Thursday, May 29, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Ah Paris....
We were taking the 11.30am Eurostar train to Paris, so we arrived earlier in order not to be late. Other than the little delay in departure time, the trip there was great.
We brought a lot of snacks on board, it's like a little train picnic!
The train ride was very fast, very smooth. Imagine, we reached Paris in just 2.5 hours! We reached Gare Du Nord, one of the oldest and most beautiful train terminal in Paris!
We found the metro station underneath the station and bought our Paris Visite Pass. Honestly, Paris was a little more intimidating as most people don’t speak English, and all the station names are in French. And there were so many mean & tough looking Africans in France! Scary... So after some struggling, we managed to hop onto our train to our hotel. Phew... Exhausted and quite stressful really.
In Paris, if you want to get off the train, you need open the door yourself by pressing a button on the train door! Interesting right?
We had a little trouble locating the hotel, we walked about 10minutes before realizing that we were walking AWAY from the hotel. Sigh~ When we finally found the place, we found out that it was pretty crappy place. We have to change room as it was a double bed and the air con was faulty. It’s just pretty crappy. Luckily the bed was quite comfy... Heng ah...
Anyway, we still have some light, so we headed out to where every tourist in Paris would go.
The Eiffel Tower.
She was more beautiful as I imagined her to be. After staring at her in awe for awhile, we were still at a lost of where to find dinner. So our very first meal in the most romantic city in the world was sandwiches, french fries and coke underneath the magnificent Eiffel Tower.
As we dined among the pigeons and tourists, we absorbed in the beauty of it all. The tower right above us, the cool crisp air, and the gorgeous sunset at the background.
That was pretty romantic huh...
After ‘dinner’ we strolled down the park in order to view the tower from a far.
We sat down on a cool grassy patch just like the Parisians and admired it in silence. I cannot believe that I am actually in Paris, looking at THE Eiffel Tower with my own naked eyes! Everything is just so beautiful. A beautiful way to end a beautiful day...
The next morning we headed to the City tour office. As we were a little early, we strolled around a nearby park. “Oh look, a pyramid.” Cobby said nonchalantly as he saw the tip of it over some trees and bushes. “Oh” I replied.
Wait.
There’s only one pyramid in Paris.
I looked around, we’re in a nice park, there’s a pyramid nearby?
I started running towards it, with Cobby following behind. Could it be? And in a few minutes, I was staring at THE LOURVE MUSEUM!!! Aaaaaaaaaa....!
Oh My God! I was awestruck! This is one of the main reason why I wanted to come to Paris, so you can imagine the look of my face as I stand there, just a few hundred metres from it. I wanted to cry... It was even bigger and more beautiful than I imagined it to be! Cobby said that we shouldn’t go in now as we needed to go for our city tour soon. So I left reluctantly and went for our tour.
The Cityrama tour was just a 1.5 hours trip around the city in a bus, like a summary of the city. So from the tour we chose where we want to explore further. After the tour we had a, well, honestly a not so good lunch. But the French Onion Soup is to die for! YUM! So cheesy & oniony & bread-y. One of the best french onion soup I've tasted.
For the rest of the day, we practically just walked around to wherever we please! We lazed on the grass outside The Lourve. It's surprisinging warm if you lay down in the sun eventhough the weather is quite cool. But their grass is very nice and soft and insect free, no wonder the locals love it.
Strolled along the Seine river...
Browsed through the stores along the river...
Enjoyed a sumptuous chocolate crepe with cappuccino at a side walk café. Hey you're in France! This is a MUST DO! The coffee & crepe is super good by the way...Oui!
We then visited the beautiful Notre Dame de Paris.
We were facinated by the whole gothic design of the catheral even though we weren't Catholics. Beautiful...
The catheral is surrounded by gorgeous stained glass windows with stories designed into them.
The most famous is this rose window, which is close to 800 years old!
I also love the many life-like gargoyles perched on top of the towers. They have the best views of Paris I tell you...
The famous Quasimoto's bell.
Taking the boat is one of the best way to see Paris! Try Boatabus - it's like a bus system. You just hop on and off at various stations. So we took a leisurely boat ride down the Seine river before having dinner at the famous local restaurant, Bouillon Chartier Restaurant for dinner. It's very popular with the locals AND tourists. Look at the queue! And we also saw the whole door pasted with stickers of recommendation from dozens of travel guides!
