Where my feet and purse will take me...

Loch Katrine

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Breakfast in the sun room

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Our lovely B&B... The Ridings

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Driving to Brig O'Turk

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Loch Lomond

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Breathtaking Glencoe... part deux

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Breathtaking Glencoe

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Driving through Scottish Highlands

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Pristine white beach of Morar

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Who would have guessed that Scotland is home to a gorgeous white beach... I felt like I was transported to the Carribeans ;)

Mallaig

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Road to the Isles

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Glenfinnan

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On the road...

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Caledonian Canals at the Corpach Basin

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The Harry Potter train

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Being Harry Potter fans, Skinner and I really wanted to see the train. We went to the train station, hoping to catch it as it departs the station, with smoke puffing up the chimney.
But unfortunately, they're not running today. We approached the ticket lady and was informed "If you want to see the train, you can go to the depot".

So off we went... But it was in a restricted area, so we could only snap photos from far away. So much for dreaming as if I was being taken away towards Hogswart...

Strolling through Fort William

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The best butter ever!

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First things first... breakfast! That's the thing I love about B&Bs, the room comes with homemade breakfast.

Made our way down to the dining room... many other guests were already enjoying their morning meal. I sat down and started buttering my toast... put it in my mouth... HEAVEN! So yummy, so rich, so delicious!

Err mam, can I have more butter please?

Goodnight Fort William

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Ben Nevis... in the distance

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Neptune Staircase

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Inverlochy Castle

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This is where we stayed... Berkeley House

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Our home for the night... NOT!

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En route towards our abode in Fort William, we passed by this exclusive resort. We decided to be adventurous and ventured in... walaupun nampak sangat tak sesuai considering that all the cars there were either Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, the elusive Aston Martin and even a Rolls Royce!

Beautiful scenery #3 & Laggan Dam

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Beautiful scenery #2

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Beautiful scenery #1

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Blair Castle

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Nak visit, tapi dah tutup...

Pitlochry

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Driving on

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Castle grounds and gardens

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Yummy lunch

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Simple, basic... but when you have fresh ingredients, it's simply delish!!

Especially when you're with great company 8-)

'E-lan Coo!!

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We just adored these bushy hairy cows... busuk pun busuk lah, hehe...

Glamis Castle

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Driving towards Glamis Castle

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Dundee

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We don't have much time to spare in Dundee so we decided to jalan2 sikit je and snap a few photos...

Our vehicle for the journey... RAV4.. woohoo!! It even has a sunroof!

Preparing for the road trip ahead

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Perth

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En route to Dundee, we stopped in Perth. The town was deserted... I guess everyone dah balik rumah

The road trip begins

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First destination... Dundee!

Marni will be joining us on the roadtrip around Scottish Highlands, so tonight we're staying over at her place.

So off we go...

We are here...

... We wanna go here

It was raining... (see below for *alkisah*)

Crossing the Firth of Forth

The landscape looks promising...

We were on the right track...

Banyak kereta on the road...

The sky was grey and gloomy... was this a sign for the days to come??

Green hills... no pokok in sight

Then the sky cleared up and the dramatic landscape appeared

Woohoo... the sun is out again !

A bit of a *dumb blonde* moment for me masa ambik kereta. Dah lama tak bawa manual and sekali dapat kereta besar RAV4 pulak... I've never driven an SUV drive before. Punya lah tekan, belek... still couldn't get the car into gear. I dah keluar nak pergi tanya the office dah when I decided to give it another try.

Foolish me... instead of tekan clutch I tekan brake. Mana lah nak masuk gear. Duh!!

That wasn't it... then had problems with the wiper pulak. It was raining and the use of a wiper was critical. Tapi I couldn't get it to turn on. I could only get it on sekejap je... like those when nak cuci cermin sekejap. Tapi instead of spending another 5 minutes to figure it out (yes, that's how long it took me to realise that I had pressed the brake instead of the clutch), we drove on. After a while I decided "tak boleh jadi ni". So stopped the car by the road side and belek the toggle again.

Duh!! Why didn't I think about tarik turun ke bawah instead of pusing. I felt so dumb...

So there, kisah my *blond moments* ;)

Taking the bus to the airport

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I booked our car to be picked up at the airport for several reasons...
1) It was cheaper
2) I don't trust my driving skills to drive around ancient Edinburgh yang berbukit2, jalan kecil... especially when I'm not familiar with the city

So angkutlah bag pergi ke airport...

