Jacobites, Jack-a-bite?

They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me
They could care less as long as someone'll bleed
So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose
Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me

- My Chemical Romance’s “Teenagers” -

After rambling about missing my sister, I managed to chat online with her this morning, right after sahur. Twas a short chat, me being sleepy and needing some more shut eye after staying up late to watch The Lake House (yet again!), and her, being busy with a visitor in the room. Told her of current fixation on Keanu, and she was like, “that movie was soo bosannn!”. Yeah, I know, but the premise of it is soo beautiful, that I didn’t even think about the absurdity of a magical mailbox. Such is the adoration *raise left eyebrow*.

Let’s talk about a recent trip I took to Scotland recently. Saja kerana saya mahu. Dan saya terinspired sebab pagi tadi adik saya sibuk mendownload gambar-gambar dari trip tersebut. It was my third trip, and even for someone like me who is more comfortable going to places she’s already been, that’s one time too many. The first was back in 2004 with the roomie when we stayed at Zrett’s place in Edinburgh. Second one was 2 years back with my mom and her gang of friends, on a road trip with an overnight stay at one of those B&Bs overlooking the mysterious Loch Ness. I remembered going out at night to have a look at the loch, but got kinda scared because it was so quiet, still and dark. So, the trip I took with my sister and the couz was my third, and strangely, it still feels like a new place.

We managed to get cheap train tickets to Edinburgh for the 7a.m train, and took the customary photos at the Kings Cross’s Platform 9 ¾ wall (hey, what can I say, I’m a groupie!). Fell asleep all the way to Edinburgh and didn’t manage to catch a glimpse of the Angel of the North in Newcastle or the beautiful coastline just before crossing that aquaduct-ish bridge.

Of course sampai Edinburgh takkan miss the opportunity to take more pictures at the Princes Street Gardens. Bonus: extremely good weather. Lovely surroundings with lotsa people taking in the good sun before it disappears again (like it did the next day). We took a bus to our hotel/b&b, The Rosehall Hotel, that I managed to secure reservations with. I’ve stayed there earlier with my mom and her friends, and I think it’s a really cozy place, with really nice owners, great breakfast spread and close enough to the Royal Mile. We dumped our stuff, and although, the beds looked inviting, we managed to pull ourselves from it with a stern “Kalau nak tido, kat Malaysia boleh tido!” hahahah!

Up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle, where yet again, I refused to pay for the entry for the third time, because I’m this really shallow, uncultured person who’d rather go shopping for souvenirs *ooh, calendars and tea towels!* than to trudge in centuries-old castles with relics from the past. We walked down to the bridge and took distant pictures of Calton Hill where my roomie, Zrett and I had a picturesque picnic once. Then the lil sis and the couz decided to climb the hill. After much huffing and puffing, we reached the top and took in the surroundings. I pointed out Arthur’s Seat, this mountainous range (highest peak at 250m above sea level apparently) and told them that it’s actually possible to climb those peaks as lotsa people take hiking trips up there. I could already see the gleam of anticipation in their eyes as they contemplate the idea. Oh, and juga tidak lupa, since my lil sis got one those dslr, to take shots of us suspended in the air. Oh, I can imagine the laughter and chuckles of those who were witnessing these Asian girls terlompat-lompat macam monkeys.

Unfortunately, Calton Hill is also where the straps of my sling bag broke. Damn these Le Sport Sac imitations! My sis calmly told me to damn imitations from China instead as that’s where I got the bag from. So, I had to part with moolah to pay for a new bag instead from Accessorize (tak nak kalah ye), which I didn’t quite like but had to stick with till the end of my trip. We had an early night in as we had already book for a Timberbush tour the next morning, which requires us to climb the Royal Mile again at 7.45 am. Dinner was at this kebab shop, where I think I had a meal once with the roomie.

