Bears' Wedding in London (2)

The following day, I lazed. Not really. LOL. I needed to finish booking the accommodation for my Europe trip which was a week away! As everything was planned very last minute (unlike the me in my 20s!!!), things were a bit chaotic. But somehow the plan seemed to fall into place nicely.

So I asked my hosts if there was anything I could do around the area (without going to town). They suggested a nearby farm. A great idea I thought! Glyn took me to the first British farm about 6 years back and this time I could go to one again. With the best guide I have (London A-Z), I found my way to Deen City Farm. There were a bunch of kids and I felt like one of them, I fed the sheeps and cows! There was also owls and gigantic bunnies.

After the free farm tour, I headed to Marks & Spencer for a late lunch and got some grocery. I almost wanted to buy half the supermarket! LOL.

Day 3.

I had planned a trip to Harrods Food Hall, this seemed to be a must. LOL. I couldn't resist good food and I wish I had a bigger stomach and a more efficient digestive system! Haha. I got almost £10 worth of food for my picnic at Hyde Park. It was a pity no one could join me but it was a great sunny day to sit out there and people watch. After my picnic, I went to HSBC to run some errands before making my way to Oxford Circus. Yes, you can walk from Hyde Park to Oxford Circus, thanks to the non-humid weather!

On the way, I chanced upon St Christopher's Place where I sat down for a smoothie and witnessed a middle aged woman begging for food and money from someone sitting besides me. The kind lady really bought her food! Bless the kind lady!

Finally I made my way to Oxford Circus where I caught up with Johnathon, a guy I met during my tour in California which was about 2 years back. John took me to a really cool pub for pies, said to be one of the best ones in town! It was called The Windmill. I had the seasonal pie - spicy chicken and chorizo pie, houmous & tzatziki; it was thin and crispy on the outside and very juicy and hot on the inside. I really loved it, it wasn't like the traditional beef and kidney pie with hard crusty exterior. It was still bright at 9pm that evening... amazing. I bid farewell to John after the lovely catch up and went home and continued to have big cherries for supper! LOL.

Day 4.

After my breakfast, I went on to find a money changer to get my European currencies. There were so many different ones it was a bit confusing, fortunately I could order them online and head down to collect it. Then I was supposed to meet Selwyn, a bloke I met in Japan a year back. LOL. All these travelling have gotten me quite a few friends.

I nearly couldn't recognise him already! LOL. But I remembered that smile. He was also very sweet and made me a lemon pound cake he promised me on Facebook some time ago! It was really yummy and my friends loved it too. So we went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch, as usual the quality always seemed to be much better than the one I had in Singapore for that price. It was called Sticks 'n' Sushi by Covent Garden.

When we stepped out, we saw this food market by Covent Garden and there was this amazing pulled pork burger that I could die for. We promised to be back for them for dinner, but it was sold out by then. DEVASTATED. :((( I must have it on my next trip to London!!! Look at them!!

So after late lunch, we went to British Museum. As usual, I could never get bored there but it was closing really early (by 5pm I think!!!) so we had to find elsewhere to go. Selwyn suggested bowling, I was a bit intimidated as he bowls for competition but I still went ahead! It was at an underground bowling alley and it all looked a bit dodgy from the outside. Haha.

We went back to Covent and were disappointed about the burgers. So we just got something else for dinner. I couldn't remember what because it was so insignificant compared to that burger!! But I did remember I got home with a big pretzel! :P

Bears' Wedding in London (1)

Back in London again! This time it was for a greater cause, my best friend's wedding, it was about 3 years since I last visited. But Angela was back couple of months ago when she brought her in-laws to Singapore for a tour and meet her parents session.

It always felt good to be back. It was as if I never left, just grown older! LOL. Anyway, my plan was to spend a week in London before embarking on the European tour which I should have done years ago, then back for 2 days and back home to Singapore.

I was supposed to be flying with Jan (Angela's good friend) on Malaysia Airlines to Heathrow, but the MH17 crash on 17 July freaked us out. Just days before our departure and on that identical route we were supposed to be taking, we decided to cancel the booking (we lost the booking fee as we bought it through CheapTickets). With an earlier missing plane MH370 incident on 8 March, there was a rumour there would be a third incident. I have to say the customer service on CheapTickets had been exceptional with this Malay girl keeping me updated all the time about the refund process and status! Everything got sorted out promptly, it also brought a huge relief not only to us but our family and friends.