The meal is very simple, cheap & good. Nice, cosy ambience too. No wonder people love it. As we took a bus back to our hotel, we even passed by the famous Moulin Rouge!
I don't know why I didn't think of planning for it, but we didn't. So sadly, we didn't go. But if you're interested, check this out.
So ends another day in Paris... tomorrow we pay a vist to Madam Mona Lisa~ So exciting!!!
We brought a lot of snacks on board, it's like a little train picnic!
The train ride was very fast, very smooth. Imagine, we reached Paris in just 2.5 hours! We reached Gare Du Nord, one of the oldest and most beautiful train terminal in Paris!
We found the metro station underneath the station and bought our Paris Visite Pass. Honestly, Paris was a little more intimidating as most people don’t speak English, and all the station names are in French. And there were so many mean & tough looking Africans in France! Scary... So after some struggling, we managed to hop onto our train to our hotel. Phew... Exhausted and quite stressful really.
In Paris, if you want to get off the train, you need open the door yourself by pressing a button on the train door! Interesting right?
We had a little trouble locating the hotel, we walked about 10minutes before realizing that we were walking AWAY from the hotel. Sigh~ When we finally found the place, we found out that it was pretty crappy place. We have to change room as it was a double bed and the air con was faulty. It’s just pretty crappy. Luckily the bed was quite comfy... Heng ah...
Anyway, we still have some light, so we headed out to where every tourist in Paris would go.
The Eiffel Tower.
She was more beautiful as I imagined her to be. After staring at her in awe for awhile, we were still at a lost of where to find dinner. So our very first meal in the most romantic city in the world was sandwiches, french fries and coke underneath the magnificent Eiffel Tower.
As we dined among the pigeons and tourists, we absorbed in the beauty of it all. The tower right above us, the cool crisp air, and the gorgeous sunset at the background.
That was pretty romantic huh...
After ‘dinner’ we strolled down the park in order to view the tower from a far.
We sat down on a cool grassy patch just like the Parisians and admired it in silence. I cannot believe that I am actually in Paris, looking at THE Eiffel Tower with my own naked eyes! Everything is just so beautiful. A beautiful way to end a beautiful day...
The next morning we headed to the City tour office. As we were a little early, we strolled around a nearby park. “Oh look, a pyramid.” Cobby said nonchalantly as he saw the tip of it over some trees and bushes. “Oh” I replied.
Wait.
There’s only one pyramid in Paris.
I looked around, we’re in a nice park, there’s a pyramid nearby?
I started running towards it, with Cobby following behind. Could it be? And in a few minutes, I was staring at THE LOURVE MUSEUM!!! Aaaaaaaaaa....!
Oh My God! I was awestruck! This is one of the main reason why I wanted to come to Paris, so you can imagine the look of my face as I stand there, just a few hundred metres from it. I wanted to cry... It was even bigger and more beautiful than I imagined it to be! Cobby said that we shouldn’t go in now as we needed to go for our city tour soon. So I left reluctantly and went for our tour.
The Cityrama tour was just a 1.5 hours trip around the city in a bus, like a summary of the city. So from the tour we chose where we want to explore further. After the tour we had a, well, honestly a not so good lunch. But the French Onion Soup is to die for! YUM! So cheesy & oniony & bread-y. One of the best french onion soup I've tasted.
For the rest of the day, we practically just walked around to wherever we please! We lazed on the grass outside The Lourve. It's surprisinging warm if you lay down in the sun eventhough the weather is quite cool. But their grass is very nice and soft and insect free, no wonder the locals love it.
Strolled along the Seine river...
Browsed through the stores along the river...
Enjoyed a sumptuous chocolate crepe with cappuccino at a side walk café. Hey you're in France! This is a MUST DO! The coffee & crepe is super good by the way...Oui!
We then visited the beautiful Notre Dame de Paris.
We were facinated by the whole gothic design of the catheral even though we weren't Catholics. Beautiful...
The catheral is surrounded by gorgeous stained glass windows with stories designed into them.
The most famous is this rose window, which is close to 800 years old!
I also love the many life-like gargoyles perched on top of the towers. They have the best views of Paris I tell you...
The famous Quasimoto's bell.
