the obligatory new year post + london!

Happy 2010 peeps!!!

The housemates and I went to London to celebrate the ushering in of a brand new decade.

(besides ushering in the new year, I too ushered in a cold and newfound eczema. dang!)

cheers! to a new year, and fantastic korean food in london. =)

Unlike our other trips, we decided to have a chillin' time in London instead of rushing around like headless chickens everyday from dawn to midnight. We spent most of our time around good food and great shopping, less on the obligatory tourist spots.

Speaking of good food, here goes:

super spicy seafood udong @ assa

roti canai and teh tarik @ malaysian hall

crispy duck rice @ gold mine bayswater

hakka mee + bubur chacha @ malaysian kopitiam

lobster noodles @ I-forgot-the-name-restaurant bayswater. ooh la la....

I know, I know. Why all the Asian food in London? =)

Well, we missed malaysian food after all. And the korean restaurant had come highly recommended. (I too highly recommend it! just order the normal version, not the spicy udong. I nearly spat fire at my dinner mates after eating half of it.)

To be fair, all the food we had in London tasted incredible to our starved-for-asian-food tastebuds. It was really, really good. Perhaps we shall visit London again someday for a culinary trip, eh? *winks at Irene* =)

In an attempt to make our job easier (okay, to be fair it was Sinwee's for most of the time), we went on 2 local walking tours to explore London's tourist spots. Easy peasy!

Random photos from the trip coming up. I'm too lazy (and yucky sleepy sniffly) to elaborate.

chinatown. does anyone know how the first chinese character from the left is pronounced?

sell heong peng in malaysia at this price (4.5pounds=25ringgit) and people will say you're a madman.

covent garden

trafalgar square

buckingham palace, waiting for the royal exchange of guards

big tower with big ben inside, with cold wet me outside. brrrr...

parliament house, amazing architecture.

clock of court used in harry potter. looks familiar huh?

tower bridge

and the dreaded london tower. pity anne boleyn's ghost didn't bid us welcome that night. perhaps it was too cold even for the dead, much lesser the living.

And of course, the countdown@London Eye!!

28 seconds to go.....

9....

1!.....

HAPPY 2010!!!!!!!

And of course, this shall be my first and last live countdown. It wasn't exactly a pleasant experience, once is more than enough!

We arrived at the viewing area before 9pm, found a spot and stood in the same spot for the next three hours. Add to the equation a temperature of below freezing point (well, it certainly felt that way to me then) and not getting to pee for the entire time, is NOT a recipe for fun! Well, if it was any consolation we certainly did get a good view of the fireworks after 3 hours of playing ice statue. Absolutely priceless.

+:+:+:+:+:+:+

The smile pockets a rattling controversy.

The laugh makes people smile back at you.

The frown never maketh friends any.

Confused? Don't be. I'm just trying out something, which will be revealed in good time. =)