Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Isle of Skye Tour Glen Sligachan and The Cuillin (2/3)

Walking between where our bus left us, and where the Sligachan bridges are, in the midway point, you could venture out further and towards the mountains, and here you will see the statue of Collie and MacKenzie. I love this photo of them above. I don't really know who they were when I visited this place, but now that I've finished watching The Outlander Season 1, I can better appreciate the history of The Highlands. Our guide did told us the stories of the clans of the Highlands and the Battle of Cullonden and the Jacobite Rising, but it was still hard to really imagine it. But after watching the series, and being on those Highland, boy do you really remember them well!

Some of the photos of the incredible landscape here. It was hard to pick which to upload here. Everything was just so breathtaking here. 

 

You can see the statue of the two man in the middle, as well as the path to walk there. It was pretty call to walk out into the open area. It was still early morning, so I was glad the wind wasn't too strong when we were there. 

Here is a different view, with some adjustment of the saturation of the photo. I've been toying with a lot of my photos recently as my mobile camera is pretty shite. I'm using a Pixel 9a phone, that seems to take photos with dark mode on, making everything look so gloomy. I have had to edit almost every single photo I wanted to post because of this, and so have come to learn how to tune exposure and saturation and contrast to enhance the photos I've taken. 

The official info of Collie and MacKenzie. There are so many clans on the Highlands. On top of my head, these are the ones I can recall: Campbell, MacDonalds, MacKenzie, and Collies. After watching Outlander, I know can recall Fraser and Stuart/Steward. Actually on our little tour, there was a family of MacKenzie from the US with us. I'm now also familiar with the story of Bonnie Prince Charles, and Queen Mary. I tell you, travelling is good for expending your knowledge and your world, as do reading and watching historical series :P

Walking all the up to the area of the statue beyond that gate.

The two friends looking out towards the mountain. Here is a nice write up from another blog about these two historical figure. No point for me to write it up in my own words again when the stories are already out there :P

A close up side view.

And a wefie of me and my husband with the statue and the mountains behind us. I guess it's kinda true, it's hard to get a good photo of yourself in Scotland because the wind here is crazy!

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Isle of Skye Tour to Eileen Donan Castle

 

Before reaching the bridge to cross to Isle of Skye, we had to pass by Eileen Donan Castle. I think there might have been a brief toilet break, hence we were able to run down and took some photograph of the iconic castle. When posting this blog entry, I couldn't really decide which photos to post as they all looked so beautiful!

So at first we were quite a distance away when the castle started to appear, with the lovely blue lake view behind it. It was amazing that the weather was so lovely at that moment for these photographs to run out! They always say that UK has gloomy weather and it always rain there, but I felt so lucky that I get to experience blue sky!

Getting nearer to the castle. We were at the carpark town area just opposite. Most people might have ran off to seek the toilet. I was still good. I hate using public toilets anyway.

And zoom in view. I love the yellow flowers in front of us that kinda helped frame the photo of the castle. It kinda looked something out of a fairytale! This could have been a painting if I ever get down to drawing! Three years in to 'retirement' and I have yet to sketch or paint a single photo! (DIY Paint by number kits don't count! I've painted a Van Gogh Sunflower last year! )

All too soon, our toilet break was over and we drove on. Our guide said we will visit the castle proper on our 3rd day of the tour when we're on our way back to Edinburgh.

View from a different angle. You could see the lovely arched bridge leading to the castle. 

Here is a closed up look.

There was a toilet sign on the road, and our guide told us to take a picture here, showing the most expensive toilet in Scotland! Lol. Cause you have to pay an entrance fee to go inside the castle. She thought this photo was hilarious. I couldn't agree more with her! Lol.

View while we made our way to the bridge that would lead us into the Isle of Skye.

And finally, we are here! The bridge was built in the modern times. Before that, people used to take the ferry across to the isle. In fact, many of Scotland's island still has these setup. I will get to experience a long ferry ride in my upcoming trip, a 1.5hours ferry ride to Orkney Islands! I am so looking forward to it!

