Scotland - Edinburgh Wedding

The final leg of my holiday in Scotland was the journey to Edinburgh for the wedding of Michael and Louise.

The day before the wedding, I was able to meet Alan Thomson for lunch in Bar 38 on George Street. Alan is a friend that I met at the University of Aberdeen and who I shared a flat with for 3 memorable years (along with Grambo and Glovesy). He is still reet HC and is carving a highly successful career for himself in the Edinburgh legal world.

I also managed to meet up with some old colleagues from Deutsche Bank. They haven't changed. They are still a good laugh to be with and have not lost their taste for alcohol.

Going to the wedding was an excellent chance for me to meet up with my old school friends. We all had a really good time and I haven't laughed so much in a long time.

The ceremony started at the Catholic church at 2pm on Saturday the 21st of October. Before the wedding, lots of us went down to an area called the Grassmarket for a few beers. The weather was so nice that we could sit outside.

The ceremony was pretty good and not as long as I expected. It was great to see how happy Michael and Louise were on their big day. I took a lot of photos and also a video of the proceedings. Unfortunately, the church was a bit dark inside so some of the photos were not very good. I managed to annoy a good deal of people in the church with my video camera - it was making regular beeping noises. For every beep, I received a dirty look.

After the ceremony, we went to another pub for a few more beers before the reception started. The wedding reception was held at one of the best hotels in Edinburgh - the Caledonian Hotel. There were about 180 guests at the reception. The food was fantastic and I can honestly say that I have never tasted better roast lamb in my whole life. I've thought about the lamb every day since the wedding - it was that good!!

After the meal and speeches, the band started to play and finished about 2am. It was nice to hear some traditional Scottish music again and good to see Farquahar and play the fiddle and Archie play the accordian (both friends from the Isle of Skye).

The ceremony, reception with its excellent food and music, and the company of old friends, all made the perfect end to my holiday in Scotland.

Scotland - Isle of Skye

The holiday is over but Clara and I had an EXCELLENT time back in Scotland. We did many things and saw many people. The trip ranks as one of my most memorable in years. Everything was perfect, even the weather! We arrived late at night in Inverness on the 14th of October. After a day of relaxing, we headed to the Isle of Skye where I grew up. On the way to Skye, we drove past stunning scenery made even more stunning by the lovely weather. We passed Loch Ness (but did not see Nessie), passed Eilean Donan Castle and then across the bridge to Skye. It was a fantastic journey back home and I was really pleased to see Portree (the main town) again.

Eilean Donan Castle looked great and we stopped there to take some photos and make a visit to the gift shop. The weather was really mild in Scotland and enabled us to walk around in t-shirts. Very strange for mid October!!In Portree, I met some old friends and some cousins. The highlight of returning to Portree was seeing my grandmother. She's quite elderly and every time I see her again, I wonder if that will be the last time. In the evening, I did a tour of the Portree pubs which were all really quiet. I did manage to meet a few people and have a bit of a laugh.After we left Skye, Clara and I spent time in Inverness with my parents and I had an opportunity to do some souvenir shopping for the people I know in Japan. I then travelled to Edinburgh to attend the wedding of a friend from the Isle of Skye and left Clara with my parents. The main reason for travelling to Scotland was to go to the wedding and it proved to be a great day.

To Scotland

Clara and I will leave Japan and travel to Scotland for a short holiday. We'll be in Scotland between October 14th and October 23rd and we have a very busy schedule planned. I'm really looking forward to seeing my family and friends again and the highlight of the holiday will be going to a friends wedding in Edinburgh on October 21st.

I'll try and update this blog when I'm in Scotland. We plan to go to the Isle of Skye, Inverness, and Edinburgh. Watch this space for photos and updates on our time back in Scotland. Cheers.

Mr Perfect

Mr Perfect has no faults, and no problems, and absolutely nothing wrong with him.

He is perfect.

He is therefore the most annoying of all the Mr Men by about a million miles!!! Grrrrrrrrr!


As a result of my speeding ticket last week, I decided to embark on a radical experiment - to try and drive in Japan whilst observing the speed limits. Today I drove around the local area at 40km/h and 50km/h in places. I followed the rules of the road perfectly. Please now call me Mr Perfect.

It is very clear to me that the speed limits in Japan are woefully out of date and need to be upwardly adjusted. In my effort to observe the local speed limits, I have had my most dangerous day on the Japanese roads. Because I was religiously sticking to the speed limits, I soon discovered between 20 and 30 cars stuck behind me and getting impatient. One car started to flash its lights at me in an effort to make me speed up and about 20 cars managed to overtake me (including one on a blind bend). All I was doing was sticking to the speed limit. I found a rather interesting site on the web with further views of driving in Japan

I am now faced with a dilemma. Do I speed up and risk being given another fine? Do I stick to the speed limits and endanger myself and other roads users as a result of their frustration at my sedate driving pace?

My experiment will continue for at least another week. I plan to drive to and from work sticking to the limits, although I know this will make me very unpopular with other road users.

I'm in a rather unfortunate Catch 22 situation but there's not much I can do about it. I'll be sure to tell you how my week of perfect, law abiding driving goes. Wish me luck!