Scotland

I spend last week-end in Scotland...it was really pretty and green in Scotland even if it was raining.
Carolyn, Emily, Margaret, Ruhi, Tiffanie and I all booked our Scotland trip with Discovery Tours. It was great because transportation and accommodations was already taken care of and we didnt have to plan the rest of our day.
The deal with Discovery Tours is that they drive you around the city showing you places of interest and then letting you have free time in the city to explore, etc.
We stayed Glasgow so we didnt get to experience Edinburgh nightlife. Our accommodations were the dorms at the University of Glasgow...it's very nice and cozy and clean!

Edinburgh:
I loved Edinburgh..especially because the Edinburgh festival was going on, so there was a lot of people and there was a lot to see and do! It was very lively. I definitely want to come back during the festival so I can watch the shows at night.

We went to the Edinburgh Castle...it reminded me of the Tower of London but since the castle is at the highest point of Edinburgh, there were great views of the city below. I mean, the castle was built there for strategical purposes. We saw the Scottish Crown Jewels...they're OK, but they are the oldest crown jewels in England so I guess it was worth seeing.
I really their Prisons of War exhibit...it was really cool how they used the senses to let you "experience" how prisoners lived in the castle.

The place we ate at had free samples of haggis [it is a traditional Scottish dish made of : sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock]. I tried it out of curiosity because I've heard about it from travel shows that I watch. So anyway, it had a mushy consistency, but it didnt taste bad...it tasted very peppery.

Glasgow:
After Edinburgh, we went out to the pubs in Glasgow with our tour guide, Rich. He's real cool. He's 22 and is a music major at Uni. of Sussex. Anyway, the first pub we went to, Ruhi, Carolyn, Tiffanie and I got free drinks. Some guy bought us all 1/2 a pint of Strongbow [cider]. I love free drinks. We went to a different pub looking for karaoke...but the one we found was WEIRD. All the people in the pub was at least over 35. We moved to the pub next door coz it seemed a little more our age-group...dont i sound age-ist? hahaha

That pub was fun because they had a DJ playing music and people dancing.
I have always been curious of SOURZ...they have cool bottles and pretty colors, so I tried 2 of their flavors: cherry and apple.

I had an apple and lemonade[sprite]...YUUUM! Tasted like apple soda. It had a nice tinge of apple green. Cherry and diet coke tastes like a sherley temple [but with alcohol! hahaha but you can't taste the alcohol].

After our day driving around the Highlands, we decided to buy drinks and just have drinking games at the kitchen of the dorms. We just bought bottles of strongbow and played flip cup and kings cup with Rich and a few other guys who go to summer school with us. Fun times! It was my first time playing flip cup and learned that I am not that bad! YAY!
We didnt have a deck of cards, so we just cut up paper and made our deck for kings cup. Fun times!

Highlands:
That tour pretty much consisted of driving around the highlands of Scotland and showing us the landscape...the lochs[lake], beins[mountains], etc. It was really really pretty. It was raining, but it was still really pretty. There was a lot of sheep and cows. We actually got to go see a highland bull...they are CUUTTEEE!!!

It's Thursday

I can't believe I will be leaving in a week. Sad.

Wall-E
really cuuute! WALL-E! EVE-AH!
It has a [political] message and it was very explicit about it:
we should should do something to save the planet...we can't just do nothing.
I agree.

Tuesday:
Margaret, Jeany and I went to the King and Queen for our last karaoke night at the pub.
I am never getting a martini ever again. I got a Blue Martini [it's pretty], but it was just PURE ALCOHOL! I felt like I drank 3 shots of different spirits. So yea, martinis are not going to happen again.

Wednesday:
Margaret and I spent the day in London. We mostly spent it at Harrods. HARRODS IS AMAZING! very expensive, but I do love the free samples of food :D
The lady working there kept giving me free samples of marzipan...VERY GOOD! She said it's to be eaten after dinner with coffee.
I wanted Christian Dior sunglasses, but I didnt buy it because I wasn't sure how much money I had on my debit card. I should have bought them because I had enough money. BALLS.

