Day 16: Buckingham Palace, Harrods and more...

March 12th, Friday.

This is our "first" day back in London and we are greeted with weather forecasts that says gloomy and wet.

We were given complimentary usage of the Regency Club again which is really great, and truly a blessing. Helps us save a lot on money too but most importantly, we didn't had to rush out in the morning to get food or purposely buy breakfast the night before.

But this morning we decided that the kids should eat something else than the cereals and ham from the Club. We warmed up the rice and yummy minced pork from last nite's over the boiling kettle.

The night before hubby picked up a door sign for us to indicate if we wanted any special breakfast (to pay) or complimentary coffee and tea. If complimentary, why not? So I happily filled up the door sign to request for complimentary english tea and herbal tea (hubs'choice) to be served in our room before 8am. I think that's a safe time when the kids would still be asleep and hubby and I can have a nice breakfast in the lounge.... just the two of us.

But alas, our little William decided to wake early too and he happily explored the breakfast tray, which came with NOT my engligh tea, but coffee instead, and hubs' herbal tea, with honey and lime and if I remember correctly, 6 lovely butter cookies. William took most of the cookies and left his mark on the rest of them. (I must say these are the yummiest shortbread cookies that I've ever tasted!)

As it was nearing 9am, we woke Vic up, got her to clean up and the two kids to eat some of the rice and minced pork before we headed downstairs to the 8th floor. Yesterday when we checked in, William already made "friends" with the receptionists there, and they now call him by his name when they see him. What a charmer!

Today's plan is to visit the Queen at Buckingham Palace... haha. We plan to walk from St James' Park to Buckingham Palace. We hop off the tube at St James' station. The park is dull and hardly the way I remembered first falling in love with it. I guess this is pretty normal since it's not spring yet. We see greenery, dried branches and empty trees. We see some pigeons and further down along the river, there were naturally ducks and swans. We didn't stay long because it started to drizzle and we were walking with our umbrellas.

We reached Buckingham Palace to snap some pictures, again as "proof" that the kids have been there. Then we headed towards Harrods to find food near the area. On the way, Vic wanted to pee near the Wellington arch, and the nearest public toilet was at Hyde Park. From the map, it didn't look that far. But as we walked through Hyde Park, there were no signs of a public toilet at all. We got deeper into Hyde Park before checking with some workers there who directed us to another direction. I was so close to putting Vic on a diaper but then we would still need to find a bush to hide behind. Here in England, better not risk baring naked otherwise we can get fined!

Finally found the loo, and I snap some dull pictures of Hyde Park as well. William fell asleep here.

We continued our journey and found lunch at Knightsbridge, pretty pricey for each non-vegetarian main cost is priced at 10.50pounds. I ordered BBQ chicken breast with mashed potato for Vic and myself to share, and hubby ordered beef lasagne to share with William. The boy woke up without any appetite for lunch at all. Vic did her "business" again at the restaurant before we leave.

Shortly after we got out from the restaurant, we were hit by strong winds and took shelter in a hotel side entrance to dress the kids up more warmly. When we stepped out, it was raining cats and dogs!! Hubby quickly flagged down a cab which took us the short distance to Harrods.

Spent a couple of hours in Harrods and did not come out with any Harrods bag : ) That's an achievement! Love the food halls and the pet kingdom. I thought the apparels for the kids are so-so, pretty much the highstreet boutique stuff, but the kids were totally amazed by the luxuries for the pets. William protested when we wanted to move on.

In Harrods we checked if they sold soda bread or yeast-free products for people with allergies. Apparently they stopped. Well, guess they are big but not that caring.

Anyway, I was getting bored being indoors. We went out again, and the weather has settled although still no sunshine.

Next stop was Chinatown.

Wanted to do the same arrangement again, of taking home the kids' dinner whilst hubby and I take turns to enjoy the delicacies at Regency Club. We got a little fickle minded choosing which restaurant to pick and finally decided to take away roast duck rice and stirfry siew pak choy for the kids.

Dinner was as planned. I fed the kids in the room first whilst hubby have his meal downstairs. When it was my turn, I had smoked salmon, tortilla chips with salsa, bacon with goat cheese and 2 glasses of champagne ; )

After dinner we decided to walk out to the local Sainsbury to buy Vic's yeast-free Irish brown soda bread and potato farls just in case they don't have stock tomorrow. We are flying tomorrow night and plan to bring some of these bread back and didn't want to risk being disappointed.

It was a nice night walk out and took us less than 30minutes, in which on the way back the sky started to rain again. Hubs carried William and ran back to the hotel, while I pushed the stroller with Vic. She was laughing away as she thought it was such fun!

Tonight is our last night at the hotel. When we got back, we discovered that the housekeeping was in our room, and the superviser dropped by too to check. This was because during dinner, we wanted to ask for tea cups with saucer to use the saucer as dinner plates, but the housekeeping brought tea mugs without the saucer instead, and then gave us another set of kettle and tea/coffee tray (miscomm!)

