Tuesday, March 20, 2012

iPhone 4S

Well, I finally surrendered and bought a new iPhone 4S. My iPhone 3G was old, and most annoyingly, the battery would only last a few hours.......I was desperately trying to wait another 6 months or so until the iPhone 5 (or new iPhone) is released, but my patience could not last that long.

So, my list of 'likes' for the new iPhone 4S is:
  1. Battery. It should see me through the whole day without too much worry (also good in a country prone to serious earthquakes).
  2. Speed. Much easier now to use the iPhone applications. Checking Facebook used to take 3 or 4 minutes but now only takes 30 seconds.
  3. Camera. Great quality 8 megapixel photos and also HD video.
  4. iPhone locate application. Now if I lose my iPhone, I will be able to find it by using my PC. I've already lost one iPhone in a taxi, so hopefully if it happens again, I'll be able to find it without too much stress.
  5. It's new. Nice to have a pristine phone without any dents or scratches (although these will appear quite soon I am sure).
Spring is now coming to Tokyo and today is a lovely bright and fresh day. I am looking forward to a few hanami parties (to enjoy the cherry blossom) and there will be a lot of other new things to blog about over the next few months. Thanks for reading.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Rosemarkie, Scotland

A visit to Scotland would not be complete without a walk along Rosemarkie beach with my parents. Rosemarkie is a lovely little beachside village brimming with character. The walk is always refreshing and is it also great to see other people enjoying the great Scottish outdoors. I particularly like seeing people's dogs playing on the beach and running in the surf.

As usual, the beach walk was finished with a pint in The Plough Inn - quite amazing to think that it is over 300 years old. The pint was very tasty but it was a little surprising there was not a larger selection from the Black Isle Brewery, just a couple of miles away down the road.

Although the video function on my SLR is rather rudimentary, I thought it would be nice to include a short clip of the beach on this blog.
The skies brightened on the drive back to Inverness and the views were soothing on the eyes. Since living in Tokyo, I have really come to appreciate the scenery in Scotland.

The final couple of days in Scotland were spent shopping (mainly in the supermarket), relaxing in my parents' house, or having some pints with Neil. As usual, a very nice trip home, made even more enjoyable by the unexpected nature of my visit.

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

29th February - Off to Skye

As my visit to Scotland was relatively short, I planned to spend only 1 day and night on the Isle of Skye, the island where I grew up and where many of my relations still live. The weather on the west of Scotland was pretty unpleasant with constant drizzle and strong winds. I did not mind to be honest, and felt the unforgiving Scottish weather rather refreshing.

On the 29th February, my schedule was pretty light and stress free. I visited my Auntie Marie in Braes, paid a brief visit to the cemetery to see the new headstone at the grave of my grandparents, collected some stuff for my mum, and went for a brisk walk over to Scorrybreac and the Black Rock.

The Scorrybreac walk brings back a flood of good memories, making it pleasant to retrace steps made many years previously. I did not mind the wind and rain at all, in fact it made the walk seem more of an achievement. Portree looked typically foreboding considering the weather conditions, as the below photo shows, but I was extremely satisfied to take a little time for this walk.Towards late afternoon, I drove a short distance to the Skeabost House Hotel to check into my room. Once again, the hotel is another place which brings old memories rushing back.Skeabost Hotel has (or had) the reputation of being one of the higher quality hotels on Skye. From my experience staying the night, I felt it was very average indeed. The menu appeared very limited, the staff did not bother to make you feel particularly welcome nor did they seem particularly interested in their guests, and the crisps were months out of date. A fairly disappointing stay, although I was not overly surprised. The hotel is a lovely old building in a great location next to the sea and a salmon river, but the need for heavy investment is readily apparent.

The following morning, I had a rather pleasant breakfast chatting to a couple of other hotel guests. I then made a visit to see my Great Auntie Annie - the welcome is typically warm and Highland. Always a pleasure!! I really feel like I am back home when I speak to Annie and I am sure she would be pleased to hear that.

And that was that - time to drive back to my parents' home in Inverness, albeit with a brief stop at the West Highland Free Press in Broadford to give them my views one year after the large earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan. Perhaps there will be a small article in the next copy of the newspaper.I stopped off a couple of times on the drive back to Inverness. The mountains around Kintail were dark and moody - I found their permanence extremely compelling. Wonderful to see the fantastic Scottish scenery, irrespective of the weather.

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Real Ales and Pool

One of the great developments in Scotland over the last decade or so has been the growing success of Scottish produced real ales. During my brief stay in the Highlands, I have managed to visit a good number of bars which have sold some absolutely delicious ales. The best bar selling real ales which I have visited over the last week is called The Castle Tavern, near the center of Inverness. The Castle Tavern has about 6 real ales on tap at any one time and these ales change regularly when the cask is emptied. Not only are the ales in the pub quite excellent, but the atmosphere is friendly and convivial. If you are looking for some great Scottish real ales, the Castle Tavern is the place to go. Although the Isle of Skye Brewery does indeed produce some excellent beer e.g. Flora and Blaven ales, I really became fond of some of the produce from the Orkney Brewery, especially Northern Light Ale.Last night Neil and I had a good night out in Inverness. We placed a few small bets on the football results, drank a number of great beers (mostly in The Castle Tavern), and played 10 games of pool in the pool hall in Inverness. I was obviously very happy to wipe the floor with Neil, beating him 7 games to 3. Neil looked slightly shell shocked after 'The Tokyo Typhoon' taught him a few lessons on the green baize.

I am now nearing the end of my stay in Scotland, but will have a few more blog entries (with photos) to make over the next few days.

Slainte bha! / Cheers!