Travel log - another European trip
22-23 December 2019
We had time to pack for this trip because Sam wasn’t working and I
finished up on the Friday before Christmas week. Sam still managed to leave
everything till the last minute!
At about 10:30 am, the Qantas chauffeur came to pick us up. He was a
very social chap and pretty much chattered away all through our trip to the
airport.
Checking in was easy – holding business class tickets, we were pretty
much treated like royalty. We met up with Jake and Ryan in the business lounge.
I had trouble connecting my laptop to Wifi, so the universe was telling me to
stop working, even though I planned to finish a few pieces of work on our
way to London.
When we got to Perth about 5 hours later, immigration was not ready to
check us in, so we had to settle ourselves in the domestic business lounge.
After some refreshments and drinks later (I stuck to this regime of only
drinking and eating very little non-fibrous foods to minimise my need to go to
the toilet on the plane), we went through immigration, as well as TRS to get
the GST back on my recent Apple purchases.
It felt like we were in the lounge for a short while before we were
told we could board the London flight. The business class seats were great,
like the ones we were in when we went to Hong Kong about 4 years ago. It was a
long 17 hours but it didn’t feel much longer than the normal flight from
Singapore/Hong Kong to London. I tried to re-calibrate my body clock to London
time, so I worked as long as I could after a self-imposed small meal. I also
worked on the plane to distract myself from my flight anxiety. I also started watching the Harry Potter movies starting from the first one.
The Dreamliner was a beautiful plane. It was very quiet and taking off
was effortless. After working till about 2 am local time in Brisbane, I got
tired and went to sleep. There was nothing better being to lie flat on a plane on a long-haul flight. That alone is worth the costs as far as I am concerned. My
sleep was not deep but adequate although I did wake up when we hit some
turbulence and the pilot had to turn on the put-your-seatbelt-on sign (which
naturally caused me some anxiety).
When I got up about 5 hours later, I resumed watching the Harry Potter
movies. After another 2 movies later, I decided that I needed a break, so I
swapped over to The Big Bang Theory, which was great. At some point, I felt
tired again and went back to sleep, so that gave me another 2 hours of snooze.
It was effortless to go through immigration and the immigration officer
we had was very friendly. We then went to the Qantas chauffeur area to let them
know that we would like to use the arrivals lounge, which was run by American
Airlines. While the main lounge area was fairly basic, the individual bathrooms were
very clean and modern. It was great being able to freshen up somewhat because
we didn’t expect that our hotel rooms would be ready by the time we got into
London at about 6 am in the morning.
To our surprise, our rooms were ready at Bloomsbury when we arrived, although the room
was much smaller than my recollection of the room we had some 6 years ago. They
re-modelled the hotel to maximise the bar called The Coral Room, which took
away a lot of the niceties and character that came with the hotel previously. I
think I would think twice if I have to book a hotel in London again in the
future despite how central the Bloomsbury is located.
We headed back to the hotel, rested for a while, before we met up with
my friend, Donald, for dinner. We went to Prix Fixe again – Andy, Dale, and we
all loved it when we visited London the last two times. Before we left for the
restaurant though, we had cocktails at the hotel bar. I had this amazing cognac
cocktail but just as well because it cost about $30 in Aussie dollars!
Dinner with Donald was great because the food was yummy but we were all
a bit jetlagged, so our conversations were a bit lacklustre. That gave
Donald a chance to tell us a bit about his life in London. The poor guy had had a
rough run in the last 6 months. When we finished dinner, Donald wanted to take
us to Said where we had coffee and hot chocolate four years ago. Unfortunately,
the café was jammed full of people and everyone wanted to get back to the hotel
to sleep anyway, so we said goodbye to Donald and headed back.
That was a crazy 36 hours of travelling and settling down in London.
Even though we were only in London for about 16 hours, it felt like we had been
here for days.
24 December 2019
I woke up at about 6:30 am when Sam got up and went to the bathroom.
When he came back to bed, I decided to sleep some more. About another 2 hours
later, we decided to get up.
We met up with the boys downstairs and headed to Selfridges because Sam
wanted to get some chocolate there, seeing what they had on offer the day
before. Before the crazy chocolate shopping frenzy, we had coffee at the
Selfridges café. The coffee there wasn’t cheap – about AUD$7 but it was very
pleasant and civilised.
Sam was in chocolate heaven and I totally understood why – Selfridges
had the most comprehensive chocolate range I had ever seen. I couldn’t resist
and got myself some as well, only to devour them within the next 20 minutes!
We went back to the hotel for a short period to drop off the chocolate
before we headed to Camden Market together. It was as crowded as we remembered
it. After briefly walking through some of the stalls, we started looking for
a place to eat. The boys spotted a restaurant/pub looking establishment across the river. We went over and had a look – even a passer-by told us that the restaurant/pub had the cheapest food ever. And he was right. The food was simple but yummy and the drinks were great. It was much better having lunch there than buying street food at the market and fighting the crowd for precious eating space.
When we were done, we went to Nero for some coffee. While we were
relaxing, the boys found a Whole Foods within 100 metres, so we went there. I
found the parmesan crisps I bought at the Whole Foods in the USA. We then headed back to the hotel to recharge
before the evening’s activities.
When the boys were done with their roaster coaster ride, we hopped back
onto the Tube and went to this bar Ryan found online for cocktails and dinner.
However, because we didn’t book a table, we couldn’t get in, so we went to
Covent Garden for a bit of a look around. We couldn’t find any bar/restaurant
there and everything was closing fast, so we went back to the hotel bar to have
some cocktails and Sam and I filled ourselves up with truffle and parmesan
fries.
We are now back to our hotel room and spending the rest of Christmas Eve
watching some Christmas special program on TV.
Tomorrow is going to be interesting because most public transport will
be closed, so are eateries, although we have already booked Christmas dinner
here at the hotel restaurant. Let’s see how what we are going to fare tomorrow
when everything will go offline.
25 December 2019
I woke up on Christmas day at about 6 am. Damn my Australian body clock.
We met up with the boys at about 9:30 am and went to Chinatown together.
We figured that if anything would be open on Christmas day, it would be Asian
establishments on account of the fact that they may not celebrate Christmas. On
the way there, we found a Middle Eastern establishment where we got some
scalding hot coffee, which came in handy because it was a cooler day since we
got here.
We then walked all the way back to Chinatown and had an early lunch at
this Chinese restaurant. Like all Chinese restaurants, they really jacked up
their prices for the day. For instance, the boys ordered some dumplings that
would normally cost about 8 pounds – they were charged 24 pounds for exactly
the same item just because it was Christmas. Most other restaurants were
blatantly charging double for the day.
While the food wasn’t amazing, it was sufficient to make me feel warm
and full again, so much so that we headed to the Buckingham Palace where the
boys took photos. They wanted to head down to the Big Ben but because it was
overly sunny, Sam and I decided to head back to the hotel.
