Freezing London + Amsterdam Day 6

29/12/2015

Itinerary of today:

Breakfast @Julia's Cucina Italiana

Koog-Zaandijk station 
Zaanse Schans
Tea @Banketbakkerij de Wiji
Rotterdam Central station 
Stadhuis City Hall 
Lunch @Dudok
Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk
Markthal 
Rotterdam library 
Blaak station 
Kijk kubus
Forever 21
Dinner @Vapiano 

With the complementary EUR19 1-day train pass bought together with the Holland Pass, we planned a day trip to Zaanse Schans and Rotterdam today. 

We woke up really early today, trying to make good use of the time exploring both places. 

Freezing London + Amsterdam Day 5

28/12/2015

Itinerary of today:

Hoek van Holland 

Amsterdam Central 

Good Hotel Amsterdam

Breakfast @Omelegg 

Oude Kerk

Dam Square 

De Wallen (Red Light District) 

Patisserie Holtkamp

Heineken Experience 

Dinner @The Butcher 
Restaurant Café in de Waag

Arrived Hoek van Holland port after a great sleep. An announcement was made at around 6ish to wake people up for breakfast. Since we didn't add onboard extras, we simply did wash up and packed our belongings. People were really well behaved queuing up for the lift down waiting for landing. It took us quite a while as there was one lift only in each wing catering for heaps of passengers. Anyway, it was a fantastic experience taking trains and ferry to Amsterdam.

Getting through the customs was easy and fast at the port in the early morning. 

Freezing London + Amsterdam Day 4

27/12/2015

Itinerary of today:

Breakfast @All Bar One Euston Station
Westminster Cathedral 
Buckingham Palace (Changing of the Guard) 
Horse Guards Parade
Lunch @Flat Iron
Fred Perry
Covert Garden 
Burberry
Old Spitalfields Market 
Dinner @Poppies Fish & Chips
Brick Lane Market 
Stena Line (ferry)
Harwich 
Hoek van Holland 

Our last day in London. We woke up late again since it was too tiring the day before. We decided to go out for breakfast instead. We had no ideas for restaurants nearby and just dropped by All Bar One Euston Station right next to Euston Station before taking the train to Victoria Station for Westminster Cathedral and Buckingham Palace.

Freezing London + Amsterdam Day 3

26/12/2015

Itinerary of today:

Breakfast @hotel 
Soho 
Liberty Department Store 
Hamleys
Oxford Street 
Piccadily Circus
Cool Britannia 
M&M World
Lunch @Burger and Lobster 
Spurs VS Norwich City @White Hart Lane  
Primark 
Dinner @Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Boxing Day, gourmet day! Putting the 2 most popular restaurants together in one day, we decided to just have a quick simple breakfast instead. Sandwiches with ham, cheese and jam would be a great choice leaving room for the feast.

As we were gonna watch a football match in the afternoon, there was not much time left for sightseeing. Wandering around the Soho Area was probably the only option. 

Taking the underground to Oxford Circus, Liberty Department Store caught our sight right away. We didn't get a chance to go inside as it opened at 11am on Boxing Day, but seeing the spectacular on the outside was also enjoyable. I especially love the Tudor style outlook. It was wonderful to photograph. Even I am not fond of buying luxury goods, we had a thought that we needa come back again later on the day to see the inside.

Liberty Department Store
Address: Regent Street, London W1B 5AH
Opening hours: Mon- Sat 1000- 2000, Sun 1200- 1800

Freezing London + Amsterdam Day 2

25/12/2015

Itinerary of today:

Breakfast @hotel 
Cycle hire 
Camden Town 
Lunch @Siham Lounge Bar 
St Regent’s Park 
Sherlock Holmes Statue
Sherlock Holmes Museum
Oxford Street
Seven Dials
15 Neal’s Yard 
Dinner @hotel

It's Christmas Day and supposed there was almost nothing opened in London. We woke up at 9-ish. Hubby made use of the kitchen and prepared our first meal of the day. Toasts with ham, cheese and jam and a few baked chicken drumsticks surely gave us enough energy for some intensive walk and exercise today.

