Happy Halloween everyone!It must be my lucky day because when I arrived home today, there was a refund cheque in the post!
If you remember my earlier post which I've moaned about bad customer service, surprise surprise... after all my frustration... they actually refund the payment to me.
With the extra cash that I thought I've lost... perhaps... it's time for shopping? heheheh :)
To market... to market... We went to Billingsgate Market early in the morning to grab the seafood for the steamboat...
Huge fishes...
Steamboat dinner!
Huge razor clams - there were still alive when I bought them... and I had to kill them... gosh....
Friends who turned up for the celebration :)
And they bought me a cake! Sweet...
Me and my birthday cake...
Pressies!
More celebration with friends
My dessert - sorry.. I forgot about taking pictures.. by the time I remembered, it's already dessert time... but the food were really yummy!
More steamboat! And more food!
Yes, I know I've said that I WILL NOT join Facebook, but sadly... I've succumb to peer pressure. I'm now on Facebook.
Pride aside... add me! :P
Sorry... have been working really hard... 
It was a good opportunity to get away from the hustle bustle of the city... Throughout the journey, we were greeted with lush greenery like the picture above..
Our first stop was Perth... hehehe... yeah, guess what? You don't have to go all the way to Australia to visit Perth!
Victorian-like buildings along the Tay River (yeah.. the names get weirder..)
The two specky girls! Why do we look so happy? Probably because we just had a good Scottish breakfast!
And Naveen seem to have found his new friend while waiting for us shopping on the Perth high street.
The scenery was really gorgeous! Though by now, I can't remember what's the name of this Loch... Lochy Loch I think...
Just look at how clear the water is...
And we found a waterfall on our way to Loch Ness... kinda remind me of my Lake District trip... :)
We had to stop for about 15 mins as the bridge opens up to let a couple of yachts and canoeist to pass through. Mini Tower Bridge?
We finally reached the famous Loch Ness (yes, where the monster is supposed to hibernate in...) This castle, called Uruquat castle was built by the Lake centuries ago. Now, they have daily boat trips from here... And no, the castle was not destroyed by the monster... it went through wars instead...
And this is one of the weapons that they used during the war
Okay... and now our (or rather Peter's) attempt at being artistic... Our own series of pictures which I shall call... erm... the Squares Series? hahahahaha... :P
Chong
Naveen
Peter
Cindy
And yours truly
Ooh... and now... me and Nessie! Hehehe... yes, really that's what the Scots call the Loch Ness monster!
We didn't have much time to go for the Loch Ness monster museum or visitor centre... So, I can't tell you whether the monster really exist of not..
The owners of the guest house that we were staying at. They were really a nice and friendly couple. Told us stories, gave us directions and tips on what to do as well as cooked a really good breakfast...
Our next stop was to try and find the dolphins... but somehow... we waited and waited and waited...
And the guys saw what? They saw Nessie at the dolphins' play area?????
Well... after we gave up on trying to sight the dolphins... we headed off to Edinburgh to have our lunch...
The city of Edinburgh... well, I came here a few years ago so didn't take much pictures this time... although I didn't realise that they were having the Edinburgh festival that weekend... no wonder the highway was packed!After lunch we moved on the Berwick... er.. don't ask me where that is... somehow the guys just closed their eyes and pointed on the map... and so here we are, at Berwick... and visiting this nearby island called Holy Island...
Well, supposedly the road to this island will be flooded when the tides come in... so that means that people who live on this island can only cross over the the mainland at certain hours of the day... good reason not to go home?
Us posing... near some ruins that we found by hiking along the cliff...
More posing pictures... I think we got carried away with all the monsters and dolphins sightings! :P
Sunset at Scotland... pretty huh?To make sure that we don't end up getting stranded on the island when the tide comes in... we headed back to Berwick after sunset...
Berwick is a historic walled town and is the gateway to the English-Scottish borders... so we took an evening stroll along the walls before we headed for dinner...
And to end our long day... we pigged out at the pub... ordering way too much food on the table!On Monday morning... we made our way home, back to London...
And so, we completed our 1286 miles journey... I think it's a serious achievement!
So, thank you to our drivers who managed the feat! :)I'm finally free from exams! (well, at least for the time being! :P). It's really a great feeling to not have it nagging at the back of my mind all the time... and it's good to just enjoy what life have to offer.
I made an important decision this week. I don't know whether it's the right decision or not, but I'm determined not to regret this decision. I hope that I have the will power to stick to this decision. I don't know what is waiting for me around the corner, but if I don't even try to turn around... I'll never find out... a step, no matter how small will hopefully get me there... (I hope!).
Have been really busy at work. Hope I'm not losing sight of the big picture by trying to balance so many eggs at the same time. But I'm glad to be busy, it's always good to have interesting things to do and even better if it's challenging (although it can be frustrating sometimes when the model just don't seem to be doing what I think it should be!)
Finally, I managed to cross some of the items on my to-do-list which is more than a few months old... because I've been pushing it back due to the exams.
And last but not least, I want to make a resolution (yes, I know it's not new year... but let's just say that it's a birthday resolution!) to be more positive and optimistic. Sure, many people would say that I've got a lot to be happy about and to be optimistic about... It's good that people believe in me on what they think that I can achieve in life, but I have my share of doubts and insecurities... and I know I have been very pessimistic in the past (although that doesn't mean that I don't try or simply give up)... it just means that I tend to thread more cautiously and always try to mentally prepare myself for the worse case scenario... but I want that to change now... I want to embrace life more open-mindedly... and that includes believing in the endless opportunities out there and that happiness is not too far away.
Okay, I think I should stop rambling... it's 3am in the morning. I should stop and go to bed. I think I'm not making any sense anymore! So... Good night!
Tomorrow will be a better day! :)
