Warning, Long blogpost(well blogpost with heaps of pictures more like) ahead. Since it’s Christmas day here in London(it’s only 11.40AM) here and nothing is open on Christmas day, I thought I should catch up with updating my blog before Boxing Day shopping since the day after boxing day we’d be taking a train to Paris.
Anyways, I’m just so glad to be here in London because me and Nate and the bumpiest flight ever, turbulence was so bad when we were about to land the lady next to me was freaking out so badly I had to offer her my hand so she could grip it to calm herself down. Here’s Nate checking out the in flight entertainment before we flew off and I have to say it was a very very long flight. 7 Hours to Dubai , 10 hours transit and then another 7 hours flight to London.
So after we landed, the first thing we did was to take a shower. LOL, trust me after a 22 hour journey all we wanted was a nice hot bath. Anyways, since it was a very rainy day in London, we didnt wanna do much that day so we rest at home till it was dinner time. We aren’t staying at a hotel this time round in London because we have a place here so no room tour this time round( sorry!)
So far our impression of London- Cold but still acceptable
Since it was raining, Nate’s friend Elaine suggested we head out to Angus Steakhouse for dinner. Personally I wasn’t too big of a fan of the food there but heck I did quite like their cocktails HAHA.
Typical Yuki, first thing you order is alcoholic =.=. Anyways, here’s my Berry erm, actually I can’t remember the name but I did really like nomming the raspberries hehe.
After our dinner we decided to stroll around since it was only 7PM. We were quite near Oxford street so walking was a good idea despite the rain. The Christmas lights were too pretty to pass!
We also went past this much famous chocolate shop haha.Nate was quite impressed with the shop coz it was about 4 stories high but even though it wasn’t my first time, I have to admit, it’s still pretty darn cool!
Cups, cups everywhere
HOW CAN YOU RESIST! ( For those who don’t know , I might have a slight obsession with cups LOL)
So walking down the street was quite fun, mainly coz me and Nate got lost and we couldn’t find the entrance back to Leicester’s Square tube entrance LOL. That said I remembered this area had another tube station down the road so we just kept walking.
So then the jet lag kicked in and me and Nate crashed at about 9PM that night. The morning the next day was pretty chilly. I have to admit though the temperature was okay and bearable until the wind starts blowing in your face, that’s when you wished you had a portable heater with you.
I love this place, everytime we walk down from our place it’s just so beautiful! Yes, I know the trees are mostly leave-less but there’s something about this calm quiet morning that cheers me up and makes the nearly 15 hours flight ever so worth it.
and this is Thames River, one of the main river in London, across the street you’ll get your financial district which is where you’ll find major banks HQ there.
So since the weather was really decent to us, we decided to go to Borough Market to grab some groceries for our Christmas dinner. Since most shops will not be open on Christmas day we’ve had our christmas eve dedicated to getting everything so we could stay home and not panic about not having enough ingredients on the day itself. We got off London Bridge stop on Jubilee line and the market was just seconds walk away once you come out from the station.
Borough Market, pretty festive don’t you think! Personally I love the markets here! It’s clean, and there’s plenty of yummy new food to try!
I don’t know about you but the brussel sprouts and the cranberries looks damn good!
And I don’t know why but the veggies and fruits here look extra appealing! Look at those heirloom tomatoes! They look freaking amazing!
And perhaps one of the best dairy products Ive had. The owner told us everything in his stall was organic so we thought might as well give it a shot
and I’m glad we did, this has got to be one of the best yogurt drink we’ve ever had! It’s so rich and creamy I can have this every single day!
and if you are a big fan of cheese, you should really check the place out! Every corner we turned there was at least a cheese stop!
and if you are a fan of mushrooms and truffles, you’d find something fancy here too!
I finally had the guts to getting myself a cup of Mulled wine. That said though it wasn’t really that great of a planning since it was 11AM when we had wine, talk about morning alcoholics HAHA(I’m sure all the alcohol evaporated when they were cooking it so it’s not that huge of a harm) but surprisingly the mulled wine tasted extremely christmasy. Slightly sourish(tasted like cranberries) the drink tasted a little like Ribena if you asked me.
Then we came across this stall, this stall that does beautiful mushroom on toast and plenty of other yummy looking soup. Me and my sister had the toughest time trying to decide which one to get till Nate pointed out that this would perhaps be a little difficult to munch on while standing and the soup would prolly warm our tummies better.
No regrets on the soup tho coz it was so spot on yumms but kinda makes you think how yummy the mushroom on toast would be too. Kinda craving for the same bowl of soup again now because it’s really cold today.
Just look at those desserts!
So after our borough market trip, we had to go to Asda to pick up our other few stuff that we needed that we couldn’t get from the market. Did I mention how good the prices were? We got 3 Avocado for 1 pound, another huge box of tomatoes for 1 Pound and man the prices in Asda for groceries was pretty darn good too! I managed to get a huge box of mushroom for 1 Pound bt my cousin says that when it’s on sale it gets even cheaper!
Got our stuff and headed home to chuck everything there and also to freshen up for lunch! Me my brother,my cousin and Nate went to Covent garden for lunch this time round. Christmas eve so not much options so Shake Shack it was for lunch! One thing I can’t get enough of London’s their buildings. I freaking love them! Oh the buildings are just so beautiful!
SO here’s our lunch, Shake Shack, apparently one of the must go to places if you are a fan of burgers. I must admit it wasn’t as good as Grill’d in Australia but heck it’s still quite decent of a meal.
So easy stuff, place your order in the shop and find a place to sit just outside and wait for your food!
I love Covent Garden, they have the fanciest shops like Dior makeup, Chanel makeup in these old school buildings, kinda makes you feel like you are in a Harry Potter book.
Here’s our food btw.
and since it was around 4.30 PM the sky was already getting pretty dark. The Christmas trees were all lighted up and man, it was a super gorgeous tree!
We decided to take a long stroll down to Bonds Street and mann, how can you not love the buildings in London!
Even manage to spot this beautiful small theme park near Leicester Square haha
Canary fanatics anyone?
This would have to be my fav christmas lightings! Kinda feels like it’s snowing no?
That’s pretty much about it for my 2 days here in London! Probs gonna be preparing our dinner soon but here’s something I picked up and was so stoked! Creme De Rose lipbalm! I’ve been scouting for this lipbalm for a gazillion years but they’ve discontinued this lipbalm so you can’t really find it in southeast asia. That said though they were also running a little low on stock in London so was pretty lucky to get my hands on them before they completely went off the shelves!
Ah, probs gonna do some online shopping later(sister says they start christmas sales online early) so whatever we can’t get online, we’d prolly do it on Boxing day tomorrow! That and then it’s Paris for me and Nate! Can’t wait!