Freezing London + Amsterdam Day 1

24/12/2015

Itinerary of today:

Heathrow Airport
Sainsbury’s
Studios2Let- North Gower
Breakfast @itsu
Emirates Stadium
Breakfast @Borough Market
The Shard
Greenwich Royal Observatory
Greenwich Market
Cutty Sark
Southbank Christmas Market
Dinner @Wagamama
London Eye
House of Parliament
Big Ben
Westminster Abbey
Paddington Station

It was such a long and scary itinerary after a long haul flight! Anyhow, we only have 4 days in London and that was the fact that we gotta make good use of our time.

We touched down at 4:30 early in the morning at London Heathrow Airport but by the time we collected our luggage and have our passport checked, it was already 5:30am. It wasn't actually a terribly long wait as we expected because we thought we might have to queue for a long time for the customs.

Freezing London + Amsterdam Day 0

23/12/2015
It's such a bless travelling to Europe during the festive season! Have heard about how big the festival can be since I was a kid and now I am able to feel it in person with my love! It's gonna be the coldest Christmas that we have ever spent! How amazing it is!

Again exchanged some Euro and British Pounds beforehand in Chungking Mansions in TST where offering better rate to CX cabin crews (even though I am not~ haha~). Guess it would be enough using GBP450 and EUR350. Probably using credit card is a better idea not carrying too much cash with us.

Flight schedule: (British Airways: HKD4455/ person)
2345- 0500 BA28 (Hong Kong to London)
1930- 1945 BA441 (Amsterdam to London)
2100- 1645 BA27 (London to Hong Kong)

Itinerary of today:

HK Airport
Dinner @Plaza Premium Lounge
London


Still remember it was a nightmare for Lawrence taking the long haul flight last time. Getting no sleep at all even on a comfy plane by Emirates was a disaster for the itinerary planned for the next day. Prepared neck pillows for the long haul flight this time in case it is fully booked and we gotta sleep with almost upright position.

Getting the boarding passes at the counter, I was told by the staff that my first name and surname of the booking were placed wrongly. It was really weird and I am quite sure that I typed my name appropriately since I did the same for Lawrence and his was correctly done. (I guess I am not that stupid and careless!) Ended up calling the Expedia customer service to fix the problem by giving the HKD400 handling fee at the airport and would get it refunded later on. That was a bit thrilling and wasn't a good start for me at all. 

Anyway, bad situation had gone and we did our usual practice at the airport - getting free magazines and eating at the lounge with our credit cards.

Freezing London + Amsterdam - preparation

Finally comes to the second part of the flight ticket promotion tier to London and Amsterdam. It's in such a great value taking direct flight by British Airways in HKD4455 /person only! (Please refer to Ad hoc Sabah Trip - preparation) As the trip will happen across Christmas time and there seems to be nothing going on with no public transport on the Christmas Day in London, it is quite hard planning the itinerary.

Impromptu Foshan Break Day 2

13/9/2015

Itinerary of today:

Marco Polo Lingnan Tiandi Foshan

Ancestral Temple

Lingnan New Tiande Place

Hello Kitty Cafe

Didn't set the alarm clock. Just woke up naturally and did our wash up. Went down for the buffet breakfast. There was a mix of Chinese and western dishes. The most surprising thing was having dimsum and instantly cooked noodles. No wonder the online reviews are mostly positive.

Impromptu Foshan Break Day 1

12/9/2015

Itinerary of today:

Marco Polo Lingnan Tiandi Foshan
Lingnan New Tiande Place
Suning
Walmart

Saw an attractive package promotion on E&E Tours website. Staying in Marco Polo Lingnan Tiandi Foshan with breakfast and transfer was only HKD560/ person. Wanna take a break at the beginning of the busy school term, so decided to spend a weekend there chilling out with Lawrence.

We got on the coach in Kwun Tong early in the morning. It took around 3 and a half hours to get there, so we bought some breakfast to eat on board and got some sleep.