In Search of Penguins, Falkland Islands

Magellanic Penguins

 It was crew change day and I decided to do something special while waiting for my flight.  Crew change, by the way, means that I am going home after a normal rotation of 4 weeks in the oil rig.  This time, the rig was located in the southern most part of the world, almost touching Antartica, it’s in the Falkland Islands, just about the tip of South America, near Chile.  The place is nothing quite like the places I’ve been to, the land is almost barren, there were no trees and the season is opposite to what I was used to.  I have lived and travelled all my life above the equator.  Furthermore, this is the first place where I first experienced SNOW, I was so thrilled when I felt the ice on my palms, it was a momentous event.  One of the best parts of my stay here was seeing the penguins in their natural habitat!

Gypsy Cove

 Before reaching the penguins, we passed by the Whalebone Cove.  There you can see actual whale bones which was quite interesting.  Whaling and sealing contributed to the early economic growth of the Falkland Islands. 

Whale bone

Upon walking farther, my companions and I encountered some nice rock formations and landscapes.

Beautiful landscape and rock formations

 The Falkland Islands is under the British government, however, the Argentinians also claimed them maybe because of the proximity.  History dictates that a war came into action between the two countries (1982) regarding ownership of the islands and one of the consequences were the land mines on the shore.  The Brits won the war eventually.

Land mines!  Be careful.

 After a long walk, we reached the Gypsy cove.  This is the place where you can appreciate the cute and awesome Magellanic penguins.  They are named after the Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, who also discovered the Philippines.  Living all my life in the tropics, I had no idea how the penguins thrive.  My companions and I reached the area around 2 pm and at that time, as the locals reminded us, most of the penguins are out into the sea to fish.  Luckily, we were able to see some of them.  Apparently, the penguins borrow under the soil to breed, lay eggs and protect their youngsters.  The burrows are approximately 50 meters away from the shore.  They are considered good parents because they nurture their chicks to adulthood and the mother and father take shifts in watching the little ones.  They are also considered good wives and husbands because they only mate with the same partner and they can recognize their partner with the "mating call".

A cuddly and flightless bird.

We saw penguins inside the burrows and just like a child, we were so excited to take some pictures.  One penguin finally came out and I stealthily followed it towards the shore.  It walked like a baby who is trying to steady his gait.  It stood erect and ran to the beach with its wings flapping at its sides, definitely like the ones you see in the movies.   I ran towards the penguin when it swam to the sea and disappeared.   I didn’t realized that I was already in the beach and I was already in the restricted part of the bay.  The sand was pure white, white as sugar and fine as sugar, it was magnificent!  God really made wondrous things.

An adult Magellanic penguin stands 2 feet tall.

The island also boasts of another wildlife, the seals!  They look so lazy, maybe in real life they really are.  

The lazy-looking seals.

Time really flies when you are having fun.  My companions already told me that it is time to go back.  We walked one hour and 30 minutes to our mini hotel but it seemed like two hours to me.   I had fun, the penguins were great.  In my life, I thought, I would only see them in the movies but there I was, face to face with the waddling flightless birds.

The start of a long walk to our mini-hotel.  The British, the Canadian and the French.

 I wrote this blog aboard Cathay Pacific Airlines, which was a 13-14 hours flight from London to Hong Kong.  The airline offered excellent white wine.  If there is a term for “drunk dialing” then this is considered to be “drunk blogging”.  I hope you have enjoyed my words which was half inspired by alcohol!  

The penguin and me.

Photo credits:  Some of the photos were taken by our Chief Engineer, Pal Eikrem, with his Nikon camera and the rest were taken by the author using a mobile camera, Lenovo S920.  You should be able to see the difference.  LOL!

Cebu and Beyond

Best Western Sand Bar Resort, Mactan, Cebu, Philippines

This is my version of a travel blog.  It was my dream to travel to other places ever since I was a child.  I became ecstatic when my career shift lead me to my dream.  I started traveling late 2013 and my eyes were opened to a whole new world (just like the song but without the magic carpet).  

This blog was initially made only to showcase my home city (Cebu) and the other places that I have explored.  However, as I evolve as a writer, I realized that a blog can reach out to all kinds of people around the world.  It made me think that this can be a medium to help others.  It would be a perfect Miss Universe answer and a cliche but I do want to make things better, I do want to make this world a better place.  I have learned many things during my travels and I hope to impart them to my readers.  I am a medical doctor so I also give out medical advice from time to time.

