Globetrotting...

Farewell UK

2011-10-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

OMG 4 amazing years we had in the UK.

Just looking back, so many opportunities, experiences (some outrageous), God provided and protected us at every moment. The friendships and relationships made will be fond memories. It will always be a very special place in our hearts.

And now it's time for us to go. Am sure we'll be back for a visit with hopefully the kids!

(pic of us in plane)

Calais (Round 2)

2011-10-19T23:45:00.000-07:00

Homeward bound! Calais to Dover!

Brugges

2011-10-18T23:57:00.001-07:00

Our final stop before we concluded our Europe Road Trip 2011.

Took it easy with strolling the city and taking pictures. No museum visits, no catherdral viewings, just chilling. Had a fabulous 4 course dinner for 40 EUR. Food was really tasty. There were only about 8 small tables inside. Looked strange from the outside but the restaurant lived up to the reviews online.

Brugges, "being a waterway-ed" city, is pretty, definitely worth a weekend trip if you are living in London being so close by.

ETAP Hotel - budget, nice and clean!

Luxembourg

2011-10-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

What else besides being known in our minds as a tax haven?

'L' for Lux, not any other wild imaginations you might have!

Good healthy food...

Fortress city...

Had quite an adventure scrambling through the "Casemates" which were tunnels through rock, used during battles.

Strasbourg

2011-10-16T23:58:00.000-07:00

What a romantic gem. Even more so during the christmas markets I imagine! The buildings around La petite france were timber framed houses, very pretty. Strasbourg, an island, is one unique town which changed hands between the french then germans then back to french again.

Here you'll find the European Parliament as well as the Human Rights Court.

The cathedral was mind blowing, and the boat ride along the canal was romantic. The glass domed boat felt like a green house, and the warmth shining through the glass roof made us rather drowsy!

We had one of the best french meals ever here. Drilled duck breasts with morello sauce + Steak with mint and mushroomy sauce. No pics taken though.

Managed to capture the deserts we savoured though...

More architecture...

Youth hang-out by the canals...

Thumbs up to this little spot.

Basel

2011-10-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah yeah.... thank God for BIS and its job creations.

This boat takes you from one side of the river to the other. We just jumped on. Would euros do? sure thing the boatman said!

What a skinny building.

Ofcourse we chanced upon a church...

Last spot where we savoured roasted chestnuts. Yumm.

Zurich

2011-10-15T00:10:00.000-07:00

We almost by passed Zurich in order to allow a couple of nights in Prague. Hadn't planned on much for switzerland. All I remember from my last visit more than 10 years ago was that this country was spanking clean and pricey.

Exiting to Zurich..

A couple of oldies, ramping up in their vintage car. The lady didnt look too happy though... brrr cold

Not sure why but this city seemed to be flogged with smokers! Just every corner we turned, was someone puffing away, no matter the age.

Largest sausage in a roll ever had. We figured we were leaving Germany and Austria so this might be our last one for a while....

Swiss & their chocolate...

Took a picture outside CS and had a couple of passerbys laugh... I do not blame em!

Dinner plans : Ordered Thai take away from a store which was already closed. We were quite ridiculous really, we were so insistent on trip adviser reviews that we asked them to open up with hand actions through the window. We had the most spicy green curry chicken and tom yum soup with rice, and perched ourselves by the river. Rice never tasted this good too.

Where we stayed and look at our junk in our car!

Fussen

2011-10-14T00:17:00.000-07:00

Friends : Which is your favorite spot?
Me: I think this is one of them....

Bavaria, I read about this beautiful part of South Germany and here we are! It's very green, tranquill and romantic! Just gazing upon Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles makes you feel like you are in fairy tale land!

Nicely located, our B&B allowed us to take the back lanes and enjoy a 20min stroll to the base of the castles. Ofcourse it took much longer, as we were snapping away.

Horse ride up?

or The walk uphill...

Neuschwanstein..

Now, which picture shows off better photography skills?

The walk home while the sun was setting in the evening. Our legs were really sore after so much walking the past few days.

Munich

2011-10-13T00:17:00.000-07:00

The rain pattered on as we made our way to Munich. It was great that we were in the comfort of our own car.

Quick bite here at the market.

Marienplatz..

Pastry time... (brekky & tea time)

Everyone was touching the mouth of this lion, so we followed suit!

Couple of random pics.

One of the interesting sights in the English Garden. Not many having a go, just one, with so many cameras on him. He was oblivious.

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Salzburg

2011-10-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

Salzburg sits so romantically amongst the hills and the Austrian alps. It's a very cosy town and feels serene. No wonder Mozart was so inspirational.

An interesting town with electric buses too!

Pointed cabbages?

Kehlstein

2011-10-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

Eagle's Nest

Another hike and walk through history.... Preserved through WWII.

Martin Bormann presented this building to Adolf Hitler for his 50th birthday. Hitler used it as a retreat and a place to host foreign dignitaries.

How was it possible to get the roads, the tunnel, the 124m lift shaft up plus the buiding completed in 13 months? Here are some photos of the construction process.

The 40m long tunnel to the lift...

The original red italian marble fire place ..

We would have gotten amazing views but it was a cloudy day, so here's a photo of a postcard at the souvenir shop.

And here's our version of the "view".

It's cloudy and one would be oblivious of any UV but just look at daves transition lens!

Ice Caves of Eisriesenwelt Werfen

2011-10-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

Ice cave, not Ice age!

Panoramic views of the Austrian Alps, as we made our way up to the ice cave. 20 mins walk to the cable car which took us steep up into the mountains and then we walked on for a further 20 mins, before we got to the entrance. Huff and puffed... the walk kept us feeling warm although we were rising in terms of altitude with lower temperatures.

The drive up...

And we stopped for a picture...

The hike up plus cable car ride up ...

The entrance to the ice cave...

As the tour guide took us through the entrance, a gust of strong wind greeted us in the ice cave. The ice forming in these limstone caves is a result of melting snow seeping into these limestone caves, and as the cold winds blew into the caves, this water started freezing up. Some of the formations are like 'kueh lapis', layers of water freezing upon another layer. Frozen stalagtites and stalagmites can also been seen in the cave. Walked a total of 1400 steps in the ice cave... not overly tiring, a nice work out.