Selfie of me and Eileen Donan Castle. 

And a wefie of us with the lovely castle behind us. This was the best view we got on that stop :)

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Isle of Skye Tour to Commando Memorial

 

The weather started to turn gloomy again as we made our stop at the Commando Memorial. But somehow, the sky make my photo even more dramatic though. So no complain there!

It was another short drive there, with views that mesmerised me. 

Again, it was hard to predict what weather we will get, cause it was all over the place. A different view at a different direction! It was something new for me. 

From the carpark, we had to walk a little to view the memorial statue. I hope lightnings are not a thing here! Look at the clouds behind us!

But as mentioned, the direction we were walking to was just white clouds and blue sky! And in the distance, the memorial appeared. 

Three soldiers standing side by side together.

Here is the sign for your to read more about them. I wasn't very familiar with the history of Scotland here. Apparently the commandos uses the terrain here for training too, because it was so harsh it provided them what they need to learn how to survive as commandos. 

If you have the time, I even took this photo of a more detailed description found on the memorial statue for you to read :)

Photo of my husband with the lovely view behind him.

Another one in portrait view.

The weather was still chilly, and I was surprised to see lovely yellow daffodils (?) growing around the area. They add a touch of warmth to the area. 

Here is a favourite shot of mine from this place, a mountain, a man, and a field of daffodils :)

Kyushu 2023 - Kumamoto A-Train and Me

I like the A-Train so much, I took a lot of photos with it. Or perhaps I was in a good mood that day. Everything seems to turn out right with the photos. So here are some of them to share.  Looking out to the train track from the train. 

Sliding door looking into the passenger carriage. The door so classy also. Any maybe its the shinny wood look for the train that made the trip memorable ;)

A nicer shot of the snack carriage. Even the staff working there are so smartly dress. Almost like you walked into a jazzy restaurant in a big city. Love it.

Here's me at the back of the train. 

Me again looking in to the sitting area.

Me outside the train. 

The staff went around offering to help take souvenir shots for the passengers. So we took one too. It has the date on it, a nice touch.

The train went through some coaster track, and we saw people on the beach. This is a monochrome photo which I love. Wow. The ride hasn't even reached the destination and I've already done 3 post on the train itself! Lol. 

Solo Trip - Ipoh (July 2022) - Ipoh Shopping and Souvenirs

Above is my Ipoh souvenir basket of goodies! Looking at it makes me happy! I tend to buy more food related or perishables as souvenirs. It is useful, edible, and taking a photograph of it doesn't take up too much space. So let me show you in detail what I got. 

The first photo was just a sample souvenir basket. Above is the actual load I carried back. 

I got 2 boxes of my favourite biscuits from there. I can't stop eating these. I shared some with my family members too. 

I also got these chicken biscuits. I've totally forgotten about their existence until I was browsing some biscuit shops and came across them again. It's one of those lost and found memories of my childhood snack. So I bought a bunch to snack on, and share with my families. To be honest, I thought they were rather expensive. I recalled they were really cheap when I was young. Maybe less than a dollar a pack? I guess all the prices have gone up now....sigh

I knew I wanted to buy some white coffee back, but I didn't know which brand was famous or good. They gave out samples for you to try the coffee at this Lam Fong shop, and the above coffee was thick and not too sweet. It has become my favourite white coffee brand!

I also got these Chang Jiang famous white coffee. They have their own cafe in Ipoh, and even one scenic and overpriced cafe near Tasik Cermin. Unfortunately, it was too sweet for me. I gave most of these away to friends and family.

Lastly, my most precious buy was my danggui salted baked chicken! I love this so much! Salted Baked Chicken are baked using salt, and not actually cooked flavoured with salt. They aren't that salty. I place them on top of my rice pot when I am cooking rice. The oil of the chicken will soak into the rice and I get this super fragrant chicken rice that smells of danggui. They also use kampung chicken, so the chicken meat is kinda tough and gives you quite a bite. 

