Chinese NY- Leicester square and Trafalgar square.

"China in London"- that is the theme for tourisms in 2006. No suprise that the CNY was celebrated with fireworks in Chinatown and concerts, parades in Trafalgar square.



As the interesting clock at the swiss building marked the hour, Leicester square boomed with the sounds of fire crackers on the first day of Chinese New Year. There was a really big crowd gathering there, with more caucasians than Chinese people.

I had found a vantage point at the steps of Odeon Cinema facing the square. Every inch of the steps were packed with people. We look like some delegates posing for pictures after attending the United Nations meeting, except that we were not in our suits or tuxedos. A camera man walking past took pictures of us. Haha.. it sure looked like we posed for it, a crowd of people standing neatly on the staircase and with smiles on our faces.

The children had the most fun, as usual. The Caucasian kids definitely enjoyed playing with the paper dragons which could "expand" and the dog loving British ladies were obviously finding the small dog figurines " oh, so lovely".

You can view more pictures of the celebration from the BBC website.

SNOW: Kensington Palace and Park, London II

More pictures, this time near the Kensington Palace (think Princess Diana)and on its lawn. The palace is that orange building on the background, nothing imposing in how it looks. It was meant to be an "apartment", not the "palace" type of palace.

That was the only day where snow covered the lawn, I must say that these are rare sights.

SNOW: Kensington Palace and Park, London

Keeping my promise, I am uploading some picture of Kensington park-yeah, the place where silas was found, you Da Vinci Code maniacs.

These pictures are taken near the Round Pond.

The Round Pond must be the most beautiful corner of this park. Position yourself a the correct angle, and you will could see the pond with the swans, and a background with with Kensington palace and other nearby "palaces"- "houses" fit for kings that serve mainly as embassies, or homes to some superlatively rich people.

The best place to stay so that you could access the parks conveniently is Bayswater. This area is dotted with tourist class hotels and also budget hotels for back packers. Certain hotels, like the Hilton faces the park.

Entrance to the park is free, but the palace is not!

Hong Kong: Roast goose and porridge

Hong Kong is a tourist and food haven.

Chinese New Year is coming, and I wish that I am visiting Hong Kong on a family trip instead.

Other than all the good things of being with your family, I LOVE Hong Kong’s food VERY VERY much. I visited Hong Kong in November 2004, just before the winter started.

I will still drool at the thought of the Roast Goose at Yung Kee. Argh! My hubby had been trying to find it in the afternoon, but we somehow missed the branch nearer to our hotel. Then, while we were walking around at night to over the “half hill” area, we ended the walk by going through Lan Kwai Fong. Taa daa.. it appears right in front of us when we are not looking for it. And were we lucky? Yes, it was the time for the last order!!! I ordered it to go with porridge, and my SO had ordered another porridge (cos he tasted ‘ roast goose’ for lunch and it was nothing much) Anyway, my porridge was super smooth, and I swear I could have down it without anything else. The goose.. hmmm juicy sweet and tender. (I wonder what he ate in the afternoon, roasted duck?) My hubby was not so lucky, his exotic sounding porridge turn out to be pig’s innard porridge. As we both do not take these, we really wasted it. Anyway, his porridge was still very good! After the nice supper, I must have smiled all the way back to my hotel.

The downside of the story was of course, it was the closing time, and we could not order second helping. The next time I visit HK, I must go to Sha Tin and get some of the Sha Tin roasted pigeons and visit my grandaunt, bird flu or no bird flu. Talking about Sha Tin, I spotted a very nice hotel right next to Sha Tin Station. Park Royal. That will be on the top of my list next time.

Porridge porridge. The chill is setting in here and again I wish to have porridge, HK style. We stayed in two hotels and one of them was Stanford Hillview Hotel (name sounds grand….) which is conveniently a block away from the very popular Ladies market. I have never been so enthusiastic all my life about getting out of bed for breakfast. No, it is not the hotel breakfast. It is one of the shops where locals go!!

The porridge (pork and other variety) in the shop a few doors away was great, esp when you have it with those super crispy and big “yau chah kuay” (you tiao), accompanied with sips of soya bean milk and HK style “nai chah”. They have a big pot of oil right at the front of the shop, and it was literally fried seconds before they bring it to your table. Oh, did I tell you also that their “lo bak kow” (turnip? cake) was wonderful and the fried bee hoon was great too? We ordered one portion each of these and shared it out, and still felt very full. On the first morning, we saw a few girls eating the same amount as we BOTH did (yes, combined), and on the second morning, we saw more examples. By then (end of my one week trip to HK), I was totally envious of the HK gals. They are so slim and yet can eat so much! It must be all the walking up and down the slopes! I will find a sloppy town to live next… so that I can eat and eat and not grow fat. Ok, may be I should just live in HK.

p/s: Stanford Hillview is really a steal for its location! Short walk from either Mongkok or Jordan MTR, and you will walk past Ladies market on your way there. In other words, it is a short and interesting walk to the stations. However, I will not guarantee that it takes only 5 or 10 minutes to reach, cos I never did. I was waylaid by Sasa and Bonjour(cosmetic and skincare at a steal) many times, and of course, the famous desert shop- Hui Lau San.

