South Bank Walk

The next day saw us taking a long walk along the South Bank. We started at Westminster, crossed over to the South Bank, walking past London Eye and right up to the Tate Modern, then back across the river via the Millennium Bridge to St Paul's Cathedral. Phew!

Houses of Parliament

Buskers at work

View of the Millennium Bridge and St Paul from inside the Tate Modern

We had a look inside the Tate, and it was rather interesting, as always. Hubby and I played a game where we tried to guess the names of the exhibits on display; and we would come up with names like 'Circles in Squares' or 'Block of Wood' or something along those lines. Ahh.. modern art. :)

Our walk didn't end there.. we continued from St Paul down Holborn till we reached an old haunt (Kam Fung) for dinner. It was nice to have a warm, satisfying meal at the end of that long, long day!

Stonehenge & Salisbury

It's quite strange seeing this major tourist attraction just standing there by the highway. One can actually see the entire structure quite clearly without paying the entrance fee; which loads of people just did. We did pay to go in; the experience wasn't really great, but it wasn't too bad though. We had the most fun trying to figure out which angle the photo featured on the brochure was taken from (we tried to take the same one). Pretty soon others caught on to what we were trying to do; seemed to think it was a great idea, and so they did the same. Hehe.

We then headed for Salisbury, famous for its cathedral which has the tallest church spire in the UK. Salisbury is quite a pretty place, but we weren't there for long since we didn't want to get back to London too late.

I managed to drive part of the way and made it to the car rental place to drop off the car (it was stressful though- given the rush hour traffic). So now I can say I drove in London! Haha :p

We met some dear friends for a late dinner, and had a great time catching up. I met cute little George for the first time- and he is ever so adorable!

Gorgeous George :)

Penzance to Tintagel

The next day saw a drastic change in the weather. It was cold and rainy, with strong winds all round. Not so pleasant when one is near the coastline! :(

We drove to St Ives , but didn't get a chance to see much of it because it was raining so heavily. We sought shelter at the Tate St Ives for a while but finally decided to go on with our journey because the rain and wind showed no signs of abating.

So on we drove to Tintagel, which took a couple of hours- given the weather conditions. Tintagel turned out to be a really touristy place. We took the walk to the castle- only to find it was closed!! They couldn't let anyone go up there due to the strong winds. We were so disappointed, but just had to make do with exploring Merlin's cave and wandering around the area a little bit.

Leaving Tintagel, we drove back to Plymouth, ending our trip to Cornwall. The trip was lovely- but shame about Tintagel Castle! Sigh.

Cornwall: Minack Theatre & Land's End

We left Marazion and drove to Porthcurno to see the Minack Theatre. The drive was a tad scary, as the roads were narrow and winding, with either stone walls or hedges on both sides (thereby leaving no road shoulders). It was a bit stressful when cars came up close behind us (probably the locals) and we had to find suitable spots to pull over and let them pass. Plus, it was quite unnerving to suddenly go round a bend to see a car coming headlong towards us! Not for the faint-hearted, that drive.

We were so glad when we arrived at Minack Theatre. I would never have known about this place if not for my mum- who saw it featured on her favourite travel show, hosted by the ever-so-entertaining Samantha Brown. Minack Theatre is an amazing open-air theatre created from the cliffside at Porthcurno with spectacular views of the bay. The theatre was built by a lady named Rowena Cade- who actually transported stones from a nearby quarry in a wheelbarrow; thus building it with her own hands! Wow.

The scenery from the top of the cliff was simply breathtaking. We were so blessed to have beautiful weather that made the visit such a wonderful one. When we saw the theatre, I was shocked at how steep it was! I am terrified of heights, so walking around and looking down (especially near the edge) made my knees go weak... :p

Can you think of a more gorgeous way to enjoy scones? :)

Leaving Minack Theatre, we drove on to Land's End- the most westerly point in England. The views of the rocky cliffs and the ocean was breathtaking, and it was lovely to see locals and tourists alike out enjoying the beautiful weather.