I’ve actually gone on the same tour with the same company but I liked the familiarity and the fact that I think I can depend on this one. And I love the highlands and the lochs. Weather was not so great as we climbed up the highlands, but we had a witty tour guide this time, Dave, who regaled us with stories of the past. And I was actually awake during the journey, therefore I got to listen to the tales and the historic facts that I had miss out on. The two kids however, were fast asleep. I tell you, they can’t make staying awake in moving vehicles work. We went to all the normal attractions, the first coffee stop with the highland lembu (I forgot its name), the William Wallace monument, the highlands, past the 3 sisters, Ben Nevis, stopping for lunch at Fort William, Loch Ness where we took the boat ride, then up to Inverness and all the way back down.

A funny thing that happened during the trip was when our driver accidentally left one passenger (a French-speaking lady) at the 3 sisters. Hilarious when you hear him swearing and saying that never in his 11 years of working for that company had he ever left anyone. We had to turn back, of course, but as the road was a single lane road, it took some time for the bus to find a spot for it to do u-wie. By the time we reached the 3 sisters, someone there told us that this lady had hitched a ride to chase after us. “She went into a blue Honda”, apparently, we were told. So, everyone in the bus were looking out for a blue Honda. She was safely retrieved and after an applause from the passengers, went over to smack the driver, haha! I must say that was very brave of her, hitching a ride from a stranger like that. I would have waited and shivered myself silly in the cold :p

Apparently, the lure of Arthur’s Seat was too inviting that we consulted our hostess, Theresa, over breakfast about it the next morning. We had some time to spent before our train back to London leaves around 3p.m. And she goes, oh, it’s an easy enough climb, everyone does it, and it’s apparently just a walking distance from our hotel. Mind you, we had back packs, and the bright red Accessorize shopping bag. Ntah macam mana ntah, at the foot of the mini mountains, they (the lil sis and the couz who will apparently be climbing Kinabalu sometime soon next year and thought that this would be a great trial climb) thought, oh well, let’s see how far we can go. I wasn’t too thrilled, but waddahell. So, we climbed. And climbed and climbed.

Our ascent was on this trail with large rocky steps, so it was not too hard. There were some railings at some point, but if u have problems with heights, avoid looking anywhere but to your shoes. Yang bestnya, ahead of us were this old couple (gotta be in their Sixties) happily chatting and walking up. Then there were all these people who JOGGED up. Then there’s this lady whose dog seems to be panting hard enough for both him and her.

As we neared the top, maybe about the 4th highest peak, I suddenly find myself seized by a tiny fear. Tiny enough to not go any further, so I waved them off, as they set off to go higher, and sat myself on some rocks to watch the view. I really couldn’t move, when I tried, because I kept thinking that I might fall, and falling is not an option. I did try a different route up, but it proved to be tricky, so I sat. For an hour. Till I was red in the face as the weather was exceptionally sunny that day, and I was quite close to the sun. I just whiled away the time by smiling at all these athlete types who were running up and to more old couples who said hi to me, with all their breath in place.

God. I’m such a coward, wussy, wet blanket, and scaredy cat.

Later when they came to get me, they told me that they’ve gotten to the highest peak, dah puas amik gambar, and persuaded me to climb up. “sikit aje, jangan pandang bawah”. So I did. With my couz in front and my sis behind me. My sis did mention that there was this tricky part that she climbed alone with no one around, yang “kalo I jatuh tergolek, takde sape pun tau.” Very reassuring as I kept my eyes to the rocks on the ground and tried to control my own breathing.

But I managed to conquer the second highest peak *grins*

The highest peak? Macam ada pesta ok, so many people plus kids (gotta be under 10), but it’s very rocky, and I was just happy to be at the second highest peak. The descent, rupa-rupanya, was a much calmer path, gradually sloping green grasses. It would have made a lovely hike, if I’m the type who goes hiking and owns timberland boots for it. As the three of us basically had on sneakers with backpacks on our bags (I was just tempted to leave the shopping bag up there as a momento of the event, but nahh), I think it was a nice achievement. Yay us. Unfortunately, my sis twisted her ankle on the way down, and we had to cancel our plans to go browse in the charity stores just before catching the train home.

I think the next time I go to ye olde Scotland, I’ll be going further up north to check out the places that Dave told us about. Sounds lovely.

And Edinburgh in the summer, is an ideal honeymoon spot. *winks*

Here's Arthur's Seat in its glory: