Weekend in Scotland

It has been a month in Newcastle now. Explored the entire Newcastle already (well most of it). Had a weekend getaway with Mom, Jaja, Syidi, & Yoyo to Scotland. We explored Edinburgh, Glen Etive & Glencoe Village.

Stayed at Edinburgh. The first day was a long drive (almost 3 hours) to Glen Etive (setting from the movie Skyfall). It was a breathtaking view along the way. We had breakfast at Glencoe Village another 20 mins drive from Glen Etive. It was worth the drive up Glen Etive and Glencoe. Very cold, but still worth it.

Becoming M & Bond? Lol

Misty at 7am

The following day was about Edinburgh. Edinburgh is divided into old town & new town. There were more things to see & do. We went for a stroll at the old town of Edinburgh. The Edinburgh Castle, St Giles Cathedral, & Palace of Holyroodhouse.

St. Giles Cathedral

Souvenirs

Edinburgh castle

The Abbey ruins

Palace of Holyroodhouse

The huge Edinburgh castle

Not so good panorama attempt

To cover Edinburgh itself will probably take 1day half. Was a bummer we didn't have enough time and missed the Camera Obscura. If there's time, no harm going back again. :) Was a good, FREAKIN' cold weekend indeed.

Safely arrived in Newcastle, England.

Time flies, I remember it was only a few weeks ago that I'm still enjoying food at open houses during Raya. And look at where I am now. In Newcastle, UK for a whole year. 

Alhamdulillah, things have been great so far. It was a shock to arrive & adapt at first, but thankfully I have my mom to support me here for a few weeks. I've settled in, the flat looks great, spacious, & comfortable. More than I could ask for. 

I haven't gotten my broadband set up yet coz of the overwhelming students coming in to Newcastle so please excuse the picture quality. 

I miss everyone back home, called them up few days ago & alhamdulillah all of them are doing well. Had a facetime chat with my lil sisters & brother. They were so adorable commenting on where i stay such as 

"Wow, kenapa kat sana pagi lagi?"

"Wah kemas nya rumah kakak!"

"Wah bersihnya jalan kat sini"

"Kakak tak tgk channel 103 ke? 611 ada tak kat situ?"

"Kakak pasang la tv cepat nanti boleh tgk channel 103"

"Oh, chicha tau tu tempat santa claus naik turun kan! Ada santa claus ke kat sana?"

Haha i know right. 

Had a few days of walk around town, was busy setting up a bank account, broadband, tv, buying things for the flat, other neccesities...

Anyway, if you're planning on studying in Newcastle University, here are the top 5 tips that needs to be done before anything else;

1) Get an appointment with the local bank (UK account) as soon as possible. It's not like Malaysia, you can't open an account there & then. After the appointment is set, you'll have to come back & get the account opened. Takes 2-3 weeks to get the account set up (this is for HSBC) so you are better off going to other local UK banks (Barclays, Lloyds, Natwest). Some banks need your bank statement & tenancy agreement (proof that you are staying there) so just get ready with that as well.

2) Get a local UK number. I am using Lyca mobile (pay as you go) simcard. Similar with prepaid. I get 500 UK minutes, 1p per minute for calls and each text to Malaysian number. With unlimited data. It's called the national deal with only £10 top up that can be used up to 30 days.

3) Register with the university (registration usually opens a week earlier). Make sure you get the bank letter from the university. This is needed during your appointment with the bank.

4) Get your broadband set up. If you need a TV, you can do so as well. I opted for Sky broadband + tv. Approx £40 a month for both.

5) Walk around the city & university to get yourself familiar. Get all the neccesities for your flat, for your studies as well. Use the bus as it is cheaper. Opt for a 7 day unlimited ride which will cost around £12.90 (megarider). That will save you more than paying a one day ride every day. You could also try unirider which you'll need to pay a lump sum amount for a year or by term. These buses are run by Stagecoach. 

Newcastle don't seem bad at all. The people here are quite relaxed, no big fuss so far. The locals are friendly. Let's see how it goes from here.

ATV Kemensah

Yesterday, a group of friends/family and I went to the ATV Adventure Park in Kemensah (near Zoo Negara). The main reason is to bring my cousin Sabre from England for an outdoor experience (coz Sunway Lagoon is just too mainstream. Lol). Anyway, we booked just a day before for Package C (2 hrs of ATV ride and to Sofea Jane waterfall) which cost RM150 per person. Pretty damn well amazing. There is a total of 5 packages- Package E the highest at RM300 per person. More info on this web www.atvadventurepark.com. 

Meet Rosmah. Najib & Anwar no where to be found.