That was about 2 weeks away from the wedding day, Jan and I both had no flights. I quickly scanned through all the airline sites for promotions, even emailed or tweeted to some of them, but not many were compassionate enough about MAS incident. But Lady Luck was smiling on our side, I chanced upon British Airways for a really good deal (direct, no transit and awesome timing, it was a night flight!). Just a few hundred bucks more, and almost a week before departure, that fare was unbelievable!

I can't believe when everyone else is jerking up prices for last minute flights, the European airlines are the ones letting them go cheap. Thank God for BA, I will fly with you again!

Booked.
British Airways.
27 July - 22 August 2014.

The flight there was about 12 hours, I didn't manage to sit with Jan as it was almost full by the time we booked and most seats were taken up when we checked in online. I was sitting with a mother with two cute toddlers but my entertainment sound system was faulty, so I got shifted to another aisle seat further back with no one besides me! I ate, watched some drama, and fell asleep.

When we arrived in London, Jan and I got on the tube but went on our separate ways. He was going to his airBnB while I was bunking at Angela's. I knew the way (good memory) so someone was waiting for me back in the house that morning. It was going to be very laid back as I didn't have much plans except to help Angela with her wedding preparation and see some old friends.

The first day in London.

So I met Glyn again, we had tacos at Wahaca in Covent Garden. I wasn't sure if I would recognise him after another 3 years but apparently we did. After the late lunch, we had a bit of a stroll down the Thames River and Millennium bridge. We had a good time talking about the past and how things have evolved. But sadly, I don't think I will see him again, I have to stop there and then.

It was a bright sunny day but still a little chilly. Little did I know that the weather just decided to go cranky that afternoon, and I had to shop for a sweater to keep myself warm! Ha. British summer.

Then I went off to meet Daniel (Angela's hubby-to-be) whom kindly took a few hours off work earlier so he could show me Shoreditch, one cool place in London I have missed out. I didn't manage to buy anything though I was really tempted but Daniel found a few things he liked. We had a quick beer before we went to meet the rest of the gang at Jamie's Italian for dinner.

Our first Jamie Oliver's experience and maybe also our last. We weren't that impressed, and we decided to switch the other dinner venue from Jamie Oliver's to a traditional English pub. But we did get a complimentary bottle of Prosecco that night because of some mishandling of one of our orders.

I also didn't forget to get my favourite Paul's flourless chocolate cake (almost) every time I saw it. It made all breakfast perfect.

Man & wife

My good friend, Yusman's wedding (which is today!) is one of my must-go-to wedding list of year 2014. I am very glad for him that his effort and persistence paid off, he married a beautiful Chinese girl whose parents were initially against the relationship! Way to go MAN! I can't wait to see a cute mixed baby in the coming future!

And a candid shot to go along with this post ;)

Ted goes to KL

23-25 May 2014.

It was my second visit to Kuala Lumpur and the first for Ted! I first went there years ago with the FAB4 girls via the overnight train. I can't recall much except that we really just partied and ate. This time round, my sister was heading up for a conference and asked me to tag along.

We took the Aeroline coach which was really like a premium coach service. There was a service crew, hot meal, drink, blanket and also entertainment. Wow. Such a cosy ride that I would do this again anytime!

We stayed at Corus Hotel which was also the arriving and departing point for Aeroline coaches, what great convenience! The hotel is also in a very central location, within walking distance to the Petronas Towers and KLCC malls. Read more about my stay here on Tripadvisor.

It was a 3 days 2 nights trip so we didn't have much plans except for some shopping, attending the conference (just one evening for me) and then seeing the Batu Caves (I missed it the last time round!). We also enjoyed Nandos on the first night which was half the price than having them in Singapore before heading out for the conference!

The next morning, we set off for Batu Caves. As usual, Ted was up to his usual mischief again!

But we managed to keep him in check and arrived at Batu Cave after about 30mins of train ride. It was a glorious day, and a long climb up! We survived it and saw cheeky monkeys playing around in the caves. It's a quick and easy getaway you can do on your own and I suggest doing it as there isn't much to see in KL. After Batu Cave, the sister left to attend her seminar while I was left on my own to explore.

I went to the malls of course (the safest bet) and came across a small designer Pop-up event inside Bukit Bintang's Lot 10. There were lots of pretty things on sale but as I was on a short trip I didn't have much cash on me, so I could only admire them! Then I headed over to Berjaya Times Square which is a gigantic mall (over 10 storeys!!) and one can easily get lost in there. I only bought one thing there, I was pretty amazed at my self-control! LOL.

