Lost and Found in the New Town: An Afternoon in Pictures

Decided to take a walk on Monday afternoon around the New Town in Edinburgh. I didn't have any destination, but I thought I would try and pass the famed George Street. Well, famed for different reasons. It's named after an English monarch for one. It was also designed as the city's main thoroughfare till Princes Street claimed that position. But for most of my schoolmates, George Street is simply known for the posh clubs along the stretch.

And so it was at George Street that I began my rather modest walk in the heart of New Town.

The street itself is nothing exceptional, save for the monument to James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish physicist. Maxwell presides at the head of George's Street, and I've since learnt that this monument was only unveiled in November last year.

An interesting fact about Edinburgh is that you can't walk 50 steps without bumping into a statue of one of the city's many illustrous sons (sadly, haven't seen any daughters yet). A local mentioned this once, which I think is fairly true: you don't see relatively many statues commemorating great generals, founding fathers or political figures - ie: those in the big, grand equestrian mould! There are however, a prolific number of intellectual and cultural figures immortalized including Sir Walter Scott, John Knox, David Hume and Adam Smith. Make of this what you will.

Incidentally, if you look carefully at Maxwell's feet, you'll see his dog Toby as well! Apparently Maxwell was famed for talking to Toby about his scientific theories.



Ah. Whynot. An apt name for a place where the beautiful people go to drink, make merry and toss restraint out of the window. Why not indeed? One of the clubs I keep hearing about but have yet to check out.



Walking further, I entered St Andrews Square Garden and encountered this magnificent column. It is truly quite a sight, if only because of its immense height which makes it visible all the way from the head of George Street. It's a tribute to Henry Dundas, the first Viscount Melville who died some 200 years back. Check out the inscription at the base of the column.



The name might make you do a double-take. Yes, Robert Stevenson was the grandfather of the other more famous individual who shared his name - Robert Louis Stevenson of Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde fame!



Hung around at the Gardens for a while, snapping photos and people-watching. And then I was off to ...nowhere in particular. Along my journey, I transited at:



The nicely-paved Multrees Walks which is a boulevard of fashion. It has a quiet, genteel air about it unlike the animated buzz along Princes Street. Multrees is cool, trendy, and luxuriating in boutique outlets, counting Calvin Klein and Louis Vuitton as permanent residents.



Don't be fooled by its non-descript and somewhat underwhelming appearance. The Stand, on York Street, is one of Scotland's premier stand-up comedy clubs. Have been meaning to go for ages. With tickets starting as low as 2 pounds ('Red Raw' beginners' nights), why not?


Whilst looking for Queen's Street, I accidently chanced upon this narrow sideroad which opened up into a small but charming little square, known as Findlay Court. It was sandwiched between two buildings, one of which I assumed to be a red-bricked church.

It was only after I exited the courtyard that I realized the 'church' was in fact the Scottish National Portrait Gallery! It has a really venerable and intricate facade, complete with gothic arches and fancy niches filled with sculptures. The inner foyer is just as lovely, affirming the resemblance to a lavish cathedral. The balustrades are adorned with this amazing fresco-like artwork, which depicts some kind of procession. The second-floor walls have painted murals on them, while the stairways contain lovely arched, stained-glass windows. The pictures below do no justice to the gallery at all!




Do you spy the unmistakeable likeness of Queen Victoria in the stained glass?

Gorgeous. Something else I love about the gallery is its colours - everything from the striking red sandstone facade, to the unusual but lovely pairing of warm, pinkish-rose walls and green (bordering on teal) carpeted floors. And the portrait collection itself is really quite fascinating. I never thought portraiture could be all that interesting, but I think I have changed my mind especially after browsing the more contemporary works on the 2nd floor. The My favourite work was titled Three Oncologists:

Strange, surreal. It's almost hypnotic. I love the play on light in this picture, and how it makes the figures look almost spectral. Do go visit the gallery if you can, but before April 2009. The gallery will be shut from then till 2011 as it undergoes renovation...though why they want to refurbish such an amazing building I do not know. Sigh.

And so that's how I accidently found myself on Queen Street, within the plush interior of one of the prettiest galleries I've ever encountered. Certainly a visit which was well worth the walk, even though I hadn't intended to stumble across it. But that lends the experience a spontaneous beauty itself I suppose.

The gallery marked a fitting endpoint to my rather long, rambly walk and now (since I'm tired), a close to this equally long, rambly post. Thanks for walking with me :)

Of Flowers and Peppermint Tea

A sign that the seasons are a-changing.

Chanced upon Princes Street Gardens today, and was greeted by a lovely sight: the gardens in bloom!




