Scotland - An Aunt Trip Part 2

Assalamualaikum and hello xD

Part two, let's go!

24-25 June, Fort William

Bye, Leven, you were nice to me lol. Sebelum sampai ke Fort William tu, cadangnya nak singgah Sterling, cari The National Wallace Monument & Sterling Castle. Sir William Wallace was a brave knight for Scotland, the country he fought for, and the government gave him a monument to remember him -  I think the movie Braveheart was the nearest deciption on Battle of Scotland.

Tales telling kat sebelah building tu

Sebab aku tak dapat nak ambik gambar of the whole buildingnya

The idea was to build the monument in Edinburgh but the citizens didn't really want it, hence it was decided to be built in Sterling during 1800s. Aku tak masuk/panjat the building sebab kena bayar lol, takde lift jugak masa tu. Gambar pun asal ambik je, but you can oversee Sterling from Abbey Craig. Tapi untuk naik ke puncak Abbey Craig tu either can hike up the pathways or naik je minibus yang disediakan (it's free!)

Sterling Castle

Dah habis ronda-ronda Sterling tu, gerak pulak cari Lochs semua tu. The drive in A82 was so long but the view was so breathtaking. I was so thankful that we did take stops when we saw few views that are worth to take pictures, from Loch Talla to Loch Lomond. Sampailah Zayd tanya, "Dah ambil gambar belum ni? Cantik ni" (macamlah we forgot to stop and take few pictures lol Zayd ni). 

aku sebenarnya dah give up nak pose cemana

please hit me up if you want to get my nephew for modelling (jk)

Bila dah sampai Fort William tu, memang rasa macam dalam movie yang tepi laut tu sebab ada pelabuhan (literally) and town yang comel gitu. Comel town tu pun ada gak Morrisons heh. During this one night AirBnb stay, first time dalam hidup aku mengipas api tengah malam, sebab heater rumah tu tak function. Setakat ni aku memang tak boleh brain rumah yang buat dua piping berbeza untuk hasilkan air panas?? Dulu selalu tengok dalam tv je tapi kali ni ha kena kipas sendiri lol. Nasib baik la semalam je weh tapi sejuk jugak la aku tidur malam tu sambil bertelekungnya.

25-26 June, Moffat

Journey to Moffat pun lama jugak sebab kena gerak from Fort William to Moffat through the same road but it wasn't long unlike yesterday's. Maybe because we didn't stop few times hahahah lol. Before pergi Moffat, we went to Ben Nevis dulu (in Fort William) dengan harapan nak naik Gondola ala-ala cable car kat Langkawi versi Scotland. Tapi sebenarnya salah jalan lol but we ended taking pictures along the view going up Ben Navis (separuh jalan je) before going to find the exact gondola.

got lost but okay la can take pictures

another cable car for snowboarding or snow skiing

The gondola ride is actually at the Nevis Range Mountain Experience, Aonach Mor, the other side of Ben Navis. Nama gunung pun scary hahahahah Aonach Mor is the Gaelic name for the mountain, translation  - Big Ridge /je/. The fee per person 18.50 as an adult family, /wah samar-samar aku ingat sebab orang belanja/ but it's 19.50 at the website. I haven't got a ride up with cable car except Bukit Merah punya. Sedih tak hidup aku, datang Scotland baru reti naik gondola tu. Yang Langkawi pun aku belum naik /hehehe/ but promo still kena promo! Aku memang ada rasa gayat-gayat tu lol sebab tu tak pernah naik cable car tu. Tapi aku pernah buat flying fox, so from the experience, aku tahu la aku memang jenis gayat. /Yelah, kalau naik Viking Ship I-City tu pun aku jerit sampat takdak suara kot hahahaha/

view from the top

Aku sebenarnya malas nak memanjat kawasan atas gunung tu tapi Iskandar dengan Marissa memang dah jauh gi hiking then si Zayd ni pun alahai nak ikut si abang dengan kakaknya la. So aku pun dengan perasaan seorang mak ngah berwibawa, maka melangkahlah aku ikut anak-anak sedara aku tu. The way going up is very pretty and adventurous, it's rocky I would say. Nasib baik la aku pakai sneakers weh, kalau tak terkehel dah rasanya. /Remember to be safe pls/ I get the idea why some people do enjoy hiking and extreme mountain experience macam biking panjat bukit and others when I'm up the hill. Maybe, bila dah kat atas tu, there is no thick grasses or tall trees, hence the hiking is very inviteable. The view cantik tapi aku cam biasa la kan, seronok angin kuat atas tu je. /Sorry, kurang tadabbur alam lol/.

Dah turun bawah, makan lunch kat tepi pokok before gerak cari Jacobite. Jacobite ni jenis train, yang macam Thomas and Friends tu tapi versi merah hitam. Dalam hati nak sampai jugak kat Glenfinnan Viaduct tu sebab cantik gila architecture dia ala-ala dalam cerita Harry Potter tu. Tapi nak ke situ kena memanjat bukit jugak sebab railway tu memang lalu tengah hutan (macam dalam cerita Harry Potter). So kami pun yakin la nak gerak ke situ. Baru sampai 1st station, memasing dah mengah hahahaha pastu yang kecik-kecik ni yakin boleh panjat lagi ke situ padahal berapa km lagi woi baru nak sampai ke viaduct tu. Pastu tetiba kami dengar bunyi train, so semua tak jadi nak teruskan perjalanan ke viaduct dan patah balik ke stesen tu heh. So, dapatlah tengok Jacobite the steam train /hahahahahah sanggup weh/ sebelum gerak ke Moffat.

geng panjat gitu

hanya mampu zoom in lol

choo choo the train!

