Road trip to Lake District part 1

I went on my first long road trip on the 'lil Mini Cooper up North last bank holiday weekend. We left early on Saturday morning and avoided the bank holiday rush hour traffic from the night before.

Our first stop was Barrow-in -Furness located on the Southwest of Scotland. It was an industrial town which used to be one of the major shipbuilding force in UK and grew to be one of the biggest iron and steel centre in the world.

We drove up to Walney Island which was a ten mile long island. Between Barrow and Walney Island is Piel Island. This tiny island is home to Piel Castle which was built by the monks of Furness Abbey to protect the harbour from the Scots.

The weather was kind to us and we enjoyed the sunshine and looked for 'la-la' and crabs which were brought up to shore due to the low tide.

Later on in the evening we took a drive along Esthwaite Water lake which is known to be one of the best places to fish for trout and pike. There were campsites along the whole lake of people fly fishing. London life seemed miles away when we were enjoying the scenery and the fresh air.



The next day we headed for Windermere Lake..the best way to enjoy Windermere is to hire a boat along the lake and that's exactly what we did. Fad & Ezro did a great job as our boat drivers. Thanks guys!! The place was popular with tourists from all parts of the world...after a spot of souvenir shopping we headed to our next destination...Scotland!! To be continued in the next part.........

Road Trip Part 2-Bonnie 'ol Scotland

I was looking forward to visiting Scotland again...the last time I went up to Scotland was when I graduated five years ago.

Scotland will always have a special place in my heart because it was where I spent most of my formative years as a teenager. We drove up from Lake District and crossed the Scottish borders heading towards Stirling. Driving through the Cumbrian borders across to Scotland was absolutely breathtaking and enjoyable at the same time....It was like being in Top Gear where they run practice demos on a new car driving up winding roads...in between mountains...up and down the hills...really good fun! I felt overwhelmed driving in my lil car with mountains on either side of me. As Fad commented, at times we were even speechless looking at the amazing views. I think at times we are so caught up with city life that we forget to appreciate these places in the countryside.
After enjoying the scenic route to Scotland our first stop was Stirling. Stirling is famous for William Wallace Monument- He was a Scottish patriot of the 14th century who fought against the English and was a Scottish hero. One thing I love about the Scots are their patriotism who are proud of their heritage. We visited the William Wallace monument and there was a replica statue of Mel Gibson from his movie the Braveheart.I love the line from the movie- "You may take our lives but you will never take our freedom!.. ".


After a long drive we headed to Kinross where we we were going to spend the night. With a few hours of rest we decided to take a drive up to St Andrews-the home of Golf. St Andrews has always been windy but it's a nice 'lil quaint town. We walked around the clubhouse and visited the Old Course -one of the prestigious golf courses in the world.


All of us were knackered after a whole day driving but the night would not be complete without our usual card games. Fad brought UNO cards which I haven't played since primary school but it was definitely good fun! We played late into the night and made so much noise that we got a warning to keep the noise down by the hotel reception! oops! but it was all good in the end....... hehe


On our final day we went up to Loch Leven in Kinross to visit the Loch Leven castle. The castle is best known to be the prison where Mary Queen of Scots was held. The castle is located on a small island and reached only by ferry.. We took our time walking around the remains of the castle. I love this shot of Ezro and I breaking out of the castle and doing our own scene of prison break!. We even befriended the ferry driver's dog who was called Maggie. She insisted in playing with us...Bobby & Ezro managed to train Maggie to sit and fetch the stick without touching Maggie. It was amazing that after 30mins Maggie was listening to most of our commands..such a clever creature!

Our last destination for the weekend was Edinburgh. We went to visit Fettes college where I did my A-Levels all those years ago....It was weird driving back to the school. There was the feeling of familiarity and reminiscing the fond memories I had with people back there when I took the guys around my college and the schoolgrounds. The schoolkids were on holiday so the school was empty but I managed to see my old College East House.

Unfortunately I found out from the caretaker that my Housemistress Ms Pippa had passed away from cancer last December. Ms Pippa taught English and she loved the classics like Jane Austen novels which she shared with all of us in the House. My fondest memories of her was when I first arrived at Fettes. I was feeling very homesick leaving the family for the first time and being the only Malaysian girl in the school.. I felt like an outcast but she was so welcoming and always at hand whenever I needed her. It's amazing that after a difficult first term I enjoyed the rest of my boarding school experience. Attending boarding school was a character building experience for me and I will always have fond memories of the college. May Ms Pippa rest in peace



We also went to Edinburgh city centre and walked along the Royal mile which is the old part of Edinburgh. We walked towards Edinburgh Castle which is currently being transformed in time for the Edinburgh Military Tatoo which will take place in the summer. We were looking for a nice restaurant to have a typical Scottish lunch but we arrived late and most restaurants closed at 3 and won't open until 5.30pm. It was a blessing in disguise because we found a nice vegetarian baked potato shop. Fad & I shared a vegetarian haggis baked potato which was delicious! Even though I can't compare it with the normal haggis the vegetarian one was good enough for us!!

We left Edinburgh at 5pm and didn't reach London until 11pm. It was a tiring trip but really enjoyable....I do enjoy visiting Scotland because of the beautiful scenery and friendly people who always look on the bright side of life. One would have to have that attitude since Scotland does not normally have the best of the weather..but we were lucky that the good weather followed us for most part of the trip. Scotland will always have a special place in my heart...

Thanks to Bobby for providing us with walkie-talkies which helped us driving in our convoy and kept us entertained with our random ramblings on the walkie talkies, Aunty Yok & Aunty Tun for providing us with yummy food for the trip, Ezro for becoming my 2nd co-pilot cum navigator and Fad for providing us with the Uno cards and entertaining us with her antics!

