Posts Tagged Ocean Terminal

愛丁堡之旅最後一天。Trip to Edinburgh, Last day

Jul 18

Posted by BB in Family Robinson | No Comments

真是隔了很久才有心情來坐下寫在愛丁堡之旅的最後一天。這天沒甚麼特別，因要十時 Check out，所以早早起來，辦好退房手續。跟著，問過可以把行李放在招待處，那我們就先坐巴士去Ocean Terminal來個遲了的早餐，早了些的午餐。

It has taken me quite some time before writing this blog of our last day in Edinburgh. It was nothing special. Since we had to check out by 10 am, so we got up early and checked ourselves out. We then asked if we could leave the suitcases behind at the reception and they seemed to be fine with it. We went off to the Ocean Terminal by bus to have a late breakfast or an early lunch.

吃飽後，便搭巴士回去拿行李，打算自己轉巴士去搭機場直線巴士。我們本來安排得算不錯，有不少時間，所以就算走了一班巴士，等一等也沒緊要。

After we ate, we took the bus to go back and pick up our luggages, planning to then take another bus to head for airport transit bus. We planned quite well with sufficient time, so even if we missed a bus, we were not stressed by that, at least not at that moment.

好像等得很無奈的Julian

Julian looking a bit annoyed by having to wait…

我們去到寓所附近的巴士站後，本來想如果只是Daddy自己一個去拿行李，那應該會快些，於是我和Julian就在巴士站等。怎知等了很久都不見Daddy，終於我推著放了東西的BB車，Julian 就毫無怨言急急腳跟在我走。原來，那個招待所關了門，即使是寫明辦公時間為早上八時至晚上八時，而門外貼了張紙條Back in 10 minutes。Daddy等了四十五分鐘，我們猶疑了很久，打不打去那個緊急電話，但那寫條亦註明若非緊急，我們會被罰五十英磅。最後，我怕會走了班機，還是至電去。原來那個印度籍招待員去午飯去，但之前他完全沒有跟我們說會關門午餐去。若不是我說是不是走了班機，由他負責機票錢，他才慢慢地由轉角步行回來！我跟他說道理，他還說我們無權這樣跟他說話！

After we got back to the bus stop nearby the apartment, we thought it would be quicker if Daddy would go alone to pick up the luggages, so Julian and I stayed at the bus stop to wait for him. Just that we didn’t see Daddy the whole time, so I just went pushing the buggy that had a back pack in it, and Julian went without complaining behind me. It turned out that the reception was closed, though it said it would be open from 8 am till 8 pm. There was a note hanging by the door saying “back in 10 minutes” Daddy waited for 45 mins. We doubted whether to ring the emergency line, which did say if it wasn’t for emergency, we would get a fine of 50 quid. We did go ahead and ring that number, seeing otherwise we would miss our flight. The Indian receptionist turned out to be off for a long lunch, and almost didn’t bother to come back until I asked if he would pay for the consequences of us missing our flight. He then slowly walked back from around the corner. I went reasoning with him, but instead he said I wasn’t allowed to talk to him like that.

就是這樣，我們最後要自己招的士去機場，花了廿幾英磅。到了機場，因未可登機，就坐下喝些東西，Julian 又要等了。

Eventually we ended up having to call for a taxi for the airport, spending over 20 quid for that. We had to wait to check in at the airport, so we sat down a drink while Julian had to wait again.

最後在愛丁堡吃的晚餐，算是不錯，出菜很快，味道不錯！Julian與我把那個Fish n Chips吃清。

Our last meal in Edinburg from this trip. It was quite good, and they served the food pretty quick. Julian and I finished the Fish n Chips together.

回到家後，經一番電郵投訴，那寓所高層把的士錢退回給我們，算好吧！

After we got back, we filed a complaint by email, and the apartment’s management did refund us the cost of the taxi ride as a compensation. That wasn’t too bad.

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愛丁堡之旅之第二天。Our trip to Edinburgh Day 2

Jun 23

Posted by BB in Family Robinson | No Comments

今次去愛丁堡一共去了五天，當中有開心的，亦有失望的。第一天晚上，我們去了Ocean Terminal 那兒找地方吃晚飯，沒見到甚麼特別的餐廳，於是走進去那間中餐館。他們的沙嗲叉燒鐵板吃得我老公津津有味，另外叫了的炒面給Julian 亦吃得一清二整。之後，回到寓所後，把Julian 放了上床。我們未到愛丁堡前已做了功課，找了Babysitter負責在Julian睡了後留在寓所內看著，而我和老公就可以出去有些少二人世界時間。這位Babysitter是瑞典人，到英國將嫁人，是一位Qualified Nursury Nurse。她想晚上兼職賺外快儲錢結婚用。