Food, beach, travels, events and interesting sites are all featured here.  Since this is my personal blog, I also write some of my personal thoughts on just about anything.  Do enjoy reading!

Love on top at Uncle Butch's farm in Busay, Cebu.

London at Night

London Eye

"London is magical at night" enthusiastically spoken by my friend when we strolled the city at 6pm.   I do agree!  The temperature was perfect, it was around 10-13 deg Celsius (autumn), and the lights lit up the city.  The hotel I was staying was in Gatwick, so I had to take the train to reach central London.  The trip was approximately one hour from Gatwick to Victoria Station.  When I reached there, I prayed that Shyalla and Aylona will be there waiting for me, if not, I'd be lost in this big city.  Shyalla, my classmate in med school, is a doctor in the Philippines and I'm very lucky that she was also in London visiting her sister, Aylona.  I had two free tour guides and later on, free dinner too, lucky!

We took the tube (AKA train) to Westminster Station to reach Big Ben.  This is one of the most prominent landmark in London.  You have to see Big Ben if you are in London.  It is the great clock tower at the north end of the palace of Westminster in London.  Its official name is Elizabeth Tower.  This tower was completed on 1858 and it is the second largest chiming clock in the world.

Big Ben

Then we crossed the famous bridge, where the last scene of the latest James Bond movie, Spectre, was shot.  Our next destination was the Coca-Cola London Eye, which is another must-see spot.  It is just a few steps away from Big Ben.  It is the world’s largest cantilevered observation wheel.  Because of its huge size, you can see it when you are in the airplane.  What a great sight, the lights are marvelous at night.

A small garden behind the London Eye

For our dinner, we went to Southbank station and ate at Wagamama, a Japanese restaurant but also serves other Asian menu.  Nice place and great food.  What was strange to me was that they encourage the customers to pay online or pay using credit/debit card, not cash. 

Wagamama Restaurant

After our hearty meal, we went to Waterloo Station to take the northern line train to London Bridge.  There were still so many tourists walking around, almost all nationalities in the world can be found in London.  The parks are clean, a good place to rest especially if you have been walking around like what we were doing or you can also read a book like that gentleman in the picture. 

The tourists and the reader

Before arriving at the Tower Bridge, we passed a great spot near The Shard.  It is the tallest skyscraper in London.  It stands tall and royal, like a space ship counting down to take off.  Click, click, click … then off to the next tourist attraction.

The Shard

The Tower Bridge (official name of London bridge) is a drawbridge, the central portion opens up to allow passage of a ship.  I was lucky enough to witness the event.  The bridge crosses the River Thames.  When we were at the bridge itself, I gazed upon the city, it really looked magical with all its light.  I am saying this because I felt the magic inside.  Being in London is a dream coming true.  Dreams really do come true.  I discovered the technique how to do that 3 years ago, ask me how by leaving a comment (wink)!  I am still mastering that technique.

London Bridge / Tower Bridge

After the Tower Bridge, it was time for me to go back to Victoria Station because it was already late in the evening.  I said my farewell to the wonderful sisters and thanked them for their time.  At the station, I was a bit confused which train to take because there were four or five of them and if I take the wrong train, I would end up somewhere far from my destination.  I tried to look for signs but there were none.  Fortunately, an Asian man came near and I asked him.  He said I am in the right train.  When we were seated he asked me about my nationality, I said I am Filipino, he is too!  What a coincidence.  We had a good talk to pass the time, I felt less homesick.

Thank you for your time, Shyalla and Aylona.

I finally found my way to the hotel after the train ride.  One mission completed.  Next mission is the “penguins”, not in Madagascar but in the Falkland Islands, my next journey.  See you in my next article. 

Life Gives You Want You Want

My uncle told me that.  I never really believed him.  That would be like having a magic lamp and a genie.  Life can never give you want you want, it just happens, and you just accept what happens.  I was not entirely having the happiest time of my life when he told me that.  I was having my own down time.

