llp came to visit so i played host and brought her around to see Scotland. Since I decided that skiing was too much work (HY organised a ski trip to aviemore), we took a minivan tour up to the highlands instead.

Most of the tour was spent looking out the window at the scenery. it was breathtakingly beautiful. the day was cloudy and foggy, but there were intervals when the clouds cleared to reveal an amazingly blue sky and the sun shone down upon snow-capped peaks and undulating plains of varying shades of brown.

Our first stop was Loch Lomond, the largest loch in scotland. 'loch' means 'lake' in gaelic, which is the language of highlander scots. there are 5 million people in scotland; only 50 thousand speak the language (warning: the accuracy of all facts reproduced here relies on my memory which is rather fallible).

Loch Lomond

We made friends with a guy from China. China guy is from shantung province and has a heart of gold, we called him 赤子之心.

at loch lomond,

china guy: 仙境! 太神奇了！真是仙境啊！！(fairyland! unbelievable! it's really a fairyland!!)

and in the van later on,

china guy: 瀑布！快看！那里有瀑布！ (waterfall! look, quick! there's a waterfall!)

i wanted to laugh but i think awe is a good quality to have. too often life has eroded our sense of child-like wonder so much so we are left jaded and unfeeling even in the presence of such profound beauty.

one of the 'Ben's ('Ben' translates as 'beacon' in english)

Etive Mor

Loch Lochy

The picture says it all. the mirror-like waters of loch lochy gave such a perfect reflection i struggled to distinguish land from water, real from illusion. bbc's pictures were true after all.

Loch Ness (do you see Nessie's hump?)

We took a riverboat cruise on Loch Ness. i wouldn't recommend it as there is really nothing much see or do. i spent a large part of my time listening to the guide who revealed to us in secret that the Loch Ness monster exists. he said he was a marine biologist who has been studying the loch for years. Among the evidence were numerous images from the riverboat's sonar system detector showing a huge mass about the equivalent of 50 tonnes of fish and a picture of part of the monster above water. it could be true, who knows.

some scenery snapped from the moving van

llp says i've changed. become clammed up, unfamiliar. All the more reason for my new year resolution number 2.

i had better go sleep. resolution number 3 will be broken for the umpteenth time if not.