Glasgow day trippin' - Edinburgh

hiiii i'm totally supposed to be sleeping now after a complete lack of sleep last night but here i am blogging about Edinburgh! haha.

anyway, Edinburgh is quite a small city that can be explored in....one day! (: i took a day trip there from Glasgow and pretty much managed to cover everything. i've gotta admit though, that i skipped some of the really hardcore parts of it, such as *points below* :p oops! 

What to see in Edinburgh

climb Arthur's Seat which is the hilliest part of Edinburgh and when you reach the top, you'll be rewarded with magnificent 360 degree views of the whole city! :)) haha it doesn't look very steep, but it's honestly no joke climbing this :p we climbed about halfway, and the view was pretty good already and so we gave up then haha! but i definitely encourage you to go all the way up to Arthur's Seat itself (:

the Royal Mile is a succession of streets where the business of the Old Town of Edinburgh flourished in the past! just walk down the street and you'll see stores selling all sorts of knick-knacks that are pretty cool! we also went to this museum (free entry) where we explored how Edinburgh developed from its history till now! pretty cool ;)

i just think this photo of the Royal Mile is superrrr pretty :) it was such a bright sunny day when we were in Edinburgh! feel super lucky to have good weather ;)

and you'll see load of bagpipers and street performers throughout the entire stretch of road! one of the street performers could seriously win an award for the longest performance EVER. i think we stood there for more than an hour before finally giving up and going off because he never seemed like he was going to do whatever trick he was saying he would do haha. but he was definitely very entertaining and charismatic ;) (at least up to an hour or so...haha)

right at the end of the Royal Mile is the Edinburgh Castle! the view from up there is pretty amazing too, but that's about it :) i heard lots of advice that it isn't worth paying to go into the castle and so i skipped that ;) 

and this pretty much rounds up the main attractions to see in Edinburgh! (: of course there are streets to explore and stuff if you want to. but instead, i chose to spend the rest of my time pigging out :p hehe!

My foodie recommendations for Edinburgh

wondering what this is? it's another exotic Scottish dish that i had! the other was the black pudding in Glasgow. this is haggis (£8.50), which is a savoury pudding that is made of...(guess what) sheep's intestines :O omg. can you even believe that i ate this?! haha like neither sheep nor intestines and yet we ordered this haha! but we really just wanted to try it, and it turned out to be not thaaat bad ;) i wouldn't order seconds, but the taste of the sheep was pretty minimal thanks to the generous serving of whiskey sauce.

we also had the handmade 100% scottish beef burger (£9.50) which was humongous! i didn't take a picture of the Scottish mussels we had, but please order it!! ^^ it's definitely worth it ;) fat, juicy and succulent, just like those i had in glasgow! (: 

i also had a glass of pear cider which was super yummy!! and it came in a 500ml size :O haha so shiok ;) 

Whiski Bar & Restaurant

119 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SG 

Tel.: +44 131 556 3095 

we were pretty full after lunch, but we weren't done with the food yet ;) this pork bun may look simple, but it sure packs a punch! hog roasts seem to be really popular in UK! i saw it in quite a number of places, and it's sooooo delicious :D the hog roast roll was a freshly carved hog roast - smokey, piping hot, and super juicy - served in a bread roll with a choice of sage & onion, apple sauce, chili relish or haggis (omg. haha).we opted for apple sauce and it was amazing!!! the light sweetness of the sauce went perfectly well with the pork, and the flavours exploded in our mouths with the juice dripping all over the place as we devoured the bun amongst the three of us. there are three sizes to choose from - the piglet (£2.80) for the small eater, the oink (£3.80) which is the standard size and the grunter (£4.80) is for the hungry ones ;) MUST TRY!!!! no matter how full you are ;)

Oink Hog Roast

4 Victoria Street, Edinburgh EH1 2JW 

Tel.: +44 7771 968 233

and girls always have a separate stomach for dessert! ;) i'm always amazed at the amount i can eat. :p we trekked for like...half an hour before we finally found Patisserie Madeleine, which was said to have the BEST macarons, as claimed by my friend who's stayed in edinburgh for quite a few years. it's a really small shop and we totally walked right past it initially! unfortunately, they didn't have the flavour that we wanted to order!!!!! :'( imagine our disappointment! :( the worst part was the thought of having to drag ourselves for another half an hour walk to get back to the train station...imagine that haha. anyway, we ordered other flavours, and they were really quite nice! :) some of them were a bit too sweet for my liking though! anyway, if you are there, you HAVE to try saffron pistachio flavour which is supposed to be the awesome flavour we didn't get to try! 