I finally got to see the Paddington Bear statue at Paddington Station and Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross. YAY me!

When we got back, we went to a jazz club with Ruhi, Jeany, Emily and Carolyn called Casablanca. It was pretty fun...there was a live band that played good music. The lead singer was HAWTTT!
He looked like Orlando Bloom's brother.

AAAHHHHH! I'm going to Scotland tonight! I gotta pack.
OMGGG! I'm going to watch LES MISERABLES on monday! WHOOOOHOOOO!
ugh...school. I dont like econ.

Greetings from England! Day 19

So session 1 ends on Thursday and I really want to go on a long week-end and planning is really hard and it's stressful. Everything is becoming too pricey!!! DAMNNN IT! I think i talked myself into wanting to go to Edinburgh. DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. EDINBURGH CASTLE. Food?
Or go to Dublin. I really don't know what I would do in Ireland...hahaha. Those 2 places are the closest "far places" to go to...but DAMN IT! It's getting expensive....looking for a place to stay is hard...There's just so much I want to do, but can't.

We went to a tea room today called The Tea Cosy. It was an intense experience. You HAD TO FOLLOW ETIQUETTE or else be kicked out. The owners LOVE the Royal Family. The menu is based on the Royal Family. The decor of the place is covered with memorabilia of the Royal Family. We were pretty quiet for fear of being kicked out. The tea was good. Some of the biscuits[cookies] tastes weird. The scones already had clotted cream and jam on it, but it was still very good. I don't think we'll be going back to that place... http://www.theteacosy.co.uk/

Then we went shopping at this place called Primark. It's pretty much a favorite! The clothes are soooooooo cheap and really nice quality!
So here's the damage: 22 pounds for one pair of jeans, one top, 3 scarves, 2 leggings, one pack of tights [3 in one pack], 1 necklace, 1 pair of earrings.
I think I might come back with a new wardrobe from shopping here. Their basics are very cheap...it's like 1 pound! Target doesn't sell basics for that cheap!!!
I also bought The Fellowship of The Ring! It's part of my LOTR set!!! yay! I couldnt find this version in the States [and it cost too much online]. My LOTR set is now complete :D [my cousin lost FOTR in Germany].

Wednesday:
My class went to an abandoned cement factory for a field trip [topic of discussion for the next class was decay and ruins]. It was kinda creepy at first because we were in a big abandoned place next to the motorway! It was like the setting for a gruesome murder! But it was kinda interesting seeing the inside of cement factory. Parts below ground were filled with water...but it wasn't murky, the water was really clear. Apparently, it's not that abandoned! The building itself was abandoned, but there are still people working in the that site. Long story short, we got kicked out of a cement factory. And the guy made sure we got out by driving VERY SLOWLY BEHIND US AS WE WALKED TO THE EXIT. I think that is the highlight of my class.

Thursday:
I presented in class today. Not that fun. OH WELL. IT'S OVER.
It was our friend Tiffanie's birthday yesterday. We bought her a bake in a box cake from the store. It turned out really good. 4 girls, one chocolate cake...that cake was destroyed!

We went gay clubbing as a social event with the school. WHOOOT!!! We pretty much took over one bus. The place we went to was called Charles Street. It's a bar downstairs and the club is upstairs. They were having drinks specials that night. Pretty much majority of the drinks were no more that 1.50 pounds. It was .... WOW. We took a birthday shot for Tiffanie with Samuco [it tastes like licorice, and goes down VERY SMOOTHLY] and we also had shots to Tequila Rose, which pretty much tastes like a strawberry smoothie [that can be a good or bad thing].
The club played techno all night...eh, TECHNO DANCE PARTY!

