First of all, thanks to everyone for their kind words in regards to my previous post. I have one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. The good news is that this morning, I went to the immigration office again and this time my documents were accepted (without any change from the previous time). So... all I had to do really was probably see another officer.. (probably someone with a better command of english.) Anyhow, it's being processed now, just a few technicalities about how I'm going to retrieve it in a timely manner, but the important thing is that it's being processed now, and I'll get it. The bad news is that internet at my apartment is still not working. It's making me pretty fed up, and I cannot believe that I am finding myself at macdonalds attempting to finish up this post, upload the last of my scotland pictures (which are still quite a bit) and go on to my latest trip: Poland, Krakow. Yes guys... i took a random weekend trip to Poland, didn't tell anyone... but I came back with 200 pictures and 5 kgs of fats stuck to my arms and legs.... LOL...
Ok... matters at hand (only 3 hours of battery life and counting...) Beltane. I was a bit skeptical of going to Beltane when I first heard about it from my free tour guide... I was like fire festival... probably seen it lots of time.. not really sure I wanna stand in the cold on a hill watching fire dancers to I dunno what... But that evening, after coming back from the day trip to Stirling castle/and Roslynn chapel, I was walking to the supermarket when I recognized one of the girls from the free tour the previous day. So I went up to her, said hi and asked what she was doing. She responded that she was going to get a drink at one of the bars and asked me to join her. So... instead of cheap dinner at the market, I ending up having two drinks and a salad at a bar with her. While chatting, I realized that she was planning to go to Beltane... so somehow I got pulled along into it... so much so, she actually walked with me to the hill to purchase my ticket, back to my hostel to get another jacket and back to the hill again... WOW... man... totally random night..
Anyhow, the hill was packed with people.. all drinking.. 70% smoking weed... the smell was so strong that night, I was wondering how could the police just stand there and pretend it was just tobacco smoke? Anyhow... the theme of Beltane was pretty bizzare to me... so demonic theme where volunteers would wear scary masks and the performers were all stark naked, just dressed in body point and running and screaming around the hill.... yes... I mean it... guys in g-strings, girls topless that kind of thing. And there I was, shivering in my jacket.. and wearing thermals!!!!!!!!! for goodness sake.
So the theme of the festival was based on the 4 elements... so there were performances according to the different elements, though to be honest, it all looked like fire to me... no offense but it did. What intrigued me the most was how these scottish pple could bear to just run around butt naked at night.... topless on top of that... i managed to get a few pictures to prove that i did see them...so that was the night... pretty interesting and an EYE OPENER definitely haha.... and so that was how I spent my last night in edinburgh....
The next morning, I took the train to Glasgow. It was a pretty easy journey, had my train ticket and the trip was like an hour long, and it was pretty nice just looking at the fields rush by the train. Glasgow is very very different from Edinburgh... it's a modern city as compared to the historical capital of Edinburgh... however, it is bigger than Edinburgh as it's the industrial area, but I had a scot tell me that Edinburgh is the richer city as the country's financial institutions are still located in Edinburgh... interestingly, when i asked the local guide in Edinburgh on what I shld do in Glasgow, his first words to me were: "keep safe". So apparently, Glasgow is not very safe at night especially along the river clyde... and hear hear... my hostel was located very near the river clyde. The good thing though, is that the station was very near the hostel.... after nearly a week of travelling, my bag was rather heavy with all the goodies, especially from singapore day... and I was very happy to only have to walk for like ten minutes with my backpack. In the afternoon, i took the time to walk around the city area around Buchannan street. Heaps of shopping malls and stuff... was very nice to browse through and see how much things are. Most people are surprised when i tell them this, but I never found the UK overly expensive... in fact there were some things which I found to be much cheaper as compared in Europe.... I know the pound is the strongest currency... but truly... the UK does NOT have to be an expensive place to live in, especially if you know where to shop and eat. My first night I met up Nicola, who was nice enough to invite me to her work party... so I was kind of like a gate crasher... haha... but it was good coz I got to experience the nightlife a little... and talk to few scottish people.... I swear the accent does get stronger every time... though mairead, I do understand you perfectly well... haha...
