For this entry you have to use your imagination as pictures are very limited.

Nope that is not the name of R’s farm, just for those who have read Mistletoe Farm by Enid Blyton – the farm jumps out of the book minus of course the pigs and hens and ducks but definitely we have the sheeps, cows (highland breed) and of course cats and dogs.

I went on a soul searching excursion to feel reenergized and I found a haven in Earlston.

Last Sunday, I decided to pay R a visit – probably imposed myself but she said it was fine.

The journey to Earlston took about an hour a bit but the journey was really beautiful. I saw green rolling hills and SNOW. Yes…very ‘jakun’ but my heart did a little skip, hop and jump when I saw it covering certain places. Projected such a calming effect.

The bus ride went past Dalkeith, Pathhead, Fala, Oxton (it had to u-turn), Lauder and finally, Earlston.  The landscape to Oxton was amazing. Sheeps dotting the green hills chomping on frost covered grass (I was thinking the sheeps must be having  grass smoothie or grass popsicle).

I got off at Earlston Square and I stepped into my FIRST snow.  Snow looks like shaved ice. It seems like God decided to have ‘ice kacang’ for that day, so He decided to grind ice and covered the earth with snow.  Cold. I snapped a few pictures before R picked me up. We walked back to her farmhouse.

The farmhouse looks exactly like the farmhouse described in EB’s books – kitchen, the hot aga, dining room, living room, knick-knacks, comfy chairs and cats. The kitchen windows look into her garden and the field beyond where her highland cows and horses graze. She has 3 shire horses. I think they are Shire horses because they are huge and not like the horses I have seen in my uni days. Big, strong and cheeky. Cheeky because they come close to you, nuzzle you and once you open the gate to the next field, they galloped past you.

R gave me a tour of her home and we sat down for a cuppa.

After the cuppa, we went to her brother’s farm to hand some documents over.

Her brother’s farm is really HUGE and it has a water wheel.

R told me her brother just got it fixed and it is really interesting to see such a mechanical structure up close.

She then took me to see the neighbouring area – many old abbeys and there is this view of a bridge over the river. Gorgeous. It is for trains but not in use. Imagine red bricked bridge over river with arches to support the road. Superb.

Then we went to work. (I wasn’t dressed for this and next time I will come prepare).

On Monday, the vet will come take a look at her cows, so a trough is needed to direct the cows into a small enclosure and the vet would be able to do his inspection. Sections needed to be set up to divide the heifers with the calves, so we prepped up the gate. Had a good time using the fork to dig up the old straw and what-not in the barn.

Neil came home. He’s the shepherd. I changed into wellies which is a good thing as the mud in the field was leg deep. Those who haven’t walked in muddy fields before, don’t unless you come in proper gear. I used a stick as leverage for my body to pull my legs out from the mud. It was great fun after passing the muddy area. I wasn’t much help in herding the cows backed to the enclosure and wearing the fuschia jacket didn’t seem like a good idea at that time when i remembered what red means to these creatures. Luckily I wasn’t teased by the cattle. Highland cattle are interesting creatures. The first time, you see their shagginess but the longer you look at them, the more charming they become like dogs but difficult to pet because of their size. R’s cattle are huge. After getting them in from the field for the night, fed them, it was our turn for dinner.

We had mutton, veg, soup and rice. After a good day out in the field, any sort of dinner was delicious but in fact it was really delicious. Home-cooked food. Nothing can beat that. Chatted with R and Neil. Had a look at Neil’s Border Collies. Lovely dogs...make me miss Little Bull, Blackie and Honey.

We then walked back to the square to catch the last bus back to Edinburgh. I would have liked to stay and look at the check-up the next day but I couldn’t as I needed to hand in my assignment.

Running a farm is a huge responsibility. Every small detail is important and to be able to ensure the farm is able to sustain itself, there is a need to cultivate something profitable. It might sound, feel and look charming, but behind that charm are nitty-gritty details which might turn off any romantic soul like Auntie Rose in Mistletoe Farm. I kinda understand why she couldn’t handle farm life.

"Stop there!" 

 “The celebrated girl! Happy!”

I attended my first and hopefully not my last Greek party (and boy do the Greeks know how to party).

This party was held in celebration of Maria’s name day. In Greece, everyone has a name day which is not to be confused with birthdays.  So they have two big celebrations each year.

For more information on what is ‘Name Day’ celebration: - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_day

The celebration for Maria’s name day began on Friday.

She got us chochies in the morning as she mentions it is a tradition in Crete.

