EU trip - Day 12 - Doei Amsterdam and Hi Edinburgh

Note: This was the final leg before I returned to London to catch a flight home (to KL).  And you could find pictures in my Edinburgh album in Picasaweb.

My flight to EDI was scheduled at 10, making it an early wake-up day for me. Fortunately, my hotel was just 5 minutes away from the Amsterdam Centraal and Schipol Airport was another twenty by intercity train.

Question. What's with immigration officers at the exit points? I didn't have much of a problem when entering EU (this time around) but at exit points.

When I was leaving for London at Rome Fiumicino, I could tell the guy behind the counter was clearly upset when my details didn't show up on his screen when he scanned my passport. Twice. Then he tried to look for the in-bound stamp but couldn't locate it. He didn't have to say anything. His gestures and expression said it all. I offered to show him and I could find it easily since I had looked for it earlier. And he was kind of reluctantly stamping my passport. Look buddy, it's not my fault if the other immigration officer didn't bother to scan my passport into the system and just stamped it thus making it a 3-second process.

At Schipol, the guy was saying something to me but I couldn't understand a word. And the fact that he said it softly didn't help me one bit. It appeared more like a statement rather than an inquiry. I responded by saying I didn't understand him but he continued on talking gibberish (at least that's how I heard it) and in less than audible voice. Anyway, he stamped my passport and that was what mattered.

Anyhow... It only took an hour to get to Edinburgh airport. I was greeted by the "Welcome to Edinburgh. Home of over 2000 whiskeys sold in over 100 countries" sign in the baggage area :D

Faizi was so kind to come and pick me up at the airport. And to my surprise, so did Ijan and their newborn baby, Aneesa.

Before going back to their house, they took me to Forth bridge and Lauriston Castle.

The lovely couple with their newborn, Aneesa

Smile, Aneesa

The Forth road and Forth Bridge.  I was told across the river is Gordon Brown's constituency

Lauriston Castle

Ijan was saying at certain times people could walk all the way to the island

Can't believe I'm in Edinburgh visiting Faizi, Ijan & family

Ijan taking Aneesa for a stroll at the grounds of Lauriston Castle

On the way to Rosslyn Chapel we had to make a pitstop at IKEA because Aneesa needed diaper change. Thanks to IKEA's membership card, we also grabbed a free coffee and hot chocolate :)

Rosslyn Chapel is the church that made its appearance in Da Vinci's Code starring Tom Hanks in 2005. Does this mean my Holy Grail trail is complete? :)

That was the nearest we got to Rosslyn Chapel *lol*

Rosslyn Chapel, undergoing conservation project

After a sumptuous lunch prepared by Ijan (lupa lak ayam masak apa), they brought me to Holyrood Park. It's really a nice park, with a great view of Arthur's seat and Edinburgh. It's the place to run, bike, hike and what not. If I had stayed even a day longer, I'd definitely come back and hike up to Arthur's Seat. Provided that the weather is on our side.  You know what kind of weather they have in Scotland :)

Holyrood Park - Dunsapie Loch

What a gorgeous view! Edinburgh city in the far distance, and Arthur's Seat on the right

Arthur's Seat

Classmates! hehehe

An "awwwwww" moment :)

Edinburgh - zooming in

Here's a short clip of Holyrood Park that I captured:

Then we drove (well, Faizi drove) through the city, passing by the Parliament building along the way.

I'm definitely seeing more than what I've seen way back when my brother and I were here on a day trip from Glasgow in '95.

We did one last stop at the Royal observatory before going back topick up the kids from school. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out with the family. And I was totally fine with that.

Royal Observatory

Truth be told, this is the city that I didn't do much research on. It was neither the fact that I had less expectation of the city nor because I put all the sightseeing decision on Faizi's shoulders.

Sure I have been here before, but it didn't mean I've seen it all. I remembered the city for its beautiful settings - from its castle on top of the volcanic rock on one side and the new city on one side. From what I've seen today and what's to come tomorrow, I'm more than happy.

Look what I dug up. Hahaha.  1995 is a long, looonnngggg time ago

Furthermore, Faizi, Ijan and yours truly went to the same school together. In fact, Ijan and I were classmates. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the school we didn't get to hang out that much. Faizi was in the other Science class. So, I also took this opportunity to pay them a visit. The last I saw them was at their wedding, and that was eons ago. Now, they have 3 beautiful girls together :)

To end today's post, I'd like inform you dear readers that Ijan prepared another outstanding meal. Mussels masak lemak and fried eggplants for dinner. There was even cencalok. Thanks Ijan!