Patisserie Madeleine

27b Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, EH4 1HU

Tel.: +44 131 332 8455

walked through this gorgeous park on the way back, and i totally fell in love ^^ hehe. i'm always just so fascinated at how the Europeans have such an amazing way of relaxing on a nice sunny day :) if only we do this in singapore too! 

Glasgow day trippin' - Scottish Highlands

hi!! :) this post is actually going to be more of a spam of pictures of my day trip out to the Scottish Highlands from Glasgow ^^ pictures speak a thousand words, and i have 5 or 6? haha so imagine that in words :P 

i never knew that Scotland was so beautiful, and it really has so much to offer with its AMAZING scenery :') i took the tour from http://www.highlandtours.com/ but you can really just google and you'll find many similar tours. i would think the quality, prices and tour options are about the same, so it's really your personal preference! i really enjoyed how the tours here are much cosier and personalized than all other tours i've taken so far though! the only downside was probably the transport, where a group of around 15-20 of us were in a mini-van. there was sufficient space for each person, but no extra space to move around much. but this made for a more intimate experience i guess, where our driver was the tour guide and he literally gave us the entire tour while driving, telling us about the history of the place, what are the various sights etc. and he was a huge camwhore haha, and so we had numerous stops along the way for photo ops and to just take in the scenery and fresh air ^^ 

i went for the Loch Ness, Glencoe and Highland tour for £39. there are actually more tour options from Edinburgh if you are staying there too btw! anyway this tour brought us through the hills and mountains, the lakes (i didn't get to see the Loch Ness monster, boo!) and castles. some options entail additional costs though! such as visiting the castle or taking a cruise on the lake.

okay, enough words! take a look for yourself ^^

Scotch whiskey! take the whiskey tour if you like it ;)

breathtaking loch ness :') 

Of teapots and pretty cakes - York Part II

cafe-hopping? pfft. in York, this is taken to a wayyy higher level ;)

TEAROOM-HOPPING. 

how cool is that? ^^ haha i bet yi came up with that term herself, but i like the sound of it ;) sounds so classy and lady-like doesn't it? :D haha. totally living the life of a tai-tai. it was quite sad that while i was in europe i didn't find many cafes that were good for chilling in. in italy, that was definitely not the case. but in UK, it's a different story altogether! and York is the perfect place for tea ^^ so many places to go! 

Tea-rooms in York

what's the difference between tea-rooms and cafes you may ask? i guess the best way to distinguish between them would be their focus - tea, obviously, for tea rooms. and for cafes, i suppose they have a bigger focus on coffee? and the decor is strikingly different. it's hard to explain, but it's just a feeling that you get. when you step into a tea-room, you just feel that it's so...pretty (: it's whimsical, it's dainty, it's lady-like. it feels like it's fit to serve the royal ladies of the palace, who would enjoy a pot of tea in the afternoons, as opposed to coffee which was considered crude. okie enough introduction, it's time for the SHOWCASE :D

btw, all these tea-rooms are in no particular order. i don't have any particular preference for one. i loved ALL of them ^^

The Earl Grey Tea Rooms was our first-stop on our tearoom-hopping day! (: and i was so excited to have a real english afternoon tea set ^^ we ordered the traditional afternoon high tea set (£10.99) which consisted of a choice of sandwich (we chose tuna!), fruit scone with cream and preserve, fresh cake of the day and a pot of tea for one. i looooved the scones ^^ as i mentioned in my royal garden post, i first fell in love with scones when i was in york :') scones in uk are something else altogether!!!! never really liked them in singapore, but ohgosh, they are so good here, they taste great even on their own without any condiments! :))

the tea room also has a lot of lovely merchandise for sale such as jams and stuff, which are great to look at even if you don't want to buy them ^^ 

