the BEAUTIFUL lake district

portobello market (on sat morning) turned out to be not as wonderful as i expected. but we did enjoy venturing to many of the vintage and antique shops there, ooh-ing and aah-ing over intricate silverware and ornate vases (and their equally shocking prices!!!), and left very very satisfied with our loot of a set of silver tea serving ware! =D I can't wait to invite some girls over and serve them TEA using my new silver tea pot, cream jug, sugar bowl and cake server! =)

They're all old silver, so I need to give them a good wash in hot water and polish the outside (as advised by the seller). The cake cutter is pretty new - dated in 1965 - but the other items are early 1900s i think.

The drive to Lake District was almost 6 hours. But the journey was far from boring, as I had my new book to read, we had chocolate sultanas to munch, and all around us were beautiful verdant green hills, brilliant blue skies with cotton wool clouds, rows of hay, pastures of peacefully grazing cows and sheep, and the occasional horse along the way.

Our guesthouse is a lovely B&B with 6 rooms. Our's is so pretty! The wallpaper are white and peach striped, there is a marble sink and fireplace in the room, the towel rack is heated (!!!)... and the English Breakfast is HUMONGOUS! Sunny side-up egg, hashbrowns, fried tomatoes, sausages, bacon, toast, cereal, fruit and mushrooms! And tea and coffee and orange juice! After the first day, I thought that would be enough to last me a full day. But by noon, I was starving again =b Mel says it's the cold air here - it's a whole lot colder than London, and the breezes at night are seriously freezing!

So, not much time left, cos we are using internet cafe. So here's what we did the past two days.

yesterday:

1. Visited The World of Beatrix Potter attraction in Windermere
2. Visited Low Sizergh farm near Kendal, and walked a 2 mile farm trail (exhausting but beautiful at parts and mucky at some...)
3. Took a cruise on Windermere lake
4. Explored the towns of Bowness, Windermere, Ambleside
5. Huge dinner at The Jumble Room Cafe in Grasmere - fantastic place with cool sketches and colours and textures all around

today:

1. Visited Wordsworth Cottage in Grasmere. I saw my first wash stand - what the English used before sinks and taps were invented.
2. Went to Sarah Nelson's Gingerbread Cottage and came out with an armful of her delicious home-made gingerbread!!! =D And Rum butter =)
3. Visited Wordsworth's childhood home in Cockermouth. (terrible name eh? =b) Beautiful gardens there, and I saw apple and pear trees for the first time! Quite enchanting, the little rooms and all the antique furniture still around.
4. Drive down to Keswick, and spent the rest of the evening exploring this town (Still here...) We had a wonderful afternoon tea just now - scones with jam and clotted cream, and finger sandwiches, and cream cakes, and fruit cake, and tea... so I don't think we'll be eating dinner =b

Tomorrow morning after breakfast we leave for Heathrow again. Another long drive, but we are leaving way early so that we can afford to stop along the way to take pictures and admire the view.

Day 6 and 7

Day 6 - Thursday

We enjoyed a 2 1/2 hour Movie Walking Tour from St Paul's Cathedral in St Paul to St Paul's Church in Covent Garden. It was really cool cos the guide was a local small-time actor - only shoots for stuff like commercials and bit roles in tv shows - but he knew SO much! He brought us down all the little winding alleys to explore little nooks and crannies and to stand in exact locations where movies had been shot, such as My Fair Lady (Audrey Hepburn on the steps of St Paul's Church), Gringotts Bank (Australian Embassy), 4 weddings and a funeral (little cafe where she told him how many guys she'd slept with!), and several more! We also saw some interesting churches like St Brides Church (where actors are buried) and St Paul's (where journalists are buried), the home of Dr Johnson (the man who wrote the first dictionary) and a statue of his cat, Hodge!

After that long walk, we were starving!!! Had a delicious lunch of Cornish Pasties - my first time trying these. They're like giant curry puffs in a way, with all manner of stuffing. Mine was lamb and mint, Mel took the traditional one.

The afternoon was spent exploring Covent Garden - there are lots of little shops and stalls in the piazza, and there were several buskers about too, to contribute to the merriment!

The day ended with a pot of mussels, a small red lobster, and white chocolate mousse at nearby Belgo's, kindly recommended by Sharon. =) Honestly, the mussels were a BIT of a disappointment... but the mousse was lovely, and the lobster was very yummy too, so we were more than satisfied. =)

Day 7 - Camden Day

The train service to Camden Town was suspended that morning. So we decided to exercise and took the underground to the nearest possible operating stop - King's Cross. At King's Cross we went hunting for the 'trolley in the wall' which is part of the Harry Potter movies. We found it! haha!!!