Cornwall: St Michael's Mount

The next day saw us driving from Plymouth to Penzance, and then on to Marazion to see St Michael's Mount. I was quite excited at the thought of visiting this unique, rocky island, which you can walk to when the tide is low. It was drizzling when we arrived, and the weather was just awful and miserable.

We wandered around a bit while debating whether we should take the short motorboat trip over to the island (the tide was in). It was so cold and I wasn't keen on climbing up the hill to see the castle. The thing that I was really hoping to do was to walk across the causeway at low tide, but obviously, one needed to be there at the right time. We finally decided to go over, and I was so excited to hear that the tide would be out in about an hour's time! Yippee!

We had so much fun walking back along the causeway; it was such a great experience. It was like this yellow brick road fully revealed at the parting of the sea! :)

Some people removed their shoes for the walk, whilst children poked around for crabs and stuff amongst the exposed seaweed and rocks- buckets and spades in tow. Even vehicles could drive on the causeway! It was quite amazing to be walking along this road with the sea at the edge; it was certainly a memorable experience for us.

By this time, the sun had broken through the clouds and the weather was warm and gorgeous. We joined the masses who decided to camp out in the sunshine and admire St Michael's Mount against the backdrop of a beautiful blue sky... while sipping beer and enjoying a lovely lunch! :)

Jacket Potato with North Atlantic Prawns

Roast beef with roasted vegetables; the parsnips were simply delicious!

Pretty Plymouth

Early next morning, we went to pick up our car from the car rental company. Hubby rented a Vauxhall Astra, but they decided to offer us an upgrade because there was this other car that needed to be sent back to London (our drop-off point). The upgrade? A C180 Mercedes Benz! Ooo. We took it.

Anyway, the drive to Plymouth wasn't too bad, although traffic was heavy, it being a Bank Holiday weekend.

Plymouth turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. We really enjoyed strolling along The Hoe; taking in the fresh air and the lovely view of Plymouth Sound (it's a bay). Some of the famous landmarks in the area such as Smeaton's Tower and the Royal Citadel also made for good photo opportunities.

Smeaton's Tower

We continued walking until we came to the Barbican Maritime Village, which I thought was rather quaint and pretty. It might be a bit touristy for some, but I found it quite interesting in its own way- with little sailing boats crowding the waterways and narrow streets lined with little shops and galleries. Of course, we didn't miss the famous Mayflower Steps, said to be the place where the Pilgrim Fathers boarded the Mayflower and sailed for America in 1620.

We had Fish & Chips and pickled eggs for lunch, which was quite nice. There was one item on the menu with an unusual name.. turned out to be meatballs in gravy. Yes, I did have to ask someone at the counter to find out what it was.

That aside, we also treated ourselves to some ice-cream with clotted cream, which I thought was yummy, although hubby didn't think so. Heh.

Our last stop for the day was the Plymouth Gin Distillery, where we joined a short guided tour to find out more about its history and also how gin is made. It was quite fun learning about the different spices that go into Plymouth Gin, as we got to touch, smell and taste them.

What a lovely day! :)

A quiet day in Bristol..

My course lasted another day, so hubby spent most of the day exploring Bristol by himself. He went to see the SS Great Britain- said to be the world's first great ocean liner. Launched in 1843, it was the first ocean-going ship with an iron hull and a screw propeller. It is now an award-winning visitor attraction and museum ship in Bristol Harbour.

I was so glad when my course ended. More of the fun stuff in store for us! :)

Bath

While I was stuck attending a course (which wasn't particularly enjoyable- for a host of reasons), hubby went off to see Bath, which was a £5.50, one-hour bus ride away from Bristol. Hubby enjoyed himself in Bath (which I've visited before) so it was a good place to keep him occupied for the day!

Bath is a World Heritage City, and as such, it attracts a lot of tourists. Legend has it that Bath was founded in 860 BC by King Bladud, who was miraculously cured of leprosy when he stepped into its natural hot springs!

