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Juliet Sinclair's TripsJuliet Sinclair's Trips
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📍 Шотландия Читать далее Overland Park, United States
  • Путешественник2024 London/Scotland
    День 6

    Day 6: Edinburgh

    23 мая, Шотландия ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    The rain was relentless today and certainly dampen the mood a bit. When I came here many years ago, a beautiful blue sky was the backdrop of this charming city, which helped making it my top 3 most beautiful cities in the world. Today, the visibility was so low that you can hardly see anything even looking out from the top of the castle. However, rain is very much part of Edinburgh’s character. As a lady tour guide told us later in the day:”If you come to Edinburgh, don’t complain about the rain. Because you came willingly despite of it.”

    Our first business of the day was actually laundry. We carried our big bag of laundry and walked all the way to the University of Edinburgh area. What should be the most mundane part of the day turned very interesting, because of the owner of this laundromat.

    As soon as you see him, you knew he was trouble. This overweight older gentleman with a red face is clearly fond of the bottom of the bottles. As soon as he opened his mouth, you can tell how much he likes to offend people.

    A university student from Edinburgh university came in and gave him an interview, asked him some local issues. He is anti-immigration, anti-establishment, almost anti everything!! We sat there listened and rolled our eyes. He later tried to talk to us, I didn’t take an easy on him with my mocking tune. He became exasperated and said they call a woman like me “Stalin’s grandma”! 🙄Since he seems to a know-it-all type of the guy, Evan asked him:”is there anything you are not expert of?” He said:”Stay married.” I said:”Why am I not surprised?!” 😂 Although he does very three very cute dogs in the shop.

    After a quick lunch at a restaurant specializing Baked Potatoes, we had a nice tour of Edinburgh Castle, and was lucky enough to see the change of the guards here as well.

    Unfortunately our dinner at a French restaurant right by our hotel was mediocre, but the best thing of the day had yet to come.

    The Edinburgh Ghost Tour was excellent! There were so many interesting and sometimes grisly stories in this ancient city. Our tour guy was a lady who was very passionate about her job and was great at telling stories. After walking through the streets and alleyways of the cities, listening to the stories of hanging and tortures, we arrived at the underground cellars of the Edinburgh. It was very interesting to wander through the underbelly of a city with a rich history, getting to know about the operations of some more questionable methods.

    Just to make the day even more interesting, we saw a fire truck parked right in front of our hotel, and we were ushered into a nearby building by the security since our hotel was being evacuated. Fortunately, they determined it was false alarm shortly after.

    We will say goodbye to this city and head to Glasgow tomorrow.    Читать далее

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  • Путешественник2024 London/Scotland
    День 5

    Day 5: Edinburgh

    22 мая, Шотландия ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    The train to Edinburgh was delayed due to a pedestrian’s collision with a train in the morning, the train supposed to depart before us was cancelled. In a remarkable British fashion, there was no dispute among the passengers regarding who should get the seats despite the fact two trainload of passengers squeezed into one. Can’t say the same would happen if it occurred in America, can definitely say there would be many arguments if it occurred in China!

    The rain has haunted us from London to Edinburgh, and it will remain throughout our stay here. Sadly.

    We have decided to give Evan a proper hand made Scottish Kilt as his birthday present (possibly his Wedding attire in the future!). As we walking into this Traditional kilt maker shop, we knew we had come to the right place. There were old ladies making kilt right there on the second floor of the shop!

    Evan picked a very nice Sinclair tartan with red hue, it’s called Sinclair Modern pattern. I can picture a very handsome Evan wearing it on his wedding day in the near future. A mother can dream!

    I have to give a shoutout to a fantastic restaurant here called Baba, it’s a midwestern restaurant with some amazing food! Seriously, besides the lamb shoulders and pork neck dishes that melt in your mouth, I really don’t know how anyone can make a simple cabbage dish so tasty! The best food we had so far on the trip!

    There is also a hot chocolate shop here. Can you imagine the entire menu of hot chocolates? Every item listed where is sourced and % of coco within it. What’s even more unbelievable was the fact adding Sichuan pepper powder (they grind it right in front of you) can elevate the taste of hot chocolate to another level! The best and most unique hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted!