Taking the boat is one of the best way to see Paris! Try Boatabus - it's like a bus system. You just hop on and off at various stations. So we took a leisurely boat ride down the Seine river before having dinner at the famous local restaurant, Bouillon Chartier Restaurant for dinner. It's very popular with the locals AND tourists. Look at the queue! And we also saw the whole door pasted with stickers of recommendation from dozens of travel guides!
The meal is very simple, cheap & good. Nice, cosy ambience too. No wonder people love it. As we took a bus back to our hotel, we even passed by the famous Moulin Rouge!
I don't know why I didn't think of planning for it, but we didn't. So sadly, we didn't go. But if you're interested, check this out.
So ends another day in Paris... tomorrow we pay a vist to Madam Mona Lisa~ So exciting!!!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
2008 Company Dinner
We had our annual company dinner last night at the Civil Service Club at Bukit Batok. We arranged a black and white theme for our own table, eventhough there wasn't any theme required by the event organisers. It was a great night really. Good food, good booze, great company and LOADS of laughs watching friends do funny stuff when they're drunk.
Question: How do you know if someone had a little too much to drink?
(DJ plays sound of a frog croaking)
Emcee: OK, PL, name the animal that made that noise!
PL: Hmm that's kind of tough, but I think it's a mermaid.
The whole ballroom fell silent, eyebrows raised, chopsticks with food stopped midway to the mouth - everybody waiting for him to exclaim that he's kidding and answer "frog". But he just looked dead serious and insisted that the croaking sound belongs to a mermaid.
After 3 seconds the ballroom exploded into laugther and exclaimations. Just when we thought that nothing could be funnier, the brave emcee decided to give him another chance.
(DJ plays sound of a buffalo grunting)
Emcee: OK, PL, name the animal that made that noise!
PL: OK this one I'm quite sure that its an UGLY MERMAID.
Emcee: What???
PL: Yah! It must be a VERY UGLY MERMAID to make such ugly grunting sound!
.
.
.
HAHAHAHAHAHA... we laughed till our tummy ached...
All I can say is that PL was the King that night. Definitely the star of the night.
Well PL wasn't the only one that was affected by the booze last night. Another long time colleague got so emotional that we all got a shock. Later we found out that he was soon leaving the company, so the usual jolly fella got a little emotional about it. Sad, but it's kind of heart warming to witness a man's passion and love for his company.
When it was lucky draw time, I cheered on like everybody else, just for fun. I never won any lucky draw before in my life, so I wasn't expecting for anything. So when the emcee teasingly shouted out that it's someone from my department, I gamely shouted, "Colene! Colene! Colene!" And to my utter disbelieve, he really shouted "COLENE KOH"!!!
I remembered screaming like a crazy woman, put down my dessert and walking quickly towards the stage. I didn't even know what did I win until I took a galnce at the projector at the side. It's a Canon digital camera! I gave another "WHOOPIE!" and continued walking towards that stage to collect my prize from our Executive Director. He seems as excited as I am as he exclaimed, "Congratulations!"
Sigh~ What a great night. Definitely something I would remember for a long time. Cheers!
Question: How do you know if someone had a little too much to drink?
(DJ plays sound of a frog croaking)
Emcee: OK, PL, name the animal that made that noise!
PL: Hmm that's kind of tough, but I think it's a mermaid.
The whole ballroom fell silent, eyebrows raised, chopsticks with food stopped midway to the mouth - everybody waiting for him to exclaim that he's kidding and answer "frog". But he just looked dead serious and insisted that the croaking sound belongs to a mermaid.
After 3 seconds the ballroom exploded into laugther and exclaimations. Just when we thought that nothing could be funnier, the brave emcee decided to give him another chance.
(DJ plays sound of a buffalo grunting)
Emcee: OK, PL, name the animal that made that noise!
PL: OK this one I'm quite sure that its an UGLY MERMAID.
Emcee: What???
PL: Yah! It must be a VERY UGLY MERMAID to make such ugly grunting sound!
.
.
.
HAHAHAHAHAHA... we laughed till our tummy ached...
All I can say is that PL was the King that night. Definitely the star of the night.
Well PL wasn't the only one that was affected by the booze last night. Another long time colleague got so emotional that we all got a shock. Later we found out that he was soon leaving the company, so the usual jolly fella got a little emotional about it. Sad, but it's kind of heart warming to witness a man's passion and love for his company.