My boyfriends ada movie baru ;)

Bye Bye Edinburgh... until we meet again

Final sights from Edinburgh

2007-06-07T14:03:00.004+08:00

I wish we had more time to explore Edinburgh... it's such a beautiful city, rich with history. After our final stroll around Old Town and New Town, it was time to head back to the hotel, pick up our bag and make our way towards the airport to get our car...

Tapi sambil berjalan tu, sempat lagi snap some shots ;)

Time to climb some stairs... no need stairmaster here

Uish... tinggi lah pulak

National Gallery

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As usual, cannot take photos inside the museum and we couldn't find the gift store. So pix of the outside je lah...

When the sun is out

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On our day 2 in Edinburgh, the sun was out... lovely, warm and bright.

So naturally, many sought to get a dose of vitamin D, especially since Scotland is well known as being a grey and wet country.
Some facts about vitamin D:

Vitamin D prevents osteoporosis, depression, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and even effects diabetes and obesity.

Vitamin D is perhaps the single most underrated nutrient in the world of nutrition. That's probably because it's free: your body makes it when sunlight touches your skin. Drug companies can't sell you sunlight, so there's no promotion of its health benefits.

Vitamin D is produced by your skin in response to exposure to ultraviolet radiation from natural sunlight.

The healing rays of natural sunlight (that generate vitamin D in your skin) cannot penetrate glass. So you don't generate vitamin D when sitting in your car or home.

It is nearly impossible to get adequate amounts of vitamin D from your diet. Sunlight exposure is the only reliable way to generate vitamin D in your own body.

A person would have to drink ten tall glasses of vitamin D fortified milk each day just to get minimum levels of vitamin D into their diet.

The further you live from the equator, the longer exposure you need to the sun in order to generate vitamin D. Canada, the UK and most U.S. states are far from the equator.
No wonder they were out in droves ;)

People with dark skin pigmentation may need 20 - 30 times as much exposure to sunlight as fair-skinned people to generate the same amount of vitamin D.

Sufficient levels of vitamin D are crucial for calcium absorption in your intestines. Without sufficient vitamin D, your body cannot absorb calcium, rendering calcium supplements useless.

Chronic vitamin D deficiency cannot be reversed overnight: it takes months of vitamin D supplementation and sunlight exposure to rebuild the body's bones and nervous system.

Even weak sunscreens (SPF=8) block your body's ability to generate vitamin D by 95%. This is how sunscreen products actually cause disease -- by creating a critical vitamin deficiency in the body.
Gosh.. didn't know THAT!

It is impossible to generate too much vitamin D in your body from sunlight exposure: your body will self-regulate and only generate what it needs.

If it hurts to press firmly on your sternum, you may be suffering from chronic vitamin D deficiency right now.
Err... sternum tu kat mana?

Vitamin D is "activated" in your body by your kidneys and liver before it can be used. Having kidney disease or liver damage can greatly impair your body's ability to activate circulating vitamin D.

The sunscreen industry doesn't want you to know that your body actually needs sunlight exposure because that realization would mean lower sales of sunscreen products.

Even though vitamin D is one of the most powerful healing chemicals in your body, your body makes it absolutely free. No prescription required.

So get out in the sun people!!

People were out in droves... all benches were occupied. Those who cannot get a bench, opt for the green grass...

Some hung out with friends...

Some prefer solitude with a book...

Yang bergolek-golek pun ada...

Yang dating pun ada, hehe...

When the sun is out, so does the frisbee...

But some prefer to just do nothing...

Or just termenung, hehe...

When you're surrounded by beautiful sight as this, who wouldn't :)

More exploring

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Sounds of Scotland

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Curry and dhal

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Food at Khushi's was good, reasonable and most importantly halal!!

Very happy :D

Grassmarket

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Mary King's Close

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Interesting

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Walking back after a long day

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Some eye-catching things along the way...

End of Day 6 :)

Three-flavoured fish

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On the way back after visiting Grey's Friar, our tummy were beginning to grumble... minta diisi. As we were walking we saw a Thai restaurant. Hmm... menarik. Can eat proper food (as opposed to having sandwiches, fish & chips).

