Back in Singapore: THE STORY ENDS HERE

My Journey to Scotland has come to an end.  There will no longer be any further post (unless I am going back to Scotland in 2012).

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Thank you for all kind comments. 

Thank You

I am going home .....

YES! I am going home. 5 Jul, 2.15pm flight :-)

My assignment has come to an end. It has been a fruitful and wonderful experience.  In 3 months, I have come to learn many things, and that includes:

• my hair and nails grow at a much slower rate in Scotland as compare to singapore. Been here for almost 3 months but i only have to cut my nails once. My hair is not as long as i expected. thought I could have a pony tail by 3 months time. 
• my wounds/cuts clogs faster but it takes a very long time to heal. i guess likewise my skin also grow or rejuvenated at a much slower rate. 
• food last longer in scotland. i had a banana on the table for 3 days and yet it still look and taste good as when i first had it. bacteria grows slower in scotland, they also need to hibernate. -P 
• Cheers in scotland usually means "thank you" or "you have a good day" 
• people in scotland in general are very polite. Strangers will say "Hi." "Hows your day?" when you look into their eyes. They will normally finished their statement with a "please" when ordering food. hotel business/services is fairly simple in scotland. Say what you mean, do what you say: dont play with words (or lame excuse). if you really can't do it, tell them honestly and appologize.
• Czech people are very united especially in foreign land (unlike the chinese). Also be open, direct & specific in what you want to say when it comes to work, czech people (and french too) prefer it that way. 
• alcohol is much cheaper in scotland. a 440ml beer cost around 0.70 ~ 1.2 pounds. It will be twice or trice in singapore.  
• cigarette is as costly as in singapore 
• seafood is cheap in scotland. when it comes to salmon, scottish only eat the body meat, the head is discard. David collect them from the fish section of the supermart for free. it taste good whether grilled or fried (didnt have the chance to cook it in curry). 
• Scottish only eat boneless breast meat or drum of a chicken. 
• Most scottish food are cooked without seasoning. Gravy are then added to give the food the favour.  
• there are many immigrants in scotland. people in the Europe can find work anywhere without restriction. Govt has implement a min wage scheme and that all worker regardless of nationality are paid on the same scale.   
• Europe are still in a recession. unemployment rate is high in scotland despite that there are many jobs available. guess the britain does not want to do the job and most of jobs are readily accepted by the immigrants. Seem like a similar situation to singapore. recently there is a strike going on in scotland by teachers coz the govt is considering scrapping off the pension scheme for teachers  
• No fake leather products (ie. PVC leather), coz they dont last long in scotland climate.  Thats what happened to my PVC leather shoe

In this 3 months I have tried food that I have never or dare to try:

• RAW mussel and oyster:  Awesome! 
• Czech lamb/beef stew with flour dumplings: yum yum! 
• Scottish lamb stew in loch leven hotel: lamb smell/taste is strong but GOOD!
• fried roast chicken backside: ok, not that bad as i thought

Sigh!  Packing my luggage now, and having a hard time squeezing everything in.  Got to sleep early tonight as I need to catch the 7am coach to Glasgow. 

Scotland, BYE for now!  Thank You!

John Player Special Cigarette

Ooh .... have not seen this cigarette for years (since Army days).  I even formed a "kaki" group under this brand name (JPS Group). 

Brings back many wonderful memories of my army days:  going to functions (ie parties) held in hotels, community centres in a group, and smoking only JPS cigarettes.  Thats our signature.

Super Long Day, Short Night

Days are long & nights are short in Scotland.  Its already 10pm and still bright outside (just like 5pm in Singapore).   Below Pictures are taken @ 9.45pm (night time).

It only gets dark after 10.30pm.

Then early in the morning 3am, I can see the outline of the mountain outside my room's window (without lights on).

Below are pictures that I have taken at 4.18am. 

So you can imagine how much sleep I have everyday. :P

Outside the Cottage

Moving out again - Upper Cottage

Moved to Upper Cottage on the 30 May coz we had full booking on that day, and it is going to be full booking for days to come. 

It was a rush & everything is not ready.  Room is emptied & partially cleaned.  No bed, only a cupboard.  Just got to make do for the night (dragged a portable small single bed from the store).  Lucky there is electricity. 

Takes me 5 days of 3 hours job (remember I still have to work) to:  clean up the place, fix the bed frame, move & clean the furnitures (where I ka-po from anywhere in the hotel), fix the malfunctioning switch/socket, throw away the rubbish in the cottage, etc .... and Sigh!  Finally its done.  才像是个人住的地方. 

Quiet Day

Quiet day, been raining the whole day.  Managed to pick up some advance room booking and it seems like there won't be any walk-in for today too.  Again no dinner serving tonight (only 1 room, no point serving dinner).

Looks like I am going to cook again.

Well yes, indeed, with the leftover chicken from last night.  Stir fried chicken with my special sauce.  Feedback from the food taster (Laureen & Inga):  Max, you should be our new Chef!  The Chicken is good!

Ta-dah! 我还能说什么. :-)