Days in the Deccan

Hyderabad has been a lot of fun!

A great mix of meeting up with family and friends and seeing a new city.

My first night here, Scribbler took me to a lovely waterfront restaurant along the shores of Hussein Sagar, Hyderabad's man made lake. R, a mutual cousin (from the Goa branch of the phamily) joined us as well, and since I hadn't met him in something like 15 years it was quite the reunion!

Friday was a full day of lectures for Scribs, so I took off to the "old city" to amuse myself. Unfortunately I forgot that in a predominantly Muslim city, most attractions are closed on a Friday, so after a quick peek at the Charminar and a round at the Salar Jung Museum to see the Nizam's Jewels that were on display I decided to call one of my aunt's old school friends and go visit her. 2 hours and 3 buses later I was standing hesitantly at the side of the road waiting for her to pick me up! Meeting J and her family was worth the effort and later that evening she took me to an artisan's village where I picked up 2 lovely Tanjore paintings for our house.

Getting back to the very other end of town to CIEFL was quite an adventure, and if it were not for an extremely kind girl who I met at the bus stand, I might still be lost in the city! Not only did she give me a ride to a less crowded bus stop, but she waited till I got onto the right bus and gave me detailed instructions for my change over! Thanks a bunch Pratipa... where ever you are!

Golconda Fort was supposed to be on the agenda for Saturday, but Scribs and I both slept in and we had to revisit our plans. Before we could decide anything concrete, J called and told us that if we wanted, we could get to her place in the early evening and then she'd drive us to the fort and back to catch the daily sound and light show at sunset! Mighty pleased with this plan, we set off for the old city again and this time stopped in at the Chowmahalla Palace which used to be the seat of the Asaf Jai dynasty and the official residences of the Nizams (the rulers) of Hyderabad.

The second time around, the journey to J's place was far easier and that evening we drove to the ancient fort of Golconda which is located on the outskirts of the city. Once a mighty establishment that was the seat of the Deccan Empire, most of the fort now lies in ruins. Every evening at sundown a sound and light show walks visitors through the Fort's impressive history, outlining important events and offering an insight into bygone times.
After a very well rested night at J's place and a lovely "home made" breakfast, Scribs and I reluctantly said goodbye to J and her family and made our way back home. Stopped off for lunch at the Paradise Restaurant, Hyderabad's most famous landmark that started off as a simple one room Irani restaurant and is today a 4 floor, multi cuisine restaurant! R was able to join us again, so the "cousins" enjoyed a lovely and utterly delish biryani lunch together later washed down with ice cream at the funniest little ice cream parlor nearby. Back at CIEFL now and just a few hours left here in Hyderabad before I have to catch my train to Hampi. From IT city, to the ruins of an ancient empire - my journey goes on!

On the road again

Left Bombay last evening and took a 13 hour bus ride to start off the next leg of my "Discover India" tour.

First stop, Hyderabad to meet up with cousin Scribbler who is doing her Masters in Literature at CIEFL. Will be spending 4 glorious days trying to catch up on a backlog of 2 years worth of random chats and general gossip. Of course we do that on msn, but its just not the same!

After Hyderabad, will be moving on the ancient city of Hampi (the seat of the Vijaynagara Empire) and then to Bangalore where I will catch up with more cousins - not so well known, but nice enough to let me crash at their places regardless! Its then on to Mysore, Somnathpur and Sravanbelagola for quicky day trips and heading back to Bombay on March 8th.

Tune in to updates on what, when and where in the world is the Pixy Princess!

Puzzles and Prezzies!

Somehow I got switched over to the "new" Blogger. I tried to sign in today and the old one simply didn't exist anymore! Talk about being arm twisted into something! 


Then when I was trying to create a google account, I was told that I already have one! This was news to me. I have no recollection what-so-ever of creating anything like that. Good heavens, I only JUST turned 26 yesterday, and already things are fading from my LTM. what's next? Night blindness and tunnel vision? Phantom pains in my joints? *gulp*


On the flip side, I did have a lovely birthday!


I was able to celebrate with my gradparents and my B'bay family after 6 years. My Nana hosted a little "party" lunch for a few close relatives and friends and we had a lovely Chinese lunch from 5 Spice - which I was told was THE latest thing in Chinese take out - followed by delish cake-and-ice-cream, follow by a hilarious round of "personities" which left all the participants helpless with laughter!


My birthday present to myself was a free-for-all at the nearest bookstore where I came away with 8 new friends for my bookshelves.