Quite a riot of colours. I'm looking forward to Spring weather.

A quiet and generally uneventful day. But I think the sight of flowers after 3 weeks of dreary weather was somewhat rousing and I might even say...inspiring?

So continuing the resolution I made yesterday (yes I will blog about it soon), I made a conscious decision this afternoon to choose against my natural instincts. The results whilst not dramatic, did beget pleasing results.

So instead of heading back to the Library to polish up my Art history essay, I decided to linger on indefinitely at the Gardens and Princes Street.

And instead of finding some nice heated indoor venue to have my lunch, I decided for once to sit out amidst the lovely flowers with book in hand, whilst slowly savouring my bacon and egg croissant.

Eschewing my natural honing instincts to window shop at Zara, Topshop and H&M, I wandered down one of the sideroads and ended up at a cosy Italian cafe - a warm hamlet filled with the smell of coffee. I sat there in a somewhat sleepy daze, overlooking the crowd down on Princes Street, with Jazz notes happily muffling the sound of the street bustle.

Suspending disbelief, I finally got down to ordering a Peppermint flavoured tea, which I have always predicted would taste of toothpaste. It wasn't as bad as I thought, and proved a satisfying accompaniment to my read.


Well. Not to idealize the day. You know I hate people who romanticize. The sun, having gloriously illuminated the Gardens when I was snapping photos, suddenly decided to retreat behind ominous looking clouds halfway through my croissant.

The book I was reading turned out to be incredibly racist (Prester John, John Buchanan. O.M.G.) and had an appalling ending involving sloppy praise for 'the white man's burden.'

And halfway through my peppermint tea, I began to be tempted by the frothy mug of Hot Chocolate my neighbour was having.

But definitely I would say, one of my better and more restful weekday afternoons so far.

The Real Mary King's Close

A couple years back when on holiday, I chatted with a member of my tour group who happened to be a fairly well-travelled student. A first-year at Oxford, she had just visited Auschwitz, and spoke about it with an almost unnatural enthusiasm. She pronounced it 'very cool,' and said I absolutely had to go there. I found it mildly disturbing that she spoke of an ex concentration camp with the air of one describing a ride on Space Mountain.

But I guess everyone feels an innate and inexplicable draw toward the dark and macabre. Murder, torture, insanity - all repulsive and all consequently fascinating. You have to wonder why the tourism of death continues to draw millions. Everyone likes gazing at the blacker side of life when its sealed up in a glass exhibition case. Sometimes its contents continue to evoke shock, pathos and the sense that a real atrocity has happened. I'm thinking of things like the human hair exhibit in the Washington D.C. Holocaust museum (I believe there's a similar one in Auschwitz), or the bones and soiled rags lying littered across the killing fields of Cheong Ek. In other cases, perhaps the horror is somehow more palatable, or its been so far removed it's simply been domesticated into...just another Disneyland?

So it was in Edinburgh's own street of death - the now subterranean Mary King's Close, which has gained infamy for its association with the devastating plague in Edinburgh. But somehow we don't think of one of the worst plagues in European history as on par with more recent cases of human genocide, do we?** Interesting thing to think about.



A 'close' refers to an extremely narrow lane, which usually has residences on either side. Mary King's I am told, was one of the more popular closes off the Royal Mile in the 17th-century - now the main thoroughfare in Edinburgh. The requisite myth goes, that when the residents of Mary King'swere infected with the Plague during the 16th-century, the entire close was walled up to prevent the pestilence from spreading and the sad residents...well, left to die either of plague or starvation. Is there any truth in that? Who knows?

In any case, the close is now sealed off and lies underneath the City Chambers. And I suppose the contrast between the rather posh Royal Mile government building and the gritty close which lies underneath it is something the management has latched upon. Discover the 'hidden' and dark side of Edinburgh as it were! (For 9 pounds)

Trying to look scared but failing.

So come Saturday, we set off for a one-hour guided tour of the famed Mary King's, which has apparently featured on Britain's Most Haunted. It's apparently also a popular spot for psychics and mediums to commune with the restless dead, but you wouldn't really sense that from the brochure which looked campy enough. Incidentally, it featured pictures of guides dressed up in what I presumed was medieval-esque garb...although I really doubt all 17th-century men went around in lavish plumed hats!