The Earl Grey Tea Rooms

13/14 Shambles

York YO1 7LZ

+44 1904 654 353

next, we headed to Molly's Tea Room! i'm SUPER devastated because i just had no fate with the apparently yummy cakes that day :( yi said that Molly's had the best strawberry cheesecake ever, but it wasn't for sale that day :((( i guess the way to console yourself is that the menu changes everyday, so it's kept interesting and means that everything is baked fresh! (: we tried the lemon drizzle cake (background) and the raspberry almond cake (foreground). both were yummy! loved the lemon cake for its tangy-ness and the almond cake for its nutty crunch ^^

Molly's Tea Room

41 Stonegate

just the first two tea-rooms kept us pretty full for quite awhile! that was our 'lunch' and we took a long break just shopping around while we digested our food.

and around 3pm, it was time for tea! ;) hehe. we tried a victorian sponge cake at The Vanilla Cafe! (: this cafe (and the next one) were located in a small quiet street just behind the York Minster. it's very quaint and cosier than The Shambles, and i simply loved the atmosphere there. 

The Vanilla Cafe

12 College Street, City Centre

York YO1, 7JF

Tel.: +44 1904 658 852

and for cupcakes, you should head to none other than Crumbs Cupcakery! (: they have a daily selection of cupcakes and the all look soooo pretty! we had a caramel/speculoos flavoured one and the other was peanut butter if i remember correctly! the icing was too sweet for me (seems like i don't like the icing on cupcakes in uk much haha) but the cupcake was delicious!! 

Bettys Tea Room is one of the most famous tea rooms in York and there are queues to enter the premises at almost every time of the day! we had to queue for around half an hour to get a seat and it was in the lower level of the restaurant, which is supposedly less popular! but it was worth the experience :) it's such a pretty shop!! and their afternoon tea was yummy ^^ i would say that it could perhaps be slightly overrated/overpriced though? because there are also other tea rooms which are definitely comparable (: 

we had the Bettys Afternoon Tea (£18.30). it came with a variety of sandwiches (plus points! ^^) and in interesting flavours too! scottish smoked salmon & cream cheese, roast Yorkshire ham and roast free-range chicken breast, egg mayonnaise & cress. loved loved loveeeed the sultana scone with strawberry preserve and Yorkshire clotted cream. there were a selection of miniature cakes - yummy raspberry tart! and also a pot of Tea Room Blend tea :) delicious :)

i've heard that Bettys has the most amazing victorian sponge cakes ever! unfortunately they're only in whole-cake size, so we couldn't order it because we would never be able to finish it! but do give it a try if you can! 

Bettys

6-8 St Helen's Square, York YO1 8QP

Tel.: +44 1904 659 142

Restaurants in York

i got my ribs fix in york!!!!! WOOTS! The Slug and Lettuce is a restaurant chain that can be found in many parts of UK. they have amazing deals every single day of the week, and on Mondays, the food goes for half price!! which means that a rack of ribs (originally £11.25) costs less than £6!!! :O i wouldn't say the quality is very good, but for that price, it's definitely worth it ;)

one of the best meals that i had in York was at Rustique. it's a french restaurant! (: again, love how UK has such a wide variety of cuisines :D they have a set menu - two courses £12.95, three courses £14.95. we opted for two courses each so that we wouldn't be exploding after that. haha we were still super full, but it was so worth it ;) we ordered one appetizer, two mains and a dessert between the two of us. started with the cromesquis de crabe which was a lovely deep fried crab cake with fluffy meat inside and served with a sweet chili salsa. 

for mains, we had the beef bourguignon which was pieces of super tender meat in a lovely red wine casserole.