When things don't really go the way you want, you get angry, lonely, depressed and, some of us, get crazy.  I felt all of that, I became all of that.  However, one fine afternoon I suddenly had an epiphany.  Epiphany means "a moment in which you suddenly see or understand something in a new way".  I remember my uncle used to say that there are already so many successful people in the world.  All we need to do is to follow their ways and we will be successful too.  It simply means, we don't need to experiment on trying to do stuff and see if it works, all we need to do is to emulate them.  Just like in mathematics, the same factors give the same product.

So, how do we make life give us what we want?  One of my favorite authors, Rhonda Byrne, said that we should fill our dominant thoughts with the things that we want and not the things that we don't want.  She is already a successful person in her field, so I will follow her.  I must admit, I had a hard time convincing myself to think, all day long, about the things I want.  Naturally, as a normal human being, we tend to think of the things we don't want.  I managed to shift my line of thoughts and somehow I learned.  Which is one of the reasons why I wrote this article.

My wife and I never really had the perfect proposal "will you marry me" drama, we had like "let's get married because the baby is here".  Applying my new acquired knowledge, I promised myself to always think about buying her a nice ring and doing the momentous proposal.  Take note, this was 3 years ago.  The proposal still didn't happen as of press time but I'm going to tell you is how I bought the ring.

My work lets me travel every month across the globe for which I am forever thankful to God.  I get to go to different airports and take numerous airplanes.  Duty free magazines are always in front of me during my flights but I never really mind them.  But two weeks ago, I was "suddenly" interested to open the pages and scan.  It's like someone whispered at the back of my ear and said "open the magazine".  Oh, sounds creepy.  My wife's birthday was coming up so I was trying to find her something as a present.  And there it was, a nice watch with a set of earrings.  I was happy I found them because they are not that expensive, but the best part is that they also come with a ring!  A lovely ring.  If you connect the dots, I now found my proposal ring plus many more.  It was offered to me by an unknown force.

That unknown force occurred to me again when I reached London.  I reached the Heathrow airport at 12 noon but I reached the hotel around 3pm, the immigration was full packed with people.  I wanted to go to central London that afternoon to watch a musical.  However, I never really felt like going, it's like not really in the mood, so to say.  I tried to buy a ticket to a musical online but I found out that the tickets are way too expensive if you buy it near the schedule date.  So, I decided not to go.  I just stayed in the hotel that afternoon, ate at McDonalds in the evening and went back to my room and slept.  Last November, I was so energetic to see London but this time was different, I lacked the energy.

The next day, I woke up early so that I can go to central London and take some pictures, my hotel was in Gatwick by the way.  And when I arrived at the train station I learned that the ticket was 25 or 30 pounds because it was peak hours, I was so disappointed because if it wasn't peak hours, the ticket would be like 12 or 16 pounds only.  Huh!  So, I walked back to my room feeling sad.  London usually has grey clouds in the sky and rains most of the time, and this is winter time, so the sun sets around 4-5pm, it made me feel sad with all the gray sky and the cold air surrounding me.  When I reached my room, I slept again and then prepared my things for my next flight.

I later learned that my flight was delayed for 4 hours so I had the chance to stroll around the duty free area at the airport.  I was looking at the perfumes and this lady came up to me and asked me if I would like to see some of their promotions.  Of course I would!  Then she showed me a whole shelf full of buy one get one perfumes!  Is this for real?!  Lacoste, Calvin Klein and Jean Paul Gaultier to name a few.  To make this short, I bought one, and got one!  Before I started to travel, I told my wife that I would buy a perfume for myself because the one I had is already empty.  It was all in my mind during the start of my travel and now I have it plus one!

London bridge / Tower bridge

Now, I understood why I was not allowed to go to central London at that time, why I felt not in the mood to go and why the tickets were so expensive and why the flight was delayed.  It brought me to my perfumes.  Life really gives us what we want but there is a catch, you have to think of what you want and making it your dominant thought.  And that unknown force, the one that guided me all throughout my travel, it is called God.  May the force be with you!

London was also in my wish list, and now I travel here almost every month.

I Chose Happiness

It was back in 2012 when I was lying in the males’ quarters, around 3 o’clock in the afternoon, in one of the busiest hospital in Cebu when I said to myself “I choose happiness”.  That moment became the most significant turning point in my life.