After lazing around for a while, we went downstairs to have espresso
martinis and were joined by the boys later on. We played Uno over a few rounds
of cocktail, literally sitting there until the sun set at about 4 pm.
By the time we were done, everyone looked like all they wanted to do was
to go to bed. Sam and I tried to walk around the block but we were not dressed
for it, so we came back to the hotel room not long after.
26 December 2019
We went to Brighton today, which was great, because Sam and I had never
been there before in our previous trips. However, it had been raining and was a
bit wet and that got worse when we reached Brighton.
It would have been fine if it wasn’t blowing a gale but the wind chill
factor really amplified the cold. We found some respite ducking into a shopping
centre when we first got there but Jacob was intent on getting us to a
restaurant a few blocks away. However, on our way there, the wind and rain were
so bad that our umbrellas kept overturning. The wind even broke Ryan’s umbrella
and the new one he bought from the shops (to be fair, he paid 5 pounds for it).
Given that we were cold and wet, we ducked into the first pub we could
find and had lunch there. The food was okay but my espresso martini in the can
– not so much. When we were done, we tried to find The Lane, which was meant
to be some LGBTIQ landmark. Unfortunately, most of the shops were closed because it
was Boxing Day and given that the wind was still wreaking havoc, we decided to
go back to London. So much for spending an hour each way to and from Brighton!
In the evening, we went to a nice Indian restaurant for dinner. The food
was only okay despite how upmarket the restaurant appeared. My curried prawns were
way over-cooked and my watermelon martini was not that nice. When we were
done, we walked back to the hotel and went through some backstreets with pretty
Christmas lights everywhere. It was magical.
27 December 2019
We met up with the boys at 9:30 am again and headed out to Oxford
University.
The train that took us there was frightfully crowded. It was partly out
fault because when the gate for our train was opened, we didn’t realise it was for
our train until after a stampede of people had already fully occupied the whole
train. The trains here are crazy – people just rush onto them in a huge
stampede to secure seats. We were not used to crowds like that at home, so we
found ourselves not aggressive enough to compete for seats.
It took us an hour to get to Oxford and we had to stand for most of that
trip. We did get seats in the last 10 minutes after a lot of people got off at
this shopping centre for post-Christmas sales.
We left Oxford at about 3:20 pm. After a quick visit to Planet Organic,
we rested for about half an hour in the hotel and met up with the boys again to
go to West End. We grabbed a quite bite at Wagamama before we went to see
Hamilton.
28 December 2019
We started the day heading over to the Marriott Hotel because we needed
to pick up our NYE dinner tickets beforehand. The hotel was grand and
beautiful. If only it was closer to Oxford Street and all the landmarks nearby.
After we picked up the tickets, we decided to go onto the London Eye. There
were heaps of people there, so we opted to pay an extra 10 pounds per person
for the fast track tickets. It was worth the money because we pretty much
jumped the long queue and got ushered onto a carriage without much of a wait.
After we were done with the London Eye and enjoyed the beautiful view so
high up there, we went back to Waterloo Station and had brunch there. The food
was okay but not amazing. When we were nice and full, we headed back to the
other side of the river to get ready for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
We had heaps of time left, so we went to pick up some chocolate first
and checked out the Harry Potter section of Primark before we headed down
Charing Cross Road to the Palace Theatre.
The queue was pretty long to get into the theatre but it took no time at
all once the doors were opened. We had perfects seats for the show. We were
literally sitting in the middle of the first row of the dress circle and had
full view of the stage. When we saw the show last in Melbourne, we were about 3
rows from the stage and couldn’t see absolutely everything, not to mention that
I was battling a migraine at the time.
The only complaint I had was that British theatres seemed to have no air
conditioning (as confirmed by a British theatre-goer who was sitting next to
us). I found myself burning up as the show progressed, which was unpleasant.
When Part 1 was finished, we were in great spirits and walked down the
Seven Dials. We found another chocolate shop and bought more chocolate from
there (they had these Christmas pudding and plum flavoured chocolate, which were very delicious). We then dropped a few things off at the hotel and headed back down to
Soho for dinner. It was a bit of a wild goose chase trying and get into a
restaurant on a Saturday night without a booking in such a crazily crowded city
but we were lucky – we were squeezed into a free spot in a Japanese restaurant but we had to promise to leave within an hour to free up the table for a reservation. The
food turned out to be very nice there.
I was getting quite sleepy by the time we went back for Part 2. In fact,
as soon as we sat down, due to the warmth inside the theatre, I started nodding
off! Sam thought it was funny to see me like that and I am pretty sure he took
a few photos of me.
Part 2 of the show did not disappoint. I had a full-on migraine when I
was watching it last time. In comparison, keeping myself from falling asleep
while watching it was much more pleasant.
It was a full day but it was also very satisfying. Now I can’t wait for
the movie adaptation of the play to come out.
29 December 2019
After our free cocktail, we got ourselves seconds as Ryan was the
designated driver, so I didn’t have to worry about driving at all. God bless
Ryan, he and Jake picked up the car first thing in the morning and picked us up
in front of the hotel. We even stopped by a quaint little street in one of the
suburbs to pick up our morning coffee.
We were all very happy after our cocktails. In fact, I was starting to
get tipsy and was in my happy place. We drove down the road to a rustic-looking
pub and ordered our Sunday roast lunches there. To all of our surprises, it was
single-handedly the best roast meal I could ever recall. The meat was amazingly
cooked and the duck fat roasted potatoes and gravy were out of this world.
Even though we were making good time to get back to central London,
there was congestion everywhere, so instead of going back to the hotel to drop
off our bags, we had to return the car to the car rental place, hopped onto the
Tube, and headed straight to the theatre. We got there with about 20 minutes to
spare.
When we came out, we couldn’t help reflecting on the fact that this
musical was a fifth of the cost of Hamilton but we probably enjoyed this one
more!
30 December 2019
Given the big day we had planned for NYE day, we decided to take
it easy today.
We didn’t set any specific time to meet. Sam and I slept in till about 8
am and we left the hotel at about 10 am. We were looking for somewhere to have brunch but the boys messaged and asked to see if we wanted to go to the London Tower
Bridge, so we ended up meeting with them back at the hotel and went to the Tower
Bridge together.
It was a very sunny day (what was wrong with you, London!?), which was rather annoying for me. We went to
Café Rouge for brunch, only that this one appeared to be run by an obnoxiously
loud and tiny Italian and the food was crap. Seriously, who would serve a fruit salad on
toast?!?
Sam and I bumbled around, looking for a Tube station. We then bumbled
around some more, trying to find the right train line to board. We somehow found
ourselves back to Tottenham Court Road station and went back to Seven Dials to
enjoy the atmosphere there. Sam wanted to go to Carnaby Street to get some
chocolate, so we went there before we returned to Tottenham Court Road for me
to get a haircut at a salon I went to the last two times we were in London.