When it was lucky draw time, I cheered on like everybody else, just for fun. I never won any lucky draw before in my life, so I wasn't expecting for anything. So when the emcee teasingly shouted out that it's someone from my department, I gamely shouted, "Colene! Colene! Colene!" And to my utter disbelieve, he really shouted "COLENE KOH"!!!
I remembered screaming like a crazy woman, put down my dessert and walking quickly towards the stage. I didn't even know what did I win until I took a galnce at the projector at the side. It's a Canon digital camera! I gave another "WHOOPIE!" and continued walking towards that stage to collect my prize from our Executive Director. He seems as excited as I am as he exclaimed, "Congratulations!"
COOL!!! I GOT ANOTHER CAMERA NOW!!!!
Sigh~ What a great night. Definitely something I would remember for a long time. Cheers!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Yummy Dumplings
JL brought a plastic bagful of rice dumplings yesterday to office.
They looked a little messy, she didn't wrap them properly (hey it's not easy, I understand) But I'm a big fan of rice dumplings! So I took one and proceeded to unwrap it. The ladies seemed shocked at my actions.
MK: "you are eating it now?" (It's 8.30am)
CoCo: "What's wrong with that?"
MK: "...It's so early..."
CoCo: "breakfast what! people do eat dumplings for breakfast you know..."
MK: "You're gonna just eat it like that?"
CoCo: (getting abit annoyed) "then how am I supposed to eat it?" ("with my feet?" I thought)
MK: (mumbled)"I'll need a plate and fork" (followed by mumbled agreements by the other 2 aunties)
Hmph! Bunch of fancy pants, this is the best way to enjoy dumpling ok! Fresh from the leaves! .
.. Ok lah, given a choice I would prefer a plate too. But this is much more convenient mah! Hahaha...
Anyway...
IT'S DELICIOUS!!!
好吃!!!
I praised JL for the delicious dumpling. Im quite stringent when it comes to food that I like, so, it really is good. Ugly but good. Haha... In fact, wanted to get another one, but she only brought one for each person, so, I had to control myself!
The dumplings together with the rest of the goodies at our pantry...Perhaps I should learn how to make, then next time I can make some whenever I have a craving for it!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Toilet
I love our office toilet.
No really! In fact, I dare say that I prefer our office toilet to my own home’s toilet! It’s clean, dry and stink free, well, depends if there are any occupants inside. The temperature inside the cubicle is also just nice. Not too cool, not too warm. Which means that you can seek refuge in the cubicle from the freezing office, yet avoid getting all sweaty when doing your ‘business’ inside for long periods. Somehow the seat feels more comfortable! Maybe I should change my toilet seat at home…
The management pasted posters onto the cubicle doors, to promote cleanliness in the toilet. But the posters have not changed since... before I joined the company, so I can remember every single little detail of the poster by now. (well, this is the only thing to read inside anyway)
There are three cubicles in the toilet; my favourite is the last one at the far end, nearest to the window. Somehow the last cubicle always gives me the impression that it is more private, My Cubicle. But having a preferred cubicle would also mean that you could get quite annoyed when it is occupied, or dirtied by some irresponsible user. Then I would have to use the next cubicle, which seems dirtier, more, public-toilet feel. Urgh…
I don’t know about you, but when I’m doing my “big business”, I would rather be alone. There are different scenarios really.
One: If I go in, and someone is at the sink, (finished, washing up and soon leaving) I would wait inside the cubicle for the lady to leave before I poop.
Two: If the person is inside the cubicle, doing her business, I would just walk in and do my own stuff.
Three: If I’m done poop-ing and someone is outside washing up, I would wait till she leaves the toilet, then I’ll come out.
Four: If we’re both done, (I’d hear toilet paper being pulled) I’ll wait for her to leave the toilet before coming out.
So you can imagine there would always be some excruciating moments where you go into the cubicle and you wait for the ladies to leave the toilet, but they keep chatting in front of the mirror till you feel like you were going to die!!
Or like this morning, the cleaner was cleaning the toilet, so naturally she would hear some “sound-effects” from my session. So I would hope and pray that she would leave the toilet so that I can make my exit! But unfortunately she stayed and continue cleaning, so, bo bian. I would just have to endure the awkward moment when I come out and wash my hands.