Anyway, it was a nice surprise to find that they not only vacuumed the room, cleaned up the bathroom and replaced the used towels, they even folded our clothes lying on the sofa and helped tidy our office table. Wow, maybe they think we are such messy people!

Hubby did what he does best... packing up with the help of a gorgeous little girl, whilst I put William to sleep.

Good night London... tomorrow night we bid farewell.

Kisses for you...

... a little deviation from my travel posts here. Yesterday I asked my soon-to-be 2yo boy, "Have you kissed mummy today?"

William answered me very confidently, "Yessssss!" But I knew he didn't.

So I asked, "When?"

And he gave me a cheeky smile.

So I jumped in for the kill. "Can you kiss me now?" And I quickly offered one side of my cheeks.

And he proceeded to give me the "mucha-mucha" Farahkhan style kiss on one cheek, then the other (it's the kiss with the exaggerated sound, with his cheeks touching mine but no lips on my cheeks)

Then I looked at this little darling, and asked for more because I was a greedy mummy and wanted to feel special... "Can you kiss me on my lips?"

And with his arms still wrapped around my neck, he wasted no time.
My little William plunged straight into my mouth and gave me one of the most memorable, delightful kiss on my lips!

Aaahhh... I'm definitely in lurrrrrvvveeeee...

Day 15: Punting in Cambridge and Evening Walk in Leicester Square

March 11th, Thursday.

Today marks the day that we shall return to London. That means it's almost the end of our holidays.

This morning we had a lovely English breakfast cooked all by Pasquale himself (the husband). This time we were smarter (and more kiasu) by not telling him of Vic's allergies, coz we know that they will just take away the offending food, but not replace with any other items. So, since I'm a fresh mushroom lover, I happily took Vic's share of mushroom and egg.

Compared with the previous B&B that we stayed in, Carolina Guest House provide us with a more generous breakfast, with self-help toast and yogurt, double eggs, and more bacons and variety of cereals. I was already full with my own breakfast, but have to eat Vic's egg and mushroom, and William's egg and mushroom (yes, even William got his own plate of food)... by this time I told hubby I'm too full from eating 4 eggs and I can't help him with his.

After breakfast, hubby took the kids out to the nearest petrol station to wash the car while I stayed back in the room to take my bath and do the last minute packing. Now that the car is almost squeeky clean, we have to be very careful not to dirty the interior with footprints or crumbs. So hubby lay the floor with old newspapers and shopping bags (if they find that the car is not "sufficiently clean" they will charge us a valet cost of 70pounds).

We dropped off the luggages at the "official" luggage drop-off centre, which is a bicyle shop near the Cambridge train station. We paid 19 pounds for 2 big luggage, 1 pull trolley, 1 car seat and a harversack. Then we rushed to return the car at the designation venue and arrived there slightly after 1130am.

Once we settled all these, we took the bus to town where we got off near the River Cam and signed up for a punting session with a guide. We were lucky, since this is off peak season so we didn't have much traffic on the river or had to share our gondola with other passengers.

The kids were still, and cautious in the beginning. That probably last less than 10minutes before William started to get more adventurous, and put his hand out of the gondola to touch the water. There were some ducks swimming in the river, and a few swam near our gondola probably looking for food, which we didn't prepare any.

The whole ride lasted 45minutes, for a cost of 43.50pounds! That's not cheap if we convert to RM but I think it was a nice experience for the kids.

When we finished punting, we hopped into the nearby pub, called The Anchor, where Pinkfloyd used to have his gigs. I wasn't very hungry, so I just had the chips from Vic's dish, which was the sausages. William shared his lunch with hubby, a ham and tomato sandwich. He couldn't sit still and decided to eat near the glass door while looking at the gondolas outside.

After lunch we decided to leave Cambridge. There seem to be nothing much to do, and it's better we head to London to settle down before late. So we took a slow walk to to the train station, and hopped on the 445pm train to London King Cross. UK trains are very punctual, and we were informed by the station master that the train will not wait more than 5 minutes to ensure punctuality.

The train was packed, but thank God we got seats near the door to guard our big luggages. William was asleep when we board the train, and I was secretly sad for him that he won't be able to "see" and enjoy the 1hour train ride. But this boy probably knows, because he woke up in the train and I kept the two kids occupied and seated by offering them their favourite snack, gluten-free gorilla munch cereals. Not for long though, because then he wanted to walk which we strictly prohibited for fear he will fall, and it doesn't look good for kids to be running up and down the train aisle as well.

When we got to London, it was rush hour. Vic helped with the push trolley whilst I pushed William on his stroller. Hubby handled the bigger luggages on a trolley. We got a cab and thank God all our stuff and 4 of us fitted into the black cab. Initially we were prepared to separate and take two cabs if there were not enough space. Costed us 9pounds all the way from King Cross to Hyatt Regency London - The Churchill at Portman Square.

The cab cost is not too expensive I would say, but that's also because we were not charged a congestion cost. Hubby discovered that when the cab stop at our destination and if you do not pay the driver asap, the meter will continue running... we "donated" 60pence there... considered tips then.

