Panda @Edinburgh Zoo

This trip was totally a very last minute one. We were going to Edinburgh for a meeting with YB Dato' Seri  Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department. At first none of us wanted to go to this meeting, but after JPA emailed us for a second time, about 6 of us agreed to go.

In the morning, we planned to visit Edinburgh Zoo since it was a golden opportunity to visit this zoo at this time because of the Giant Panda. The pandas will be here for about a few months only. Actually we had checked the availability on the previous day, but it said that the time slots for panda viewing were all fully booked. I think we were lucky because during the ticket purchasing, the staffs told us that we could go to the 1.45pm slot. Without thinking much, we agreed. The entrance ticket to the zoo is £13 for students (inclusive of panda viewing). The normal price is £15.

We left Glasgow Queen Street on a train at 8.15 am and arrived at Haymarket station about 50 minutes later. The train tickets were very cheap because we got a Groupsave discount where 4 persons paid for 2 only. So we spent about £5.70 for a return journey. That was much cheaper than bus. From the Haymarket station, we took Lothian bus service number 26 to the zoo. Single journey costs about £1.30.

The zoo is very huge and the surface is quite hilly. It was like going on a hiking. We had to walked on hilly roads and also on muddy paths. The first animal that we viewed here was sealion. It was huge, but it spent most of its time swimming underwater. So it was quite rare to see it on the surface. Other animals located near the entrance were flamingos, primates and ostriches. We went further up to the sun bears area. There were two of them. We all got excited when we reached the tigers, jaguars and leopards area. They were fantastic and big.

We continued our journey to the safari-like area where we could see several zebras. I wonder why there are no giraffe and elephant around here. Maybe because of the climate. We sure got a few in National Zoo in Malaysia. Lions, anteaters, foxes and deers could be found around this area as well. The lions were quite fierce. The lion kept on roaring while the lioness was quite scary as well. By the way, the weather for today was a bit chilly with light rain but not as cold as usual.

I loved the penguins. There are many of them here. A lot more than Underwaterworld Langkawi. There are so cute and I felt like wanna kick them. They swim very fast. Some of the penguins were sleeping in standing position but some of them lied down. Then, some of them swam and showed us a bit of a show. Kinda cute and adorable although their place was full with whitish poops. There are a few species of penguins here and they all live together in the same place. One of the species has a very long yellow eyebrows. Looks kinda funny.

Then, it was our time to view the pandas. The queue was quite long when we reached the place. There are two pandas here named Tian Tian and Yang Guang respectively. One of them was sleeping with bamboo while the other one roamed around the glass room. There were so lazy and fat! Rasa nak peluk seekor2.. The guide gave us some info about the pandas; about their habitat, territory, mating and eating habits.

We finished our tour in the zoo with penguin parade. About 5 penguins were assigned to parade around the area with the help of their keepers. They are sure cute and jalan terkedek2... Nak culik seekor bawak balik boleh tak? =)

Before heading out, we dropped by the souvenir shop at the entrance. There was a lot of people in the shop. I managed to buy a magnet, a pin badge, a pen and a panda soft toy. 

We took a bus back to the city for our next agenda which was a meeting with the minister and JPA..

 

This was my first time going to a zoo in UK. What I can say is that there are few differences between this zoo and National Zoo in Malaysia. The animals are different, some animals in Malaysia are not here. More penguins here. Obviously there is no panda in Malaysia. I think the zoo here is cleaner but the smell is barely the same. The entrance fee is of course cheaper in my country. =)

Another Winter Trip Day 2 - Nevis Range

We had our breakfast at the dining area with the waffle and tuna that I brought from home. I had hot choc plus coffee as my drink. It's very convenient these drinks were provided for free. I think we were the earliest to wake this morning since all of our dorm mates were still in their deep slumber. We got prepared very carefully so that we didn't make any noise. During breakfast, the Spanish guy from our dorm also went down to online and have breakfast. This hostel is sure the best in Scotland. The staff was friendly even though he was a bit drunk.

We checked out the hostel at quarter past nine. We went directly to the same bus station as yesterday to take a bus to Nevis Range. Our plan for today was to play ski and sledge at Nevis Range. We bought two sledges yesterday. We took the 9.40 am Stagecoach bus (service 41) to reach there. It took 20 minutes from Fort William to Nevis Range. The weather was a bit rainy and cold like usual. According to our dorm mate yesterday, he told us that Fort William has the highest rainfall in UK. No wonder it rains everyday.