    Looking forward to a full day of activity tomorrow!    Читать далее

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  • Путешественник2024 London/Scotland
    День 4

    Day 4: London

    21 мая, Англия ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    When Rome conquered London 2,000 years ago, they built some grand buildings and a wall around the old city of London. After they left London, so did many educated and Latin speaking Londoners, therefore there is little historical documentation on what or where those buildings were. As the high rises started to be built in London, they dug deeper and deeper, and uncovered some amazing archaeological sites from the Rome period.

    Which is why, having a private tour with an archaeologist in London is a cool thing for us to do. Our guide is actually one of the archaeologists who are currently processing a newly discovered site in London, and was very excited to tell us all about the history of London and the architecture aspect of the buildings from different time periods. We walked a large section of the London that the tourists may not set their foot into.

    We learned so much from him! I have to say, standing on the top of Tower Hill, the site where many famous people were beheaded, was a surreal moment of our trip.

    The National Gallery is celebrating 200th year of its history, so they have free admission this whole year. The luck we had for the past 4 days of sunshine has finally run out. With the constant drizzle outside, walking the grand halls of National Gallery seems to be the perfect thing to do as we spent the last full day in London.

    Dinner was at one of the best restaurants in London called St John Restaurant. The bone marrow salad was delicious!

    Heading to Edinburgh tomorrow!    Читать далее

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  • Путешественник2024 London/Scotland
    День 3

    Day 3: London

    20 мая, Англия ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We had another full day of activities today again! First in the morning, Westminster Abby! When I went inside of the Abby many years ago, I was stunned by its beauty, today, my draw dropped once again. We have been to many magnificent religious places in the world: St Paul’s Cathedral in Vatican, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, and my personal favorite, Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Westminster Abbey is in my top three list. It’s the perfect blend of elegance and grandeur, the sunlight shining through the mosaic windows certainly added even more beauty to the space.

    Finding out that Stephen Hawking is buried right next to Newton warmed my heart.

    Due to the approaching of King Charles birthday celebration in June, the regiment of guards were having rehearsals. Our guide told us that it’s rare to see so many guards together like this, along with the full march band. We saw them rehearsing their formations at the horse guards field, and later marching on the Royal Mile towards the palace. So very cool!

    We then took the River Cruise on Thames River, sailed to Tower of London, which is one of my favorite historical sites. There are so much mysteries and so many deaths happened in this amazing fortress, not to mention the 35 Beefeaters walking around the compound, linking the history with the present. Also, the biggest diamond in the world, the crowns wore by all the Kings and Queens (happened as recently as just few months ago), and the royal armors/swords… so many cool objects at one place to showcase the wealth of a empire. It really does get any better than this!

    I was delighted to see a beautiful little girl in her fancy dress, running and dancing on the lawn in front of the King’s house (once held the notorious Guy Fawkes), and then hear booming voice from a Beefeater, telling her to get out the grass. Hilarious!

    Dinner was at a tiny little Italian restaurant where they made refresh pasta in front of your eyes. The food here was delicious!!    Читать далее

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  • Путешественник2024 London/Scotland
    День 2

    Day 2: London

    19 мая, Англия ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Churchill has always been a leader that’s admired by both Steve and I, so we were very excited to be able to visit his war room.

    Walking into the underground bunker was a surreal moment, knowing how much this place had made a difference in defeating the Nazi in WW2. With his ruthlessness in leading the army, his charm leading the people, Churchill was exactly what Britain needed to win the war. We’ve learned so much about the man during this tour.

    When I visited the British Museum many years ago, I remember being angry seeing the artifacts that I could only see as photographs in our text books, but could see in person here. Now, I was back here this afternoon, and my feelings were mixed. As our excellent guide had pointed out to me, how many of these artifacts would’ve been destroyed during Cultural Revolution if they were still in China? Yeah, I was not mad about the museum as before. Seeing all these magnificent artifacts from different cultures and different times in history all in one place, it’s kind of nice actually. Not to excuse all the evil the imperial had done to the world, but the result may not be all bad.

    After an excellent dinner at The Ivy Restaurant, we went to see a play called What Play that goes wrong. Seen some episodes on tv before and loved them, seeing it in person was way better!! The talented cast did a fantastic job to bring so much laughters and excitement to the whole theater! Most importantly, kept me awake from falling asleep from jet lag. Highly recommended!    Читать далее

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  • Путешественник2024 London/Scotland
    День 1

    Day 1: London

    18 мая, Англия ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    After an easy travel day, we arrived London just after noon. The immigration process was surprisingly easy and fast!! Way better than the process we endured on our recent trip to Toronto. The Canadians should really learn something from UK.