Other exciting prezzies included a beautiful new wristwatch from Nana and Papa, a earing and chain set and clothes from Very Best Friend and her family, more clothes from the family, a diary and book - I Capture the Castle - from my cuz Scribbler her fiance and finally loads of do-what-you-what-with-it cash from other family that will definitely come in handy on my upcoming trip to the south of India. Quite a nice haul I say!

Just when I though my day was done, some of my friends swung by and took me out for Birthday drinks which was a very nice end to a very nice birthday! 


More fun follows tonight at another friend's place who's birthday is also on the 16th.

Meet the Grandparents

Just realised that since I've been yammering on and on about "my family" et all, it might be usedful if you can see what they actually look like!

We begin with two of the nicest most amazing grandparents in the whole world....here's Nana and this is Papa and here's the two of them looking too cute for words! Jolly good for 93 and 83 eh??

A bit blue in the blue city....

Arrived into the "blue" city of Jodhpur this morning - the final stop on our 11 day Rajasthan tour. After the calm of Pushkar, the friendlyness of Udaipur and the wild beauty of Jaisalmer, Jodhpur seem almost mundane but for the imposing fort that overlooks the city. Very tired and beary eyed we stumbled towards the hotel we had pre booked only to find that they were NOT prepared for us and the washrooms were in a deplorable condition. Feeling quite miserable, we dumped our bags and headed out to find breakfast, but it was too early for any decent joint to be open. Since Charlene had to catch a 1 pm flight out to Delhi, we decided to head right to the fort and get that off our list of "things we have done!"

The fort was absolutely spectacular and our guide was the funniest old man who kept distributing toffee to all the workers in the fort! Unlike Jaisalmer fort where my camera decided to die on me, I was able to take (literally) hundreds of pics at Jodhpur and they can be seen here and here and here and many more online!

In the brighter light of day, our accomodations didn't seem half as bad and after Charlene had freshned up, we parted ways and our company was reduced to two. Feeling rather triste Charmaine and I spent the rest of the day wandering aimlessly around Jodhpur and in an affort to cheer up called our respective homes and had a quick word with our families. Later we chanced upon this little internet cafe and have been surfing away for the past hour or so now.

Although our holiday has been wonderful and we've seen and done more than we'd imagined, I think Rajasthan and its "wildness" is gnawing on us just a wee bit and we're both longing for our own beds and more so our own SHOWERS again! Seriously, I would give anything for a shower with even semi warm water and any sort of pressure other than a drizzle right now!

Taking up from my last narrative, I can now say without doubt that my fav place in Rajasthan was Udaipur. Perhaps it was the fact that it was the place where we stayed the longest, hence we were the least "hassled" there. We had ample time to take in the sights and sounds of the city at our own pace and there was time enough to just relax instead of being in "tourist" mode 24/7. The City Palace (incidently one of the largest palace complexes in the world) - the first of many that we saw - took my breath away with its intricate carvings and ornate windows and minutely decorated pillars.

Of course, when in Udaipur one MUST attend one of the nightly screenings of the 007 movie Octopussy which has the distinction of being set in the city and filmed on site at many of the famous havelis and palaces around. Bond movies are always rediculous in my (humble) opinion and this one is the pinnacle of unrealistic storylines! Heaps fun all the same!

After 3 glorious days in the "white" city, we moved on westward deep into the Thar desert to the border town of Jaisalmer. On the way we stopped for early morning chai in Pokhran a tiny little blurb on the map unknown until 1997 when India used this blurb to conduct nuclear testing. Call me finicky, but I refused to drink the tea there!

I found Jaisalmer to be a curiously timewarped place. Inspite of the thousand of tourists that flok there each year, the city still manages to shroud itself in a veil of mystique and at times is totally oblivious to the fact that the rest of the world just ushered in 2007.

We spent one night camping out in the desert and did a camel "safari" early the next morning. Watching the sun rise over the distant dunes definitely ranks in my top 10 "most awesome life moments"! I also loved the very unique feel to Jaisalmer Fort which unlike Jodhpur was a "living fort" with over 2500 individuals who till today live and work within the ancient walls that yet encircle the marvel of architecture that majestically rises out of the desert sands. Built entirely out of the yellow sandstone commonly found in the region, from a distance the fort seems to be almost a flicker of the imagination as it shimmers in the heat of the midday sun. I could almost imagine the fort's architects using this trick of the sun as a defense against potential invaders. And it worked too, as according to the historical references it all its existance, only once did the fort fall into enemy hands - and even then, very briefly.

