Supermarket...first time..... Bad....

In Malaysia we have Giant, Carrefour and Tesco. But over here, we have Tesco Express, Tesco Metro and Tesco Extra . Whats the difference? Tesco Express is the tinniest Tesco shop among the three. However, for us students, it is the nearest to reach. Tesco metro is abit larger. Kinda like Malaysia's version of The Store but only one floor. The biggest one however is called Tesco Extra which is the furthest to get to but the size of the store cannot compete with Giant USJ (Malaysian's are hardcore shoppers .....seriously! Cheers !!)

Ususally shops here closes at 5:00pm (Ouch !!) except on Thursday which is called "Shopping Day" which they close a little later--> 8:00pm. (wow , very "late" .... We Malaysians don't sleep then )

After the welcoming session, our seniors took us to Tesco Extra to buy our groceries and daily needs. It is a looooong walk. But why it isn't so bad is because the scenary is awesome and the weather is cooling ! Don't you just wish everyday was like that ? You can save petrol and just walk anywhere and still enjoy the walk because there's sooo many things to see! ^_^

Oh ya , they even have a service where you can call for a cab using a special phone for free and all u do is call for one and wait at the taxi stand and the taxi will come and pick you up.

Unfortunately, on my first day in Glasgow and on the first day of using this service , I had a very very bad experience. My friend was making the call. Me and my housemates needed one too so we asked her to book an extra one more. We then obidiently went to the taxi stand and found that there were five taxis in total waiting in line. So we went to the the first taxi cab. However, the second taxi driver came up to us and ask us whether we booked for a taxi. And I said yes we booked for 2 taxis.

"Then why are you sitting in that taxi ?" the second taxi driver snapped.

"Well, we ordered for two taxis and I'......."

"Oh F*** you lot ! I'm leaving !" The second taxi driver got in back into his car and drove off.

I stunned for a moment because I didn't know what i did wrong.

Then the third taxi driver called out "I'm looking for XXX ! Are you XXX?"

My friend who made the call for us then ran to that driver and told him yes she is XXX.

"Well, come on and get in !" said the third taxi driver which sounded quite irritated to me.

In the midst of my confusion and a little bit pissed , I went to the first taxi driver and ask him whether he could take me and the rest that is left of us back to the university (Each Taxi only carries a maximum of four people)

The man agreed and so we hope in. My other housemate was quite reluctant to go in at first because he didn't know what was the rate? He told me to ask the driver first. I again got a rude reply.

"Well I don't know how much it will be! Just read the meter here ! Get in now!" snapped the first taxi driver.

We got in and reached the university in about 5 mins. The cost was around 1.20 pounds for the ride. My friend offered to pay the driver first and later on at home only we discuss how to pay who for the taxi fee and groceries and stuff.

Later, I told my senior about how rude the taxi drivers here are. They told me that probably we were sitting in the wrong taxi. because they were the public taxi which you don't have to call them and they will be waiting to get customers at the taxi stand and they were taxis that you call from Tesco's phone. He also told me that the second taxi driver that was very pissed at me thought I was some other guy who called for a cab but didn't show up. It was a big misunderstanding but I thought if that taxi driver could listen to what I have to explain then this bad-mouthing thing wouldn't happen in the first place. Oh whatever la............

That was how my first day of grocery ended. It ended with a big black cloud and thunderstorms above my head on a sunny afternoon.

PS: I will post pics of the taxi stand some other time. As you know at that time I had a heated conversation with the taxi drivers there so didn't manage to take pics at that time. Sorry ah..

Touch Down ! 11 June 2008

Ah !! Finally after about 24hours of flying and the occasionally shaky ride, I touched down Glasgow's airport ! The reason why it took soooo long to reach here is because we had a few transits . KLIA--> Singapore--> London (Heathrow) --> Glasgow! But here's some pics that I took on my way there. ^_^

Here's the Singapore's Airport's Food Court. Its called the 24hr Food Gallery. They have Subway Sandwiches, Kopitiam style, Chicken Rice, Indian food...etc.

They even have movie lounge ! Special ! But its just from Star movies... Old movies... which is not so special...

Here's me and and batchmates riding the Britsh Airplane airplane. They give you blankets, pillows, headphones , cover-your-eyes thingy and even a mini toothbrush! For the whole time there I must admit I didn't brush my teeth because I was lazy and the toilet so small...... ok I'm just lazy. >_<

Here's the London's Airport ! Glad to be here !!

My First Starbucks Encounter !! Love Starbucks but here cost 3.00++ Pounds for a Tall (Tall=regular) Cup....... O_O" !!!

I was Hungry at that time so I went to a store next to it and it is call..... Pret A Manger ! And I bought my most favourite Pastry in the WORLD !

Muffins ! Ok this one is not my muffin because by the time I thought of taking a picture with it, I already gobbled the whole thing. So thanks to Kevin for his one ^_^

The muffin cost about 1 Pound. (Ouch!) But it is worth the money because it is soft and big and niceee.........(slurp!)

Found this Mini Cooper in the Airport too !! So small but sooo WOW !!

They even have a playground for kids. We can't step in because we are not kids anymore *sniff* and if we were kids, we have to take off our shoes and that would stink up the whole airport!

Yup , Here is Glasgow land you see right now ! Featuring the sole violinst in P106 --Carolyn !

And here is part of my school ! See those Overweight luggages there? The challenge now is to drag all four luggages (Two 23kg check-in luggages, one hand-carry and another laptop bag) all the way from university's entrance to our hostel. Its not so far if you walk but it feels like forever when you have to drag all four bags with you to get there.

Here's where we stay ... And that is my senior, Joyce. She helped us with the unloading and stuff. Tough girl !

And here's how my Room looks ! Quite nice and Cozy. Do take note that they don't give you bed sheets , pillow case, and the duvet cover. My mum bought them for me wan. Good to bring Instant Noodles and Hot Chocolate because even in the summer it is cold and you really want something nice and warm, this is thee remedy ^_^.

For those who are not studying here but would like to live nearby, the University of Strathclyde do provide accommodation too from mid-June to mid-September. Its the bed and breakfast style with a full Scottish breakfast too ! Here's the website for more details: http://www.rescat.strath.ac.uk/

A unit accomodates up to four students. We have a shower room, a toilet, and a kitchen. We do have a living room that links us to our neighbours, so we practically can see each other every morning and we can even watch T.V. together. (yes they do provide one too. 5 local channels only...Msia Wins !!)

At 3p.m. ,we had a small orientation where we were introduced to a few places on the slides. We had it in a lecture room which they call SIBS 101. Here's a pic of it.

We were given pictures of places to see and we also watched a video made by our seniors telling us that this place is so nice and that place is so nice.... Later we were treated for some refreshments and were given Instant noodles packets as well FREE ! (Note: They served us sandwiches and chips and not Maggi Mee)

There was a trip to Tesco later in the evening which I'll show you some other time because I took a loooong time to finish this one and I wanna rest liao....

Prologue

Hi ya ! I'm V Co and a pharmacy student from Malaysia. Since my course includes twinning with the University of Starthcylde in Glasgow for a year , I thought it would be fun to write about it. I also hope by blogging about this beautiful and happening city here, readers will want to come and visit or at least be able to enjoy and see what I see with my camera's "eye". For my juniors, I hope that it will be a helpful guide in your future trip here as well. ^_^