Western Europe Part V

Day 8 - Belgium

Road trip to Wallonia

Trying award-winning beer at Gauloise Brewery

Day 9 - Belgium

Road trip to Leuven

Day 10 - Belgium

itinerary:
Brussels!
Tried all things famous in Belgium...

Chocolates! We tried most of the famous chocolatier in Belgium (Mary, Wittamer, Pierre Macollini and Leonidas. Regretted not trying Neuhaus though) As these are freshly made chocolates, and it has to be consumed within 1 week, we couldn't buy back any. Sad!

At las, with the recommendation of Christian, we bought back limited quantity of Galler. It's really good too and soon we regretted not buying more!

The street with all the major chocolatier

And of course, we got to try the mussels!

The Famous Mussels Restaurant near Grand Place

Look out for these Interesting comic painted on buildings

(note: Tin Tin is from Belgium!)

Day 11 - Belgium/London

itinerary:0747 Took train from Ottignies to Brussels
0827 Brussels Midi Station
0935 Took Eurostar brussels to london
1031 London, check-in and left our luggauge at hotel
1130 Buckingham Palace/Changing of Guards
Lunch at Bumbles
Went to get Tickets for tonight's musical at Leceister square
- Houses of Parliament/Big Ben
- Tower of London
- Trafalgar Square
- Tower Bridge
Dinner at Rock & Sole Plaice (supposedly the best Fish & Chips in London)
West End Musical - We will rock you

Overnight Intercontinental Park Lane

Day 12 - Cotswolds

itinerary:

- Windsor Castle

- Salisbury Cathedral & view

- Stonehenge

- Avebury

Overnight at Cornerways B&B, Bath (65 pounds)

Day 13 - Cotswolds

itinerary:

- Roman Baths

- Bath Abbey, Pulteney Bridge

- No. 1 Royal Crescent

Overnight Elvington B & B, Boughton-on-the-water (48 pounds)

Nice cosy place. The room we took was sweet.... colour theme: pink, and lots of laces

Famous Roman Baths - Bath

Day 14 - Cotswolds/London
itinerary:
- Bourton on the Water

- Upper and Lower Slaughter

- Bibury

- Burford

- Chipping Campden
- Oxford
and back to London:
- Tate Modern Museum
Overnight Intercontinental Park Lane

Lower slaughters

Day 15 - London/SG

itinerary:
- Portobello Market
- Westminster Abbey - Evensong
- St Paul
Then... lastly, took a Metro to airport
2205 ETD London Heathrow T3 (SQ321)

~ Home Sweet Home ~

Western Europe Part IV

1st Oct'09 (Thu): Day 6 ~ Paris - Belgium

Visiting Janice, Patrick & Nathalie

Sweet Nathalie

Lunch at L'astrance

Last Stop in Paris - Eiffel Tower

2nd Oct'09 (Fri): Day 7 Belgium

Old Town - Ghent

Western Europe Part III

29 Sep (Tue) ~ Day 4 Loire Valley
0750 Depart "Paris Montparnesse" station
Train ticket (Eur 34)
0853 Arrive "St Pierre des Corps", collect rental car from Avis office at the station
Car rental for 2 days (Eur159.5)

Gardens of Villandry

famous for its beatiful gardens... And I love the idea that there're unlimited grapes for you to eat as you stroll around the garden...

Apple Orchard along our drive...

with the freshest and sweetest green apple I've ever tasted

Candes St Martin

This is one picture taken with much effort...

Fontevraud Abbey (Abbaye de Fontevraud)

Beautiful 12th century monastery, which houses the tombs of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard the Lionheart

Lovely pink flowers growing wild at the backyard of the Abbey...

Sumptuous Lunch of a HUGE potful of Mussels
Posing for a victory shot after finishing the Whole Pot (with the help of Dew, of coz)!

Château of Azay-le-Rideau
Picturesque scenery~ reflection of the traditional french chateau on the calm river

Vineyard at the back of the Chateau
We found a small vineyard, but Vic brought us to a BIGGER one...
It's so big, I couldn't see where it ends!
The Grapes up-close

Dinner at L'epicerie - #1 out of 25 restaurants in Amboise
Remember to make reservation to avoid dissapointment!