And that brings me back to the present. We have one more day in Jodhpur tomorrow and then we take the overnight train to Jaipur where we'll catch our flight back to Bombay.

My adventures will cease - for now - but the memories will be forever.

Travelling Mac*

After a hectic 2 weeks in Bombay, I finally began the "travel" part of the trip. First up was a weekend trip to Aurangabad to visit the famous Ajanta and Ellora caves and check out the glorious Buddhist carvings and paintings and Jain and Hindu carvings, some dating back to the 6th century BC. I can't believe I lived in Bomaby for 20 years and didn't make the trip before. Charlene, a cousin from Toronto who's also touring India for 2 months decided to join me and so did Captain another cousin who lives in Bombay.

Highlights of the trip (well aside from the AWESOME caves of course) include my first stay in a convent (nuns have heaps more fun that we think!) and a kufaffle at Ellora that had a security guard denying entry to my INDIAN cousin on the pretext that she doesn't "look" Indian. I on the other hand sailed through and he didn't give me a second look! My cousin was speechless with indignation for all of 30 seconds before she laid it into the security guard switching rapidly from English to Hindi to Marathi (the regional language) and for good measure added a few choice phrases in a couple of other Indian languages as well. Even after she showed him a bunch of her identification, he refused to let her in. By this time quite a crowd had gathered and seeing 3 "innocent" women being so unjustly treated, they proceeded to liberally abuse the security guard until he let her in. Charlene and I had in the meantime laughed ourselves fitless and welcomed Captain into the "foreigner" category with open arms. The rest of our stay at the Ellora caves kept getting interupted by random folk who had heard what happened and wanted to take a picture with my cousin!

Left for a 10 day trip to the northern desert state of Rajasthan on Jan 25th. Charlene joined me again and so did another Bombay cousin - Charmaine. (yes, I have a lot of cousins in Bombay and yes they all seem to have names beginning with "c").

Flew into Jaipur for a day - just enough time to check out Hawa Mahal, chow down on delish Rajasthani thali and catch up with a college friend Ditty.

After a day in Jaipur we moved on to the holy city of Pushkar. There we made the agonizing trek up some 2000 odd steps to the Savitri Temple.

We were rewarded by an amazing view and (not so nice) assurances of a good marriage for us both from the ageing pujari (priest).

Checked out the only Bhrama Temple in existance anywhere in the world and watched the sun set on the beautiful and peaceful city from one of the many terrace cafes.

Had a pretty eventful night as we were bounced around on a bus that seemed to barely hold itself together as it navigated the narrow roads to the southern palacial city of Udaipur. And that's where I am right now!

Will be here for 3 days and then head off to the border town of Jaisalmer and hopefully try out a camel safari. More adventures await us... and we welcome them all. 


*Not to infringe on "Fraggle Rock" but in this case Mac refers to a common term used to refer to "Catlik" (Catholic) and in particular Goan people in India. Please see previous post for more deets!

Dhoom Machale!!!!!!*

There's just two words for my Indian trip so far: Bloody Awesome!
Well, ok... perhaps there are more, but those were the first two I thought off... and actually possibly the most apt!

The daily (rather nightly) partying continues. As of today, I've been here 12 days and been out 10 nights... with another dinner date set for tonight as well. Thankfully I've been working off most of the yummy food with walking all over the place and generally (trying) to stay active. For example of some of the tres yummy food see below.
Have uploaded a bunch of Bombay pics onto Flickr so check those out.

Side bar: Someone... anyone....please let me know if its worth paying the annual fee to Flickr ($24US) or should I be looking for another "free" picture posting outlet? Problem is, I'm kinda used to Flickr now... but would still like to know from others out there if I should pay up for the subscription.

Am heading off to the city of Aurangabad this weekend to visit the famous Ajanta and Ellora caves that house Jain, Buddist and Hindu carvings that date back to the 2nd century BC. Also interesting coz I'll be staying at a nunnery where my cousin's aunt is stationed. Now THAT in itself will be an experience.


A random cousin - also from the T Dot - turned up on Sunday night and we spent all of this morning trying to coordinate our travels outside of Bombay. Not an easy task, but I think we have some dates set! We're off to Elephanta Island just off the cost of South Bombay tomorrow and will wander around the downtown area and generally be touristly.

