Sunset & Nightfall in London

By 3.45 pm, the sun already started setting. I still had a few places left in my itinerary for that day, including the Big Ben and House of Parliament. It was a a pity about the dark photographs, but it actually brought out the peaceful and serene side of the fine architecture.


Surprisingly, when i took this photo facing the London Eye, it actually looked brighter as i was facing the sun. The London Eye looked a little out of place because it was so modern. Due to lack of time and also cos it was a little expensive, i decided to forego a spin on the Eye.

Ahhh...Westminster Abbey, where all Kings and Queens of England's coronation were held, as well as royal weddings. During the weekend i was there, they had Remembrance Day held. The garden was pretty crowded with people offering paper poppy flowers to those who perished in war.

Very beautiful carvings on the walls of Westminster Abbey.

Later i walked through Green Park to cut to Buckingham Palace for a quick look. There were squirrels, swans, ducks and dogs roaming freely in this park. It's like an animals' heaven here.

No changing of guards available at twilight...

I had a quick, brisk walk around Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Covent Garden just to soak in the atmosphere on a Saturday night. It was rowdy, and bustling with activity.

Also squeezed in a quick walk through Chinatown to enjoy the familiar aroma that i missed so much!

Tower Bridge & Tower of London

From the other side of River Thames, i strolled along the river bank and approached the iconic Tower Bridge. When i was there, no ships went through and so i didn't get the opportunity to see the bridge drawing up to let them through.

Such a magnificent day to be out and about London , just look at the sunshine and clear skies.

Just beside Tower Bridge is the Tower of London, my target destination in the morning. This building is very historical and holds all the Crown Jewels within it. There were also many displays of King/Queen's armours and suits and other attractions.

Within the tower, there were also displays of the King's chamber and rooms within the old palace. This place is somewhat similar to Chateau de Chillon that i visited in Montreux last year.

A self-taken picture just outside the tower to remember this day by.

This is a miniature of what the tower looks like. I spent about 4 hours at this place before moving on to my next destination.

The Atrium, Pan Pacific Hotel

My friends bought October's issue of Women Weekly, and were given coupons of 1-for-1 high tea at The Atrium, Pan Pacific Hotel. Three of us dined for the price of two. On the table, there were samples of tea leaves for us to sniff upon to facilitate our decision of which tea to select.


I ordered a cup of Vanilla tea for my first round....

And a Latte for my 2nd round....

Instead of being a buffet high tea, this time it is a two-tier English high tea which came in a selection of pastries, sandwiches and cakes.

The top-tier was filled with chocolate cakes, mango cream puffs and almond tarts.

I prefer the bottom-tier because the contents are less cloying. There were a couple of tuna puffs which really hit the spot!

Creams, butter, jam and marmalade came with the scones too....

And a picture for memories' sake!

Sunny London Morning

On our final weekend in UK, we had a day and a half to spend in London. Early morning, after breakfast, we strolled the streets of London with a few sites in mind. On our way to those attractions, we walked past the Justice Court. This lady perched on the building was so hauntingly real that i had to take a photo.


The building was nicely designed and was quite tall i had to capture a picture from bottom all the way to the top this way...on the top of the roof is a lady holding a sword in one hand and a weighing balance ( daching ), in another.

Of course, the first of attractions on my list for that day was the St Paul's Cathedral, an exquisite church near River Thames. The sky that day was stunningly blue, and made a perfect backdrop for the buildings.

The roof of St Paul's Cathedral is just bursting with details waiting to be admired by us. It wasn't opened when i visited, or i would've loved to see the Whispering Corner in it.

This is the side view of the building. If only i had another day or two in London, I would've waited for it to open. Alas, i was pressed for time and had to move on.

Just a short walk away is the Millennium Bridge, a new pedestrian bridge that brings people across River Thames to the opposite.

Even from the opposite side i was able to see St Paul's Cathedral from afar. It's that grand building right on the center with a round dome.

Working Week & Hull

The first week in York, we had to travel to work every day to meet people who i have only seen their email names each day, and finally got to see their faces. On the 2nd week, we moved to a small town called South Cave, and stayed at a beautiful castle-turned-golf-resort Castle Cave Resort.


Its beautiful main building is surrounded by a sprawling 18-hole golf course. The air around the hotel was fresh and very relaxing to be there, despite having the stress of work.