Then I went back to the hotel with my dinner as by then I was exhausted from all that walking. The following morning, the sister was busy with her seminar as usual. So I was tasked to go get some souvenirs (food) home! I also got lucky and found my Chocolate Banana cake from Secret Recipe, just as I was almost giving up I saw the restaurant right across the road! Haha! Bliss!

The journey back was another comfortable ride on the coach and we got into Singapore late that Sunday night.

3 more life lessons I've learned from swimming (2)

This is a continuation of my previous post. These things just came to be randomly and I finally have the time to pen them down ;)

Embrace changes (in temperature).

These days, everyone is so used to having heater and hot showers. No one remembers the days we were still using cold water or having to boil them for a hot one. Swimming brought me back to basics, there is no hot shower at the swimming complex. After a swim under the hot sun, I have began to appreciate having a cold shower. Recently, there was a power failure at home and inevitably it has affected our heater, on certain days, it doesn't work and I have to endure a cold shower (fortunately swimming has prepared me for them)!

Be flexible and adapt to circumstances.

Things do not go how we want all the time, in fact, maybe even half the time! I have had a few occasions since school started, 80 students suddenly came plunging into the pool! I haven't got any space left, yet I had to finish my self-assigned laps. Being flexible doesn't mean cutting down the laps but instead work around it, instead of swimming the length, I need to do the width. Instead of swimming at my pace, I have to work around everyone's pace. That brings up the next lesson...

Be informed, go seeking to be informed.

So inorder to avoid another 80 students having their swimming lessons at the same time with me, I needed to know when they are not there! So I seeked for more information. Ask. Ask and you will get. Indeed, I have found the answer. So sometimes we can't just assume or presume or guess... if the factual information is available, go get them.

That's all for now, I will continue to note down more lessons when they come to me naturally!

Rules that are meant to be broken (once in a while)

One record-breaking week. Bad records. LOL.

Unfortunately the time of the month does make one crave for the sinful things. A bag of chips, one cup of bubble tea, two Mc Donalds' meals, one piece of cake, one cup of ice blended coffee and a Mac 'n' cheese with ice cream sundae in the last week. Oh dear, I have broken all the rules I had set for myself.

It has been a few months since the bag of chips, but my usual treat is something nice once a week. This week, I had it all in one go. I can almost feel that I have put on some weight back, hah, that's bad!

After all those swimming in the past year and 5kg weight loss, I feel almost perfect. That occasional stomach rumbling at 2am did work up my appetite a bit these weeks. But I also hope that that metabolism rate I have built up with all the swimming is burning the calories away faster these days.

Okay, time to get back on track! Once a week treat. Only.

我的朋友在香港(vi)

Time flies when you are enjoying~

My second last day in Hong Kong was the only day I had time to go shopping! I dedicated the whole of Monday to be on Hong Kong island, so I could be on the trams (locally known as "ting ting") as much as possible.

That morning, I made it a point to get into Hong Kong island early enough to sit in a cafe and had a drink. I had been reading up on cafes even though I am not a fan of coffee and had shortlisted a few of them. As I was meeting some friends for lunch, I settled for one in Central named Simplylife Cafe, having my favourite - hot chocolate! I wished I could dine there but I couldn't with all the things already scheduled for the day!

Hong Kong island, especially Central, is packed all the time, I guess it is because it is the CBD (Central Business District) of Hong Kong but people seem to be everywhere at anytime. Even at 10am on the streets, you see all the people around. I wonder if the working hours are that flexible?

After a drink to start the day, I began my walk to Sheung Wan to meet an ex-colleague whom returned to Hong Kong for lunch. Coincidentally, another ex-colleague was in town with her husband, so all of us got together for a Dim Sum lunch date! It is very comforting when you meet familiar faces abroad! It was a really sumptuous lunch at Dim Sum Square, many thanks to Rebecca whom insisted on footing the bill. Look at the amount of food we had to finish!!! I even got the leftover as takeout.

After a very heavy lunch, I just had to burn them off by walking. Haha. I went to Cat Street to have a peek at the antiques market but it was surprisingly small. So I moved on to Causeway Bay's Jardine Crescent on the ting ting but along the way, something caught my attention. I spotted a market along Tai Yuen Street and immediately alighted. I was loving the fact that I was alone and I could do WHATEVER I wanted, at my own time! It was one of the best markets, competitively priced and with a lot more variety of stuff, from clothes, babies goods, food, accessories, mobile cases to stickers and toys. I would have stayed longer if I had more time.

