Netherlands April 2007

The photos were taken in Keukenhof Gardens.
That place is a MUST go in spring. The entrance fees is about 13Euro. If you can cycle, you might want to get a package of bicycle rental + entrance ticket for about 20 Euro. That will allow you to visit the tulip fields around the garden. That was my BIGGEST regret. I will do it again one of these springs :). That was my best holiday since I came to London. Totally breath taking, and I finally understood why everyone wanted to visit Europe in April. Timing is everything. A few days make a lot of difference to the state of the blooms.

Here were the photos in our quest for the tulip blooms-2007 Easter weekend.

The "perfect tulip".... (according to hubby)
The flower beds...
The cherry blossoms + tulips = BEAUTIFUL


The windmill, where I climbed up (and refused to come down) to check out the tulip fields outside the garden.....

The tulip fields....

bluebell valley-Wytham Woods

We missed the "prime time", but the blooms were still impressive. According to SH, it would be much more impressive if we came 1 or 2 weeks earlier.

- where do asparagus come from?**Farm outing** & blue bell valley day

We went to Rectory Farm in Oxford to "pluck" asparagus yesterday morning. May is the British asparagus season, and I wouldnt want to miss the experience. If I did not go yesterday, I would have to wait till next year because all my weekends are gone until mid June (which will be the strawberry season!).

[list of PYO farms in Oxford]

The day started off grey, and MS was somehow delighted, I guess. He hated the sunlight, but I was wondering why are you so worried when you are in a farm? There should be some cover! Wrong!

When we entered the farm and SH pointed out the asparagus plots, my eyes strained to see where the asparagus were! Those looked like bare plots! Nothing there! Rows and rows of brown-greyish land. Where is the asparagus? I finally understood when we got off the car (and given plastic bags to PYO-pick your own).

Asparagus are some kind of sprout- we need to pluck- ie bend it, break it, tear it off and pop it into the plastic bags! The asparagus we saw were nothing like those in the supermarket. Firstly, the colour is purplish, not green. I know why it is green in supermarket- By this morning, some of mine turned greenish. Therefore, green= not so fresh anymore. We pluck those thick juicy looking ones- thicker than the size of most fingers! I even tried one on the spot. I found it edible& crunchy. The rest found them horrible.

I plucked quite a bit and was expecting to pay at least £10. Just 5-6 sticks in the supermarket comes up to £1.99. Guess what we paid? About £3 for just less than a kg. WOW!

Yesterday night we had asparagus-juicy, crunchy, sweet. Much better than the usual stuff! We had it again during lunch, and will have enough to last use till Tues, at least. :) Thank goodness it is the bank holidays, and I can afford to let our urine stink. Asparagus gives you urine that smells like heaven.

After plucking the aspragus we went to the town centre to have lunch, before hitting Wytham woods(Woods of Hazel) for blue bells! We missed the "season", but found a patch in the valley which was still blooming. It was as if we were in a fairy woods. I will post photos when I am done with my mugging.

Related sites:
www.asparagus.org
http://www.asparagus-in-kent.co.uk/growyourown.htm

Getting excited about TULIPS

48 hours before my flight, and I was still feeling quite indifferent that I am going to visit another new country, and country which I had always wanted to visit. However, a bit of Googling sent me to this site (thedude.com) , which has fabulous travel photos! Gosh. I hate those people who travel and blog(show off!) about it, and make me so itchy again. The tulips photos made me so excited!

I just went arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh when I saw the sea of tulips. I love tulips.

Got to test hubby: eh, what was the flower for our ROM huh? Answer correctly or you sleep on the corridor.


Post trip: This is supposed to be the "perfect" flower- captured in Keukenhof

Royal Holloway & daffodils

Windsor: The Castle and the Crooked House

Windsor is the perfect day trip from London. We went to Windsor to celebrate hubby's birthday.
Lunch at a pub called Three Tuns, just at the foot of the castle. The food was good. I think this was the first pub i came across which served really authentic mashed potatoes! Most, if not almost all pubs serve reconstituted mash: those powder which you get from the supermarket, and add hot milk+ butter.

The pub is in a narrow lane, near an "attraction" called the The Crooked House.
Just look at the "scandalous" history. I wonder if it had to be closed because the other Charles also used it to meet "his flower".

"In 1687, because of an acrimonious land dispute, the council ordered this first Market Cross House to be demolished. The building that survives now is what was rebuilt soon after. It acquired its famous tilt after being restructured in 1718 with unseasoned green oak. There is a secret passage to Windsor Castle, now blocked, from its basement. This is reputed to have been used both for the illicit meetings between King Charles & his mistress, Nell Gwyn & for taking provisions to the castle kitchens."