The tour itself was really quite entertaining although our guide (a 'medieval aristocratic woman') had this annoying habit of leading us into darkened rooms and turning around suddenly and going 'BOO!' We got a look around the various tenements (these little connected rooms) on Mary King's including the oldest preserved house on the stretch - literally held up by various sturdy-looking poles. We walked up the close itself which is really not all that long a street, but it is extremely steep with wide grooves on either side - presumably meant for people to dump their sewage in those days before flushable toilets were invented! I think the main attraction for me however was the guide and the very interesting stories she regaled us with throughout the tour - to put it very crudely, ghost stories if you will. But don't you remember how those used to enthrall us when we were kids? That really made the tour if I may say, because visually it's mostly just a lot of similar-looking darkened rooms with 'mood' lighting (flickering lights and not-so-discreet exit signs haha). Seeing the actual close itself was kind of cool though.

I also found the historical bits of the story quite engaging. The 'tour narrative' focuses primarily on 3 things: i) witch-hunts, ii) the plague, iii) ghosts. Number iii is a given, but I was quite impressed with the 'plague' section which was in essence, my Medieval history lecture on the Black Death condensed! Well nice to know there's some substance there.

My parents might be going on this tour (based on my review haha), so I won't spoil it all for them if they do opt for it, but suffice to say there were some rather creepy moments one of which I'm not sure was entirely staged. Great fun if you go with a bunch of friends. You can take turns scaring each other. The atmosphere (and the cold) certainly lends itself to that.

Overall, it was certainly quite interesting. Not sure if it was entirely worth 9 pounds. Edinburgh castle was about 10pounds, and it offered about a whole day's worth of sight-seeing as opposed to just 1 hour. But it was an experience nevertheless.

**An interesting fact which I cannot help slipping in! Excuse my bookwormishness. The plague in Europe was actually blamed on the Jews at one point of time. Paranoid medieval folk in some quarters believed in a 'Jewish conspiracy' and thought resident Jews had poisoned the wells and were thus responsible for the plague. This resulted in a way of anti-semitism across certain parts of Europe, at times involving the expulsion of Jews from the city, or at its worst, mob killings.

The (Bi)-Weekly Round-up

Because I skipped a week!

Expenses from 9th - 15th February:

Food and Bev: £7.40
Recreation:
Surgeon's Hall admission: £3
Comedy at Teviot: £3
UK Youth Railcard: £24.60
Tickets to York: £24.10 (charged to card)
Body Lotion: £2.93
H&M Dress: £15.99

Total: £81



Expenses from 16th - 22nd February:

Food and Bev: £3.75
Ghost tour: £9

Total: £12.75

I need to scuttle back to work, but I will blog about that ghost tour soon!

Best Moisturizer Ever!

A very random entry, but I must rhapsodize about my new moisturizer.

Behold 400ml of pure magic:



Best drug-store moisturizer ever! This will sound like a typical TV commercial, BUT I swear it is entirely true. The skin on my legs were drying and peeling while I was on my old Kiehl body lotion, and I'd usually develop red, almost ezcema-like rashes by the end of the day...thanks also to chaffing and rubbing from my denim jeans.

AND THEN, I discovered this winter saviour.

First of all it smells wonderful. It's got maple sap and it smells like a wonderfully rich concotion of maple syrup, honey and milk. Good enough to eat really.

Also, it glides over really smoothly while providing heavy-duty moisturizing. And I mean it! My red patches have all disappeared and my skin has become noticeably smoother :)

In short I love this product! Huge bottle, great value (2.90pounds), and best of all it lives up to its promises!

So when in doubt, go for the red!

Valentine's Day: Lingering by Leith...

I think I can say with some confidence now that I have conquered Edinburgh length-wise.

Woke up to a leisurely Saturday morning and headed off with a bunch of friends to celebrate our own version of Valentine's day away from home. We had the somewhat brilliant but crazy plan of walking all the way to Leith, the Northernmost district of Edinburgh. The coastline of Leith hugs the Firth of Forth, which sounded dreamy to me. I love being near water bodies whether they be rivers, lakes and oceans. And besides, there's something inherently romantic about standing at the border where land simply dissolves into water, and opens up into an expansive, sun-streaked horizon.

At the same time however, the romantic Firth was a good 1.5 hour walk away from Pollock, which is way down South. And in addition to making our pilgrimage to Leith, we also embarked on a 2 hour 'scenic' stroll while there, covering Leith Walk, Commercial Street, the Harbour and Bernard Street, before hopping down to Ocean's terminal for some window shopping. So having been on my feet for the past 6 hours, I'm still undecided whether today's walkaton is something to be proud of, or something I'll look back on tomorrow (with aching feet) and go "what on earth..."

But nevertheless, it was Valentine's Day and such a special occasion does merit special activities.

Highlights of the day (apart from the gruelling walk):

1. A Good Lunch - Finally!

After weeks of sneaking out bread from the Pollock dining hall for lunch, it was amazing to finally have a good sit-down meal which I could actually eat with fork and spoon. Small luxuries which are never appreciated till you have to be content with cold rolls stuffed with leftover scrambled eggs from breakfast!