I was in deep deep depression, it’s what others would say – rock bottom.  Yes, I was hitting the rock bottom.  All the signs and symptoms of depression manifested in me.  I know this because I am a doctor.  It’s like when I look at myself in the mirror, I can spot the symptoms which I read from my Psychiatry book.  I had suicidal thoughts because death seemed to be a great escape from all the burden and misery surrounding me.  Negative thoughts occupy my mind most of the time and I always hear myself saying that I am not good enough. My face failed to hide my sorrow, even to the point that one of my mentor, a neurosurgeon, told me that I looked like a ‘zombie’.  Sometimes, I would stare blankly during a meal and my wife would snap me out of my daydream and she would ask if I was all right and I would lie saying "yes, I'm fine".  She knows that I’m stressed with work but she didn’t know how depressed I was.

It was not always like this.  I was a cheerful person.  I get sad sometimes because of the normal hiccups in life but never this miserable.  After the medical board exams, I immediately went into General Surgery training.  The start of the residency training was going quite well. The training program, by the way, was a 5-year course.  I was getting along with my colleagues and I loved reading my books and eventually I got high scores.  In the middle of my residency training, I got interested in Plastic Surgery.  I then learned that another government hospital in my place was going to open a Plastic Surgery Department, the first training offered outside Manila.  I got really excited. The prerequisite to proceed to plastic surgery is only 4 years general surgery training, so I figured I will not finish general surgery and proceed to plastics.  Many of the general surgery consultants did not approve my decision, they opted me to finish the 5-year GS training before transferring to a subspecialty.  But I did not listen, I was so fixed to become a plastic surgeon.

I transferred to the other hospital when I got accepted in the plastic surgery training.  I was the only resident in the program because, like i said, it was new.  The first few months were good, I was really high, I said to myself that it was what I was meant to do.  Problems started to come up after a while, my surgeries started to have many complications. I was being scolded almost everyday by my consultants.  My mentors were perfectionists, any minor detail that I would miss, I would be reprimanded.  I know, it's part of the game, its part of the training but I was not handling it well.  I was making good in the general surgery training and suddenly I'm a no good surgeon in this new training.  It all went upside down, I lost my touch.  I don't know if I got lazy in reading my books or I just lost hope in reading because I did not seem to know the answer to the simplest question my consultants threw at me during our mini conferences.  I was getting desperate and it went down into a vicious cycle.  More complications followed with more ranting from my mentor, even in front of other people.  It came to a point that I wanted to cry but I was not able to, I became numb to the pain and humiliation.  Each day I slowly slid down to the pessimistic path, and we all know this aggravated the situation.  I tried to stay afloat for 2 and a half years, but I wasn't successful, I was drowning in depression.  It was so hard to get out of bed in the morning, and all I saw in the world was despair.  I blamed myself for transferring to this subspecialty, I blamed myself for not completing general surgery, I blamed myself for not being good enough.  I was angry at myself and I was angry with my mentors.  I was anticipating that they would kick me out, and when that happens how would I feed my family?  My two kids are already going to start with pre-school, where would I get the money if I lose my job?  I do not want to go back to general surgery because I don't want to operate anymore, I was stressed out, all enthusiasm was sucked out of me.    I envy my colleagues who are very happy with their work.  I didn't appreciate my family's support.  I lost my appetite, I lost my sex drive, I became a zombie, I lost all hope.

In the middle of this crisis, I would sometimes go to my Uncle's clinic which was only a couple of blocks away, to have lunch with him.  When he saw me, he immediately knew what I was going through.  He advised me to listen to some of his audio books about positive thinking and self motivation.  He told me that there is a 'secret' about living our lives and that happiness is a choice and it comes from within.  I heard, but I did not listen, his advice just flew out of my other ear maybe because I was so depressed to listen to anything.  After lunch, I would go back to the hospital and lie down on the bed thinking about negative things even thinking about suicide.  However, one afternoon, I suddenly had an epiphany!  I told myself "I cannot continue to punish myself like this"  and in that instant I remembered the words - Happiness is a choice.  So I shouted the words in my mind, "I CHOOSE HAPPINESS!".   The next day, I went back to my uncle's clinic with my flash drive and copied all his audio books and videos.  Upon seeing my enthusiasm about all of these, he said, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear".  The first video that he advised me to see was "The Secret"  and that movie literally changed my life.