In short, Hongkong is what the tourism people promised: Shop, eat, shop, eat.

Argh the sad sad whale who died at Thames river

Argh.. the sad sad whale who(I purposely use who... not which!) died in Thames River.
The story…last Friday…..
a young female whale got lost on its way home to the Atlantic Ocean. As it is trying to Go West (hah, that is an old pop song!) it took and early turn and ended up in Thames river. Hmm.. that is not a nice place not be.. not in the water anyway. As whales derives its water needs from food consumption (DEEP Atlantic squids), it died of dehydration two days later.
I really wanted to walk down to Thames river to see it, but changed my mind cos it is a long walk to see something that is dying (and it was really cute). I would only end up saddddddd… (I love whales, esp a “young-female-traveler”)
Well, moral of the story from Whally (who gave this name, it sounds male!) the whale:

1. Don’t travel out of your zone without a map, esp when you are young and female.


2. Don’t be choosy in your food.


3. Get out of the habit of getting your water from soups and curry sauce! Start drinking REAL water from Thames river.

For more info, read it fr BBC

turkish hot bath!

I am wondering what is a Turkish Hot Rooms and Russian steam room or Finn log sauna for that matter.  It all sounds like a variety of saunas.  The biting chill of the Siberian wind must have gotten the better of me, or perhaps I have been intrigued by the constant stream or steam coming out of this old building- The Porchester Centre. The names sound rather posh and chic right? Well, it belongs to the Westminster town council. Among other things, this houses the public library. There is also a gym and swimming pool facility.

A bit of search of the internet brought interesting answers. Definition of Turkish Bath:

Turkish bath n. 1. a type of bath in which the bather sweats freely in a room heated by hot dry air (or in a series of two or three rooms maintained at progressively higher temperatures), usually followed by a cold plunge, a full body wash and massage, and a final period of relaxation in a cooling-room.
(Argh… I am getting more curious!!)

And I put at the end of this entry some interesting excerpts from www.turkishbath.org. It explains all these different saunas! Apparently this is a Victorian thing and they believed that it is good for you- from mental illness to gout and neuralgia! Hmmm seems like a good “treatment” for pain and stress, huh? Shall I give it a try????Argh, if only the currency is in Bath, yes Thai Bath (Pardon the pun), I will definitely head for one of these hot bath.  Hee heee.

And the location of this place? Near Bayswater! Very very near to all those tourist hotels etc, but I bet no one tell them about the good deal at this public spa. Yeah, it is kind of public spa, kind of weird idea.

In 1856, after a break of over fourteen hundred years, the hot dry-air bath was re-introduced into the British Isles.  The history of this Victorian institution, spuriously known as the Turkish bath, has not previously been systematically explored; it has, indeed, been almost totally ignored……
Public steam baths are known to have been in use in the ancient city-state of Sparta, although public bathing, even in Europe, almost certainly predates this. Spartan bathers would remain in the steam until they were sweating profusely and then immediately plunge into an adjacent cold water pool to cool down again.The use of steam baths spread, first throughout Greece, then later, westwards to Rome.
The practice seems to have travelled also in a northerly direction, originating from early Greek settlements in the south of what is now the Ukraine and, thereafter, becoming widespread in much of the area which was, until recently, known as the Soviet Union. As a result, steam and vapour baths are often still referred to as Russian  baths.
The Finnish sauna is often thought to have developed from the Russian bath, but most authorities believe that this unique building, ie, the sauna (wherein the bather is able to change hot dry air into hot wet air and back again at will) developed independently in Finland.

    

Did the British colonise India? Curry and Tikkas.

This question inevitably pops up in my mind when I go to supermarkets and take a walk down the streets. It always seems to be the other way round to me; history reversed. "What is the No 1 British national food? Move over fish and chippies, it is CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA. Yes, you see more of this than fish and chips restaurants or shops in many parts of London.

Chicken Tikka Masala found itself onto supermarket shelves in terms of sauces, pre-cooked dinner sets, frozen microwave food, sandwiches and even in salads. The adverts on tv boast about the effectiveness of a washing powder in terms of its ability to remove the chicken tikka stain from your blouse.

Indian Food is all the rage in London and many parts of the UK. Other than Chicken tikka, Korma have also found its way into supermarket shelves. In a recent TV episode of the popular and F-mouthed Gordon Ramsey, the convicts in a prison told them the fav food there is curry!

Hmmmm, talk about ditching the traditional food for foreign influences. If you think that I am jumping for joy to find so much spicy food here, nahhhh. I did not.

The British version of "curry" is far from authentic. If you ask me how I should describe it, it is SWEET. Not spicy, and not oomh at all, at least that is what the supermarket bought food and college canteens have been telling me.

Boring at best. I have not tried the Indian restaurants in London yet, although they are supposed to be very good. I do fear disappointment, of eating something yellow, goey and SWEET (yucks!), after spending some money on it.

Maybe, just may be, I will venture into the famous Brick Lane in East London for what else, good Indian restaurants!