Eating Out in Edinburgh.....

Pakdokter and company only had 5 full days in Edinburgh. Before leaving KL Dollah had asked relatives and friends for recommendation of restaurants in Edinburgh. Edinburgh tourism websites were also checked for eating places.

We managed to make full use of all the nights here to dine at the recommended places.

Pakdokter had reported our nights out at the Dome and the Cafe Royal. On the third night we tried out the '4th Floor' at the Harvey Nichols - a modern fusion restaurant atop this upmarket shopping mall.We could not get a booking for 'the Witchery' - a restaurant which has served stars like Catherine Zeta Jones and Sean Connery. The only time offerred to us was for 11.30 pm!

So we settled for the Cave du Vin - a French restaurant at a boutique hotel lcated near the Edinburgh University. And on the last night we tried out the "Tower" - a great restaurant located at the National Museum of Scotland.

Dollah ( who trained to be a surgeon at the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh) and Sandra, who had lived in Edinburgh for 2 years, some 26 years ago, did not remember the city to be having so many fine restaurants then. They were very happy to rediscover the city during this pilgrimage.

The pictures below were taken at the Cave du Vin.

Pub Golf in Edinburgh....

Pakdokter's daughter, Raena, told pakdokter about 'pub golf' which happened to be a favourite pastime among some of the students in Edinburgh. The group would start drinking at one chosen pub and move on to another after finishing their one round of a drink at each of the pubs. Finishing one's drink at one go would be considered 'a hole-in-one'! Depending on one's capacity to drink, they would go around trying to finish a 9-hole pub golf or an 18-hole pub golf!

Edinburgh at this time of the year happened to be very cold. The average day high was 9 degrees Celcius and the evenings broached near zero. The rain and the the winds which on one day came cose to gale force made it quite bad for the gentlemen from the tropics. Edinburgh pubs gave warm, cozy and comfortable retreats which could not be ignored.

So pakdokter and company made time on one afternoon to do our rounds.....

The Kenilworth along Rose Street

this heritage establishment has been in existence since the 1880's..

the Kenilworth bar

look at the ornate ceilings

and the tiles on the wall..

at another more than 100 years old pub

along Rose Street

at the Edinburgh Jazz Club

on Chambers Street where live jazz performed....

the Tollbooth Tavern on Royal Mile....

a pub steeped in history...

another pub along the Royal Mile.....

tired out after 9-holes....

and a poem for the road......

To die in a pub is my dearest plan

With my mouth to the tap as close as I can

Then the angels would say when the singing began

Oh Lord please show mercy to this boozyman....

-Dryden-

Christmas Lights and the (German) Christmas Markets...

Thursday 26th November 2009

The Christmas Lights on the main Princes Street of Edinburgh was lighted up today to mark the beginning of the Christmas Celebrations. There was a giant ferris-wheel and carousels as well as a skating ring being put up at the Princes Garden.

The German Christmas Market which had opened from 10 am in the morning had many stalls selling traditional Christmas items.

The lighting up of the main streets of Edinburgh was heralded by a display of fireworks over the Edinburgh Castle.

Pakdokter and company braved the cold evening to be at the market and met up with Raena' friend, Andreas and members of his family who had also come to attend Andreas's graduation at the Edinburgh University.

at the X'mas market with a mug of 'muldwein' each...

a warm wine with cinnamon and herbs ( a traditional X'mas drink)

As it was quite cold out in the open and the market was very very crowded, the group decided to adjourn to the nearby Dome Bar and Restaurant for a round of drinks.

the Dome at George Street...

Raena's Graduation at Edinburgh University...

Wednesday 25th November 2009

Raena completed the Masters of Science Degree in Economics (MSc Econs) from the Edinburgh University a year after completing her undergraduate degree in Actuarial Mathematics in 2008 at the Heriot-Watt University also in Edinburgh.

The Graduation Ceremony was held in the beautiful McEwan Hall of the Edinburgh University.

the Dome of the McEwan Hall of the Edinburgh University...

the McEwan Hall at Edinburgh University....

Although it rained with strong winds, typical of Edinburgh weather, the McEwan Hall was very quickly filled up by proud parents and family members of the graduating students. The ceremony was chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of the Edinburgh University, whose simple and sweet speech introduced to the audience the proud history and the achievements of the University. A prominent Scot industrialist, Sir Thomas Blane Hunter,was awarded the Degree of Doctor Honoris Causa, for his venture philanthropy into tackling social issues and problems.

a family photo for the record..

Mummy, Raena, Andreas and Papa....

outside the McEwan Hall after the Convocation Ceremony

typical Edinburgh rain and wind most of the day...

This ceremony was mostly for doctoral and post-graduate degrees. Edinburgh University proudly graduated its first batch of graduates with a Masters of Science Degree in Carbon Management. The university is the only university in the UK which has this programme on offer.

Wet, wet Tuesday.....

Edinburgh was not only colder than Amsterdam but also rainy and windy. Tuesday was gloomy and rainy that pakdokter slept up to almost noon. Ravi had his lunch at the Royal McGregor Pub along the Royal Mile and pakdokter and Dollah joined him in the afternoon.

at the Royal McGregor.......

The group went for an early dinner at Cafe Royal - an old Edinburgh establishment - which has a restaurant as well as a bar. Dinner menu included a choice of sea-food as well as steaks. Several types of Edinburgh and Glaswegian brews were also made available for tasting.

Mia,pakdokter's partner,Sandra,Dollah,pakdokter,Ravi,Siti and Raena...
at the Cafe Royal....

