April Fools, Adventures on the Street and Misadventures at the Train Station

H1 and I have walked past Rockefeller Center countless times and have often been forcefully mini-concerted upon.
There have been countless times that we cursed people out for sidestopping instead of sidewalking, 2 times we've walked the devil's path through throngs of 9 year old to 37 year olds screaming for a not yet legal Chris Brown, and we are currently dreading the sea of umbrellas that will assault our senses on a sunny day in June when Man Hands Rihanna plays (Frass, are you taking note?) - we can only hope she gets rained out much like NKOTB did yesterday.

NBC's Today Show played a trick on NYC on April Fool's Day by actually having a good band perform a mini-concert. We actually stopped for a while. I got a picture with camera eye and LO, which isn't as good:



See that bald head? Michael Stipe, people! R.E.M.! I've not R.E.M.'d in a decade and forgot just how good that is. They sounded amazing as expected. Memories…ahhh.

The first week of April proved rather eventful, in addition to an R.E.M. sighting.

We spotted an April Fool's joke - and it was plastered all over Grand Central Terminal, and surprisingly tied in quite nicely to this week's episode of South Park:



Also found in Grand Central 2 warm mornings later, was someone who apparently just got back from Montreal:



Those Canadians, they're really not my friends, buddy.

This week was also Scotland Week in NYC.

A cart half an hour late on a rainy Friday morning made for an empty stomach of sheep's stomach.



I at least got a picture of the damned cart that was giving out free haggis of which I had none.

But H1, thanks a lot for putting my name out there on a blog for all to see.

You are so not my pal.

Currently listening to: "Sing For The Submarine" by R.E.M.

Or 2's The Famous Edinburgh...Sheep - DAY 3.7

Chapter 3: Haggis, Sheep, Heighlan' Coos and Scratchy Ghosts

Saturday morning saw us up at 5.15 AM to catch a 7 AM train to Scotland.

The train ride was nice. We saw lots of sheep but it was quite difficult trying to snag a picture of them since everytime I put the camera down, there'd they be with their painted asses. The multi-coloured sheep asses were quite funny.



We didn't make it to the Highlands but this photo from the train was as close as we got:



As soon as we got out of the train station at Edinburgh we could hear bagpipes. There was something very disturbing seeing very old buildings on cobblestone streets housing and littered by stores such as the gap.

Char Kar and I went to Edinburgh Castle which we got to by climbing a really steep hill. I guess it wasn't steep enough though because if I could climb it then the Brits truly had no problem invading the damned place. Har Har.

The Castle was pretty cool but Char Kar thought the King's Dining Room was not as impressive as it should have been. I liked the prisoner barracks and was impressed by the view of the city from the cannon view point:



After running around the castle, I had to go try some haggis. Sadly, I didn't get the real deal because I was starving and didn't want to chance buying an entire meal only to waste it if I didn't want it (hey, this trip was expensive as all hell) so I got a Haggis and Drambuie appetiser. It was deep fried and GOOD times. MMMmmmm, nothing like some sheep insides:



I had the lamb for dinner which was really good. It was very unlike most lamb I had as this was incredibly smooth to the point where it was melting off the bone. It was good times also but meat usually is.

After dinner, we walked around the little city but for some reason the whole place ran amuck with damned partying teenagers who were interested only in clubbing and drinking. Ignoring the lot, we walked and visited little shops that had the strangest things. I felt as though I was in Chinatown because we happened upon one of those cheap ones that sold lots of hello kitty stickers and stuff. I was incredibly unimpressed until we passed by the Castle at night.

Char Kar and I parted ways with Battler and went on the Death and Torture Tour at B's suggestion. It was very cheesey and fun walking along the cobbled streets, hearing about some of Edinburgh's dark history. Our Tour Guide, Fiona was pretty cute too. Then we went to three vaults discovered in the old city back around 1996. The vaults are supposedly haunted and being kind of sensitive to paranormal activity, I definitely felt there was something to that place. Here's the picture I took that confused me some:



For the most part, I laughed at how scared everyone else was but I guess the joke was on me. The next morning, I went to the bathroom to discover I had a bit of a scratch/gash on my forehead. Yes. I was scratched by an entity. Alright, so it may be possible that I did it to myself in the night but I can't be certain. In any event, it makes for a good story.

What doesn't make for a good story was the little prison cell we slept in at the Hostel. It wasn't that bad though save the fact there was a co-ed bathroom. Needless to say, Char Kar and I went stinky that night without a shower because there was no way either of us wanted to come out of the shower only to encounter some crazy drunk and drugged up kids.

I didn't actually get to see an Heighland Coos but I bought one the morning after at the gift shop for HOchie 1. She loves him and has named him Apappa.

The ride back was much of the same and involved Battler and I trying to capture photos of the stupid sheep and our miserable failures.

Quotes of the trip:

On Sheep -

"When it rains, do you put them away?" - Char Kar
"Yeah. Put them in a box." - Battler.

"Some of the sheep have colours on them. Are they marked for death?" - Char Kar.

"I could take one home." - Char Kar
"Yeah, box it up. Shear your own." - Battler
"They don't look very soft." - Char Kar
"Yeah. They're wooly. Literally. God didn't front when he made the sheep." - Battler

On Pigs -

"Look! Pigs! It's like {Or 2's} dreams come true!" - Char Kar
"Yeah...awww, piggies. Awwww, bacon." - Me
"Come on. That's just shameful. They're still alive!" - Char Kar.