After the haircut, I wanted to wash my hair, so we came back to the
hotel. Meanwhile, the boys were getting back to the hotel from Greenwich as
well, so the four of us went to a laundromat nearby to get our laundry done.
To kill time, we went to a homely pub nearby for drinks. Given that I was
drinking on an empty stomach, I started to get quite tipsy.
When our clothes were done, we went back to the hotel bar, ordered some
more cocktails and two complimentary platters for ‘dinner’. I was so sleepy after
all the drinks but was still a bit hungry after we finished our platters, so we
went back upstairs, grabbed our jackets, went around the corner to the McDonalds,
and bought 20 chicken nuggets for Sam and me!
We ate all the nuggets back in our hotel room and are now getting ready
for bed. It’s going to be a huge day and night tomorrow.
31 December 2019
We had to wake up early this morning to go to the Warner Bros Harry
Potter Studio tour. After two trains and a shuttle bus later, we were there
bright and early.
Since we were at the studio about 4 years ago, there were new sections
added, including the Forbidden Forest, Gringotts, and the dragon escape scene from
Gringotts. They also added a new food hall, which was amazing. Half-way through
the studio, we had lunch at the eatery section. My nicoise salad and tomato
soup were great but the boys didn’t like their lunch much. Sam also bought the
butterbeer to try. I tried a mouthful and thought it wasn’t too bad – it tasted
like creaming soda and soft serve but it was way too sweet.
All in all, the place was simply magical. I felt so happy being there.
We got back to the hotel at around 3 pm to get ready for our NYE dinner.
As it turned out, the NYE dinner at Marriot was woeful. Seriously,
anything that could go wrong went wrong. When we first got there, everything
looked promising. There were heaps of wait staff and they were treating us like
royalty. However, it didn’t take too long before the cracks started to show –
most of them clearly had no idea what they were doing. It became very apparent
that most of them were foreigners who were obviously the only people who were
willing to work for the night.
The misstep started when the four of us decided to order some cocktails.
We ordered three espresso martinis and a chocolate martini. Pretty
run-of-the-mill drinks for every day of the week, one would have thought. First,
they told us that they couldn’t make the drinks. After a bit of perplexing
hesitation, they finally decided that they would get another bar to make the
drinks, so we could order them anyway. When the drinks finally came, they
looked like they were made by teenagers who just learned how to mix drinks.
They looked and tasted badly. To add insult to injury, the four dreadful drinks
cost us 64 pounds! Worse still, we ended up with at least 16 glasses on the
table for a long while because the wait staff didn’t seem to realise that they
needed to clear some of the dirty glasses after we finished our drinks or there wouldn't be any space left for the food!
After a long wait, the first course came out, which was a duck terrine,
except that it was far too salty and it came with three pieces of what looked
like cut-up toast sticks plonked on top. The whole presentation of the dish was amateurish and
clumsy like a high-school assignment done by kids who had no idea what they
were doing. Be that as it may, the dish was edible, so I was quietly hoping
that the next course would fare better.
The next course was meant to be this beautiful beef medallion with a
lobster pie, some potatoes, and greens. The beef was overcooked, dried, and not
juicy at all. It was literally flavourless as if someone had just boiled the
crap out of it. To make things worse, it didn’t come with any gravy or jus. The
what-appeared-to-be bearnaise sauce was bland and lacklustre. The potato and
vegetables tasted exactly the same – flavourless. The lobster pie was
mostly pastry with a sorry little piece of prawn-like meat in the middle of it.
It was as if the chef was allergic to seasoning and had never tasted salt. I
ate about half of the plate out of sheer hunger and left the rest.
By that time, I didn’t hold high hopes for the dessert. It was some
chocolate mousse dome concoction that tasted like one thing and one thing only –
sweet, sweet, and sweet. It was like shoving mouthfuls of creamed sugar into my
mouth. I dug underneath the surface of the dome and found some red jelly, which
was just as sweet as the shell. I ate a bit of the jelly and left the rest of
the dessert behind in fear of getting a sugar coma.
On the menu, the fourth course was a selection of cheese. No one told us
that they were actually waiting for us on a platter in the hallway. Just as
well Ryan went to the washroom, noticed them, and brought some back for us.
Given that I hadn’t had much to eat by then, I went and got some more cheese for myself.
The blue cheese lacked oomph and was bland like everything else we had tasted. I
wondered if the chef also made the blue cheese on-site. The brie was much
better, so I tried to fill up on it.
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention – according to the menu, every course
was paired with a different wine but none of the wait staff seemed to know they
were meant to pour us the correct glass of paired-wine first before each course
was served. Instead, the wine got poured haphazardly throughout the evening
without regard to any of the paired-courses. At one stage, I had to empty the
white wine in my glass and poured myself a glass of red to go with the beef. We
also noticed that the champagne that was meant to be paired with the dessert
wasn’t the champagne they actually served. At which time, most of us had already
finished our dessert anyway!
All in all, none of the courses was enjoyable. In fact, they were on the
verge of not being edible. Our whole experience was horrific, which most
certainly was not commensurate with the 250 pounds we each paid per person. We
most certainly didn’t blame the staff there – they seemed to be trying their
best to please their guests but they seemed to be an impromptu gang of people
management just threw together regardless of their experience and hoped for the
best. As Jake said, they were all very nice people but were totally useless.
The fireworks were spectacular though, so they did take my mind
momentarily off my anxiety. When they were finished, we quickly got off the
bridge and headed to Waterloo Station, only to find that the entrance to the
station was closed, so we followed the crowd and presumably headed for the next
entrance. Meanwhile, Sam was busting and really needed to go to the toilet. It
was getting critical (he told us later on that for the first time, he thought
he would really wet his pants) when we found a pub that was still opened by
chance, so he quickly ducked into it and found a toilet.
After about two and a half kilometres of walking, we found ourselves back at the
hotel. To celebrate, we went to the hotel bar and ordered some cocktails to
complete our NYE celebrations.
PS I left the following review on Trip Advisor:
NYE Dinner - Be Warned - It was a Horrific Experience for Us!
As it turned out, the NYE dinner at Marriot was woeful. Seriously, anything that could go wrong went wrong. When we first got there, everything looked promising. There were heaps of wait staff and they were treating us like royalty. However, it didn’t take too long before the cracks started to show – most of them clearly had no idea what they were doing. It became very apparent that most of them were non-English speakers who were obviously the only people who were willing to work for the night.
The misstep started when the four of us decided to order some cocktails. We ordered three espresso martinis and a chocolate martini. Pretty run-of-the-mill drinks for everyday of the week, one would have thought. First, they told us that they couldn’t make the drinks. After a bit of perplexing hesitation, they finally decided that they would get another bar to make the drinks, so we could order them anyway. When the drinks finally came, they looked like they were made by teenagers who just learned how to mix drinks. They looked and tasted badly. To add insult to injury, the four dreadful drinks cost us 64 pounds! Worse still, we ended up with at least 16 glasses on the table for a long while because the wait staff didn’t seem to realise that they needed to clear some of the dirty glasses after we finished our drinks.