I was kicked out from plastic surgery training in the middle of 2012, I cried, I'm not ashamed to admit that, but it didn't really affected me that much anymore.  I knew that there will be more work opportunities that will come up. I am Catholic, so I replaced the word Universe with God because for me, they are synonymous.  I did not have a clue what I would do after plastic surgery but I just kept my faith that God will not abandon me.  I followed the teachings of "the secret", I started to give thanks with all the things around me.  I started to notice the trees, the sun, the clouds, the flowers, how wonderful the creations of the Lord are.

My cousin suggested that I apply as a doctor offshore, in an oil rig, I thought it was a great idea, the salary was great and the rotation was good.  I get to work in the rig for 28 days then stay home for 28 days and then vice versa, and the best part is, I am also paid during my time off.  So everyday, I visualized that I am already working in the rig and thanked God for the job as if I already have it. After 1 year and 5 months, I finally got the job. I also had many job opportunities that came my way while waiting for my dream job. I worked in three hospitals and was getting the money I needed for my children's education, pay off my debts and even put some money on financial investments.  I started to eat well again and also started to do some workout again.  I picked up my life slowly.  My life turned around because I shifted my thoughts and feelings to what I really wanted.  Instead of thinking about what I don't want, I focused my attention to what I really want.  So, I visualized my perfect home, my perfect job, my perfect car, my perfect vacation and my perfect relationships everyday.

My story doesn't end there, four months ago, I bought the third book "The Magic" and started to apply its principles in my life. After one month, I was able to buy my dream car and what was so cool about this is that it is exactly the same vehicle from the picture which I pasted in my vision board, I was getting goose bumps.  It was right before my very eyes, it was like magic.

Now, I continue to share my experience to my close friends and would tell them that all we need is to believe, have faith and give thanks. And one more thing, feel good!

Strolling Alone in London

Green park

I travel to Heathrow airport almost every month but I have only gone out to visit central London twice.  The first one was with my classmate in medschool and her sister and the second one was last November 2015 and I was all alone.  I have no problems travelling alone in airports because they have very big signage on where to go next.  It is different in the streets, you can easily get lost.  It was really exciting, in my mind I already pictured myself strolling along the streets of London once again.  Just a mere mention of the word “London” gives me a sense of joy.  One item in my bucket list already checked.  This year is also the first time where I have really ventured outside the airport to see the sites.  In the previous months I was able to see some sites in Aberdeen, Scotland.  I haven’t had much confidence last year to go outside the confines of the airport.  Namibia safari would have been nice.  When I was in Angola, I didn’t have the chance to go outside the hotel also because no one was there to accompany me.

Autumn leaves and the blue bird (did you spot it?)

I arrived in Heathrow airport terminal 4 around 12 noon.  Surprisingly, the cue for the immigration isn’t that long and the immigration officer was very fast in putting the stamp on my passport as soon as she saw my visa.  In retrospect, I realized that my travel to London was only a few days after the bombing in Paris, that’s why there were so many empty seats in the plane.  In the airplane though I had second thoughts in going to central London.  But I when went outside the arrivals area, my mind was fixed.  I immediately went to the information counter and asked the best way to go to Buckingham Palace.  The lady looked at me and said, “Don’t you want to take a rest first?”  I explained to her that I only have one afternoon to see some sites because my next connecting flight leaves tomorrow. 

Buckingham Palace

There are many ways to go to central London from the airport.  You can take the bus which is slower.  You can take a taxi which is way expensive.  The most practical way is to take the train, which they call the “tube”.  This is very convenient for tourists since you can buy a card which take you to all the zones (1-6).  Zones 1-6 have almost all the must-see sites in London.  The day travelcard costs 12 UK pounds (853 pesos) and you can use this card to all the stations for the whole day.  

Queen Victoria Memorial

The travel from the airport to Buckingham Palace was approximately one hour.  However, it doesn’t seem like one hour to me, it felt less than an hour because I was busy looking outside, I was busy observing people.  London is a multiracial city.  I think every nationality is there.  Everytime the train opens its doors the wind gushes in and I can feel the autumn/winter chill around 13 deg Celsius.   My stop was Green Park station.  13 deg C for me was very cold, I was alternately holding my bag with my right and left hand just to get the chance to put one hand inside my coat. You could not mistake me for a tourist because I was bringing my travel bag with me hahaha… I didn’t drop it in the hotel to save me some time.  