Went to see the first Hindi movie of my trip last Friday night - Dhoom 2 and I cou;dn't have chosen a more "action packed" and "thrill filled" movie as my first (to quote to extensive movie posters) I mean, when you have two of Bollywood's hottest hotties Hrithik and Abhishek paired with Ash and Bipasha... well it just doesn't get too much better! The songs were catchy, the action was packed the dialogues snappy and the storyline outragous - all the makings of a hit movie! Can't wait to see part 1 and many many more!



* Title song of the movie Dhoom 2. Check it out - you won't be disappointed!

My Travel Map

Saw this on Jules' blog and decided to get my own. Obviously, I have a long way to go.... and simply MUST put more of a dent in the Southern continents!

This city never sleeps!

Forget New York, London and Paris; Bombay is where it is all happening! Day 5 in Bombay, and I feel like I've been running a constant marathon. This city and its inhabitants just seem to go on and on a la Energize Bunny ishtyle!

This is what my days so far have looked like:

Thursday, Jan 4th:
Arrived into Mumbai at 00:50 hrs
Out that evening to meet up with cousin and cousin's bf who are returning to Sydney the next day.  

Friday, Jan 5th:
Litany of calls/ visits to the immidiate family.
Repeatedly answer the following questions in more or less the same order:
How are you?
When did you come?
How long are you here for?
SO LONG!!! (Not a question, but everyone has reacted to my reply of "three months" in much the same way)
How are daddy and mummy?
And how is the brother
Where are you staying?
How are Nana and Papa?
What are you doing now?
NOTHING?? (once again, not a question but an almost identical comment from all!)
When will you be leaving?
Have you found a nice boy?
Do you want a nice boy?
Will you have something to eat? (This if I was meeting them in person)
or
When will you come over and have something to eat? (if on the phone)

Rinse and repeat all day!


Saturday, Jan 6th:
Attended wedding # 1
Sunday, Jan 7th:
Attended pre wedding party of wedding #2


Monday, Jan 8th:
Bookedtickets to Rajasthan (Jan 25th to Feb 4th)
Mailedpostcards that were supposed to be mailed in London
Meet Sr. Kusum at Navjeet the community centre I will be voluntering at
*present* Updating blog


Scheduled events:
Monday, Jan 8th: Birthday dinner at friend's house
Tuesday, Jan 9th: Travel to the 'burbs to meet Dad's brother and his family for lunch
Wednesday, Jan 10th: Help with last minute wedding preparations followed by dinner at another friend's house
Thursday/ Friday: Free - for now
Saturday, Jan 13th: Attend opening night of friend's play at Prithvi theatre
Sunday, Jan 14th: Attend wedding #2 Monday, Jan 15th: begin work at Navjeet
Tuesday, Jan 16th: dinner with mum's college friend

That's about all - for now. Bombay is sure gonna be a crazy ride!

Meme

First time I'm doing this, kinda fun on a lazy New years day.

Four jobs I've had
Intern with MTV India
Charity fundraiser
International student programs coordinator, York University
Corporate sales executive, Toronto Blue Jays


Four movies I can watch over and over
The Sound of Music (100+ and counting!)
The Full Monty
Gone with the Wind
The King and I


Four places I’ve lived
Bombay, India
Mumbai, India
Toronto, Canada
working on a 4th!


Four TV shows I love
Smallville
Ugly Betty
Grey's Anatomy
The Amazing Race


Four places I’ve vacationed
London, UK
Rome, Italy
Berne, Switzerland
Melbourne, Australia


Four of my favorite dishes
Shrimp curry and rice
Mussles in wine sauce
Grilled catfish
Chicken Xacuti


Four sites I visit daily
www.mail.yahoo.com
www.wikipedia.com
www.google.com
www.blogger.com


Four places I would rather be right now
I can't complain - am in London right now en route to India and Japan!
(yey)

Just one sleep till 2007

The past few days in London have been alternately relaxing and stressful. London started off tres chilled out as I got here over the Christmas weekend, and basically spent the next three days reading, watching movies and eating yummy Christmas dinner leftovers.

Moved to another friends house on Tuesday in the Bethnal Green area. Quite a funky place really; full of life on the streets and off them too! A mix of little India with a good measure of China town and getto thrown in just to balance things out. Great little kebab shops, good pubs and even a Tesco just steps away - what more can you really want now?