Got my ass grabbed twice. First time I thought it was one of the lesbians that were behind us, it ended up being my friend [she admitted it at the end of the night while I was freaking out about it]. The second time I was telling this gay guy at the bar about the ass grab and he grabbed my ass too! He's cute...and slightly pissed [drunk]. He also told me that if he were a lesbian, he'd totally hit on me... a good thing? But all-in-all, it was a good night: music, dancing, friends, alcohol. hehehe

Greetings from England! Day 10

Holy crap! It's day 10!?!?!?! It feels like we've been here longer than that....

Yesterday:
We had class under a tree. It was kind of nice because it was hot indoors. I started a new korean drama called "Marrying a Millionaire." Premise: Joe Millionaire-type tv show. Girl ends up on the show because her step-sister got her in. Girl also knows Boy is not really a millionaire...he was her first love...I've only seen the first episode. It's ok so far...

We went to the Brighton Pier in the late afternoon. FRESH DOUGHNUTS ARE SOOOO GOOOOD! KRISPY CREME GOT NOTHIN'!We bought three for 1.65 pounds [they didn't sell them individually]. They were warm, and soft....sooo goood! I also had a BELGIAN WAFFLE on a STICK with vanilla icing. I can't eat any other kind of waffle anymore...IT WAS FRESHLY MADE...WARM....SOFT...NO CRUNCHY EDGES....they icing was not too sweet...dare I say it--better than a funnel cake?

So, the pier is kinda like a boardwalk, except it's actually a wharf that goes into the ocean and the rides are actually over the ocean. There are gaps between boards they used for the floor, so if you look down, you can see the Atlantic Ocean! Tiffanie dropped 50p and it fell into the ocean. After that I clutched everything for dear life! RIDES ARE EXPENSIVE! it's like 1pound per token and the good rights are 4 tokens each...THAT'S 8 DOLLARS! THE MOST EXPENSIVE RIDE AT SANTA CRUZ BOARDWALK is 4 DOLLARS! But I really wanted to try one of their rides, so Tiffanie and I rode this ride that looked like the Dumbo ride at Disneyland, except on crack! It was really bumpy and there was one part that just kept dropping us and it kinda made me feel a little queazy. But...it was still kinda fun.

We ate at a Pub called Varsity. Women's bathroom sold assorted vibrators for 3 pounds...interesting.

I finally had an ENGLISH BREAKFAST! SO MUCH FOOD! Contains toast, hash browns, egg, grilled tomato, ham[or bacon], fried mushrooms, sausage and baked beans. The baked beans taste like the pork and beans beans. SAUSAGE IS SOOO GOOOD! According to wiki, it's either pork or beef [but it takes like chicken] with herbs and spices. Man...it was hard finishing that much food!

Later on, we went to Campus Karaoke at the East Slope Bar on campus. I still can't get over the fact that there is full bar on campus! hahaha

There were A LOT of people there and it got really hot inside. I finally had Pimms because I saw everyone drinking at Wimbledon but didn't want to spend more money hahaha....[makes me kind of sad because it's the staple drink at Wimbledon aside from Champagne]. IT'S REALLY GOOD! Pimm's is made of gin and a secret mix of spices [according to wiki]. The drink is made with one part pimms and 3 parts "lemonade" [tonic, or sprite] with orange, lime and lemon slices. It's soooooooooo gooooooood!!! Can't even taste the alcohol. They don't sell it at home because it's not found outside UK or the Commonwealth.

The karaoke they were using was MAGIC MIC! A part of me felt like I was at a Filipino party! I was looking through the song list and there were tagalog songs! LOL! Even the background was the Philippines! It didn't have the duet mic though...

Some people should not sing songs they do not know....there was a couple who sang the Diana Ross/Supremes version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and it was AWFUL! I mean, it was just bad. Only time I actually thought people were awful singing karaoke.

I sang "Wake Me Up [Before You Go Go]" by Wham. It's always a fun song to sing...especially with drunk people! hahaha. Ended up with the highest score of the night...97! whoooo! Jeany sang "Final Countdown".It was great coz everybody sang along too!