There is quite a lot to see in Bath- but be prepared to do some walking! The most popular attractions include the Roman Baths Museum and Bath Abbey, plus walking around the city is quite pleasant too :)

So cute!

London to Bristol

The next day saw us travelling from London to Bristol, where I was due to attend my two-day course held at the Marriott Hotel. Traffic was heavy on the highway, so we arrived in Bristol quite late in the afternoon.

Bristol seemed like a rather small and sleepy place; we walked around a little and saw places like the Centre Promenade, Corn Street and the Corn Exchange.

We popped by Wetherspoon's for an affordable meal- like my friends and I used to after CU meetings on Thursdays back at university, although prices have most definitely gone up since those days! Think it was £5.99 back then?

Bottom right: Just HAD to get this when I saw it...

Part of the memory lane experience :p

Day 3 in London

Ok, back to London.

I was dying to go back to the Natural History Museum to check out the dinosaurs (I'm a huge fan) so that was where we spent the 3rd morning of our trip. I just love seeing and learning more about all the wonderful and fascinating creatures that roam (and used to roam) this amazing planet that we live in.

The Natural History Museum

There was so much to see but we had so little time, so we ended up only visiting the ground floor! Just enough to see the Dinosaurs, Fishes, Amphibians and Reptiles, Mammals, Creepy Crawlies and Fossil Marine Reptiles.

Check out the pictures...

Amazing huh?

Talk about weird 'before and afters'

Moving on from the museum, we went to Harrods and headed straight for the Food Halls. It was just amazing- all the tempting smells and wonderful colours makes one want to take a basket and buy everything within reach (until one sees the price tag :p).

Since I couldn't afford it when I was student; I decided that we ought to have lunch there. We sat ourselves down at one of the bar counters- the Rotisserie; and I ordered the Mixed Kebab with Rice (which was yummy) while hubby had the Roast Beef (which was so-so.. not great). We also ordered some roast potatoes which cost £5.50 (there were only 5 of them!), and the total bill came up to almost £50!! Yikes.

The memorial to Diana and Dodi..

and one of the many statues and carvings that have faces that strangely resemble the owner of Harrods, al-Fayed...

Our next stop turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip- a visit to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium! And I'm not even an Arsenal fan.. heh. It was a really cool experience; it's not often one gets to go behind the scenes and learn more about the club and the players.

Emirates Stadium is HUGE; I gasped when we walked in and caught the first glimpse of the inside. We also got to enter the dressing room, walk through the tunnel and sit on Arsene Wenger's seat! There were also a couple of interesting facts that we learnt on the guided tour- like how Arsene Wenger insists that only English is used (except for certain areas) and that there is a 8-year waiting list for membership to the Diamond Club (hope I got the name right) despite the £100,000 fee!

Bottom left: the preserved centre spot at Highbury :)

Last on our itinerary for the day was a musical- Wicked! The storyline was clever and funny, and there were a few memorable songs, although I wouldn't exactly rank it on par with musicals like Les Misérables or Miss Saigon. Wicked is about Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, (and how she came to be known as such), and it reminds us of how there is always two sides to every story.

Wicked was wicked! (Pardon the pun..)

Food poisoning!

Since the blogging about our London trip is so 'tergendala' anyway, I might as well put in some 'real-time' stories in between...

I just got discharged from hospital this morning. I started throwing up in the early hours of Tuesday morning and even after seeing the doctor a bit later and getting a jab, I still wasn't feeling any better. I couldn't keep anything down- not even water. As I was already dehydrated (blood pressure and heart rate were already outside normal range); and re-hydration via oral re-hydration salts was not working (since I was throwing everything up), I called the doctor again and she suggested that I get further help from the A&E dept at a nearby hospital. I would be needing fluids and medication intravenously.

