Places

Today shall be a GREAT day! It will be productive and I am just going to take it easy :)

So I shall blog. haha

Last week, I went for a short trip. 3 places in 3 days. Kind of a rush in some ways but nonetheless fun =)

First stop, London!

It's not the first time going to London but this time I went to a few places that I never knew.

(most of the places were last minute research so thankfully it turned out good)

I wanted to try an old shop that sells eel pie and mash, but in the train on the way to Victoria Station, I ate pre-packed bagels and found out my pie and mash craving just died. Never mind, fingers crossed I'll get to try it before I have to leave!

This is near the station, walking towards Westfield.

Anyway, we made a slight detour, at Shepherds Bush Station (somewhere near the place of yummy pie and mash) there is this shopping centre called Westfield Shopping Centre.  It's apparently Europe's largest shopping mall. 

The mall is really nice.  I felt at home. =) I haven't entered a "complete" shopping centre in a long long time. Reminds me of shopping in Malaysia. Differences lies in the brands and the design of the place. I like this one a lot more. But this is Europe's largest shopping centre? I think 1 Utama might be bigger.  I really wanted to shop so so so badly, but sadly I had to control myself. 

After that it was to Knightsbridge to check out Harrods.

It is DEFINITELY for the 'oh so rich' people.  I almost felt very silly carrying a backpack around me.  Just before entering Harrods, I saw 2 ladies, with probably about 10 shopping bags around them and it consist of Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton etc.  My jaw probably dropped for a good few seconds. 

Where do people get their money from ?! O_O

It was nice to see inside, seeing all the big brands that you see celebrity would wear in real life.  Silly to say that I touched a Marchesa gown? Cheeky. 

We got lost in Harrods trying to find the food hall.  

Looks old and grand.  But the food looks so good and appetizing =) It's even making me hungry now. 

But we did not leave empty handed. Splurged a little by trying out their cupcakes. I had red velvet.  I have only tried red velvet once and it was sweet, chocolatey and disgusting. I haven't got the picture of it with me at the moment but this cupcake was really good.  Not sweet at all with cream cheese topping. 

Did not take pictures of all the stops I made.  Went around Soho (where most of the gay bars are) which sort of intrigued me.  I wanted to see how people mingled with each other. Went to Chinatown, I spotted the Pandan layered cake (pandan jelly layered with pandan flavoured sponge cake) the ones that I used to eat from Pasar Malam (night market). I found 100+ too and nearly bought it because I missed the taste.  But stopped myself, no way am I paying 1 pound or RM5.00 for an isotonic can drink. 

Shortly after that, it was to Covent Garden.  Nice place, a lot of street performers, they do not hesitate to ask you to contribute a certain amount of money.  I guess it is their livelihood. Sounds mean, but I just walked away. 

Felt kind of peckish but still able to move on.  We were suppose to watch an orchestra that evening and I was worried we would get hungry.  Nearly bought paella, but for a small plate it cost 4 pounds.  Suddenly we're not hungry anymore. haha 

Barbican Centre.  Where the orchestra was playing.  Its nice to know that you can dress casual and watch the orchestra. I was in a dress and sneakers. 

It was really nice.  Music was really good, but at some parts we got really sleepy because of the lack of sleep and so much walking for the entire day.  Luckily we had this gummy sweets that we sneakily ate to keep us awake. Otherwise, it was a very good orchestra. =) It was Mahler, Symphony No 3.

Ended around 9.30 pm, hang around to meet up with a few friends. After that, went to another place at East London.  Dodgy place, unless you're familiar best not to go there alone.  I was feeling scared walking there at night.  I found this recommendation about a shop called Beigel Bake that sells bagels with beef and other stuff eg pastries.  It opens 24/7, 7 days a week.  I wanted to try, although quite a scary experience but definitely worth it. 

They had Salmon and Cream Cheese bagel for 1.60 pounds. The bread was not much, but it still tasted good. 

Hot salted beef bagel. 

Finally, after such a long day, checked in to a very bad hostel in Bayswater. 

Lazy guy who was nice but asked us to wait for 20 mins before the next guy takes his shift when it only takes 5 to 10 mins worth of his time to check us in and by the time we got checked in, it was mid-night. Not to mention the toilet that was not very clean and the sheets + duvet were a bit disgusting for me. :( and you have to pay for internet and Wifi. Who pays for Wifi? Luckily I was feeling too dead tired to care.  Definitely not going there again. haha

Pretty much about this London trip :D

Next stop....Brighton! :D