The entrance where you part with your money:

unfortunately, it was not windy in Windsor, so the could not snap a photo with the flag unfurled. Saw those those photos, and the castle looks much more "powerful".

The side gate where you "come out"


And this is my favorite photo of the trip. The "Back Alley Queen" snapped this from the car park of some private residence near the castle. The daffodils were lovely.

Windsor is an expensive place to park your car, esp when you lose your sat nav. But the nice countryside around this area makes it both money saving and worth while to drive.After lunch, we went to Virginia Waters and the Valley Gardens of the Windsor Great Park. That was rather disappointing as the some of the spring flowers are not in bloom yet, while the calendulas are already past their prime! This has been as strange year, as some cherry trees have lost all their blooms, while the others are just starting to bloom. We went to Hammersmith yesterday and was shocked to see rows of cheery trees in full bloom. Isnt that part supposed to be warmer than places that are not in central London?

However, the daffodil fields at Royal Holloway was a real treat, and it was fun looking at guys "plucking" flowers. Hmm.. "lu bian de ye hua bu yao luan luan cai".

Next destination: wales or rotterdam?

I hope it is Rotterdam, 1 week before heading wales because the TULIPS are blooming already! I still remember how mesmerised I was, just looking at those spring photos taken using my old mobile's camera make me crave for more tulips!

These are some photos taken by my friend when he visited last year, in London. Was it the millennium park at Westminster? Argh, I am lousy with these names. It is just one of the small patches of green, and you will never suspect that it can look so good with tulips blooming.

High Wycombe

High Wycombe is prettier and had a lot more shopping than I expected!

We decided to have a driving cum mystery shopping day, to destress, and picked high wycombe! We passed by this town a many time on our way to and from oxford, and i noticed that this "town" has 2 exits, and looks really pretty at night with the lights.

High Wycombe is really hilly, and like many English towns, have a love for round about-s. Not long after coming out of M40, we were greeted with 3 linked roundabouts! Nuts.

It is a pity that the the cherry trees are at the end of the blooms, otherwise some stretches of road would be really impressive. We drove along A40 to Oxford, pass some farms-horses, cows, sheep etc. It was a really pretty drive, with daffodils lining the roads and blooming cherry tress along some stretches. there was a steep slope which is >14degrees, and I made a mental note to drive here once I get a convertible! Hahaha...

We decided to visit Hell fire Caves-a long series of tunnel which is supposedly haunted. Too bad, due to some electricity problems, it was closed when we visited. Anyway, we still had fun walking on the hill and burn off some of the calories we piled on during our pub meals, before going back to another meal and some shopping :D. I think I will make it a point to shop in High Wycombe next time. Good shopping town, cheap parking!

...

Cherry tree blooms are really hard to catch. The light almost white pink hue means that it could be really difficult to catch well on a camera, unless you have a very good one. You just got to be there, and see the real thing. It is a real pity that we miss the Oxford's blooms this year-again. You got to be free at the right time! Sigh. Missed the cherry, hope to catch the tulips! hehehe.. I know it only cost £13 for a day trip to Belgium. Dying to go! Hopefully ZK can make it this Saturday, and we will join this gang of youngsters to go, as opposed to plan B, join a trip organised by an UB's travel agent. Looking at the clientèle, we do suspect that it will be a silver company.

Now that we have decided to move back to town, I think I am beginning to miss this place. We are 1/2 hour to the Chilterns and 1 hour to the Cotswolds. And now with the car, and me getting behind the wheels..... Sigh. I will dread the 13 mile each way drive to work when I move out.

feverish, cherry blossoms

fever fever go away
chubby me wants to go out and play
the cherry blossoms are on display
bright pinks and whites, they look so gay(cant find another word...)!

Damn it, i cant even download my cherry blossom photo properly from my phone! I must get well soon!!!!!

London-spring photos

These were one of the first blooms of spring (Ok, I know it is autumn now, i am lazy), taken near Noting Hill Gate. Hubby and I were betting whether the flowers were real or plastic. Yup, we were pathetic.
Pictures of The Broadwalk in South Kensington Park. These were the first "leaves" in spring. It was really amazing, the trees look DIFFERENT every day!!! I loved this place so much.. until my hubby is mugged. I think I will have a phobia of this place now.
These were the tulips in the Flower Walk, kensington park. I missed some of the best blooms, as I did not visit at the right time. April is the time to go out everyday.
The above is just some "bushes". Yes, bushes of "wild flowers". Beautiful?? How I wish to have a garden there! My garden here only can grow "lalang" ie ugly weeds if I ignore it.