But after repeating the way up with the way down of a walk then cable car plus another walk down, it became a work out for the day....Fanastic experience though.

Weren't allowed pics inside but here's what we took on the way up and a video inside instead!

(video inside)

Vienna

2011-10-10T00:14:00.000-07:00

Bratislava (Slovakia)

2011-10-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Not much happened here for the 2 nights that we were here.
The town was not too interesting so had a quick walk and headed to the shopping malls!

No internet in the apartment we had so we ended up hanging out in the surprisingly massive shopping malls sipping tea/coffee with our netbooks..

Did some planning for the next few days of our trip in Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Zurich..... so worked out well in a way.

Heviz (Hungary)

2011-10-06T13:51:00.001-07:00

We are at the mid point of our trip, marked by a dip into Europe's largest thermal lake!

It was quite a unique experience.... firstly, that we were swimming in a lake and secondly, that mother nature has this lake naturally heated!

More of Zagreb (Croatia)

2011-10-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

Dolac market... roasted hazel nuts...and more... yummmy.

The square

We thought we find out more about Croatia through the City Museum but it was mostly in Croatian, so we just browsed the images and tried to make as much sense of things.

Experienced our first City tour on an electric 2 wheeler..... it certainly beats walking and its so exciting being on it as well!!

Dinner was superbly held at one of the participating restaurants of the week having a competition. The promo 3 course menu was absolutely delicious. It felt more like french cuisine than Croatian. We didn't take any pics of the meals unfortunately, primarily because we were worn out from wandering in the city the entire day.

Samobor/Zagreb (Croatia)

2011-10-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

Drove by Lake Bled (slovenia) on our way to Croatia.
Lake Bled to Croatia = 2hrs.

Lake Bled...

Passport checks when we got to the border and entered Croatia as it is not part of the EU. We stopped by Samobor village before heading into the Zagreb, capital city of Croatia. Samobor is a laid back, smallish town, with cafes having very comfy outdoor furniture, we sat ourselves down for a drink under the cool umbrellas...

Coffee at Samobor...

Plonked our things and car at the apartment premises and took a tram into the city. Tram took about 15 mins, pretty quick and efficient.

The apartment and surroundings.... (the chocolate factory was literally round the corner from us!)

Popped into the tourist info centre to do the usual and decided to go to the Museum of broken relationships.... it started in 2006, a relatively new museum of its kind but an interesting one, it has been exhibited in quite a few countries round the world. We met the originator of the museum who had a broken relationship himself and decided with a group of friends to exhibit some of the gifts exchanged as part of their broken relationship, and few years on in 2006, the museum was born. There was a man who recognised his grandparent in the videos that were shown!

Here's some of the items ...

Concluded our day with a local eatery down the road from the apartment. We were the only guests and they only had a few items 'Under the Bell', which means BBQ of which we took a while to get him to explain to us what it meant!!

Mount Vogel (Slovenia)

2011-10-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

Cable car ride up to Mount Vogel, followed by chair lift further up.

Am waiting... what took you so long to get up to the top?

Picture of the typical buildings in the villages around Lake Bohinj.

Wood they need to stock up for the cold winters of -20 degrees. brrr....

Local cuisine...

Skocjan + Ljubljana (Slovenia)

2011-10-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

Leaving Trieste (on the Italian border), it was minutes before we were in Slovenia!! And guess what? We were greeted with a unfriendly fine of Euro 150 for not having bought a valid pass to be in Slovenia. Apparently they got rid of the TOLL system and implemented this new thingy which is darn cheap. Our 2 day pass would have only cost us Euro 15 but it now cost us Euro 165! It was such a ridiculous amount, we were not happy at all.(Why didn't they have some warning signs in English of this fine? They have everything else in their country in English but not this, unethical government practice.)

Anyway, we proceeded to the Karst region of Slovenia and were onto our visit to yet another UNESCO Heritage site of limestone caves - Skocjan Caves. Had a guided tour and it was interesting to find out that the river runs 44km to the sea. We walked about 2km inside the cave and caught a glimpse of the river flowing within the cave... it was amazing. There were also huge stalagtites and stalagmites, plus curtain formations too. Bats were flying around apparently but it was great I did not notice them.... eeewww....

We drove North for an hour and arrived at Ljubljana city. Most shops were closed being a Sunday, except restaurants. This city seemed very clean, organised, it had colourful buildings, the guide book said it seemed like a mix of amsterdam, prague...etc. A very small place and pleasant. Had a bit of a walk then had an early dinner at 5pm.

Traditional slovenian sausages and pasta filled with spinach. Yummz.

Now, off we were to Lake Bohinj for 2 nights. Got a bit lost looking for the hostel as TOM TOM and google maps took us to the wrong spots... up some rocky roads in the dark jungle! haaa... whatever happend to our two most reliable gadgets!! tsk tsk. We had to ring and also stop and ask someone and got here in the end. Simple double ensuite room. Our first hostel sleepover so far. Again? or Never again?

Verona....Trieste

2011-10-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

Set off from Lake Garda after a nice brekky at the hotel, to Verona, just 45mins away. As soon as we parked and started walking, we were greeted by the amphitheatre, looking fairly impressive from the outside. Learned that it is very much still in use for events which must be quite special to be using something of ancient history. Imagine having your national day parade within. Cool. Hung around in Verona old town for a couple of hours, had our last italian gelato there and then we carried on our journey to Trieste.

Verona ....

(information centre, left or right?)

Got to our B&B at Trieste after winding through some steep and ultra narrow cobbled roads. At one point, we were going down and a tiny car was coming up and they had to reverse and park close against the wall for us to pass! We were very well taken care of by hospitable hosts and were even served a nice cooked brekky in the morning. There was a certain buzz to Trieste, traffic was manic though... Dave did well competing with the local drivers! It took us ages to find a parking spot in the city cos there was a carnival going on that Saturday in preparation for some Sailing event the next week. Dinner was surperb, being reccomended by our host. Very local and new to our taste buds. To add to the atmosphere, there were live bands around playing near where the restaurant was as part of the carnival.... lovely.