After a long wait, the first course came out, which was a duck terrine, except that it was far too salty and it came with three pieces of what looked like cut-up toast sticks. The whole presentation of the dish was amateurish and clumsy like a high-school assignment done by kids who had no idea what they were doing. Be that as it may, the dish was edible, so I was quietly hoping that the next course would fare better.
The next course was meant to be this beautiful beef medallion with a lobster pie, some potatoes, and greens. The beef was overcooked, dried, and not juicy at all. It was literally flavourless as if someone had just boiled the crap out of it. To make things worse, it didn’t come with any gravy or jus. The what-appeared-to-be bearnaise sauce was bland and lacklustre. The potato and vegetables tasted exactly the same – they were flavourless. The lobster pie was mostly pastry with a sorry little piece of prawn-like meat in the middle of it. It was as if the chef was allergic to seasoning and had never tasted salt. I ate about half of the plate out of sheer hunger and left the rest.
By that time, I didn’t hold high hopes for the dessert. It was some chocolate mousse dome concoction that tasted like one thing and one thing only – sweet, sweet, and sweet. It was like shoving mouthfuls of creamed sugar in my mouth. I dug underneath the surface of the dome and found some red jelly, which was just as sweet as the shell. I ate a bit of the jelly and left the rest of the dessert behind in fear of getting a sugar coma.
On the menu, the fourth course was a selection of cheese. No one told us that they were actually waiting for us on a platter in the hallway. Just as well one of our companions went to the washroom, noticed them, and brought some of them back. Given that I hadn’t had much to eat by then, I went and got some cheese myself. The blue cheese lacked oomph and was bland like everything else we had tasted. I wondered if the chef also made the blue cheese on-site. The brie was much better, so I tried to fill up on it.
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention – according to the menu, every course was paired with a different wine but none the wait staff seemed to know they were meant to pour us the correct glass of paired-wine first before each course was served. Instead, the wine got poured haphazardly throughout the evening without regard to any of the paired-courses. At one stage, I had to empty the white wine in my glass and poured myself a glass of red to go with the beef. We also noticed that the champagne that was meant to be paired with the dessert wasn’t the champagne they actually served. At which time, most of us had aleady finished our dessert anyway!
All in all, none of the courses was enjoyable. In fact, they were on the verge of not being edible. Our whole experience was horrific, which most certainly was not commensurate with the 250 pounds we each paid per person. We most certainly didn’t blame the staff there – they seemed to be trying their best to please their guests but they seemed to be an impromptu gang of people management just threw together regardless of their experience and hoped for the best. As one of us said, they were all very nice people but were totally useless.
PS I left the following review on Trip Advisor:
NYE Dinner - Be Warned - It was a Horrific Experience for Us!
As it turned out, the NYE dinner at Marriot was woeful. Seriously, anything that could go wrong went wrong. When we first got there, everything looked promising. There were heaps of wait staff and they were treating us like royalty. However, it didn’t take too long before the cracks started to show – most of them clearly had no idea what they were doing. It became very apparent that most of them were non-English speakers who were obviously the only people who were willing to work for the night.
The misstep started when the four of us decided to order some cocktails. We ordered three espresso martinis and a chocolate martini. Pretty run-of-the-mill drinks for everyday of the week, one would have thought. First, they told us that they couldn’t make the drinks. After a bit of perplexing hesitation, they finally decided that they would get another bar to make the drinks, so we could order them anyway. When the drinks finally came, they looked like they were made by teenagers who just learned how to mix drinks. They looked and tasted badly. To add insult to injury, the four dreadful drinks cost us 64 pounds! Worse still, we ended up with at least 16 glasses on the table for a long while because the wait staff didn’t seem to realise that they needed to clear some of the dirty glasses after we finished our drinks.
After a long wait, the first course came out, which was a duck terrine, except that it was far too salty and it came with three pieces of what looked like cut-up toast sticks. The whole presentation of the dish was amateurish and clumsy like a high-school assignment done by kids who had no idea what they were doing. Be that as it may, the dish was edible, so I was quietly hoping that the next course would fare better.
The next course was meant to be this beautiful beef medallion with a lobster pie, some potatoes, and greens. The beef was overcooked, dried, and not juicy at all. It was literally flavourless as if someone had just boiled the crap out of it. To make things worse, it didn’t come with any gravy or jus. The what-appeared-to-be bearnaise sauce was bland and lacklustre. The potato and vegetables tasted exactly the same – they were flavourless. The lobster pie was mostly pastry with a sorry little piece of prawn-like meat in the middle of it. It was as if the chef was allergic to seasoning and had never tasted salt. I ate about half of the plate out of sheer hunger and left the rest.
By that time, I didn’t hold high hopes for the dessert. It was some chocolate mousse dome concoction that tasted like one thing and one thing only – sweet, sweet, and sweet. It was like shoving mouthfuls of creamed sugar in my mouth. I dug underneath the surface of the dome and found some red jelly, which was just as sweet as the shell. I ate a bit of the jelly and left the rest of the dessert behind in fear of getting a sugar coma.
On the menu, the fourth course was a selection of cheese. No one told us that they were actually waiting for us on a platter in the hallway. Just as well one of our companions went to the washroom, noticed them, and brought some of them back. Given that I hadn’t had much to eat by then, I went and got some cheese myself. The blue cheese lacked oomph and was bland like everything else we had tasted. I wondered if the chef also made the blue cheese on-site. The brie was much better, so I tried to fill up on it.
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention – according to the menu, every course was paired with a different wine but none the wait staff seemed to know they were meant to pour us the correct glass of paired-wine first before each course was served. Instead, the wine got poured haphazardly throughout the evening without regard to any of the paired-courses. At one stage, I had to empty the white wine in my glass and poured myself a glass of red to go with the beef. We also noticed that the champagne that was meant to be paired with the dessert wasn’t the champagne they actually served. At which time, most of us had aleady finished our dessert anyway!
All in all, none of the courses was enjoyable. In fact, they were on the verge of not being edible. Our whole experience was horrific, which most certainly was not commensurate with the 250 pounds we each paid per person. We most certainly didn’t blame the staff there – they seemed to be trying their best to please their guests but they seemed to be an impromptu gang of people management just threw together regardless of their experience and hoped for the best. As one of us said, they were all very nice people but were totally useless.
As a result of me posting this review, the Marriot gave us back half of the costs. At least they acknowledged the problem.
1 January 2020
Today was our last full day in London before we had to leave.
We spent a very laid back day by sleeping in due to the late night the
night before.
Sam and I popped over to Planet Organic first thing in the morning
because I needed an eye serum. We met up with the boys when we were done and
the four of us made our way to Seven Dials for brunch.