After dinner we walked through light rain to the nearby Edinburgh PlayHouse to watch the musical " We Will Rock You". Pakdokter and partner had seen this show when it made its round at the SISTIC in Singapore a year ago. But it was such a great musical that pakdokter and partner were happy to go 'rockin..' again.....

We Will, We Will Rock You.....!

Cold and Wet Amsterdam to Cold and Sunny Edinburgh......

The two full days in Amsterdam were generally wet and cold. Average day temperatures were 10 degrees celcius at its highest and the night and morning temperatures were as low as 3 degrees celcius. The intermittent spells of rain made matters worse and the strong winds made umbrellas quite unhelpful actually. Luckily for us, there were windows of sunshine during which time we could walk the city and take the canal boat cruise.

when it rained, even the laundry bag came in useful.......

Pakdokter's partner and Siti braving Amsterdam rain....

We left Amsterdam early Monday morning, having booked through the hotel concierge, a 6-seater limousine van, which took us to the Schipol Airport in less than 30 minutes. The electronic self-check-in booth did not make things easy. Pakdokter's first attempt failed to deliver the boarding passes and had to be ushered to the usual check-in counters. While waiting in the queue, the other members of pakdokter's party successfully managed to get their boarding passes through the electronic booths. Even pakdokter's boarding pass came out together with the rest, thus sparing pakdokter from the queue. Many people struggled with this system and it would probably take some time before most travellers become familiar with this new check-in method.

The flight to Edinburgh from Amsterdam took slightly more than an hour. Edinburgh was sunny, for a change, although there was evidence of rain on the street, from the previous night's shower. Despite the sun. Edinburgh was colder than Amsterdam.

Pakdokter and partner took the bus to Raena's apartment at Castle Terrace while the rest of the party hopped into a taxi and went to their hotel at the Royal Mile.

We met up for lunch at a typical Scot Restaurant, the Moxie, which was located near the Edinburgh Castle.

lunch at the Moxie.....

(from left) pakdokter, pakdokter's partner, Siti, Ravee, Dollah and Sandra...

The clear and sunny afternoon was not wasted by pakdokter's colleagues who took the opportunity to tour the Castle and took pictures of Edinburgh. Pakdokter and family went to book tickets for the show " We Will Rock You" which played at the Edinburgh PlayHouse.

The group met up again for dinner at 'the Dome' - a lovely bar and restaurant located on George Street. One of Raena's friends, Mia Karim, joined the group for dinner.

Christmas decorations were already put up at the Dome. It was a really pretty sight!

Christmas tree at the Dome....

Sandra and Siti.....

pakdokter's dear daughter, Raena...

Eating Out in Amsterdam....

For a city by the sea, Amsterdam does not have that many sea-food restaurant. At the Saturday morning market, pakdokter's partner asked one of the fish-mongers for a recommendation of a sea-food restaurant. We were directed to a nearby outlet called the Kingfisher - but it turned out that this restaurant, or cafe actually, only served sandwiches. The waitress was friendly and helpful enough to send us to another nearby cafe called Singel 404, but it also turned out that this heavily patronised outlet also only served sandwiches!

Pakdokter persuaded the group to walk to Jordaan, a district which the tourist book and websites described as having many restaurants of all types. But all the restaurants only opened for dinner. So we settled for a little street-corner cafe serving sandwiches and salads.

the d' Vjiff Vleighen Restaurant along Spuiistraat....

For dinner we found a fine dining restaurant along Spuistraat - called the d'Vijff Vleighen - which consisted of 9 adjoining rooms in original old Dutch decor. Many important personalities have dined at this restaurant and many of the famous names who were their patrons at some point in time had their names engraved on each of the chairs. Pakdokter's chair had the name of one Mr Mooreland?/Mr Morton? who was from the Ford Motor Company.

a starter of smoked fish with beet-root sauce for pakdokter....

a main course of grilled scallops...

pakdokter's partner's pan-fried fish with mussels...

On the second day, after the canal cruise , we had a light lunch in a falafel restaurant. Run by a North African ( Moroccan or Algerian) man, the lamb kebabs were a nice spicy change after meals of European cuisines.

We also managed to spend the afternoon in a local pub where many types of of Dutch and Belgian beers were on offer.The Amsterdam drafts were the 'Amstel' and the 'Bok'. This came in both blonde and brown varieties. There were two Belgian beers of which the 'blonde' variety had 9.5% and and the 'treple' dark variety had 6.5% alc content!......

Dollah explaining to pakdokter's partner how intricate heart surgery can be.....

Duvel......a 'blonde' Belgian lager...

the Westmalle dark has a 6.5% alc content...

notice how each brew came with its own signature mug....

Amsterdam, as pakdokter has already written earlier, is probably the only city, where 'ganja' is legal for recreational and medicinal use. Ganja can be bought over the counter at 'coffee shops' and different varieties and grades of 'ganja' were on sale at different prices. These ' coffee-shops' were packed with patrons very much like in the pubs and bars. However smoking cigarettes was not allowed in most restaurants and bars and smokers had to go out to the street for their puffs. For 'ganja' smokers however, they could patronise the dedicated 'ganja' coffee shops'!

Dollah was never seen so happy until the brief tour of the 'ganja' coffee-shop...

the smoke-filled coffee shop must have affected Dollah's very sensitive brain....

he was smiling and laughing all afternoon.......

The hotel receptionist recommended and booked for us a table at a seafood restaurant for the second night. 'The Lucius' was also located along Spuistraat and served seafood plus a small selection of steaks as well.

see how 'hungry' Dollah was after a 'happy' afternoon....

sea-food dinner at the 'Lucius'....
mussels, oysters, lobsters, fish....ummm....