Group photo

All set!

Sabre

The rides begins

At the Sofea Jane waterfall

Selfieeee!

Macro function on TG2

Returning back.

Till the next time. :)

Signing off,
Dots.

OLYMPUS TG-2

Have not been blogging for a verrrrry longggg time. Ok. Here goes.

I bought a new camera recently and mainly cause my photos sucks using iPhone, especially when i upload it into my blog. So since I'll be studying in England soon (yup!) I have a very solid reason to buy a new camera. :D The Olympus TG-2.

OK briefly I'm going to pursue my Master's in MSc Marine Engineering (I know, it sounds difficult. :S) in Newcastle University. I'm afraid what to expect. Err. Anyway, it's a one year course, and MARA is sponsoring my study (Thank You!), allowance, accommodation, flight tickets, books, you name it. 

Back to Olympus TG-2. 

This handsome baby took me awhile to like it. I've seen Olympus' previous underwater cameras before but I was not so keen on buying it. 

How can you not fall head over heels with this baby?
Photo courtesy of dpreview

Q1: Why an underwater camera? 

Well, I was first attracted with the underwater camera when my friend bought a Lumix FT4 (but he lost it when we were in Krabi.. left it in a cab. long story....) and also I saw another friend taking photos using the Olympus (not sure which model) when we were swimming (more like 'berendam') in Janda Baik. Oh, and also few months back I went on a holiday to Koh Phangan, went for snorkeling, saw amazing underwater creatures but no physical memory of it. Apart from that, Newcastle is a VERY cold city, so I'm gonna need a supertough camera that could withstand the weather yet not too bulky/heavy to carry around in my bag :)

Q2: Why Olympus TG-2?

Ok, this was a tough one. I googled for reviews (I was considering Olympus TG-2 & Lumix FT5) cause these two were the most popular in Malaysian market. Through reviews, found out that there were also many other brands like Canon, Nikon, & Sony that had underwater cameras. And then YouTube helped me as well. Just Google 'underwater camera review' or simply 'Olympus TG-2 review'. Took me awhile to decide, and lastly ended up with this handsome baby. The review that got me hooked on to TG-2.  

The TG-2 has a built-in GPS and can go underwater up to 15 metres, -10degC freezeproof, 2.1m shockproof, 100kgf crushproof, & F2.0-4.9 aperture, with some other amazing features.

One of the cool functions it had was the super macro features.

Normal mode capture

Super macro capture

Super macro capture

Super macro capture (Syidi's sampin- captured by Syidi)

I haven't had the opportunity to bring it underwater. Hopefully for my Perhentian trip soon. To be updated!

Signing off,

Dots.

Make Me Over DEMC!

This month's #tsdayout is rather or should I say surprisingly interesting. Why? Because we're going to the hospital! Ok ok some of you might say what's the big deal of going to the hospital, and with the tagline "DEMC Makeover" it's not surprising why there are only three male participants. Well you know how they say 'Don't judge a book by it's cover". For this case, I agree. Don't you dare judge a book by it's cover! ;p

Photo courtesy of Tourism Selangor

It was the usual registration at 8.30am, got ourselves a few brochures and souvenirs from DEMC and changed to our tsdayout uniform. This time is in bright green similar to the DEMC uniform in support of health and wellness! Yay!

Don't they look adorable!

DEMC welcomes tsdayout!

For someone who loves makeovers, I was extremely excited to know what DEMC Makeover is all about. "Am I gonna get a free nose job? Maybe it's a facelift! No wait, botox!" 

keeps running through my mind as Ms Nazlin explains a section in DEMC which is the Dew Wellness Executive Program that involves services like plastic surgery, laser treatments, body analysis, dental aesthetics and many more.

"So for this time around, tsdayout is going to focus on a section in this hospital which is called Dew Wellness Executive Program", says Ms Nazlin

The Dew Wellness Executive Program basically covers a wide area of health screening; aesthetics, physical examination, medical screening, body composition analysis, dental aesthetics, plastic surgery, etc. Dew Wellness concentrates on the well-being of their patients, therefore DEMC is giving a chance to all bloggers & participants of tsdayout to explore their laser skin rejuvenation, body composition analysis and medical screening for free! Yes, you heard it right, FREE!

Before we go into details, we were ushered for some refreshments at the Sutera Lounge in DEMC. It's a lounge (similar to MAS Lounge, not that I've been to MAS Lounge, maybe more or less the same from what I heard, or were they just joking the other day... Ok nevermind. Anyway...) the lounge is very exquisite. From the food, to the arrangements of seats, to the facilities and services, all I can say is it blew me away. 

