June 6, 1996, so I’ve been told, was the date of my father’s passing.
Continue reading “June 6th…” →
This week, Terri from Second Wind Leisure Perspectives asks the question for #SundayStills: Are you a fan of your own backyard, or would you rather explore the great outdoors on a grander scale?
Continue reading “#SundayStills: Missing the Great #Outdoor” →
Happy Sunday! Donna from Wind Kisses is the lovely hostess for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge and we are talking about all kinds of bugs this week.
Continue reading “Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #252: What’s Bugging You?” →
My goodness! Is the year half-way gone already?
Continue reading “WQ#22: Hello June 2023!” →
First, I’d like to apologize if I seemed a bit absent the last few days.
Continue reading “Tuesday Thoughts” →
I have never been a fan of boat rides.
Continue reading “Trip Down River Thames #Water #SundayStills” →
Happy Sunday! Anne from the blog Slow Shutter Speed is the host for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge and we’re focusing on buildings and architectures this week.
Continue reading “Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #251: Buildings and Other Structures” →
Overall, even with all the frustration and anxiety, I suppose this has been a good trip.
Continue reading “UK Trip 2023 Reflection” →
Guess what? We are right back to where we started – The British Museum.
Continue reading “UK Trip Day 11” →
It’s another down day as we spent another day at mom’s friends’ house. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired, spending the day on the couch, cycling between editing pictures, blogging, and napping.
Continue reading “UK Trip Day 10” →
At last, a day to slow down and take it easy.
Continue reading “UK Trip Day 9” →
I only have one word to describe about this day – LONG!
Continue reading “UK Trip Day 8” →
The thing about Glasgow is the weather. We were there for three days and for three days, all we saw was clouds. It was like the first few days when I visited China in 2017. I kept expecting blue skies and sunshine but got none. So I decided to turn the photos into monochrome.
According to YouTube, there’s not much to see in Glasgow. It doesn’t seem to be a popular tourist destination. I tried to plan the trip for Glasgow the same way as Edinburgh and London but couldn’t. Most YouTuber talked about food, whiskey, and shopping when it comes to Glasgow but surprisingly, the city is chock full of history. There’s a story behind every building and street.
We decided to join a tour on our final day in Glasgow, one of those hop-on-hop-off sightseeing buses. We were tired of walking. According to my Fitbit, I walked about 50 miles last week. That’s a lot of miles.
We went around the city 4 times. We went around all 21 stops the first time listening to the audio commentary. Then mom got cold, so we made a pitstop back to the hotel to grab a coat before hopping back onto the bus. On the second go-around, we got off at the 12th stop for the Riverside Museum, which is a museum dedicated to the everyday life and transportation.
I was thoroughly intrigued and surprised at the advancement of transportation in the UK. For a moment there, it seemed like the US was a little behind at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
After the Riverside Museum and seeing the “Tall Ship” Glenlee, we hopped back onto the bus and headed for the People’s Palace. This is the fountain outside of the People’s Palace. It’s said to be the largest terra cotta fountain in the world, according to the tour guide.
The People’s Palace is another fascinated place for history geeks like me. It detailed the everyday life of people of Glasgow in the late 19th and early 20th century. I particularly loved the photography exhibit. It was a project of 80+ photographs detailing a day of life in Glasgow in 1955.
These two places were definitely the highlights of Glasgow.
We hopped back onto the bus one last time before called it a day. This time, we encountered a live guide. It was super helpful to have someone point out each and every buildings and landmark instead of having to guess according to the recorded commentary as sometimes, we get stuck in traffic or if the driver was driving too fast.
Like I said, Glasgow is an absolute fascinating place for history geeks.
Happy Sunday! Amy from The World is a Book… is the hostess for this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge and what a great theme she’s chosen for this week – Cloudscape or Skyscape.
Continue reading “Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #250: Skyscape or Cloudscape” →
I watched the sunrise from a train this morning as I headed to Scotland.
Before I left for the UK, I remember checking the weather daily only to feel disappointed because it would forecast rain but 4 days in London, there was mostly blue skies and sun with afternoon clouds and a few minutes of drizzle, that’s it. I was surprised by the weather and now I got to see a sunrise?
I arrived, at last, in Glasgow after a 5-and-a-half-hour train ride, well, 4-and-a-quarter with about a 30-minute layover in Edinburgh.
If there was a day to feel extremely overwhelmed, it was today.
Firstly, my alarm went off at 4 AM. Everything was going fine until mom and I got on the train. When I bought the tickets online the week before the trip, I had seats reserved for the train but mom decided she didn’t want to sit in our assigned seats. She put her coffee on the table but decided to sit in the row behind. So I decided to do her a favor and carried her coffee.
Who would’ve thought the moment I grabbed the coffee by the lid, the cup would fall beneath, spilling coffee everywhere. Mom was furious. “Why did you touch my coffee?” She growled.
“It’s an accident,” I told her. I was trying to be nice but she just made me feel bad as I stood there, paralyzed as she cleaned up the mess with napkins. I was afraid to move, paralyzed by anxiety and fear, afraid if I intervened, more would go wrong.
Was I wrong to stand there like a deer in the headlights?
Probably but didn’t I have the right to be afraid?
Fortunately, the train remained quiet until we reached Newcastle when 4 people came aboard and insisted in sitting in our seats, which meant we had to move. I took a row while mom took another.
To be honest, one of my fears on this trip was not being able to understand the Scottish accent but it wasn’t difficult at all. I knew exactly what the man said when he told me to pay at the “till” and exactly what it meant when the meat is labeled at “minced” (maybe it’s also an English thing, not a Scottish thing).
I actually think the Scottish accent is one of the most beautiful accent I’ve every heard. Of course, despite constantly bragging about learning to speak English by watching the BBC, mom hasn’t been able to understand a thing since we arrived in the UK.
At first, I thought it was the slangs that’s getting her but I’m starting to think she’s just like her family – lazy and just wanted to rely on me.
It’s easy to catch people unaware in a city of 9 million people (according to the internet), especially during rush hour.
Continue reading “CFFC: Catching People Unaware” →
This is Another Story