This time we were at Edinburgh for 5 days. There were some happy moments and some disappointing moments. The first night we went to have dinner in Ocean Terminal. We didn’t find anything interesting so we just went into a Chinese restaurant which didn’t turn out that bad. Their sate cha sieuw was actually quite good according to my husband. We ordered some noodles for Julian and he liked it a lot. Then we went back to the apartment to bring Julian to bed. Before we went to Edinburgh, we did some research and found a babysitter to help looking after Julian when he was off to bed and we would then go out for a couple hours to enjoy some “two persons” time. The babysitter is a Swedish girl who is going to marry to a Scottish guy. She wanted to save up for her wedding. She is a qualified nursery nurse.

第二天早上，Julian 在寓所內吃過早餐，之後我們就去了Ocean Terminal 內的 Starbucks來個咖啡和早餐。想Daddy 清醒過來，必要有咖啡喝！荷蘭只有在機場內才有Starbucks，所以我們也來好好享受一下。

The next morning, Julian had some breakfast in the apartment which we bought the day before. Then we headed off to the Ocean Terminal again for Starbucks to have some coffee and breakfast. Daddy must have coffee to wake up in the morning. In Holland, we don’t have Starbucks besides at the airport, so we decided to enjoy while we could.

Daddy 很喜歡這幅相，我都是隨手拍下來。

Daddy said he really likes this photo that I took.

跟著，在商場內見到Build a Bear，在荷蘭是沒有的，於是就帶了Julian 入去。他在英國仍是以荷蘭文跟人家說話，不過若然我們教他以英文說，他都肯嘗試的。於是他就跟著這位哥哥的指示，一起製造他的熊仔。他說這些棉花是從嫲嫲的羊仔身上剪下來的毛毛，小朋友的推理法就這樣直接的！我亦無跟他說是甚麼化學物製成的。

In the mall we saw a Build a Bear, which we don’t have in Holland, so we brought Julian there. Julian kept on speaking in Dutch to people there, though he did try repeating after us if we taught him how to say certain sentences. He followed this shop assistant’s instructions to build his bear. Julian said that the stuffing was from the hair that got cut off from Grandma’s sheep. I guess that’s how direct children’s logic goes, so I didn’t bother telling him all the chemical stuff that went in.

當哥哥叫Julian錫錫個心，然後把它放進熊仔身內，我才醒覺知道Julian 不知道每人都需要心才有生命。

When the shop assistant asked Julian to pick a heart and kiss it before putting it into the bear, I only realized then that Julian didn’t know a person needs a heart to live.

跟著，就是替熊仔穿衣服。Julian選了Star Wars內的 Darth Vader做型，只是鞋就選了足球鞋。熊仔是他的，我們亦由他決定。

Then it was time to dress the bear. Julian picked the Darth Vader’s outfit from Star Wars, just that he picked scooter shoes to go along with it. Well, the bear is his, so we just let him choose.

Julian很喜歡這個熊仔，回到荷蘭後，他仍抱著牠睡，又要帶回學校給老師和同學看。

Julian loves his bear a lot. Even when back home now in Holland, he still holds him to sleep, and has already brought him back to school to show off to his teacher and his schoolmates.

弄完後，我們就坐巴士去市中心 Princes Street，看過Edinburgh Castle。我們特別為了這次旅行買了BB車，因為通常去旅行都要行很多路。連Daddy都說這是一個很好主意，因為在這兒比荷蘭的斜坡多很多，路又很多時凹凹凸凸。但Julian其實算是過重的，幸好BB車還未爛！只是把這部BB車收起來不夠我們以前用的那一部容易，很多時在巴士上因只容許一架打開來的BB車，而有見Julian通常都跟Daddy走了坐上層，所以我都會把它摺起來。

After we were done there, we took the bus to get into the city center, Princes Street. We saw the Edinburgh Castle. We bought a buggy for this trip, since we often have to walk a lot when we are on vacation. Even Daddy was happy with this idea, since there were more slopes in Edinburgh than we have in Holland, and the road often is quite bumpy too there. Actually Julian is kind of overweight for the buggy, luckily the buggy survived this trip. Just that we found this buggy less handy when folding and unfolding it than our old one. In the bus, only one unfolded buggy is allowed, and seeing Julian was often with Daddy sitting on the upper floor of the bus, I normally ended up folding it up.

