Apr: London Day 3-Hyde Park, Baker St, Wesminister

Good morning sunny London! Rented-a-Barclay-bike down the corner by our hotel since it would be such a nice weather to be biking across Hyde Park. The bike lane, pedestrain, and horse track were specifically routed across the park! From Paddington, we road southeast to Wellington Arch and took the tube from Hyde Park Corner to Kings Cross as I wanted to visit the one and only Lie Down I think I love you boutique! However, they were closed on a monday!  

 Next stop~ Baker St 221, a miniature museum to explore the adventures of sherlock holmes.

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 We laughed our hats off as we read letters written from kids to sherlock holmes as part of their school assignment. Later in the afternoon, checked out of Park Grand by paddington station and checked into another hotel by Lamberth North, we headed to Westminister which is right across River Thames.

 Our evening walk by the beautiful sunset with a gorgeous view of the Big Ben. It was getting cold and we're getting hungry!

Apr: London Day 1 & 2- Nottinghill, Sloane Sq, Knightsbridge

Vacation again?! yes, Seoul in Feb and the long waited trip to London & Paris have finally come.Boarded the new Cathay Pacific Boeing 777, we arrived at Heathrow airport in no time. It took less than 30 mins to arrive at Padding station where our hotel is located. As we arrived at the hotel, the reception told us there's no available room and we had to walk 2 blocks down to another hotel. This is not the first time we heard of this situation in London! Anyway, we were checked in to Park Grand and finally got to rest for the night before our tour begins!

The moment I woke up, ahh it's not a rainy day, perfect day to head out to the weekend Portabello market at Notthing hill.

Paddington bear was found at Paddington Station, so the bear was named after the station.

Portabello Market (antique & food market) is only held on Saturdays, as we walked towards the crowds, street artists performing, the smell of belgium waffles filled the air.
 

Antiques, teapots, cups, silverware were seen everywhere!

 Portabello sandwich for lunch is a MUST at portabello market

Just in case i'll be hungry, I stocked up a Cupcake from Humming bird bakery.

Initially, I thought I will be able to buy one of the sewing machines home, but "All Saints Spitalfields" is a clothing store! 

Hello Queen & Prince

Headed to Sloane Sq, and accidentally walked towards Duke of York's (outdoor shopping gallary) for a feet rest by the ssatchi gallery. 

Off to Harrods, besides bears, easter bunnies and eggs were seen.

Dinner was at Harrod's Rotisserie

The jet lag didn't hit us bad! Harrods in the night and we're heading home.

Feb: Seoul Day 5 & 6

After days of walking, I needed a break, but there's still much to see. As Jin headed to gym, I went around Apgujeong-dong & Chungdam-dong, trendy and hip area filled with cafes and designer stores. Streets are narrow, stores were hid among residential areas.                          

 My feet was already aching from previous days of walking, but I had to visit the Galleria, a department store not to be missed. The lights on the Galleria building changes over time and I waited patiently for the gradual change, despite being out in the cold. * shiver*

Day 6 - Before I headed to the airport, home delivery of kimbap arrived on the doorsteps. It will not be my last trip to Seoul, I know it in my heart.

I have to thank my friend Jin for being such a wonderful host, she must be proud of herself too!

Feb: Seoul Day 3 & 4

Seoul winter has always been filled with sunshine, but it was chilly, it got colder everyday, strange! My 3rd day was planned to be spent indoors, yes it's a shopping day, since it was raining hard! Hopped on the cab and said "Dongdaemun-  Doota" to the driver. Dongdaemun is the largest retail + wholesale fashion district, where buyers from all over the world gather. Doota is the newly renovated mall that is probably the most expensive and the most comfortable to shop in.  Here at Doota, I met a few fashion designers,  & an accessories designer, whom I took a picture with. She was designing her hair accessories while I shopped at her boutique.

Besides spending time walking around 3 floors of  designer clothings, I found a rather adorable ceramic Music Craft Box store, where you can choose the box design (artwork painted by Korean painters), the turning knob and song! It'll be customized and ready in 30 mins. Isn't it a great wedding/ birthday gift?

 

Day 4- Finally Sunny again, Jin said I was lucky that the skies turned clear. We hopped on the cab towards Itae-won after breakfast at home. Koreans have rice, seaweed, kimchi for breakfast in the morning too! Itaewon during the day is filled with traditonal markets, filled with leather goods, fur products and copied "branded goods". During the night, it is filled with foreigners, clubs and international cuisine can also be found here.

Hopped on another cab and headed to "Myeong Dong", another major shopping district, similar to Shibuya in Tokyo. I guess we were still early, the street markets have not filled up the roads, so as Jin says. We picked a street food store randomly and ordered some spicy ricecakes & Oden. The interesting part of eating street food is that we get arranged a standing spot by the tiny bar, where were are served oden soup in a cup while we dig in.

Must Try: "Hotto" brownsugar hotcake

Lunch time at Gu-Gong

Headed to "Insa-dong" where Korean traditional events are held, it was my mission to purchase tea trays for my mum and we had to stop by a Korean Traditional Tea House!

It's strange that Chinese letters are written on sides of the entrance

Home Sweet Home, dinner is ready by the time we got home, thanks to the cleaning lady who visits weekly~

Feb: Seoul Day 2

Good Morning ! As the sun shines in, we know it's a good day to head outdoors!  

Took a morning walk at Garosu gil and realized the trees are bald!

I guess I'll have to come back in summer. Jin drove by to  meet  me and we had spicy chicken for lunch just down the corner. Woah, it was really SPICED up and we were sniffing as we ate.

Jumped on the subway towards Oksu, heading for a walk around Samcheong-dong. Hills were filled with small streets of old residences, coffee shops and handicraft stores. Old residences were transformed into cafes/ tea spots & museums.

I discovered the ancient parts of Seoul that Jin has never been. Walking 8 hours today was simply enough, I headed home for dinner to rest my feet. Jin ordered Jajang Myeon "black bean paste + noodles", a typical home delivery dish among Korean families. Take out dishes were delivered with plates and bowls to be picked up later after we are finished with dinner!  

Feb: Seoul Day 1

Right after CNY's, I took a trip to Seoul to visit my pianist friend whom I met 7 years ago in New York.Upon being picked up at Hyatt hotel, we headed out to the lastest hotspot "Garosu-gil"- a street with trees on both side of the roads, filled with upbeat coffee shops & stores owned by Korean pop stars. So as Jin said, when you visit Korea for the 1st time, you have to eat "Sam Gyeob sal", bbq'ed kimchi & garlic with a slice of bbq was simply so tasty!  

 Rice, seaweed, kimchi, tofu were all side dishes that filled us up!

After dinner dessert was a cup of tea & cake at a florist based cafe~ Bloom & Goute

Serious Catching UP~ New Celebrations

Chinese New Year celebrations run for days in Taiwan, we are in the holiday mood for a month in Febuary! Company year end party " 尾牙" is held prior to CNY where we enjoy a full buffet, put on a show, and get our chances to see our supervisors sing & dance on stage.  This year we were assigned to put on a 5 min show related to the 100th year celebration of Taiwan, and we did a Taipei 101 firework show! Stools were stacked up to represent Taipei 101 and we were the men-in-black putting out the fireworks behind a big black screen.

As we've spent previous years flying huge lanterns with crowds at Pingxi, this year we headed off to the major Lantern festival in Hsinchu county-Zhunan. Pup Pudding is almost 1 year old! His birthday is March 5th, 2010 and there's no cake to celebrate, but a late night-out to celebrate CNY with lights.