We settled for the Seven Dials Market and Sam and I had the most amazing parmesan
and truffled chips, together with some fried white bait. The coffee at one of
the cafes was amazing as well. Who would have thought food and drinks at what
was really just a food court were much nicer than the meal we had at the Marriot the
night before?!
When we were done, Sam went to FOPP to pick up some DVDs. We gave him
about 20 minutes there and grabbed him up along the way to head to Harrods.
Unsurprisingly, Jake wanted to leave not long after we got there, so we all came back
to the hotel. Well, Ryan got off at Leceister Square station so he could walk
the rest of the way home while Sam and I went to get some coffee first before we
came back to the hotel.
We pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around, doing a
bit of packing for tomorrow’s departure to Paris.
So that was our last full day in London. I am going to miss this place.
But life goes on – here we come, Paris!
2 January 2020
Today is my birthday. We got up reasonably early because we were checking out of the hotel and leaving London.
Sam and I made it down to the coffee shop downstairs for breakfast at
about 10 am and dropped into Holland and Barrett to get a few things before we
checked out.
The four of us then caught an Uber and headed to St Pracras Station to
catch the Eurostar. We were about 2 hours early and the café I liked upstairs
was closed, so we went through customs early and waited for our train.
Like most places we have been so far, people seem to stage stampedes everywhere. When the gate for the Eurostar was announced, there was a stampede.
This time, we were quick on our feet and made it onto the train with prime
spots for our luggage.
We ordered an Uber and waited for more than half an hour before it
turned up. It was partly our fault for getting to Paris during peak hour
traffic. The Uber was in a complete gridlock and took another hour to get to our hotel even though it
would normally only take about 25 minutes!
We found ourselves in really large serviced apartments, which was a
great change from our hotel rooms in London. Once we had settled down, we found
one of the restaurants we ate at four years ago and had dinner there. It was in
the middle of the gay district and was quite confronting because everyone sat
at their table facing the street, so when we walked past these restaurants, we
felt like we were being checked out. I actually caught two people checking me out –
the attention was kind of nice. Dinner was great and the boys bought Sam and mine
because it was my birthday, which was lovely of them.
We are now back in the serviced apartment getting ready for bed. I can’t
wait to soak up the atmosphere here in Paris. I love this city.
3 January 2020
Normally, Paris is highly accessible as a city but train workers are on
strike at the moment, which threw our plans out of whack today.
We met up at about 9:30 am to go to Versailles but when we got to the
train station, we learned that it was close due to the strike. We tried to call
an Uber but received a text message from the driver saying that it would take 33 minutes to get to us, so we cancelled it. Not knowing
what to do, we started walking in the general direction of Versailles.
As we headed to the palace, we dropped into a pub for a bout of lunch.
The food was good but when I was paying for our table, the waiter made a
mistake on the EFTPOS machine and charged my card 611 Euros instead of 61.10
Euros! Thankfully, one of the waiters who appeared to be the pub owner quickly processed a refund
and wished us a happy new year when he was done, so it was all good.
When we finished the visit, we caught a train back to Montpanasse. We
dropped into a café for coffee and noticed that the Metro was opened (the
strike was momentarily suspended during the peak hours), so we quickly ducked
down and got sardined into a Metro. It took us to Chatelet station, which
was right in the middle of the neighbourhood in which we were staying.
We rested up in our serviced apartments before we went out for a proper
three course dinner at a nearby restaurant called Chez Mademoiselle. The food
was to die for and the guy who served us was so charming. We did try another
restaurant first but couldn’t get in because we didn’t reserve. When we got to
Chez Mademoiselle, we were still not entirely sure of our choice because they didn’t have an
English menu. Luckily, every plate that came out was simple yet so very delicious.
The little things they did also made the food extra special, ranging from the
yummy chilled mascarpone cream that came out with dessert to the unlimited
after-dinner limoncello and amaretto they served on a complimentary basis.
What a change in spirit a good dinner makes. We all came out feeling
totally satisfied and content, feeling grateful for our experience.
4 January 2020
As we were walking up, we found a cool little café and had breakfast
there. The café had a succulent theme and had mirrors installed on the ceiling. The
waitress was so lovely and patient with our broken French.
When we were done, we continued along the same road and dropped into
Centre Pompidou. I visited it before but Sam and the boys hadn’t, so it was fun
to go through it with them again.
We didn’t feel like going out for dinner when we finally got back to our
neighbourhood. Instead, we bought a bunch of groceries and I made a bolognaise
meat sauce for everyone. Jake and Ryan had that with Fettucine while Sam and I
had that with mashed potatoes. Given the limited cooking utensils I had, I
think I did a great job with the meal. We all ate more than we should and found
ourselves not wanting any dessert at all.
After dinner, we played Uno and the boys’ Monopoly card game. By the
time they left, it was pretty late.
Who would have thought a night in was so pleasant!
5 January 2020
When we were done, we went to a nearby pub called Washington Poste for
lunch. I shared some escargots with Sam and had a raclette bowl, which went
down very well with my mug of mulled wine. When we finished lunch, we went to
the L’Occitane on Champ-Elysees where they also sold Pierre Hermes macarons. I bought three
and devoured them straight away – they were one of the best macarons I had ever
had. The boys loved theirs too.
We were going to get back to the hotel but had a different view on how
to get back, so Sam and Jake caught the Metro while Ryan and I rode Lime
scooters back to our serviced apartment. On the way back, we stopped by the
Australian coffee shop Ryan found to get coffee.
In the evening, the four of us caught an Uber and went to Moulin Rouge.
It was in French, so it was not easy for us to work out what was going on.
However, most of the acts were action based and some of the acts were quite
risque. It was like watching Cirque de Soleil. My verdict? I was glad that I saw
it but I wouldn’t be dying to go back again, despite the yummy French champagne
we were served.
It was a long day but a very enjoyable one.
6 January 2020
We did stop by the museum café for lunch at extortionary prices. The
food was okay but certainly nothing special. We then spent another few hours
looking at a few things before we called it a day and headed back to the hotel
by Metro. Before we did that though, we did buy some more macarons – I bought half a
dozen and devoured them in the next few hours. I think I need to start a diet
when I get home!
Ryan and I went to get coffee while Jake and Sam went back to the serviced
apartment. After 15 minutes or so, we all went to a nearby laundry together. In
between waiting for our clothes to get washed and then dried, we walked around
the neighbourhood some more. We then hauled everything back to the apartment,
folded them, and voila, we are now good for another week or so.
7 January 2020
We got together at 9:30 am again for the catacombs. Again, it was a bit
of a logistical nightmare, trying to work out how to get there given the
limited Metro service due to the strike.
We made it most of the way there but had to walk for about 20 minutes to
get to the catacombs. When we got there, we noticed a sign saying that due to
the strike, there was no guarantee we would get in but we waited in the queue
anyway. Luckily, we did get in after about a 30-minute wait.