我們後來去了這個博物館，叫做Camera Obscura，陳列了不少肉眼看到的與真實不同的物件，很特別，而Julian亦覺得很有趣。在這兒頂峰可以看到愛丁堡Skyline。

We came to this museum, called Camera Obscura, where you get to see a lot of things that are not the same as they really are. Quite special, and Julian also found it very interesting. And on the roof of this place, we got to see the skyline of Edinburgh.

這是不是很有立體感呢？

Very 3 D, right?

玩完後，花了好一段時間才找到地方坐下來喝東西。原來，在愛丁堡，有小朋友一起的話，是不可以在露天茶座或Cafe坐下來喝東西的，除非你坐在一間餐廳內用膳，那就才可以在有小朋友一起情況下喝酒。天氣算是暖和，又行了不少路，Daddy當然想喝個啤酒暵一下啦！

After we were done there, we spent quite a long time looking for a place to sit down for a drink. It turned out that in Edinburgh, you can’t sit down on a terras or in a cafe for a drink with a child, unless you go into a restaurant and have a meal there, otherwise no drink. It was quite a warm day and we walked quite a lot, so Daddy certainly would appreciate a beer then.

跟著我們就坐巴士回寓所洗白白，然後再坐巴士回市中心吃晚飯。只是因在繁忙時間，我們塞車塞了四十五分鐘才出到去到市中心。

We went back to the apartment after our drink by bus to freshen up, and returned back to the city by bus again for dinner. Just that it was rush hour, so it took us well over 45 mins to get there.

今次我們跟旅遊書介紹去了這間泰國Fushion 餐廳吃飯，餐廳名叫Leven Restaurant，是位于Leven Street。有一樣事情我覺得大部份在愛丁堡的餐廳做得很好的是他們例必有兒童餐，而不像荷蘭那些不健康的快餐兒童餐，而是比較健康的。另外他們亦提供兒童不少東西消閒，譬如顏色筆和活動習作。

This time we went to a place mentioned on a tourist guide, known as Leven Restaurant, located on the Leven Street. It is a Thai Fushion restaurant. One thing I really appreciate in Edinburgh, and that’s their children’s menu. They are much healthier than those children’s fast food menu provided in Holland. Also, they provide things to children to keep them busy, like crayons and activity sheets.

這間餐廳的食物不錯，服務非常好。本來Julian被大大碟的意粉嚇倒，他們立即不用我們請求拿了些兒童餐碟給他，吸引他吃。而見到Julian 愛吃面包又另加面包給我們。知道小朋友不愛在面包搽橄欖油，立即拿了牛油出來。連那個雪糕都另花心思給小朋友吃！

This restaurant’s food was great, and the service was excellent. Initially Julian got scared by his big plate of pasta, so they immediately got some children plates out to attract Julian’s appetite. Then they knew Julian liked the bread, so they got us more. And they knew kids won’t like olive oil on their bread, so they got Julian butter instead. And even this ice-cream, they really paid attention to it to please the children.

甜品環節我來了個芋頭Creme Brulee，很好味，但很飽吃不下全部！

I had a Creme Brulee with Taro, which was really good, but I couldn’t finish it!

吃飽後，就回去讓Julian上床睡覺。Babysitter K等了我們好一會，我們真的不好意思，但一向依賴自己車輪的我們，要靠巴士令我們有點失去預算。幸好人家不介意，肯等我們。老公和我就回去市中心到訪Hard Rock Cafe。為何不到傳統的英國酒巴？我們嫌那兒地方很嘈吵，哈哈，我們年紀大嘛！在這兒可以靜靜談話和享受一下二人世界，我亦可喝喝 Cocktails。這天相信是其中最開心的一天！

After dinner, we brought Julian back to the apartment. The babysitter had been waiting for us for a while already, so we felt rather bad about it. Just that we normally had our own schedule under control with having our own car, but now we had to depend on the buses, so we were kind of off schedule there. Luckily, she was ok with it, and waited for us. Then my hubby and I went back into the city and had a drink at the Hard Rock Cafe. We didn’t fancy going into those typical English bars where it was quite noisy. We are just getting old, haha. At least here you could have a pleasant conversation and have a little “2 persons” time together. I got to drink my cocktails. I think this was one of the best days there.

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愛丁堡之旅之第一天。Our trip to Edinburgh Day 1

Jun 22

Posted by BB in Family Robinson, Julian Robinson | 1 Comment

六月十六日，我們一家去旅行，而這次是Julian 第一次搭飛機。我們一直都沒有帶他搭飛機，原因是之前他細，不想騷擾其他乘客又令自己煩躁。今次老公都有想過駕車去，但需時很長，且有見他未嘗過搭飛機，就決定讓他有他的第一次搭飛機經驗。

On June 16th, we went on holiday together with the 3 of us. This was Julian’s first time being on a plane. We hadn’t brought him flying until now was mainly because we didn’t want to annoy everyone on a plane with a small baby or young child, and getting ourselves all stressed out over that. We thought of driving this timetoo but it would be quite a long drive, plus we wanted Julian to experience flying.