My last and final day in Scotland was spent touring the Scotlands. I was so blessed that day because it did not rain! And when it did during certain parts of the journey, it was just a drizzle... so it didn't do much harm at all..... the highlands were gorgeous.... I took heaps of pictures, so i'm just going to post them (as many as macdonalds internet will allow me to), coz i simply don't know where to start describing them....
Loch Ness...
We have found the monster.. it is actually a land creature... haha
On our way back to Glasgow... (when everyone was sleeping), I just happened to look out of the window... and I thought that this was a very nice picture.... sunlight was filtering through clouds on either side.... I don't think the camera captured it very well.... but it was almost like angels coming through the sky... hmmm wonder if everyone got that.. oh well...
So that was my adventures in the UK... it was literally just a surface trip... but i learnt a lot... and I really like this place... definitely want to go back again when I have the time.....
Anyhow, the hill was packed with people.. all drinking.. 70% smoking weed... the smell was so strong that night, I was wondering how could the police just stand there and pretend it was just tobacco smoke? Anyhow... the theme of Beltane was pretty bizzare to me... so demonic theme where volunteers would wear scary masks and the performers were all stark naked, just dressed in body point and running and screaming around the hill.... yes... I mean it... guys in g-strings, girls topless that kind of thing. And there I was, shivering in my jacket.. and wearing thermals!!!!!!!!! for goodness sake.
So the theme of the festival was based on the 4 elements... so there were performances according to the different elements, though to be honest, it all looked like fire to me... no offense but it did. What intrigued me the most was how these scottish pple could bear to just run around butt naked at night.... topless on top of that... i managed to get a few pictures to prove that i did see them...so that was the night... pretty interesting and an EYE OPENER definitely haha.... and so that was how I spent my last night in edinburgh....
The next morning, I took the train to Glasgow. It was a pretty easy journey, had my train ticket and the trip was like an hour long, and it was pretty nice just looking at the fields rush by the train. Glasgow is very very different from Edinburgh... it's a modern city as compared to the historical capital of Edinburgh... however, it is bigger than Edinburgh as it's the industrial area, but I had a scot tell me that Edinburgh is the richer city as the country's financial institutions are still located in Edinburgh... interestingly, when i asked the local guide in Edinburgh on what I shld do in Glasgow, his first words to me were: "keep safe". So apparently, Glasgow is not very safe at night especially along the river clyde... and hear hear... my hostel was located very near the river clyde. The good thing though, is that the station was very near the hostel.... after nearly a week of travelling, my bag was rather heavy with all the goodies, especially from singapore day... and I was very happy to only have to walk for like ten minutes with my backpack. In the afternoon, i took the time to walk around the city area around Buchannan street. Heaps of shopping malls and stuff... was very nice to browse through and see how much things are. Most people are surprised when i tell them this, but I never found the UK overly expensive... in fact there were some things which I found to be much cheaper as compared in Europe.... I know the pound is the strongest currency... but truly... the UK does NOT have to be an expensive place to live in, especially if you know where to shop and eat. My first night I met up Nicola, who was nice enough to invite me to her work party... so I was kind of like a gate crasher... haha... but it was good coz I got to experience the nightlife a little... and talk to few scottish people.... I swear the accent does get stronger every time... though mairead, I do understand you perfectly well... haha...
My last and final day in Scotland was spent touring the Scotlands. I was so blessed that day because it did not rain! And when it did during certain parts of the journey, it was just a drizzle... so it didn't do much harm at all..... the highlands were gorgeous.... I took heaps of pictures, so i'm just going to post them (as many as macdonalds internet will allow me to), coz i simply don't know where to start describing them....
Loch Ness...
We have found the monster.. it is actually a land creature... haha
On our way back to Glasgow... (when everyone was sleeping), I just happened to look out of the window... and I thought that this was a very nice picture.... sunlight was filtering through clouds on either side.... I don't think the camera captured it very well.... but it was almost like angels coming through the sky... hmmm wonder if everyone got that.. oh well...
So that was my adventures in the UK... it was literally just a surface trip... but i learnt a lot... and I really like this place... definitely want to go back again when I have the time.....