I must comment something about our return stay to this hotel. We got a double complimentary upgrade... all the way to a full suite! And coincidentally we were staying on the same floor, which is the highest - 9th - as some visiting President of a country! Hahaha... that explains the two armed bodyguards at the corridor leading to our room, which is just a few feet away from where the strongmen are stationed. So can you say we are very very safe, or at any form of risk?

This time around, our suite has got a proper lounge area, and although it has some traces of smoke smell because the suite is a designated smoking room, we accepted it (there were no other suites available, or reject and take our standard room)... for me, I just love the extra space and the Molton Brown toiletries, very thick and heavy robe and we even have a balcony which we didn't use because we didn't want William to go out and play.

Of course, we got very preferential treatment... we were walked up to the 8th floor where the Regency Club was and checked in there and housekeeping were very kind to clean our room twice a day (not the norm, please note)... blah blah... don't get me wrong, we are nobodies. I think it's just nice, and very much God's blessing.

We headed out to Leicester Square in search for food soon after as it was getting late. We found this Chinese restaurant, Imperial China which looked like a small Chinese restaurant from the outside, but was big and well staffed, nice deco with a little chinese bridge leading to the eating area. The price? Normal... and the captain came to recommend dishes which Vic can eat. The kids were starved. But when the food arrived, Vic didn't take more than 2 spoonfuls and then went to rest in William's stroller. The rest of us ate heartily.

After dinner, what's the best thing to do in downtown London? Walk around! Soak in the atmosphere! It was nice. The weather was perfect and the place was not too crowded that we felt unsafe. In fact, there were police patrolling the area. William wanted his independence instead of being carried, and he happily knows that he will get to walk because his jie jie has taken his stroller. So as he roamed around, not wanting to be carried or hold hands, hubby have to keep up with him whilst I snap pictures and followed behind.

We decided to take the bus back instead of the inconvenience of the tube (no lift).

Pictures from Day 15: Punting in Cambridge and Evening in London

The dining area. We were the only guests at that time so the kids were free to make noise.. haha!
Help yourself to these.. bread for toast under the cover, btw

This is my breakfast

Enjoying their cereals while waiting for the cooked breakfast

William enjoys chasing the ducks
Under the willow tree

Mummy and the kids before we went down to the gondolas
This is our lady-guide
St John's College
Is she praying or sleeping?
So romantic! Why never hug me one?
Ducks swimming along the River Cam
Totally excited!
The siblings
Sleepy eyes
We ate our lunch here after punting
All the gondolas neatly lined up
I took this picture during our half hour walk to the train station
Look at how she pose when no one else's around. We were doing our mother-daughter thing checking out the colorful doors and stating our preference
The two kids in the train
She's talking... look at her expression

This is the train that we sat on
Vic helps to push the carseat and a push trolley luggage. She feels proud to be able to help. We make sure she's sandwiched between us for safety
Inside King Cross station. Rather crowded because of the rush hour.
Look at all our luggages crammed into one london black cab!
This is the office area
The bed
Part of the bathroom. It has a separate shower area, and wardrobe in the bathroom too
The sofa and the extra bed in the lounge area
I love this... the robe is soooo heavy and thick!
Fax, DVD player all provided
Our dinner at China Imperial : Steamed pork with water chestnut
Choy sam
Lotus roots in lam yue sauce... very yummy!
From the outside
William has been to the casino... ahh, but only on the outside!

Random night scenes of leicester square






Must take one picture with the popular red phone booth

In the bus on the way back to the hotel after dinner.

Pictures from Day 14: Sheffield to Cambridge

Packing things into the car. Bye Bye Sheffield!
William is playful as we pack things into the car. Here he's doing the X position. Vic wasn't in the mood for phototaking

My surprise lunch in the car: steak pie with chips and marshed peas which hubby "tapau-ed" for me
The king sized bed and lovely wallpaper in our family room at Carolina's Guest House

TV, Coffee making facilities are standard

We had a good tlunch here (that's tea+lunch)

Vic wants to, or more like, pretends to drink my Foster's lager

William amuses himself with a ketchup bottle

Kids got a little restless while waiting for the food. So Daddy brought them to check out the slot machine in the pub
Lunch is served! This is what the kids had from the Thai menu. It's stirfry chicken breast with vege and jasmine rice
Hubby ordered the Belly Buster for his lunch... looks like a typical english breakfast but checkout the sinfully yummy crunchy deepfried toast
William was so hungry, he rather feed himself than wait for me
We saw this royal mail van in town. Must take picture!
St John's College stands majestic

Zoom in on the architecture

Outside St John's College
This is a typical sight in Cambridge. Loads of posters on plays, musicals and recitals... and bicycles too!
Ancient (and scary) looking door knock
We trespassed into the grounds of King's College. It was closed at that time, but thank God no one stopped us. We were inside only for a quick while
Inside King's College
Flowers outside a cafe in Cambridge

I assume these are the brainy English blokes that study in Cambridge University.