You might think I'm making it out to be worse than it sounds. However I dare say, you'd feel the same if you'd been eating the same thing for 5 whole weeks. And I must confess, I really like my food. I don't (and certainly can't) demand high standards for every meal, but I feel that in an ideal world, eating should be an experience, not a mere matter of subsistence.

Well, no gourmet food today obviously. I know my limits fiscally. But I did take great pleasure in treating myself to a hot meal of meatball linguine, followed by a decadent and sinfully delicious chocolate fudge cake treat topped with condensed milk, syrup and vanilla ice cream. The photo does not do it justice at all.


Best ever. And all for the grand price of 5 pounds 40 pence. We Pollockers rejoiced.

2. Views of the Firth of Forth

We tried to spy the Royal Yacht Britannia from the 2nd floor viewing platform at Ocean's Terminal. The angle was somewhat disappointing given how half the ship was obscured, but nevertheless I was able to gaze upon the vast expanse of the Firth which was somewhat calming and restful.





Am unsure what that strange red contraption is, but it looked a lot more interesting than the Royal Yacht which kind of just sits there. I also wonder about the buildings on the other side of the Firth. Who lives there? What do they do? Would I be able to go visit?

3. Sights around the Water of Leith

The rather unimaginatively named Water of Leith is a river which flows through Leith and opens up into the Firth of Forth. This charming river is surrounded by these rather spacious, cobblestone walkways which reminded me a little of Clarke Quay back home in Singapore. There are also interesting, eyecatching structures on the river banks which made for quite a pleasant sight and subsequent camwhoring - a tendency, Simona claims, is endemic amongst girls and Asians.


Walking past the Water of Leith earlier in the day...


Returning to the River sometime later as the sun was setting


All in all, a quiet and picturesque place. I would love to come back one day when the weather is less cloudy, and to just soak up the atmosphere around the Water of Leith. However next time I think I'll give my feet a break and hop on the nearest bus!

4. Impromptu Poetry Session

Valentine's Day excuses a lot of things, including amateurs bursting out into moments of poetic inspiration while walking along the coast. Well, somewhat inspired anyway - we had a little poetry contest amongst ourselves, following a predetermined literary template set by Felyna which went as such:

I am __________,
You are ________,
_____________ end
_____________ my friend.

(Rules: poem has to include the word "sea")

My on-the-spot nautical-inspired contribution, which I am somewhat embarassed to type out:

"I am the sailor/You are the harbour/And just as the sea has no end,/So too, my journey to you, my friend."

Hilarious. I would never dare say this to anyone in all seriousness.



So that concludes my eventful day. Will spend tomorrow working on my essay - one of my two essays sadly - and giving my limbs a break from all the walking hours I've accumulated this week. In the meantime, Happy Valentine's Day y'all!

Travel Plans

I think I have become a very lazy and cheap traveller here. I cannot bear the thought of spending my free weekends taking trainrides which are anymore than 3 hours, or cost more than 50 pounds (yay for student railcards). Here are the upcoming trips within and just outside the UK which I plan to go on - rather modest I must say, both in distance and cost with the exception of 1 perhaps:

1. Highlands Roadtrip (6 - 8 March): 3 days, 10 students, 2 cars and the Scottish highlands to conquer. I'm very excited about this! Will be passing by Stirling, Loch Lomand, Glen Coe, Fort William, Loch Ness, Inverness (?) and hopefully the Isle of Skye! Estimated cost (excluding food and attraction fees): 90 pounds, calculated by the ever efficient and meticulous Luke. Pricey, but I think it'll be an experience of a lifetime. I'm supposed to be doing research on attractions in Skye. Better get down to it.

2. Day Trip to York (14 March): Going solo because I feel I need some 'me' time. Beth says that York is a really adorable town. I want to sit by the river and drink tea, watching the world go by in this medieval town. 2 hours by train: 24 pounds.

3. Day Trip to St Andrews (21 March): St Andrews, because after my whirlwind highland tour, I can't really think of where else I'd like to go in Scotland! Haven't booked tickets for this yet. Estimated trainfare with 30% railcard discount: 12 pounds.

4. Dublin (23 - 24 March): With Felyna! Much fun anticipated! Flight and accommodation: 39 pounds. Are you not impressed?? Fel sniffed out dirt cheap deals. You go girl.

Musings about Museums

Yet another post today in an attempt to archive a backlog of events and activities since last weekend!

