See You Soon Again London

After a 12 days FUNTASTIC in London, UK, we are finally going home. It is totally a mixed feeling definitely as we had so much fun with the Ng’s family and it’s just too hard to part. 😊

When our cabby arrived, we bid our goodbyes and wished them well for their adventures to Scotland while we set off to the airport. I wished our holidays would be longer as I am enjoying the cool weather in London and thinking that I will be sweating when I return home… it’s quite sad. ☹

Heathrow, known as the second busiest airport in the world by international travelers. It was indeed crowded but manageable. We checked with the information counter where we can have our checked in done as we were upgrade to the Premium Economy. Hippy!!! So happy to have receive the email from SQ 2 days ago informing us that our family was selected for the upgrade.

We went to the Business Class counter for the check in and it was such a breeze. The counter staff was so nice that she managed to put us all together as I couldn’t book the seats for all of us being together online previously. 

I was happy that the immigration didn’t take too long and we had more time to walk around the airport and even take our brunch before boarding. We chanced upon this Ca’puccino Italian café and decided to have our brunch there. We ordered the poached eggs for Lady Faith, porridge for hubby and I shared my English Breakfast with little pumpkin. Hubby and I enjoyed their coffee very much and it was really goooooooooooooooood!!! As for their food, we waited quite a while and after several reminders, our food was served. Tasty but not fantastic!

We were all excited to check out our premium economy seats as this is quite a rare chance for us to be chosen for the upgrade. We had priority for boarding and the seats were bigger and I just love the leg room. There were so many compartments for passengers to put their personal items like phones, books, drinks and even a leg rest when you decline your seats. It was indeed very comfortable! 

Our girls were extremely happy with the seats as they were given headphones and not the normal headpiece. It was better sound quality and fit nicely on little pumpkin. As for the food, it was pretty good compared to the economy class while we were able to choose premium grade food like beef steak, Pad Thai etc… The girls had their scrambled eggs with chives and sausages, chicken rice etc… taste is slightly better of course but they are still plane food! 

I would say that this returning flight to SIN was more comfortable for me as I managed to sleep for at least 2 hours and I had about more than 10 cups of baileys… hahahaahah…. Worth the upgrade totally! 

White Cliffs Of Dover And Dover Castle

It was certainly an exciting day ahead of us as we managed to get our day tour done today since we missed the bus on Monday. Today will be our last day in London and our holiday in the UK is coming to a close. We are feeling sad but we will definitely make today a day of fun!

We arrived at the destinated meeting point early as we were afraid of missing the tour again due to some unforeseen situation. The journey to the white cliffs of dover is about an hour plus from London but we did not feel the pain sitting in the bus as we were all in high spirits.

The White Cliffs of Dover are one of England’s most recognizable landmarks greeting ferry passengers traveling to and from France with its striking views to this day. With its sheer cliffs of white chalk, it marks the closest part of England to the continental landmass.

When we arrived at the White Cliffs of Dover, it was a pity that the fog was too thick that the beautiful scenic was blocked by it. Though it was very cold and foggy, we continued to walk the distance to see the white cliffs. Though it was not nicely captured on the camera but the sight by your eyes are good enough to plant the image in your heart. Beautiful place indeed and I am very sure that the view will be even more amazing when the weather is clear.

The White Cliffs of Dover are 300 feet tall and stretch for 10 miles to the east and west of the town of Dover. The cliffs face France across the narrowest part of the English Channel. The chalk--which consists of sea shell fragments and the remains of small sea organisms--is soft, fine-grained and streaked with black flint.

After a quick 30 minutes stopped over for us (as we opted to visit the Dover Castle), the rest of the tour group will have a good 2 hours at the cliffs. We set off straight to the Dover Castle which was only 5 minutes’ drive from the White Cliffs.

After purchasing the tickets, we went straight to explore the castle as we were only given 2 hours to tour. Dover Castle England is an incredible fortress that perches on the dramatic white cliffs of the English Channel. Unlike any other castle in England, Dover has played an important role in British history for more than 950 years. It was one of the first Norman castles in England, established in 1066.

This castle is simply amazing and I would say that this is a real walk about castle that you can visit in England and a MUST to visit if you visit the White Cliffs. I was really thrilled to walk around the tunnels and experienced how the soldiers hid and fought the war.