Then I moved on to Causeway Bay to see Jardine Crescent and got a few more stuff (many bags and clothes here mainly) and also checked out a few shops that my sister and friend had requested me to see. I dislike running errands for others on a holiday but since I was almost done with what I wanted to see, I gladly ran along. It ended up they didn't want to buy anymore and I bought myself my most expensive shoes from Melissa! Damn, those shoes still bite me, whoever said Melissa doesn't hurt??

Thanks and no thanks to the free data plan, my phone was almost dead before the evening. My last run in Causeway Bay was to get Hang Heung wife cakes for people back home, arrghhh, I hate this but just gotta do it.

Then it was a mad rush getting back to Soho where I met an old friend for Tapas and drinks. It was also my first time in Soho and being on those mid-level escalators, not as exciting as I anticipated! After a couple of hours, we aparted our ways at our respective ferry terminals. I was overloaded with shopping bags by then and I wondered how I managed to get back at midnight after all those hours of non-stop walking. Then it was last hours of crazy packing and I resigned to bed at about 3am!

The following day, I decided to do in town check-in at Hong Kong station instead of getting a taxi across. So in that way, I still had a bit of time on the island, perhaps getting a decent lunch before I boarded the plane. The in town check-in was a breeze, almost effortless, and I was luggage-free to wander around! If you have a late flight, this is highly recommended!

My last mission for the trip was to get myself a magazine! It seems like a must for me to get a fashion magazine from Hong Kong whenever I visit; I had been eyeing at them since the first hour I stepped into the airport but could only leave them to the last. So heavy! I got the Cosmopolitan (HK version) which came with a super cute Tsumori Chisato water bottle.

Syn came along that morning and we had Tim Ho Wan, it was amazingly affordable but very limited variety for a Dim Sum place. But it definitely wasn't Syn's day, I didn't know how but she splattered soy sauce all over herself and in the end she lost her appetite, so I made her brought home the leftover. Awww, poor girl!

Then I boarded the Airport Express to the airport where I met Adam who was also departing the same afternoon. We went into the lounge for ice cream :) Haha. I was fed again (fortunately a different flavour) on the flight back. Sadly, Sex and The City wasn't showing and the food on the way back was worse than the flight's before. I wasn't excited to go home, but somehow I was ready to leave Hong Kong and say bye bye to the ferries.

Hong Kong, till we meet again!

我的朋友在香港(v)

The following day, I just wanted to laze in bed! Gimme a lazy Sunday anytime!

The night before, I attempted to ride on Syn's bike which was overloaded with bags and fell right within a minute of getting on it! Haha. It must be about 6 years since I last gotten on one, gosh.

Syndy suggested all the daytrips I could do to Tai-O fishing village or Citygate Outlet but I just didn't fancy a long bus ride out to anywhere. I wanted to stay still for once. I would have loved to do a morning trek but that muscle pulling in my calf wasn't encouraging me to do so. So I stayed in, did some laundry, watched the neighbour's dog and then attempted the second time on the bike to get lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant. Haha. As expected, I nearly knocked a tourist in her bum when she accidently walked right onto my path. I had the cold noodle with lemongrass pork chop recommended by Syn who said it's a hot favourite among her visitors and John. Indeed it did not disappoint!

 

After lunch, we embarked on a walk around the Mui Wo villages and visited a small waterfall. Apparently, there are quite a few villages in Mui Wo, when you do go around, you get to see all sorts of houses and very innovative scarecrows. They brought a smile to my face, seeing how creative one can get! On the way to the waterfall, Syndy adopted a stray dog which looked like it was half blind (I wonder if it was where the fleas came from. Or perhaps from the fleece jacket I accidentally dropped, a kind soul picked it up and left it on the bridge when we came from, so I found it!) This must be one of the rare trips I kept losing stuff.

After all the drama, we met John at the beach for a picnic and beach badminton. The Sunday Mui Wo beach was packed with families, dogs and people whom came over from other parts of Hong Kong. The ferry fares are also almost double on Sunday! It definitely wasn't easy playing badminton on a windy beach! But it was a good exercise. We didn't stay long enough but just about the time we finished a pack of nachos and a drink.

We went back for a rest before Syn and me headed out for a so-so claypot dinner and grocery shopping. I had a better grasp of the bike now with lesser people on the road. I love supermarkets, but I didn't get as much as I wanted with the limited luggage space I had! I gotta leave some space for all those shopping the following day which was my last full day in Hong Kong.