I SOS-ed hubby and he flew back from his meeting in Shah Alam to drive me to the hospital. I wasn't even able to stand properly by then, much less drive. We arrived at the A&E dept in the late afternoon, and after a brief examination, the doctor decided that I had to be admitted. That came as a surprise- I thought that an IV drip would do the job. But apparently I was quite dry and also running a temperature, so oh well...

Hospitals are depressing; all the needles, wheelchairs, equipment, etc look so cold and scary.. nothing quite so glamorous as what you see on House and Grey's Anatomy. Just how do doctors and nurses do it? Eh.. Moonie? :)

All in all, I'm feeling much better now. A special thank you to all who showered me with concern and kept me in prayer.

I really need to learn to watch what I eat. Sigh.

To the British Museum and down memory lane...

We have been back for more than a month now- but as you can see, the blogging is lagging far behind! :p

Back to day 2 in London. We began our adventures for the day at the British Museum. We actually got there late and missed the guided tour because I made a stupid mistake reading the Tube map (can u believe it :p); but we ended up taking the audio tour instead so everything worked out fine.

It wasn't my first time there, but the Great Court was new (to me), and I thought it was quite a sight indeed.

Other famous objects on display include the Rosetta Stone, the Nereid Monument, Lewis Chessmen, and of course- those famous mummies! The British Museum is absolutely fabulous- there is just so much to see. I think it's impossible to see and appreciate everything in one day; how I wished I lived near enough to pop in and check out a couple of galleries at a time! Much more interesting then hanging out at a mall (the favourite pastime here in KL :p). We were exhausted and overwhelmed after a few hours, and so we ended up just listening to the audio guide and referring to the pictures on the floor guide; sitting comfortably on a bench instead of dragging our tired legs to the African galleries. Haha!

Check out the mummified cats!

I used to live down the road from the museum, so I dragged hubby there to have a look. We then made our way to my university, taking the same route that I walked for 3 years. Things have changed quite a bit. My beloved university has changed- it has grown in size (they bought more buildings), some things are newer, some things are gone, and it looks like my favourite lecturer no longer teaches there. I couldn't even remember how to make my way through those hidden passageways that connect the different areas of the university. I left with a heavy heart, thinking of how quickly time has flown by. Sigh.

Oh well, at least my favourite sandwich from the university sandwich bar- the 'Mexican Tuna Bap', still tastes the same! :p

We then made our way to Covent Garden to check out the little shops, the markets and of course- the buskers; but I was a little disappointed that the discount bookstore and the cool gadget shop that I used to visit was gone. We walked down Neal Street after that and ended up wandering all the way to Tottenham Court Road.

Covent Garden

Later that evening, we met up with some friends for dinner at the Old Thameside Inn. We wanted to sit outside, but it was freezing! And this was mid-May! :p

I had the Steak and Timothy Taylor Landlord Ale Pie, which was quite nice (although some bits of it were a tad salty) and hubby had the Fish and Chips, which didn't impress. Hmmm.. better luck at the next pub, maybe? :)

A lovely Sunday in London

We started the day by joining Y&A for Sunday service at St Helen's Bishopsgate, where we listened to an excellent sermon on a passage from Acts. The church is situated in the City of London, close to the famous Lloyd's building and the ultra-modern 'Gherkin' (which interestingly has only one piece of curved glass, although the building in itself looks curved overall).

After the service ended, we caught the Tube to Embankment and then headed for Trafalgar Square. It was a lovely day to be outside, and people were just hanging out and enjoying the (rare) sunshine...

Somehow, I felt that something was different about Trafalgar Square. It seemed brighter and cleaner; and then I saw this! So THAT'S why... hmm.

No more pigeons...