From Fort William to Nevis Range

We couldn't decided properly what should we play first for today. After discussing for a moment, we decided to play sledge first and later at noon we were planning to go down again to hire the ski equipment. That was our initial plan. The ticket for gondola + full day beginner area is £15. Only Beginner Area was opened today. The journey on the gondola to reach the top of the mountain took 15 minutes. As we were reaching the top, we got excited when seeing the snow there. Iyela, Glasgow dah lama tak snow kan.. Jadi jakun kejap...

As predicted, it was cold up there. Plus the wind was a little bit extreme. Awal2 lagi sledge dah melayang ditiup angin. We walked further up the mountain and saw a couple already started playing with their sledges. Without patience, Wanji played first followed by Anis. I was still busy capturing photos during that time. Then, suddenly Wanji told me that the sledge had cracked after he hit a rock. Ish3... But luckily we could still use it. I played several rounds before the wind went rough. Not just the wind, hail also fall accompanying the wind  It was very painful when the ice hit me especially on my face. Sakit sangat, until I couldn't open my eyes properly. Then, I headed into the restaurant to take shelter. At that time, Anis and Wanji were lost in action. I didn't where were they at that time. After a moment, Wanji also went inside the restaurant.

When the wind had resolved a bit, we headed outside again to continue playing with our sledge. We tried different areas but the best was still at our initial place. We had our lunch at the restaurant. I ordered a cup of cappucino. 

At 12.30 pm, we were planning to went down to hire the ski equipment for half day. We were so unlucky today because the gondola guy told us that if we went down, we wouldn't be allowed to go up again because of the strong wind. The place was closed for today and they tried to evacuate people as soon as possible. Takde rezeki nak main ski hari ni..

So, after performing our prayer at the gondola station, we went outside for the last time to make snowman. It was just a small snowman and we decorated it with our scarf, specs and beanie. The wind was still blowing strongly outside. After finished playing with our snowman, we took the gondola to go down the mountain. Sedih tau..

We spent the rest of the day touring Fort William. We walked to Ben Nevis Highland Centre to shop for more souvenirs. The shop is very big but I found out the souvenirs were repetitive. It was merely the same with other shops that we went before. I bought a couple of fridge magnets and a badge pin. We also dropped by a charity shop and ended up buying a novel. 

We had dinner at Morrisons again. This time we tried different menu which was Vegetable Lasagna. As usual, the food here never failed to impress us. Sedap dan mengenyangkan! =)

Finally, this trip came to an end. We boarded our bus back to Glasgow at 7.10 pm. There were quite a lot people boarded the bus because it was almost full.

After 3 hours, we reached Glasgow. Safe and sound although we still haven't reach our goal to play ski. Gonna have to plan for another trip this year. 

Another Winter Trip Day 1 - Fort William

Just a day after Aleen's birthday party, I went up north to Fort William joined by Wanji and Anis. Yup, only three person travelled together this time, two were down with the fever. So I officially called this trip as 'Trip Jejoyah'. We had booked the bus tickets about a month ago and the price was very reasonably cheap, only £8 for a return journey. 

The journey started from Glasgow Buchanan Bus Station and we arrived at Fort William Bus Station in less than 3 hours later. The weather was very bad today since the Met Officer had released a weather warning. Strong wind expected today. The journey to the north was quite challenging, we could heard the strong wind slammed the bus windows. And it was raining heavily too. It was horrible. But alhamdulillah, we safely reached our destination on time.

From Glasgow to Fort William

First, we went to Morrisons to grab some hot chocolate for breakfast with our own food brought from Glasgow. The Cadbury hot choc here was awesome. It was very rich in flavour. After a while when the rain had stopped, we headed outside and walked around the town. The town is quite small though. There are few rows of shops, a museum, hostels, hotels, restaurants and other buildings in the town. We first went into the Information Centre to find out what should we do for today. We bought a few souvenirs here as well. I bought a few postcards and a key chain. The lady suggested us to go to the West Highland Museum and we also asked for a bus route to Nevis Range tomorrow. 

