Weather Update

Okay, so the weather in Scotland has officially confounded me. Just last week I was moaning about how it would never get warm, but it looks like I'll have to eat my words yet again.

Temperatures in the past few days have climbed to around 16 to 17 degrees celsius. For the first time since I got here, I've been able to walk around in just a light cardigan and not get cold spasms! And for the first time two days ago, I began to crave ice cream.

It's just sad that the weather got so nice just when I'm about to leave :(

Notes on the Weather

So I've written much about the weather in Edinburgh ever since I first got here. It's been a constant preoccupation, and no day starts without without me checking BBC Weather for the 24-hour forecast. Since January, my days have been planned around the possibility of snowfall, and foreshortened based on how early the sun sets.

So now that we're in Spring and supposedly approaching summer, what can I say about Scotland's weather?

I have posted several times in March and April about the coming of 'spring.' Well, we're in May now and I think I can say with some resignation that Scotland will always be cold - well at least for the time I'm here.

I first arrived in January when temperatures hovered around 7 - 9degrees celsius. It dipped down to 0 - 3 degrees in the thick of Winter by February, but slowly climbed back up to January temperatures by late March. This week in May, temperatures are at a chilly 9 -11 degrees. We don't have to worry about snow and frost anymore, but there's been tons of rain accompanied by Edinburgh's famous winds. Although to be fair, on sunny days, the sun does get pretty strong - but never quite enough for one to have a comfortable picnic in the park!


Well, perhaps I'll end this note on the gloomy Scottish weather more optimistically by quoting what my highland tour guide once said: "There's no bad weather! Just bad clothes!"

Weather Update

I think I can say with some confidence, that Spring is in the air!

Weather in the past 3 days has been wonderful. It is finally sunny, and the BBC is finally reporting more consistent double-digit temperatures (in celsius).

One final testament to the change in seasons: people have ventured out into public parks simply to lie on the grass and soak up the sun.

Yay!

On the Weather

The one similarity Scots and Singaporeans have is that we both hate the weather we've got.

It's a testament to just how erratic the weather here is. Last week, it was all sunshine and clear skies - I was able to go about happily in my new wool coat and ballerina pumps.

This week it's wet and snowy with temperatures diving below 0 even in the day. I've taken out my puffy winter parka, and sturdier shoes.

An observation: a lot of Singaporeans I've spoken to over the years are significantly enamoured with the thought of holidaying in winter and seeing snow. Since I've come here, quite a few friends back home have commented on how 'nice' the weather must be because it's 'cold' and therefore good. For some reason this has always mildly irritated me, especially after I nearly got frostbite when I was 11 as a result of playing with 'nice' snow. I really want to rectify this misconception, which I think has found much fruit in a nation which can't survive without air conditioning.

16 degrees on your airconditioner does not take into account wetness, sleet, frost, blustering winds and violent pelting snow! That's why its an air conditioner; it conditions the air to be unnaturally static and calm, thus making the 'cold' extremely tolerable and hospitable.

As you can tell, this weather makes me full of ill-will. And I think I'm doubly cranky because I was woken up at 8am by the construction outside my hall.

On the bright side, there's a forecast for sunny days this weekend!!!

Monday: Snow and all that Jazz

The first snow in Edinburgh this winter!

One reason why I like snow is because it gives the entire landscape an added look of winter melancholy. Bleak, desolate but aesthetic nevertheless.



Yet as always, my liking of it declines once I leave my doorstep. Snow for me, is best appreciated indoors with a mug of hot chocolate in hand, curled up on a sofa. Or, (my favourite), when soaking in an open-air hot spring with your body immersed in warm water, and your face exposed to the delicious, tingly cold. Yum.

Snow is however, hardly pleasant when you're in the thick of it, at least for me. And certainly not so when its systematically soaking you to the bone, and splattering across your glasses during a 20 minute walk to school which balloons into a half hour journey because of the slippery ground. Eek.

But snow is snow, and coming from Singapore, it is an event to be taken note of.

On that same evening, we went down to The Jazz Bar on Chambers Street which apparently, is pretty well-known around this area. It's located in the basement and is a little subterranean gem of a place! Junwen, if you were here, it's like Jazz@Southbridge but better I think!

Listened to a 17-piece Big Band over a bottle of Corona, which was really quite a lovely, relaxing end to the day. I took a truncated video of the place - truncated because this (believe it or not) was the first time I was using the video function of my camera! Apologies for the amateurishness of the video and its brevity.





But sharp viewers might've gleaned the general demographic of the bar from my video. We were possibly the youngest patrons there amongst the white-haired oldtimers and middle-aged working adults! However as we left, we did spot a younger set of people filling in, probably to catch the subsequent funk and soul outfit. Oh, and possibly taking advantage of the free entry after 10.30pm.

But going back again; After the excellent performance, we chatted with James one of the trumpeters who was kind enough to give us a little musical demonstration about the different sounds and tones of a trumpet! Here he is below, in one of the only pictures he deigned to appear in (camera shy).



All in all, a pretty interesting day. Back in Pollock, the residual strains of music in my mind quickly lulled me to sleep.