Narrow street...

Trieste by night...

Local food - Gnochhi with beef goulash + Sausages w cabbage....

Lake Garda

2011-09-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

Oo la la. It brought back memories of when we went to Lake Como 3 years ago. Just so peaceful when you look over the lake. It's a different feeling compared to when you look at the sea. Caught the sun as it was going down as well.... It was really pretty. It was a fairly long drive from San Remo for Dave of about 4hrs which he did on his own. I could'nt chip in as I was feeling blue that day with the stuffy nose and the HEAT. So as soon as we checked into the hotel, we took a nice nap before we set off in seach for our meal.

Sunset...

Next day, we woke up for buffet breakfast, then had a nice relaxing walk around parts of the lake and then we did a little drive around the lake and found some much longed for pasta for lunch (spaghetti vongole and tagliatelle funghi) before we parked the car back at the hotel and searched high and low for a shady spot to sleep at the lake! we had our towels to lie on and also a pillow to lie on for a nap... haaa.... What a nice chilled 2 days at Lake Garda...

Interesting recycling bins...

Nice/Monaco/San Remo

2011-09-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

Nice, a sea side town, was strewn with restaurants. It seemed busy when we were there, possibly a favourite spot for tourists to hang out? Perhaps people seeking warmer climate flock to the south of france for the sunshine.... We parked in a multi storey car park for a couple of hours, walked around a bit, caught a glimpse of the beach and then picked up some pizza and had it on a shady patch of grass (the chairs facing the sea were all taken up by people).

Moved onto Monaco, the much hyped up town where apparently it is one of the world's most costly neighbourhood? It felt like HK esp at the mid levels where the town was built up on a hill. There were stairs (no elevators) taking you up and up from the harbour front. It was a really nice walk from the top where we parked the car on the street, all the way to the harbour where the yachts were anchored and then we made our way up the other end. To our surprise, we managed to locate our car!

To prevent burning a hols in the pocket, we drove an hour more, leaving France and landed ourselves in San Remo (Italy) for the night. The border check point was empty, so we just drove into Italy like that! Cool. It didn't take long to get the feel of Italian driving culture.....

Heading towards Italian border....

Border crossing ....

Where we stayed in San Remo...

Arles/xx/xx

2011-09-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

XXX - A mini Paris?

Am I big or what?

Arles - A mini rome?!!

XXX what town is this again?

Carcasonne to Montpellier

2011-09-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

Carcasonne is absolutely amazing! UNESCO listed world heritage site, it is such a beautifully restored medieval town, making it feel as it was some Theme Park. The person(Eugene xx) who planned this 13th century town's restoration took 50 years, he was the same person who restored the notre dame. Imagine the amount of educated gut feel you needed to have to predict what the ruins would have looked like before and how best to restore it. I never realised how difficult it is a job to restore something that so many of us just carelessly visit and enjoy!

By night...

After abour 2 hours of walking through the castle and parts of the doubled walled city, the heat wave took over us. We went back to the car and had our korean spicy cup noodles and some fruit for lunch. Yummmm.... more predictable than french food and maybe better suited to our tastes budds. There's just more satisfaction when there's chilli!

Drove 1.5hrs onto Montpellier where we will spend a night. Quite a pleasant hotel, so thats good news. It was too hot to head out so we had an afternoon siesta till 645pm. Decided to chill today and keep dinner simple so we picked up some dinner from the supermarket which happened to be just behind the block! So convenient! Pumped up our tank, got some prawns, bread, milk, snacks, fruits, ham, salad, tomoatoes) and had a sumptous meal.

Souillace to Rocamadour/Toulouse/Carcasonne

2011-09-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

Had a lie in as usual, spoke on skype to folks in GP and started our journey at about 1030am. This hotel in Souillace turned out to be better than expected. They gave us this massive room with one double and 2 single beds but charged us for a double room. It was relatively quiet though located close to the railway station. Am not sure how tourist get around without a car if they arrived by train..... maybe they have bicyles to get by cos we did see some Americans riding. I think the Dordogne river is nice to explore by cycling or kayaking which we can try next time when the kiddos are big enough.

From Souillace, Rocamadour is just 40mins away. Rocamadour is quite unusual, the village being built on the edge of the cliff, with a catherdral of the black virgin. Used to attract pilgrims in the past but not so much these days.

Before our trek, we sat down and had some bread with the smoked duck breast, truffle infused olive oil and truffle balsaminc vinegar! Lovely.

Village...

It was super duper hot too... felt like 30 degrees! The heat felt like it was penetrating your skin. Gosh, I think I've climatised to the cool and winter-ish weather.

More walking....

Someone looking tired...

Enjoyed the few hours of trekking up and down the village with a few pit stops at benches in between to catch our breath.

Finally walking up and out....

Some perched for a view...

The view...

Next pit stop - Toulosse, a fairly huge city. We were a little tired by the time we got here after the heat wave! But we carried on and walked around for a couple hours in the square, had some snacks and attempted to have an early dinner but most of the restaurants/cafes we wanted to try were not opened till 730pm! So we thought we continue our journey to Carcasonne where we will be spending the night and we might as well pick up dinner there.

What we remember of Toulosse :-) ...

The ice cream with the long queue...

Pretty Bickies....

Carcasonne medieval city is amazing even at night! Well lit and just so grand, so special as if it was a man made theme park! We will browse it more the next morning.... so off we were to a yummy dinner and back to the hotel.

By night...

Sarlat, Beynac, Domme

2011-09-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Drove to Sarlat hoping to see the famous markets but some stalls were closing by the time we got there. Oh well nevermind, caught a few pics of this medieval town. But this town is infused with fois gras and truffle! It's on sale at every corner you turn to.

Kept driving and passed another village called Beynac... oooohhh this one is nice.

Then another one on the top of a hill - Domme. Had a superb margerita pizza!

