On the Road: The Highlands once more

I'm currently in a delightful Bed and Breakfast outfit called The White Heather. It's close to sub-zero temperatures in Kyleakin, on the Isle of Skye but today was absolutely awesome! I'm mentally kicking myself for not bringing along my SD card reader because by the looks of it, I'm going to have a massive amount of pictures after my 3 week Easter break - 114 pictures today and I think that's modest compared to my dad who has amassed over a thousand images since Wednesday!

Am on a 3-day Scottish highlands tour with my family. The route covered by the tour bus is almost identical to the one I took about 3 weeks ago with my own friends, however, now that the snow has melted (somewhat), and the Spring colours are emerging, I'm discovering a vastly different landscape. It doesn't hurt that today was an absolutely gorgeous day contrary to the more wintry scenes we encountered the last time. Now it's all clear blue skies and bright sunshine - one of the rare 47 days in a year when the summit of Ben Nevis is actually visible!

I will get around to uploading photos once I have the chance to do so - but in the absence of images, I can only gush rather incoherently. Absolutely, absolutely breath-taking scenery. Simply s.p.e.c.t.a.c.u.l.a.r. I'm so glad I'm back here!!!

And dinner gets a special mention here. If you ever find yourself in the Isle of Skye, pop by Creeler's Restaurant in the town of Broadford for seafood. We had scallops, lobsters, monk fish and seafood gumbo - the food is orgasmic and is coupled by faultless service in a cosy and intimate setting. And best of all, the food served is made using fresh local produce from the Island itself! Yum. 

Alright, will go bathe and get some rest. Tomorrow, we tour Skye and I can't wait! I just hope the forecast for 'liquid sunshine' doesn't actually materialize though :( Will keep my fingers crossed for good weather!   

Spring Vacation

Easter Break Vacation:

28th March - 31st March: In the Highlands with family

1st April - 9th April: London with family

10th April - 12th April: Paris

13th April - 16th April: Nice

16th April - 19th April: London with Stephanie!!!!

19th April - 22th April: Edinburgh

22th April - 24th April: Madrid

24th April - 27th April: Barcelona

27th April: Back again to Edinburgh for exams

When the fun Really begins

Tomorrow is the last day of school.

My suitcase is open and ready to be packed.

I drop off my hostel keys by Saturday.

My parents arrived in Edinburgh yesterday (yay!)

And there are 9 weeks of holidays till the end of term (with 3 exams in between).

O.M.G Let the fun begin.

When Irish eyes are smiling: Dublin (230309 - 240309)

Evening scene of the River Liffey


Dublin! What can I say?

It has it's lovely spots here and there as all destinations surely do if you look hard enough, but in general I was not impressed. Stone me for saying this, but as a short 2-day tourist destination, I seriously think Singapore would be more interesting.

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way so I don't dwell on it excessively and unnecessarily for the rest of the post. The weather was wintery in the thick of March. The city is horribly expensive (Normal cheese-and-ham sandwich for 4 euros. Minimum). There are some pretty buildings here and there, but the whole does not surpass its parts in general - unless you have an undying passion for bullet-ridden building facades. After oo-ing and aah-ing over the Millenium and Tyne Bridge in Newcastle, seeing the Liffey river and the ha'penny bridge was quite underwhelming. The main thoroughfare in Dublin, O'Connell Street, is nothing compared to its equivalents in Edinburgh, although I have to say the Millenium Spire was quite cool and worth a good long gape.

Sadly, the Dubliners whom I encountered on the streets were none too helpful, and were prone to push and shove, and ignore our questions regarding road directions. City-living perhaps; everyone looked like they were in a rush. Though thankfully the people who did matter, including the customs officer and tour guide, were friendly to the fault.

In terms of night-life, I suppose we picked a bad day going on a Monday/Tuesday but I did expect more people out and about after sunset, instead of the sparse crowds we encountered.

Now the good stuff. If you do go to Dublin, here's what I'd recommend you do, Jeanne-style!


1. Irish Dancing Night, Arlington Hotel

It's your own mini River Dance. I strongly recommend you head down to the Arlington Hotel at 10pm, whichever night you're in Dublin to catch the free Irish dancing. You can grab dinner here, or simply do what we did, which was to order a drink each and watch the show unfold.

I'm told by Felyna that the act isn't as professional as the original River Dance, but it should make an entertaining, half-hour slice of Irish culture :) Gotta give it up to the dancers - 30 solid minutes of feet-stomping, prancing, leaping and twirling! And all seemingly done without a sweat.

2. Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle


Entry into the Castle itself is 3.50 euros (student rate) - it's more of a stately house than a castle, and a very exquisitely funished one at that. However, the real gem within the grounds is the Chester Beatty library, named after a prolific (prolifically rich as well) book and manuscript collector who amassed an astounding amount of material. This collection includes the largest set of Qurans outside of the Middle East, fragments of the Pauline letters, and beautiful scrolls depicting scenes from Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji.

Chester Beatty's amazing collection is housed within the Library, and is on display for free - I might add this is rare in Dublin where you pay through your nose for most things. This cultural treasure trove is definitely worth a look.