I mean, the woman heard me poop! I can imagine her thinking, "oh~ so it's YOU!" Argh, so embarressing!
I wonder if others felt the same way when going to the toilet.
Or am I just eccentric??
No really! In fact, I dare say that I prefer our office toilet to my own home’s toilet! It’s clean, dry and stink free, well, depends if there are any occupants inside. The temperature inside the cubicle is also just nice. Not too cool, not too warm. Which means that you can seek refuge in the cubicle from the freezing office, yet avoid getting all sweaty when doing your ‘business’ inside for long periods. Somehow the seat feels more comfortable! Maybe I should change my toilet seat at home…
The management pasted posters onto the cubicle doors, to promote cleanliness in the toilet. But the posters have not changed since... before I joined the company, so I can remember every single little detail of the poster by now. (well, this is the only thing to read inside anyway)
There are three cubicles in the toilet; my favourite is the last one at the far end, nearest to the window. Somehow the last cubicle always gives me the impression that it is more private, My Cubicle. But having a preferred cubicle would also mean that you could get quite annoyed when it is occupied, or dirtied by some irresponsible user. Then I would have to use the next cubicle, which seems dirtier, more, public-toilet feel. Urgh…
I don’t know about you, but when I’m doing my “big business”, I would rather be alone. There are different scenarios really.
One: If I go in, and someone is at the sink, (finished, washing up and soon leaving) I would wait inside the cubicle for the lady to leave before I poop.
Two: If the person is inside the cubicle, doing her business, I would just walk in and do my own stuff.
Three: If I’m done poop-ing and someone is outside washing up, I would wait till she leaves the toilet, then I’ll come out.
Four: If we’re both done, (I’d hear toilet paper being pulled) I’ll wait for her to leave the toilet before coming out.
So you can imagine there would always be some excruciating moments where you go into the cubicle and you wait for the ladies to leave the toilet, but they keep chatting in front of the mirror till you feel like you were going to die!!
Or like this morning, the cleaner was cleaning the toilet, so naturally she would hear some “sound-effects” from my session. So I would hope and pray that she would leave the toilet so that I can make my exit! But unfortunately she stayed and continue cleaning, so, bo bian. I would just have to endure the awkward moment when I come out and wash my hands.
I mean, the woman heard me poop! I can imagine her thinking, "oh~ so it's YOU!" Argh, so embarressing!
I wonder if others felt the same way when going to the toilet.
Or am I just eccentric??
I love Long Weekends!
I love long weekends... Saturday feels like a Friday, Sunday feel like a Saturday and Monday feels like a Sunday. Best of all, when you come back to work the next day, Monday has already passed and the worst part of your work week is over. haha...
The weekend was great. Not much happenings, just relax all the way~ here are some highlights.
Watched 4 DVDs
Coach Carter (Love it)
Notting Hill (Love it)
Good Will Hunting (absolutely love it)
Le Grand Chef (Korean Movie) (OK lah... tear jerker)
Tried the new McGriddles at Mcdonald's
Hmm... I don't know... its basically the same as your McMuffins, just that they replaced the muffins with thick pancakes soaked in maple syrup. It kindda sticks to your teeth abit though... Erm, it doesn't taste horrible, but I don't think I would order it again. I'm a traditionalist.
Went to Chinatown for breakfast
Didn't know when they re-opened, but was quite happy to go back and eat at my family's frequent food stores again. The food tasted even better when I get to share it with my parents on Monday morning.
天天猪肉粥 (pork porridge)
多记猪肠粉 (zhu chang fen)
雪花飞冷热甜品 (my favourite chendol)
etc...
Tried to tackle Cobby's ulcer
He's got this nasty ulcer on his tongue that just won't go away! I even help him put salt on it and watch him scream in pain but still, the ulcer survives! Hmm guess we'll just have to let it heal by itself.
Went swimming at SAFRA Yishun
It was so warm and humid during the long weekends! So we bought a new pair of swimming trunks for Cobby and (ahem) a new set of bikini for me and we headed to the SAFRA Yishun for a swim. I am happy to announce that Cobby's whiter than white torso is no longer blinding white. His body look more like human torso than a piece of dough now. Haha... Best of all, he enjoyed it so much that he said that we should swim more often during the weekends! Yeah so happy~!