Today:
I woke up feeling like crap. I started hacking and coughing all morning! At least my throat isn't as swollen anymore.

My class had a field trip to the Chattri War Memorial for the Indian Soldiers who fought for the British during WWI and WWII. GOOD LORD! THAT WAS A TREK! From the bus stop at this village called Patcham, we walked 2.5 miles uphill...this normally wouldnt bother me as much, but we weren't walking on a trail ,but we weren't! WE WERE WALKING ON THE SLOPE OF THE HILL!!!IT WAS RAINING!!! COWS AND THEIR POOP!!! I WAS GETTING REALLY WARM IN MY SWEATER AND WANTED TO TAKE IT OFF! I just hope I don't get any sicker.

The war memorial is really nice. It's on top of the hill looking over Brighton and is surrounded by green. It's really peaceful up there. It's far away from the noise of the highway and the city. You can hear birds [and occasional shot gun firing from the firing range at the bottom of the hill]. The memorial site was where they cremated the bodies of Indian soldiers who died in the war hospitals in Brighton. The architecture is very Hindi and made of very nice imported marble from India. The trip down the hill was MUCH EASIER and the sun came out :D

I met up with Jeany, Margaret and Kathie in Brighton for some AFTERNOON TEA at the Mock Turtle. It's a really cute shop...the interior had a cottage-feel to it, with decorative plates all over the walls. Our tea was very very good [and hot]. Very good with milk. We loved how the milk mixed with the tea...it looks so cool! It mixed so smoothly. I loved watching how the white of the milk and dark brown of the tea mixed...it was like watching smoke swirl and disappear.

THE SCONES WERE DELICIOUS! I can never had scones at starbucks ever again! The top and the bottom were kinda hard but the middle was soooo flaky and soft. We had our scones with butter, whipped cream and strawberry jam. It was like the trifecta of pastry spreads! IT WAS HEAVEN! Their butter was very creamy and unsalted. The whipped cream was very light and fluffy. Their cream just tastes like cream. Not sweet at all. AND THE JAM! It was home-made!

<3 We each had one scone, and we finished the butter, whipped cream and jam! WE FELT LIKE FATTIES! SOO SOOO GOOOD!
I bought a bottle of Pimms for 10 pounds to take home. I think i'll share with my dad while we watch the US open together. TEEHEE.

Greetings from England! Day 5

Current Time: 6:49 PM
The weather today is what my mom would call "a typical English day". I woke up and it was sunny but windy, then when I got to class it was cloudy, then it cleared up, got cloudy and windy, and is not currently starting to clear up. At least it hasnt rained yet...
I'M TIRED.

Yesterday:
I woke up to the house cleaning ladies pounding at my door around 9 in the morning. I stayed in bed until 11. I had a class field trip to the Thistle Hotel in Brighton, near the marina. We talked about how a hotel lobby can be a "non-place", how we identify with a place and in turn, the place is identifying us. After class, i finally got my other adapter! YES! Walked around and had lunch with girls in my class.

On custard tart: it tasted good at the first few bites...but then it started to taste like fake sugar. It has a flaky crust...I think it would be better if it has a graham cracker crust. Also, it has the the same consistency as jello. yeah.

Jeany, Kathie and I missed the first group bus to the "Big, Bad Pub Crawl" but luckily we met up with friends who missed the bus as well and we all took the train together. It was kinda frustrating because the guy who knew which pub we were going to[his friend was in the first group...the one we missed and he was communicating with that person] didnt know where the pub was so we were just walking around in circles. But thankfully, we found our group with people we know. They said the 1st pub wasn't that great.

OH WELL. The second pub we went to was called The Globe. They gave me a business card that has discounts on drinks! WHOOOT! I got a Tanqueray and Splash [gin and tonic]. I think I like gin now. It doesnt hit you as hard a vodka, I guess. At any rate, it's really good. I learned that Strongbow is a cider beer! It's good. This pub has a very chill atmosphere. They have comfy couches downstairs with coffee tables. They also have boardgames and stuff. It was kinda dim so I was starting to fall asleep.