3. Beauty Spots: Trinity College campus and St Patrick's Cathedral


I want to be a student at Trinity after viewing the campus! You enter the gates, into a seriously gorgeous oasis of calm right smack in the middle of town. There are neatly manicured lawns dotted with the most beautiful selection of trees ever and elegant buildings including the pretty structure you see in the picture above, built specially to give the campus 'a touch of class.' As if it didn't already have enough!



Sadly the lawns are off-limits to everyone and you could be thrown out by security if you're found on it. So beautiful. So inaccessible. But it makes a good photo-op. And sometimes that's all that matters...in a sad, ironic way.

Another really pretty place is St Patrick's Cathedral. Specifically the gardens outside of St Pat's which are exquisite especially since the flowers are now in bloom.




Didn't manage to go into the Cathedral because of limited time, but I imagine it would be fairly nice as well!

4. Pub Grub: Beef and Guinness Stew

Trust me that after a cold, wet day, nothing beats sitting down to a pipping hot bowl of stew; and this Irish beef stew which I had in the Temple Bar area was absolutely amazing and homely. They don't skimp on the beef, which is incidentally very tender and juicy. Mmm. Treat yourself a little for a meal like this - so worth it.

Looking happy!

So in all, I'm glad I went to Ireland, and that I can say I've been to Ireland (and again, sometimes that's all that matters in a sad-ironic way). Nevertheless, I won't go back again and I wouldn't recommend it in gushing tones. If you have a choice, come to Edinburgh.

Back to the Rice Bowl

Returning exhausted from Newcastle yesterday, I succumbed and decided to treat myself to my first Chinese meal in Scotland. I'd been tempted by the smell of Roasted duck when walking through Newcastle's Chinatown, and my Asian palate simply had to be satisfied.

Edinburgh doesn't have a Chinatown (not that I'm aware of), so I headed off for the next best thing - Kampong Ah Lee on Nicholson Street.

I swear for the past 4 weeks, this place has been calling out to me, with its bright red facde, and the newspaper clippings plastered proudly across the store front. The reviews did seem pretty promising, however sue me for saying this, but I'm dubious whenever I hear Western food writers who have never lived in the region praising Malaysian/Singaporean food as 'authentic.' Perhaps I'm a snob that way.

But in any case, my conversion started the minute I entered the humble premises of Kampong Ah Lee. Some surefire signs you're in good company? The clientale is Asian, the music is Jay Chou and the decoration is kitschy miniature Petronas Twin Towers. A bonus if general atmosphere is homely and unpretentious - loud talking, people using fingers to eat chicken wings etc.

The menu is quite extensive covering a whole gamut of dishes, including the usual suspects like Nasi Lemak, Laksa and Hor Fan. However, here I must express some regret that they also had Singaporean noodles on the menu. What on earth are these mysterious Singaporean noodles?? I saw them everywhere in New York's Chinatown but have yet to figure out what they are. Apparently some exotic concoction involving bee hoon, curry and other random spices, which can be found everywhere else except Singapore.

Price-wise, all dishes are about 6 pounds upward. It's definitely not cheap compared to their equivalents back home, but that's life abroad I suppose.

Because I had a craving for salted fish, I placed my order for the pork and salted fish rice dish with a young-ish Chinese waiter who spoke with a delightful Scottish accent, and then switched to Cantonese when behind the counter with his mother.

Sadly I didn't take a picture of the food because I was so hungry that I just tucked in the moment it arrived steaming hot on the table. However, for 5.80pounds you get a massive mound of Thai rice which is slightly disproportionate to the amount of meat and veg you get. But I'm not complaining - I finished practically all of it. In addition to pork and salted fish, the meal for some reason, was also accompanied by chicken and beef slices. The entire thing was garnished with sliced onions and green peppers, and rounded off with a generous topping of gravy.

It was in a word, shiok. I suppose it is hard to go wrong with pork, salted fish and rice, but in any case I enjoyed it. It wasn't fantastic but it was good enough to satisfy my craving for Asian food. The pork even had those fatty bits which are just mmmmmmmmmmmm....

Go when you get hit by that insatiable craving of good ol' home-cooked food! Throw in a bubble-tea as well for instance gratification.

The Weekly Round-up

Expenses for 16th - 22nd March

Food and Bev: £10.75
Passport photos: £4
Laundry token: £1
Postage: £1.47

Total: £17.22

Trip to Newcastle (21st March 2009)

Return trainfare: £16.80
Angel Bus (return): £3.20
Busker donation: £1
Lunch: £0.79

Total: £21.79

Newcastle: MY Top Pick of the Week!

I decided on a particularly dull Thursday afternoon to take a spontaneous day trip somewhere over the weekend. My only stipulations were that it had to be near, accessible and, in the favourite words of my Art History teacher, "cheap as chips." My decision was somewhat arbitrary - I looked at googlemaps and just chose the Northern-most English city, closest to Edinburgh which didn't sound boring or dangerous.

And so Newcastle it was!