we also had the jarret de porc an cidre which is a slow cooked pork shank braised with cider. loved the coarse grain mustard mash that came with it!! it's much more interesting than your average mash ;)

our dessert was so yummy!!! always go ga-ga over chocolate hehe ^^ we had the pot au chocolat which was this lovely little bowl of rich, creamy, luscious chocolate with a piece of shortbread to top it off!! SO DELICIOUS. i can't resist chocolate for nuts *hee*

Rustique

28 Castlegate

York YO1 9RP

Tel.: +44 1904 612 744 

Mon-Sat 12pm-10pm

Sun 12pm-9pm

i had spanish tapas in York too! ^^ and guess what, it was better than my experience in Barcelona. #theirony -.- we had the introduction to tapas set at £25 for two people at Ambiente. i wished i could have chosen stuff i really wanted, but i guess it was just easier to order the set. anyway, there were just so many to choose from that i was completely bewildered :p the introduction set includes the Pan (mediterranean bread & dipping oil) - simple & good, Chorizo patatas (caramelized chorizo and potato) - the sauce was da bombz!! you have to order this and just dip everything inside haha, Albondigas (meatballs in a chili and lemongrass sauce) - loved the texture of the meatballs ^^ , Caldosa (seafood risotto) - wish it was a bigger portion!, Championes (mushrooms with caramelized shallots) - simply addictive, Gambasal pil pil (shelled prawns cooked with garlic and chili) - can't really remember how this tasted, Patatas bravas (crispy potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce) - this was really super spicy!!!! 

overall a good meal (:

Ambiente Tapas Restaurant

14 Goodramgate, York YO1 7LQ

Tel.: +44 1904 689 784

scream with me!!! JAMIE OLIVER!!!!!! :D :D :D heehee so happy to be here!!! and omg it's in singapore now~ woohoo! haha i'm just quite a big fan of him - always so fascinated by his cooking shows where he looks like he's just plucking and throwing in random ingredients to come up with a dish which looks and tastes so awesome. 

Jamie's Italian is known for its pasta, and so that's what we ordered. i was really excited for both our crab spaghettini (£7.75) and black angel spaghetti (£8.20). there are two choices for sizes - the appetizer and main course size. we opted for the appetizer size for both, so that we wouldn't overeat. i think it was a little small, but just nice (: the crab spaghettini had fluffy pieces of meat in it ^^ yumms! i loved the black angel spaghetti, most importantly because it didn't stain our teeth haha. and it was sooo delicious! it had a pretty generous amount of fresh, fat scallops, and was well-flavoured with a wine/parsley/garlic/chili sauce. delicious! 

we also had a serving of posh chips (£3.25) which was basically truffle fries with parmesan. unfortunately, i felt that it was just lacking in both :/ could have been better.

i can't wait to try the outlet in singapore!!!! :D

Jamie's Italian

26 Lendal, York YO1 8AA

Tel.: +44 1904 283 979

Snacks on-the-go

cornwall pastys are the yummiest snacks ever!!!!!! I LOVE THEM!!!! and West Crornwall Pasty sells the best ever :D they look pretty much like our curry puffs, with a thicker crust that is more crumbly, kinda feels less oily (or maybe not haha) and has a variety of fillings which i had so much joy choosing from. 

Milkshack has over 180 flavours of milkshakes!!!!! :O :O :O :O does the *hands on face with mouth open emoticon* expression. sooooo shiok!!!! i had the hardest time choosing a flavour because they all sounded so awesome. yi dabao one back for me please!! haha. this place is a great stop to drop by in the midst of your shopping in the shambles. the perfect sugar rush to perk you up for more shopping! ;)

Milkshack

14A Church Street, York YO1 8BE

so you see, there are really lots of things you can do in york! (: i stayed there for around...4-5 days if i remember correctly? and it was just perfect. so many things to see/shop, and eat! this little town is really a hidden find worth visiting ^^