When I saw the menu I immediately laughed. Siapa sangka, even in Edinburgh ada ikan tiga rasa ;)

Grey's Friars

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At the foot of Edinburgh Castle

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I was trying to take a photo like the one I saw in DK Eyewitness Scotland travel guide ;)

Princes Street Garden

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Green

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The trees and grass here are very subur... I later discovered the reason ;)

More footwork

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The City Chambers

A stroll down Royal Mile on a lovely summer evening...

Alleys like these are called close...

They go all the way down to the Princes Street Gardens

Weird images cross my mind when I saw the name of this close... dead bodies? working girls? Rupa2nya it used to be the place where they sell meat... why lah not just name it Butcher Close...

Scottish flag flying proudly...

A quintessentially British sight

Calton Hill in the distance

Edinburgh Castle in the shadow of an evening sun...

St Giles Cathedral

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Walking down the hill

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Why the long face? haha... sorry, I couldn't resist ;)

Warning! An alien has landed!!

Numerous narrow alleys like this dot Edinburgh...

... and when the building are quite tall, sunshine is blocked

Do you think this is my style?

I wanna take one of these home...

Castle shop... mesti singgah ;)

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oops... do you have anything underneath? ;)

highland cow = elan coo

Edinburgh Castle - part 3

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Edinburgh Castle - part 2

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Edinburgh Castle - part 1

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They were in the midst of preparing for the Tattoo

We're here! It's really big!

A view of the New Town

BOOM!! hehe...

Cobbled street...

Walking on towards Edinburgh Castle

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Our destination in the distance

There's sort of a valley in the middle of the city. It used to be a pond/lake, but has since been covered by xxx. More of that later ;)

A miniature model of the city...

The *valley* separates the Old Town and the New Town

Scott Monument from afar

These steps are not fair at all... many steps... penat!!

Finally the sun is out!! :)

View of New Town from the Old Town...

Sini penat panjat bukit... it's agak steep and mencabar orang2 yg tak fit like moi...

Scott Monument

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More of Scott Monument from Day2 in Edinburgh...

Right smack in the middle of ancient Edinburgh

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The old town in the background...

We went to grab a Subway sandwich for lunch and went to have it in the park... while drinking in this beautiful view

Walking up the hill towards Old Town

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Leisurely stroll and taking in the sights...

Not that steep but penat lah jugak...

cheeky ;)

There are many narrow alleys like this in Edinburgh

I didn't know my bro had a biz here ;)

The buildings all look the same...

Royal memorabilia

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I sent this postcard to Mantze tapi tak sampai :( agaknya posmen tu minat Prince William kut...

Palace grounds

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It was so quiet and peaceful here... you can even hear the birds chirping!

Chapel

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Palace of Holyroodhouse

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This if one of the many palaces that is still being used by the British royal family... it's the Queen's official residence whenever she's in town.

Scottish Parliament

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At the end of the Royal Mile, sits the Scottish Parliament... right across the Holyroodhouse Palace. At first tak tahu what it was, then nampak the plaque... ooooh!

Some words of wisdom... they should have this kat kita punya bangunan parlimen ;p

A very modern looking house of parliament

Arthur's Seat in the background

Walking towards the palace

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Our first destination for the day is Holyroodhouse Palace. Our hotel is mid-way between the Palace and Edinburgh Castle. The palace kat bawah bukit so it was a nice walk ;)

The sky was grey and quite chilly... berbeza dengan Nederlands yang cerah dan panas. So bila ambik gambar pun malap je. Tak best...

The streets were quite deserted. Sepanjang jalan tu, we were the only tourists. We didn't even see many locals pun. Nak kata awal, tak lah awal sangat...

The whole stretch is known as The Royal Mile

There are many such alleyways in Edinburgh

Some like to stand out...

Narrow winding road

Places to get a drink...

a tea shop...

a coffee shop...

and a pub!

Kat sini pun ada double decker bus

And a black taxicab

Alas perut

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First things first... cari breakfast :)

Our accommodation in Edinburgh kat Travelodge. A good deal, but breakfast not provided. No-frills hotel... what do you expect?

So we went to this cafe just a short walk from our hotel. I can't remember the name but the service was superb and the waiter and waitress very friendly. Our first encounter with someone yang cakap Scottish pekat... tapi masih boleh difaham ;)

The pastry was fresh and coffee sedap... a great way to start a day!

