Exploring Glasgow - West end

Hello everyone! I've been in Glasgow for almost a month now and I really love this place. I love the location of the school I'm studying at. It kind of reminds me of SMU in Singapore. It's super close to the city area where I can shop, eat and basically do whatever I want within walking distance. Not to mention, there is a metro, a main central train and a bus station nearby too. Even the airport is a 20min drive away. Oh and there was this one incident whereby I left for the airport without my passport and I only realized it when I was about to check-in my baggage. Oh crap :O But I was lucky that the airport is near enough so that I can cab there and back without missing the allocated time to check-in my bag. Phew. Can't imagine throwing away my liquids. so yeap. thumbs up for the location! :)

Anyhow, I'm now living in the school accommodation which is an apartment of 6 individual bedrooms and a common area. It is a pity that hl and I aren't allocated to the same apartment cause we made a mistake in assuming that they will put us together :( Ohwell, at least she's in the opposite block, not too far away.

The hostel that we're currently residing in

Another hostel in our school

Guess who were the first bunch of friends we made? And they are the Malaysians! haha they are super fun to hang with and I would say we are pretty much alike in terms of character and the food we crave. They are currently on a 2 years course in Strathclyde University studying pharmacy and oh how I envy them. I wish I could study in the UK for 2 years too. Anyway, after knowing them for a couple of hours, we started making plans to explore Glasgow together and so we did! 

Up early and ready to explore Glasgow

First stop is George Square which is a civic square named after King George III.

All of us 

Just hl and I mimicking the poster

Just a fun fact: the Glasgow subway is the third oldest underground metro in the world! haha sounds pretty cool I guess. It is also really cute how Glasgow is so small that the subway goes in a loop. There are two adjacent lines, the outer circle and inner circle, which have trains operating clockwise and anticlockwise respectively around the same route. Which means maybe after an hour or so, I would be back at the same place that I've started at.

Taking the subway for the first time

Next up, we headed to the west side of Glasgow where it is said to be a bohemian district of cafes, tea rooms, bars, boutiques, clubs and restaurants. It is a beautiful place with many different alleys of restaurants and it somewhat reminded me of Dempsey back in Singapore. After much deliberation (cause there were so many restaurants to choose from), we decided to dine at a restaurant called The Grosvenor Cafe.

The menu was mouth-watering. It took me awhile to decide what starter and main I would like to have. In the end, I decided to get the steamed mussels with white wine and garlic; confit duck leg with red cabbage, candied walnuts and sautéed potatoes; and for dessert I had salted caramel chocolate tart with pistachio ice cream. It was so so delicious ^^

With our tummies all filled, we headed to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens.

Little children running after the pigeons

Hehe what an adorbz little baby

It was freezing cold outside so we decided to grab a hot cup of coffee at artisan roast before heading out in the chilly weather again. I love how their cafes and restaurants are small and cosy. It makes the environment feels so much more homely.

After our short stopover at the cafe, we had to brace ourselves for the cold once again and head over to Kelvingrove park. 

Kelvingrove museum

The building was stunning. It looks like a gorgeous palace the way it catches the sunlight. However after reaching Kelvingrove, we didn't go inside due to a lack of time as we wanted to visit the riverside museum & the tall ship as well; so we left Kelvingrove museum for another day. 

I'll be back to visit you one day

Us being retards as usual

Banks of river Clyde 

Upon reaching the riverside museum, there were two gigantic chairs waiting for us to sit and take photos in them. haha.

University of Strathclyde, NTU edition class photo

Time for an informal peekture ^^

The new rendition of the Beatles

My traveling buddy :)

The tall ship

Jean valjean in les misérables (Starring Ernest Ng)

me and Beng Hsuen

Elaine, Suet mun and Cheryl

We ended our day trip to west end at a famous gelato shop in Glasgow called Crollas. Who can ever resist a scoop of creamy gelato? I don't really eat much ice cream in Singapore except for the ocassional craving for ben and jerry or Häagen-Dazs but ever since I went to Italy, I have been craving for gelato everyday. Its pretty crazy. I never knew gelato could taste so heavenly. So hl and I shared a cone of nocciola (chocolate hazelnut) and ferrero gelato.  #satisifed

Alrighty, I'm gonna end this post with a picture of my 3 friends on the train back home. Gotta say that living in the UK is probably one of the best things that I've ever experienced so far and I can't wait to explore the rest of Glasgow and create more splendid memories and adventures of these places. Till then everyone.

Love,

Sam