beloved bel

Love these classic icons One of my old time friends Stanley came to visit me on Saturday.  For a day - yep.  He was on his way to Poland and decided to stop by London for a day to say hi and hang out.  It was nice to see a familiar face here, and I was his tour guide for the day.  Unfortunately it was a rainy day so that made sight seeing a little harder to do.  I made breakfast for us 3 and we hanged out at home for a bit, before I suggested going to my fav Vietnamese cafe for lunch.  After lunch K had to go home to attend to something, and so I brought Stanley out to see the main tourist sights. Inside the M&M mega store Admiring their flowers after lunch @ Cafe East I have to admit that I was dreading being stuck in the tourist traffic, but it was pretty enjoyable actually. The rain meant that Westminster Bridge was not packed with tourists. Never tire of them.  Always in awe of the Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. ...

We had gorgeous weather of 22deg on Sunday and so I suggested to K to drive out to Kent for church. See Hillsong is such a big international church with many "rooms" as we call it.  Over here, the main church meets in central London at the Dominion Theatre, and there is one in Tonbridge (Kent), and one in Leatherhead (Surrey).  The latest "room" is in Bermondsey, not too far from where we live where we occupy an old warehouse and the whole place is done up in a very hippie style.  Before the Bermondsey church started, we knew that we would take the same amount of time to drive to Kent and central London.  Just because to get to central London you get stuck in the traffic jam (and there are many road closures on the weekends, trust me) and then when you finally come out from the jam, you need to then start looking for a parking lot which is very stressful.  Finding a lot is akin to striking the lottery.  Whereas Kent, though far out, it is an easy drive o...

See the thing is that since moving further out, I have not gone into central London for a long time.  Weekdays are impossible and well weekends, we just want to laze around at home, or go somewhere not too far from home.  Sounding really domesticated huh?  And to think I am using the words "going into central London". However I need a hair cut badly and I have been a loyal customer to this small little Japanese salon on Piccadilly Circus.  I told K I would go for my hair cut and then walk around Regent Street.  Have some me-time too.  He needed to be home as we have just got new cleaners to come round, and also the gas engineer was coming to fix our boiler.  Like what I told Marketa, in the past 1 year I feel like I've been pushed to grow up especially after buying this property.  There are so many things that need attention to, especially for an old property.  In short, it is not easy to maintain an old house, let's put it that way. I to...

The whole area of Gloucestershire is like a fairytale land to me. Bibury I have long read that Bibury is considered one of the most beautiful villages in England and was eager for us to drive through.  It is so beautiful, almost like time stood still.  And yet it is unbelievably touristy.  For a village this size, the number of tour buses and tourists are overwhelming.  I started to wonder how the people here like all these intrusion from the busloads of tourists.  Even though it was drizzling when we got there, it is really one of the most beautiful villages I've been to.  Arlington Row is said to be the most photographed street in the Cotswolds. Arlington Row: These houses were built in 1380 as a monastic wool store.    This place also serves as a backdrop to a number of movies, including Bridget Jones' Diary Chimney smoke We took a peek at the Swan Hotel which was beautiful inside and outside Arlington Row, owned...