Wahjong mania is back baby!
I stopped playing Wahjong at Viwawa for quite some time now, but over the weekend, I just could'nt stop! Whenever I have some time on my hands I would log on and start playing. Fun~
The rest of the time was spent on newspapers, blogging abit, watching TV, having nice home cooked meals or going out for a nice dinner. Sigh~ why of why did it have to end! :)
The weekend was great. Not much happenings, just relax all the way~ here are some highlights.
Watched 4 DVDs
Coach Carter (Love it)
Notting Hill (Love it)
Good Will Hunting (absolutely love it)
Le Grand Chef (Korean Movie) (OK lah... tear jerker)
Tried the new McGriddles at Mcdonald's
Hmm... I don't know... its basically the same as your McMuffins, just that they replaced the muffins with thick pancakes soaked in maple syrup. It kindda sticks to your teeth abit though... Erm, it doesn't taste horrible, but I don't think I would order it again. I'm a traditionalist.
Went to Chinatown for breakfast
Didn't know when they re-opened, but was quite happy to go back and eat at my family's frequent food stores again. The food tasted even better when I get to share it with my parents on Monday morning.
天天猪肉粥 (pork porridge)
多记猪肠粉 (zhu chang fen)
雪花飞冷热甜品 (my favourite chendol)
etc...
Tried to tackle Cobby's ulcer
He's got this nasty ulcer on his tongue that just won't go away! I even help him put salt on it and watch him scream in pain but still, the ulcer survives! Hmm guess we'll just have to let it heal by itself.
Went swimming at SAFRA Yishun
It was so warm and humid during the long weekends! So we bought a new pair of swimming trunks for Cobby and (ahem) a new set of bikini for me and we headed to the SAFRA Yishun for a swim. I am happy to announce that Cobby's whiter than white torso is no longer blinding white. His body look more like human torso than a piece of dough now. Haha... Best of all, he enjoyed it so much that he said that we should swim more often during the weekends! Yeah so happy~!
Wahjong mania is back baby!
I stopped playing Wahjong at Viwawa for quite some time now, but over the weekend, I just could'nt stop! Whenever I have some time on my hands I would log on and start playing. Fun~
The rest of the time was spent on newspapers, blogging abit, watching TV, having nice home cooked meals or going out for a nice dinner. Sigh~ why of why did it have to end! :)
Sunday, May 18, 2008
London Part 2!
We were supposed to join the day tour today but when we arrived at the pickup point, we were a little reluctant. Why? It has been raining non-stop and the tour was an open top bus tour of the city. No point right? So we stop by a little café called Prêt for some breakfast. It was so cold~ so we ordered a soup (called Chicken Souk) to share. OH! It was delicious!!! We greedily slurped down the soup and ordered another one as we watched people walk by outside the café.
Well, since we’ve decided to skip the tour, we headed to The Tower of London ourselves.
Its pretty fun, they’ve got these big fat ravens (crows) the live there, because according to legend, if the ravens leave the tower, the London Kingdom would fall. Oh and not forgetting the Crown Jewels! If you love your bling blings, this would be a must-see! *drool*
After lunch we walked over to the Tower Bridge, one of the most beautiful and biggest draw bridge in London. You can get a ticket and see the inside of the bridge. Fun… Great views and picture taking opportunities too.
After that we ended on the other side of the river, so we headed to the HMS Belfast, an actual warship that was docked at the river and converted into a museum. The teachers in London were on strike, so there were a lot of youngsters wandering around, quite crowded. But it was quite interesting; they even fired a few blank rounds from their giant guns. Yah, was official deaf for 15mins after that as I was standing pretty close. I couldn’t cover my ears as I had to hold the camera.
We wanted to take a Thames River boat cruise, but the station was on the other side of the river, so we headed back to the bridge again. Lucky Lucky! As we were going back, a sail boat needed to pass so we actually witnessed the bridge open up! This doesn’t happen very frequently so we were quite lucky.
We have some time before the next boat arrives so we bought fish and chips to share! Very generous portions!
The fish was very fresh and yummy, a must try when you come to London! The camera went out of battery when we boarded the open air boat, so it was quite a bummer. But the boat ride was a great way to see London, just sit back, relax and enjoy the sights and the cool wind.