30 Sep (Wed) ~ Day 5 Loire Valley

Breakfast at the Dining Room
Sumptuous spread with various choices of homemade jams.

It's so delicious, we just got to get one!

The "Cave" where the wine are stored...
Lovely Kitchen

Chateau des Ormeaux
Listed as one of the Top B&B in Tripadvisor and it's not difficult to know why...

Dew with Vic outside Chateau des Ormeaux
- Parting shot before we continued on our road trip

"Our" Lovely Chateau ...
Reminiscence of our luxurious and royal stay

Continuing on our road trip
to visit some of the famous sites and Chateau in Loire Valley
Admiring the scenic view along Loire Valley...
One fine example would be Blois City (pictured across the river)

Château de Chambord
The Biggest of all chateau in Loire Valley
Interiors are decorated with period furniture...
If there's only one Chateau that you should go, it has to be this!
Indulge yourself in the Renaissance architecture as you expore the castle's 440 rooms and surrounding grounds

Leonardo da vinci's house

Quaint little house, but interior is not so special.
Definitely not worth the entrance fee in my opinion...

Passage of trees leading to Chenonceau Chateau
I love the walk along the path lined with tall trees on both sides...

Chenonceau Chateau
Classic castle over the Cher river

The train ride back to Paris in the evening...

Western Europe Part II

28-Sep (Mon) - Paris ~ Brittany

0735 Paris Montparnesse - St Malo

Train tixs: Eur 44 for 2 paxs

1038 St Malo - Dinan - Mont St Michel Day Trip
Tour price: Eur 160 for 2 paxs

The most relaxing day for dew dew...

Mt St Michel entrance tix Eur 15 for 2 paxs

1905 Rennes

Train tixs back to Paris: Eur 44 for 2 paxs

2110 Paris Montparnesse

Overnight Le Grand Intercontinental

The walled (old) city of St Malo

The wonderful citadel of Dinan

Mont St Michel - The Abbey known as "Mount in peril from the sea"

and also the highlight of this day trip!

The abbey - Up close

The Opera house next to our Hotel

Western Europe Part I

26-Sep (Sat) ~ Paris
0655 ETA Paris CDG

Breakfast from Lauderee Royal

- macarron and pastry on the go.

*Tips: Get the Museum Pass for great value for money as it gives you free access to over 60 museums and monuments in and around Paris!

0900 Louvre

*Tips: 99 Rue de Rivoli entrance is supposedly less crowded

Tea at Angelina - Mont blanc and the Hot Chocolate (Africain)

** Must try the rich, creamy and decadent hot chocolate

St Chapelle

- renowned for its magnificent stained-glass windows on its upper chapel

But before I reached the upper chapel, I was totally mesmerized by the richly coloured trefoiled arcades as I stepped into the lower chapel...

Notre Dame

Gargoyle keeping watch over Eiffel Tower

Ice cream at Berthillon

The Original ice-cream palour along Rue Saint Louis En Li'ile.

And you wonder why the queue is so long...

1900 Dinner at le Relais d'isle

Reservations recommended as the restaurant is really small and popular. Traditional crusine with the melodious sound of the piano

Lovely shophouses along the street as we walked to Pont Neuf after our dinner

2130 Cruise with les Vedettes du Pont Neuf

Eiffel Tower at night

Beautiful~

Overnight Westin Paris

27-Sep (Sun) ~ Paris

Although thi picture is not very nice, it's really meaningful to us...

The view of Eiffel Tower from our upgraded "Suite" ~ courtesy of Westin Paris

0900 Versailles (Rive Gauche Station )

Itinerary in the afternoon:
Champs elysee - the legendary shopping street in Paris! Mainly window shopping.. LV, Chanel...etc the parisan iconic brands. But alas! I couldn't bring myself to splurge on bags (due to some very good reasons...)