Dah sampai ke Moffat tu rasa cam ala comelnya sebab Moffat is a small town. Like super, duper small and our Airbnb stay is on the 3rd floor of an apartment. Literally, rumah loteng tapi cantik sangat design rumah tu. Almost every accessory are from Ikea so the arrangement can be made in a very neat and pretty way. Nasib baik Ikea dah nak bukak kat Penang hahahah takdak la aku dok meroyan nak pi Ikea Cheras sana nun. The only shop that was available in the moment, Co-Op. Masa kat Coventry memang elak pi Co-Op sebab barang dia mahal sikit tapi pi jugak sebab Co-Op ni charity shop. Kat Moffat Co-Op ni dapatlah beli smoked mackerels & prawns plus some pizzas (sebab itu je yang boleh makan).

There's no halal sign but as long as the food is labelled as vegetarian & no alcohol is used in the production, the food is okay to eat. Why? Every food in the UK yang ada label vegetarian tu takkan dicampurkan dengan sebarang daging, even perisa sekalipun as long as stated in the label. I don't really know why but British people are very particular about the service and you're invited to give feedbacks about their products too. When it means vegetarian, hence the whole production is vegetarian. So people. sila praktiskan baca label makanan!

ni la marissa

When there's no halal sign, Marissa ni tertanya-tanya, kenapa takdak tanda halal kat makanan ni? Boleh makan ke tak? I was setting up the oven pastu si Marissa tengah tengok kotak-kotak pizza tu. I told her, "boleh la makan,". She was scrunching her nose and looked again at me, "Tapi takde tanda halal? Tak halal tak boleh makan,"
"Halal la sebab takde benda yang haram dalam ni, tapi kalau kakak rasa syubhah, takut nak makan, then kakak takyah la makan," /Me being an annoying aunt right there, on point/
"Ni takde tanda halal jugak," aku senyum lagi, tunggu masa nak bukak mulut ni, "tolong jangan cakap, syubhah jangan makan eh"

I know people would be, "apalah hang ni, halal haram mana boleh buat mudah,". Tapi aku dah terangkan awal-awal, vegetarian food, Muslims boleh makan as long as production dia tak involve alcohol and allergy information dia tak involve daging as perisa or else. And some people would argue, proses halal haram tu bukan involve bahan ja. Sumber pun kena halal gak, orang yang buat tu pun kena ikut proses halal, etc. Ini memang di luar kawalan aku la, takkan aku nak pi lawat kilang dia, tanya dia ada involve rasuah ka apa ka.

Logo Jakim pun orang boleh tiru cemtu saja, itu kat Malaysia tau, sebuah negara Islam. Memang kita kena teliti, aku tak nafikan, tapi jangan la sampai merumitkan. Travelling ni nak bukak minda kita, fahami orang di kawasan lain, terbitkan rasa syukur, rendah diri dll. Tapi bukan untuk condemn orang! Okay, makanan ni isu sensitif sebenarnya, so aku emo la sikit bila Marissa tanya banyak kali. Tapi dia tak salah sebab dia faham dia Muslim, kena makan benda yang halal  - aku tak salahkan dia.

Malam tu aku kongsi bilik dengan Iskandar pastu aku bukak tingkap sebab panas, aku ja yang rasa UK dah panas time tu lol. Ada nyamuk ke tak, aku pun tak tahu sebab aku tidur tak sedarkan diri dah pun /hehe/ tapi bilik aku direct nampak bulan mengambang, so fefeeling sensorang pulak sebelum tidur lol. Yelah, dah nak balik rumah then two days after, nak balik Malaysia for summer dah. Dah la rumah Moffat ni lawa, sayangnya nak tinggalkan!

26 June, way back to Coventry

From Moffat tu, we went to Manchester and Liverpool, going downward to Coventry. Sebenarnya Bang Man dengan Iskandar nak beli jersey MU or Liverpool kat both stadiums tu. But then, bila dah sampai kat Manchester tu, I noticed the souvenir shop is undergoing renovations at this, one side, so there's less option to buy. Pastu, argument Iskandar pulak, MU emblem tu cam tak elok sebab The Red Devil so rasa nak beli yang Liverpool punya. Bila dah sampai kat Anfield, Liverpool, kedai souvenir tu dah tutup lol. Sempat ambik gambar dengan emblem saja /hahahaha/.

But it was okay until few minutes nak sampai Coventry hahaha our car have no fuel left! Takde la dramatik tapi lagi 8 minit nak masuk Fletchamhead Road tu, boleh pulak tersalah masuk simpang hahahaha dah la minyak sikit lol. Naik la Mercedes apa pun tapi kalau takdak minyak tak boleh jugak weh. So bila dah mai kampung Coventry ni, aku dengan bangganya boleh la tunjuk jalan lol. Every petrol station kat UK ni offer different price. Takdak macam kat Malaysia dok umum, minyak naik dua kupang ka turun dua kupang ka. Hang mai petrol station, tengok kat monitor, dia habaq la stesen dia juai petrol banyak ni, harga bla-bla. Kalau takdak option, kena la beli jugak even mahai.

Of course la kena singgah Sainsbury beli dinner (pizza dua kotak + fillet o' fish) dengan aiskrim sebelum balik rumah. Then bila dah balik tu, boleh la cousin aku sekeluarga makan ikan bilis, makan nasi goreng kampung dengan bahan-bahan yang ada kat rumah sewa aku tu. Apart of they laughing at our food stocks, katanya macam orang anak 10 pulak tengok peti ais, tengok stok aiskrim, tengok stok dalam almari tu. Jangan gelak please  - takkan hilang Melayu dish dalam rumah aku lol.

So that was my summer trip to Scotland.

Love, Scotland