Last year in September... *I know, I know. Late post is very late but I assure you it's still very much relevant.* So yeah. Last year in September I made an awesome order for an awesome friend. I, from the far away land of Penang, ordered cupcakes from all the way down in KL to be sent to my dearest friend, Cubbie.
And not any ordinary cupcakes. No siree.
Meaningful personalised cupcakes.
This was what I gave to the passionate bakers of passion bite.
Each cupcake design symbolises something special between Vin & Cub, two bestest friends. Our crazy love for all things Japan, her infatuation for Holmes, her talent in art and well, even the Arglye pattern means something to us. *grins*
And this was what was delivered!
SO CUTE RIGHT?
I wish something like this was sent to me, too. *hint hint**wink wink*HAHAHA. But let's not forget I get yummy and adorable gifts delivered to me too. So I'm good. I'm good. :D
The packaging is simple and nice, too. *click picture to enlarge* And that last photo further proves Cub's love for Holmes. LOL.
So how is this 8-month late post relevant to today's entry?
Well...
I MADE MY SECOND ORDER LAST WEEK...
...and, and, and... it will be delivered to another special someone of mine tomorrow!
I hope they turned out just as great. Yes yes, let's anticipate together. I promise I won't take another 8 months to let you know about tomorrow. :P Oh and if you must know, Cub said they tasted good too. My only complain? I don't get to actually see the real thing not to mention actually eat them lovelies. *pouts*
Therefore, I shall just leave this here so that I can play and play and play the video again and again and again whenever I want to. His expressions are just so cute and he is enjoying himself so so much. It just sooo... squashable, if that's even a word. LOL.
It’s going to rain. Sounds of thunder can be heard. It’s dark and cool. The perfect weather for an afternoon nap. And mind you, I don’t usually do afternoon naps. *stares at her bed* I want to snuggle in there so badly but I can’t. Not until I take a bath and wash my face since I just came back from my half-day 'temple excursion'. And I can’t take a bath. Not until I process the lunch I just ate. I know. I know. But that’s just how I roll. :P Girls are so weird sometimes most of the times. No wonder boys don’t understand us. Heck, I think we barely understand ourselves half of the time. LOL.
After dinner and some rest, we headed out again at around 9.30pm to catch the night bus up to Edinburgh. Crazy schedule huh?
Here's something even more crazy.
Our return trip bus tickets cost a mere £6.50. That's about RM32. Dirt cheap no? Even a return trip to Kuala Lumpur cost more than that. So I guess its time for...
Hiyashibeeps' L.E.P.A.K Travel Tips No.6: Check out megabus.com for cheap bus tickets to anywhere in the UK. Be warned though, google for a review and you'll most likely stumble upon a bad one. Old bus, stinky smell, lateness, etc. My take on this? They're probably true. Our experience with Megabus wasn't a pleasant one but more of that later. But on another note, the buses were still full with passengers. So people still ride it nonetheless. Why? Price is definitely the factor here.
You see, Megabus price ticketing system works similar to that of AirAsia. The first released tickets are the cheapest of the bunch, and can be as low as £1. So you have to be on the look-out for ticket release which is about 2 - 3 months prior to your travelling date. The ticket price goes up a notch after the first set of tickets are sold and continues to rise thereafter.
Now, back to the ride. The bus was in fact quite punctual. However the bus that came was not a coach bus but a regular bus, like the ones that are travelling within the city. *shocking* It turns out our actual coach bus couldn't make it to the station and so we had to sit this regular bus for the first half of the journey until god knows where to switch to our actual coach bus. So you can imagine the discomfort sitting for a few hours in a regular bus with regular seats. Urgh.
So you can also imagine the contentment and comfort we felt when we finally switched to our actual coach bus. And if you thought coach buses in the UK and Europe are big and comfy because, well, maybe because the people there are generally bigger in size compared to Asians, :P then boy are you wrong! I can assure you that this is not just because it was Megabus that we're talking about, we took another coach operator later in our trip, one that is priced much higher and the bus condition is pretty much the same, making me feel the Megabus ride was not that bad after all, especially when it's three times cheaper. *nods*
OMG! We haven't even got to Edinburgh and the post is already so loooong.
Here's the advantage of taking the night bus. You'll wake up to the beautiful sunrise as you slowly reach Scotland. Now a normal sunrise would be comparable to any other sunrises from anywhere in the world. What made this sunrise so much more special was this...
*click to view video*
Yes. You see the full moon on one side of the bus as the sun begun to rise on the other side. Amazing huh? Like whuuaah! It's a wonderful moment indeed.*hearts* Suddenly you feel you're in the most amazing bus ride ever. *grins* And as the sun begun to shine upon the entire countryside. We saw sheeeeeps. Hehe.. cute fluffy whites with little blacks grazing the fields.
What's more, we even arrived Edinburgh earlier than expected. We walked out of St Andrew Bus Station and was instantly greeted by a strong gust of cold wind. The sky was clear and blue but the wind was oh so cold.
Down the road, the Scott Monument stood tall and eery. It's beautiful yet so haunting in its design.
We bought our Edinburgh Pass from the Tourist Information Centre at Princes Street for £26.50, which brings us to...
Hiyashibeeps' L.E.P.A.K Travel Tips No.7: The Edinburgh Pass is available in the form of 1-day, 2-day and 3-day passes. However, it is not necessary a must-buy item for your travels. You have to consider what you are planning to do during your trip. In general, the cost of 3 activities is probably the equivalent of a 1-day pass. If you manage a fourth, that's when you start to save but your schedule will be very tight and tiring.