The Great Tower is Dover Castle in England’s star attraction, and was built by Henry II in the twelfth century. It extends over three levels – which include a banqueting hall, kitchen, store-room and bedroom – and has been beautifully done-up in vibrant colours to evoke the times and life of King Henry II.

We also climbed the spiral staircases and ascend to the roof of the castle, where we enjoyed a brilliant view across the entire grounds. What you can see was the green hills of Dover, the white cliffs and little clear view of France! So beautiful and breath-taking!

We continued our tour to Canterbury and is a historic English cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site. The whole place seemed a little modern at some parts and very historic at the same time. We walked through the small streets with our tour guide and she explained so much history about his beautiful place. 

As we were walking towards the Canterbury Cathedral, we noticed a bookshop that was pretty much slanted and caught everyone’s attention. The Crooked House, sometimes known as Sir John Boys House, King’s Gallery, or Old King’s Shop, looks as if it is about to tumble over.

Finally, we arrived at the entrance of Canterbury Cathedral where it will be our meeting point after 2 hours. Canterbury Cathedral is one of the oldest Christian churches in England and it continues to play a central role in English Christianity. We did not have enough time to explore the church which is still under repair so we went shopping instead.

While we were walking around and looking for Carluccio’s, we came across some stalls on the streets selling fresh berries. It was so reasonable priced and fresh. We did not hesitate and bought a few packets. Found Carluccio’s ordered different dishes and they all tasted delicious though the service was not as fantastic as the outlet at South Kensington. 

Shopping in Canterbury is pretty much GREAT as they have many different brands on the busy streets and I couldn’t help but to spend some money on our last day of our holiday and both kids and I were happy. Hahahaahahah…. Offloading some ‘papers’ in my wallet… hahahahahaah

We decided to take home our dinner from Hobson’s located just opposite our apartment. The guys headed out to do the take away while the ladies and girls stayed to pack the luggage. I was really glad that I was able to fit everything I bought into the luggage though they were almost bursting!

The Hobson’s Fish & Chips were pretty good. We all gave thumps up for their super crispy and tasty onion rings and their grilled salmon while the rest were just fine. We tried out the fruits that we bought today at Canterbury and they were as sweet as sugar! So worth it for that price and we can never get those at that price back home! 

A Day At National History Museum

After a whole day walking on the streets of London, we were too lazy to get out of bed. As our holiday is almost coming to a close, we planned to go slow as we managed to visit most of the places we planned.

We set off shyly before luncheon and boarded on the bus to Kensington area as we wanted a more relaxing ride and at the same time, being able to get a good view of London. After we alighted at South Kensington, we went to lunch. We chanced upon this cool Italian joint and decided to give it a shot.

We ordered the kids meals, seafood linguine for Stella, lasagne for hubby, Orecchiette Verde for Mike and mushroom risotto for myself. I got to say that the food was really really delicious especially the Lasagne. I am never a fan of lasagne but after tasting a small portion of it from hub’s plate, I am obsessed with this dish. It was done so heavenly and so much flavours in it… super YUMZ!!!

As for the kids’ meal, it was just as delicious as the kids finished up every bit of their pasta and I got to give thumps up for their gelato too! It was smooth, milky and I simply love the strawberry flavor… so yummy and not too sweet. Simply fantastic luncheon!

While we were billing, we noticed the small section where they had their products on the shelves and I realized that this restaurant is owned by the famous chef Antonio Carluccio. Well, in case you haven’t heard of his name, I believed you would know Jamie Oliver. Jamie Oliver used to be under the coaching term with Antonio. He was also called the ‘the godfather of Italian gastronomy’ and appeared on the British TV ‘Two Greedy Italians’, alongside with Italian Chef Gennaro Contaldo. I felt really honoured to taste the dishes he created. 

Just shortly after lunch, we walked around the area and chanced upon a bookshop where the kids were drawn to. While we were at the bookshop, the guys had something interesting up their sleeves. They walked around and bought themselves a superb sandwich. Okay… it was delicious but we just had our LUNCH remember??

Finally, we arrived at the National History Museum and we were glad that it wasn’t crowded. There were so much to explore with so little time. We chose the best for the kids and to their interest. We checked out the dinosaur’s section and the minerals section too where we got to experience the remake of an earthquake. It was really scary but it was just a remake or an experience but I trust that the real one would be so much more violent then the one we stood on. 