Newcastle is just 1.5hrs away from Edinburgh, and you can get single tickets for as low as £5.60. I packed up chocolates and a very pixellated and low-resolution map which I had found online, and went to catch the 7.30am train out of Waverly station.

As the train approached Newcastle, I spied rows upon rows of uninspired looking maroon houses all with the same ugly chimeney fixture. My heart sank, and I thought 'Oh God, I've arrived in the heartlands of the Industrial Revolution.'

But thankfully, in this case, my first impressions were almost immediately squashed. Gone are the greasy shipyards and grimy factories belching smoke - the once declining industrial town has undergone a cultural renaissance, and Newcastle has emerged feverishly H.I.P.!



Newcastle has a little bit of everything. Grainger Town, the historic heart of Newcastle, is full of regal old-world buildings. It also houses Grey Street, which was apparently voted by Radio Four listeners as their favourite street in England.


It's certainly very elegant, flanked on either side by stately looking architecture, leading up a gentle curve to the imposing Grey Monument, commemorating Charles Grey, the second Earl Grey - yes, the tea is named after him!

Crowds gathered at the base of Grey Monument listening to a guy with pink hair championing a Socialist Revolution

And once you've had your taste of old-world charm, go soak up the breezy, ultra-stylish vibe that positively throbs through the Quayside. It's an amazing place!

I cannot stress it enough, Newcastle makes a fantastic citybreak within the UK. Perhaps The Times wasn't too off the mark when it described Newcastle as the 'New Capital of Britain.' It's got everything I imagine a topclass city would have. Here were some of the highlights of my day:

1. Zipping through the Bridges along the Quayside

My absolute favourite part of the day. You must go to the Quayside and stroll along the banks of the River Tyne. Check out the public art on either side of the River; best of all, stand and admire the renowned bridges which dot the River Tyne.

There's the Tyne Bridge:


And of course, the quintessential symbol of the new Newcastle...the Gateshead Millenium Bridge!


It's supposed to look like a giant eyelid apparently. An interesting piece of architecture to marvel at! Walk along the bridge to get excellent views of the city and the River Tyne.

2. Walking around Grainger Town: Grey Street, and the Grey Monument

Mentioned above already. It was the street I used to orientate myself when in Newcastle. The tourist information point also lies somewhere off Grey Street, through this lovely Central Arcade:

If only shopping centers were all this beautiful!

3. Art Venues

There's no doubt about it - Newcastle's cultural scene is exploding. There are a vast array of art galleries, most of which are FREE which is excellent. When at the Quayside, I sampled the BALTIC Gallery which houses a rotating collection of modern art, and popped into the Sage Gatehead - a premier venue for musical performances.
The Sage Gateshead complex

Check out the Sage even if you aren't attending a concert there. It's an intriguing structure, characterized by curves, glass and stainless steel. The interior is as impressive as the outside, with a large concourse offering a good view of the River Tyne. It's not a conventionally pretty building, but I think in this day and age, structures with the ability to surprise, shock and provoke discourse/thought are way more interesting that those which simply look "nice." Art should not provoke a bland, monolithic response - it should challenge!

(I like the Scottish Parliament building for the same reason, even though it's been decried by some as a blight on the landscape haha.)




Make the BALTIC gallery a must-see on your trip to Newcastle. Even if you can't appreciate modern art, head up to the 5th floor viewing gallery of this converted flour mill to get excellent views of the Quayside. The exhibits constantly rotate, so you'll always be in for a surprise when you visit. When I went, there was a themed exhibition about 'Conflict and Peace.' Very interesting pieces there, which included several cinematic works. I also really liked the gallery's eco-friendly policies - they encourage you to return exhibit brochures and leaflets to the counter, where they are then reissued to new visitors to save on paper. The ecowarrior in me approves wholeheartedly!

4. The Angel of the North

The Angel of the North stands, a faceless sentinel over the adjacent freeway, silently overlooking the scores of vehicles which trickle into the nearby Gateshead.

You have to head about 20 minutes out of the Newcastle City center to see this, but I really recommend it. Not for nothing is the Angel of the North deemed one of the 'Icons' of England. Its an immense piece of public art/sculpture with an inherent 'wow' factor due to its sheer size.


The width of the Angel's wings make it wider than the Statue of Liberty is tall. Truly impressive. Worth the detour and 3.20pound return bus fare!

5. Away from the Maddening Crowd

If the shopping crowds along Northumberland Street start to make you edgy, skip on down to Blackfriars, a literal oasis of calm in the middle of the city.



It's not really a park or garden, but a little courtyard bound by the walls of an old monastic building. It's a really tranquil spot if you want to escape from the hubbub of the city. Even the neighbourhood it's situated in is remarkably peaceful.

This is just a sampling of what Newcastle has to offer - there's really quite a bit you could do and see, and practically all the attractions are free! It's an amazing city...it tired me out, but all the same, I really loved it!

Verdict: Newcastle sizzles. And not just for Newcastle UFC fans. You really must go if you can, especially if you're keen on culture and the arts. Go, go, go!