Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Wild & Sexy Skye High Scotland

Sept 22-24 (Wed-Fri): 3 days 2 nights Skye High Tour with Haggis Adventures
I'm still touring around now but trying to squeeze some time out to work on the many many pictures that I've been taking for the past few days...progress is kinda slow but i'm trying my best not to pile up everything. :p

This trip was quite nice...got to travel with tour mates from Australia, New Zealand, US, Brazil, Taiwan, & Hong Kong. Too bad the weather was kinda sucky...gloomy and 'liquid sunshine' most of the time so pictures didn't look that nice. 

Our tour guide, Andy was pretty good...very informative & humorous. =) This tour gave me the chance to know more about Scottish history and culture...and learnt how to wear a kilt. :) Traveled a lot throughout the 3 days but I don't remember all the names of the places that we stopped by. All I could remember was that there were a lot of mountains & lakes...breathtaking scenery...many lochs & glens...and signboards in Gaelic words that I don't understand...lol!! Alright...time for pictures!!

Sept 21 (Tues): Embarked on our adventurous journey with a backpack and took a night bus from London to Edinburgh...9-hours on the coach...not fun. =.= 


Sept 22 (Wed): Finally arrived Edinburgh at 7.30am. Freshened up a lil' then headed straight to Haggis Adventures office to begin our 3-days 'Skye High' tour.


First stop...The National Wallace Monument. Had to hike up to the monument on a misty & chilly morning...what a good exercise for both of us who were still half-awake. =.=


The National Wallace Monument.


Hamish the hairy coo...moooo mooo!!


As I mentioned earlier...breathtaking scenery along the way. Andy introduced the 'speed-dating' game for us to get to know our tour mates and also the 'spot the tractor' game that went on for the entire trip. :p

Lunch break. I had Venison burger without knowing that it was deer meat...but it tasted pretty good though.


More greeneries...beautiful scenery but it can be a lil' boring after awhile. Besides, we didn't get to sleep well the night before so kept dozing off in the bus. :p


Green green green....mountains, river, lake....

Glencoe. Glen means valley.

Going along the Great Glen...picturesque scenery!!!!

Fort Augustus...near Loch Ness. (loch=lake)

Highland Clan Show...good place to learn about Scottish history. Our tour mate very bravely stripped his jeans to wear the kilt...lol!! Btw...guys don't usually wear anything (not even boxers) when they wear a kilt...and we 'verified' this fact...lol!!

Morag's Lodge...our accommodation for 2 nights...quite a cozy place. :)

Live music, dance, drink, party...the angmoh way.

Sept 23 (Thurs): 2nd day of the tour.

On the way to Isle of Skye

Eilean Donan Castle

Some pictures around Eilean Donan Castle

The most expensive toilet in the world...a castle...lol!!!

Pitstop before crossing the bridge over to Isle of Skye 

Crossing the bridge to Isle of Skye

Some waterfall along the way

The Red Cuillin Mountain

Beautiful scenery at Isle of Skye

Stopped by Portree...the largest town on Skye for lunch. Spotted some local school students.

Had some yummy fish & chips & haggis for lunch. Yes...I tried Haggis!! This one was pretty good...tasted good!



The wind was crazy at this waterfall...can see from my hair...lol!! I think it was the strongest wind ever that I've experienced...so strong to the extent that waterfall becomes water-up. :p

Took a video at the water-up.

Jumpshots at Loch Ness

Quiz night at the hostel with our fellow tour mates. I didn't know most of the answers...haha! But our group got the best group name...'Blonde & Black, sexy in the sack'...it was the Australian girl who came up with this name. :p

Learning to wear kilts. Guess what...the guys were 'free-balling'...lol!!!

Sept 24 (Fri): Walked into the woods to find this Peter Pan's author's summer house overlooking the river.

Pitstop for picture with Nessie...finally the sky is clear!! =)


Souvenir shop with lotsa Nessie!!  

Culloden Moor Battlefield


Lunch on the way back to Edinburgh

The end of our fun-filled trip...arrived Edinburgh at bout 6.30pm.

Skye High Tour Route
Our route for 3 days

That's all for this 3-days tour...lots more nice pictures from Edinburgh...but probably gonna take some time to update. Gotta get some rest...I'm now in Valencia...crashing the couch tonight. :p

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Dayout with cousins in London

Sept 21 (Tues): Just a quick update coz haven't had time to work on Scotland pictures yet.

Had lunch with Fu Aun at this Chinese restaurant in Queensway (forgot the name). The lobster noodles were yummy!! :)


Dinner with Audrey at Gourmet Burger Kitchen before leaving for Scotland...kinda like a farewell for her coz she'll be going to Harvard for a month. =)

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Billy Elliot!!!

Sept 20 (Mon): Finally...accomplished my 'mission' of watching this musical!!! =) Missed it in Broadway 1.5 years ago, so told myself that I ain't missing it this time around in West End. :p There are plenty of musicals to choose from but it was easy choice for me this time...Billy Elliot...coz it's all about ballet and Sir Elton John's music. =)

The ticket counter opens at 10.30am but I arrived earlier to grab the discounted tickets. There were also other people queuing there already...shows how 'laku' this show is yea. :p I was the first to get the ticket so managed to get it for £19.50 (compared to normal price of £60)...and I got a pretty good seat too. My seat was supposed to be 'restricted view' but I thought it was good...3rd row from the stage and I could see all the cast clearly. This show was not so much about effects or lighting so being near to the stage was greattt.


Thought I was running late so took the tube to Victoria station...but still managed to arrive about half an hour before the show started. 

Inside Victoria Palace Theatre...nice!!! It was Monday and the theatre was 'full house'...this show is still so popular even though it's been running for more than 5 years...impressive! :) See how near I was to the stage...could see every details...lol! :p 

I was busy taking self-portrait while waiting so the Argentinian lady sitting beside me offered to help me take a pic...lol!

Of course we weren't allowed to take pic or video of the performance so here's a glimpse of the show. "Electricity" by Liam Mower (one of the first Billys)

The show started off with Scott Mckenzie as Billy Elliot. Googled yesterday and found out that he's a new Billy...his debut performance was on Sept 6th.  

But half way through the show...a stage crew came out and said that Billy was not feeling well so the show had to stop for a few minutes...hmm...that was random. 

After a few minutes, the stage crew came out again and say that Scott McKenzie will be replaced by Aaron Watson for the rest of the show. Aaron appeared on Britain's Got Talent in 2009.

Image
Not bad though...got to see 2 Billys perform in one show. :p Aaron Watson (left) & Scott McKenzie (right).

Good show!! =)

The show lasted for 3 hours and ended at 10.30pm. This show was definitely worth the price. =)