We spent a good 2 hours at the museum and decided to return home for dinner. We needed some rest and do some packing as we will be expecting a long day tomorrow to the White Cliffs. 

What A DAY!

We were very excited about the itinerary for today and we set off to the pick up location for our day tour. It was really unfortunate that we were unable to get off at the train station due to a fire alarm and we hurried alight at the next station.

We ran as fast as we could towards Victoria Station and we asked around for direction as we ran. By the time we arrived at the pick up point which was quite hidden, we realized that our tour bus was gone. I called the tour company told them our incident and they were so kind to reschedule us to another day and was thankful that it was a day before we depart London.

We were almost at lost and we quickly had a change of plans. We decided to switch the itinerary and set off to Buckingham Palace instead as it was walking distance from where we were. As we walked, we found ourselves at the gates of Hyde Park and we continued to walk towards Buckingham Palace which was actually a pretty long distance. 

The weather was cooling and we weren’t complaining to walk such a long distance to the Palace and it was quite a nice walk as we passed the gardens along the way. We finally arrived at the famous Buckingham Palace and it was quite crowded. I wasn’t surprise as it’s always crowded as this is one of the most visited places in London for tourists. 

We set off for Piccadilly and ended up at Regent Street. We decided to take a break and have our brunch at Café Concerto, an Italian coffee shop. We placed our orders for our food and at one point, we were all puzzled with the remarks we received from the waiter. I ordered the egg mayo sandwich for Lady Faith and I was asking the waiter if they can have the cheese removed cheese removed or separated from the mayo. Then what came from the waiter was an epic response… here it goes… “Madam, we cannot remove anything from the sandwich as they are already contaminated”. All of us were looking confused at each other and he repeated ‘sorry, cannot remove as all CONTAMINATED’! I replied to him it was alright and got him to proceed with the order! We all burst out into laughter the moment he was out of our sight. What a word to use!!!! CONTAMINATED!!!! LAUGH ME DIE!!!

We continued walking down the streets of London and ended up doing some shopping. The kids and the guys were not interested in shopping so they ended up chilling at the café while Stella and I continued our shopping. We walked from Regent Street to Oxford Street to get our shopping done and finally got the guys to meet us there. We then continued our journey to Harrods as our last stop to get some food back for our dinner.

 

At Harrods, we walked straight to their Food Hall and it was huge but not what we expected. It was more like a supermarket, a café, bakery and souvenirs area in a whole. We browsed through the food and tried to find something to pack home. As little Emma was feeling a little hungry, Stella and I brought her along to get some snacks for the kids. 

We walked to the bakery section and managed to get some brownies and donuts for the kids. While little Emma was still checking out the donuts, I told her to stay put while I go pick up some pastries for breakfast tomorrow. The distance was only 3 steps away from her and my heart sank to the bottom of hell when I turned and found little Emma missing! At that moment, I could not breathe and my body turned COLD. Stella ran towards the nearest exit to search while I ran around the whole area yelling her name in English and Cantonese hoping to hear her response but failed.

I ran by the café which was just in the center of the section yelling out her name and an English lady was about to sip on her tea got a shock and put her tea down and started looking around her area for whatever I was searching. I was in total chaos and yelled till I got to the side entrance nearing to the supermarket side and that was when I bumped into Stella. She told me that little Emma is back to her pram and safe. After hearing that, I could finally hear my heart pounding so fast and loudly and I ran back to her and gave her a big hug. The stern scolding came after the hug of course! I have never been so frantic before and I wouldn’t want to experience this ever again!

When asked about her disappearance, she simply told us that she wanted to return to her pram but I guess she was worried when she couldn’t see us as she was tiny and many people were walking around the bakery. Anyhow, I was so thankful that she is fine or my life will never be the same anymore.

We decided to head back to our apartment after this horrible episode and while I was still trying to calm myself down, the guys went to do the marketing instead. Chef Mike did it again with his magic and whipped up another sumptuous meal for us. Though it was super delicious, my heart was still racing when I recalled the incident.

During bedtime, I spoke to little Emma about the incident again and she confessed that she was actually very scared too but at the same time happy to manage her way back to find her dad. I sternly told her NEVER walk away from me ever again! She nodded and sobbed saying that she will never ever do that again. Phew!!!!

Thank you God for your protection always and I am truly grateful that you have sent your guardian angels to be with us today so that we were able to have little Emma back at our side. Thank you Jesus!