Of teapots and pretty cakes - York Part I

if not for yi, i probably wouldn't have heard of the existence of York, much less set foot in the place. and what a pity that would be! this city, albeit small and relatively unknown, is one of the best kept secrets in UK (: it is that wonderful. and i loved every single bit of it :') apparently it's on the fb page "Places to visit before you die"!!! i'm so happy that i had a chance to visit ;) for all the afternoon tea-loving ladies out there, this is the place to live in :))) such a small, quaint town, but so many places to delight in. i really really miss the space and quietness of europe. *sigh* :') 

this is not a very good pictorial representation...it is too dark!!! but you've got to be THERE to experience York (: the shopping streets at The Shambles are just so picturesque! i was googling it, and i found the perfect description ever ;) "it's like walking down Diagon alley in Harry Potter!" so true ^^ it's just one small street after another, with the prettiest shops and tea houses, selling the most quirky and lovely merchandise that you'd feel like popping into every other shop just to oogle at the products. i particularly loved this store that sold soaps that looked like mini-cupcakes!! *squeals!!* i was just having to drag myself out to prevent myself from buying something i would never bear to use because it was just too pretty :p

did you know that harry potter was filmed in york?!?! i mean, just one scene in it. but stillllll. haha! and i wouldn't have known till yi told me, but once she did, i could immediately imagine the exact scene in the movie! in the first movie when hagrid passed harry the tickets to take his first train from platform 9 3/4. it was filmed at the York Train Station :O :O :O !!!! :D haha. i was there!!!!! *HELLO!!* haha okay i'm nuts, but it's so exciting!! can't believe that they actually came all the way here to film the movie! i didn't even go to see the platform 9 3/4 at kings cross station in london because i heard it's damn lame (there is even a queue to take a photo with the trolley -.-). THIS, is much cooler ;) hehe. totally being a typical tourist in york ;)

the York City Wall was probably to keep out all the baddies from the city. i'm not too sure about this, but i think York used to be the capital of england at some point in history? that's why they have these city walls and a castle (below) as well! 

Clifford's Tower - i really enjoyed walking around this area on my own on a quiet afternoon. there was a lovely light breeze that ruffled my hair, and it was just perfect (: i spent the afternoon strolling in the area, watching the geese play (so many of them in york!!!), watching a little kid run and tumble in the grass. it was such a wonderful day out ^^

the York Minster is this huge church in York that you can visit. it costs £15 for a combined minster+tower ticket. i don't think there is much to see in the church itself, but the tower was an interesting experience. first time climbing up a super narrow flight of steps. not an experience i'd want to repeat, but i did so again for st paul's cathedral in london lol. 

halfway up the steps....thought we had reached already but no....more steps to climb haha.

view from the top!! (: 

and one of my favourite places in York was the Museum Gardens (: this picture was taken from my seat on the grass hehe ^^ it's a wonderful place to sit and chill! 

if you can, venture beyond the city of york to the outskirts and you'll find more wonderful things there! (: we took a bus out to Balloon Tree Farm and it was such a lovely experience! they have both an animal farm and vegetable garden section. we actually wanted to go for the pick-your-own trail experience but unfortunately due to this year's bad weather, the harvest was late :"( sobs. nevertheless, we really had a lot of fun here! look at all those vegetables!! fresh from the farm ^^ 

they also had a number of cute animals there ^^ look at the adorable pony behind me!! there were goats, chicken and a pig as well heh ;)

we had our lunch at their in-house cafe, and i just love how everything was fresh from their farm! the quiche lorraine (£7.25) had apparently shrank in size since the last time yi visited, but it was deliciously tasty nonetheless! i just love the crust of such pastries ^^ 

they also have a daily specials menu, where there are more interesting dishes! (: we ordered the salad of smoked scottish salmon with balloon tree asparagus and parma ham (£7.95). so delicious!! i just loved how healthy everything seemed there (: 

surprising how such a small city can have so much to see! ^^ 

Glasgow

every time i get down to writing a post on exchange, it just seems so crazy long ago. ahhh. i miss those days. especially my last month of travelling. perhaps because it was nearing the end, perhaps because i was meeting people i haven't seen in months, i enjoyed that last month especially so :') and looking at these photos again just brings back so many memories from those times ^^

i was very happy to be hosted by dearest linwei while i was in glasgow! (: i totally didn't have to plan anything at all (perks of visiting people woohoo!) and so i can't remember for sure exactly where were the places we visited haha, but i will try my best! :p the area i visited in glasgow was pretty small, but it was a lovely place to be. my first city in the united kingdom! and i fell in love with the country :') the people, the atmosphere, the language. goshhh. especially london!!!! hee ^^