L'arc de Triomphe

View of Champ Elysee from the top of L'arc de Triomphe

Dinner at Le Procope with Pierre

Very highly recommended restaurant by FromXXs. It is the oldest cafe in Paris and its interior has been carefully preserved through the decades. I love the traditional setting and the traditional french fare. Most importantly, the food is great without burning a hold in our pocket (Abt 25-30 Eur for 3 course set menu)!

Overnight Westin Paris

Dad's Be-lated Birthday Dinner

A simple dinner near my parent's place was enough to make my Dad happy. Despite that, my Brother and I quietly promised ourselves that we will bring our parents to somewhere better next time...

My Dad & Mom

(and of course, my cheeky nephew who refuses to take a proper picture)

The Family Portrait

Bridal Shower

Preparation by my dearest friend....

~ The Headgear ~

The materials used for the 2 headgear created with 3 different Looks.

(Model: Pooh, Designer/Make-up artish/stylist: Evelyn)

Truly impressed with the efforts taken by Evelyn...

For those who knows her, I'm sure you're impressed with the headgear too!

And a night of fun, laughter and tears at Thumper on 9 Nov'08...

2009 New Year at Shanghai

We took an overnight flight to Shanghai and spent our New Year countdown at Changi Airport.... and something "interesting" happened ... (that nearly spoiled our Holiday)

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Right after we completed the Check-in procedures, Dew realised that the stack of RMb in his bagpack was gone!

And I asked sheepishly: "Oh.. you mean the RMB were in THAT white envelope in the front pocket of your bagpack?...."

"...I thought it was an envelope from our previous trip, so I took it out and left it on your desk....."

His face turned crimson.

"... .... ..."

"Hey... it's new year Soon...! Let's count down.... 3...2..1...Happy New Year, Dew!!..."

Dew: "What a New year "surprise"..."

And I spent the next 10 - 15mins coaxing Dew.....

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Day 1 - Shanghai

We checked-in at The Hyatt at the Bund and left our baggage at the conceirge.

When we went back at about 12pm, they checked us in at the wing with the view of the Oriental Pearl.

In the evening, when we went back to the Hotel, they moved us to the room with the view of The Bund.

The room was reserved for using Dew's points, which do not guaranteed us any room with a view. Despite this, they tried their very best to fufil our request! I must say, Hyatt's service is incredibly good!

Breakfast at Nan Xiang

Yummy!!

A walk after our breakfast...

Here's the 1st room, which we checked in during the day...

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Back to the story on how we survived the trip without RMB in our pockets. We actually had a couple of hundred RMB as our emergency cash stashed away in a secret compartment of our bag. With that, it lasted us for a day - only sufficient for needs (like cab fares and coffee).

And we paid for our Nan Xiang brunch using credit card...

Luckily, we were meeting Dew's friend, Li Tong for dinner! And Dew felt so bad having to borrow money from his friend. And, as I did not bring enough warm clothing, his wife lent me her jacket too! And that really helped me survived the trip to Hangzhou and Suzhou!

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Day 2 - Day trip to Hangzhou

Hang Zhou Xi Hu (杭州西湖)

Gorgeous Night Scenery from

"Vue" at The Hyatt at the Bund - Open roof-top bar

Seeping cocktail at the "day-bed"

And obviously, it's freaking cold at night...

Day 3 - Suzhou 苏州
Though it was drizzling, the gardens were beautiful. In fact, the rain created a poetic and romantic atmosphere at the Suzhou Gardens...

And that's me having fun!

Day 4 - Zhu Jia Jiao, Water Village 水乡朱家角

Most delicious "Zhong Zi" - Meat Dumpling I have ever tasted!

This store is very famous, and it was featured on TV before.

Checked out the "Zhong Zi":

As you take a bite, the meat filling in the centre melts in your mouth, and the fragrance of the chewy and tender rice lingers in your mouth...

It's so good that we Bought back some.

A common scenery there...

The view outside our restaurant

Back to Shanghai City

Last look at the Glitzy City before we take a cab to Airport for our flight back home.