When we were done, we went looking for a place for lunch. After a bit of
walking around the neighbourhood and stopping at a chocolatier for Sam to buy
his chocolate, we settled at a bistro with lots of Parisians in it and had a
decent lunch there.
Jake, Sam, and I then took the Metro back to Le Marais to visit the
Jewish Museum while Ryan wanted to saunter home. It took no time for the three of us to get
back to our neighbourhood and find the museum. It was an interesting museum –
I would have preferred it having a bit more Second World War stuff but it was
still worth a visit.
8 January 2020
We met up with the boys at about 9:30 am downstairs to get coffee from
the Australian coffee shop nearby for one last time before we left Paris.
We thought it would be a piece of cake to catch an Uber to Gare du Nord.
First, we couldn’t get an Uber van because there wasn’t one nearby. After we
decided to order two separate cars, two Uber drivers cancelled on us. By that
time, it was close to 10:15 am and our train was departing at 11:15 am, at least that was what I
thought. The third Uber driver took quite a long time to get to us – he told us
later on that it was because it was peak hour traffic.
The roads were in a gridlock and it took us close to 11 am to get to Gare
du Nord. Thankfully, I realised in the car that our train wasn’t departing
until 11:55 am, so that took the pressure off. Still, it was quite stressful
worrying that we could miss the train. It didn’t help when Sam read a Facebook
post from one of his friends who was leaving Paris for Switzerland that their
train was cancelled due to the strike, so they had to quickly book a flight
instead.
Given that we bought first class train tickets, our carriage was
relatively sparse and quiet, which was very much welcomed. Given that France and
Germany are part of the EU, there was no custom clearance required but it was
also a bit alarming that there were no security checks to board the train. Some
fierce and intimidating customs officers did single out someone a few seats in
front of us. I suspect it was ethnic profiling.
We didn’t realise they served lunch on the train but it was not too bad.
I also broke my paleo diet and had my first bread roll in at least 3 years. I
was happy to make an exception because European wheat was less reactive than
Australian wheat. In fact, I might even have a croissant tomorrow.
I had a little bit of motion sickness at first when the train was going
at high speed but I had Stamatil tablets with me this time, so it wasn’t too
bad. Also, once we got to Brussels, the speed seemed to have decreased for the
rest of the trip, so it was quite bearable.
After settling down, Sam and I walked around the neighbourhood. We found
the Christmas Market and later settled down at a Japanese restaurant for
dinner. Then we headed back to the hotel and dropped into a supermarket similar
to Whole Foods called Edeka to pick up some supplies for our hotel room.
When we got back to the hotel, we Skyped Andrea and Liam to organise
meeting with tomorrow. We are really looking forward to seeing them!
9 January 2020
We took it easy and slept in, which was exactly what we needed.
We left the hotel at about 11 am and walked all around the city in
search of something to eat. We ended up at this posh-looking café that
resembled a retirement home – there were lots of old rich people eating there.
We struggled with the language a bit and our order didn’t reduce the
waiter’s confusion. We ended up ordering a bowl of soup and a croissant each
after we were told that they weren’t serving any eggs. The waiter wanted to
know what we wanted in addition to the soup, obviously not understanding that
we were having soup for lunch. In the middle of our meal, he brought out the
egg dish we originally wanted to order – apparently, the chef decided he could
make it for us after all. Naturally, we got charged for that as well. Be that
as it may, it was a nice brunch, so there was nothing to complain about.
We rested in the hotel until Andrea and Liam turned up. It was great to
see them. I gave Liam my old Apple Watch and you could see his eyes lit up! The
four of us went to a nearby barber so that Sam and I could get out haircut.
Unfortunately, given translation issues (the barbers did not recognise blade
numbers in this country), they cut my hair far too short but I stopped them in
time, so it was only the sides that were cut. In the end, my haircut didn’t look too bad.
It was lovely chatting with Andrea and Liam, including a bit of walking down the
memory lane. Given that Liam will be turning 14 soon, it is a bit crazy to
think that what we did in what seemed like yesterday has created a whole new
person and life. It was also great to chat with Liam now that he is older as is able to express how he feels about things (in both English and German fluently!).
After dinner, we all walked back to the hotel in the light drizzle. It
was a lovely end to a lovely and quiet day.
10 January 2020
Sam and I were meant to meet up with Andrea and Liam at 9 am this morning but they texted and deferred it to 10 am and then 10:30 am.
We took the opportunity to get down to Edeka for a quick coffee and
croissant.
We got picked up by Andrea at about 10:30 am and were taken to their new
home, which was still under construction. It was good to see the progress of
their new build and where they will be living (hopefully) in April 2020.
The tower reminded me of the CN Tower in Toronto. The view up there was
amazing. We had coffee and sat there for hours, chatting about all sort of
things, including our respective experiences with the children in our rainbow
family.
In the evening, we drove from the tower to a Japanese restaurant for
dinner. The food was great and despite Liam looking a bit bored by all the
adult conversations, we all had a great time.
It was lovely to spend the whole day with them. Meanwhile, we are a bit
worried about our flight from Munich to Dubai next week after the downing of
the Ukranian Airlines flight. Hopefully, Emirates knows what they are doing.
We wanted to get some espresso martinis and the receptionist said they
could make them for us. As it turned out, the martinis came with ice in them, so
they obviously didn’t know anything about making cocktails!
11 January 2020
We got up at about 7 am to get ready to see Liam and Andrea one last
time before we left Dusseldorf.
We met up with them at 9:30 am at Edeka but the place did not allow dogs
to go in (Andrea and Liam were dog-sitting), so we walked a bit further down and went to another dog-friendly café
instead.
At about 11 am, we all walked back to our hotel so we could pick up our
luggage and check out. As it turned out, the Dusseldorf Hauptbahnhof was only
500 metres away and was visible from the hotel, so we wheeled our luggage all
the way to the station.
When we got there, we were a tad more than an hour early, so the four of
us went to Starbucks for some matcha frappacinos. As midday arrived, we went up
the platform and waited for a while before the train came.
I felt a bit sad saying goodbye to Liam and Andrea and wished we had
more time together.
Our carriage on the train was almost empty, which was great. The train
was also quite new and comfy. We had a croissant for lunch and it didn’t take
long before arrived at Frankfurt.
When we were tired from walking, we went back to the hotel and had some
pretty amazing espresso martinis, followed by a reasonably good dinner. Then we
went around the neighbourhood looking for a supermarket but we kept running
into Middle Eastern ones.
We went back to the hotel and the friendly receptionist told us that the
‘normal’ supermarkets were across the river. We went back out and crossed the
river via one of the bridges nearby and found a half-decent supermarket, so we got some supplies
and returned to the hotel.
