Happy 4th anniversary, dear dear. Oban in our hearts...

I remember very clearly that dear first proposed to me on 20th January 2004, outside the Marie Curie lab of HELP college, just 3hours before our Physics paper.... (good thing we didn't fail.. or else i would have punched him ! =P)

It was since that moment that dear has been showering and pampering me with unconditional love. So much of pili pala in between... and now... we're celebrating our 4th anniversary in one of the most picturesque places in Scotland: Oban!! Lucky lucky lucky us! When Dad and mom were our age, they only celebrated their anniversary by jogging in Taman Titiwangsa after work, and adjourned to Pudu roadside Fook Keen chao (Hokkien fried noodle) !

Oban is really a nice place. From the postcard that dear mailed to me shortly after his arrival, I thought the place is only "as nice" during summer. But witnessing its scenery with my own eyes had convinced me that Oban is nice ALL YEAR ROUND... even during the gloomy winter!

This is the Oban town.
It looks exactly like the scene in the postcard. There were swans "dating" each other just along the shores. We took picture here because this is where we boarded on the Caledonian McBryanae ferry that brings us from Oban to Craignure of the Isle of Mull. (oh i actually remember!! *proud*)


Scenes from ferry

The ferry leaving Oban harbour. It was a 40mins ride.

However, I really didn't expect myself to feel so sick at the end of the 40mins ride in the near-hotel-interior furnished ferry. I remember seeing a restaurant cafe, bar & lounge, game room, souvenir shop, indoor and outdoor viewing deck in the fully-carpeted ferry! Initially the word "ferry" was more suggestive of pangkor or penang's ferry that were made out of rotting wood planks =P... but it turned out that this ferry looks like a cruise!

We've finally reached Craignure in the Isle of Mull after the dreadful 40mins ferry ride. I was literally "floating" for the first 10mins as I attempted to walk on still ground....No way I'm going to pose with a sweet sweet smile for the ferry. hmph!!

I recovered after that. Craignure is another place to die for..... It's serene, quaint (believe me, the hotels are still using charcoals and wood to operate the stove that heats the building and water!!), and resembles everything that a small town has to offer: great scenery and friendly villagers.

Dear dear brought me to the Torosay castle. Although it's now privately owned by some Lord... but the garden is still opened to public.

I will never forget this place. It gave me the feeling as if I'm in some old victorian British garden!

Looks like the scene in Pans Labyrinth dy.... er.....

This is how Torosay Castle looks like during winter. I can imagine how breathtaking it is during the summer!!

We were extremely near to the ambassadors of Scotland too: the Sheeps and the yak!

Everything went so well until when we made our way back to the Craignure harbour at 1.15pm.... only to realize that the ticket counter auntie has conned us into believing that the 1pm Ferry is bound to be late by 30mins behind schedule: when in fact, it left the Island at 1pm sharp! Great! Now we're stranded as the next and LAST ferry of the day is at 5pm! *numb* We killed time by reading books on Scottish whisky, Scottish favourite meat recipes, Scottish etc etc etc in the Scottish tourist info kiosk. Dear dear became hungry and so we char-siewed on Pringles: ultimate comfort food!

When we arrived back in Oban, it was dinner time!! To strike a balance between celebrating 4th anniversary in Scotland and being 2 frugal Asian students, we'd decided to make our own 3 course dinner! All at the cost of around 12pounds for 2 person! However, if we had decided on eating out in a fancy restaurant.... a 3-course dinner will easily cost each of us 17.80pounds!

Simple setting, but definitely not simple dinner (knowing our appetites...)

Entree : Bruschetta Salvatore (dear's favourite aubergine topped with bruschetta) x4 pieces each!
Main course : (to suit waimeng...)Rump steak with roasted potatoes smothered with brown
shallot sauce. (then, to suit me) garlic and herbs stir-fried prawns. And we happily ate what was meant for 4person's portion!
Dessert : Haagen Daaz Bailey's ice cream!!!! *bliss* *bliss* *bliss*



With self-control in place, the lifespan of the our 500mL tub was delayed up to 12hours: we finished 3 quaters of the tub after our dinner, and the remaining quarter after breakfast of the following morning. *proud of self-control!*

The following day, is the actual day of our anniversary: 20th Jan! But, since i'm going back to Glasgow on the evening bus, we've brought our celebration forward instead. On the actual day, we woke up later since no shops are opened early on Sundays, and walked out to enjoy the scene at the Oban Harbour. Dear dear was disappointed initially due to the cloudy weather. But to me, the world always seems brighter with him by my side.

For lunch, we went to one of the only 2 restaurants in the whole of Oban that overlooks the Atlantic ocean and the harbour, Piazza. Of course, the magnificient view comes with a price too. So.... being frugal Asian students again, we shared a salmon pizza called swah swah swah (forgot the Italian name). And we ordered tap water too: nice nice nice! *cultural experience at minimum cost*

This is the typical scene of the Oban Harbour. Behind us: Caledonian McBryanae ferry docked beside Piazza restaurant, the place where we had our 4th Anniversary lunch of swah swah swah (some salmon pizza in Italian name)

Come to think of it, the pizza could have cost so much cheaper, had they named it in english... right? The same goes to one of another pizza's name "romantica",which was simply tomatoes, ham and mushroom. Just call larhhh ham and mushroom pizza! okok sorry dear, I shouldn't be condemning the restaurant too much. Yeah.. it's nice...

Oban, Argyll, Scotland: where we celebrated our 4th Anniversary (18-20th Jan 2008)

Dear, I had a great time with you. Thanks. I'm sure we will remember every moment shared in this beautiful place. Happy 4th Anniversary. I love you!

p/s: this is by far my longest post! I belief this post has successfully cleared my blog off the "accumulated"-moulds/fungi/bacteria/dust/spider webs.... =)