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Tag: United Kingdom

Chester: Hidden Gem In The Northwest England

Chester: Hidden Gem In The Northwest England – I had no idea that northwest England has such a beautiful place other than the modern skyline and cultural city of Liverpool. 45 minutes of Merseyrail ride out of Liverpool is the city of Chester, filled with black and white Tudor buildings, ancient Roman ruins and surrounded by city walls.

When I visited Chester, it was like the 5th cities I’ve visited in UK (after Newcastle, Edinburgh, London, Manchester & Liverpool) and to my surprise, the architecture of the little town was beautiful. Interestingly, Chester is a town that’s popular with British tourists, but virtually unknown to most foreign tourists. It’s not surprise that Asian is hardly seen on the street.

It’s a small town, you can finish touring the place in half a day, but there’s some interesting activities to do too, like visiting to the Chester Zoo, checking out the Chester Race and rowing down the River Dee. So is it worth visiting Chester? Absolutely, if you’re going to be in Manchester of Liverpool, you can easily get to Chester from there!

July 9, 2014
Liverpool: A Walk In City, Cheshire Oaks & Albert Dock

Liverpool: A Walk In City, Cheshire Oaks & Albert Dock – It was another short trip to Liverpool after spending a short while at Manchester. Since Liverpool is so near to Manchester, about 45 minutes of train ride, it would be a waste not to visit this beautiful city in the North West of England. Didn’t really know anything about Liverpool at first, all I know was the Liverpool Football Club, Anfield Stadium and Cheshire Oaks Shopping Outlets, that’s all. I never know that it’s quite gorgeous, full of history and culture and Beatles, the band was originated from Liverpool.

Fun fact was that the Chinese Arch at Liverpool’s Chinatown is the largest in the UK, and a friend who is living in Liverpool told me the Chinatown is literally a dead town in the morning which only comes alive at night. LOL. Albert Dock and the city was interesting enough to makes me felt very happenings and the view across Mersey River just reminds me viewing Butterworth from George Town. Although it was just a day in Liverpool, it was still a fun one!

June 28, 2014
Manchester: Piccadilly Garden, Town Hall & Chinatown

Manchester: Piccadilly Garden, Town Hall & Chinatown – In February, I went to Manchester for a very short while, a day spent but didn’t really visit much places. It was like a business trip to me as it was to attend some conference event. Though, I still managed to walk passed some cool places in the city like the Piccadilly Garden, the Town Hall & Chinatown.

Whenever one heard of ‘Manchester’, the names of Manchester United, Manchester City & Old Trafford Stadium will come to mind. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to visit any of the famous football clubs! Sad, but still the day in Manchester was still fun meeting up with a Penang friend and also checking out a new place in the UK. If were to compare with Newcastle, I would say Newcastle is more a small town, and Manchester is a small city. There’s no such thing as big city in UK except London, maybe Glasgow too. At least, in Manchester, you would still see people walking on the street, but not in Newcastle.

Few more weeks left for me living in the UK and I don’t think I have any more opportunity to visit Manchester anymore. But if I have the chance in the future, I still want to visit Old Trafford Stadium and check out the Salford Quay, and also have a good Chinese food at the Chinatown as I’ve read that Manchester has the most Chinese population in the UK. Yeah?

The Wheel of Manchester! This photo was taken the next day before I leave Manchester. =D

Chinatown that was really quiet but has more shops compare to Newcastle. No doubt, London has the most happening Chinatown.

The famous Manchester Town Hall.

Oh, my street – Nicholas Street.

Genting Casinos are all over in UK.

A tram station that looks like a subway station.

June 27, 2014
Newcastle: Za Za Bazaar – World Buffet With An Asian Street Food Theme

Newcastle: Za Za Bazaar, World Food Banquet – Are you a fan of buffet? No, I am not, but then I still head to buffet some times, especially during any festivity, like friend’s birthday, or just a celebration of some events, like the very most recent one at Za Za Bazaar in Newcastle, sort of a little Chinese New Year meal with a few friends from Malaysia and Hong Kong.

A little bit on why I am not a fan of buffet is I don’t enjoy the bloated feeling every time after a buffet meal. HAHA. Buffet is fun of course, with a plentiful choices of food to choose, but then some times it’s hard to try everything, moreover the heart is always thinking that, ‘I must eat the most out of the money I’ve paid’, which is a typical ‘kiam-siap (stingy)’ Malaysian attitude. That’s why, I rather pay the same amount for a decent few-course meals with people serving me. I am quite lazy.

