end of 2nd week in edinburgh

whoa! time sure flies! end of my second wk, and i am beginning to feel right at home in edinburgh. i can hop onto buses by myself, walk to western general hospital by myself, and i can even go home and unlock the 3 irritating doors myself! heck, i guess i can even stroll along princes street (that's like our orchard road) myself!

it has been an exciting two days. yesterday, i wore knee-high boots for the first time in my life and i felt exhilarated! thus the fulfillment of a childhood dream to hobnob around a cold country in stylish boots. heehee *beams* i wonder if i would get a heatstroke if i wear boots in singapore! anyway, have decided to wear them (else i wont be getting enough out of my boots!) have made a pact with ahma to have a puss-in-boots ktv day! YAHOO! huiting wants boots too! but she wants them to have very high heels. ooooooo *wolf-whistle*

we went to rosslyn chapel yesterday armed with a da vinci code book! haha hilarious. so we posed for pictures with the book! it was quite far from the heart of the city and i was feeling carsick! but it was worth the trip after all! it was really a quiant little place, and as my malaysian friend who studies here put it, its the size of a small bungalow. but the carvings were so intricate! at every nook and cranny of the place, you would see vastly different designs and the occasional spooky faces... the chapel has soooooooooooooooo many stories and mysteries surrounding it! as told to us, there were many masons working on the chapel in the 15th century, and there were two pillars which needed carving. the stonemason had already finished one (the Mason's Pillar), and decided to travel abroad to seek inspiration for the other pillar. while he was gone, his apprentice had a dream and was inspired to carve the second pillar. when the master mason returned, he was so full of jealousy and rage about his apprentice's doings that he struck him across the forehead with his mallet, killing the apprentice on the spot. the mason as subsequently executed. in the two corners of the chapel, if you look closely enough, you can see two faces: one of the apprentice (with a huge scar just above his right eyebrow) and one of the mason. the interesting thing is that the mason's face is carved at the corner where he would be forced to look in the direction of the Apprentice Pillar for the rest of his life! cool!

there is also a vault beneath the chapel, which no one has been able to access for the past 250 years. it was rumoured to contain many treasures, among them the holy grail and the bodies of 12 Knights Templar... etc...

among the intricate carvings of the chapel, there include carvings of maize and aloe vera. what is interesting is that these exotic plants hail from America, and America was supposedly founded by Colombus after the chapel has been built. there have been theories that the Knights Templar went to America far before Colombus "founded" the land!

another interesting story was regarding the scottish king, Robert Bruce. He was on great terms with the St Clairs, who were the people who commissioned Rosslyn Chapel. however, due to some reasons which i did not catch, he was excommunicated by the church (have no idea what that means) and he was extremely afraid that he would not be able to enter heaven. hence, he gave instructions that upon his death, his heart was to be transported to the holy land Jerusalem so that he can ascend to heaven. St Clair's two sons were among those chosen to embark on the mission. however, as they were journeying across Spain, they were ambushed and many Knights Templar perished in the fight that ensued. in the end, out of respect for the courage of the Knights Templar, Robert Bruce's heart was allowed to be brought back to Scotland where it was placed at the borders. (sigh, poor guy. his heart didnt make it after all).

oooo. by the way, Knights Templars were "warrior monks" who seek to protect the pilgrims.



thats all i can remember for the moment! no time to type liao, huiting waiting for me to go shopping. ahah

oooo. and i am happy today! although my tutor is still on holiday, i met a really nice doctor who brought me to see a patient with him (this is the second time he kindly adopted me voluntarily!) yay! thanks dr chris! we saw a very interesting patient who had some great signs like Hoffman's reflex. he was a very nice gentleman... hope he gets well soon!!!! i think i am going to try to superglue myself to dr chris next week. haha. hopefully i he wont hate me! hehe. next week is going to be really busy! no more local students, so i have free rein of ALL the clinics! finally can go clinics! mz chiong ah! *warrior look*

ooo i like dr lizzie too! i think she the only dr who can remember and pronounce my name. ahhaha! shes so nice. i want to leave my prawn rolls for her. =)))))))0


and pighead sister: stop insulting my blog! i shant buy anythg for u!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HAH. neni neni poo poo.

hey louis! i dont think we can go york! =((((((((((( no more time! this wkend gg on a one day highland tour, then we gg to tour edinburgh itself on sunday! next wkend we would be gone, off to london! sigh. i feel a sense of regret. heard york is nice!!!!!! shucks.


oh yes, the last exciting thg today: huiting locked herself out of the flat. ahah. i had to go back home to rescue her! poor girl. she was standing in between two doors with no specs on... scary!