Saturday 26 June 2010

First stop

I'm currently in a place where the mayonnaise, tomato ketchup and strawberry tarts which are extremely delicious but only the price is preventing me from over eating. I wonder who can guess correctly, where am I?

Friday 25 June 2010

London Part 4: Theater overdose with Les Miserables

Monday: The day Y3 first step into Four Seasons and leaving London

Four Seasons is famous for its duck rice and Y3 after all these years, hasn't tried it until today.

I'm still not a big fan of duck no matter how much people promote it. I still can't make myself swallow the thick layer of fat under the skin. The char siew and Ma Po Tau Fu was delicious. I think I finished most if not all of the green chillies.

Harry Potter Time:
Platform 9 3/4 to my magical train to Hogwards.

My other classmates. Hehehe. This platform was quite a challenge to find as there was renovation going on.

Chilling at Ritazza, Euston station before bidding Y3 farewell.

Tuesday - The Day for Les Miserables:

Because PP and I haven't watched Les Miserables, we decided to go watch this famous theater before we go back for good. When we reached the theater, in order to qualify for student discount, we had to return 1 hour before the show started and the best available seat will cost 27.50 pounds each. So, we decided to go for lunch at Kulu Kulu Japanese restaurant.

The best dish there is the hand-roll sushi with salmon, avocado and tempura prawn. H and I had 2 of this and load of green tea and pickled ginger.

Followed by really delicious ice-cream at Scoop.

I didn't even realise that I was going to watch one of the Jonas brothers, Nick Jonas performing as one of the main protagonist.

We went back at 6.30 and we managed to get stall seats!!!

OMG!



Les Miserables is really one of the plays not to be missed. I was really impressed with the main actor-Jean Valjean's stamina, acting and singing. The concept for the props was impressive too. Good storyline mixed in with some history. Highly recommended. I thought I would be bored of theater after watching The Phantom of the Opera but I was wrong. I can go for theater anytime.

Supper of Pandan cake with Black Sesame Mochi while wathing The Orphan horror movie. What a combination. Hahahaha.

Wednesday - The day that I was bitten by the cafe crawl bug:
We started our crawl at the cafe inside St. Paul's cathedral.

See how famous these scones and Maid of Honours are. We're giving them celebrity treatment. Hahaha.

Scones which are crunchy on the outside and soft inside served with a generous scoop of strawberry jam and clotted cream. Yummy! The Maid of Honour pastry is made from clotted cream and it tasted more savory than sweet.

Our 2nd stop. I just found out that only certain branches of Starbucks serve scones.

Very Berry Scone with Ice Strawberry and Cream Frappucinno.

We walked all the way from St. Pauls home to Whitechapel. Hopefully I've burnt all the calories away....but then......

E cooked a feast for us! We ended up going to bed super full.

Thursday - the day to change money and revisit Central London

It's hard work changing currencies which are not popular and so many different types at the same time. Because I didn't really know London that well, I ended up in Bayswater changing money and then making my way back to Oxford Circus again. At least that's sorted.

Why is there such a huge queue in London? Ooooo, iPhone 4 is out! Worst part of all, 99% of people in the queue already owns an iPhone.

Dinner at Ten Ten Tei:
Don't be fooled by this Japanese restaurant with a small entrance. When we went in, they had more sittings underground and the place filled up really fast too.

I tried the Hayashi Chuka, which is cold noodles served only in the summer. It was really different but I liked it. M had Katsudon and it tasted like the usual Katsudon.


Now, I'm closing my London chapter and opening a new one. I hope that you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed blogging about my experience. I will now disappear till early July. Take care!

London Part 3: Camden Market and more food

After a whole day of intensive shopping, we went to Lotus, a floating Chinese restaurant to eat.

Can you imagine the shock on our faces when the first dish came out? We ordered 3 lobsters with noodles  cooked in cream and cheese sauce and even asked for extra cheese but we didn't expect the plate to be that big.

I was even more amazed when we managed to finish. Hahahah. But wait, there's another 9 dishes to go!

From steamed fish, fried prawn coated in batter with salted egg, to scallops and kang kung. I was more amazed that we managed to finish even our sago and yam dessert. Good job people.

The BIG eaters.


Group photo outside Lotus floating restaurant.

Waiting for the DLR home.

Sunday: Camden Market
This is the world's famous market. Finally, after 5 years in the UK, I got to visit this place before I go back home.
Even on the tube journey here, I've already come across people who are dressed up differently. On arrival, I was greeted by these weird looking shops with 3D designs on them.

Camden Market is made up of a few different markets and I could have gotten lost but thanks to PP who's been here before, she brought us around and we didn't.

First stop at Camden was to Yam Cha, for us to refuel our stomachs before exploring the place. This restaurant is highly recommended for Dim Sum in London. However, on our way there......
M googled on her BB and apparently the shop is closed on Sunday! Oh no. But we decided to just go there and take a photo of the shop....but guess what. The shop was opened!

Yum Cha

The environment inside was really nice, with walls decorated with rattan designs and we were lucky to get an empty table. The place did fill up really fast after we sat down.

Delicious Dim Sum. I have a feeling that I will miss the Dim Sum in the UK once I go back. Apparently the Dim Sum here is nicer than back home. I'll have to taste for myself when I'm back. Y3 recommended the duck tongue dish which all of us tried. It was spicy and cold, with a bit of bone. Very different but I think it would be nicer if it was pipping hot. Overall, the Dim Sum here is good and the price is reasonable.

The 4 visitors to Camden.

M and PP

We got bored at one point and started folding our own chopsticks holder. Match the chopstick holder to its owner. Hahahah.

Deep fried custard bun is a must. I like the custard buns here as the filling is not too sweet and the bun itself is not too thick. Delicious.

Back to the main point: Camden Market - Stables

First market which is just opposite Yam Cha is Stables. Even the entrance itself is impressive.

There were lots of bronzed statues of workers making horse shoes, horses and carriages all over the place.

My big horse.

 More horses and carriages.


There were lots of shops selling clothes and nik naks everywhere.

I really liked the layout of the place as it makes the market seemed like an amusement park instead.

Time to rest our tired feet.

Another place to rest.

You won't go hungry here. There's food from all over the world.

Riverside. There were loads of people just chilling along it.
Food stalls...

and more food stalls.

Camden Lock Market. We even met a Malaysian stall owner selling accessories there.

The famous motorcycle eating place.

I think they're real recycled motorbikes.

Belgian chocolate waffle on the way home.

Another view of the riverside.

It is always this crowded every single day.

I thought we would have headed home straight after the last picture of Camden, but we found the Aldo shoe shop which was offering extra discount on top of discounts. The 4 of us were the last ones to pay and leave the shop with at least a bag each. Hahahahah.

Waiting for the tube home.

We were greeted with Sarawak Laksa, thanks to H who specially prepared it for us. Yummy! This is what I call life.

Next up is, London Part 4: Theatre overdose with Les Miserables