Over the psat few days, Ive managed to dodge the crappy weather and go to Covent gardens, Soho for drinks, a walk along the canalways to Little Venice, the eclectic shops at Camden Market and even a quick matinee show of The Mousetrap! I tried to get my behind to Wesminster twice now, but both times was thwarted by either crap weather or a crap hangover from drinking the night before! Still have one more day that I can go there (on the 2nd) so lets hope that pans out. If it does, then I would have come to London and done ALL that I wanted to do this time around!

And then it will be time for the next adventure!

All fun and games

Its 3:20 in the morning and we´re still up playing Charades.
I LOVE this holiday!!!

A Very Desi Christmas

Yesterday was one of THE most relaxed and chilled out Christmasses I have ever had! Woke up late, curled up on the couch and listened to softly playing carols, had some friends over and the menu was very un Christmas-like with Chicken biryani, raita, puris and channa masala served! And of course what's a desi christmas without cheezy Hindi movies??

And the best thing of all - I stayed in my comfy jammies all day and no one gave a damn!

Merry Christmas indeed!

Goodbye Scotland, Hello England

Friday was my very last full day in Glasgow and Skippy - pal of Very Best Friend - organized a nice lunch for me so that I would get to try Scotland's traditional dish - Haggis!

VBF and I spent the morning in the city as I had yet to see Glasgow Cathedreal - the only religious structure to survive the Reformation fairly intact. Once again, I was just awestruck by the sheer magnificance and majesty of the place. Words can just barely describe the feeling of wonder I experienced as I walked around the cathedreal. Several memorials line the walls of the outter cathedreal in memory of soldiers and warriors who perished at home and abroad in defense of their country. The inner chapel is still in use as a Church with regular services. Below, we saw the tomb of St. Mungo - patron saint of Glasgow and to who the Cathedreal is named after. Several other smaller chapels and pray stations are randomly scattered around the Cathedreal making it not just one Church, but many churches in one.

Once we had thoroughly explored the Cathedreal, we made our way to the city centre to meet up with VBF's friends. Lunch had been pushed back an hour to 4 pm now, and I was starving!!! Killed time in a little underground bar on Sauchiehalls (sp?) street and once the troops had assembed, made our way to Hengler's Circus a bar/restaurant where I finally had my first Haggis meal. It was really quite delicious, as long as one can ignore HOW its made! Wasn't all that fussed about the turnips they serve it with though - could have done without 'em! One friend even showed up wearing his kilt so it was a Scottish meal, with Scottish folk in Scottish wear. Now, can one really ask for more?

The flight to London on Saturday was rather uneventful. Got to the airport real early as I was quite worried about my baggage situation, but thankfully thanks to me unloading a lot of items with VBF and also more creative packing, I didn't have to pay excess this time. The flight was a bit delayed, but had nothing to do with the weather so I finally got to London at around 2 pm and by the time I navigated the Tube system with my baggage, got to friend's home by 4:30 pm.

The girls had planned a Christmas party for that evening, so I barely had enough time to get changed and freshen up and appear half decent before their guests arrived; And when they did arrive, it was the first time in a long time that I was surrounded by Indians and it wasn't my family! Mallus everywhere!! Big ones, little ones, tall ones and short - I was quite submerged in a sea of Mallus! But it was great listening to the Indian accents all around - kinda like a prep for when I get to Bombay in two weeks.

Today, Christmmas eve was rather low key as we woke up pretty late and then since there are about 3 different denominations of Christians in the house we had to all figure out what service we were going to, and more importantly - how does one share 3 house keys between 4 people?? After some much complicated tube/bus/rail investigations we finally had a game plan that "seemed" viable. Let's hope it actually works in practice!

Spent the afternoon wandering around Greenwhich's the main street and Palace areas that's all pretty and decorated for Christmas. Met some more friends of friends of friends and had a couple o pints together at one of Greenwhich's oldest pubs - the Spanish Galleon.

There's enough time for us all to gather around the Christmas tree, listen to some carols and just relax and share a nice quite evening before we all leave for our respective Churches.

If there's anyone out there reading this, I wish you a Merry Christmas; but more importantly I wish you a peaceful Christmas, a safe Christmas and one filled with the company of loved ones around you.

All around Scotland - in the past 2 days!

Glancing through some brochures I realised that the Rosslyn Chapel - made infamous by Dan Brown and the Da Vinci Code - was a mere 30 mins away from Edinburgh. Well, I just had to go off and check out the chapel for myself. The most amazing thing happened on the bus to Roslin; came across another tourist who just happened to be a fellow Canuck from Victoria Island, BC. Then on further investigation it turns out that Joe (the guy I met) was actually born and lived in the same wee-little-middle-of-nowhere-in-Ontario town as the Jibblett! How’s that for crazy coinkidinks??