That night, we painted our nails and also google hung out with the girls in London and Vancouver. It was a few months since the last one. A good good night.

我们去澳门(iv)

The following Monday, I bade Adam goodbye after a good lounge breakfast and headed to the ferry terminal. The Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal was harder to get to than I thought; things didn't get easier with the unfriendly morning Hong Kong residents. It just irked me being in another big city where everybody were all about themselves.

I finally found the ferry terminal just in time to join the queue and when it was my turn, I was told I was at the wrong queue! What a day, what a start! Then I was finally queueing at the right one, and when I was about to enter, someone tapped on my shoulder and said I dropped my "Octopus Card", naturally I followed her and got out of my queue to realise that my card was indeed gone and was it stolen or picked up by someone I really don't have a clue till today. Then yes, I had to re-join the line all over again. It was really just my luck!!! Poor Octopus Card, and I hoped that dishonest person would lose all his money at the casino!

I was so occupied about my loss that the one hour ferry seemed like a breeze. I wasn't bothered about the smelly uncle sitting besides me or the noisy kids and the loud Mainlanders surrounding me. (I was onboard  Cotai Jet to Taipa). I finally surrendered and accepted that "Shit does happen during holidays!". When I arrived, I saw Syn and John waiting for me right at the exit. It just lit up my day after all the unfortunate events! I did not plan a single thing for Macau as both of them seemed to have already scheduled the day for me.

So we headed to our first stop for lunch at A Lorcha, a restaurant for Portuguese food. It was packed and we reckoned it was mentioned on some guidebooks and thus all the tourists knew about it. The food was really great though, we had seafood mixed rice, risotto style! After lunch, we went to the temple next to it, then onto the bus again to the infamous Senado Square which was done up with overdue Chinese New Year decor. It was a Saturday afternoon and needless to say, it was just so crowded. I roamed around and bought myself a cheap checkered hat from a really really old lady.

We then had a short tour inside St. Dominic's Church with a really pretty yellow facade. John left for work and so Syn and I pretty much had the rest of the day to ourselves. We headed to the Ruins of St. Paul after passing by so many touristy shops along the way, many selling almond biscuits and ginger candies. Then we sat down for a rest at the garden adjacent to it and had an aerial view of the city at Monte Fort.

After that, we were supposed to look for the bus-stop to head back down to Taipa Village where we would have dinner. But before that, we had a little walk around admiring the lovely architecture of Macau, enjoying the space and the slower pace of life compared to Hong Kong.

We finally found Rua do Regedor and began my little tour of Taipa Village. It was a cool stretch of street filled with food places, souvenirs and the usual shops for almond biscuits and ginger candies! I had a rose milk tea at the cafe Syn took me to, and she ended up watching me drink.

Then for dinner, she decided on Corto, apparently another place for portuguese food. After a long wait, we finally were ushered in, I settled on veal while the missy had duck stew. The food was alright I thought, the servers weren't the friendliest and the place was cramped. But people continued to flock in. Then it was time for a casino tour.

 

These are some of the casinos we passed by along the way to The Venetian. I would love to visit the Grand Lisboa the next time I am there, it looked just so magnificent! I had my first 100HKD gamble (sponsored by Adam) at The Venetian and alas I lost it. I wished I was more decisive in picking a table, that indecisiveness really dampened my gambling mood and luck. LOL. Not that I am a gambler, this is my second time placing a bet after my first jackpot try in Las Vegas. Then I was told I must have the Portuguese egg tart at the Lord Stow's in The Venetian. That was my last supper before we headed back to Hong Kong!

That ferry ride back to Hong Kong, without distraction, was really bad. I almost thought I needed to use a bag. Then we had to take the 1am ferry back to Mui Wo... and I was so glad when I was finally in bed!

Amazzone Monday

I don't know why the word "Amazzone" but it came natural to me... ;)

Anyhow, what a good Monday it was! Even though I was awakened by a few phone calls, not the best way to wake up, things sort of fell into places. The email reply I was waiting for came in. A friend forwarded an opportunity or two... I got out of the house, bought myself something nice to eat for dinner!

Also I attended a focus group survey at this company where the staff were mostly Japanese, how cool! I really enjoyed it especially when I was asked to give my thoughts. I adore this guy who was showing us the images, I don't know why but he made me feel at ease :)