Walked from King's Cross to Camden - it was pretty far and took us about 40-45min I should think. But Camden was really a nice change from Central London - the many markets lining the streets, lots of pokey little shops, and all kinds of food.

To be honest, after a while, the shops got a tad boring, cos they tend to all sell around the same type of clothes. And they weren't cheap either, so we did't buy any clothes from the market, even after 3+ hours of shopping! Haha... but still fun.

The, just as I was getting into grumpy mood at all the same types of shops, we found a short stretch of lovely furniture shops! Yay! And... we found one shop that was SO our type that we were stuck in it for over half and hour. It was full of pretty english things, like sauce racks and bread bins and watering cans and door knobs and hooks and cushions - all whites and pinks and lilacs. Hee! Came away very happy with a very pretty white antique looking clock for our living room in bedok, and also towel hooks (His and Hers) for the toilet. =)

Finally made it home and had our first Italian meal of pasta and risotto at a nearby cafe to end the night.

Day 8 - is TODAY!

This morning we are going to Portobello market to scavenge a bit more, but only a short while, cos we have to be back here by 12 to check out and travel to the airport. At the airport we'll pick up our car and then it's a long drive (4-6 hours) up to the Lake District, where we'll spend the next 3 days. Please pray for safe and scenic travel for us!

I'm beginning to feel sad about having to leave this beautiful city, but I do miss home too...

travelling OUT of London

Yesterday we had planned to go strawberry picking, but what with the somewhat dismal weather and the hassle of finding the relevant farms without a car, we decided to forego that.

had a lovely picnic brunch in Kensington Park, near the Diana Memorial playground. lots of kiddies running around, and the sun came out every few minutes to warm our cold hands. our FEAST included ploughman sandwiches (mature cheddar, reduced fat, rye bread), original glazed krispy kremes doughnuts, a bunch of white seedless grapes, hot chocolate (me) and cappucino (mel), a bowl of prawn-mango-mixed-rice salad, and strawberry trifle pudding! =D

Haha... as expected, we couldn't finish, and the trifle is still untouched and sitting in our room by the window (natural fridge).

We lay on the grass and read our books that we got from the thrift book shop. I am so happy at the 5 books i found, all ranging between 1.3-1.7GBP each (4-6 SGD). Titles that I gave away when I hit my teens, along with my Enid Blyton collection. I got 'What Katy Did', 'What Katy did at school', 'What Katy did next', 'Heidi', and 'Pollyana'.

In the early afternoon, the sun was more or less gone forever, and it was just overcast and brrrrrr.... windy, so we let the park and went to walk the length of Tottenham Court Road and Charing Cross, popped into a few bookshops, but everything was pretty expensive and not like the little shop I had got those books from. Finally ended off at Paperchase - a THREE storey one! Woo hoO!!! We must have spent an hour in there, ooh-ing and aah-ing at all the pretty things. =)

Later on in the afternoon, we took the tube out of London to Hilingdon. I met this guy in Malaysia at a conference last year, called Jason. Yesterday morning I called him to say hi, and he invited us over to his area to spend the evening there.

The journey was loooonnggg... about 1.5 hour in total on the train. He picked us from Hillingdon, and it was so different from central london. It's called the 'Green belt', and the government is very strict about building any property there, cos they want to conserve the environment there.

A 15 min drive through winding tree-lined avenues and quaint little towns brought us to his home/office. It was like a fairy tale picture! and his 'house' is really sort of like a mansion, with turrets and a huge huge beautiful garden and a pond, and rabbits and foxes (which we didn't get to see). The building houses their chapel, their offices and function rooms, and individual pads for those staying there. Altogether cosy and 'english', and we were treated to a tour of the whole place! =)

After that he drove us out somemore to a really cool pub called The Royal Standard of England. Apparently, it's the oldest freehouse pub left in England!! =D How awesome that we got to go! =)

Had my first fish and chips of the trip. it was HUMUNGOUS. So a good thing mel and I shared. We had sticky toffee pudding and home-made vanilla and ameretto ice cream for dessert too. =D yumm. I was so full and satisfied I could roll home.

And I tried a very yummy beer called Strawberry Fruli from Switzeland. SOOO yummy and it was PINK! But the alcohol content must have been qutie high, cos I got very red after finishing it =b

After dinner, it was a long ride home and we were so tired that all we could do was collapse and sleep. But still, it was a miracle of a day, considering it had started off on a blank slate!