Talking back about this Za Za Bazaar that I’ve just visited recently, at The Gate, Newcastle, I was quite amazed with the interior setup which have an Asian street food concept that feels very graphical, food stalls and Chinese. In compare with another buffet restaurant in Newcastle – Kingdom Buffet, I find Za Za has a better interior setup which somehow psychologically made my meal better (hey, I study interior design, so it’s the decor is very important to me). =D

Food type ranges from oriental, Asian, Indian to British, American, Mexian, Italian and beyond. It’s not surprised though that most of the food served are oriental > western (local) as most buffet restaurants in the UK are operated/founded by Asians. Well, forgive me for not taking any photos of food as I was busy eating and enjoying the interior space, but I can share with you some food that I like. Japanese sushi, American and British section did not capture my taste buds, whereas Indian curry gave me the best sensation of all; Italian, Chinese on the other hand leaved an OK-good impression in my mouth and some of the fried noodles were rather salty. I encountered a few weird food too, but I think some would like it. For £13.99/person (dinner, weekday), I find it quite reasonable, but if really-really-really would like to compare, Momiji in Singapore and Jogoya in Kuala Lumpur are so much better.

For pricing, contact details and opening hours, please visit Za Za Bazaar’s website for more.

February 13, 2014
Snow In Newcastle

Snow In Newcastle – I finally see the first snow of the season in Newcastle after like 2 months of Winter. I thought winter is skipped for this year as the temperature and weather seems pretty constant since Autumn, wet and windy and no sign of snow before this except 5 minutes of hailing back in November, and I also thought that I never get to see snow in my one year study in United Kingdom, and have to go to the SnowWorld @ Genting Highland to experience it, but oh yeah, it snowed just now, for like 10 minutes, stopped and snowed again!

I was working on my assignment, only until my friend text me and told me that it’s snowing out there. I quickly popped my head out of the window with excitement, it’s dark out there, but yeah, it was snowing, heavily. Too bad it was dark, so I didn’t really bother to head out for some photos. Though, I did grab my camera and started shooting and flashing the sky from the bathroom window which has a better view of the bright highway. The road users must be feeling weird and ‘WTF is that’ that there’s flashlights flashing off the window.

It snowed for like half an hour, not much, but hey, at least, I saw snow! I am anticipating Newcastle covered in white snow, hopefully, as it’s not really a common scene. The last time I saw snow was in Zakopane, Poland and Poprad, Slovakia, it was not snowing, but the street and railway tracks covered in snow. For a person like me who came from a tropical country, snowing is like alien thing to me. The Americans might be hating the snow now, but I am looking forward, by this month? =D By the way, do you like it when it snows?

It does looks like rain. I captured this from the window at my bathroom.

A little bit of snow, covering the bench.

Not too white.

A little bit of snow covering the bridge at Northumbria University.

February 12, 2014
Citymapper App Helps You To Travel Around London Easily

Citymapper App Helps You To Travel Around London Easily – London is a huge metropolitan city and with around 11 underground lines and hundreds over of bus route, travelling around is not an easy task. I have a friend who has been residing in London for over 2 years still couldn’t not master travelling on complicated transportation system and in the city, he still need to relies on the Legible London wayfinding system and Google Maps.

I have been visiting London very frequently and travelling around without a local Londoner guiding is quite difficult. The Legible London, a wayfinding board that erects at almost every street corner gives you quite a lot of information of where you are and what’s around. So how do I travel around London like a pro? I use an app to guide me around and that’s Citymapper.

Citymapper can shows you the best way, configures the fastest route and lists the costs of different travelling mode when you want to travel to your destination. So it helps you to save costs, and time. It just made travelling in London so much easier. Yeah. At the moment, the app serves New York, Paris & Berlin. I don’t think it will reach Malaysia in any near future as the public transportation system in Malaysia is lacking very far behind.

You can download from Apple AppStore or Google PlayStore for free. Have fun!

February 12, 2014
London: Breakfast At Le Pain Quotidien

London: Breakfast At Le Pain Quotidien – A London friend had brought me to this very nice breakfast place calls the Le Pain Quotidien (French pronounciation as luh pan koh-ti-dyan), or literally means The Daily Bread at Tottenham Court Road. There’s actually quite a number of outlets in London, in fact it’s an international chain cafe, having outlets around the world. A little bit of research found out that Le Pain Quotidien was not originated from French, but Brussels, Belgium in 1990.

It was about an hour to noon and the place was half full. 3 of us, were sat on a long communal table at the far end and later filled up as time went on. The cafe is setup in a warm and cosy atmosphere, with lovely industrial light that bring a twist into the warm design. Food is mainly about breads, sandwiches, omelet and their set of breakfasts. The very friendly staff had made a bit of recommendation to me as a newcomer.

I’ve ordered myself a Organic Scrambled Eggs with bread, side with Sauteed Mushrooms @ £6. The succulent mushroom was very good to me whereas I couldn’t identify the goodness of the scramble egg, pretty standard. There’s a variety of jams and spreads that you can use freely for the bread which is quite a new experience for me. Everything was quite fine, only that I find that it doesn’t really fill up my huge hungry stomach.

Head over to Le Pain Quotidien’s website for the list of location.

