S

S

Sunday 29 September 2013

Mon rêve

Hello! It's been awhile since I've posted an entry cause I've been so busy traveling. Traveling for 7 weeks is seriously no joke but I had so so so much fun! And now I'm finally back in Glasgow for week 1 of school. Anyway I shall talk more about Glasgow soon enough, time for me to ramble about my trip in Paris.

Paris, the city known for their architectures, art, museums, pastries and so on. It is a city that I've heard so much about since I was a little girl and it is one of the cities that I looked forward to visiting. The Eiffel Tower, the Lourve Museum, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Palace of Versailles and not forgetting those delectable macarons! ^^

Day 1
All dressed up and ready to visit the beautiful city, hl and I went to the famous Pont des Arts also widely known as the lover's bridge. Legend has it that when a couple inscribes their name on the padlock, locks in onto the bridge and throws the key into river Seine, that their love will be unbreakable or undying. It was a pretty sight to see couples committing themselves to one another and I helped a taiwanese couple take a picture with their lock from 5 years back. gee. super cute and sweet.

All the pretty locks of love <3
me :)
Oh and here's a short clip of me throwing the keys of my lock into the river Seine. hahah cheap thrills. 



Just one of the many roadside stalls that sells beautiful pictures of the city
Next up, we headed to the Lourve museum. It was really crowded and packed with tourists but overall I liked this museum. The museum was huge and the paintings were beautiful.

hl getting all hyped about seeing Mona Lisa





And tadah! The long awaited Mona Lisa. She was really smiling at me at all angles. haha

After the museum, we headed to the Concorde square which is a square near many important sights. There wasn't really anything much to do there except to see the Luxor Obelisk but it was bustling with people (probably cause it links Champs-Elysees from the Tuileries Gardens). But anyhow there was a pretty fountain in the middle of the square and we just had to take a pic with it ^^



Headed down to what it is said to be one of the most beautiful avenue in the world, Champs-Elysees. It's pretty much the same as our Orchard Road. They have the same few high end/luxurious brands such as Prada, LV, Gucci and so on. They also have a huge Sephora and we spent quite a bit of time there. haha #whatsnew. However the prices of their products were more expensive as compared to Singapore and I found out that there isn't any Sephora outlets in the UK :( 

Besides shopping, there were many restaurants to dine in and well established patisseries such as Paul and Laduree. Hl and I were excited to try the Laduree here in Paris, hoping that it will be better than the one in Singapore. We bought a box of 8 macarons (2 chocolate, 2 rose petal, raspberry, caramel with salted butter, lemon and pistachio), which came in a lovely green and purple box. The total cost was 17.30euros ($30) which is pretty steep for just macarons but who can resist such yummy pastries.




yummy macarons
At the end of Champ-Elysees lies the Arch de Triomphe which is a tribute to all the people who died fighting for their homeland in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. Super jealous of all these European countries. They have such beautifully craved architectures which makes the city looks alluring and exquisite. haha. Hl and I always say any random building look like an iconic place.

Arch de Triomphe
Hl and I
Next on our checklist is the Eiffel Tower. It is almost impossible to visit Paris and not see it since it is visible from nearly everywhere. Look at the number of people sitting on the grass patch waiting for the Eiffel Tower to be lit up. It was a cool place to chill and probably a pretty nice place to bring your date too, though cliche but everything seemed so lovely.








Tadah! When the Eiffel Tower is fully lit. So pretty <3
So that marks the end of our first day in Paris. I will continue day 2 and 3 another time. Till then.

Love,
Sam

Saturday 7 September 2013

Life in London


Hello! I know I'm kind of lagging behind with my travel posts but I've been so busy traveling that I'm usually too tired to do anything when I'm back in the hostel/apartment. But I'll try my best to post more! I am in Prague now with Huiling and Ernest, another beautiful city. Anyhow, it's time for the second part of my trip in London.

Day 2
We woke up early to go to the Borough Market for brunch since it was only opened from 10am - 3pm on Tuesday. We reached there at about 11am but surprisingly most of the shops were not open yet and it was pretty quiet. Walked a few rounds before we found a stall selling green curry rice which totally caught our attention (caused it's the closest Asian food we found that was reasonably priced and good) haha it's only been a few days this I left Singapore and I'm already missing home cooked food. I have no idea how I'm going to survive 6 weeks without Asian food :(










If y'all are heading to the Borough Market, one dish that I would recommend is the oysters! They were super fresh and huge! Huiling and I each ordered 3 medium oysters ($9) and they were seriously the best oysters I have ever tasted in my life! Even after eating 3 each we just had to order another 3 more oysters and the owner gave us a discount of $2 seeing how we came back for more. It was really that good. Even talking about it makes me want to go back to London just to get more of it.



After the oysters we went round hunting for the fish & chips Clara told me about that was really good but sadly we didn't find it so we ordered from another stall and it wasn't very good :( Oh well. I'll be back to find the correct one next time!



Next up, we went to visit more iconic places such as the London Bridge (which was literally just any other bridge, nothing fabulous), Tower Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral. The grass patch in front of the Cathedral was really pretty. I'm so jealous how they have so many places to chill, to just sit down and relax or people watch with a nice cup of coffee. We don't really have many of such places in Singapore. 

Tower Bridge


St Paul's Cathedral


Anyway the cathedral was beautiful but I wasn't allowed to take any photos inside. Coincidentally it was the day of Assumption so there was going to be a mass and hl and I decided to attend it. It is always refreshing to attend mass in the various countries. 





me and clara
Guess who I met again but this time coincidentally. hehe we're so fated ^^ Headed to Chinatown again for dinner but this time we ate the famous four seasons duck rice! I wasn't really expecting much but everyone tells me that this is a must go to restaurant in London and so we did. And boy the duck was good! The meat was tender and tasty and the skin was crispy. I really did love it! Now I understand what the fuss is all about. We also ordered my favourite red bean pancakes but I think the one at taste paradise is still better. Sadly we couldn't order any other dishes cause there were only two of us :( but I'll definitely go back there to satisfy my asian food cravings.




Day 3
Our itinerary for day 3 was pretty slack as we wanted to go to the Harry Potter World but Ernest wanted us to wait for him to go together so we headed to the British museum instead. To be honest I'm not really a fan of museums maybe cause I don't really understand the art pieces or maybe cause they all just look somewhat similar after awhile. But hl was super excited and happy. She even bought the audio guide.













my new friend found while I was on facetime with Eunice

Lunch with Clara

After the museum we headed for an early dinner to a well known Thai food restaurant called Siam Central. We ordered the usual pad thai with prawns and drunken noodles with prawns each costing $14. We also ordered a bowl of tom yam soup with mushrooms and chicken ($8.40). The meal was really satisfying and though I know it is a little expensive here but I can't help it especially when my tummy craves for asian food.




All in all I had fun in London and I will probably be visiting this city sometime in the future. Can't wait to explore more food places and more local shopping streets or car boot sales. Till then.

Love,
Sam