Heathrow Airport and Edinburgh

We arrived in London's Heathrow Airport by 6 am in the morning and cleared everything around 8 am. The immigration officers were rather stringent despite me showing printed out copies of my admission documents, probably I look like a drug overlord who wanted to overstay in UK and sell cracks on the streets. 

"What is the purpose of your visit here, Sir?" The immigration lady at the counter asked with her poker face on. 

"I'm going to Edinburgh for my exams. Here are the admission papers." I answered. 

Having scrutinized them she proceeded. "What kind of exam is this?"

"It's my membership exam for the Royal College of Physician." I answered. 

"Oh, so what is it about?" She became more and more curious. 

"An exam on become a specialist in internal medicine." I was getting impatient. 

"So why can't you take this exam in Malaysia?" She asked again. 

"Diu! You ask them to organize one in July in Malaysia la!" Annoyed I almost said that but to avoid myself from being deported in shame back to Malaysia after just landed in UK for 30 mins I answered politely with a neat smile. "In Malaysia it's only available in the months of April and October". 

Eventually she let me through. Next time, I'll strive to avoid lady customs and immigration officers at all costs! We waited for our bags for another 40 minutes and trudged towards terminal 5 - which I think is monopolized by both British Airways and Iberia Airlines. My friend's flight was at 10 am so that lucky bastard left me in the airport waiting for another 2 hours for my flight. 

The wait seemed to be forever. Finally I was on board my 1 hour flight to Edinburgh. 

The iron bird touched down gracefully around 3 pm local UK time. Disembarking from the plane I was welcomed by a cool breeze of 18 degree Celsius. Geez, and I thought it was summer!  Edinburgh airport isn't too huge and I was out of it within 20 minutes. 

I took the airport bus which frequently commutes from the airport to Edinburgh's city center for £3.50 and the journey was around 30 minutes.

My first impression of Edinburgh was delightful; it has this posh ambiance with aged buildings that has endured time itself. My walk from Waverly bus station to my hostel was like a cardiac work out to me, as I carried my 11 kg backpack up and down the undulating slopes of the old city. Fortunately my hostel was just 10 minutes walk away but the amount of calories I've burned probably amounted to an hour of brisk walking. 

I managed to book a private single room with shared toilet for £19 per night in Eurohostel Edinburgh Halls. It was quite a bargain to be honest since it was close to the city and clean most importantly! 

It was already 5 pm when I had finally settled down and taken my bath. Tesco was a stone's throw away and I bought dinner at Mosque Kitchen, one of the cheapest eateries in Edinburgh. 

I succumbed to sleep early that day despite it was still bright and sunny at 9 pm! Initially I was skeptic when being told by another friend of mine that the sun sets at 1030 pm and rises at 330 am here in UK during summer, but I guessed I had to believe him now. 

Finally I am in Edinburgh, where my adventures in this Isle of Might starts!