After getting sufficient information, we went to the museum but it was closed. Apekah? Info centre yang kurang tepat. Harus dipecat serta merta.. So we just took photos here and there before deciding to find our hostel. The Fort William Backpackers is located up on the hill on Alma Road. We took some time to search for it, and the weather made it more difficult. We managed to find it after phoning the hostel staff. The GPS and google map weren't much helpful.

We waited at the common room while waiting for the reception to opened. The place was very comfortable and warm. We took the chance to eat and pray here before receiving our room keys. Guests were allowed to use the kitchen here. They provide microwave, kitchenware and utensils for us to us. Plus, hot chocolate and coffee are free! Wanji buat 2 kali terus..

At night, we went out to town again hoping to find a place for dinner. At first we found a fish & chip restaurant but the price was totally ridiculous, £6 for fish & chips only. So we walked around first to find other restaurants. We ended up eating at Morrisons again. We tried the fish & chips. It was yummy and the best! The fish fillet was soft and the batter was crunchy. The peas (which I don't usually like) surprisingly tasted like corns. We were all so fulled tonight and very satisfied with the price of £4 including a drink. There was a promotion, 2 meals for £8.. Berbaloi2...

Back in the hostel, we had a chit chat in our room until 11 pm before we snoozed off... Zzzzzz~ 

Syukur tiada apa2 yang terjadi semasa perjalanan ke Fort William. Angin kencang memang mencemaskan! Dalam otak dah terbayang benda pelik2.. Alhamdulillah.. =)

Aleen's Belated Birthday

     Walaupun post ini agak lambat dan tertangguh, tapi nak tulis jugak. Yela, sempena tahun baru nanti, banyak benda yang nak dibelogkan. Selepas pulang dari Spain, masing2 agak busy dan ada plan sendiri, makanya sambutan birthday untuk Aleen pun ditangguhkan beberapa hari lewat dari jadual yang sebenar. Plus, Aleen sendiri pun tiada di Glasgow pada hari lahir beliau.

Kali ni birthday takde surprise2, tapi secara jemputan gitu. Budak perempuan masak main dishes, budak laki buat kuih sampingan je. Katanya Chef Kak Pah kita masak nasi minyak dengan ayam masak hitam. Hitam tetapi pedas! Aku pulak buat burger Malaysia. Alaaa, burger yang macam donat bulat dan diisi dengan sambal bilis dan timun tu. Tapi oleh sebab ikan bilis dah habis, aku pakai ayam je. Up skettt...

Jamuan bermula selepas Isyak, kira2 jam 8.30 pm camtu. Makanan sudah pun disusun rapi di atas meja semasa aku sampai. Tetamu2 lain seperti Wanli, Idris, Najhan & Dila sudah pun sampai terlebih dahulu.

Seperti biasa, selepas doa makan dibaca oleh birthday girl, kami semua menjamah dengan penuh selera tetapi sedikit kepedasan. Memang berpeluh2 masa makan tu. Menu hari ni selain makanan yang disebut di atas ialah karipap tuna, sambal kacang kuda, muffins, potato wedges, mochi, aiskrim dan minuman berkarbonat. Thanks to Hanafiah sebab bawak air sampai 4 botol.

Lepas tu nyanyi lagu untuk Aleen sambil dia potong kek. Potong sekali je, pastu orang lain sambung makan. Kek kali ini ialah marble cheesecake kot.. Kek coklat yang disalut cheese di atasnya. Sedap dan mengenyangkan.. Kek disambung potong oleh aku. Diorang kata aku terer potong kek. Apekah? Hahaha...

Group photo

Next, ada sesi pemberian hadiah. Aku pun bagi Aleen hadiah yang aku dah balut. Aleen bukak on the spot gitu. Segan I tau... Pastu orang lain posing2 bagi hadiah walaupun dah bagi hadiah awal2 dulu. Posing dengan kotak pun jadilah kan.. Sebagai kenangan gitu..

Comel tak kad buatan sendiri aku? >.<

Alhamdulillah.. Majlis berjalan lancar tanpa sebarang masalah, yang penting semua orang happy.. Next birthday, bulan Januari nanti..

Anyway..

Happy Belated Birthday Aleen!

Moga panjang umur, murah rezeki & happy2 di samping orang tersayang.

=)

Ok, itu sahaja update untuk kali ni.

Next update will be about Fort William & Nevis Range trip.. Ski trip tanpa ski gitu.. =/