The workshop group brought us to Bradford for its famous Kashmir food, and the next day brought us to Hull on Bonfire Night, where the locals set up bonfires and had fireworks display.

This was the serious human congestion right after the end of the fireworks display. This was the only time UK reminded me of Singapore hahaha...

Apparently all the hot air the night before caused the fog to engulf the area the following morning. Prior to this photo, i was just in my hotel room, watching the news which informed me that Northern Yorkshire had 600+ fire emergencies the night before from Bonfire Night. On the last day of the workshop, we also travelled to Manchester before boarding a train to London

The Adventures of Sunny

Hi ! My name is Sunny. Here i am in UK, wow cozy bed!


Puffyrazzi dragged me out on a Saturday to go to Lake District. Boy, it was so cold i had to tough it out in winter gear.

Damn, this journey to Lake District is too long. I can't take it any more. Time for a catnap.

Ahhh....finally, time for a good meal in a cafe. Nice and warm....

Eeeeek....we're in a boat? I've got motion sickness, where's my dose of Novomin?

Puffyrazzi & Sunny.

Lake District

On my first weekend in UK, we decided to drive to Lake District near the Scottish border. It is a area with mountain and lakes and the weather forecast for the day was good, so we embarked on a 2.5 hour drive from York. Along the way were many good ole sheeps grazing on grasses with the nice blue sky as backdrop.


There were also adorable free-roaming dogs who were very willing for me to love them! Haha.... this one is Jude, a very excitable dog belonging to a bunch of hunters who were out on a hunting trip.

Upon reaching Lake District, we stopped at the small town of Windermere for a quick toilet break. This area had a nice little lake, with ducks, geese, swans and seagulls loitering at the lake parks. The beautiful scenery was accentuated by the pretty autumn colours.

We later drove to the Lake District Visitor Centre @ Brockhole and decided to take a hike over to Waterhead based on hiking instructions given out at the visitor center. At the beginning of our hike, we could see views like this. The white horses looked like unicorns, and basically i felt like i was in Harry Potter's world.

It got cloudy during our hike and even drizzled but this made the scenery better, you could see the rays of light coming through the clouds.

My crazy hiking partner, who made me do all sorts of crazy things in UK, like hiking in the rain.

Along the pretty path, we came across many locals who were out on a hike as well, and they were all very friendly, in contrast with those Brits we met in London.

This picture reminded me of a postcard. The real deal was actually much more picturesque than this, but sadly i can only keep the actual image in my mind.

After this short walk across this forest ( looked like Robin Hood was gonna appear out of nowhere), we finally reached Waterhead, where we boarded a boat which took us back to Brockhole where we later drove back to York.

最近

你 最近不说话 怎么了 为什么
是不是有什么事让你不快乐
听说你最近很孤单 有点乱 有点慌
可是我却不能够在你的身旁

你想要的 我却不能够给你我全部
我能给的 却又不是你想要拥有的
我们不适合 也不想认输
好几次 我们抱着彼此都是想要哭
你常解释 这样的一切 都只是开始
我觉得是 所有的一切 早就已结束
不想再约束 不要再痛苦
下一次会有更好的情路

爱 我却不能够 给你我全部
我能给的 却又不是你想要拥有的
我们不适合 也不想认输
好几次 我们抱着彼此都是想要哭
你常解释 这样的一切 都只是开始
我觉得是 所有的一切 早就已结束
不想再约束 不要再痛苦
下一次会有更好的情路
这一次我们都能很幸福

I feel a knot in my stomach everytime i hear this song *sigh*....it's all Tze Ching's fault...haha...

Fish Spa and Foot Reflexology

After our high tea session, we decided to indulge in a little foot reflexology. Ahh...look at Sixian grimacing with pain....haha....but the chair and ambience was so good we could fall asleep even through the pain.


The foot reflexology place had a promotion the day we went. A 30-minute foot reflexology session comes with a free 30 minute fish spa ( which i had never tried before!!!)

Boy oh boy, we decided to try with the smaller fishes first. The shop owner advised us that the small fishes are less ticklish when they nibble away on your dead skin.

Even though we started off with the smallest fishes, we still had to fight back laughter....

Look at those goosebumps on Tze Ching's legs!!

After about 5 minutes, we finally settled down...and were able to pose for a decent photo. Cheers~