The breakfast menu today... pain du chocolat, cafe latte, croissant and tea

Something to wake me up ;)

Kalau Dzeelfa ikut, that's where she would sit

All set for a full day of sightseeing...

Hello Scotland

2007-06-05T20:32:00.001+08:00

For the next 6 1/2 days we'll be exploring the land of kilts and bagpipes. This is also the country that had produced Sean Connery *wink wink* and inspired JK Rowling ;)

The itinerary is Edinburgh - Dundee - Scottish Highlands - Glasgow. We'll be joined by Marni for our roadtrip. So excited to see her :)

I've read so much about the dramatic and majestic Scottish landscape and terrain... am really looking forward to that.

From Nederlands to Scotland... on EasyJet

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Our flight was around sunset... so the view from up here was very beautiful. It was bright and sunny... golden actually. Simply beautiful.

The shores of Nederlands

The sun setting

There's a large cloud over northern Europe, especially above the British Isle. Sepanjang flight tu nampak awan je.

It was a really big cloud system

Berombak-ombak...

Then as we were about to land, masuk awan. From cerah ceria we were greeted by grey and gloomy. As if we had entered another world. Total contrast! I had kept my camera in the bag masa tu... since pilot dah kata *please turn off all your electronic devices as we are about to land*. I didn't want to take the risk of interfering with the flight system just to snap some photos.

It was dark... macam dah dekat pukul 8pm time Malaysia. Macam mana boleh suddenly from cerah jadi gelap... dipisahkan oleh awan je. Inside I went *Oh no... are we going to be experiencing the wet and grey weather that Scotland is famous for?* After having 5 full days of sunshine, the prospect of rain and gloomy skies was rather disconcerting. Dahlah the news asyik kata there's a large cloud overcast which is expected to stay there for the rest of the week.

Tak apa lah... we'll take whatever weather we get.

Off to Schipol... bye bye Amsterdam

2007-06-05T18:52:00.000+08:00

Berakhir sudah journey di Nederlands... it was short but wonderful! We managed to squeeze in a lot of things.

Naik tram to get to Station Centraal

Then train to airport... bye-bye Amsterdam

Wanted to make sure that we're not late for our flight, we left for Schipol quite early. Our bags were already there... disimpan kat baggage storage yang sangat canggih kat airport tu. They're coin operated... you can pick the size that you want. Fortunately for us, muat sumbat both our bags into one locker.

We arrived at the airport quite early. Went to check in and then jalan2 keliling to kill time. What we really need is a shower tapi sangat mahal... 40euros per person. Takpelah...

This airport is well connected to the whole of Nederlands and perhaps the rest of Europe. The train station underground is clean, efficient... very good!

For dinner we had something that I've began to like... fries with mayo. I know... I know... it's artery clogging and so bad for you. But they're really quite good! The mayo is different from the ones we find here, and the fries are just perfectly fried. Yumm!!

Fries with mayo... it's delicious I tell you!

Tengok kita makan slow sangat, a pakcik came to Skinner and told her "eat up" with a smile :)

Lepas makan, we went in search for a place to perform solat. Dalam peta airport kata ada prayer/meditation room. We weren't expecting much lah... thought that it most likely would just be a room in some ceruk.

It was in a ceruk, but it was no cikai room. It was well designed and equipped... large and bright. Siap ada sejadah and Quran lagi... dengan selipar untuk pergi berwudhu. I'm very impressed!! This is the best surau I've ever encountered... better than the ones in Changi.

We had taken our wudhu in a disabled toilet sebab dalam tu ada sink. Senang nak buka tudung, kasut etc. When we were performing our solat, ada a few others yang datang solat too. They're Dutch people. As usual bila jumpa saudara seagama, senyuman tu automatic... it felt so good :)

Kemas, cantik, bersih...

Saw these cows on the way to our departure gate. Since we're flying no-frills, the gate was quite far... very far actually. Took us a good 20 minutes to get to the gate. Dah takut dah kalau lambat sampai... nasib baik sempat!

Bicycles

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Everywhere you go in Amsterdam... they're always there

With a baby carrier

Tinggi lah basikal ni...

A pair...

Innovative ;)

With kids' seat... deluxe version

Colourful bicycles... they're expensive too!

Injecting personality into an otherwise plain black bicycle