Loire Valley - Triglocyte dwelling

2011-09-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

We drove along the Loire Valley, moving west towards a town called Saumur. Not far from there is a Triglocyte dwelling museum which was previously 2 farmers households which were left abandoned in the 19th Century. It was interesting to see how people actually lived in the cliffs! Apparently, at that time it was cheaper to dig holes than to build upwards. Infact, pictures of other triglocyte dwellings were pictured in Tunisia, China, Croatia.... So it seemed like an unusual yet similar idea spanning across other countries too.

Here's what living was like in the rocks....

That summed up the Loire Valley for us and we made our way further south and spent the night at a town near Poitiers.

Chateau of Chambord

2011-09-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Largest and most grand chateau - it was magnificent!

It sits on an estate of 5,000 hectares. We tickets at Euro 9.50 each plus an Audio guide for Euro 5. We had a great time of wandering through especially with the spiral staircase which is fascinating as the up spiral and down spiral intertwines around each other such that you never meet on if one is on your way up and the other is on the way down.

King Francois the 1st initiated the building of this massive chateau, he saw parts of it completed but not the entire construction. He spent only about 72 days here. What a pity.

The walk towards Chateau Chambord....

Inside....

Peering out one of the balcony...

There's D running up, see how tiny he is in comparison to the building!

The gardens surrounding...

Loire Valley (Orleans)

2011-09-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

Much dreamed about and talked about and finally we are here! It was quite a few hours on the motorway (expensive tolls) before we reached the most eastern end of the Loire Valley at Orleans. Got to the hotel at 530pm and plonked on the bed for an hour nap before we did anything else. Got up feeling a bit hungry and had our nicely packed vietnamese food for dinner. It was a good idea to "ta pao". We then took a 5 min drive into the city centre where they were having a festival, there were some live bands, livestock for kids to be amused at, a manual hand turning carousel for 3 toddlers to jump on.... cute.... antique.

Had a relatively early nite as we will start our tour of the Valley of the Kings tomorrow morning.

Favourite Pho

2011-09-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

Where else to get the superb authentic vietnamese? Tolbiac (Paris chinatown!) We absolutely love coming here but this was an impromtu decision to do a slight detour and drive into Paris for lunch! After having our pho, we proceeded to another restaurant and picked up a beef rice and beef noodle to "ta pao" for dinner. :-))

EU Road Trip

2011-09-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Our finale trip to sum up our UK stint before we head home to the sunny shores of Oz.

Alarm set for 4am, finally got up for our showers at 445am, and packed up the car with a few remaining items and took off at 540am. This gave us sufficient time to get to Dover to get on board the P&O ferry which was due to depart at 810am.

We got to Dover at 7am - on time! (pic of port to follow)

And here goes Dave catching up on lost sleep this morning. (pic to follow)

Safely home

2011-08-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

Thank God for ensuring our safety on the roads (and wherever we went really) on our trip. We are grateful for this opportunity to do a final round up of UK via a road trip around the northern part of UK, before we pack up. It was a beautiful and very enjoyable trip.

Here's a pic of the route we travelled...

View Larger Map

On our way back

2011-08-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

After the adrenalin rush of completing the round at St Andrews, we sat ourselves down for lunch, picked up a latte and started our way back down to Harrowgate for the night. About a 4 hr drive (where we took turns to have a snooze) and we were soon at our B&B. Good thing it was also a pub, so we managed to get some dinner conveniently and hopped into bed straight after. What a crazy day.

Home of Golf

2011-08-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

St Andrews - where it all started. We hurried to bed early by 945pm when we heard the hotel receptionist telling us that she had news that the queues to get on for a round started at something like 430am! The alarm rang at 2am and when we got up to snooze it, my logical mind said this is ridiculous, should we really get up and go? Snuggled back into bed and then after some thinking, dave just said, let's do it! So we jumped quickly out of bed, got a shower, and set off at 247am, arriving at the Starters tee box at about 3am.

Lo and Behold, Dave was 4th in the queue! We were quite shocked to find other fellow enthusiasts earlier than us! First guy arrived 245am! We took out our portable chairs, wrapped up... and we sat out in the cold... gosh it was windy (being by the sea). This had better be worth it we thought to ourselves.

Slowly more and more ple rocked up in the dark... think it went up to number 27. It was absolutely madness but fun. I was the only non player sitting out there in the cold, they said I was dedicated, haaaa..... Thinking about it now, I prob was the most crazy person. Am sure the Americans and Aussies would remember me as part of their golfing tour 2011!

One of the guys plays off scratch and ended up playing to -3. He was very talented. Dave had a good round too and played below his handicap, so he was beaming. Good on him. Like usual, I was taking pics and videos.

Even walking the course, it was just as enjoyable...had a great time. The queue was worth it and it was certainly an experience for us.

Off he goes....1st tee

One of the most scary tee shots in golf, the 17th Road Hole - Lots of wind, but Dave cuts across the hotel and hits the fairway! Phew!

Inverness & Lochness

2011-08-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

After a sumptous brekky of porridge + fruit, bacon, free range eggs, her home made sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, we set off from Culbokie to Inverness and then down to Lochness (hope it will not be a no show with the Lochness Monster).

Heard the hype about these 2 spots.... let's see what lies ahead...

Inverness town centre was much about shopping. Lochness visitor centre was not worth a visit. Quite silly really inside. They could have done a better job!

Culbokie

2011-08-27T23:56:00.000-07:00

Most relaxing part of our trip where we stayed on the Netherton Farm in Culbokie, about 10mins north of Inverness. A very cosy home, room with a view of a wheat farm, chickens running about and 4 wild boars. It was so quiet and away from the hustle and bustle of city living. Romy, our host made excellent porridge and great bacon and eggs just the way I like it. Eggs were from the chickens running about too ...haa.. She was also very hospitable and easy going. There was something about her I just liked.

Dinner was just up the road at the Culbokie Inn. The food was absolutely delicious such that after Romy's recommendation for the first night, we went back the second night! it was so fresh, delightfully presented and most important of all tasty!

It was rainy the second day, nonetheless we drove out to The Falls of Shin, in hope to catch some salmon swimming and jumping up stream. To our surprise, we sighted a few! Here's a video, watch carefully and be patient....