Well as everyone might know, I absolutely love going to museums... with the possible exception of those dedicated to war or military history. So you must humour me now while I do the mandatory gushing.

A good museum or gallery can have me for the entire day, and even some of the more minor ones can keep me entertained for at least a couple of hours. I like the feeling of contemplative silence in (most) museums ie: those without children. And yes, as odd as it sounds, I adore dusty old things, and even more so what museums can do to them; I think its really fascinating how an unremarkable bit of pottery can be transformed into an object of sacerdoctal reverence when placed in a glass case. It's suddenly furnished with say, a thousand years' worth of history and significance...and in the course of finding that out, you too, develop a new way of looking and thinking about it.

So in my first couple of weeks here, the National Museum of Scotland and the National Galleries were no-brainers on my list of places to visit - and I do highly recommend them, not simply because they're both free, but because the collections are quite excellent. I especially liked the Madonna and Child pieces by Raphael in the Galleries' permanent collection, and I'm sure you will too! I'm no art conoisseur but hey - who can resist a bright palatte?

This past week however saw trips to museums dedicated to rather odd and somewhat unconventional subjects which I want to spend some time describing. First up on Sunday was the Museum of Childhood.


One of the first museums dedicated to the subject of childhood. I'm quite embarassed to say that I've been meaning to go to similar museums in Singapore including the MINT Museum of Toys for the longest time but I just never got down to doing it. Perhaps it was the S$15 admission fee at MINT which always put me off. But in any case, Edinburgh marks the first time I've stepped into a museum which houses the paraphernalia of childhood, and nothing else. It's been highly recommended by several guidebooks I've come across, so when Fel suggested we take a trip down to the Royal Mile to check it out - why not?


Some things I liked:

The first gallery you walk into when you enter the museum provides a historical overview of childhood (in Britain) which is really quite informative. There are sections devoted to things like feeding, play and education, and how attitudes to these sorts of things which we now consider integral to a child's welfare have changed quite remarkably since the 18th-century. However I was disappointed with how all this rather fascinating information was presented through cluttered and long descriptive labels which were (horrors) not even at eye level...some of them hovered somewhere around the hip. Good content, poor display. A pity really.

But moving on to other good things. I think it's a sign that I'm getting old when I experience moments of nostalgia in this sort of museum.


I saw the exact same set of Beatrix Potter books which I used to own as a child! Peter Rabbit, The Tailor of Glouscester...ah familiar names, familiar characters. Now I wonder whatever happened to my own set of Beatrix Potter books?

I might add that it is rather strange to see objects from your own life being encased in a museum exhibit.



And finally this does deserve a bit of a special mention. It's a 'board' game (even though its printed on paper) which is dubiously termed the 'Reward of Merit.' As you might have guessed from the title , it's an absolutely didactic Victorian game which both amused and appalled me with the little boxes players have to travel through en route to the final box termed (you guessed it) 'The Reward of Merit'! Box 24 is entitled 'The Truant,' and woe betide you if you happen to land there, because apparently "you justly merit woe, pay one, and to the Dungeon go." And of course to hammer the lesson in, players may not be released from the "Dungeon" till another player ends up there. You would of course be safer landing up in a box like number 4 entitled "The Gardener." However you'd have to put up with rather revolting little rhymes which go something like "plant what is good, root out what is bad / Then you'll become a charming lad!"

I think in all, a very quaint little place - and I don't mean that in a belittling sense. It's definitely not the kind of museum with sophisticated displays, fancy lighting or plush carpets. It's somewhat messy, with an oddball collection ranging from luncheon meat cans to the report card of an 8-year-old Victorian schoolboy. But it is after all a museum about childhood, and it is quite consciously targeted at children (and their frazzled parents), with little activity corners complete with dress-up stations and puppets. So in that sense, it is certainly not intimidating. If you're the type that scoffs museums as elitist and inacessible, try this one on a free Sunday afternoon!


Visited quite a different type of museum the very next day. I didn't bring my camera along, but I suppose that's just as well - it's not a museum you should step into just before tucking into a meal! I'm talking about the Surgeons' Hall Museum, which is conveniently housed within the esteemed Royal College of Surgeons on Nicolson Street! It's 3 pounds admission, and for that, you get to tour 3 very fascinating galleries, the highlight being William Playfair's Pathology museum which is home to a whole range of anatomical specimens dating back to the 18th C - all perfectly preserved and on public display. They've got everything including preserved human hearts, brains, bones (some with bullet holes still intact), eyeballs, muscles and even a jar of tapeworms and other parasites which might reside within your body. Highly recommended if you're a biology/medical student, my younger brother, or just someone with a morbid fascination with human anatomy.