Then, we had lunch at Biblos…Jess and me got her a plant. Mi Jeong came after her tutor meet.

That day was the day I laughed the most in Edinburgh…but I can’t remember what I laughed about but it was till your tummy was splitting up kinda laugh.

Maria went on a shopping spree after lunch.

Me, Mi-Jeong and Jess went to Cameron Toll for a bit of shopping.

I got Bailey’s for £10. Super buy at original price is £18.

Cameron Toll is a good place to do shopping – not too far and buses are frequent.

We had hot chocolate with Bailey's that night. Super yumilicous!

That night, went out to Odd’s Fellow for a drink. Treated ourselves after finishing the RM assignment. The Greek congregation was there to celebrate a Greek going home. The Greeks are the friendly sort that they kinda know each other.

The next day, went to Maria’s party at Canongate. The party was held at Aris’s place. Really neat accommodation. It was like holding an alliance meeting between the Greeks and the Asians (Malaysian, Taiwaneses, Japaneses and Koreans) with an Estonian a mediator. I remembered there were French as well.

Had great music and food, the party was vibrant…everyone was dancing, eating and networking.

“Different mobiles for different functions.”

There are plenty of pictures but I will only upload the nicer ones! Check it out!

This weekend was just grand.

I went to Dublin with YH to visit HL and ST.

I flew into to Dublin after my 2 classes on Friday. So far I have been attending classes as well as partying hard. YH met me at Dublin.

For those planning to take a bus from Edinburgh City Centre to the airport, I highly recommend taking the Airport Express and not bus 35. Even though 35 cost £1.10 but journey time is long and it takes you to the different parts of Edinburgh before the airport. The Airport Express is £3 but it is quick and efficient and it stops at designated stops taking just 25 minutes to reach Waverley Station.

Service aboard Ryanair has been deteriorating compared to the previous years when I had flown with them. First of all, every service incurs a fee, such as check-in at the counter, check-in luggage, buying insurance, priority boarding and etc – cut-throat. So for a weekend trip I packed “light” and didn’t have to check in any luggage. Check in was fairly efficient but rushing up the plane was quite an experience yet I managed to snag quite good front seat (to and fro).

I hooked up with YH in Dublin Airport and together we took bus 16A into town. HL text me with the WH-Questions and since both of us were the super blur, I texted back with my typical Malaysian response “You ask me, I ask who?”... sounds ungrateful but it didn’t imply that just sincerely lost. But we got off at the Spire and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Real good food!

Then we walked back to their place. We walked along the Liffey River. We can’t see much of Dublin at night but my first impression was that the new part of Dublin looks really modern. All the buildings were made of glass and steel. ST informed me they were developing the Dublin quay thus the modern looking buildings. Dublin has many wide streets as well, which means Dublin has plenty of space. There are many bridges linking the Liffey River banks which reminds me of London.

The next morning we set off to explore Dublin city. The first thing I noticed was the bricks. About almost all the older buildings were made with bricks. It projected a very industrial feel. Sets off images of trains transporting raw materials, horse carts, people in overalls with peaked caps, and food stalls at the sides of the road.

The day started with a great sunshiny day with bright blue skies! I told the gang, the sunshiny day will last all day and we would have a great day touring Dublin. In fact it lasted the better part of the day. I experienced the Irish sun and rain.

First of all we entered a church, then headed off to Grafton Street (shopping street), took a detour to St Stephens Green Park where HL was trying to avoid birds, then headed to Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin, had lunch at The Winding Stairs, then plodded off with a satisfied tummy to Christchurch, passed the Dublin Castle on the way, and lastly stopped at St James Guinness Brewery.

St Stephens Green Park is definitely a great park. Since the sun decided to grace us with her presence, most of the Dubliners were out at the park. Performers were busking at Grafton Street. It was just gay! Also I paid 7€ to see the Book of Kells and the Old Library. Totally worth it. The Book of Kells contains 4 gospels and was written around 800 AD. The pictures were drawn and coloured with a deep richness that left me in awe. Such an ancient book yet still existing to this day. To exit the buildng, I had to pass through The Long Room. This is easily my favourite spot in Trinity College. I love books, and The Long Room gave me the same peaceful feeling as churches. It has two floors of ancient books arranged alphabetically. The smell of old books made me feel like curling up at the corner of a book shelf with a book on my lap. The smell of old books...ahhhh. The Long Room houses many ancient handwritten books with busts of famous philosophers and scientists accentuated by the mahogany brown of the walls and bookshelves. Just standing there, I felt that I have entered a sacred vault of knowledge...just felt so insignificant in the presence of wisdom. No pictures were allowed, security was very adamant on this. They insisted any pictures taken have to be deleted but I didn’t take any pictures. Honest.