Memorial Gates

During this trip I was able to see the Green Park, Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park.  Hyde park is the largest park in London.  

Wellington Arch

Green park was a great site.  It has so many huge trees with brown and yellow leaves in preparation for the winter.  There were so many tourists, so I just followed them to the palace.  There were families taking some pictures and group of friends just hanging around and some doing cardio exercise.  It’s definitely a breath of fresh air amidst all the tall buildings around.

Hyde Park

Buckingham Palace is a magnificent view.  It’s a rectangular castle with great walls.  It looks grand because we all know that it is the home of the British royalty.  I didn’t catch the changing of ‘The Guards’, it’s a colorful spectacle to watch here in Buckingham.  There is also a huge monument in front of the palace which is called the Queen Victoria Memorial.  It commemorates the death of the queen in 1901.  There were so many places to take selfies and everyone around me was doing that. After a few minutes, I proceeded and walked along the edge of Green Park to go to Hyde Park.  I was told by my friend, who works in London, that there is a Winter Wonderland there.  “Oh lovely!” (in full British accent).   At the corner of Green Park, you can find the Memorial Gates.  These gates serve to commemorate the services of men and women who volunteered to fight for the British Army during the two world wars.

I crossed two streets and passed by Wellington Arch to reach Hyde Park.  I saw a food station by the entrance gate and suddenly felt hungry, realizing that I didn’t eat lunch because I hurriedly took the tube to get there.  I bought a hotdog in a bun with onions for 4 pounds (284 pesos), so cheap if we won’t convert it to pesos. 

Winter Wonderland

 Hyde Park is bigger than Green Park.  I immediately looked for the direction towards the Winter Wonderland.  Before reaching the wonderland, I saw a squirrel up on a branch, first time in my life.  At first I thought it was a chipmunk, I might find my brothers (Theodore and Simon) there. Lol.  I also remembered the rabbit I saw by the street in Aberdeen.  It’s wonderful to see cute animals in the middle of the city.  There is also a huge lake, they call Serpentine, in the middle of the park which houses different kinds of fowls (ducks, geese and swans), what a sight!

A real Christmas and my bag.  :)

The Winter Wonderland is like a carnival in my place.  There was an ice skating rink which was very apt for the holidays.  A lot of food stations scattered everywhere.  I felt hungry again.  Before I went back to the train station I bought a double cheeseburger for 5.5 pounds, quite expensive but worth the size, I was not able to finish it.  I surveyed the place, Christmas feeling is really in the air.  There were lots of Christmas trees and lots of rides and attractions.  One day, I will bring my family here.  My kids would love this place.  We might even start practicing ice skating in SM Seaside for a start when I go home. 

Serpentine Lake, Hyde Park

Since it is winter time now, the sun already started to set around 4:30pm, so I decided to head back to Heathrow airport.  I reached terminal 4 around 5:30pm and was able to take the bus at 6pm to Gatwick airport.  I should have taken the train straight to Gatwick but I didn’t know about that, next time then.  I will travel to my next destination tomorrow.  

Hyde Park

It was indeed a very tiring day, from Manila to Abu Dhabi and to Heathrow then straight to Buckingham.  I thank the Lord for the safe travels and also want to thank International SOS for my job!  Dreams come true, they really do, we just have to keep the faith.  More articles and pictures to come.  For now, let me have some cold San Miguel Beer.  

Gatwick, London Airport

Footdee, the Picturesque Little Village

Nice small gardens inside the village.

After my brief scary encounter in the Tolbooth Museum, I then went on to search the road to the beach.  This is another good thing about Aberdeen (Scotland), the shore is just a 15-20 minute walk from the city center.  For those people who want to escape the buzzing chaos of the metropolis, the ocean is just within reach.  With my heavy duffel bag, I walked, just to make the most of my time.  It was quite a long and tiring walk, I was just hoping that my destination would be worth it. 

The beach is just a 20-minute walk from the city center.

I really enjoyed the weather, it wasn’t sunny and the cool autumn temperature was just right at 12 degrees Celsius.  The beach was nice however it was gray because of the reflection of the gray clouds.  No one was swimming, the water was very cold and the waves weren’t welcoming either.  Many people were there just to have a stroll and breathe fresh air.  Some were running others were biking.

