Hogmanay / First Day of 2009

We had the last supper of 2008 in the Elephant House...the panini tasted very good and the price was very reasonable!!!



Feet First Show's poster on Royal Mile - a mix of Scottish street performances...something like a mini-Edinburgh Art Festival...


We kicked off 2009 by paying a visit to Edinburgh Castle in the afternoon...perhaps the busiest time of the year...haven't seen so many people in a castle before...like the shopping malls in HK! :P We queued up for 30-45 minutes to get the tickets!

Overlooking the city of Edinburgh...Edinburgh Eye and Scott Monument in the middle...Calton Hill on your right...

Feet first performance...no idea what this drama in City Chambers is about...

A very random and "mo liu" 无聊 booth...a man putting up some Tibetan flags (I also have some in my souvenir cupboard at home! :)) and some colourful rubber bands...and two water buckets for the participants to sit on...and murmur some nonsense words...the most "mo liu" (i.e. nonsense...meaningless) show I've ever seen!!!

First footing supplies

A guy dressing up like this...playing a musical instrument...with toy rats on his carpet...another "show"! Perhaps I'm not that "artistic" at all!

Another booth...palm reading...tarot reading...fortune telling...

The most exciting show of the evening...a girl singing in the mid-air!

Three "mickey mouses"?!

A musical instrument powered by water/steam...

A drama performed inside someone's flat along Royal Mile...

The most "mo liu" device of the world...a MANual cashpoint...you need to get some tokens to participate in each booth...to get the FREE tokens, you need to queue up (for at least 10 minutes...there's a long queue) and fooled by the two guys (one inside, one standing next to the yellow machine)...by answering random questions or performaning random acts...e.g. standing on one foot and the guy next to you will try to push you...after being fooled for 2-3 minutes...they'll hand you a few tokens to participate in the shows shown above!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I need to be more careful when choosing programmes to go during the Edinburgh Art/Fringe Festival this summer! Haha!

31 December 2008

HOGMANAY!!! The long-anticipated Hogmanay is great...but less great than expected...(interesting!) As we're very tired for the vibrant "night life" in the previous days...we decided to head out at 10ish to the street party on Princes street...which proved to be a wise choice!!! I couldn't imagine myself squeezing into the tightly-packed drunk and hyper crowds in the stage starring Glasvegas and some UK pop bands , listening to loud music with super heavy bass, standing in the cold, for 4 or 5 hours to wait for the 3-minute firework displays! :P well, a sign of getting older - and wiser - I suppose...We arrived at the venue at 11 am...and managed to secure a place near the entrance with some fresh air and more mature-looking SOBER people around us...(to avoid being hugged and kissed by drunk strangers when the first moment of the New Year comes! haha!)

The greatest moments were the 3-minute non-stop firework displays in front of Ediburgh Castle (not as good as the one on Calton Hill on the 29th...!) and singing Auld Lang Syne (a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns) together with 10,0000 people on Princes Street! :) I've learnt this song for sooo long...since primary school I think...and I'm happy and proud to sing it on the land of Scotland!!!!!

Should old acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind ?Should old acquaintance be forgot,and old times since ?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.


First Day of 2009

Happy new year! Wishing my family and all my friends a happy and healthy new year full of love and joy! :)


My New Year resoluations??? I've set a few goals which I want to achieve in this year...but I won't tell you! *secret* :P

Royal Mile was sooo busy and packed with tourists and locals alike. We wanted to have some nice pub meal in a pub...but was told "we don't take in more for tonight"...and even the cheaper burger shops were full...and asked us to return in half an hour...we ended up having our delicious dinner in a fish-and-chips shop along the road before the Feet First show started!

Achievements of this Christmas and New Year holiday:

1. Finished my semantics assignment which is due in mid-January

2. Been to London (visited Science Museum and British Museum, watched Billy Elliot...)

3. Celebrated Hogmanay in Edinburgh

4. Finished reading a few books: 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith, The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J K Rowling, The Surgeon of Crowthorne by Simon Winchester (a must-read for the OED fans! My Christmas present from down under!), now reading To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

5. Re-developed my film-watching habit: Dirty Dancing, High Fidelity, Lie With Me, The Sound of Music (first half only! haha!), Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving (my Christmas present!), a Japanese animation recommended by Jen called "A chain of short stories about their distance"秒速5厘米 - a very good and inspiring film (I like the first part!), Australia (3.5 hours with an intermission!!!!!!!!!), The Reader

So much for now! Uni starts on the 12th again! :)