Meals
- Brunch – Tortilla with Scrambled Eggs & Toast with Nutella
- Snack – Baguette & Cookies n Cream Frappuccino
- Dinner – Yo! Sushi
- Late Night Drink – Peach Tea Cocktail & Beer
A Slow Start
Today started a bit sluggish. I woke up at 8am but watched Youtube videos and read some subReddits. I cooked brunch at around noon. Raya, Anabella, and I were going to the City Centre today but we didn’t have an exact schedule so I meandered through life until we decided to leave at 2pm. We ubered there because it was getting late into the afternoon.
The City Centre
The City Centre sure was something (in a good way). When we got dropped off, I could hear a guitarist playing through a speaker from the right and two men singing to the left. The City Centre, from what I saw, was a bunch of streets with shops shops to both sides and with entertainment in the middle. It reminded me of a mix between the night markets in Taiwan and The Strip in Vegas.
The first store we went into was Primark, which is the European equivalent of Forever 21. Anabella wanted to buy shorts and I went in to check out what the store had to offer. I was shocked at the prices – the prices were fantastic! Pants were about £10, which is about $12-13. Button down shirts were also in the £10 range and one could buy seven pairs of sports socks for a mere £3. Tell me that isn’t a steal at a trendy shop.
After Primark we went to Topshop. I didn’t go in this time and I walked around to check out the area. The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall was nearby but unfortunately they were closed. The interesting thing is that it’s situated on top of a shopping mall. The same violin busker I saw by the University two weeks ago was also here. What a coincidence…or what a small world?
At this point I was getting a bit hungry so I walked into the local Salisbury’s to check out what snacks they had. As I walked in, I saw the bakery sign so I went there to scan their pastries. At the very bottom row was a basket of baguettes and I went to test their crispness, like in Ratatouille. My fingers were greeted with a touch of warmth and I was pressed sides of the bread together. Wow, I hadn’t had a fresh baguette in months and it was only 50 pence! That sold me right then and there and I checked that thing out and devoured it within five minutes. Ya that’s right, I just straight up ate the bread plain. It was that good.
After eating the bread my mouth started to get dry so I got a cookies n cream frappuccino from Starbucks. They misheard my name and wrote “Kendry” on my cup. I guess I need to enunciate better or speak up next time. I got cream with my drink and their whipped cream was some of the best whipped cream I’ve had in a while. There was a hint of vanilla and it was so rich but light. It really made the drink refreshing as I got down to the last few sips.
The rest of my time at the City Centre was spent walking through Buchanan Galleries and St. Enoch Centre. The subway stations actually take you right into the heart of the shopping district, so I’ll have to try those someday. The shopping malls were pretty nice, nothing too special but good enough to be commended. There was actually a man who asked us for directions while we were in St. Enoch’s Centre. He was looking for 45 John Street and he didn’t have WiFi on his phone. We helped him connect to the local mall WiFi and punched the location into Google Maps for him. His destination was only ten minutes away but it’s difficult to navigate the streets without a GPS. Hopefully he found the place. What surprised me was that he was Portuguese. I thought he spoke English pretty well and I didn’t notice that much of an accent. Meeting him really opened my eyes to the diversity of people here.
Ramen, Sushi, Karaage
We decided to go to Yo! Sushi for dinner. It was only a few blocks away and we wanted to try something from the City Centre. It had a conveyor belt and we were seated at the bar so we got to watch the chefs make all the food. Truth be told, I splurged a bit. I got the curry ramen, karaage, and a few rolls of sushi and salmon sashimi. I really liked the karaage; it was tasty and actually looked like the picture on the menu – golden brown and crispy. It was one of the best fried chickens I’ve had from a Japanese restaurant.
Late Night on Ashton Lane
After we got back, we rested for a bit and then went out to get a few drinks. We were recommended this one pub that had a live guitarist playing music but it was really packed when we got there and it was hard to move and even hear each other talk so we dipped. We found another place called Innis & Gunn Brewery Taproom. I ordered the Sweet Tea Cocktail and I was actually able to drink it. I was pretty proud of myself but I still dislike the alcohol taste. After we all finished our drinks there we decided to go to the bar in the Church.
So Justin was trying to find out what drink he got last time, but since we let the bartender choose for us last time, we didn’t know the name of the drink. As he was describing the flavor, our bartender let him have a sample of what she thought it was. As that process was happening, a delightful woman name Elaine came and asked us what we ordered. We said it was beer but then she asked for our cup and smelled the drink and said that it was not beer.
She had a friend with her and we ended up chatting about life. They noticed that we were pretty young and asked where we were from. Once we told them that we were studying abroad the life advice starting coming in. Elaine was turning 40 in a few days and she and her friends were out to celebrate. She talked about how we needed to live life because time will go by fast. Her friend gave the same kind of advice but the cool thing was that she had lived abroad for about 10 years. Her husband was an engineer and they lived in Jakarta, Toyko, and Thailand, each for 2-3 years. She paid for our drinks because she said that the kindness of the natives made her experience really enjoyable and she wanted to do the same for us. It was really a kind gesture and it was so much fun to talk to the both of them. It kind of makes me think how I’ll be in 20 years. They emphasized how they still feel like they’re 20 sometimes and think they can go out like they used to. But that sadly isn’t the case. Many of them have families and children now and tonight was the one night they could live it up like before. They went dancing after chatting with us and all I can say is Happy Birthday Elaine! I didn’t think the bar could be so much fun and I’m glad that that was one of my first encounters.
Jollity
As I reflect back on the day, I have to say that it was one of my best yet. Seeing the culture of the City Centre and how diverse it was made the world seem smaller. And talking to the nice women at the pub really brought life into perspective. I’ll try my best to live life while I’m in Scotland even more now. Everyone’s been telling me to anyway!