The Sutera Lounge

Basically the Sutera Lounge serves a purpose for the patients to have something to eat and a place to chill while waiting for their appointment. There's a MAC pc in the lounge, which you are most welcome to use, food (buffet style), drinks, and comfortable sofas for you to make yourself at home. Yes, make yourself at home because DEMC's concept of a boutique hospital is to accompany and give you comfort just like you are at your own house. And you know how in other hospitals you have to wait at a certain area to collect your medicines and  clear your payment, etc... At DEMC you don't have to coz your bills and medicines will be sent to you personally at this particular lounge. RM 50 to enjoy these amazing services at the Sutera Lounge. Very nice DEMC. 

Dr Bunny comes out every Saturday for meet & greet :)

TSDAYOUT BEGINS

Laser Skin Rejuvenation

Since the laser procedure is a bit time consuming, DEMC only selected 6 participants, but the rest still gets a free voucher to come back and complete the procedure. I was pretty lucky that I got selected to get it done immediately so I am here to tell you everything you need to know. 

The laser skin rejuvenation helps on repairing our skin from dead cells, pigmentation, signs of ageing, etc. It's non-invasive so don't worry about your skin thinning after this procedure. Dr Shirley explains that this treatment actually removes unwanted damaged cells of our skin. But the effect is not immediate. The laser helps to extract the damaged cells that has been buried under our skin. Slowly it will remove the dead cells and helps you look brighter, younger and more radiant!

Laser on your skin sounds scary huh? Trust me it's not. AT ALL. Dr Shirley will set the machine according to your skin tone. This is important coz you definitely do not want to go from Beyonce to Nicole Kidman's skin tone! Dr Shirley is very experienced in dealing with this, and she really is particular about not going overboard of making your skin fairer. Only one tone up should do the trick.

When I had my treatment done, it only feels slightly warm when Dr Shirley points the laser tip onto my skin. Imagine having your face washed by lukewarm water with a tingling sound during the process. That's how it feels like (at least for me, hehe) And it's really quick. 20 mins and voila! It's done! Dr Shirley also emphasizes on keeping away from the sun (the UV rays are harmful to our skin) so use sunblock all the time. There is also microdermabrasion where you can remove trapped white heads/ black heads that is very difficult to remove. You can also remove your mole with this procedure. Anyway Dr. Shirley will recommend what is the most suitable procedure for you so don't worry. 

Bella, model for the day.

Body Composition Analysis

Next is the body composition analysis. This procedure basically helps to calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index) and the composition of your body that makes up your total weight. I absolutely love this procedure because I've been working out recently controlling my food intake and was eager to know what the results would be like. Alhamdulillah, the hard work really did pay off. 

The Dietician explains on how important it is to ensure that you control your calorie intake. Which muscle in your body that is weak and which part of your body that is not proportionate. Also it weighs the bones in your body. All these are automatically calculated at the high tech super genius weighing machine. :p 

Food intake is very important so always keep in mind to "breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper". A female will need approx 1800- 2000 calories per day, so when you have exceeded your calorie intake you should exercise to get rid of the excess or else..... It turns into fat. Yup.

Some high tech weighing machine they used. It's 90% accurate!

Medical Screening

The medical screening was the last of the list. It includes measuring your blood pressure, eye sight, glucose, height & body weight. Since all of us filled our stomach with food during refreshments earlier, our glucose were slightly higher. So if you are planning to take a glucose test, make sure you are on fasting mode.

Hospital Tour

After all procedures have been completed, we were given a short tour around the hospital. The hospital is rather small from the looks of outside its building. But I am definitely surprised to see the facilities and services they provide inside the hospital. From Mammograms to MRIs to Physiotherapy and Dialysis, you name it. 

Another interesting section of the hospital is their patients' room concept.

Children's or Junior Executives

Amazing how a hospital visit turned out to be an exciting day out afterall. Not just you get to know about DEMC's services, but you also learn on why it is very important to keep yourself healthy. Thank you DEMC for the great hospitality & experience, and tsdayout for another amazing day out indeed. On top of that, you make new friends as well so what else is there to lose right??!

The day ended with prize giving ceremony (rm250 in cash) for 3 best photos and 6 best blogs are also in the running to win rm250 cash exclusively from Tourism Selangor. The best blog will also win a rm4000 worth of skin laser treatment thanks to DEMC (Thumbs up!)

Thanks again to tsdayout for another great outing! Till the next one!

Follow and like Tourism Selangor on twitter & facebook to join the fun

P/s: sorry for the picture quality. I think I really need to get a proper camera for the next tsdayout :D