We got off the Westminister pier and saw Big Ben! We planned to come back tomorrow but we couldn’t resist taking some pictures, so… plan B! Hehe… took some pictures of the London Eye with my handphone camera. I don’t feel like going for the London Eye, so we didn’t. We then strolled around and came across this beautiful garden with pretty flowers everywhere!
By then it’s already pass 6.30pm and the last boat has left, so we took a train to a recommended restaurant, Porters English Restaurant. The London Pass offers a bottle of wine for two main courses, but apparently, a main course consist of appetizers, main course and dessert. We cannot possibly finish! So we just ordered a Sheppard’s pie and a Guinness and mushroom pie.
We were super full after that. The restaurant is located at Convent Garden, and there’re a lot of shops and pubs there, so it’s very lively at night. There was a soccer match that night, so the pubs were filled with fans in England soccer jersey, singing, dancing and laughing. Very passionate fans there! But it could get rowdy, so we went back to the hotel after dinner and rest. Tired!
The next day we found out that our train station also has a Pret cafe! Hoho, we had sausage soup with croissant, Oh baby… very good man… We then decided to explore the area around the hotel and found a little open air market. One of the stores sells all sorts of home-made cakes, pies and bread! So I can’t resist and bought a brownie. Heehee…
We went for our tour, which was the London Hop-on Hop-off tour. It was raining in the beginning, but it cleared up later and it was super shiok to sit at the open top of the bus, with the cold wind blowing on your face! Whoo hoo! We drop off and headed to Tate Modern, one of London’s top modern art museum. When the commentator on the bus said that the most recent exhibition at Tate Modern was a giant crack, I thought he was just joking. But when we got there, we realize that it was real!
There really was a HUGE crack on the exhibition floor that stretches all the way to the end of the hall. But the exhibition has ended so we only got to see the staff patching up the crack. So interesting right?! Got to see some really good art and even the famous Water Lily by Monet, so it was a really treat for me.
Had a really miserable lunch there though. I had to force down my yucky salmon curry as Cobby wolfed down his delicious cheeseburger. Disgusting man.
We crossed the beautiful Millennium Bridge and headed to St. Paul’s Cathedral, very beautiful place.
That’s where Princess Diana and Prince Charles got married! For the more active people, head all the way up to the Golden Gallery. It’s a LONG climb up, but it’s fun.
Don’t miss the little hole on the floor when you’re near the top. It looks directly down to the main hall, VERY LONG DROP, yikes. I discovered it and took a picture. The other tourists saw that and soon everybody was crowding around the little hole, looking down and squealing in fear and taking pictures. Haha… The protective glass was a little cloudy though.
As planned, we headed back to Westminister and saw Big Ben again.
We wanted to visit the Westminister abbey, a very old church next door but it was already closed, so too bad.
As I was squatting down to take a picture of the church, a toddler suddenly ran towards me and I captured her in the picture instead.
So cute right? The girl’s parents and I shared a laugh when I showed them the picture. It’s still a little early, so we took a leisurely boat ride back to the Tower of London.
And hop-on the last London tour bus back to the city center. We ate at a fusion cuisine restaurant Wagamama that night. I wasn’t a fan of fusion food, but having hot soupy ramen was a great way to warm the body and soul after running around in the cold weather all day, so I was grateful as I slurped up the soup!
Tomorrow we’ll be going to Paris. We’ll been in London for only 3 days and it’s only the beginning of our trip! Feels kindda weird cuz I felt like I’m ready to go home. Nonetheless I was very excited.
What would Paris be like?
Well, since we’ve decided to skip the tour, we headed to The Tower of London ourselves.
Its pretty fun, they’ve got these big fat ravens (crows) the live there, because according to legend, if the ravens leave the tower, the London Kingdom would fall. Oh and not forgetting the Crown Jewels! If you love your bling blings, this would be a must-see! *drool*
After lunch we walked over to the Tower Bridge, one of the most beautiful and biggest draw bridge in London. You can get a ticket and see the inside of the bridge. Fun… Great views and picture taking opportunities too.
After that we ended on the other side of the river, so we headed to the HMS Belfast, an actual warship that was docked at the river and converted into a museum. The teachers in London were on strike, so there were a lot of youngsters wandering around, quite crowded. But it was quite interesting; they even fired a few blank rounds from their giant guns. Yah, was official deaf for 15mins after that as I was standing pretty close. I couldn’t cover my ears as I had to hold the camera.