February 12, 2014
Meeting Up Friends At M&M & Piccadilly Circus

Meeting Up Friends At M&M & Piccadilly Circus – Last holiday in London was like a little gathering, meeting up with him and her and they and them. The world is really small, London being in the middle of the Earth was like a meeting point for me and friends from Malaysia. Although they did not come directly from Malaysia to meet up, but from all over United Kingdom and Europe, it was a good meet up. Don’t you feel it’s amazing that you can still meet the you know well at a very foreign land, but not your hometown? And right, there’s really many Malaysian in the UK. Hmmmm.

Inside M&M, one of the famous attractions in London at Leicester Square. It’s like a retail + attractions, always that crowded.

At Piccadilly Circus, something like New York’s Times Square, but with so much less LED and sign boards.

Friends of Malaysia & Hong Kong from Newcastle.

Embracing 1Malaysia.

February 11, 2014
London: Burger & Lobster

London: Burger & Lobster – Most people (I would say, Asian mainly) will not miss the opportunity to visit Burger & Lobster, a restaurant that sells only, burger, or lobster in London. It’s like becoming one of the must-eat food in London. ‘Have you been to Burger & Lobster?’ ‘You must really try the Burger & Lobster!’ Most Asian friend will recommend this food outlet in London when you ask them what’s good in London. It’s more like a hipster place, where eating at Burger & Lobster is cool and must-do.

The place must be good, because 5 of their outlets are always full and have a queue all time. It’s not that you can just walk-in to eat anytime, you just have to wait, from as little as 15 minutes to an hour or more. Reservation only available for 6 or more, yet you still have to wait despite having a reservation. We had about 10 of us, and we still waited for like 15 minutes to get our table ready. The one I went to was at SOHO, and there’s 4 more at Mayfair, Farringdon, Knightsbrige and London City.

Eating at Burger & Lobster will let your mind have a break because you do not need to think that much on which and what to eat. There’s only, burger, or lobster! Burger, is a succulent huge beef burger serves with fries and salad; whereas lobster has the choices of lobster roll, or full lobster steamed, or grilled, or mix, or you can pay more for larger lobster. A standard burger, or lobster cost £20/each. Most newcomer will of course, go for lobster because at this hefty price tag, a lobster would be more worthwhile than a beef burger. I did not try the beef burger, but Foursquare has good review on it. My lobster was a grilled one, served with salad, and fries.

The aroma of grilled lobster was so good, and the lobster meat was very juicy and fresh. Not to mention, the fries was good too! However, I find that steamed lobster could be a better choice as the steamed one still have the lobster red roe intact (eggs), I’ve no idea where’s mine had gone. Dipping the lobster with the garlic butter sauce were just superb. You know what, the whole meal took about 1.5 hours to finish everything up, it’s like the longest meal I’ve ever had for one main course. I was just trying to clean everything up inside out of the lobster, no wastage. =D Thumbs up!

Friends from the same high school, Chung Ling High School, Penang! Interesting that we met not back in Penang, but in London. // Photo by Oohjii.

Head over to Burger & Lobster’s website for their list of locations and details.

February 11, 2014
A Night Out To London’s Chinatown & Leicester Square Christmas Fun Fair

A Night Out To London’s Chinatown & Leicester Square Christmas Fun Fair – I don’t know is it that I have the Chinese/Asian traits in me, or is it that the Leicester Square & Chinatown are so fun that I’ve to visit the place almost every time I am in London. There was once 4 days trip to London that I’ve been there for like 2-3 times.

I don’t think I am typical Asian that Chinatown is the only place I belong, I just feel that Chinatown, Leicester Square and surroundings are very happenings throughout the day and night. Of course, not to mention the great choices of Chinese & Asian food, and they are good too! Oxford Street is for shopping and Leicester Square is for food and chill. Where else in London is a good place to hangout? I need to know more about it, or else, the next time I head down to London, I’ll be heading to Leicester Square, again.

Unlike Newcastle where the main street get deserted after 8/9 after shops close, Leicester Square, Chinatown, SOHO and surroundings are very well alive! Food, pubs, cinema and casinos are the main thing there. During last Christmas, the area was hyped out with the Christmas Fun Fair located at the centre of Leicester Square. Beautiful and wonderful, how could I not spend some times at there? Seriously, I need to explore more of London instead of heading to Chinatown when I’ve no place to go in my mind.

The small Christmas Fun Fair at Leicester Square.

It’s like a mini-Las Vegas at Leicester Square as you can find a plenty of mini casinos. Well, not surprised that you will find a numbers of Asian in there.

Street food stall which just feels so Asian.

Are you a fan of Chinese roasted meat? I am super duper am! The roasted pork belly, siu yok is good!

Chatime – the always-good-business Taiwanese bubble tea chain-store that makes everyone goes crazy and queue for it. There’s not a time that there’s no queue in front of the shop.

This is Chinatown, London.

Chinese’ Pastry.

This is a Polo Bun, unfortunately it’s not hot.

Golden Gate Cake Shop. Sad that most of the pastries were cold, but the taste still ease my Asian’s food craving.

February 10, 2014

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