The other two sections of the museum include one dedicated to the history of dentistry and the history of surgical developments and the college in Edinburgh itself. There's currently a special exhibition on sports, exercise and wellness which is frankly quite underwhelming compared to the rest of the museum. However, there's a nifty device there which allows you to try your hand at key-hole surgery - quite a test in dexterity and coordination!

Like the childhood museum, you can easily cover this in about an hour and a half...it's not that big at all. But definitely worth the 3 pounds if only to satisfy my rather perverse curiousity for the afternoon.

Other museums and galleries which I still want to visit:

1. Talbot Rice gallery
2. The People's Story
3. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

Mondy evening at Teviot Underground: Night of Laughter!

All smiles just outside the Teviot Underground

Went for a comedy show two nights ago for 3 quid. Watched a group of 4 guys who improvise onstage, ala 'Whose Line is it Anyway?' Absolutely hilarious! Plenty of laughs and happy faces around the campus bar at the Teviot Underground :)

I took quite a few videos of the Improvements (as they call themselves), but unfortunately the sound quality turned out pretty bad because they weren't using mics. But here's one anyway! See if you can make it out - this is the sketch when each of them adopted a different persona and dispensed 'advice' to members of the audience who just yelled out their various 'problems' spontaneously from the crowd. Most bizzare problem award goes to the man who claimed he was in love with a chair.

Sadly I didn't manage to catch that particular sketch on film, but the following clip sees the same personas addressing the problems of i) a flatmate watching porn in the living room and ii) (from a very enthusiastic girl at the next table) pre-mature ejaculation. I love the airy-fairy French philosopher character who claims that pre-mature ejaculation is a 'good prediction of the future,' but my favourite is the 3rd persona on the extreme left - check out his killer impression of a weedy but sexually-repressed geek! Completing the trio is the macho male persona in the middle.

Apparently the Improvements perform every Friday night at the student run Bedlam theatre just around the corner. Will catch them for future laughs!

The Weekly Round-up

I can't help feeling exceedingly proud of myself. I have been a good girl this week!

Expenses for 2nd - 8th Feb:

Food and Bev: £2.29
Travel (Dunfermline): £6

Total spent: £8.29

Now the rest will all go into my travelling fund.

Daytrip in Dunfermline and Travel Plans

Headed out to the city of Dunfermline (pronounced dun-FER-lynn) in Fife yesterday for a trip organized by the International Students' Club (ISC). Arose at 7am not-too-fresh and not-too-awake and was greeted by swirls of snowflakes outside my window. This did not cheer me up that much, for reasons mentioned in previous posts.

However by the time we got onboard the train in Waverly Station, most of the snow had let up for which I was immensely encouraged by. This optimism was maintained, until I realized that my gloves and socks were damp and my digits consequently became ice cubes for most of the morning.

But that aside! I was rather excited about Dunfermline, having learnt that it was once the ancient capital of Scotland. I had contemplated taking a trip there myself, so I was quite glad to hear that the ISC was organizing its own outing there. And I dare say they gave a pretty good deal as well - 6 pounds which included an open return train ticket (original price 10pounds), and free admission to the Dunfermline abbey and palace. You can't do better than that!

So it was on a cold Saturday morning that we discovered the Dunfermline abbey on the top of a gentle hill. The abbey is a fairly impressive structure dating back to 1128. It also has the distinction of surviving the Reformation. Digressing for a while, I have realized that 'surviving' religious persecution accords old churches in Scotland a certain special status, at least in tourist brochures. I suppose everyone likes a survivor enough for it to be an easy marketing tagline. Yet I have to say it's usually a tagline which ignores how so many of these churches underwent massive renovation after the 16th century. But that's tourism for you I guess; the art of showing but never (fully) telling.

There is a somewhat poetic contrast between the robust-looking Abbey (which is still a functioning church!) and the adjacent palace which rests in crumbling ruins. Yet enough of it still remains to whisper a suggestion of romantic old wordliness.

It was fun exploring the ruins; climbing precariously down the spiralled (and VERY claustrophic) staircase, weaving in and out what used to be the royal apartments, and peering through the arched windows to catch a glimpse of Dunfermline today. Sadly I was beaten back into the warm interior of the souvenier shop rather quickly because of the biting cold. Nevertheless despite the elements, I quite enjoyed roaming around the Abbey and palace grounds.

The rest of the day however was generally quite uneventful. Dunfermline is a small town, and there generally wasn't much else to do or see after the Abbey. We made a short tour of the town, stopping at various places including the Carnegie hall and museum; both however were sadly closed. Rounded back to Abbot's house, which contains a delighful pink facade and offered us a different perspective of the Abbey from its gardens. It also happened to house a magnificent peacock which enthralled some within our group.