It was a long day but tomorrow should hopefully be more relaxing as most
things are apparently closed on Sunday in Germany.
12 January 2020
Today was a day of rest, so we didn’t set the alarm to wake up.
I woke up spontaneously at about 9:30 am and after all the usual wake-up
rituals without any need to rush, we finally left the hotel at about 11 am.
We headed towards the Juddengasse Museum but stopped for a croissant and
coffee on the way. I am going to be sad not being able to eat bread against
once we get home but I am also looking forward to the improving health effects.
After the museum, we headed down to the old town area. Sam found a
Japanese/German café and went a bit nuts with all the matcha products. We then
had a quick quintessential German lunch – hot dogs with fries. The lunch was
okay – I really don’t enjoy highly processed meat and no matter how it is packaged
and covered up by sauce.
After lunch, we went to one of the modern art museums around the corner.
I am glad we went but some of the pieces in there were ridiculous. I did have
fun putting them on Instagram and making fun of them though.
We headed back to the hotel in the late afternoon to rest. Then we
headed across the bridge to a German restaurant booked for us by the friendly
(and very vocal) hotel receptionist.
We walked all the way back to the hotel, which was just as well to aid
digestion. At this rate, I was not planning to eat any breakfast or lunch
tomorrow.
13 January 2020
We got up reasonably early this morning to visit the Stadel Museum, only
to find out when we got there that the museum was close on Mondays.
After the observation platform, we decided to head towards the Innestadt
area for a last walk-around. On the way, we found this health café and had
brunch there. It was so good to finally have something healthy in my body after
all the rubbish I had been eating.
To undo the healthy food, after a bit more walking, we did grab a
croissant each, followed by another coffee. The cold weather has a way of
making you want to eat.
We decided that we had done enough walking, so we went back to the hotel
to grab our dirty laundry. We then headed to a nearby laundromat to get our laundry done. While we were waiting, we went to the Hapbahnhof to get some
macarons and a drink at a bar there. It wasn’t a bad way to soak up the
atmosphere of the neighbourhood and be amongst the locals.
When we finished dinner, we walked back across the river. At times on
the bridge, I forgot that we were actually in Germany – Frankfurt had a very
Brisbane feel to it.
So that was it, our last full day in Frankfurt before we head off to
Munich, our last German destination, tomorrow.
14 January 2020
We woke up at about 7 am this morning to get ready to go to the Hauptbahnhof for our train to Munich.
We decided to walk to the station again because it was quite close by,
even though dragging our luggage over uneven grounds could be a bitch at times.
We arrived at Munich at about 1 pm and the hotel was literally diagonal
from the Hauptbahnhof. Checking in was uneventful but the service at Le
Meridien had been amazing. We were even given sparkling wine as we were checking
in.
I was getting peckish, so we walked towards the Alstadt area for lunch.
After lunch, we headed down what resembled the Queen Street Mall in Brisbane called Marienplatz,
even that this mall had amazing historical buildings all along it. The buskers
were also very talented and played amazing classical music.
I am now nursing a very full tummy and a mild hangover after all the
drinks we have had over the last few hours.
16 January 2020
We got up at about 6:30 am this morning to get ready for our Dachau
concentration camp tour.
Before we went to the Hauptbahnhof where we were meant to meet with the
tour group, we went to a nearby café for a coffee and croissant. As it turned
out, the coffee wasn’t all that good.
We got to the tour group meeting point a bit before the start time of
9:15 am. Many of the people in the tour group turned out to be Aussies. There
were a few American as well.
To make things worse, it was a really sunny day, so being outside wasn’t
exactly Eddie-friendly.
Once our very informative and interesting tour guide had finished the
formal part of the tour, we went to the museum café for lunch, which proved to
be a circuit-breaker from the gruelling historical account associated with the
site. In any case, it was a really good and sobering visit. I would really like
to visit Auschwitz one of these to days to fully understand the holocaust.
We walked through many streets in the Marienplatz area – Munich is such
a beautiful city and is by far my favourite German city over Berlin, Frankfurt,
and Dusseldorf.
In the evening, we had cocktail in the hotel bar before we went to a
restaurant we found earlier on for dinner. The food was great – much better
than the slap-dash stuff we had the night before. Despite my best efforts, I ended up with an apple strudel for
dessert.
Time for bed – we are getting up early for a long day’s visit to the
Neuschwanstein castle.
17 January 2020
Today was our last full day with the boys in Munich.
We booked a tour to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle, so we met up at
about 9 am to grab a quick coffee and croissant before we arrived at the
meeting point for the tour at the Hauptbahnhof.
There were a few people who went to the same Dachau tour as we did, so
it was good to see them again for this tour.
Once we walked through the gates, we weren’t allow to photograph but
Ryan set up the camera and used his Apple Watch to take some footage! The
formal tour took 25 minutes, which was a slight anti-climax. Having said that,
it was good to visit the castle and listen to the story of the king who was
behind the construction of the castle.
The boys went to the bridge for a scenic view of the castle when we got
out but Sam and I descended the mountain and had coffee at the same café at
which we had lunch earlier. We found ourselves chatting with an Australian
couple – there were quite a few Aussies on the tour. It was nice chatting with
them.
Tomorrow, the boys will be waking up early to get to the airport to fly
down to Italy while we will be flying to Hong Kong. I am a bit uneasy having to
fly with Emirates because they are still flying over Iran and Iraq (a Ukranian
Airline plane was mistakenly shot down by Iran last week). Unfortunately, there
is no plan B.
After two days of planned tour, we slept in this morning while the boys
got up early for the airport for their trip to Rome.
Despite not putting on an alarm, I spontaneously woke up at about 8:30
am and Sam followed suit.
We took our time doing our morning routine, followed by a bit of final
packing to get ready for check-out. Before we did that, we went downstairs to
look for coffee and a croissant. I am really going to miss croissants when I
get home and restart my paleo diet (on the other hand, I am looking forward to
feeling stronger again).
We checked out at about noon and asked the hotel to store our luggage.
The two of us then made our way down to Marienplatz again and did some clothes
shopping. It was impossible to shop with the boys because they didn’t like
shopping. Without them, Sam bought some polo shirts while I got myself a funky
red T-shirt and some socks.
We walked around some more after lunch but decided to head back to the
hotel by about 3 pm. We dropped into the hotel bar and ordered some cocktail to
kill time.
At 6:30 pm, our chauffeur (courtesy of our business class flight) came
and picked us up from the hotel and took us to the airport. Sam had a momentary
panic, thinking that he lost his phone, when we were getting out of the car.
Thankfully, he found it on the floor of the car.
We checked in our luggage, went through immigration, and headed straight
for the lounge. I ate a few things and regretted it because I realised that
they would be serving dinner on the plane.
Well, we arrived safely in Dubai after flying along the border of Iran and Iraq. Phew.
The flight was actually very smooth. The only flaw was the delay when we
approached – we went into a loop formation for about 4 times before actually
landing.
