UK Dec Part 5- Christ Church and Brighton

We made a day trip to Christ Church, to see the ChristChurch Priority Church.  The only Christ Church that I knew was the one in New Zealand, did not know that there was one in UK
too.
http://www.christchurchdorset.com/

Weather was grey and drizzled, made it felt a bit gloomy.  Christ Church city center.  I like the designs of the houses.

 The miracle builder - Christ Church Priorty Church was built by Jesus Christ himself.

 Look at the colourful walls of the houses.

 Have you ever seen a man talking to swans?  This place will look gorgeous during summer.  Winter was a tad too cold.



UK Dec Part 4- Stone Henge and Avebury

Stone Henge:

I always thought that they were built by aliens too. When aliens built the pyramids, they had some left over stones, so on their way back to space, they have decided to drop some off. They landed on earth, and formed Stone Henge.  It was quite magical to see Stone Henge in snow, and they looked smaller than I have imagined.  You have to pay an entrance fee, and with that, it came with an audio.  According to the audio, it was built around the same time as the Pyramids!!  Hmm...maybe my theory was right!

It was bitterly cold that day at the Stone Henge.  You could feel the cold air cutting through your body.  I had to brave the cold for some photos:

We made a stop to Avebury Circle on our way back, which was 32 km away from Stone Henge.  Avebury is the site of an ancient monument consisting of a large henge, several stone circles, stone avenues and barrows, surrounding the village of Avebury in the English county of Wiltshire. It is one of the finest and largest Neolithic monuments in Europe, about 5,000 years old.  

It was much smaller than Stone Henge, and not as magical.  Not recommended unless you made a stop when going back from Stone Henge.

This nice village house was Red Lion- The bad restaurant/guest house that we had lunch.  They told us that we had to wait for 45 minutes for lunch as it was a bank holiday.  We agreed.  However, we did not realize that the place was badly heated, you actually felt cold inside and we had to wear our coat!  The food finally arrived after 60 minutes, and they were mediocre.  It was the worst dining experience that I had in the whole trip.

 The fish and chips that made us waited for 60 minutes!

UK Dec Part 3

Today was London Eye Day.  When I was in London in 2006, it was GBP14 to go up, which was equailvent to S$42.  Now that pounds is twice as much as S$, I have to make use of the chance to go up.  I reached there at noon, was quite surprise to see that there was no queue.  Then i realised that there was a technical fault of the London Eye, and it was still under repair, probably will open at noon.  I wonder why everything failed during winter! 

From the top of the eye:

Thank God that everything was under control by noon, and I managed to go up! Quite similar to the Singapore Flyer, though there was more things to see from the London Eye.  Finally mission accomplished! 

Next destination- Nature History Museum of London. 

I finished the day with Musical - Mama Mia!  ABBA songs had a certain kind of magic, everyone seems to know the songs, and can sway with the music.  Whole theatre was swaying and clapping to the songs.  Though the costumes and the effects were normal compared to the Lion King, I enjoyed it as much.  I think I could spend 1 week in London, just watching musicals.

UK Dec Part 2

I woke up in anticipation that I would receive good news.  However, I was greeted with "Next update:  1pm"  I decided that I would make a trip to the city, since I would have nothing to do in the morning.  I bought the one day unlimited pass for EURO 5.15, and took the airport shuttle to airport to catch the train into the city. 

When I was wondering in the train station, trying to figure out which platform it was, a girl approached me.  "Is this the train to this place?  I need to go there to catch my train to Berlin"
"I have no idea, I am looking for my train too"

I found a man that looked like local, and bingo, he was from Frankfurt.  He told me I was at the right platform and which train to take.  The girl overheard that, and quickly jumped in to ask him, and of course, she got her answer too.  So 3 of us boarded the train when it was here, and I even helped her with her luggage.  I believe in helping fellow travellers :-)

I got to know that she was also one of the victim because of this Heatrow drama.  She was on Lufthansa, and was going to Berlin via Frankfurt.  However, Frankfurt airport was seriously affected by the closure of Heatrow, many flights were cancelled.  She waited for 3 days and have decided to take a train instead.  A brave decision as she was carrying 2 luggages, one big one and one hand luggage.