Julian  當然興奮到不得了啦，做了問題兒童，每事問個究竟，連飛機緊急操施都很認真研究清楚。原來同小朋友搭飛機，機場內的地勤人員、海關官員，和機上服務員都對我們特別有善，會除了嚴肅的架子，跟小朋友談話。還有的是，在下機前，我以為空姐叫我們站在一旁待取嬰兒車，原來是讓我們去機師艙內參觀，又讓Julian 坐機師位，還可以拍照留念。Daddy 見到眼睛發光，機師見到，還叫他一起入去，看個究竟。Daddy 就一連串問了機師不少問題。難怪啦，他又愛飛機，又曾經是雷達工程師，相信那位機師差點被他嚇倒。最後，下機後，因我們是最後下機，所以有位地勤人員帶領我們出去，還可以不用排隊，在機上服務員專用的一條路徑過關。

Julian was certainly very excited and was asking loads of questions. He was even seriously studying the emergency evaluation plan provided. We found traveling with a child turned out to be quite nice, as the staff in the airport, immigration people and crew members were all very kind to us. Not only there was no serious look in their faces, but they went holding a conversation with Julian. Also, before we got off the plane, we were told to step aside. I first thought it was to pick up our stroller. It turned out we were invited to go see the cockpit. Julian got to sit on pilot seat, and we were even allowed to take some pictures. Daddy was all interested too, and was told to get in together with Julian. Daddy went shooting quite a few questions to the pilot since he was interested in planes, plus he was once a radar engineer. I bet the pilot was shocked by the questions. When we left the plane, we were the last ones to leave, so we were escorted out by a staff, and even got to skip the queuing up part and went through the row designated for crew members.

我們租了屋，在Ocean Terminal 附近，離市中心大概二十分鐘至半小時。我們的單位是全海境，很舒服，環境優美寧靜，是我們最享受的！晚上可以聽到海浪聲，雀鳥聲，比起市區的繁華舒服得很！

We rented an apartment, nearby Ocean Terminal, which is about 20-30 mins away from the city center. We had a full sea view, which was wonderful! The area was quiet, and very nice. We enjoyed that a lot! At night you could hear the sound of the waves, and in the morning you could hear the birds, much better than the city crowds.

Julian 今次旅行坐過的士，又坐過無數次的巴士，還可以坐雙層巴士，又坐過火車，很高興！不過，Julian 起初以為坐完飛機後，就可以回家，不知道我們離家很遠。他不停嚷著要回家。我心想，不是思鄉病呀？原來小朋友都會掛念個家。我問過他何解，他說掛念家中的玩具，他的房間。幸好，我跟他說會搭巴士，他才肯留下來。他本來還說會自己搭巴士上飛機回家！

Julian got to sit in a taxi during this trip, and had been on a bus many times. We were even on those double decker buses which we don’t have in Holland. We also had been on the train. He loved it. Yet, Julian first thought after we got off the plane, we could be back home, and didn’t realize we were far away from home. He started wanting to go home. I didn’t think a child would get homesick. I asked him why, he said he missed his toys at home, and his room. Luckily the bus rides were good enough to keep him staying, though he did once say he would take the bus and get back onto the plane to fly home.

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期待假期的來臨。Looking forward to our vacation

Apr 20

Posted by BB in Biking for dummies 單車蠢才, Family Robinson, Mama Abby Robinson | 1 Comment

上星期五提早放工，為了單車訓練。老公也有一起去，但壓力也自然跟著來。如我所說，有壓力就有進步。迫自己達到之前跟自己定下的路程距離，雖然最後是疲憊，但感覺好了些。星期天，因要看著Julian，所以我們輪流外出作訓練。我先出發，雖然風還是有些冷，但已沒有那樣強，且有太陽，感覺不錯。我比自己預期達到的距離還多了些，因為我跟自己說再踏遠一些吧！意志力真的很重要！今天我反而少了動力與意志力。放工回家接過Julian回家後，就做飯吃飯，還去過超級市場買雜貨和跟自己架車入油。回來後，替Julian梳洗過，看見出面氣溫只得十度，就坐在沙發上不願動了。希望明天會好些啦！

Last Friday I took off earlier from work to get onto the bike to train. My husband went along as well, so did some pressure which could be good but tough to deal with at times. I sort of forced myself to reach the target that I set, and though I was tired at the end, I was quite happy that I made it. And on Sunday, since one of us had to watch Julian, so we went in turns on training. I went out first, and though the wind was still a bit chilly, it wasn’t as strong as it was in the beginning of the week, plus the sun was shinning. That made it a lot of difference. I made farther than I first planned to reach, as I told myself to just go a bit further and I did. Mind-set is so important in sports! Today I miss that. After work and picking Julian home from the after school daycare, I made dinner and we ate. Then I went to get some grocery shopping and refueled my car. By the time I got home, I showered Julian and put him to bed. Then seeing it was only 10 degrees out there, I just sat down on the couch and didn’t move anymore. Hope tomorrow will be a better day.