What to see in Glasgow

a rather unconventional place to be considered an attraction, but nonetheless outstanding, was the University of Glasgow campus! haha. apparently this place was the inspiration for JK Rowling's entire Harry Potter series! 

the Glasgow Botanic Gardens is the perfect place for an evening stroll after dinner and that is exactly what we did! it's a pretty huge park and therefore pretty much empty and spacious.

the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum is a magnificent building that is located right behind the university if i remember correctly! i didn't manage to visit because i didn't make it there during their opening hours, but it's free for entry and is apparently among the most visited attractions in the UK outside of london!

in terms of touring, i didn't really spend thaaat much time exploring glasgow. i was shopping for the most part hehe :P visit primark!!!! i actually preferred this outlet to london's oxford street one, even though it was about half the size. it is much less crowded here, and i probably went in and out of the changing room 10 times and the salesperson didn't even blink. no queues at all! ;)

on the other hand, my dear tummy had the most amazing gastronomic tour while i was here though ^^ just three days? and i had the most amazing food (especially seafooooood) since the start of my exchange :D

My foodie recommendations in Glasgow

there is this little street in Glasgow, called Ashton Lane, if i'm not wrong, where there are tonnes of bars/pubs, and is the hip street where all the youngsters hangout! plenty of options for good food & drinks here, so do check it out ^^

i particularly liked this restaurant with the most tongue-in-cheek name ever! - Ubiquitous Chip (: i love how restaurants in UK all have pre and post-theatre menus which offer value-for-money set meals that are more than enough to feed your belly ;) i swear i had a FEAST even with a two-course menu :D and i think the set menus change pretty frequently, which makes for a wide variety whenever you visit.

we started with an amuse bouche by the chef. aww so nice! ^^ i can't really remember what it was, so my description might be a lil' faulty, but i think it was the most adorable, tiniest pancake ever, topped with a piece of salmon and mayonnaise with a sprig of herb. i can't rmb what the black cube was, i think it was something i didn't like haha.

it was HILARIOUS how linwei and i had the EXACT same tastes for all of the dishes! hehe!!! we are so telepathic <3 and so it made for the perfect sharing experience ;) for starters, we had the grilled bream and confit chicken and black olive terrine. the grilled bream was done to perfection with its crisp skin and fluffy soft underside, and it came with a lovely smoked crab and apple consomme which tasted vaguely chinese!

the terrine was really interesting, and pretty tasty and i thought the anchovy aioli was a nice touch.

for the main, i had the pumpkin and almond pastilla, which was a deliciously interesting dish. kind of like a spring roll filled with a yummilicious filling! and i loved how the quinoa added a crunch to the dish, while the orange vinaigrette lent a tangy essence to finish off the whole dish. this dish had a middle-eastern taste to it, which was pretty exotic!

linwei had the pan fried orkeny organic salmon which was seared beautifully. looooved the crisp skin ^^ haha. and it sat atop a bed of lemon and parsley pearl barley which was super interesting! guess this is how westerners eat barley, unlike us who drink it in soup! so cool! it gave a toothsome bite to this dish, and was complemented by a pickled beetroot gel.

an extremely satisfying first meal in glasgow that i'll never forget! also loved the decor of this restaurant, which was chic, yet cosy! (: pre-theatre menu is priced at £15.95 for 2 courses and £19.95 for 3 courses and is from 5pm-6.30pm.