The next club we went to was really nice. I forgot what it was called [Water something...] It had a very sleek, modern look to it. Leather booths and low tables. There was also house music, so that was great. I went to the bar to got vodka and cranberry juice and turned around NO ONE WAS MY TABLE! I had a milli-second freakout until I found them at the next table with another group. They were really cool. The guy[Kyle] was kinda cute[I agree Jeany...he does look like the guy from Across the Universe]. A bunch of guys played a drinking race, where there were 2 lines of guys and the lined that finished their pints of beer first wins. That is some insane game! Those guys all chugged their beers! There were girls that played too, but they drank 1/2 pints. That is INSANE! I can't chug a beer...the bubbles would go to my head and I'd throw up.

We finally went to the club. We got in free because the school had a deal going on with that club or something. THAT CLUB IS HUGE! It had 2 floors, several lounge areas and 2 dance floors. The lounge areas were separate from the dance floor rooms[although the dance floor rooms do have lounge areas]. Each room was a different theme. The Ski Lodge [ASPEN] was reserved for ISS students only!We had a bouncer in front of that lounge room and everything! That room was very log-cabin-in-the-winter feel.Played alot of American rock music. There was the Boudoir [PARIS]. It's very Moulin Rouge type of room. Most comfortable sitting area EVER! Instead of booths, they had beds [with tables in the middle for drinks] with pillows. Elevator music. Very chill, relaxing. The Tiki Room was closed :(. Then there was the Monte Carlo Lounge [Monte Carlo]...very upscale casino/club type of feel. Very bling bling.

The 2 dance floors: I love Disco [New York in 1970s]. This room was how I imagined Studioi 54 to be..it's very Saturday Night Fever...complete with the disco ball and light up dance floor! Very very fun! I don't know if the other dance floor had a name, but the theme was kinda like a winter wonderland...everything in the room was either white, silver or crystal [except for the floors...they were black]. They played a lot of different music from hip-hop/rnb to techno and whatever's in between. They projected the music videos [or just videos] on the walls surround the dance floor. It was really fun until it got really crowded and people started getting pushy, grabby and then violent. Some guy w as trying to dance up on Jeany all night and I tried to stop him, but he was very persistent! We moved to a different spot and he found us again! Then there were a bunch of guys who were trying to mosh to Mr. Brightside and one guy was trying to start a fight. Thank goodness for those 2 older guys[who I pressume are gay because they were all up on each other] for protecting us! They made the creeper go away and got us off the dance floor without getting hurt! They had cheap drinks at the club! 2 pound drinks!! WHOOOT! I had this drink called VK Vodka Blue...if blue had a taste, it would taste like that drink! I also had a Malibu and OJ...it had a weird after taste because it was coconut Malibu...but it was still good nonetheless.

I have noticed in mixed drinks, they don't put too much alcohol, so you dont get messed up as quickly...yay for trained professionals!
At the end of the night, it was very sausage fest at the dance floor. There were lots of guys dancing together in groups. LOL. At the end of the night, I was tired and hungry, but had LOTS OF FUN! there will be a repeat.

Today:
I woke up early to do my readings for class that I thought was going to take awhile but didnt! After finishing my readings, I went back to sleep until 12! hahaha The fire alam went off because my flatmate burned the chicken she was making. Kathie freaked out! hahaha
Went to the grocery store ...took freakin' forever because there was traffic!

I need rice. I live on rice.DAMMNN ITT! I can't even make rice in the pot because it doesnt have a lid. I resorted to microwavable rice...eh. I'm just going to stay home and do my readings for next week so I don't have to worry about it.
Random note: today I hate 442 kJoules of cookies! hehehehe [it says it on the nutrition facts]
MERINGUE COOKIES ARE AMAZING.IMUSTHAVEMORE!