Anyway, crazy Canucks aside the ride to Roslin was quite lovely! The weather was totally cooperative for a change and the way to Roslin was lined with rolling Scottish countryside and tranquil village scenes that I thought only existed in idyllic pictures or a movie set. After about 30 mins of meandering around the countryside, the bus dropped us off on main street Roslin – also the only street in Roslin! A quick 15 min walk later I was at the quaint Rosslyn Chapel. All conspiracy theories aside, the trip was totally worth it. The chapel is one of the most intricate works of architecture that I have ever seen a wee little chapel. I must have spent about 2 hours in there just trying to soak it all in. The chapel is currently under some much needed renovations and they have scaffolding all around the outer walls and roof. What would normally have been a bummer, turned out to be quite an experience as I was able to climb the scaffolding and actually walk around the entire chapel to take an up close look at some of the stunningly carved outer walls and a chance to take in some more of the beautiful country side.

Met my new Canuck friend back at the little pub in the village and we had just enough time to grab a quick pint before we rushed out to catch the bus back to Edinburgh. Should have stayed and had another though coz the bus apparently worked on its own schedule and turned up almost 45 mins past its due time leaving us all out in the cold and freezing our collective tails off!

Got back to Glasgow and Very Best Friend’s place just in time for a quite bite before we both headed into the city centre and met up with some of her friends for a couple o pints and some laughs. Forgot to take my camera with me, so no pics unfortunately but we’re meeting up again Friday as they’re arranging for me to have a full on traditional Haggis lunch! Somehow I have the feeling they’re all going to take the Mickey outta me and will laugh like silly when they finally tell me just what all has gone into the meal!

After the past two days of intense sightseeing, it was nice to just sleep in a bit on Wednesday and not have to rush around madly to catch trains and busses! Once we finally rolled out of bed and got going, we made our way to the west end of the city to see the “Tall Ship” the Glenlee and had a wonderful time delving into some of Glasgow’s nautical and merchant navy history.

One of the things on my “wish list” was to go to Loch Ness, but as VBF pointed out it was quite a trek up to Inverness and suggested a trip to the much closer Loch Lomond instead. So off we went today. That involved another long bus ride winding in and around all sorts of tiny towns giving me a nice insight into country Scottish life. The initial plan was to go on to Luss a tiny village along the western shores of Loch Lomond and has the distinction of being one of Britain’s most well preserved and maintained “heritage” villages. Unfortunately the weather didn’t hold out long enough and the clouds rolled in while we were still in Balloch on the south shores of the Loch. I knew that it would be near impossible to get any decent pics as the light was total crap and we decided to head back to the city instead and go check out the Gallery of Modern Art or GoMA.

Watching the news tonight brought a nasty surprise as well. Apparently the dense fog around London has been playing havoc with flights to Heathrow and Gatwick and causing huge delays and backups all over the country. It looks like my flight on Saturday will more than likely be either postponed or cancelled altogether. I now have to make a decision about whether or not to tango with fate on Saturday or just postpone going to London until after Christmas. VBF is supposed to be spending Christmas at her boyfriend's place with his family. Guess they should be prepared to set an extra place at the table!

Whisky tasting is not for the faint of heart

Day 3 of my Scottish stay saw me heading off to the fair city of Edinburgh bright and early this morning; well it was so early it wasn't even bright yet! The citylink busses are a popular mode of inter city transit in the UK, and Edinburgh is just about an hour and 10 mins from Glasgow - all things and traffic being equal. It was my first time getting into town and finding the bus depot etc. by myself, but armed with loads of instructions from Nups and a handy dandy map and my God given good looks and great sense of direction, I was just fine!

Got to Edinburgh by about 11ish and wandered about for a bit down quaint alleyways and up and down steps and turns that seemed to lead nowhere, but opened up into the cutiest little squares. After a bit of aimless wandering, I suddenly stumbled upon my destination - the Royal Mile; the street that connects Holyrood House Palace to Edinburgh Castle and is probably one of the oldest streets in the city. Still cobblestoned for the most part, and sometimes barely wide enough for a single car to fit through, the Royal Mile winds its way across the city and up the steep volcanic hill where the Castle stands proud at its summit.

The Mile itself is marked with several points of interest and historic buildings and monuments, the most noted of them being John Knox House, St. Giles Cathedreal and the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre.