Village pavement

According to my map, Footdee is at the far end of the beach near the lighthouse.  At that point in time, I had no idea what Footdee was all about, I just trusted the receptionist in the tourist information center when she said that the 'place is picturesque'.  So I walked along the cemented path, I enjoyed the first 50 steps or so but my bag was getting really heavy and my shoulders were about to give in.   I figured the place was very far and decided not to go there.  Burger King was at the other side of the road so I went in.  I ordered me a burger and a soda, and was surprised to see that I could refill the soda anytime I want.  In the UK, there are so many Coke and Sprite flavors, quite interesting actually, but not necessarily tasty.  I chose Sprite vanilla flavor which I regretted later.  I was surprised to feel really refreshed and energetic after my meal, I didn’t realize that I was dehydrated and hungry at the start of my journey.  So, after a 20-minute rest, I then again walked towards Footdee. 

I found out that I was looking at the wrong map, Footdee was nearer than I thought.   I continued strolling southbound and finally reached the end of the road.  I saw small houses surrounded by taller apartments.   I then knew that Footdee is an old fishing village in Aberdeen during the medieval times.   What is so nice about it is that they have preserved the area and have maintained the little gardens.   It is a rectangular village with small individual houses in the middle and was surrounded by what seemed to be larger apartments at its periphery.  When I say small houses, I mean houses for little people, it made me wonder how short or slim were the previous inhabitants of this place.  The leprechauns were popularly known to have lived in Ireland, perhaps their dwarf cousins may have migrated there. 

Another query that I had in my mind was “are there still people living there”?  I saw two houses with wet laundry hanging on their backyard.  Isn’t that evidence that the place was inhabited? However, no one was around, it’s very mysterious.  But how can they live in a small house?  I saw only three tourists walking around the village, it was very quiet with only the sound of the waves and the chirping of the birds as background music.  I started to have the creepy feeling again, especially after my encounter with the witch wax mannequin in the Tolbooth Museum.  After a few minutes of walking around, I saw a lady coming out from a small house holding some tools and going inside the nearby apartment.  After some reading, I found out that you can own or rent a small house in Footdee and because it is not comfortable to live there, you also have to rent the apartment near the small house. 

Each house has a different theme. 

They have also preserved the church in the center of the village.  The small houses have small gardens which look marvelous, the flowers really put some color into the surroundings.  The small houses themselves have interesting colors in comparison to the dull gray granite color of the surrounding apartments.  I really enjoyed it there.  All the windows are decorated with figurines.  The grasses were cut, people really took care of this place.  Each house has a different theme which you can see in the pictures.  It's a good stroll when you want to pass time.  I wish I was strolling with my family, they would have loved it.  These are the little shortcomings when you travel alone, missing your family more when you see nice spots.  You want to share to them the awesome feeling during your travels but they are miles away.  That's why I write blogs, to share to my family the story behind the pictures.  

I must admit, this place is picturesque.  My long walks were worth it.  The clouds started to shower and that was my cue to head back to Union Street to catch a bus going to the airport.  I will definitely miss Aberdeen, I have been there for the second time and I haven’t even covered half of the interesting sites.  I will make sure I will visit all the castles when I return.  I just found out that it only costs 30-35 Great Britian pounds roughly 2,100-2,400 pesos to rent a car for a day.  I’m sure I will cover a lot of sites when I have wheels, that would be exciting, will just have to get used of the right hand drive.  Hopefully, I will be sent there again for another training. 

The Tolbooth Museum and the Scare

The lady emerged just when I clicked.

I was very lucky to have returned here in Aberdeen, Scotland.  I took another training which lasted for 1.5 days.  It’s quite funny because it took me two days to get here, 4 days round trip.  I was so excited to see another castle.  The nearest castle was 1 hour and 30 min from where I stayed and the training ended at 4pm on the first day.  The castle closes at 5pm, too bad, so I just stayed in the hotel. I was sleepy too because I was still adjusting to the time difference.  I was hoping our class would end early on the second day.  It did end at around 12nn.  I rushed to the bus station and went to the city center and went straight to the tourist information center.  

