This is my friends’ house in Surrey. May and I did our general nurse training together 40 years ago and I am godmother to both the children.
The next day (Sunday) my friend May took us to East End of London to visit old haunts. We were sad to find that London Jewish Hosp where we did our general nurse training was gone.
This is Petticoat Lane which is near the hospital. We used to go to this open air market because everything is quite cheap and it is still the same. There is a shop that sells beautiful suits at a fraction of the price that one has to pay in the big department stores. We definitely spent some money here.
Then it was off to Burrough Market near London Bridge. It is actually more a food market and I must say the prices are much higher compared to the supermarkets.
Stalls selling fish and wild game like pheasants, partridges and the poor rabbits.
These are the cheese and pie stalls
Flowers and all kinds of yummy chocolates
The next day (Monday) it was off to the Natural Science Museum in High Street Kensington.
You need a whole day to see all the exhibits so we concentrated on the dinosaurs as this is Marie’s interest.
Then we went to meet my godson Iain for a meal in Chinatown. Marie had her first taste of crispy aromatic duck and she fell in love with it. If anyone knows where we can find this dish in the Klang Valley, please let me know. Thanks
By the time we finished eating it was about 4 p.m. and it was rapidly getting dark so we headed straight for Trafalgar Square to look at the giant Christmas tree.
A brisk walk took us to Big Ben which was already lit up. Marie had to try the phone in one of the famous red phone booths.
This is Downing Street which is now gated so no more photos outside the actual building itself. My poor legs which have not done much walking for the last twenty years were now getting very tired and the cold made it a slow walk to Buckingham Palace. After that it was a very slow trudge back to the station.
Tuesday we met up with my niece and spent the whole day walking from Tottenham Court Road where we visited my favourite book shop, Foyles. Prices of books here are quite cheap so had to buy some books. Then it was down Oxford Street all the way up to Marble Arch. Some of the big department stores where I used to buy my clothes were gone to be replaced by IT and mobile phone shops. However we did spend more money here buying our Chinese New Year clothes.
This is one of the window display in Debenhams and by the time my legs gave way it was 5 p.m. and very dark as you can see in the photo.
On Wednesday Marie and I went to the Tower of London. We managed to see the crown jewels, beefeaters and Tower Bridge.
We decided to walk along the embankment towards Big Ben but I took a wrong turn and we ended up in the opposite direction (blush). My saving grace was that we found this lovely marina which brought back memories of my sailing days when I was much younger and fitter.
We had to take a bus back to the embankment and luckily for us we had the travel card which included unlimited train, tube and bus rides. The cost of the tickets was 7 pounds for me and 1 pound for Marie. We found the sphinx and Cleopatra’s needle and by the time we had walked to the Embankment station, Marie was too hungry and tired to continue so we stopped for food in an Indian restaurant
Christmas day was spent at home. Here we are with my godchildren Iain and Caroline.
Marie checking her Christmas stocking whilst poor cold mummy warms her hands in front of the fire.
This is the table all laid up by Iain and the father, Peter carving the turkey. We had a really scrumptious lunch, all cooked by May.
The hot brandy being poured over the Christmas pudding and here it is all lit up. It has been a long, long time since I had a real good pudding. It was really nice to stay at home and relax in front of the box.
On Boxing Day we went to Tonbridge to look at my flat that I stayed in before I came back to Malaysia. The photo on the left is what it looked like when I left and the one on the right is what it looks like now. Then we went looking for the other hospitals that I used to work in and sad to say they are all gone.
Saturday was stay at home day for Marie whilst I went to the local Tesco to get stuff like gravy powder, dried herbs and so forth because it was real cheap in the sales.
On Sunday we were off again. This time it was to Paris. We joined a coach tour and did the crossing by train via the Channel tunnel. We arrived in the outskirts of Paris very late at night so the only thing to do was to go to bed. The next day we were taken into Paris but unfortunately, we could only take photos from the coach as there were only a few stops. In addition, I forgot to bring my camera charger so could not take many photos.
We managed to get off the coach for this picture of the Eiffel Tower. The photo on the right is Cleopatra’s needle in Paris.
The Louvre was closed so we did not get to see the famous Mona Lisa therefore we went to the Galleries Lafayette to do more shopping. Marie insists that the fashion here is much better than those in London
On New Year’s Eve we went back to Trafalgar Square to visit the National Art Gallery. Then it was back to Chinatown for another round of crispy aromatic duck which Marie insisted on having.
After another one of May’s scrumptious dinner we relaxed in front of the box to watch the fireworks display whilst sipping champagne. Marie having her first taste of champagne which she was not too keen on so we added fresh orange juice to it to make Buck’s fizz which she could not stop drinking. LOL
A must visit to Harrods where everything is so expensive so no buying spree. There was a memorial for Princess Diana and Dodi.
Then it was back to see Big Ben and parliament House in daylight. Peter insists that I am wearing a tea cosy on my head.
It was good timing as we got to see the horse guards’ parade going to Buckingham Palace. The queen was not in so we did not get to have tea with her.
Being our last day in UK, we had to do more shopping and a must visit to the Croydon vegetable market. Surprisingly, Marie actually enjoyed eating Brussels sprouts so we had to get a photo of her next to them. Marie was looking forward to playing in the snow but it did not snow at all whilst we were there.
We left UK on Saturday and arrived back in KL on Sunday afternoon and the first thing we did was to have wanton mee and char kueh tiaw. I then received an email from Peter who told me that it snowed the day after we left.
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