We wanted to take a Thames River boat cruise, but the station was on the other side of the river, so we headed back to the bridge again. Lucky Lucky! As we were going back, a sail boat needed to pass so we actually witnessed the bridge open up! This doesn’t happen very frequently so we were quite lucky.
We have some time before the next boat arrives so we bought fish and chips to share! Very generous portions!
The fish was very fresh and yummy, a must try when you come to London! The camera went out of battery when we boarded the open air boat, so it was quite a bummer. But the boat ride was a great way to see London, just sit back, relax and enjoy the sights and the cool wind.
We got off the Westminister pier and saw Big Ben! We planned to come back tomorrow but we couldn’t resist taking some pictures, so… plan B! Hehe… took some pictures of the London Eye with my handphone camera. I don’t feel like going for the London Eye, so we didn’t. We then strolled around and came across this beautiful garden with pretty flowers everywhere!
By then it’s already pass 6.30pm and the last boat has left, so we took a train to a recommended restaurant, Porters English Restaurant. The London Pass offers a bottle of wine for two main courses, but apparently, a main course consist of appetizers, main course and dessert. We cannot possibly finish! So we just ordered a Sheppard’s pie and a Guinness and mushroom pie.
We were super full after that. The restaurant is located at Convent Garden, and there’re a lot of shops and pubs there, so it’s very lively at night. There was a soccer match that night, so the pubs were filled with fans in England soccer jersey, singing, dancing and laughing. Very passionate fans there! But it could get rowdy, so we went back to the hotel after dinner and rest. Tired!
The next day we found out that our train station also has a Pret cafe! Hoho, we had sausage soup with croissant, Oh baby… very good man… We then decided to explore the area around the hotel and found a little open air market. One of the stores sells all sorts of home-made cakes, pies and bread! So I can’t resist and bought a brownie. Heehee…
We went for our tour, which was the London Hop-on Hop-off tour. It was raining in the beginning, but it cleared up later and it was super shiok to sit at the open top of the bus, with the cold wind blowing on your face! Whoo hoo! We drop off and headed to Tate Modern, one of London’s top modern art museum. When the commentator on the bus said that the most recent exhibition at Tate Modern was a giant crack, I thought he was just joking. But when we got there, we realize that it was real!
There really was a HUGE crack on the exhibition floor that stretches all the way to the end of the hall. But the exhibition has ended so we only got to see the staff patching up the crack. So interesting right?! Got to see some really good art and even the famous Water Lily by Monet, so it was a really treat for me.
Had a really miserable lunch there though. I had to force down my yucky salmon curry as Cobby wolfed down his delicious cheeseburger. Disgusting man.
We crossed the beautiful Millennium Bridge and headed to St. Paul’s Cathedral, very beautiful place.
That’s where Princess Diana and Prince Charles got married! For the more active people, head all the way up to the Golden Gallery. It’s a LONG climb up, but it’s fun.
Don’t miss the little hole on the floor when you’re near the top. It looks directly down to the main hall, VERY LONG DROP, yikes. I discovered it and took a picture. The other tourists saw that and soon everybody was crowding around the little hole, looking down and squealing in fear and taking pictures. Haha… The protective glass was a little cloudy though.
As planned, we headed back to Westminister and saw Big Ben again.
We wanted to visit the Westminister abbey, a very old church next door but it was already closed, so too bad.
As I was squatting down to take a picture of the church, a toddler suddenly ran towards me and I captured her in the picture instead.
So cute right? The girl’s parents and I shared a laugh when I showed them the picture. It’s still a little early, so we took a leisurely boat ride back to the Tower of London.
And hop-on the last London tour bus back to the city center. We ate at a fusion cuisine restaurant Wagamama that night. I wasn’t a fan of fusion food, but having hot soupy ramen was a great way to warm the body and soul after running around in the cold weather all day, so I was grateful as I slurped up the soup!
Tomorrow we’ll be going to Paris. We’ll been in London for only 3 days and it’s only the beginning of our trip! Feels kindda weird cuz I felt like I’m ready to go home. Nonetheless I was very excited.
What would Paris be like?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)