Went to watch Wicked with the sister when the family came up to visit last Christmas. Best thing I've ever seen on stage in my entire life. Sophia fared much better this time, staying awake through the whole thing. Fews days earlier the whole family was asleep by the end of the first act of The King and I.
I can never get over how perfect the singing was. You can't help but be simply captivated by everything that's happening on stage. I remember getting goosebumps when Defying Gravity came on. Such a fanboy.
This is from a while back when a bunch of us KTJ peeps were in Ipoh. Wei Minh and Adeline brought us around, loads of good food! I've never explored a proper cave before so I thought it was rather interesting. There were proper pathways which meant that you don't actually have to get dirty though you can opt for the 'wet' tour if you fancy that sorta thing.
That day was gorgeous. The sun was out and the sky was noticeably void of clouds, revealing that beautiful blue hue. Such weather is rare and I have learn to consciously make the decision to go out when such weather is present. I ended up strolling aimlessly all over Hyde Park, which is massive by the way.
At one point I just threw myself on the grass and lay there for a few minutes. Ended up having dirtying my pants because I just had to accidentally pick a muddy spot. Genius move! But I was in such a carefree mood with the holiday spirit and all.
When talking about London with Chinese people, one of the thing that often comes about in conversation is roast duck. Legend has it that London serves the best roast duck in the world. After trying it, I say good effort London but the best roast duck in the world still goes to Petaling Street.
Dim sum is one of my favourite food to eat. I find it incredibly appealing how you can eat so many different things in one meal, due to the nature of dim sum which comes in bite sizes. Din Tai Fung serves dim sum but their menu is not very extensive as they choose to concentrate on what they do best - the xiao long bao.
Dumplings are good. Put soup in them, it becomes amazing. The whole thing literally bursts deliciousness all over your delicate palates. My family have been visiting this restaurant every time we get the inkling for some dim sum. Someone please open a branch in Edinburgh and give Saigon a run for their money!
Soho is such a great place for gastronomic adventures, with restaurants and patisseries at every corner. I spent quite some time peering in through the windows at the delicious looking pastries and cakes. Plus it's next to Chinatown and Covent Garden, which has loads of restaurants as well.
Stumbled on the Hummingbird Bakery while walking around one day with Sue Jan and the sister. I remember reading somewhere about how good their cupcakes were so I was curious to give it a try. Tried the red velvet and carrot cake flavours and thought that it was good. Slightly on the sweet side even for a sweet tooth like me. I personally think that Whisk does a better job.
Here's some snaps from Notting Hill. We wanted to visit the Portobello Market but did not realize that it was a bank holiday so nothing was open. That however did not stop us from wandering the streets browsing through the few shops that were open.
I thought that whole stretch of road was rather interesting and has a sort of bohemian characteristic to it. Each building has different bright colours painted on it's walls. There are art and antique stores aplenty which I personally find fun to browse around.
Bought some pizza from this wee little shop near the tube station and thought it was brilliant. I recall being impressed by the stacks to pizza all over the shop. A middle aged man, whom I presume to be the boss (attributed to the Godfather looking hair he had going on). Yeap, not racist at all. Italian guy in a pizzeria, definitely the owner.
The weather on that day was brilliant. It would be my one and only sunny day of the entire London trip. Went totally crazy with the camera that day.
Happy New Year! I spent the past two weeks with family and friends, taking a luxurious break from student life. Had so much good food. It's good to be reminded how satisfying it is to lean back against your chair after a meal feeling absolutely stuffed.
The family came all the way up to Edinburgh for a visit. Had a blast taking them around and walking them through my daily routes in town. We stayed in this absolutely swanky service apartment I wished was my house. My bed had ten pillows on it! So many that I had to remove a few. Needless to say those were the most comfortable nights I've ever had in Edinburgh. We also discovered that Edinburgh turns into a ghost town on Christmas Day. Nothing was open except this Chinese restaurant (how typical!) which was quite a rip off.
Flew down to London the next day. Long story short. Shop and eat.
Watched Wicked with the sister, which was brilliant. I think everyone in that theater including me, were secretly lip-singing to Defying Gravity when it came on. Tickets were pricey but well worth the experience. I will never get over how perfect the singing was. Where do these people come from?? Such talent.
After the family flew of to their exotic Dubai escapade, I stayed on in London with Daryl. His house looks like it came right out of an Ikea catalogue and I mean it in a good way of course. (Apparently he secretly stalks this place and has been bugging me for an update *waves at Daryl*)
New Years Eve was fun. A bunch of us met up for dinner at Nando's. Good fun catching up and laughing over embarrassing stories we made the night before at the club. Then we were off to Waterloo bridge where we spent the next three hours waiting for fireworks which lasted for about ten minutes. That explains the lack of firework pictures because I was pretty much occupied with looking at it. The atmosphere was really good and it's nice being a part of such a massive crowd. Everyone's probably excited about the prospects of the fresh start a new year promises.
That was in a nutshell, an abbreviated version of the event that happened in the past two weeks. More updates soon!