Visiting Market & Hillsongs

After a tiring day shopping and loads of walking yesterday, the kids and Stella decided to stay home while Hubby, Mike and I combed the markets. We set off early and our first stop was the Borough Market which is well known as London’s oldest food market and it has been serving the people of Southwark for 1,000 years and counting.

When we arrived at the entrance, we noticed that most of the shops in the market were closed. A local walked towards us and told us that the market is usually closed on Sundays. Errrr… we were surprised as weekends should be the busiest and most crowds for business. Strange…

Disappointed and we went to Portobello Market instead. This market is pretty near to where our apartment is located and it was easy for us to get home. Portobello Road is probably the world’s best-known market. Though famous for antiques, that’s not all there is. It’s a haven for lovers of fashion, food, books and music; anyone who wants to find something unique or loves a bargain.

When we arrived, it was quite a breeze to walk around as we were pretty early. Since most of the stalls were still preparing, we took our time to enjoy our breakfast at Fabrique which we chanced upon and surprising their coffee and sandwiches were tasty. 

We continued exploring the streets and realized that it is a super long street filled with stalls selling different stuff and mostly interesting ones. I am loving this market as there were loads of stuff to see and many eateries and cafés that are filled with people. 

Since the girls were at home, we queued up for the pasta, paella to bring back as our luncheon. It was so delicious even though it took us quite a long walk back to our apartment.

In the afternoon, we set off for our service at Hillsongs. It is conveniently located in the heart of London. When we arrived, there was a huge crowd at the entrance but the people were really nice and led us up to the upper floor for seats. The service was held at the Dominion Theatre and it felt as if I am watching a play or something. As Catholics, we are not familiar with other Christianity’s style of worships but as long as we God in our hearts, I guess it doesn’t matter what you are.

The service lasted about an hour or so and I was happy that singing praise was the majority part of the service while the preaching was a smaller part. Honestly, I was actually fighting to keep myself awake especially when hubby and our two kiddos were sleeping soundly beside me!!!

After service, we went to the supermarket that is located at the corner of our apartment to get some food for dinner. We are really blessed to have Chef Mike in the house as he can whip up anything at your request. We bought roast duck from Four Seasons Restaurant (known as one of the best roast duck in London) and chef prepared the rest of the dishes. 

We were really the lucky ones who had the privilege to attend the ‘concert’ performed by our little pumpkin Emma. Her managers Lady Faith & Bella gave named her ‘Emmarina’ as her stage name. hahahaahahahah… it was super cute and fun! 

The British Museum

We initially planned to visit the Trafalgar Square but it was taken up by the West End Live 2019 for the weekend and it was pretty much difficult to walk towards The National Gallery as it was overcrowded to get through. We decided to change our plans and headed to the British Museum instead.

The British Museum, a museum of the world, for the world. Discover over two million years of human history and culture. Some of the world-famous objects include the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures and Egyptian mummies.

This is a huge museum and what’s good about it is, it’s FREE entry for all. It has important articles from ancient civilizations all the way through the Middle Ages. Even pieces like the original Rosetta Stone, sculptures from the Parthenon, and Egyptian items.

We thought it might be bored for the kids to visit the museum but to our surprise, they were actually enjoying themselves. They were surprised to see many ancient and historic objects and best of all, they were able to touch the objects and learned the history from the guide.

There was a small table at the corner at a section and it drew our attention. We found out that it was the ancient hand axe. At around 1.2 million years old, this hand axe is one of the oldest objects in the Museum’s collection, and one of the most significant. It was found in the Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania, and was skilfully made by ancestors we would recognise as becoming human.

The next section is my favourite of all and it’s the history about the mysterious Egyptians. The earliest ancient Egyptians buried their dead in small pits in the desert. The heat and dryness of the sand dehydrated the bodies quickly, creating lifelike and natural 'mummies'. Later, the ancient Egyptians began burying their dead in coffins to protect them from wild animals in the desert. However, they realised that bodies placed in coffins decayed when they were not exposed to the hot, dry sand of the desert.

After spending about 2 hours at the museum, we decided to head out for some shopping to bring the energy up again. I must say shopping at Primark was quite a fun experience as there were so many to see and to buy… Yes…BUY! The stuff there were pretty much reasonable and most of their items were pretty. 