    Our hotel is located at the heart of London. Walking distance to many attractions in the city.

    I was fortunate enough to book a tour at the Parliament House, since they only open to the public few times a month.

    Walking towards the Parliament House should’ve been an easy 18 minute walk, but a massive pro-Palestinian protest slowed down our pace.

    There were at least 40,000 people, carrying cease fire and pro-Palestinian signs, shouting slogans, and making speeches on a stage. Many Met Police officers were watching the march with vigilance. It was chaotic but peaceful.

    We also encountered protests for Zimbabwe and Sir Lanka on our way. Not as big as the pro-Palestinian march, but they also made their voices heard.

    The entire heart of London was sea of people everywhere we looked…until we reached the Palace of Westminster, where House of Parliament is.

    The Big Ben clock tower soared into the sky, welcome us with its magnificence. The line for the visitor entrance wasn’t too long at all.

    Walking into the massive hall where past Kings and Queens made their speeches to public was definitely awe inspiring. The signature gothic architecture style is consistent throughout the entire palace. The magnificent mosaic window reaches all the way to the celling.

    The staff working here were very polite and efficient. I accidentally dropped my water bottle and spilled water on the stairs, a staff was by my side almost immediately, smiled at me to ease my embarrassment, and talked on the walkie to ask for cleaning up.

    Considering the house of parliament is a working space for the lords and MPs to make policies, it’s remarkable to us that they open it to the public at all. We got the chance to walk through the glittering halls with golden ceilings, viewing the royal portraits and the statues of important Prime Ministers, like Churchill and Thatcher. Most amazingly, the halls of lords and commons where they actually debate and making laws and regulations. I wonder if they allow the public to walk through the halls in US congress like this.

    By the time we completed our tour, all the protesters had dispersed, but there were still massive crowds everywhere we went. I was just glad we didn’t need to take any public transportation at this point.

    Dinner was at one of the best Indian restaurants in London called Colonial Saab. We were delighted to see there were many dishes on the menu that we don’t usually see in other Indian restaurants. The food was delicious! There was an extra layer of complexity in the flavor that made it stand above the other Indian dishes we had before, including the food we had when we were in India a few years ago.

    By the time we got back to our hotel, we were tired but content. Early bed time for us today!    Читать далее

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  • Путешественник2023 Japan/China
    День 16

    Day 16: Hongkong

    10 июня 2023 г., Гонконг ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Note: this is my last post of our trip, because Facebook is banned in China, and we are heading to Wuhan tomorrow.

    I can’t believe Evan never had Dim Sum before! At least he didn’t have any memory of having it. I feel like a failed Chinese mom. LOL!

    There was an excellent Dim Sum restaurant very close to our hotel. The food was really great, and was reasonably priced, so I ordered almost everything thing from the menu. It was hilarious to see how many dishes were on the table. I had to explain to the waitress that it was Evan’s first dim sum and apologized for ordering too much.

    Today’s main event was Victoria Peak, an hill In Hongkong that offers the best view of the whole city. Taking a tram to the peak is a must for anyone visiting Hongkong. The tram climbs a very steep slope that makes feel like an beginning of a roller coaster.

    The view on the peak was as spectacular as I remembered. Few cities in the world can be an urban jungle but still maintains the natural beauty, Hongkong is an exception. The morning rain had stopped. There were some interesting cloud formations at the horizon, making a perfect backdrop for our photos.

    Every night at 8 PM, there is a light show at Hongkong harbor. All the buildings synchronize their lights with an orchestra music. We got onto the top floor of the tallest building in Hongkong, and throughly enjoyed the music and fantastic light show tonight.

    Heading to Wuhan tomorrow, can’t wait to see my family after 3 years apart.    Читать далее

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  • Путешественник2023 Japan/China
    День 15

    Day 15: Osaka to Hongkong

    9 июня 2023 г., Гонконг ⋅ 🌩️ 28 °C

    For the first time I was disappointed with Japanese organization. At Osaka airport, there was a huge line for the security checkpoint! When it was finally our turn, we saw there was only one check line open, even though they had the capacity for 6! Even just opening one more would’ve been a huge relief for the long line. Disappointing!!