Isle of Skye

2011-08-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

Have you been? It's undoubtedly a place you might consider visiting or driving through because the scenery is breath taking. The pics below speak for themselves..

Glasgow

2011-08-26T23:57:00.000-07:00

We arrived at the Mint Hotel about 10pm, had our ever ready (and ever yummy) Korean instant noodles and a cuppa hot chocolate. Caught up on some sleep and took off about 11am the next day towards Isle of Skye.

Stopped by an outdoor sports shop in the city and slipped into the King Tuts for a quick bite. We had the last seats at the bar. So popular it was such that it was totally booked out on a friday for lunch. Food must be good, and it turned out that it was! Would have been nice to have some gigs on during lunch time.

Port Belfast back to Port Stranear

2011-08-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

Boarded Stenaline ferry departing 5pm, arriving at 720pm at Stranear. Dave was flat out as you can see after an early start to the day with the golf game, he is taking a cat nap on board the rather comfortable ferry. Even took his travel pillow with him!

Royal Portrush Golf Club

2011-08-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

Alarm set for an unfriendly time of 6ish... so that we could get down for brekky at 645am and zip off by 725am as we make our way to Royal Port Rush Golf Club for a tee off time at 930am. Fancy bumping into Darren Clark (his home club here)! He was having some practice sessions on the putting greens with hmmm his coach? caddy?

The views on Royal Port Rush Golf Club were truly amazing, the course has been maintained to a very high standard (with the green fees reflecting this as well) and the course design made it exciting for play.

Someone joined up with Dave, and they exchanged emails and promised to exchange photos. I was paparrazi again, snapping away....

Causeway coastal route...to Carrick-a-rede...to Giant's Causeway

2011-08-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

Similar to the Great Ocean Road in Melbourne..... this is an excellent scenic drive. Fresh sea breeze, few cars, small village towns, just simple and unassuming.

World Heritage site of unusual Basalt rock formations at the Giant's Causeway....
(pic to follow)

And watch this video of our walk on this bridge fisherman made to catch the salmon as they swam past....

Royal County Down Golf Club

2011-08-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

Rated as 4th best golf course in the world and Dave thought he would give it ago as we do not know when we will be returning to London and if so would we go all the way to Northern Ireland to play this course. So it will be done on this road trip!

2:36pm Tee off time.

Very pretty. Mountain back drop view, no wonder it is so highly rated.

Dave lines up for a eagle putt on the par 5 first, but misses it!

Famous par 4 9th with magnificent mountain backdrop and sea views

Stranrear (aka Stra-de-mere-mere)

2011-08-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

We gave this spot our own nickname of "Stra-de-mere-mere".

Had a 4 hour drive from Lake District. Along the way, we stopped off at Carlisle to pick up some fruits from Iceland and then to Boots to get a sunscreen as we had forgotten to pack this along with us on our trip. Walked into Cotswold outdoor shop and managed to get a Gortex jacket which we kinda suspected would come in handy on the trip (Which it did, esp with the wind whilst walking the links golf courses, rain..etc). Good buy.

Alas, we arrived at our B&B at about 9ish. Hungry we were and attempted to look for some food nearby but no luck, as it was a pretty quiet village. We picked this place as it was just 2 mins drive to the Port of Stranrear where we were to board the 2hr 50mins ferry to Northern Ireland. We decided to take out our instant noodle back up rations and happily had it with fresh water cress. Yummmzz.

Woke up early at 630am for a very very wholesome and well presented brekky at 730am for our ferry which we had to be at the port for by 830am. Ferry departure time was 930am and off we went driving the car up into the ferry! Our first experience.

Lake District

2011-08-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

I was let in on this beautiful spot in the UK by a work colleague before we embarked on our UK adventure. It has been 4 years since wanting to make this visit to the Lake District. Truly amazing place. We based ourselves (for 2 nights) at a small village town called Ambleside which is at the northern most tip of Lake Windermere (UK largest 'mere').

We did a day's walk from Ambleside to Grasmere, passing by a few pretty lakes, and our legs were crying out as we needed to loop back to our starting point! We were initially going with some walking instructions but got side tracked and our walk seemed to be 50% longer! haa.. but it was fun... a way to keep fit and make up for the loss of exercise for us in 2010.

Foodwise, we also found a liking to a thai restaurant in the village and had it for 2 nights in a row. It was chilli padi type of spicy and was loving every bit of it. Quite surprised the English could handle this level of chilli-ness!

Many hiking shops were on sale as well and we couldnt help but pop our heads in... to have a wander.

Good call to be at this smaller scale village as the main tourist spot at Bowness on Windermere was much too crowded for my liking. Took a 45mins cruise into Lake Windermere and witnessed the picturisque mountain ranges in the background. Noticed lots of ple walking and cyling on the pathways alongside lake, making it a really nice holiday destination for a family with kids! Also picked up a few items in the Beatrice Potter shop! This place is so serene, no wonder she had so much inspiration for writing her ever so famous children books.

A really nice place to visit - The Lake District. Thumbs up.

Our first stop

2011-08-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Bicester Village - Factory outlet.

Well, not quite intentionally but since it was on the way, and we were on our hols... we thought might as well,... drop by to have a wander.... (excuses to do some shopping)

UK road trip

2011-08-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

We're off for 11 nights!

1st Family Fellowship for the year

2011-01-02T13:55:00.001-08:00

Looks like we are back on track. We had our first gathering for the year. What a joy to be part of the group in the family of Christ, sharing a little bit of the year gone by. We were blessed to have new comers to the group! The food was glorious as usual.... the kids lining up for food first, then the ladies and the men last! We pray for this special family that we can continue to grow and expand. And we thank God for the graceful family who readily opens up their home each time.

1 January 2011

2011-01-01T15:40:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year. Looking forward to the new year with anticipation and hope. I have been repeatedly told to blog more often. I think I've finally got the message.:-)) So am starting the new year with my first post today.

2010 slipped by my fingers but will not let it happen again this year. May God grant wisdom to live a Godly purpose driven life.