最近在公司遇到一個工作態度差的新員工，雖然他不是我的下屬，而他的老板是我的老板，但他的職位比我底。雖然如此，但這位人兄喜歡攪官僚主義，跟人排階級，但又沒有自知之名。教他東西反而被他數你這個那個，總之就令人討厭。不只我，其他要跟他做事的同事也是這樣。荷蘭人喜歡直接表達個人意見，那我就跟他靜靜坐下，說說大家的看法，只是沒想到他是這種無理取鬧的人。本來老板會明天從英國飛來傾傾這事，但現在要飛都飛不了。

另一邊廂，我公司的大陸曾計同事拿辭職來跟公司要求請人。但那兒的同事的工作效率差，態度不大好，怎走出來跟公司講條件呢？在大陸，要管理大陸員工不容易。幸運的，就找到數個能幹又肯勤力的人材。不幸的，找到過不合條件又要求多多的人，還會隨時因急進而離職。雖然我是中國人，但公司在問我怎樣好，我也答不到！(這兩段我把翻譯删去了，免得有人看到。)

幸好，過多一陣子，我們便會一家三口去英國愛丁堡旅行。雖然自己讀書時，曾在英國留學，但那時沒有經濟能力去週遊列國。老公決定駕車去，路程需時九小時，但我們會分開二天駕駛，況且是旅行嘛！老公想重游他出生故鄉 Northampton，我也未去過。我們會跟火車經隧道過英國。相信如果給Julian看到我們的車竟然可以上到火車，他一定興奮得很！

Luckily soon the 3 of us will be off for a short vacation in Edinburgh, the United Kingdom. Though I studied in the UK, I didn’t have the financial resources to go traveling at that time. My hubby wants to drive there. The trip will then take 9 hours drive, which we will do in 2 days. After all, it is a holiday. He wants to visit his birth place, Northampton which I also haven’t been to. We will take the channel by train to get to the UK. I bet Julian would be so excited to see our car actually goes into a train.

經我看過不少酒店，我們決定租住公寓，價錢又合理，跟租三星酒店價錢一樣，但就可以有的空間多了很多。在酒店，Julian只可睡在梳化牀，在公寓內，我們有㕑房客廳外，還有兩間睡房和兩間浴室。雖然沒有酒店早餐供應，但在假期期間，都是不要迫大家早起為吃早餐。Julian早起的話，可以吃我們買下來的面包。再者，公寓樓下有間咖啡室，可以吃早餐。

After researching on many hotel possibilities, we chose to rent a serviced apartment. The price is decent, which is about the price you pay for a 3-star hotel, but you get a lot more space. In a hotel, Julian will have to sleep on a sofa bed, while in the apartment, we have a kitchen, a living room, and 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Though we won’t have breakfast provided like in a hotel, but seeing it’s a holiday, I won’t force ourselves to get up on time just for the hotel breakfast. If Julian gets up early, we can always give some bread that we buy in advance. Besides, they do have a cafe downstairs in the apartment building, where you can have some breakfast.

我們選了遠離市中心的公寓，位於海旁，不想在鬧市中，可能年紀大，要求都不同了。看到相片感覺有些似香港的屋宇。附近的大購物中心還叫做 Ocean Terminal，那兒還有 Starbucks，老公聽到說很像在香港旅遊時，在香港尖沙咀的Ocean Terminal 的Starbucks喝他不喝不得的咖啡！只是要像在香港般的行程去吃魚蛋粉做午餐的機會就甚微。

We chose an apartment which is a bit farther away from the city center, to be away from the crowd. This is located by the boulevard. Maybe when you get older, you want something different. Looking at the pictures, they reminded me of Hong Kong. And a shopping mall nearby is called Ocean Terminal, which is the same as in Hong Kong. There they have Starbucks, and my hubby right away remembered his having his very essential coffee from Starbucks in the Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong. Just that it is not very likely that I can have my fish balls noodles like I had in Hong Kong.

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