Had lunch at The Winding Stair. Price might be a wee bit on the high end but quality was good. I had Black Pig, YH & HL had seaweed sausages while ST had ray. Luckily they had place for us as one needs to book in advance to lunch here. After lunch we walked towards Temple Bar. Temple Bar is the area for tourist where one can hear Irish folk music in pubs and enjoy a pint of Guinness. Came across The Wall of Fame. Walked to Christchurch. On the way to Christchurch, passed the Dublin Castle. It has a modern feel to it. Didn’t enter the church as one has to pay for it. Maybe another time. Walked to St James Gate.

The smell of roasting malt was heavenly. You can smell it in the air around the brewery. I didn’t pay 11€ to go up to see how Guinness was made though. One should, if they are fans of Guinness. I was just happy to smell the roasted barley malt.

Then the heavens decided to burst open. We were drenched and ended up in a cafe to seek shelter from the rain which was getting heavier enroute to the city centre. We didn’t go to Temple Bar to enjoy the Irish folk music as most of the music were blaring from the speakers. What we did was to hang out at a bar near HL & ST’s place. Ordered Guinness and it tasted totally different from the Guinness I had here. It had a sharper taste, smoother feel, and a different freshness. Ordered Bulmers (Magners here in the UK) and a shot of 10 year old Bushmills whisky. Lips-smacking good.

We, the girls, were reminiscing about the 20 odd years we grew up together. We sang the state song, Interact song and the school song (no we weren’t drunk). I don’t think I have ever laughed so much since coming to UK. There was a bonus of good looking Irish lads in the pub as well. Seriously, I think around the English speaking region here, Irish lads will definitely win hands down. I was told not to order a Beamish in Dublin – as the waiter told me ‘Beamish Sheamish’ – so in Dublin order a Guinness, don’t make that gaffe. One of the waiters was good looking. 

I will definitely come back to Ireland as there are many places to visit e.g. Cork, Galway, and Kilkenny. For that trip, on recommendation...I will drive around. Anyone?  

Felt a bit guilty though, ST came down with flu after being caught in the rain on the way home. Hope the Scottish shortbread will cheer him up. ;)

Overall, I had a great time. It was a great place emphasized with superb friends.

When is the next meet-up lassies?

Check the pictures here and here!

When you think of UK, you think of the Queen and consuming litres and litres of tea.

This in fact is the wrong perception to have about the UK.

Coffee has always shared the same status of tea or maybe even better.

Edinburgh has many cafes.

Along South Bridge Street all the way down to Clerk Street (accessible to me and walking takes less than 5 minutes) there is at least 8 cafes I think...haven’t counted them.

There is the Black Medicine Coffee, Bean Scene, Kilimanjaro, The Elephant and Bagel, Cafe Numedia, Cafe Turquaz, and Starbucks (the ones that I remember).

Last week, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and join the chill-out and read at the cafe crowd.

I went to Bean Scene, took my notebook and notes and sat for 6 hours over a cup of tea and hot chocolate.

I left the place as the coffee fumes were getting to me and making my head pound. Too much coffee smell is definitely not good for you.

The atmosphere was noisy and cosy.

There were parents bringing their kids out for Saturday lunch, the reading crowd on the sofa, the students tapping on their Apple and notebook, with music at the right volume.

Also there are B&W portraits all over the cafe. Nice.

The difference with this cafe and the rest is that you can tip according to gender. There are containers for guys and girls. It seems the girls container have an unusual height of coins in them.  

There are cafes strewn all over Edinburgh.

If you want to be the next JK Rowling – head over to the Elephant House. There are windows which look out at the castle. Superb...maybe that is why her inspiration took flight and the world-smashing best-selling book and box office Harry Potter was created.

If you read Harry Potter, you can see similarities of Hogsmeade, Daigon Alley in Edinburgh.

Will definitely be hitting the cafe trail soon.

Rainbows are the specialty and hidden gifts in Edinburgh.

The best souvenirs yet so difficult to package and take it back with you unless you got yourself a camera and be at the right place at the right time.

Though the weather can be rough and wet, sometimes a rainbow peeks out and makes you feel it might not be so bad after all.

The temperature has drop significantly in the second month that I’m here – the chill is in the air even though the sun is shining.

A week ago, there was bad weather.

The trees were bending over, the wind made the corridors in my building drafty, and if you stepped out you would be blown away like Mary Poppins minus the brolly.