Europe Trip- United Kingdom; London (Day 2)

13th November 2014

It was a free and easy day, hence few of us had suggested to the tour guide to visit some of the attractions such as Big Ben and House of Parliaments, London Eye and Madame Tussauds london. Shopping session will be left for the night time. It was a windy day and the weather had become much more colder than yesterday. I was blessed that I made a right decision to purchase a thick scarf from Primark. We took underground train at Hammersmith Underground Station to Westminster Station to re-visit Big Ben and House of Parliaments.

Big Ben and House of Parliaments

London Eye which is within the walking distance from Big Ben. Well, at least we had the chance to have a photo captured here. A package tour of London Eye, SEA LIFE London Aquarium and Madame Tussauds London had been purchased.We took a ride on the famous London Eye, the current third tallest Ferris Wheel in the world. The panoramic view of London city was really unprecedented.

Group photo of the majority of us

We visited SEA LIFE London Aquarium located on the ground floor of County Hall on the South Bank of the River Thames in central London. As we got the group package tour, hence we got the free admission to SEA LIFE London Aquarium (£45 for two attractions- buy 2 free 1). It's one of Europe's largest collections of global marine life. We had a quick glimpse and visit there as we had to rush to Madame Tussauds.

A simple lunch we had in a fast food chain; Pret A Manager. The sandwich was rather big portion and we felt full till the night.

Madame Tussauds London

Madame Tussauds London is one of the famous tourist attraction which has been recommended by my friend who went to UK. We had spent one and half hour by taking photos with the wax statues. Marilyn Monroe wax statue, where are you?!

With handsome David Beckham

With Mr. Obama

Dad with his favorite bands- Beatles

I also met David Cameron:)

We had a mini train ride to understand the old England history. My dad was concentrated in listening the information while I was busy taking shots. We did not enter the haunted house visit as we heard many tourists' screams. After watching the 4D show on superheroes, we rushed out to gather in front of the Madame Tussauds. Well, I did enjoy the show but still prefer Universal Studio Singapore's.

It was just 4pm in London but it looked like night time in Malaysia.

We waited for the tour guide till 5pm and his disappearance had really made us mad. We explored the tube ourselves and finally reached at Oxfort Station at 6.50pm. 

Oxford Street

We just bought some souvenirs and gone back to Primark for some long sleeves shirts, Christmas design socks, hand gloves (which I think both of us would utilize them during the next few days as the weather has become colder). We did not manage to go to Wembley's designer outlet for sport shoes.

The night ended with cold, long search of right tube to go back to Novotel London West. We were exhausted when we reached hotel and 2 packets of instant noodles had been eaten as dinner. The 2nd night in UK was a tiring day. Hmm, sport shoes were not bought and I did not manage to make a visit to museums, Hyde Park and Cayden Market. Well, these places shall be visited next time !

Europe Trip- United Kingdom; London (Day 1)

Some people are used to say that we need to work hard yet play hard as well. My annual holidays had begun with a trip together with the seniors to Europe. We departed around 8pm from KLIA Malaysia and transited in Dubai International Airport, finally arrived at Heathrow Airport, United Kingdom at 7am on the next day. 

11th November 2014 

Dubai International Airport

12th November 2014 

Heathrow Airport- A quick glimpse of the airport of this advanced city and you could be amazed with many vending machines, facilities such as post box with stamps to be purchased, souvenirs shops and so on. The weather of United Kingdom was unexpectedly cold and everyone of us started to occupied ourselves with the heat-tech clothes, long-sleeves, jackets, lotions and etc.

Sight-seeing tour had begun with Westminster Abbey. Along the journey, we passed by Victoria and Albert Museum, Parliament Street, Horse Guards, National Gallery London and Trafalgar Square.

A mounted trooper of the Household Cavalry on duty at Horse Guards.

Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in central London built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

National Gallery which I hoped I had spent some splendid time there.

Westminster Abbey

We were over-excited with the signature red telephone booth with the fascia was emblazoned with a prominent crown. The another British icon (double-decker bus)was also spotted around Westminster Abbey.Westminster Abbey is formerly entitled as the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster. It's a large Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London.It's usually being the location of royal weddings including the recent wedding of Prince William and his wife, coronations and funerals.

Super-dad and I

Crosses decorated with poppies in the lawn outside Westminster Abbey to commemorate World War I

Flying Buttresses at Westminster Abbey

Big Ben- the Great Bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London. We just managed to get some photos captured and rushed back to bus as given time for photo-shooting was just a mere 45 minutes. I wished to have more time spending to enter Westminster Abbey.

Tower Bridge is a suspension bridge in London which crosses the River Thames. It's an iconic symbol of London. The weather turned bad out of sudden and we did not managed to get some nice photos over the tower bridge.  Yet, the heavy downpour stopped once our bus left Tower Bridge.

