zuanqing extraordinaire

As I was making my way to St. Paul's Cathedral in the morning, I was amazed by its backdrop of a cloudless blue sky.

I wound up at the wrong entrance. Lol.

Outside the main entrance of the cathedral

Definitely one of the best sightseeing place I went to in London

Chilling at a cafe opposite the Cathedral as I was waiting to have lunch with Mish

The moment I touched down from Amsterdam, I grabbed a quick lunch before rushing to catch Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre! Tix were booked online before hand :D

Maybe because I watched the 25th anniversary performance screened at GV 2 years back, I was expecting quite a bit and was a tad disappointed with the performance. But it will always be my favorite musical. Can't wait for the show that is coming to MBS in July!

After the musical while still carrying allll my barang, I went to Regent Street and Harrods for some last minute shopping for friends and relatives before heading back the next day.

Kudos to this bride baring it all in the freezing cold weather

There was some kind of celebration going on at Harrods and I arrived just in time for the fireworks

the iconic bear of Harrods

It was this fateful night that I *almost* became a target of pickpocket.

I posted the status below on FB detailing what happened that night:

Man behind me on escalator going down to tube platform: Do you speak English?

Me: yes?

Man: you were being followed by the woman with a head scarf.

Me: really? How did you know?

Man: I saw. It's because of your bag. Be careful.

(Now I'm not sure if he was referring to the ultra big Burberry paper bag I was carrying or my satchel slung on the same shoulder being pushed behind by the Burberry bag which I guess makes it an easy target for pickpockets- totally let my guard down cos I was tired & carrying so many things: Burberry bag, my satchel & travel bag from Amsterdam)

Me as I cross slung my satchel in front of my chest: thank you!

Man: that's why I was standing behind you. Be careful.

Omg super nice soul in London! Most unfortunately I suspect he's gay cos he was dressed in a bright yellow trench coat.

I reached the platform & sat down. Shortly after, a woman with a head scarf took the empty seat next to me.

I glanced at her, stood up, and walked away.

Thank God for keeping me safe, really. 

Forced myself to sit down and pack my luggage as I was heading back the next evening.

Some of my loots hehe

The next day I decided to head to Bicester Village where the outlet stores are located. I made a big booboo finding my way there and almost didn't make it there! But eventually I did and I'm glad cos the shopping was pretty fab :D

I bought a Prada bag for mumsy and a cardholder for myself, a GA polo tee for daddy, and a Bally bag and a pair of Tod's shoes for myself :D Good thing I was rushed for time and didn't get to stay long... else I'm quite sure I would have maxed out all my credit cards!

My story of making my way from Mish's apartment to the airport was epic. My luggage was so heavy and stuffed and I had another bulky runaway bag bought from Portobello Market a few days back. And I had to walk from the apartment to the subway station which proved to be too much for the flimsy runaway bag and the handles broke!

I was already huffing and puffing from the weight of it all. When I finally made my way to the tube station (I was planning on taking the tube to the airport), I was at quite a loss cos I have no way of carrying a broken bag and overweight luggage by myself.

Thanks to the free wifi at the station, I contacted Mish (who was away for a school trip) and booked a car to the airport. So I was waiting in the cold, getting worried that I won't reach the airport in time. After quite a wait, the car finally arrived. It was one of the most 不划算 item I spent on the trip - it cost 70 GBP which at that time converted to about SGD140. HEART PAIN.

But never mind, that's not the worst. When I arrive at the airport I was about 2 hours ahead of my flight. I went to queue at the VAT refund counter and the queue was so long it stretched from inside the room out into the cold. But I thought I'll give it a shot still since I had time. But the people in front of me bought like 10,000 items and each person took such a long time to process that I didn't get to reach the counter before the SIA personnel came in and threatened us to check in else they would take off without us.

So I had to leave the queue to go check in with just a few more people to go ahead of me! Urgh. 

Remember earlier on I said my bag handles broke? After rushing to check in I rushed to a shop to buy a new hand carry. The only suitable one I could find was like Tommy Hilfiger and I paid over 200 SGD for it. HEART PAIN x 2. 

And I didn't get to claim my tex refund. HEART PAIN x 3. 

Hai. That being said, it was still one of the most awesome trips of my life. For the first time, I travelled solo to the Europe continent and even went sightseeing by myself and survived by myself. (Y)

I even made a new friend on the plane. Hehe.

Most people will know me as being spoilt and extremely dependent on others so here's a pat on my back for taking care of myself. Haha.

