Visit to Scotland January 4, 2009

This Xmas holiday, we went to Glasgow to visit and meet friends.  Kami bertolak jam 5 petang, hari Rabu 24 Dec 2008.  Budget seluruh visit – lebih kurang GBP200 , tak termasuk makan.   Jadi, seperti biasa supirnya tentulah I sendiri, sewa kereta dari Enterprise.  Memula kami ambil kereta kelas C, pastu upgrade ke kelas E sebab nak boot yang luas sikit (nak bawa Hazeeq nyer slide konon nak main snow slide).  Dah rezeki kami, manager Enterprise tu kata I boleh amik kereta kelas E tu tanpa apa-apa bayaran tambahan. Huhu!  Tengok kereta kami for this week.. Ford CMax.  Spacious, diesel(jimat minyak) and enjoyable long drive.

Disebabkan kami bertolak petang dan sekarang ni pulak musim Winter, 4 pm je dah gelap(Isya’ masuk around 5.40pm).. jadi tak banyak perkara menarik boleh diceritakan.  Kami bertolak dari Sheffield dengan disertai adik Munirah – adik undergrad yg amik BioTech kat Uni of Sheffield.  Kisahnya dia pernah tolong kami baby sit Hazeeq.  So technically, dia jadi anak angkat kamilah utk minggu ni.  Dialah yang byk temankan I drive dalam gelap pekat malam tue.  Sampai di Edinburgh, kami tido di Travelodge Musselburgh.  Tak banyak citer, I sent her to Amy’s room.  Kisahnya, kami janji nak jumpa Eyla, Amin and Amy kat Edinburgh pastu pi ke Glasgow sebelum depa turun ke Leeds the next day.

Esoknya, 25 Dec 2008.. kami ke Glasgow, rumah Mas & Zaki. Dah besar rupanya keluarga kabin nih.  Seronok betul bila berkumpul ramai-ramai and catching up nih.  Hana dah tiga orang anak, baru join kami since Raya Aidilfitri lepas.  Mas lak expecting another baby!  Sempat gak jumpa anak dia, Zahrah yang lahir kat sini masa dia baru mula PhD dulu.  Eyla masih maintain seperti dulu – ada chance la jadi besan I.. anak kami tu cam heavy couple yg tak leh dipisahkan bila berjumpa.  Lol.  Sadly, Syaimak tak join this time sbb family dia dtg bertandang ke Notts.  Ohh.. kami makan turkey panggang yang disediakan oleh Mas & Hana.  Pastu makan nasi & kari ayam.  Pehh!

Sudah makan, Zaki bawak kami round Glasgow City Centre.  Paling tak tahan tengok Hazeeq nyer posing nagn kengkawan dia.  Glasgow ni cantik.. sunyi sebab Xmas.  Kami je yang bermaharajalela kat city centre.  Malam, kami tidur kat Travelodge Paisley Road, Glasgow.  Puas berjalan!  Munirah lak sporting je ikut kami & tak merungut.  Sempat gak menghasut Amy join kami ke Inverness.  At least tak delah Munirah tu sunyi sangat.  Heheh.

Third day, 26 Dec dari Glasgow kami ke Glencoe.  Hari ni Boxing Day – seluruh UK on sale.  Singgah rumah Mas utk breakfast.  Depa yang lain pi shopping di Edinburgh Shopping Outlet.  Kami bertolak ke Ben Nevis Range konon nak main snow.  Sempat tangkap gambar kat Loch Lomond yang kononnya tempat paling cantik di Scotland(tapi Zaki kata Oban lebih cantik).  Sampai di Ben Nevis, tak de snow pun .  Tapi dapatlah naik gondola dan menikmati pemandangan yang masyaAllah cantiknya!  Malam tu kami tidur di Travelodge Inverness Fairways.  Terjumpa laks ngan Kak Ayu & Sally masa nak bertolak turun dari Inverness tu the next day.

Fourth day, 27 Dec, kami ke Stirling dan singgah di Queen’s View di Perth.  Pehh.. dinobatkan sebagai best spot oleh the Queen.. naik di atas tu tersengih tak berenti.  Cantiknya!!!  Tak terkata dan tak leh nak describe cantik dia tu.  Gambar yg u all tgk ni mungkin cantik but in real.. it’s beyond what you can describe.  Once you are up there, you don’t feel like you want to leave.  It is so peaceful and so beautiful!  Dari situ, kami terus ke turun terus ke Glasgow.Konon nak pi shopping di Bonny Pack.  Entah hape2x ntah.. depa ni lebih Xmas lak dari mat salleh.  Kami sampai disana jam 4.30 pm.. Kul 5 depa tutup!  Hee.. bencinya!  Tak hingin eden pi Bonnypack lagik!

Malam tu kami tido di Travelodge Perth Broxden.  Sejam jugak lah ride for nothing dari Glasgow tu.  The fifth day, 28 Dec kami ke Stirling – tempat di mana Braveheart film is all about.  Kami lawat Stirling Castle dan Stirling Bridge. Dan lepas tu ke Falkirk Wheel.  Falkirk Wheel – janganlah buang duit pi naik bot tu yek!  Heheh.. Buat masa betul.  Dari Falkirk, kami singgah ke Edinburgh Castle.  Pastu makan malam, sebelum bertolak balik ke Sheffield.

All in all.. penatnya!  Tapi sangat seronok!  Especially sebab ade dua org Mary Poppins yang sporting habis – Munirah & Amy.  Buat kawan si Hazeeq – siap sempat gaduh2x lagi kat belakang tuh.  Lain kali boleh ajak lagi.  Next stop – Wales & Cornwall.  Heheh..

Oh ye, for more interesting pics, do visit my flickr slides!

Wow.. brand new year! January 4, 2009

It’s been sometime since I last visit WordPress.  What a change!  I am now thinking hard.. trying to decide which is the best tool to adapt to link everything up and make my life simpler.  Let me see.. things I don’t want to throw away : My WordPress (coz I’ve tried some other blogs as comparison) and my Facebook.  I now have a Flickr account that I pay every year to get extra storage space but need to use external tool to edit the pics beforehand (red-eye reduction, blurry, sharp and contrast etc).  So in a nutshell, Flickr is a bit time and money wasting.  It’s easy to manage my pics with Flickr though, and I have tons of pics in there as well!  Well.. if I can invest some time to investigate further about Picasa and decide which is better, I would have the answer!

The thing about Flickr that I don’t like.. well.. actually, I love the fact about Fotopages that allow u to upload unlimited pics and write things about your pics.  It relates directly your pics and connect ideas that you want to present especially to your readers that won’t bother to click multiple pages to get their heads round. But.. the major disadvantage about Fotopages that stop me is : the ridiculous amount of time needed to upload your pics.  Not suitable for me, though.. I’m not that patient.  LOL.

So.. let’s see if I can have my WordPress linked with any of my Picasa/Flickr.  I love the fact about Picasa that it does come with editing tool as well(not like Flickr).  So.. let’s see..

Hey.. hey.. got the answer for the time being.  Now that WordPress has included Flickr widgets, so I might use Flickr widget for the time being.  As the problem with editing tools.. I might try Picasa or Picnik!  I’ve tried Picnik before and it looks good.

I’ve tried Photobox for free photo printing.  It’s rubbish.  Edited photos using Picnik turned out to be dull and darker than it should be.  Now I’m trying ArtCows from Hong Kong – with 1200 free prints, just see if it is any good