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  1. It's the second day of our London stay, and also the the last day of the year of 2012! As you can probably tell, our itinerary isn't exactly favorable in terms of following a smooth geographical route. Commonly people would travel from London down to Paris and then to Italy and so forth. But we decided to come to London second because of time constraints, and of course to participate in the countdown!
    First things first, since we were in London and there was very little shopping to do early in the morning. We decided to pay the famed Stonehenge a visit. 
    Breakfast at Costa (:

    Now the Stonehenge is quite a distance from London, it lies about 140 km to the west in Salisbury. In order to reach Salisbury, we had to travel by train from London Waterloo. You can choose to book the tickets in advance or purchase them on the spot. We bought the tickets at the station itself, and it costs us around 36 pounds. 
     We brought along some food to fill our tummy! 

    After 1.5h, we finally reached Salisbury. It was a simple task as they had signs leading to where we should take our tour bus. Our tour was pre-booked online with Wilts and Dorsets for 24 pounds per person. Of course feel free to choose from the handful of tour operators, since Wilts and Dorsets' website doesn't seem to be up at the moment.

    Unfortunately for us, the weather wasn't exactly pleasant.

    While we had an umbrella which braved against the gale force winds, it finally perished and joined a graveyard of umbrellas lying by one of the trash bins. If you get to visit the Stonehenge make sure it's a nice weather!
    A tourist approached us to take photos for them and we took like at least 5 shots for them with different angles. After that, he helped us to take several shots with different angles too! Haha. It was really unbearable to stay out there for long! The rain was hitting on us like needles and the wind was super strong! We were out for like maximum 5 minutes! 


    Beautiful meadows stretch out as far as the eye can see with the woods lying far out, making it a scenery which city dwellers like us almost never see. Of course, we tried to spot some sheep, but they too were huddling together for warmth in some corner, out of sight.

    The tour also dropped us off at the town of Salisbury, a quaint place where there were old buildings, together with a slow pace of life. It's something hard for us to get used to, but definitely a more relaxing change of pace.
    Love how they mark the loo with huge words of the gender

    As we got really wet from the terrible weather, we went back to our hotel to rest and wash up before we left for dinner, in preparation for the long long night ahead! 
    I did a lil shopping at Oxford Street H&M where I got myself a waterproof boots for only 20 pounds! :D Since the weather destroyed my previous footwear =(
    Dinner at a random restaurant on Oxford Street! Its pretty easy to find food in London, pastas, chinese cuisines, Indian cuisines and the like. London is pretty cosmopolitan so food wouldn't be an issue. 

     In addition, they speak good old Queen's English so there wouldn't be any worries about communication. 
    We reached the Embankment area at around 9+pm? The crowd was crazy!!! Road blocks everywhere and tubes were really packed! We brought minimum items out with us! We stood for nearly 3h!!

     Londoners and tourists who were probably more experienced even brought their own liquor to enjoy while waiting for the moment. People dancing in the streets freely without any inhibitions. Great entertainment while we watched on as spectators waiting for the fireworks..
    BUT, the wait was really worth it when the countdown started. We didn't stand at the best spot but it was good enough. I didn't really take much photos because I was just too mesmerized by the scene. By the way, the fireworks and the music that the DJ was playing were in sync! SUPER COOL~!! 
    As soon as the fireworks ended, people started leaving the countdown area. It was kind of irritating when the crowd jams up. Us, being the petit Asians, couldn't spot what was going on up ahead which was causing the jam. But finally, as we got further out, we saw that the crowd control officers only let people leave in waves in order to prevent too much chaos. Although it's not exactly pleasant when you are stuck in the crowd, it was still an attempt at crowd management, so kudos to the organizers!
    If you're planning to spend countdown in London, this map is rather useful to determine which spot you would like to stand. Do some research beforehand to know where are the vantage points to view the fireworks unobstructed. Also bear in mind the ease of exit from the area just in case anything happens. Anyway the best spots are usually taken by the locals, we spotted people waiting since 5 pm, so you just have to try your luck. 

    IM SOOO HAPPPY THAT MY DREAM OF SPENDING COUNTDOWN IN LONDON WITH MY LOVED ONE HAS BEEN FULFILLED!!! I would wanna spend it in New York the next time round! ^^

    Kerwyn & Sheena said hello at 20:00 | Labels: , , | 0 comments |

  2. Meanwhile, let's take a break from Europe and come back to Singapore, where a recent event got someone realllly excited...

    TULIPMANIA! :D
    I love tulips! Kerwyn got me tulips for my graduation last year and for valentine's this year!
    When I saw that Gardens by the Bay was bringing in tulips, I was sooooo delighted! So, we made a trip down to Gardens on 17 May.
    We took MRT down to Gardens, its our first time travelling to MBS area using public transport! Sunny weather!
    While Gardens may seem out of the way being at the very southern part of the CBD, it's still pretty accessible with a 5-10 minute walk from Bayfront MRT of the circle line.
    My new camera - Sony Nex 3N allows us to take self-shots super easily! :D
    Shipped all the way from the Netherlands in Europe, it's tough to maintain these beautiful flowers. The Conservatory even had to replant the tulips once in order to maintain the exhibit.
    Did you know that my favourite tulips are ranked 3rd after the rose and chrysanthemum? In my opinion, it should come in second instead! Haha!