I spent almost 3 hours at Edinburgh Castle trying to seep in all the centuries of history it had to offer. From the most important symbols of Scottish nationhood, Crown Jewels of Scotland The Honours of Scotland and the Stone of Destiny to Mons Meg a giant Medieval seige gun who's canon balls were said to weight over 180 kgs, Edinburgh Castle is rich in Scottish tradition and history and seeing it was an absolute delight for me.

I finally managed to tear myself away from the Castle telling myself (firmly) that Edinburgh has a lot more to offer and after one last look, and one last picture I once again found myself at the very start of the Royal Mile. Situated quite conveniently just outside the main gates was the second thing on my "must do" list - the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre! I decided to take the tour that included the tasting of several samples from across Scotland and was not disappointed with either. I only wish I could have done the tasting with someone else - sitting at a bar drinking all by youself is rather boring even though the bar staff were really nice and helpful and took some pics of Mac and me, and even offered to call me a taxi when I was done as I was rather ... *ahem*... shakey!

Still managed to find my way back to the bus stand and catch the Citylink back to Glasgow and then the local transit back home. Note to self and for those who want to do a whisky tasting: Don't do it on a largely empty stomach. The whisky goes down fine, and then tends to shoot right up to your head!

Ah well, live and learn!

Around Glasgow City

Just finished a lovely dinner and am chewing on dark chocolate bought at Gickman's Glasgow's oldest confectionery. A nice teat after a long day out and about the city. With Very Best Friend as my official giude, we went on our own made up walking tour of important sights and sounds of the city.

Started off in Tollcross where we saw the Tolbooth steeple which used to house all sorts of vile nasty prisinors awating trial and was the site of public hangings up until 1814. Just to the east is Mercat Cross a modern marker for where weekly tradings used to take place. After this particularly cheerful start, we slauntered off towards Saltmarket which is downhill from Tollcross and as the guide book said, "was the gathering spot for the filth of the area" as pretty much all the waste and gunk from the houses was thrown out into the street and made it's way down the hill and collected at Saltmarket.

And pics were taken - including one of a pub where locals were glued to the TV watching the match twix arch football rivals the Celtics and the Rangers battled it out on (and as VBF mentioned most times off) the field.

Our next destination was Glasgow Green, scene of plenty a baby and doggie stroller on the wide paths that wove all around the green. Noteable monuments there included the McLellan Arch, the Collins Fountain errected by the Temprence movement (party poopers!) and a monument in honour of Lord Admiral Nelson. At the other end of the Green stands the People's Palace and the Winter Gardens; the former a museam dedicated to the history of the people of Glasgow and the latter a veritable oasis of lush tropical paradise in the midst of a misty city. The Doulton fountain stands in front of the main entrance and is the largest Terracotta fountain of it's kind in the world. Built during the reign of Queen Vic, it depicts the four main colonies of the British Empire namely India, Canada, South Africa and Australia.

Popped in to the Barras (a flea market that's been around since 1921) next for a quick look see stopping first for a quick pic of Templeton Carpet factory which is modelled on Dode's Palace in Venice. Barras reminded me a bit of Mapusa market actually with all the little stalls around and the sellers yelling out and trying to hawk their wares. Just outside the Barras is Glickman's; the afore mentioned "sweetie shop" where I got some delish chocos!

Trekked up High street passing by some intersting landmarks of the city like 215 High St. the former British Linen Bank building and Babbity Bowster, a restored merchant's house now a popular restaurant and hotel.

At the very top of High St. is the famous Glasgow Cathedral, St. Mungo's Museum of Religious Life and Art, Glasgow Necropolis and the Royal Infirmary (that VBF had visited just the day before to get her thumb all bandaged up after being particularly klutzy with the garbage bin and a can of chickpeas!) There was just enough time to have a looksee around St. Mungo's and besdies, my camera had just decided to die out on me. I have a tentative plan to go back on Wednesday to get all my pics.

By the time we were done with the museum, it was already pretty dark and so we decided to end the tour for the day! Walked over to George Sq. in the city centre through Strathclyde Uni where VBF had lived and studied when she first came over here. No day of touristy stuff is complete without a pint of rich Scots ale and as per directed, we headed over to The Counting house just off George Sq. which used to be a bank and is one of the most impressive pubs I have ever seen! Good beer too!

Suffice to say, I'm rather pooped right now and must soon head off to get a good night's sleep as I'm planning to head off to Edinburgh tomorrow.

Toodles All!