1 January 2010!!

2010-01-01T14:16:00.001-08:00

Off to Stonehenge and Bath on the 1st Jan 2010!

The Roman Baths.... the natural hot spring which feeds the water here is still bubbling today at 46 degrees celcius. The Romans in those days called it the Sacred Spring, even people who were very ill came to the baths to attempt to get healed.

Wouldn't it be nice to hop in!

Final day of YEAR 2009

2009-12-31T08:34:00.000-08:00

2009 has been a good year overall. Dave and I thank the Lord for keeping us well, taking care of us and our families and being our God who is ever gracious, faithful and loving towards us.

Had a half day today from work and we decided to have our first yum cha in London at Chinatown. We've found this good spot with local SG/Malaysian dishes, decently priced and just comfort food eg. laksa, nasi lemak, chay kuay tiao, satay, otak,...... Looks like we'll be coming here again and again. Infact, we were just here last night with our frens who were in London visiting!

Ice Kreeeeaaaaammm & Cheeeezeee Cakeee

2009-12-26T14:18:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning post?

2009-12-25T11:00:00.000-08:00

A nice and quiet time to ourselves on Christmas day. Reminding ourselves of our Saviour's birth. What a joy. No fuss over pressies, nothing... just peaceful. Had a lay in that morning and after breaky, we stepped out for a walk to the park nearby and as we stepped out the main door, I noticed a couple of parcels in the doorway! Wa la! My mum's post had arrived! It must have been there on the 24th, just that we didnt noticed on the way in..... good ole mum is always so faithful in her sending of cards and what have you. Since we were on our way out, I took the present all the way to the park. Great gifts - a book and some accessories.

Christmas skate 09

2009-12-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

You couldn't get more natural than this!
Well done dave on your balance.....

SG/AU here we come...

2009-11-15T14:32:00.001-08:00

Yum yum....

MmmmMMmmmm....Mangosteens....

Par 3 8th @ Ria Bintan

Dinner with Q (aka IDitchedMyMateInLondonToHangWithDrunkenFrens) @ Ayam Goreng

Dinner at Sushi Suma...

Par 3 5th @ Royal Melbourne West....

Duckies!!

2009-10-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Test

2009-09-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

Scots...

2009-09-23T04:51:00.000-07:00

Our second trip up to Scotland. A very scenic and serene place. Not only attractive for golf maniacs.

Can this be true?

Dave walking back in time over his passion for the game of golf.

Swilcan bridge on the 18th hole at St Andrews Old Course... ya lah, he had to get on it for a picture too.

Up and down from the 5th's mini pot hole greenside bunker, Royal Aberdeen

Fresh milk from the cows outside.... really yummy and nutritious.

Best fish and chips ever from Anstruther Fish Bar in Fife. Fish from the daily catch at sea. oooh la la.

Box Hill

2009-09-17T00:34:00.000-07:00

Located in Kent, about 40mins drive away. Situated slightly on higher grounds, the view was stunning, looking over the South Downs. Mostly private farm lands divided into nice rectangular plots. We had gotten up early that morning (I was baking a cheesecake and dave was at golf) and were feeling sleepy and snoozed out for an hour on the grass under the sun (dun believe others when they say that UK has no sun). Had a bit of a walkabout and finished off with a twister ice cream. Enjoyed the short trip out and looking for more such places.

Annan Court 2009

2009-09-04T11:11:00.001-07:00

Summer camp this year was spent with the youths. Found it very encouraging when the youths got up and were present for morning devotions in our small groups by 730am. Wow. could they have that much discipline to get up that early? Amazed they were actually fully awake and receptive to the word of God. The application they wanted to make to their lives were very motivating. Hope we can we a part of these young lives.

Been awhile

2009-08-28T11:57:00.001-07:00

Where have we been? Combination of pure laziness and fuss about our daily living I suppose. Been about a month since our folks have returned home and we have just about got back to our routine. Back at the gym now at a mere once a week attendance, knowing I could do a bit more... to make the most out of the gym membership but also to keep fit. Summer is I would say showing signs of coming to an end with temperatures dropping this evening. Daylight hours are also getting shorter each day. It has been a great summer and loved every bit of it. Long weekend upcoming and looking forward to our church's summer camp ahead!

Folks coming round

2009-07-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

xxx

Big kid

2009-03-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

Always "fascinated" about chocolate. Does it matter whether chocolate is made into eggies, bunnies, froggies or plain bars? Probably just an excuse to buy chocolate when its all nicely packaged and dressed up!!

SNOWED in.....

2009-02-02T14:07:00.002-08:00

My childhood dream come true! I have been waiting for the day for either school or work to be declared CLOSED due to snow....

Chinese New Year!

2009-02-02T14:07:00.001-08:00

Celebrated CNY over a nice and pretty authentic singaporean meal amongst our discussion group at church. The kids joined us too and had a table on their own, just like how we usually do it back home. Smallish restaurant, where 27 of us took up almost the whole place. Many performed the lou hei for the first time! Was fun and memorable for all. (Not to mention the long drive home due to the snow fall, some had to drive as far as they could and then leave their cars on the street and walk home!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2008-12-31T17:29:00.001-08:00

If you are keeping up with us via our blog, we would like to wish you a Blessed 2009. We are probably miles away from you but we send out love and best wishes for the new year... new challenges... aspirations.... May you continue to walk closely with God and trust God in everything you do. We miss you and hope to hear from each of you soon. luv mich n dave.

Christmas 2009 - Eastbourne

2008-12-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

Like last Christmas, when families huddled closely together under the christmas tree opening presents..... Dave and I, took a nice quiet drive down South once again to the white cliffs at Eastbourne. Eastbourne is East of Brighton (where we were last Christmas). Freezing cold....but would have been much colder without my perfect beanie, compliments and thanks to someone special out there.

Here are some of God's beautiful creation.....

Surprise for me

2008-12-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

Knock knock.... delivery man stood with a package at the door. It had dave's name on it... so i just thought to myself, "what did dave buy? some golf stuff on amazon? ..... its huge! I'll ask him when he returns and I left the object just at the entrance of the door where the delivery man left it till dave came home....."