Day 1-5 in very brief summary =)

There's a computer for general use in the little hotel we are staying in. Good, so I can blog!

It's really a very little hotel. Our room is so small that we have to manouvre to get to anywhere, amongst our bags, the hotel furniture, and the dustbin. Haha... I think it's like the same size as my bedroom at home, only my bedroom didn't have space for a toilet! =b

But it's very cosy and the service is great and it's really convenient to be just 5 minutes walk from Paddington station, which goes to basically anywhere else in London.

So... what have we been doing?

We arrived about 5plus am on Saturday morning at Heathrow Airport. The flight itself was a bit of a learning experience of accepting each others differences - when we got on board, i promptly swooped into dreamland (thanks to the very efficient air sick pill) while poor mel was left to amuse himself with the movies. but then when i woke up and was all ready to chat or sth, he was worn out and took his nap time. so... all a bit frustrating, but i was reminded that life won't always go the way you want it to huh.

so, arrived at heathrow, took the express train to paddington. even at only 6am, the sky was all bright and chirpy to welcome the day ahead!

we got a bit lost finding our way to the hotel, but overall not too bad.

so saturday. we spent the day explorin paddington. we walked all the way down to hyde park, walked through part of hyde park too, walked along edgeware road, which is a bit like their version of arab street. lots of lebanese and turkish eateries and all those people smoking the long pipes.

we saw Harry Potter in the window of many shops, but I'm so thankful we didn't buy straight away, cos towards the end of our day, we saw it going for 6.99GBP in woolsworth!! haha!! =D that's about $22 SGD btw. *smug grin*

so i got 2 copies - for my aunty and for dillon. if anyone else (of my friends) wants, leave me a comment to this post k.

we also enjoyed a late lunch in a quaint pub called The Bear and The Bishop, where I began reading the Potter book, and I finished it by dinner time! =D ha. no spoilers here, but it's really an awesome read. =D totally worth it.

Sunday we took a one-day coach tour out to bath, stonehenge and salisbury. I think for me, the best part of the day was by far the cathedral at salisbury. Our guide was really good, giving us so much historical nuggets all along the way. I really wish I could have written in all down, cos it was so so interesting!! But from what I can remember, Salisbury Cathedral was Roman Catholic until King Henry the 8th came along. He was Catholic, but he wanted a divorce from his wife, and the Pope wouldn't let him, so he was really furious and decided to get out of the Catholic faith and set up his own 'church' - the Church of England. So Salisbury was one of the many catherdrals that made the switch along with him.

The inside of th church was so beautiful, and the architecture so so intricate to look at! And we went into the Chapter House too, and saw the Magna Carter - one of only 3 remaining original copies in the world! It was in latin =b but there was a translated one around. Basically it's a document that spells out the rights that led to freedom of the slaves in the past.

Bath and Stonehenge were beautiful too. I shall wait till our pictures are developed and create a beautiful honeymoon scrapbook and show everyone who wants to see =) heh. The most beautiful thing about Bath were the golden stones from which most of the buildings are made. Not the same slate grey type you'd see in the rest of London - it's really a pretty warm gold, and under the afternoon sun, it was gorgeous!

Monday we took the Big Bus Tour - a 24 hour hop-on-hop-off ticket to go round the whole of London. We got off at stops where we wanted to walk around, such as Chinatown (a very short street only though), Trafalgar Square, London Bridge and London Tower, Big Ben and St Paul's. We had lunch in the Crypt of St Paul's Cathedral and bought the ticket to go in. It was so beautiful - in fact, I'd say it was just as beautiful as Salisbury, but in a different way. Salisbury was beautiful cos of the history and the ancient architecture. St Paul's is beautiful in a more modern sort of way.

We climbed about 300 steps up a very narrow one-way flight of stairs to reach first the Whispering Gallery, and then the Stone Gallery. There was a last and highest gallery called the Golden Gallery, but I was too much out of breath to make it =b Haha... but it was really good exercise, and the view from the Stone Gallery was already really good - a panaromic view of the whole of London!

Yesterday was designated SHOPPING DAY 1. Hee hee... we managed to walk the whole stretch of Oxford. Right from Marble Arch to the Picadilly line. Heh. Took us about 8 hours or so, with lots of stops in between! Haha. I feel so proud of myself cos I sticked to my budget and still got lots of cool stuff and presents too. And mel got lots of nice stuff for himself too, so it wasn't a one-sided trip k =)

My favourite buy would have to be... an empire waisted beige top with an emerald green and purply blue design on it. From Dorothy Perkins Sale at only 5GBP!!! That's about $15 SGD.