And it is always good to go home to people who care.. and of course to my buddies :)

Damage done by woggers in a span of 3 hours

Koped chocolate from the concierge from Swi and Char's hotel while waiting for Char to finish her big business upstairs haha. Cute ain't it - British chocolate!

After settling down all our shopping bags in Swi and Char's hotel room we went in search of Four Seasons restaurant - a famed Chinese restaurant which was supposedly located near their hotel. It is quite nondescript looking and after some difficulty and the help of google maps we finally managed to locate it! So hungry by then - exhausted all our energy on shopping & lugging the shopping back haha.

There was a small queue as we arrived and we had to wait about 15 minutes before we could get a table. It was bustling with lotsa tour groups who occupied big tables and everywhere was so cramped. Not the most comfortable dining experience but service was alright, and food was just slightly above average so yes, I would go back there again.

Piping hot corn soup - perfect for the cold weather. This was quite delish I gobbled everything up!

Pan-fried gyoza otherwise known as guo tie in Chinese

I forgot what they call this in Chinese but it's veggies with 3 kinds of eggs - century eggs, salted eggs and normal eggs. I had this at Pu Tien before and it was awesome. This was a tad disappointing however. Crystal Jade has this too!

Roast duck and roast pork. It's nice but a little too fatty for my liking.

After lunch, we headed in search of Portobello Market! Nope it's not a market that sells mushroom hahaha. I thought it was too =p

Waiting for the tube in an open air station and it was so cold!

Finding our way to the market

Found it!

Would you believe it - Wikipedia doesn't have a page on Portobello Market! Haha so I googled some websites... 

Portobello Market in West London is one of the most famous street markets in the world. It is a popular destination for Londoners and tourists alike. Portobello Road goes straight through the heart of Notting Hill, the trendy area of London made famous by the film.

It was a really big market which sells everything from clothing to bags to shoes to antiques to kitchenware to knick-knacks and quirky stuff. Not to mention they have a produce and food section of the market as well, interspersed with shops and boutiques along the way.

We briefly browsed through the stalls without really buying cos we were actually looking for this!

The Hummingbird Bakery - well known for its American style baked good such as cupcakes, cakes, pies & brownies etc.

It was too crowded to try to get a seat inside so we each bought a cupcake to take away! And of course my top choice flavor for cupcakes would be the red velvet! 

Love the cream cheese frosting - that must be the highlight of the whole cupcake. The cake itself is moist and the flavor is just nice. OMG I AM CRAVING FOR ONE RIGHT NAO. But at S$5 a pop, it's certainly not cheap. Even more ex than local shops like Twelve Cupcakes and Plain Vanilla. But really. This is really out of this world man.

I got them to pose in front of the sign above haha

The fruits and produce section of the market

After enough time spent at the market we decided to head to the Buckingham Palace next! Along the way we got distracted by multiple souvenir shops hahaha.

I really like The Beatles and their album cover of them crossing Abbey Road! (My old MacBook was named Abbey Road lol). But didn't buy this back cos actually it is quite useless. Haha

As we were approaching the Palace we spotted this limousine driving past and speculated if there was any royalty sitting inside haha

Buckingham Palace by night. Unfortunately, no changing of guards as it was winter and they only change once every 2 days during winter cos I think it is too cold! Heh

Photo koped from Swi's Facebook

Touristy shot x 1

It was too cold to be hanging around the Palace and it was turning dark very quickly so we decided to head to Harrods for some shopping before it closed!

Harrods was BIG and the layout was pretty confusing it is very easy for me to get lost inside haha. Managed to buy some Long Champs back as requested from my relatives. Cheaper than Singapore definitely but not as cheap as if you buy in Paris.

And that brings me to the end of day 2! :)

If you realize we didn't even have dinner cos the lunch was still in our tummies and shopping literally replaces dinner. Lol.

Some mobile snaps:

 This is funny. A comparison of C.O.T. eight years apart.

 And also a craftholic tissue holder. Now my bedside table is complete! Happy.

 My typical weekday dinner at home. Mummy's home cooked food is the best! Coupled with Running Man :D

 Brekkie for a rainy Saturday - Wholemeal bread toasted with nutella and banana slices. Have to try adding peanut butter next time!

And yes, my diarrhea is back to haunt me again. Visited the doc last night and he gave me another round of meds. And if it recurs again I will have to go for a stool test cos there might be parasites in my tummy/intestines >.< I dowannnnn

After this post I'm going back to nua in bed and enjoy this rainy weekend. Toodles and have a nice weekend y'all! :)