To my disdain, the receptionist advised against me going to Crathes Castle because it’s quite far and I might miss my plane if I go there, it’s quite risky she said.  My plane was scheduled to leave at 6:25pm.  My heart sank because it was my ultimate goal when I came back here.  Oh well, I decided not to push the issue and asked regarding any site to see with the available time that I have.  She said the Tolbooth Museum and the Footdee.  I was beginning to get excited again, at least I will see and learn Scottish culture before I leave.  I rushed out of the center and didn’t even bother to ask what the museum was about and what in the world was Footdee.  I learned afterwards and had one of the biggest scare in my life!  By the way, the mysterious Footdee will be written in another article.

Second floor

The Tolbooth Musuem was only a 3-minute walk from the information center.  I was greeted by a mild mannered man in his 60’s and was given a small information leaflet.  I was already told by the receptionist in the tourist information center that the admission is free.  The museum was only a portion of a large building and occupied three storeys.  The large building was known as the Tolbooth , one of Aberdeen’s oldest buildings and was the seat of Aberdeen government circa 17 century.  The Tolbooth museum now is actually the Wardhouse, which was a prison to accommodate those warded to await trial and punishment and this structure was well preserved.   I thought I was going to see crown jewels or bagpipes or old kilts, instead I saw old guns, a key and handcuffs, old books which listed all the prisoners and something scary.  

Key and Handcuffs

I had to climb a narrow spiral staircase to reach the 2nd floor, where there were no handrails but only ropes.  I was having a difficult time because I was carrying my duffel bag and it was quite large to fit into the narrow turns of the spiral.  The stairs were dimly lit and seemed endless.  The second floor contained some miniature models of the old Tolbooth and some old drums which were used in the olden times to summon town leaders for a government official gathering.  

Spiral stairs

I got a little bored with what I saw, and decided to go out.  The museum-in-charge caught up with me and told me that there are still rooms in the 3rd floor which I haven’t explored.  Might as well check everything out while I’m here.  So, I climbed another narrow and dark spiral staircase.  With my heavy bag, I again had the difficulty in climbing up.  Upon reaching the top floor, I saw a steel door with a large padlock, I was entering another old prison cell.  Imagine yourself going to a dimly lit room and when you turn to the right you see an ugly old woman, dressed in an old fashioned skirt, sitting on the floor at the far side of the room! Waaaaaaah!  My balls practically went up my throat, I could almost taste them, I thought I was seeing one of Walking Dead's characters.  That’s how scared I was.  I was stunned and I felt like all my hairs were standing up.  I was about to go down when I saw another tourist emerge from the left side of the room.  Thank God I wasn’t alone.  It took my brain cells approximately 2 seconds to process that what I was looking at was a wax mannequin.  She looked so real.  The face, the hair, the hands…creepy.  Later,  I found out that she was a witch who was waiting for her trial.  There were big witch hunts in the Medieval times and the alleged women were also kept there in the prison cell.  These women weren’t given justice, they were burned even without the freedom to defend themselves.  It just shows that people, past and present, are afraid of things they do not understand.  

The witch

I regained back my courage after a while (ahem).  I then examined the wall at the left side of the room with all the names of all the debtors imprisoned there.  Apparently, back in days, you will be imprisoned if you cannot pay your debts.  Hmmm, not really logical.  There was one more room that I didn’t see, so what the heck, might as well explore it.  This time, I know I was alone because there were no more sounds of footsteps ahead of me.  There it is again, a figure of a man with shaggy hair, depressed face and tattered clothes, squatting on the floor with chains!  I didn’t bother to see who or what he was, I just rushed to the spiral staircase, didn’t even care if I trip or fall as long as I can get out of that room.   My balls were displaced again, God knows where.  

This must be a non-peak season for the museum because there were only 6 of us who were inside the 3-storey building and I was the last one to explore the 3rd floor.  Who knows how many inmates have died there and how many souls still clinging at the area, those who were not able to move on.  

 A list of debtors.

I don’t usually get scared, I have been in hospitals with more scary stories than this museum, but there was something different about this place.

Guillotine blade

Upon reaching the ground floor, I paused, tried to relax to decrease my respiratory rate and then turned left to see the mild mannered receptionist.  I thanked him and said “this is a lovely place”.  (wink)