Woman In Black

Ivy, Chris & I went to the Women in Black play recently at the Fortune Theatre in the West End. This is one of the longest running plays in the West End and has been one of my wish list as one of the "must see" plays in London.

The screenplay is based on the chilling ghost story novel by Susan Hill. It tells the story of Arthur Kipps a young solicitor who has been sent to Eel Marsh House to wind up the estate of the late deceased Mrs Drablow. No one in the village was willing to help Mr Kipps with his work because they believed the Eel Marsh house was cursed. When he arrives at the house he sees a mysterious women in black....

The play focuses on Arthur Kipps telling his story to an actor who he hoped can help him overcome his experience in the house by reenacting the events to his family & friends.

The play has very simple props and set in a very small theatre. This added to the chiling atmosphere of the play. We were sat two rows from the front stage and I have never been so scared in a play in all my life! Although I knew at the back of my mind this was a fictional play the acting was so brilliant that the audience (myself) included were drawn into the play.
It was my first time where I've heard audiences scream with fright (again myself included!!) and it wasn't just girls screaming ..there were guys screaming tooo!

I'm glad I wasn't spending the night in a country house that night because I would not have had a good night's sleep that night thinking about the play.

Full credit has to be given to the screenplay because without the brilliant screenwriting and acting .. the play would not have been so successful and long running as it is now...I am not surprised that this play has been running for at least 20 years and I am sure it will continue to run for another few more years yet......

Definitely go and watch it if you are prepared to get the fright of your life!

Rule the world!!! :)

You are The Empress

Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.

The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents,
beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home
decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.

The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Road Trip

Last bank holiday weekend, I took a drive to Kent County with Ezro & Chip. I have never been to this beautiful part of England: Kent is known to be one of the "Gardens of England" located on the South East of England.

We set out in the morning and took the road along the coast and stopped over to enjoy the seaside view and fresh sea breeze along Herne Bay and Margate. Herne Bay was a pebble beach and popular for various water sports activities....it was cool to see those jet skis in action..something I would love to try!

Margate had a sandy beach which I love....the beach was filled with families and kids having fun making sandcastles and just chilling on the beach.
We also spotted the Vespa scooter club gang...it's amazing to see the people riding on these scooters range from the young and the old and the scooters came in various designs and modifications.. I love Vespa cuz it reminds me of my trip to Italy!
It's fun to see these motoring groups making day weekend trips riding up and down the country..I hope to join the MINI motoring club when I go home ..it'll be fun!!

We then drove down to Canterbury. The main town is located in a four cornered monument wall. Within the monument is a pedestrianised shopping centre with its pebble-stoned roads and a mix between the traditional Tudor buildings and the modern shop buildings.
Canterbury Cathedral is not as magnificient as the cathedrals we see in mainland Europe but it still has that English charm to it. The cathedral held their weekly Sunday service so we could hear the angelic voices of the boys choir. We walked around the cathedral and enjoyed the ambiance of the place.

It was a good day trip which ended with a BBQ back in London. Next road trip will be in the next May bank holiday weekend driving up to Lake District and Edinburgh. I haven't been back to Scotland for nearly five years now so going up there will hopefully bring back fond memories. :)

Missing you like crazy....

My sis in law recently uploaded pics of my 'lil nephews who are all grown up now...these pics are adorable!!! :)
Counting the days until I go home.........

Do we all have a wicked side??

Can we ever be pure good or pure evil and how do people turn from being evil or to being good? How can you define good from evil?

These are some of the questions beneath the glossy exterior and songs from the Wicked Musical currently being shown at the Apollo Victoria theatre which I went to see with my friend Omar last Thursday.

Both of us didn't really know what to expect from the musical except that it had received good reviews and voted one of the best new musicals recently.

We got good circle seats which was a good view. We were lucky considering we bought the tickets on the day.

Wicked is based on the Gregory Maguire novel which focuses on the life of Elphaba and how she became the Wicked Witch of the West in the land of Oz. It is considered to some to be the prequel to the Wizard of Oz.

The musical portrays the story of the misunderstood girl known as Elphaba: her childhood, her friendship with Galinda (who became the Good Witch in the Land of Oz), and how she became the Wicked Witch.

It was an interesting musical and cleverly portrayed in terms of how the characters we meet from Elphaba's life became the familiar characters we are used to seeing in the Wizard of Oz. It's also quite heartening to see how a misunderstood girl is mistreated just for being different and having her own views on life.

The only minor negative point I have about the musical is that the music wasn't that memorable but I don't think it really mattered because the story is strong enough to make the musical a success. The star of the night was without a doubt Elphaba who acted and sang magnificiently.

I would recommend everyone to watch it. Thanks for the treat dude! The musical has even prompted me to buy the novel which I am reading at the moment. :)

Paolo Nutini-Upcoming artist

Apologies for disappearing for a while from this blog..I have recently been occupied with other commitments but I am back (well for a while at least!)

Last week, I went to the long awaited Paolo Nutini gig at Brixton Academy. Paolo is on his first World Tour. It is quite a challenge performing non stop as he's only turning 19 or 20(??!!). I just hope he doesn't get burnout by the end of it all. He is more of a singer than an entertainer but I think that will come with experience..

He performed the crowd favourites like Last Request, Rewind, Funky cigarettes. I love his Scottish accent although there were times where I have to admit (sadly!) I was struggling to understand him when he spoke (and I have lived in Glasgow/Edinburgh for 7 years!!)
But it all doesnt matter cuz when he sings with his guitar..I am just blown away! ;)That is why for me he is one of THE breakthrough artists of 2006


Here is him singing one of my fav songs "Rewind" from his debut album "These Streets" at the gig.