Ubiquitous Chip
12 Ashton Lane, Glasgow, Lanarkshire G12 8SJ
Tel.: +44 0141 334 5007

another place where i had the most amazing food was at Two Fat Ladies. haha the name is hilarious!! and everything in the shop is branded with a logo of two fat ladies lol. i think it was because the unit number of the shop is '88', hence the resemblance to two fat ladies.

i had the FATTEST, JUICIEST, YUMMIEST mussels while i was in scotland!! they were absolutely unbeatable :O i didn't even know mussels existed in this size till i ordered them here!!!!

look at how fat and bouncy they were!! and oh-so-fresh :DDD we had this for our appetizer, and it came with a delicious white wine, bacon and cream sauce which we slurped up every bit of.

for our first main, we had the bacon wrapped chicken supreme stuffed with tomato and cream cheese in  a red wine reduction. it was sooooo good! :)) it was wonderfully delectable, the creamy flavours of the stuffing exploding in our mouths as we dug into the tender chicken. and the sweet-savoury red wine reduction was a delicious dressing for this dish ^^

the pan fried fillet of sea bass was a contrast to our previous main dish. simple, with a light pesto sauce and sweet potato mash on the side. it helped to balance out our other heavier main just nicely :)

we were so stuffed by then already, but we still had dessert!! here's a tip for you all, especially if it's a bunch of girls dining together - go for the two course meal, which is really filling enough, and order either an appetizer/dessert with your main and share! we had the most amazing dessert ever!! the chocolate and hazelnut pot. it came in the tiniest espresso cup ever, and i was a tad disappointed when it first arrived at our table. but gosh. it was like a bottomless pit!!! haha. kept eating and eating and it never seemed to end. and it was so yummy!!! luscious, mousse-y, creamy, rich chocolate, and topped with two tart raspberries on top which helped to cleanse our palate. such a scrumptious way to end the meal! (:

the two course pre-theatre set goes for £14.50 and the three course £16.50.

Two Fat Ladies

88 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow G11 6NX

Tel.: +44 0141 339 1944 

i had the most exotic breakfast ever in glasgow. haha. totally took a plunge here and tried something i would never ever eat otherwise!! - black pudding. see that black round thing on my plate? that's a BLOOD sausage. haha it sounded absolutely ghastly! and i was really quite hesitant about putting it in my mouth. but linwei assured me that it tasted nothing like blood, and since YOLO, i went for it! and guess what! it really wasn't too bad after all! it tasted nothing like a sausage, maybe somewhat like a liver patty or something like that. not something that i would eat again anytime soon, but i was really proud of myself for finishing it (Y). 

anyway, that was part of my Scottish breakfast (£3.19) at Wetherspoon. i love how UK is so health-friendly that they even have the number of calories of each dish written on the menu! makes it real easy for those who are following a strict caloric diet ;) no help for me who totally busted my limit with a 812cal breakfast though :P hahaha. but it was a really good hearty breakfast consisting of the black pudding, fried egg, Ramsay of Carluke Lorne sausage (kind of like a hash brown actually), baked beans, tomato and potato bread (loved this!!). and omg it was so affordable!!!! :O where on earth in singapore can you get a full breakfast for less than SGD$10?! you can't even get an eggs benedict with that. hehe happy! (Y)

we also ordered the eggs benedict (£3.49 - okay haha so it's more expensive than my big breakfast :p) which was done perfectly with tasty hollandaise sauce and a flowy yolk ^^

Weatherspoon

The Camperdown Place, 4/5 West George Street, Glasgow G2 1DR 

CHINESE FOOD!!!!!!! :") i was so damn freaking happy to find caifan in glasgow!!!!! omgggg. you have no idea how much i missed this after 4 months on exchange. i was literally gonna drool once i stepped into the restaurant and breathed in the smell of the food. there is a very good lunch deal for students where you get rice + any 3 dishes and free flow soup for just £5!!! how good is that! ^^ you can choose three meats even, and the price is still the same (haha whoops auntie-syndrome here). and the pile of rice is humongous (good for guys i suppose). omgosh the taste was sooooo good. it really did taste quite authentic! and the whole restaurant is filled with chinese, so you can be quite assured of its quality ;)

Crazy Wok
173 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow G11 6AA
Tel.: +44 0141 334 1888

so this wraps up my glasgow trip! ^^ but that's not all! this was just in glasgow itself and i took day trips to the scottish highlands and edinburgh too (: more posts coming right up!