i've always heard the same things about glasgow prior to my visit: that it represents scotland more than edinburgh does (as said above), that the university of glasgow is gorgeous like hogwarts, that the city itself is ugly, and that there are a lot of orientals (chinese/koreans/japanese) and indians there. hahaha. well i've seen glasgow with my own eyes now.
i arrived on friday and was brought for dinner by dear amrita and her housemates. jap food at Nanakusa! nyumsters. we then headed to Hummingbird for after-dinner drinks. funky place with nice cocktails, some served in fishbowls for people to share.
we went to the outskirts of glasgow on saturday. would've been an excellent day if not for the weather. it rained the whole day! what a shame. oh well, welcome to the united kingdom. we went to a distillery called Auchentoshan (sounds so german). paid £5 for a 1-hour tour of the distillery, learned how whisky is made, and most importantly, whisky-tasting! not that i'm a fan of whisky, but hey i was in scotland.
it was still raining when we reached loch lomond, the largest lake in great britain which lies between central scotland and the scottish highlands. had lunch at this quaint pub and then went for a cruise on the lake. it was nice, although i'm sure i would've appreciated the scenery more if the weather didn't make everything seem depressing.
back in glasgow where we had korean dinner with the dundee people who were there for the day. and for the very first time, i introduce to you my DOCTOR friends, drs ben, michelle, huiling and yuen khai (who went all the way to glasgow just to cut his hair wtf lol).
sunday was a much, MUCH better day. very lovely. the sun was out with white fluffy clouds decorating the clear blue sky. amrita showed me what glasgow had to offer - starting with a relaxing walk from her place to the University. this is the Kelvingrove Art Museum in the background, on the way.
The University of Glasgow, which the glasgow students are so proud of. :p
who wouldn't be? what a gorgeous campus.
view from one of the sites on campus.
after a tour of the University, we went for ice-cream and took the subway to the city centre, only because amrita wanted me to see what a joke it is. it's so small it was like sitting in a toy train. i found it really cute though. hahaha. we had lunch at MUSSEL INN! i was so excited. loved the Mussel Inn in edinburgh.
some pictures of the glasgow city centre. you know what. i like Glasgow. it reminds me of Manchester - ugly but happening. good shopping, amazing food, interesting night life, cosy places to hang out and have cake and coffee. my kind of a city. i don't want to live in a city which is pretty but where everything closes by 5pm. i want to live in a city which is fast-paced (but not as fast as London) and has everything that i need.
as a response to what i've been told about glasgow:
- represents scotland more than edinburgh does - to be honest, i think edinburgh has a more scottish air to it. glasgow is much larger and is more of a modern city, but it doesn't really scream scotland, if not for the glaswegian accents heard at every corner.
- gorgeous uni - YES, definitely
- ugly - quite, but there are individual buildings which are nice.
- filled with orientals - YES, but doesn't beat manchester :p
- lots of indians - not really, in fact the only indians i remember seeing were amrita and her housemates. HAHAHA
thanks amrita for the lovely weekend. finally fulfilled my promise to you. now leave me alone! :p hehe just kidding, i had a fantastic time and i'd really love to go again.