We were in search of Chinese food as per our kiddos’ request and we walked a long way to get to Leicester Square and finally settled at Hung’s Chinese Restaurant. It was a simple looking restaurant with 3 levels. We browsed through the menu and ordered our dishes quickly as the kids were starving and tired from the long walk.

Well, I did not take pix of the food as I did not think they were tasty enough for me to post. The E-fu noodles I ordered to share with little pumpkin came in such a portion that can feed about 4 adults and it wasn’t tasty. The rest of the dishes like the soup noodles was a letdown too except for hubby’s roast duck rice which was quite acceptable. 

We had a great day at the museum and shopping but dinner was a total disappointment. Let’s look forward to another adventurous day tomorrow. 

The Theatre Of Dreams

I have been a Man United fan for a long long time and it’s a dream to visit the stadium for a faithful fan. I am really happy that we will be travelling to Manchester today and can’t wait to leave my footprints at the stadium.

We set off to take the train after our delicious breakfast at Arro. The train to Manchester was really comfortable though we took the normal cabin seats. There was a café in the train and we were able to purchase beer, snacks and other beverages during the train ride. It was a comfortable 2 hours ride from London to Manchester and giving us the opportunity to enjoy the countryside scenery. 

When we arrived at Manchester, we took another train or tram to Old Trafford which is actually about 30 minutes. When we arrived at Old Trafford, my heart was racing and I can’t wait to be at the stadium as soon as possible. It was about 10 minutes’ walk from the tram platform to the stadium.

I was so thrilled when I arrived at the entrance of Old Trafford! It was like a child receiving the best birthday gift from their parents. We did not waste any time and quickly went to the Red Café for our lunch after taking some pictures at the entrance. 

The Red Café is such a cool place to dine. The restaurant was nicely decorated with player’s name on the chairs and they served pretty good fish and chips too. We ordered the fastest serving dish as we were running out of time. We were happy that we had 10 minutes left before the stadium tour begins. 

We had to gather at the basement for the tour and there was a group waiting for the tour to begins. After checking our passes, we were led to the upper floors of the stadium where you get a great view of the whole stadium and our tour leader told us the history and the sites we were brought to. 

Then, we visited their press conference room where usually the managers will face the press after every game. It was pretty cool and the leader also told us where Jose Mourinho (former manager) used to sit for the conference after each game. He too also told us an incident that Mourinho walked out of the press after receiving an unwelcomed question asked by the press. It was the shortest press conference thus far – 2 minutes. 😊

This would be the most exciting part of the tour – The Player’s Changing Room. Everyone was really excited about visiting the changing room and I was surprised that the room was not as big as I expected. It was about the size of our 2 room flats perhaps… and with beverage facilities and with a wall board for managers to change his strategy. I was so excited to see the player’s locker and I was almost ready to slip a note to the players but I wasn’t prepared. 

We continued the tour and could be the last part of the tour – the Stadium Ground. The tour leader actually made us lined up as 2 teams and given us the experience of the players when they are ready to walk out to the field. There was music, announcements and even the cheers from the fans… it was so real. Of course, the only difference was we weren’t the players and the stadium were empty… hahaahah… 

It was so surreal that I am on the ground and this is a real dream came true! The tour leader showed us the Manager’s seat and everyone had their chance to sit and have a picture taken. Well, I must say that the manager’s seat has quite a good view and wonder why sometimes they just made silly mistakes on changing the game. 😊 

After the stadium tour, we took a quick walk around the Man United Museum. There were so many trophies and histories about this club and I am so happy and proud to be a fan. Our daughters may know nothing about the history or the club they visited, they too though it was amazing and they felt that it is very prestigious. 

Since we have about 4 hours to spent before our train back to London, we took the opportunity to shop at Intu Old Trafford (known as the largest shopping mall in Manchester). It was indeed huge and it’s almost impossible to complete window shopping within 2 hours. We did a little shopping and finally spent more time to have dinner at their food court.

Noticed ‘Five Guys’ at the corner and decided to try it out before they touched down in Singapore. Well, I tried their little cheese burger while hubby had the veggie sandwich with vanilla milkshake. I got to give it two thumps up for their juicy beef patty and it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo DELICIOUS! I am loving the milkshake too as it was thick, smooth and super YUMS! Now I am waiting for their outlet to be ready in Singapore and I will definitely go try it again.