We did explore three of the items included in the pass which actually if paid individually would have cost us £26.50 exactly. So no great savings whatsoever but the pass did came in the form of a magnetic card plus a booklet, both were great memento for the trip.
You can actually purchase the pass online and have it sent to you or collect on the spot upon arrival. The advantage? They do have online promotions that enable you to save more. BUT. Yes, there's a but here. Last I've checked, the price for a 1-day pass is now £29. So I'm not sure if it's that value-for-money anymore. You be your own judge. :)
Wow! This post is filled with way too much information. *yawns*
Let's get the pictures to do the talking now, shall we?
Me in front of the Scott Monument. It's a great day for photography isn't it?
The view from the walking path right beside the Scott Monument. You can see Edinburgh Castle far ahead.
Edinburgh Castle is perched on a hill and thus it's up, up...
...and up we walked. *phew*
The Writer's Museum. We gave this one a miss (yes yes, I know I'm a writer) but a museum is just not as appealing as the many other attractions in town. Besides, time is not on our side remember? :)
The Hub. Hahaha. A pretty modern name for such an old looking building don't you think? Well, don't be fooled. The interior of this building is quite modern I must say. After all, The Hub is not only a restaurant, a cafe and a wedding venue but also the grand location for the annual Edinburgh International Festival.
And finally Edinburgh Castle! Look at me holding onto my dear hat so tightly. The wind I tell you. The wind! Brrr....
Finally got rid of all the cars and got myself a proper shot of me and the castle. :D
Nana finally broke down after the long climb. *so dramatic wei*
Scottish kids! Cik Datang commented that the kids must have took Scott Emulsion *rolls eyes*, that's why they're so fit at climbing up the slopes. Unlike some people... *sheepish smile*
Mr Tour Guide manually adjusting the time for the next tour to begin. LOL.
Mr Tour Guide in a kilt :P or what we more fondly call a Scottish Skirt. Hehe.
The view from the first level of the castle. Now imagine you're here during the war and ready to fire the cannon. FIRE!
These kids didn't even bother to imagine as they attempt to lift the 'cannon ball'. Hahaha. Silly but so cute.
The breathtaking view from the very top of the castle. You can even look out to the sea at the far end. I didn't realised Edinburgh was so close to the coast. I simply love Edinburgh and would definitely want to come back again if I ever have the chance in the future.
And finally, another shot together!
I promise this is the last shot of the castle. :P
Our last stop was the Royal Scots Military Museum where we got to remould a penny into a small souvenir token...
...using this machine and for an affordable price of 50 pence. :D
*phew*
What a long post. Next up! The Royal Mile. Eeek! No video to end the post this time. Hehe.
Well, an idle creative mind is probably a strange place to live in.
You see, last week sort of marked the end of a 'holiday buzz' in the office. And when colleagues go off to enjoy themselves, they never forget about us less unfortunate souls who are stuck in the office and before you know it, souvenirs start magically appear on our tables.
Like this packet of Pretz Sticks from umm… Hong Kong? (or China) from Yen-san for instance.
Well, Pretz Sticks it is no more when it falls into a creative hand.
It becomes the icon of our next ‘Tak nak!’ no smoking campaign.
Quit Smoking. Choose Pretz.:P
Switch it up and it turned into a form of a ‘kavadi’. O_o
Swirl your magic wand and be inspired by Harry Potter.
Cik Datang was right in her element that day, feeling all smartified by the mini Smarties packs from Mr Iduntalkmuch.
Even a packet of seaweed from Korea courtesy of E-News Mama was left with no mercy.
*sigh*
But the winning shot of the day was not what was in front of the camera but what’s behind it.
That's my reaction right now that made me open my blog page again to make a second blog post in a night.
*sigh*
It all started yesterday at work when I suddenly had this lyrics in my head.
"I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah..."
Wait. Before you start telling me that's the wrong lyrics, I admit I'm a bad Beatles fan. Forgive me. :( but it was this one line that gave me the 'itch' I couldn't get rid off. And since I did not have my entire personal song collection with me, I went on the hunt via the internet. No no no. No illegal downloads in the office okay. I went searching for radio stations and ended up at jango.com. Click next, next, next and couldn't get the song. *sad face* Not to mention, Cik Datang and Mr Iduntalkmuch were probably thinking why was I listening to *ahem*'the old stuff' all of the sudden.
So I gave up.
But still the itch didn't go away. So I took my entire personal song collection to the office, only to find out that I had seven miserable Beatles song in there. Like I said, I fail as a Beatles fan. Determined to find my song, I turned on Beatlesarama.com instead. This time with my earphones plugged in, I had it on almost the entire day. Though I was not at my desk most of the time and once again, NADAA!
Now before you come on to comment that there's this thing call youtube. Well, let's say my computer is just not youtube friendly enough. *double sad face*
So I came home, took my bath and finally grab the album off the CD rack and check the playlist for the song and couldn't find it. So naturely I asked my dad.
"Pa... what's the title for the song "I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah" ah?"
"It's "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah" lah."
"Oh!"
So yeah. The song is in the album. Finally! I'm going to get to scratch that silly 'itch' away. I took the album upstairs and back to my room. I opened it...
And it's not just for the advertising industry, I believe it's sort of the universal mantra of how things work. Try it yourself. Pick two and I'm sure the third one will not fit the equation.
Hmm... if only we let clients pick their 'two' before we actually start work.
This was what I gave to the passionate bakers of passion bite.
And this was what was delivered!
The packaging is simple and nice, too. *click picture to enlarge* And that last photo further proves Cub's love for Holmes. LOL.