Turns out...... it was for me..... how sweet...

Mandarin Worship #3

2008-12-14T14:38:00.001-08:00

Had our third trial of mandarin worship today. God willing, mandarin service will kick off weekly from next year onwards. Rusty ole me has been allocated keyboard playing for a couple of times since. Hope to improve as I go along. I am seriously out of touch after so many years but let's see how God provides the talent....

God is good...

2008-11-08T05:41:00.000-08:00

Praise God for the time of rest over the last couple of months and for recently providing a job opportunity. It's truly God's providence esp during one of the most severe economic downturns and unemployment at present. Hopefully, I will be able to do well and my contract renewed for as long as possible into 2009 or beyond!

Am now based at Canary Wharf... will put up a pic soon.... Now I have to take the tube daily and it can be quite traumatic when you see the crowds that build up on the platforms. It makes my journey into work seem much longer than it actually is. But still, thankful...

Perth - Farmstay Wedding

2008-09-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

Waiting at Heathrow to board our plane to SG

2008-09-13T02:54:00.000-07:00

SG here we come! It has been almost a year since we last stopped by. Will be having two and a half days there this time round which is really short considering the many things we would like to do..... spending time with family and frens, getting to each and every corner to pig out... haaa...

SG/Perth here we come!

2008-09-11T05:14:00.000-07:00

Currently getting ourselves ready for the long flights and short few days stay in SG (2 nights) and Perth (4 nights). Travelling light with mostly presents in our bag and some clothes but probably coming back with a full luggage! Looking forward to seeing our family and a couple of frens!

The true Summer Retreat - Annan Court 08

2008-08-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

About 110 of us spent the long weekend thinking about how we can be more like Christ. It was a very enlightening time because it was such a practical session and had alot more relevance to our lives here on earth. We need to learn to be more Christ like, to grow as a soldier of Christ and bond with other christians around us! It has helped us see that we can leave our plans to God and trust Him to see us through.

A kiss of love

2008-08-16T06:36:00.003-07:00

Nicole's way of saying I'll miss you mama Christina.

NYC Summer Retreat 08

2008-08-05T02:40:00.000-07:00

Final week of work (for now)

2008-07-15T03:55:00.000-07:00

4 days to go. My first contract with DB London has come to an end. Will be saying my goodbyes to my colleagues onshore and offshore. Quite a sad-ish affair but I'm looking forward to moving on after this piece of work that has been done. God has been good to be able to stretch my role till our visit to the States (NYC, LI, Boston, NJ, Washington DC). Will be joining part of dave's family for hols and also meeting ole frens we havent seen for a year. Somewhat like a reunion. Currently, researching and planning the to-dos!

Farmer-ing on .....13 July 08

2008-07-15T03:41:00.000-07:00

The time has come for the strawberries, raspberries, red/black currants, GOOSEBERRIES, carrots, beetroot, spinach, peas....etc to be harvested! A whole lot of fun, very exhilarating. Never knew how raspberries grew on trees and never seen a gooseberry (more familiar with goosebumps!) before, let alone tasted such a juicy and sweet one! Our first 'trip' with a bunch of us from the mandarin fellowship group at church, just about 40 to 50 mins drive after service. Great place for kids and those who like an introduction to farming. Ended the day with the fruit/veg that we had picked in our tiny baskets, weighed and purchased, ready to be cooked up at home.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

My dad is my hero - Happy Father's Day.

Back to London

2008-05-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

Flight from Milan has been delayed by about am hour (am sitting on the floor), passengers are getting a bit edgy and pushy in the queues! Yes, this is budget airline flying... where no seats are allocated. Got to Luton airport, hopped on the shuttle bus to the station and caught the train that was meant to take us to home but due to the train driver reporting ill, we were seemingly stranded for an hour till the next train at 3am. Finally, the train manager arranged for cabs to take us home.... yay.... We were home about 4plus in the morning. We will never be flying at such a late hour ever again. Thank God for a safe flight nonetheless.

Fantastic trip overall!

Fashionable Milan

2008-05-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

Our final night in Italy - Milan. The heart of fashion? Any shopping to be done? People here dress well, boots, leather jackets, large sun glasses... you see these icons in magazines. Did not get up to much in Milan just strolls in and around the city, with dave still having gelato (i think i was already over dosed), having dinner at a cafe reccommended by a colleague and having a drink at the D&G bar (quite a fancy place).

Branded Station...

Duomo...

D&G bar

Lake Como alas!

2008-05-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Our last view of Florence city and the Duomo (dominating the view and built up of the city) a hillside town called Fiesole. Only a short 45mins bus ride up. Panoramic views, very pretty.

We are currently on a 3hr 50mins train ride up north to Lake Como for 3 nights.

Here's Lake Como:
Views on board the ferry.

Pizza (Our Dinner) by the Lake...

Think this was our nicest pizza of our trip, look at those scampis.... (probably so tasty cos we have been deprived of seafood in London)

Bellagio, one of the pretty towns on Lake Como.

Leaning Pisa n Unique Cinque Terra

2008-05-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

Pisa... pizza...(amazing when you are physically there, photos do not do the place justice)

Cinque [five] Terre [lands]...(my fav spot in Italy)...Dave slurping down the best pasta!

Mich chilling with gelato...

Dave resting his hairy legs onwards to the Mediterranean Sea

The railway which connects the 5 towns...

florence...David viewing David

2008-05-24T05:18:00.000-07:00

Why the smile? There's a lady behind Dave shouting 'no photo, no photo!'. We didnt even think of taking a photo until then, but being rebels....

The Dome of Florence's Duomo, amazing views from above once you climb up the 463 steps

Made it! Can you spot little Michy?

We struggled with food the first day in Florence. While looking for some lunch at about 3pm, we stumbled upon this €4.50 pasta shop. It looked pretty cute, so we went in and ordered a pasta and lagsane. You sure do pay for what you get - the gentleman bent over and pulled out a packet from the fridge, ripped off the cardboard cover, and stuck our food in the microwave for 2 minutes before proudly serving us. We were shocked / devastated / loss for words, and from then on decided to research every meal we had.