    4 hours later we arrived Hongkong. Evan was at awe with how many high rise apartment buildings there were. It was like an high rise forest extending to the horizon.

    Our hotel is adjacent to a giant indoor mall.m, which has 16 floors with a very interesting architecture design. The open area in the middle created an illusion of outdoor space, but if you look closely at the blue sky, you will realize you are still inside. The escalators seemed endless; we got off one there was another longer one. The final 2 were 4 to 5 floors high, probably over 200 feet long!

    People everywhere, so many of them! If I was home, I probably would be getting ready for bed by now, but here, at 10 pm, there was still so much energy on the streets.

    Having some fantastic Chinese food for dinner made us so happy!    Читать далее

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  • Путешественник2023 Japan/China
    День 14

    Day 14: Osaka

    8 июня 2023 г., Япония ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Today is the last full day we have in Japan, and I only wanted the best food Japan could offer, meaning no more breakfast food from 7/11 anymore; it also means the best curry in Osaka and Kobe Beef in Kobe, Japan!

    Well, our breakfast/lunch curry was indeed the best we’ve ever had! This little curry shop is run by a very nice Japanese guy and extremely good curry chef. His curry has just the right amount of flavor for sweetness, spiciness and cumin. The pork cutlets were also one of the best I’ve ever tasted! We were thoroughly satisfied!

    Next was Osaka Castle. This magnificent building was built by the famous Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Born of a son of poor farmer family, he rose to power with his intelligence and cunning political skills, defeating all the Japanese clans in 16th century, and united Japan for the first time in history. Although since he invaded China and Korea during his later years, I’d only known him as a “bad guy”. It was very interesting to read his story in the castle museum, realizing how important he was in Japanese history.

    His biological son was born when he was already 59 years old. In order to ensure his son’s successful succession, he executed the entire family of his adopted son.

    His son was only 6 years old when he died, too young to truly rule the country. At age 26, an attack occurred on the castle which was led by the son’s rebellious uncle. The fall of the castle prompted the young shogun’s and his mother’s suicides, along with several generals.

    You can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if his father hadn’t killed the entire family of the adopted son… history can be so brutal!

    OK, enough about history, back to food! We thought it would be really cool to have Kobe beef in Kobe. So I reserved the seats at the best Kobe beef restaurant in Kobe. In order to make the reservation, I had to pay right then. So the most expensive meal we ever had was paid months prior us even arriving in Japan.

    As soon as we laid our eyes on the two perfect pieces of Kobe beef, we knew we were about the have the best meal of our lives. I can’t even describe properly the first taste of a piece of Kobe beef. It was so tender that it could melt in your mouth! If the perfection can have a taste, this is it!

    The entire process of cooking the beef was also well designed. Instead of having a large chuck of meat all at once, the chef broke the pieces into different sections, and cooked them separately between making vegetables: first, 4 small pieces of beef; then eggplant pieces; then 4 more small pieces of beef; then mushrooms… and so on. Every thing the chef put on our plates was so good that was mind boggling. The entire process lasted more than one hour! We were in food heaven!!

    Japan, a country full of perfectionism, gave us the final act of perfection with this meal. I can’t think of a better way for us to end our trip to Japan.    Читать далее

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  • Путешественник2023 Japan/China
    День 13

    Day 13: Kyoto to Osaka

    7 июня 2023 г., Япония ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Today is traveling day, the train I had booked unfortunately was delayed significantly due to an accident happened at a crossing somewhere. So I purchased tickets for another train and made into Osaka in less than 20 minutes. Bullet train is very cool!

    Our new Airbnb isn’t too far from Osaka train station. We definitely got spoiled by the previous house, feeling disappointed there was only one bathroom in this house. LOL!

    Evan told us that Osaka was the city of neon lights, and it’s very true. When the sea of neon lights suddenly appeared in front of our eyes once we reached the downtown area at night, we were at awe!

    There were so many neon lights that it took a while for my eye sight to get adjusted to them. Part of the area looked like daytime! There were also so many people here, like sardines squeezing into a confined space. We estimated there were probably minimum of 10,000 people here with us tonight!

    The tallest building in Japan is called Harukas building 300, referring the fact the building’s height is 300 meters. Viewing the entire city from the top of this building was an amazing experience! Osaka is indeed a big city! Smaller than Tokyo, but bigger than most cities in the world.

    Tomorrow will be the last full day we have in Japan.    Читать далее

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