I arrived in city after 15 minutes, and shopped around.  It was not snowing so heavily today, so it was easier to walk around.  I managed to find G Star Raw in one of the shopping mall, so happy!  I made my way back and reached the hotel past noon, in anticipation of good news.  There was quite a number of the passengers surrounding the counter, so I thought that there was good news.  The update was SIA has arranged land transportation for us, which will take 13 hours from Frankfurt to London.  There was a lot of questions, such as "How's the traffic?" "Which route are we taking?""if we do not take this coach, when is the next one?"
I hestiated because the idea of 13 hours bus ride in the dark, snowy and slippery road was scary.  It was like another Singapore to London flight.  Finally I decided to go ahead after one of the Singaporean girl said that at the our luggages were with us, and need not go through the airport.  I felt so relieved after making the decision, and went to the city again, this time with Joel and Robin.  We had mull wine and Robin bought us sausages at the Christmas Market.  This was in preparation for the long bus ride.

The bus departed from the hotel at 9pm.  Many of the passengers were waiting at the lobby before 9pm, all were anxious to go to London.  I told Joel that I wanted to sleep throughout the journey, and I really did.  The bus made a toilet stop in Belgium, and w through France, then finally reached Heatrow at 10am the next day.  13 hours indeed!  I was really tired, but was happy to reach London.

Strand Palace Hotel:  Where I stayed in London, near the theatres.

The bad news was that I could not check in as the room was not ready.  I went to the theatre, hoping to change my Lion King ticket.  I explaine my situation to the lady, and she did not seem too concern.  Thank God that the man who was seated at the corner, who seemed to be the manager turned around to ask me more details.  He said he will try to help, and told me to wait.  After 10 minutes, he came out from the room to ask if I could make it for the matinee that afternoon.  Yeah!

Lion King was a great production!  It was held at the Lyceum Theatre, which could sit approx 2000 people.  The opening was great, with the production crew marching along the isle.  It was interactive, great performance and great songs!  Definitely worth the money.

Black sheep cafe at Little India- Best Duck Confit in Singapore?

I have heard so much about Black Sheep in Mayo Street in Little India, not to be mistaken by the Ba Ba Black Sheep in Robertson Quay.  I made few attempts to goto Black Sheep, finally had the chance today.  Most people shrugged when they heard French Food in Little India??  We associated Little India with currys, naans and tandoori.  Somehow French food did not fit.  Anyway, I would find out soon.

I was the first to arrive in the restaurant at 7pm.  The place was small, probably can accomodate about 25-30 people.  The chef was an indian guy (at least he looked indian to me).  He had a chat with me, lamenting to me how people did not take his reservation seriously, and he wanted to implement a fine policy.   I told him that I was one of them, though I would usually made it a point to call the restaurant prior to the event if I could not make it.  I also apologized to him that our table shrunk from 9 to 7, and finally 6. 

The gang was finally here at quarter to 7pm.  B looked different with his new hair style, and he said he wanted to look like Raymond Lim "faintz".  J looked the same though I had not seen him for 1.5 years.

We started with a oven baked cheese to share.   J sounded like a boss during the wine selection, where he said "let's open a few bottles to share"  I chose the duck confit without thinking, because I heard that it was very good. 

Our final choice:

My verdict was that it was one of the best duck confit in Singapore that I have tried.  The other one that I liked was at the one in Chalk, at Mt Sophia.  But of the two, my vote goes to this one.  Looked at how crispy the skin was.

 Close Up:

Lamb Shank:

Flourless chocolate cake:

 Souffle:

The desserts were equally good especially the souffle.  It was soft and fluffy, and not too sweet, served with ice cream, perfect ending to the meal.

We had starter, mains, 2 bottles of wine, desserts and coffee, topped up with lots of laughter and jokes.  Total damage $50 per person.  The ambience was bistro style, relaxed and causal.  Highly recommended for a get together.

The place got really busy at 9pm+ though most of the people went drinking outside.  Nice chill out place for a Friday night.

Address: 35 Mayo Street Singapore
Tel: +65 9272 1842