Leaving the lovely Trafalgar Square behind, we moved on to Leicester Square and Chinatown, where I just had to visit a 'favourite' haunt of mine- Wong Kei :)

The waiters seemed a lot less rude (but maybe that's because we were there past the peak lunch hour); and I realised they were no longer wearing those white shirts; it's black T-shirts now! Haha. I went back for my 'usual'- Noodles with Roast Duck and Char Siu, but truth be told, it was TERRIBLE. I remember it tasting quite nice, so either I was unlucky that day, or 'quite nice' defined when one is a student means an entirely different thing. Sigh :p

On the other hand, hubby's 'Wat Dan Char Lap Fun' (Scrambled Eggs with Diced Char Siu) didn't taste too bad, although it looks gross. I warned him earlier not to be taken aback by its appearance; and assured him that it does- despite looking like vomit on rice, taste better than it looks. Heh.

Scenes from Chinatown

After lunch, we moved on to Piccadilly Circus, popping by into Trocadero for a bit, and then walked down Regent Street all the way until we reached Oxford Circus. More walking was in store as we trooped on to Marble Arch and then to Speakers' Corner (in Hyde Park) where we checked out a couple of lively debates.

It was nice to see people taking advantage of the pleasant weather- families were out picnicking, guys were playing football, and some people were roller-blading. Strolling by the Serpentine, we went in search for the Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, which turned out to be quite a walk away. Now this is really an unconventional fountain- water flows from the highest point in two directions as it cascades, swirls and bubbles before meeting in a calm pool at the bottom. At first I didn't think much of it, but after walking around it for a bit, I thought it was quite pretty indeed.

By this time, we were really knackered from all that walking! So we caught the Tube back to Y&A's, and experienced the first of our few hiccups on the Tube (about a 20-minute delay on the Jubilee line :p) A long, but lovely Sunday indeed!

Leaving for London..

It's been almost a week since we came back from our trip to UK. We had a nice time, although we have been struggling with jet lag ever since we got home! :p

Anyway, this is the first of our series of posts on the trip. It all began with a rather frustrating wait to check-in for our MAS direct flight to London.. I think it's odd how they have a common check-in queue for ALL international flights. Plus, there were only 3 or 4 counters open, which meant the queue rapidly extended all the way to the entrance of the terminal building! And this was at 7:30 a.m.! It was quite ridiculous really. Almost everyone was complaining; at least we allowed more than 2 hours prior to our time of departure.... imagine how nervous those with earlier flights must have felt! Gosh.

Other than that, everything went quite alright. The captain on our flight was quite the clown; he said the funniest things to get us to pay attention to his announcements :)

After a loooooooong flight, we finally got to Heathrow and were then faced with another long queue to clear immigration. Poor Y&A; they must have waited at least an hour for us! We then took a lovely drive back to central London; it was really nice to drive through the city and catch a glimpse of those familiar sights!

Walking down memory lane...

I finally have the chance to walk down memory lane. It has been many years since I left London, and I have been dying to go back for the longest time. I am so happy that the time has finally come! Hubby and I will be off to the UK for the next two weeks- so watch this space for updates when we get back!

Shall the London I find now be the one I left? Most probably not, huh...

But perhaps this way, I shall truly find closure indeed.

Banquet, Bangsar Village II

We were pleasantly surprised to learn that Banquet is owned by the same people who own Café Café. After our lovely experience at Café Café, we were looking forward to give Banquet a try- especially after I took one of their menus home, studied it and pretty much decided what I was going to order when we got the chance to eat there! Haha :)

And dine there we did. Hubby ordered a set menu, and started with Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic and Olive Oil- simple yet so yummy.

His main course was the Oven Baked Butterfish with Honey Mustard Garlic Sauce, which was really delicious. One bite and I felt like kicking myself for not ordering this instead, although hubby was very generous in sharing his food! The fish was very fresh and the honey mustard complemented it perfectly (although I could be biased since I lurve honey mustard... mmm).

For my main course, I opted for the Spaghetti with Duck Lard and Sundried Tomatoes. Now this might seem a tad gross, but think of 'duck skin croutons' and it might not sound so bad. Anyway, I didn't quite know what to make of this dish. It wasn't as nice as I hoped it to be; but it wasn't lousy either. Somehow the spaghetti felt a bit 'waxy'; maybe it was the lard? :p