    Gardens by the Bay is a great place to hang out once in a while. You'll get to see all the flowers you never get to see in our sweltering climate. Besides, the whole place is air-conditioned for a leisurely day!

    Gardens by the Bay has a series of exciting activities lined up to keep the place bustling. They've got OCBC Garden Rhapsody at the Supertree Grove as well as various events for families to enjoy. We're waiting to see what else Gardens has got to offer!

    Had a lovely day bringing Sheena to see her favourite flowers bloom in the hundreds. Entrance to one conservatory is $12 and $20 to both. While it is not free admission, it's pretty worth the money if there's something exciting to check out, so who knows what'll be coming up next? 

    In our next post, we'll be returning back to our Europe adventureee!!!

    Kerwyn & Sheena said hello at 07:30 | Labels: , , , | 0 comments |

  3. Europe Travel: Journey to London

    Monday, 27 May 2013

    It was our final day in Paris! We didn't squeeze in any attractions in the morning as our train to London was at 12.13pm and Eurostar requires us to check in 30 minutes before departure time.

    As some of you know by now, our hotel Ibis is situated really near the metro station Cambronne. So we lugged our luggage, took line 6 towards Nation and alighted at Montparnasse Bienvenue, where we visited the Montparnasse Tower. Then we changed to take line 4 toward Porte De Clignancourt and alighted at Gare Du Nord, the interchange where our Eurostar train waited.
    The Eurostar isn't the cheapest travel option from Paris to London but definitely one of the more convenient ones. We paid approximately S$150 per pax when we booked online. Air fares are cheaper but we just wanted to avoid the hassles of airport security. Besides, it's a cool experience!
    Comfortable travel environment, as good as, if not better than the HSR in Taiwan! They even have a small cafe tucked in one of the carriages.
    Because the alcoholic drinks in Europe are just so cheap~!! :D
    After 2 hours of train ride, we arrived at St Pancras Station. Note: London is an hour ahead of Paris. As Kings Cross station is right beside it, we went to check out Harry Potter's Platform 9 3/4.

    If you are a super huge fan of Harry Potter, do visit the Harry Potter Studio which is very recommended by my friends who visited it! (:

    We also bought our SIM card from Three at Kings Cross because it offered us unlimited data! After getting the Oyster card, we finally made our way to easyHotel at Earls Court.

     Travel tip: Travel in London goes by zones on the tube, or better known as the London Underground. The Oyster card is a MUST just like our EZ Link card, which warrants some savings. Be warned though, travel on the tube is still not cheap, about a pound and up for one journey

     It takes about 5-8 minutes to walk to the hotel. Rather convenient as there's Salisbury, Marks & Spencer, Macdonalds, Costa and several cafes and restaurants around the area. On top of that, the hotel is CHEAP! SGD330 for 3 nights for a room with windows! Although there's no free wifi, no free tv and the room was small, we like how clean the room was and the coziness! Since our itinerary was planned such that we're out the entire day and would be dead tired by the time we get back to the hotel, we felt that there was no need to look for a better hotel with the mentioned amenities.
    A view from our window and the street outside our hotel

    It's a quaint little neighbourhood, but the streets still have some traffic going about at night, so no worries about dark alleys and stuff of the like. Just make sure you walk along the main streets and you'll be fine.
    By the time we settle down, it was near 5pm and we decided to make our way down to Covent Garden to meet Kerwyn's friend who happened to be in London for dinner. He recommended us to Belgoo Centraal which offers a deal known as the "Beat the clock". It is available only on weekdays, 5 - 6.30pm, where we pay the amount shown on the time of the receipt. If you reach at 5.30pm, this means that you only pay 5.30 pounds! There's a limited menu to this deal though but still worth it! (:
    Dinner at Belgo Centraal

    My friend since primary school, Jonathan was just finishing up his exchange and travelling so we met up for dinner! Pity we couldn't Beat the Clock together because it was a weekend but I'm sure there would be opportunities in the future.
    The closing time of shops during winter is really early, by the time we finished dinner, most shops were closed! No shopping for me ): Thus, we decided to take a walk around the area to enjoy the beautiful lightings on the streets (:

    We did manage to pop in Accessorize and a couple of shops before they closed. Most of all we tried Laduree macarons! =D

     Covent Garden and the Embankment is within walking distance of around 15 minutes. Around the Embankment, you can find iconic spots such as the London Eye and the clock tower of Westminster Palace, also more commonly known by the name of the bell within it - Big Ben. It was really nice to take a stroll by the Thames River even though its winter time. Perhaps its because of Kerwyn, always warming me up with his hands... teehee... ^^ That wraps up our journey to London! Do stay tune to some of the places we went in London! (:

    Kerwyn & Sheena said hello at 12:00 | Labels: , , | 0 comments |