First days are never easy!

I can still hardly believe I'm in Scotland - actually on my first leg of the trip; it's somehow all not quite sunk in yet. Only 2 days in, and already adventures galore.

Like most trips, everything started off with the flight. I fully expected it to be terribly uneventful and that I'd sleep the entire way - coz that's what usually happens! Nope - way wrong. I must have eaten something bad on the 'plane coz a few hours in, my tummy gave way and I spent most of the flight hurling into the too tiny loo! Dizzy and disoriented was my middle name when I finally landed in London, but my worries weren't over just yet.
 
Made my way to Terminal 2 to transfer to my Glasgow connection and was met with the rude shock that I was 15 kgs overweight for a domestic flight and would have to pay 75 pounds in excess duties!

75 pounds!! Over my (nearly) dead body! And they totally didn't care that I had just come in on an international flight - hence the luggage! Grrr. Some quick thinking was required, and super Pixy sprang (err... more like slowly moved) into action. But first, I had to hurl again.

Right, where was I? Oh yeah - springing and action.

I figured my only way out was to bring the weight down - and that would require some very creative repacking. Basically, I noticed that they were only weighing check in luggage, and I had a knapsack that wasn't terribly full. Half an hour later, I went back to the check in desk and voila... now I was just 6 kgs overweight! Ok, so I was wearing 2 shirts and a cami, 2 pairs of socks, had a scarf wrapped onto my bag handle and another around my neck. All my shoes and every "heavy" object I could find was stacked into my knapsack and I had stuffed socks and undies all over the place - even my camera bag - which I also hung around my waist. I was wearing my leather jacket (over the 2 shirts and cami) with more things stuffed in my pockets and I was CARRYING the other jacket with things stuffed with clothes stuffed into the pockets and even the hood and sleeves!!!!

I still had to pony up the charges, but seeing as how I'd brought it down to just 6 kgs over, 30 pounds sounded a helluva lot better than the initial 75!!

I was really HOT though, and hungry too coz I had to get rid of all "transit snacks" I had carried. Still, I saved myself 45 pounds and that was worth everything!

With such a "eventful" start, this holiday is sure going to be a crazy one!

Out of body experience

T minus 7 hours to my flight and I'm sitting here at home, having a complete out-of-body experience.

Bags have been packed.
Documents have been checked.
Affairs have been settled.
Goodbyes have been said.

There is literally nothing TO do until I leave for the airport at 7:45 pm.

If anything, I'm terribly sleepy, as I slept really poorly last night. Woke up in a cold sweat at about 2:30 am and totally panicked and basically had a "What-was-I-thinking-when-I-decided-to-take-off-for-4-months" kind of moment. Was also painfully close to jumping online and trying to hawk my tickets on Ebay! The moment passed, but then I just couldn't get back to sleep, so had to watch some really bad late late late night TV including reruns of shows that should never have made it to Prime Time in the first place!

Hopefully all this lack of sleep will work in my favour and I'll just pass out as soon as we take off and wake up when we're landing. That's the best kind of flight!

S'long all. The next post will be from Pixy in Scotland!

Last weekend in the T Dot

As always, I packed just way too much into my weekend and this week even more so coz I kept telling myself "Well it's the last one for the next 4 months....!"

Finally got all my shopping done on Friday and nearly had a minor stoke when I added up all my receipts and discovered that I had spent upwards of $600 in 4 hours! In all fairness, everything I bought was a necessity including the "big purchase" of the day - a $350 all weather Titanium jacket that comes with a fully removeable fleece lining and the dinkiest little pockets everywhere! Very Best Friend whom I am visiting in Scotland assures me that the jacket will come in handy when I get there, but for now I'm still a bit shell shocked as to how much I dropped on it. FYI, that's the most I've EVER spent on anything for myself.

Friday night was supposed to be quiet night at home with the Jibblett, but midway through my shopping I got a call from him saying that we were going to visit one of his friend's and the friend's (relatively) new baby. So much for a quiet night - after an adequate amount of baby worship seen here and an equal amount of kudos to their puppy named The Dude, we made our way home just about catching one of the last trains by the skin of our teeth.

Saturday night saw us heading over to the House of Christmas Fun with The Lady Killer and his GF Cosmo Girl for some festive fun with friends. Jibblett - who is the biggest Grinch of them all had a lovely time inspite of all the Christmas cheer floating around. Perhaps copious amounts of alcohol was responsible for that... or perhaps it was just another Christmas Miracle!