Do you see a bunch of enthusiastic photographers trying to get a shot of the elusive peacock?



I was more interested in capturing this sundial and the surrounding bushes!

All in all, I'm glad I went to Dunfermline for 6 pounds. But I don't think I'll be back anytime soon! Not terribly exciting.

Meantime, my plans for the weeks leading up to Spring-break have been firming up! Though sadly I can't say the same for summer break because they still haven't released the damn examination dates! Argh! Most annoying. Makes it really hard to plan. But in any case!

28th Feb: Saint Andrews, tentatively to meet Kait!

6th - 8th OR 13th - 15th March: Road trip up to Inverness with group of 7 or 8 friends

23th - 24th March: Dublin with Felyna!!!!!!

28th March - 4th April: Parts of England depending on where my family wants to go but definitely LONDON LONDON LONDON!!

5th April - 9th April: Brussels, Belgium!

10th April - 12th April: Dates are tentative, but destination will most certainly be PARIS!

13th April - 18th April: South of France whoooooooo...

Some indefinite time after my exams: Greece with Stephanie?? Very tentative and iffy.

Am hoping to slot in more short holidays once I have my examination schedule. I still am very keen on visiting parts of the Scottish highlands, Spain and Portugal, it's just a matter of when.

Well I'll let you all know soon. But until then, hasta luego, amigos!

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!!!

Weekly Round up

Expenses for 26th Jan - 1st Feb:

Phone top-up: £10
Food and Beverage: £10.48
Transport: £2.40
Sightseeing (Roslin): £6
Shopping
B'day present and postage: £9.21
Boots: £15
Replacement Meal card: £10
Misc (street donations): £0.80

Total: £64

I was very upset with myself for losing my Pollock meal card. Even more upset with the exorbitant replacement fee. Sigh. But as Luke says, we all do silly things from time to time, so I won't dwell on it.

Daytrip #2: Ramblings in Roslin

The filthy state of my shoes just about sums up the day.

I am cold, tired and exhausted, but at the very least I can boast of several things

1. I have taken my first Lothian Bus in Edinburgh
2. I have seen the Rosslyn Chapel
3. And most importantly, I hiked through Roslin Country Glen! (which accounts for shoes above)

A group of us caught the 9.06am bus to Roslin, which is a little village lying in the West Lothians. It’s just about 20 minutes away from Edinburgh, thus making it the perfect destination for a short day-trip. Thanks to Dan Brown and the Da Vinci Code, Roslin is now best known as the alleged home of the Holy Grail and other fabulous Templar treasures – though our guide at the Rosslyn Chapel, Fiona, strenuously denies the existence of any secret documents pertaining to Jesus’ bloodline in the Chapel vault.

Chapel Fact #1: Contrary to symbologist Robert Langdon’s claims in the Da Vinci Code, ‘Rosslyn’ is not a code for ‘Rose Line.’ Roslin is actually Gaelic for Water in a rock, or waterfall.

Nevertheless, Fiona’s cynicism didn’t prevent the Chapel souvenir shop from stocking up on a whole shelf’s worth of the Da Vinci Code.

But we’ll leave the Chapel aside for a moment because I want to blog about my day chronologically. It is intimated in my Literature lectures that linearity is passé in today’s post post post post modern novels; - but I’m old-fashioned! There you go.

So after alighting from the 15A bus (1.20pounds, one way, any stop), we decided to take what we thought would be a pleasant and relaxing jaunt around the Roslin Country Glen before heading up to the Chapel. I have to admit I entered the glen thinking that it would be structured something along the lines of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve…or even the somewhat ‘wilder’ sections of the Botanical Gardens back in Singapore, which are untamed in a very controlled fashion if that makes any sense.

No such thing. Roslin Glen was literally a freakin’ forest which possessed:

- Perilously narrow footpaths, which disappeared at certain points
- No handrails
- No signs
- Huge tracts of mud which could suck your shoes off
- Steep, steep, steep slopes

In short, a real forest. We were in the Great Outdoors!

Us by the River Esk. It was extremely cold in Roslin today, snowing lightly at one point (thankfully when we were out of the glen). The weather explains the rather strained nature of our smiles - or it might be my imagination.