And so ends my solo journey to Ipoh, the first of many to come! Just to give you a preview, the following will be up coming next!

- Solo Trip - Kuala Lumpur (November 2022)

- Solo Trip - Taiwan (July 2023)

- Solo Trip - Nagoya (August 2023)

Stay tune! I'll be taking a break for Christmas, New Year, and Birthday celebration. Will target to complete the next trip's blog by Chinese New Year, and the rest a bit later :)

Solo Trip - Ipoh (July 2022) - Birch Tower and Train Station

On my walk back to the train station, I decided to cut across town via Birch Tower. The small alley is just opposite to Book Excess, and it will lead you to the above space. On weekends this place sometimes turned into a weekend craft market. I think it's quite a scenic spot, but again, it could do with some maintenance.

Walking up the slow of stairs will bring you to the Birch Tower, which is quite well maintained and is quite a beautiful site. Next to it is a Malay food court where you can get a drink or something to eat. There are no shelter around the tower, so it can get pretty hot in the noon sun! There are lovely piece of art at the top of the tower which is pretty lovely. I though this was one of the most well maintained tourist spot in Ipoh! 

Right across the Birch Tower there is a beautiful mosque. It looks pretty impressive, but I didn't visit it. For some reason, I have not entered a single mosque in Malaysia before. I have however, entered many mosque and muslim places in India!

Going downhill from the tower and heading straight to the train station, I came across the city council building. It was a grand colonial building that matches the train station. But again, it needed a lot of maintenance. There were paints feeling off, molds, and broken windows. In 2023, the place was fenced up. I hope it was due to maintenance work, and they can soon reveal the old building back to it's original glory. 

Perhaps the weather was better when I was headed home. I managed to get a nice shot of the train station with a bit of a blue skies behind it. I love that it has the state flag and country flag in front. I have better photos of this place in 2023 when the weather was just stunning! Guess those sharing would just have to wait its turn to appear in this blog....

I didn't notice it before, but apparently there are benches you can sit and admire the view from. It looks like a nice place to take in the scene. And I like it that it was so green too. 

There is tourist walk you can do on your own call the Heritage Trail. Basically it brings you to all the noteworthy heritage buildings in Ipoh. Above was the sign for the train station with a brief history explanation of it. I tried to follow the trail on my first day, but just gave it up and went impromptu mode. 

Exploring the train station, there is one section that looks super nostalgic call the Majestic Walk. Again, so much potential for this beautiful place, but it has been left to just rot away. The above photo shows it still being quite respectable. In 2023 when I was there again, there were pools of water due to the heavy rain in the previous evening. 

I've read before that there is a train station hotel, but none existed here except for this sign. It would have been great if people would stay in this lovely building. Making it something like the E&O Hotel in Penang, or Raffle's Hotel in Singapore. This place has so much potential that it is kinda sad to see it go to waste like this. 

There is even an old cafe inside the station. It looks pretty run down like everything else here.... It reminded me of a nice cafe I went to in Rome's Train Terminal. Ah.... the potential if only the right people took over...

I was early for my 4pm train. So I sat there people watching for almost 2 hours. I don't have issue waiting for trains, or plane, or any mode of transport when I am travelling. I find it rather relaxing just watching people. And Ipoh train station is a very interesting place to people watch. While there in 2023, I realised that families in Ipoh shows they care a lot and in public. Family members leaving on a train are often send off by whole families with hugs and kisses. Something you rarely see in big city airport. Makes me quite envious really. 

It was a two hour train ride home, plus a ferry, and a bus ride home. I managed to reach home by 730pm! 

I do love going to Ipoh. The food is great, and everything is quite compact. They have beautiful natural places outside of town too. I hope I can visit more of those in future. Now with the komuter train, I can visit it more often, if only the hotels were cheaper!