Total clothes count is: that top + green dress + white shorts + blue top + blue espadrilles with red flowers. =D

After all that shopping, we lugged all our loot to watch a musical - Mamma Mia - at Prince of Wales theatre. It was so funny and sweet and the singing was great and the dancing was great and I told Mel the 41GBP per person fee was all worth it! (When you consider that the average meal for 2 there would be 15 GBP) I'm so glad we went for it.

today is another free day. We had originally planned to go strawberry picking on the outskirts of London, but found out it's too much hassle without a car. So we are leaving our hotel soon to take a picnic to Kensington Park and spend the morning there reading books. Later on we might do a bit more shopping or just walk another side of London we haven't been to yet. =) I must say, we're doing quite a lot of walking to compensate for the yummy krispy kremes and ice creams... hee!

Yup. So that's my trip so far. I'm really enjoying myself, and Mel is too, and it just feels a bit sad that it's already almost halfway through.

leaving with my hubby!

today was a very happy day! in the morning, we went down to ikea to get some great stuff for our bedok flat (IT'S THE SALE PEOPLE.) thanks to some vouchers we got for our wedding, the cash we had to pay was a lot less than what we got. =)

ran into kuanmei there, which was really a huge thanksgiving, as she leaves with her hubby for the US next week, and i won't be around then, and she won't be back till next year. kind of sad that she's going, but excited for all the new opportunities and experiences she will have over there for the next 2 years or so.

the afternoon passed by in a bit of a blur of housekeeping, packing and cleaning. and now... we're at the airport! Terminal One to be exact. about 2 hours to departure, but we came in early to look around.

it's the first trip we're taking as husband and wife. so quite exciting =D hee. i'm looking forward lots to time spent together in our cozy little hotel and strolling along the tree-lined cobbled streets of London, and sipping nice tea in an authentic english cafe!!! =D and, of course, making our rounds of oxford and portobello and camden for some good deals too! =)

our parents came to the airport to see us off. lots of advice from all parties, but we know it's only because they love us =) so....

OFF WE GO!!!

WE DID IT!!!

I'm a wifey. =)

Hee. I like the sound of that.

Yup, mel and I got marrieeeeed on Saturday, 14 July, at my church. It was really everything I had dreamed of, or could hope for. Seeing all my friends gathered there to witness this occasion was so heart-warming. Saying goodbye to my family was tear-jerking and emo. Saying my vows to mel and looking him in the eye was pretty much overwhelming.

But through it all, God allowed me to really BE in the moment of the day. In fact, that's my hugest thanksgiving - that we could really cherish all that the day brought - whether things went accordin to plan or not. and that's because of all the AWESOME help we had, from family and friends!! =)

Thanks everyone... hugz

So now I'm a Mrs Chow. or as Yann and Dawn put it, Mr(S)melly. bleah. heh

It's been a strange, surreal, exciting, overwhelmin few days, settling into our Seng Kang flat *rental for a few months* and 'keeping house'. i do miss my home terribly - my room, my stuff toys, the familiar sounds of my family, the breeze from the sea... and i've burst into tears over the smallest thing over the past few days... but dear mel has been very patient and understanding and let me cry on him. so that helps a lot.

it's a lot better today. somehow it feels like I'm on the road to 'adjusting'. i dunno why it seems easier for mel, but i suspect it's a guy-thing. heh

so. today i did lots of nice wifey things. i woke up earlier to make pancakes. (sadly misshapen and slightly burnt, but my first solo attempt okay!) i washed the clothes in the washing machine and spent almost an hour sitting in front of it mesmerized b it's spinning. we hung the clothes up together. i met friends for lunch at raffles place. came back and we went to NTUC grocery shopping, and got stuff for the house as well - like tap filters and tea bags and coffee and dishwashing liquid. i cooked two dishes with my spanking new teflon saucepanny. packed the food and we came to my grandma's for dinner. we came home and bathed. now checking emails in companionable silence at starbucks opposite the road.

yup.

all in all, a happy day. =)

so. wedding pics will be out in august, and i'll try to upload a slideshow our wonderful photog did! =D meanwhile, we're off on our honeymoon on friday!!! i can't wait! =D

share more when i'm backkk