Anyone who knows me will know that I hate practically any form of exercise, and that I’m bad at it. Consequently it is with some pride that I announce my survival during a 2 hour hike through Roslin Glen which was in equal parts exhausting, muddy, terrifying, hilarious and ultimately rewarding. I think it is telling that we entered the Glen feeling the cold biting through our gloves, but emerged all warm and sweaty. Some of the more memorable moments:

1. Getting Lost. As mentioned earlier, there are no maps or signs in the glen. For a while, we strayed off our track while looking for the Hawthornden castle, and ended up hopelessly lost and walking around in circles. At one point, Taira and PS recognized a tree which we had passed by at the start of our journey - although how anyone can distinguish between trees in a forest is beyond me.


Kit: *after walking in silence for a while* Do you think we are going to be lost?


Me: I think we have been lost for quite a while


Martin: *deadpans* I think we are going to die in here.


Thankfully, all roads in the Glen lead to …somewhere and we eventually found an ascending path which led us back to a more established looking route. That’s us emerging from the crest a hill, triumphant at being found and having found a proper road!




2. Confronting my twin fears of heights and big dogs. There are plenty of dogs in the glen. It’s a nice spot for dog-walking I suppose. For some reason, all the huge dogs we encountered made a beeline for me, I don’t know why. Mildly perturbing.

We also did some serious climbing while in the glen which was at some points really scary given my fear of heights. But in a sense, the view was worth it and we got some really good views of the country. And yes, it’s everything country should be right down to the grazing sheep and grassy meadows!




3. Crossing Rivers of Mud. These death traps are scattered all across the glen and frequently encroach onto the footpaths. It’s how I imagine crossing the River Styx in Hades would be like (sans a boatman). Absolutely dreadful, approached with much trepidation, but inevitable. There are ways to avoid the worst of the mud which literally can suck you in, but these methods usually involve us scaling the adjacent slopes rather precariously, or treading on loose tree logs. But in the end, every Nike shoe in our group eventually fell prey to it despite our best efforts. Lesson learnt from the locals: get a good pair of wellies and squealch through the mud blissfully without worrying about the state of your socks later on.


A river of mud. One of the better ones.



And 2 hours on, we made our way out of the glen and found the Rosslyn Chapel sitting right in front of us! Rosslyn sadly, is currently under major restoration works and is consequently covered by a giant metal sheet - problematic when trying to take nice pictures of the exterior. The story goes that in 1995, conservationists had the bright idea of coating the walls of the chapel in cement. This prevented water inside the chapel from evaporating, thus saturating the walls and making them unstable (in addition to wearing away the Chapel’s ornate carvings). As such, the external sheet currently serves as a kind of giant umbrella which prevents water from collecting on the roof and soaking into the Chapel. The walls are ‘drying out’ now so as we speak, and major repair-works and conservation are underway and will continue in the years to come.





Side of the church exterior. Ugly scaffolding.

In any case, we were able to enjoy the Chapel’s gardens which also serve as a kind of graveyard for the St Clair family (if you remember, also mentioned in Dan Brown’s book as the Sinclairs) who founded and continue to own the chapel.



Chapel Fact #2: Fiona, the Chapel Guide, tells us that the St Clair family (originally Scandinavian) might indeed have had links to the Knights Templar. The family crest (a cross with scalloped edges) is seen throughout the Chapel interior and it supposedly resembles the symbol of the Knights Templar – perhaps a subtle nod to the family’s Templar connection?


The interior of the Chapel is damp and freezing, but lovely to behold. Every inch of the Chapel is covered in carvings which include some very odd curios here and there including the ubiquitous ‘Green men’ (carvings of human faces with vegetation sprouting from their mouths) and the odd cuboid shaped protrusions from the arches (mentioned in the Da Vinci Code). My favourite however, was the ceiling which is covered with patterns of stars, lilies, roses and other flowers, with the likenesses of angels, Christ and the Sun and Moon cleverly ‘hidden’ amidst the repeated motifs. Sadly, no photography was allowed inside the chapel so I can't show you the beautifully intricate decorations which covered the interior.

Chapel Fact #3: Following the publication of Dan Brown’s blockbuster novel in 2003, visitor numbers to Rosslyn Chapel swelled to several hundred thousands, with about 1000 visitors per day in August. This prompted the Chapel’s caretakers to consider expanding visitor facilities, including the two public toilets on the premises which clearly were ill-suited to serve 1000 pressing bladders

Rosslyn is definitely worth a visit even if the exterior of the Chapel looks rather unattractive at the moment. Admittance is 6pounds, and if that’s pricey to you, well – think of it as a contribution toward the Rosslyn conservation fund which will allow future generations to enjoy the beauty (yes beauty) of this lovely Chapel! :D (Spoken like a true guidebook)

All in all, a sense of accomplishment today. Looking forward to more adventures in the weeks to come!




Cold. Sore. But Triumphant. And all too ready to go back to our heated rooms.