The only best photo of Tower Bridge in my camera.

Thousands of ceramic poppies surround the Tower of London to mark the centenary of the first world war. Each poppy – 888,246 in all – represent a British life lost in "The Great War." To see these thousands of blazing red flowers – the free exhibit is titled "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" – was as impressive as it was emotionally jarring. (The flowers, which have all been sold for charity, began coming down on November 11th – Armistice Day).

Chinatown was our next stop for our lunch. It looked similar to Petaling Street in KL, but we were impressed with the architecture design and well-kept buildings. We had 6 dishes and 1 soup as lunch at Gerrard's Corner | 好年華大酒樓 . 

Buckingham Palace- London residence and principal workplace of the monarchy of the United Kingdom. We missed the changing of guards ceremony which was held in the morning. Just noticed that £75.00 per person to visit the State's room of Buckingham Palace.

A photo was captured in front of a building before walking to Buckingham Palace. Well, I just liked the number 11 which could remind me that I stepped on the land of UK in November 2014.

We ended the sight-seeing tour and headed to Oxfort Street to have some shopping before checking in Novotel London West.

Novotel London West

First dinner in United Kingdom- Pizzas at Kings Mall;Hammersmith

The first impression of stepping on the land of United Kingdom was beyond words to describe. A golden opportunity to have a tour to London. I gaped in aww for the architecture in London and impressed with them whom appreciate the culture and the historical places. By the way, it was really cold and I was upset for not having a good photo of me with Tower Bridge.

High-tea session@TWG Tea Salon & Boutique; The Gardens

After missing in action for some months, I am back to the territory for jotting down the moments again. So, the blog post after such a long wait will be related to food, particularly finest luxury tea. TWG Tea Salon & Boutique; The Garden has been one of the newest spot that my sister and I had dropped by to have our luxurious high-tea session. I used to have fallacy to think that TWG's from European Countries, hence I were shocked when I knew that TWG was from Singapore instead.

"TWG Tea, the finest luxury tea brand in the world, was founded in Singapore. Specializing in whole-leaf teas directly from the source estates, TWG Tea offers the largest tea list in the world, with over 800 different single-estate, fine harvests and exclusive blends from every tea producing country. TWG Tea, which stands for The Wellness Group, is a luxury concept that incorporates an international distribution network to professionals, unique and original retail outlets and exquisite tea rooms. Like a haute couture fashion designer, TWG Tea understands the evolving tastes of the modern tea drinker and develops special varieties created in collaboration with the world's most renowned estates. A veritable tea institution, TWG Tea is passionate about sharing its expertise and has become a point of reference for tea lovers thirsty for knowledge. A symbol of taste and refinement, TWG Tea creates signature modern tea accessories as well as tea patisseries and other infused tea delicacies too."

Breakfast, All Day Dining, Desserts, and Tea Sets are offered. We were lucky to be seated because the long queue was seen externally. Along the path from the entrance to our seats, we could see the finest tea are packed in colorful metal tin with all kind of sizes.The exquisite decoration and comfortable seating made this a great place to have tea-session with friends and family. However, I had experienced mosquitoes bites while I enjoyed my croissant.

It's difficult to choose the beverage from the long, extensive range of teas from different countries, different flavors and different types of tea, The service was quite slow as we had waited for almost 30-45 minutes to have our food and tea to be served. I guessed this kind of pace was intended for the riches or for us to enjoy the surrounding, tea with premium price and delicacies.

TWG Tea Macarons (RM5 for each) range from different flavors including Napoleon Tea &Caramel, Camelot Tea & Praline, Earl Grey & Chocolate, 1837 Black Tea & Blackcurrant, Moroccan Mint and Lemon Bush Tea,

We had chosen the set of French pastries (chocolate croissant with TWG Tea jelly and whipped cream). We had also ordered one pot of Earl Grey d'Amour ( RM19 per pot). We used to know about Chinese traditional pu-er and jasmine tea, hence we decided to try some sips of Earl Grey tea. A light and aromatic blend black tea had been lovingly infused with delicate TWG Tea bergamot, wild flowers and luscious white tea. TWG home made jelly was a good match for the sweet chocolate croissant. By the way, we were disappointed that the tea was not refillable as RM19 per pot of tea was able to fill up each cup for three times only.

That's the end of my blog post regarding my first visit and first luxurious high-tea session. :)

A nice experience yet I would still prefer coffee for high-tea :)

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The next destination: Crazy Potato which is next to Bread Story. We had chosen the set of potato fries (sour cremio flavor) to fill up the emptiness of our stomachs before shopping spree started.