cui already, got ‘danger! Keep out’ sign. Somemore got nice gate. Look better than my house on the outside, inside don’t need to say. I don’t wanna live in crypt for sure, so cannot compare. The necropolis is a graveyard built on a hill. And the unique thing about thing graveyard is that all the people buried here are rich. They can build crypts, mausoleums, obelisks for their dead. We only have a 2m by 1m grave with half of it used for plastic grass and the other half show the name, face and year of death. That is if you are buried. If not, you will live the rest of your eternal life in a ceramic urn that contains your ashes. Stacked up like HDB flats in ancestry houses or Mount Vernon, but I think now Mount Vernon change to Mandai Crematorium already. Anyway, I am damn fucking impressed with the necropolis. It deserved its name. I mean, if necropolis not good then the whole fucking trip to Glasgow is wasted. Fucking wasted. The funny thing is I only spent half an hour in necropolis. Then got dai ba amount of time left. How leh? I started walking to Buchanan bus station, there supposed to have my bus to Edinburgh. Then it started drizzling again, but this time heavier. Dunno I suay or heng, it never rain any bit while I was at necropolis, at least can enjoy. Seriously dunno what to eat, went to prêt to buy a hoisin duck wrap, takeaway. Bring to the bus station to eat. Eat finish liao thought can take my bus to Edinburgh. Wah piang, the stupid driver die die don’t want let me take, ‘cause I book from megabus but they rather take Citylink customers. Fuck, should have booked earlier. Maybe don’t even book at all, can just pay money and take the bus lidat. So got to fucking wait 1 h lor. Lucky I got bring novel, can read a bit. But the rain make the weather damn chilly, cold sia. Read till bus come le take bus to Edinburgh.

Wah, I think I quite smart also. I saw Shandwick Place which is the street of my hostel, quickly alight. Then don’t need to walk extra, walk whole day with my backpack quite shiong on my shoulders. The place is quite cui, somemore no lockers. But then pay peanuts get monkeys, can’t help it. At least got free tea and coffee, but need to boil water ourselves. Put down my backpack, strip off the small bag, then carry the small bag go walk walk le. Day still a bit bright, thought maybe can rush to Calton Hill to watch sunset, should be quite romantic. Can take scenic shots also. Fucking hell start to rain again. Then gotta call off the Calton Hill visit, go tomorrow. Decided to explore around Edinburgh 1^st, see where got nice stuff to eat and shop. Then suddenly I saw fairyland. Seriously, you wouldn’t expect to see it, because got a bit dark. It’s Edinburgh castle. Machiam like built out of fairy tale. Damn chio, nothing like I’ve seen before. Actually that time go oxford got see oxford castle, look really puny and fake. But this time round, its fucking big! Nabeh, built on top of a hill somemore. No wonder it’s a fortress, anyone without the right equipment try to climb up the hill from the sides seriously is considering meeting hades early. So hard to climb, somemore if got people at the top defend, u confirm plus guarantee chop cannot make it. Fucking chio is one thing, I dunno how to go up. Walk further along princes street. Then saw the fun fair. Christmas fun fair wor. Wah seh, damn cool lor. Tan dio liao, who would expect to see a fun fair here? Went to the handcrafts fair 1^st, seriously all damn chio and damn expensive. Want to buy, but don’t dare buy. Even if buy also hard to bring back to London, since I’m going Liverpool and Manchester 1^st. There got merry go round, bungee jumpers, outdoor ice skating! All like damn fun, but never play. No money is one thing, fucking hungry is 2^nd. Bought a jumbo hot dog and eat. Then walk up towards to Royal Mile (I gek kiang assume one). Suddenly feel like walking to the castle entrance. The castle looks very different from below and from the entrance. In front of the main entrance got 1 fucking big open space. Went to check out the entrance fee. £10.30 for students! Want to vomit blood liao. Well, I’ll still go lah, it’s one of the most beautiful places to go to, and if I come Edinburgh don’t go castle, then come for what? In front of the castle got a shop a bit like a gift shop. But there got specialty: tarton. Tarton is the stripped cloth that Scottish use to make their clothes, damn famous and got a lot of meaning also. Different clans got different pattern, different colour. Their clans is not like the Singapore type, not Ang Soon or 369. Within a castle itself, the different squadrons protecting it usually are the clans. So a clan may be defending the north, another the south tower, another firing the cannons etc. Then different era also got different clan. The shop displayed many kinds, see liao eyes also blur. They also got display the old way of making the wool, then knitting and weaving the wool into tartons. But those that they sell are fucking expensive. Down the round, a shop is clearing factory products that look and feel exactly the same, but the price is 1/3 or less. But treat it like a museum, it’s pretty entertaining also. Now my itchy backside come already. I walk all the way to the other end of Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is a mile of road linking the Edinburgh castle and the Holyrood Palace. Suppose to be super happening, but I guess it’s late and dark le, so maybe not as rowdy. Anyway, tomorrow I gonna wake up early then rush to Calton Hill to watch sunrise, if possible. Then I go visit Edinburgh castle. After that, along the way got some museums can see see look look. I give up on Arthur’s Seat already, looks too damn high.