Read some reviews online and found this place, where we lined up for an hour to get into here for dinner, where we had the 'fun-est' meal

Waiting...No we dont know them!

Waiting...Look at the queue!

Off to Italy!!

2008-05-21T01:23:00.000-07:00

Rolling our hand carry sized suit cases into the train and office today so that we can zip off at 4pm to take the train to Stanstead Airport. We are on our first proper holiday in Europe. We will be spending 9 nights in Italy. First stop Venice...... (2 nights)

Slurp slurp - Bee Hoon

2008-05-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

Ever feel the need to take a break from good ole rice, brown rice, basmati rice, sushi rice,.... How about some noodles??!! It was our BS group to prepare food at church so ta da!..2 boxes of bee hoon..... it was a huge affair of cutting up all that ingredients and gettting the whole lot stir fried in the minimal cookware that we have got here in London! Had lots of bits and pieces strewn around the stove at the end of it all! :-))

BIG 3!

2008-05-16T02:18:00.000-07:00

For me to know and you to find out. (if you already do not know)

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-13T14:28:00.001-07:00

To my mum: Hi mum! Happy Mother's Day. There is no one else like you. Miss you and love you lots.

To the rest of my mates: That is my wonderful mum!

Flu Bug

2008-05-13T14:27:00.002-07:00

The Flu bug....! Dave caught it and got rid of it. I withstood it whilst he had it. But, I finally caught it, not from Dave but from breathing in the air in the office. Germs circulating around...what a yucky thought. This is the second time I am ill. Indeed, the type of viruses I have been exposed to are of a different string. I have never felt the way I feel with these flu bugs. Hopefully, I will build up my resistance by being here!

BBQ Duo

2008-05-13T14:27:00.001-07:00

This tiny portable BBQ set, which was on sale, caught our eyes whilst we were browsing for homewares at the departmental store. Isn't it cute? The long weekend was coming up and we thought we might do a simple BBQ in the shared garden at the back. The weather was sunny and absolutely perfect for a BBQ! We had scallops... squid, fish... chicken (a must), pumpkin, capsicum, tomatoes and some salad!

Hampton Court April 08

2008-04-20T00:26:00.000-07:00

Oxford April 08

2008-04-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

Just a short hour train ride from London Paddington station (similiar to our daily travel time to work), it did not feel like a huge effort to get to. Oxford has a certain feel to the place. I cannot quite pen it down to words, you would have to be there yourself. We really liked the place, and am planning to head back again. We missed out on the Great Hall where Harry Potter was filmed (was closed that day) and also Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland shop (was closing when we got there at 515pm). We stumbled upon a floor piece dedicated to John and Charles Wesley too....not sure what else we might stumble upon when we next go again!

Where would you like to go?

Dave posing - Christ Church

Us posing - Christ Church

Jonah - Christ Church

Original Tavern as you wiggle your way through some alleys

Evicted ...to a new home...

2008-04-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

12th April, a new beginning.

We received a letter from the housing agent that the Landlord would be taking the property back and we had to vacate the property. We sighed. Things were about to change just when we thought we were settling down into London! In the next couple of days, we were on the internet looking for a new roof over our head. I must say God directed my fingers to one particular agent's website and found a flat just up the road from us! Hurriedly, made an appointment to see it first thing Sat morning. Apparently, there was another couple looking at it just 15mins before us. That got us worried because we did not want to be in competition with another party for a street we were happy to live at! When we turned up on Sat, the agent told us that the other couple could not make it in the end! Yippee. So we placed deposit on the place on the same day after the landlord okay-ed us as tenants. It worked out well because, the owner was looking for a longer term tenant and we were looking for a stable place to rent at! This time, we have a fixed term contract for 12 months, hopefully, to let us catch our breadth and not needing to move again so soon.

After 6 months at Flat 3, 29 xxxx road, we are moving to Flat 3, 41 xxxx road! Just round the corner... this time on higher ground and with views from our living room!We are currently looking for furniture (the other place was fully furnished), packing and unpacking, cleaning both flats and hoping to call it a day!

Snowing in April???

2008-04-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

Unheard of to be snowing in April... It was snowing much more this time round compared to March. It was definitely exhilarating for both dave and myself as we had a few gos at each other and also the other kids after church. We made a snow man with the kids and it was heaps of fun. We enjoyed every bit of it, even the frost bitten hands (haa, ofcourse not).

Eat your heart out - Brussels March 08

2008-04-01T02:50:00.000-07:00

Belgian waffles topped with Belgian chocolate.... yummm
Belgian fries topped with mayo (should have been chocolate instead!)

Things you can do at home

2008-03-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

Learn the golf swing!
haa...

Birmingham Mar 08

2008-03-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

Snow in March...

2008-03-24T10:18:00.002-07:00

A white Easter...vs a white Christmas. Quite special indeed. God has washed our sins and we have become as white as snow!

Wheelz

2008-03-24T10:18:00.001-07:00

Good ole Honda. Reverted back to purchasing a Honda after considering the several Eurpoean alternatives. We picked up this car from an auto sales dealer one evening after work. We got lost whilst driving back and took something like 2.5 hrs when the journey should have been 40 mins. Looking forward to the rides in these wheels.

Edinburgh...brrrr.....brrr....

2008-01-28T11:11:00.000-08:00

Cold? Somewhat. 5-6 hours of riding in the train up to Edinburgh from Kings Cross station. We woke up at 330am on sat and set out of our home at 415am. Pretty unearthly start for the day but the first class train ride up compensated the lack of sleep to a certain extent. Bigger seats and less crowd, so it gave us the chance to have 2 seats to ourselves and stretch out a little so we could catch a decent nap.

Edinburgh, was a nice and cosy place...

Edinburgh Castle

In the castle..

POW quarters in the castle

A cute house!

Kids heading for a story telling session...

Ba Zhang?

2008-01-28T11:03:00.000-08:00

An internet recipe for Ba Zhang.... was a decent turn out I thought.