Dubai airport was crazy – there were already heaps of people everywhere
at 7 am in the morning. We had a 3-hour layover, so we grabbed a bite and tried
some of the god-awful coffee from the coffee machines. It didn’t feel that long
before we had to board the plane for Hong Kong.
The trip from Dubai to Hong Kong was cut short by me watching two Harry
Potter movies back to back. It was close to 9 pm when we reached Hong Kong, so
we hopped on a taxi, which took us directly to our hotel. We went downstairs and found a
local joint for dinner before we hurried back to the hotel, took a much needed
shower, and went to bed.
It was a long day.
19 January 2020
We got up at 10 am when the alarm went off. I put the alarm on on
purpose to make sure that we didn’t oversleep.
Once we were ready, we went to Harbour City and got a nice coffee to
wake us up. The coffee was great but it cost the equivalent of more than AUD$8 per
coffee!
After a bit of walkaround, we took the MTR and went to Mong Kok. It was
just as crowded there and we were feeling a tad claustrophobic at times. We
went back to the school I went to when I lived in Hong Kong as a child so Sam could see
it. He seemed very interested and took many photos. The school had changed a
fair bit and, to be honest, given that I didn’t have a the best experience and childhood at
that school, I had cold chills running down my spine a few times as a few memories
came back and haunted me.
After lunch, we browsed the shopping centre and I got a much needed
coffee. When we ran out of shops to visit, we went back onto the streets and
walked all the way from Mong Kok to our hotel to soak up the city’s atmosphere,
which was characterised by people, people, and people. It was crowded literally
everywhere. We did walk into a few shops at times and I bought myself a really nice
pair of pants.
Given that we were sticking close together and obviously spoke English, no one came up to chat with us. We then went back to Tsim Sha Chu and went to New Wally Matt Lounge. It was meant to be the oldest gay venue in Hong Kong but it was nothing more than a bar where the bartender didn’t even know how to make a White Russian.
All in all, the gay venues in Hong Kong kind of suck.
20 January 2020
We did a lot of walking.
When we got back to the Kowloon side, we went to Bossini and bought
myself another pair of pants. Then we rested for a while before meeting up with
my sister, Elsa, and my parents for dinner.
As usual, conversations were strained but I survived the ordeal. The
beautiful French food helped.
After dinner, we said goodbye to my parents while Elsa walked us back to
our hotel. We chatted a bit. It was lovely to catch up with her.
21 January 2020
We got up reasonably early again this morning. We went to the usual
place to get out AUD$8 cup of coffee. Then we went to YMCA for a ‘normal’ all-day breakfast.
It was strange to go back there because I used to go to the swimming pool there to swim
when I was little.
There were a few things that were interesting to me – the Antman
shooting ride (which we did 3 times) and the Mystic Manor were fun enough. The
rest of the place didn’t really do much for me. I really can’t see why the boys
love Disney so much.
We left at about 5:30 pm and found a Macauese restaurant for dinner. It
was a strange place but the food was quite exotically decent. We then went back to the
hotel for cocktails, only to realise that I really wanted some macarons, so we did a late night dash
to Paul Lafayet at Tsim Sha Tsui for a macaron run.
We are now back at the hotel winding down for the night.
22 January 2020
We set the alarm to wake up at 9:30 am this morning because we were
meeting up with Elsa and Elaine for lunch.
It was a crazy rush to the restaurant because I needed coffee, so that
shaved some time off our travelling time. On top of that, we had to weave in
and out of various backstreets, so we got there about 5 minutes late. The place where we planned to have lunch was packed, so we walked up the hill around the corner to a funky Italian restaurant.
It was kind of surreal chatting with Elaine. Before today, we chatted
about 4 years ago but only briefly. Before that, we chatted some 27 years ago, so it was kind of
strange chatting with her. In particular, it was interesting to hear her
insights about our parents and the coping mechanisms she had developed to cope with
them. It was kind of nice for the three of us to band together and chat
freely as adults.
After visiting her place, she took us to this artsy place by tram which used to be police residence that was turned into an upcoming designer hub. They
sold all sorts of Hong Kong-designed knick-knacks in these really nice shops
all through the complex. It was fun to visit there.
We are now back in the hotel and downing water like there is no
tomorrow because I don’t want a hangover tomorrow.
23 January 2020
We got up really really late because I didn’t bother to put the alarm
on. I was woken up by Sam who said that it was 11:15 am!
One of our acquaintances apparently had an art exhibition at Yau Ma Tei,
so we went there by MTR, only to find out that the ‘exhibition’ was really just
a display cabinet on the side of a dodgy street. We spent ages trying to find
the ‘exhibition room’ and found ourselves inside a grotty residential
building. It was all very surreal. When we worked out that there was no art
exhibition to see, we walked up Nathan Road, ducked into a few shops, and
decided to call it quits.
I then set myself a mission to shop for a few things I needed – a pair
of undies (I was literally running out of clean ones), some tops (also running
out given that the last time we did laundry was when we were in Frankfurt), and
some macarons (not entirely life and death – but it felt like it). We achieved
our mission and went back to the hotel for a rest before we headed out for
dinner with my parents, my sisters, and my brother-in-law.
It was a very awkward dinner, especially given that we didn’t want our
parents to know that we actually met up the other day for lunch without them.
We were very careful with what we said to each other so that we didn’t give
away our secret rendezvous. We kept conversations to a very superficial level.
After we finished the rather strained dinner, we said goodbye to
everyone – at least we pretended to because I had plans with my sisters to have
drinks with them afterwards without our parents. Unexpectedly, our parents
wanted to walk Sam and I back to the hotel, so we had to fake-hug my sisters
and whisper into their ears ‘see you soon’ while we were doing so.
As usual, my mum was very sad saying goodbye to me. Despite how
difficult our relationship had been over the years, it was hard to not feel
something. She said ‘I love you very much forever’ while she was hugging me,
which was kind of special. Dad tried to talk to me while we were walking to the
hotel too but we never really discussed our differences through recent emails
about the Hong Kong protests, etc. We kept things at a superficial level because
we knew there was no point straining our relationship further.
After the farewell, we quickly dropped off a few things in our hotel room and headed to the Sky Lounge at Sheraton where my sisters were waiting for us. We had an incredible time reminiscing, sharing experiences, and bonding. I had not known my sisters because they were literally kids when I left (so was I, for that matter), so it was kind of strange finding out who they were as people. I can honestly say that I like my sisters as individuals. If only we live in the same city, I would certainly like to have more to do with them, but we don’t – I guess that’s just divine irony.
Time flew and by the time we decided to go, it was after midnight, so we
walked my sisters back to the MTR station and said goodbye there. It was weird
to say goodbye to them – something deep inside me felt very sad.
24 January 2020
We got up this morning at 9:30 am when the alarm went off. We weren’t
going to just ‘free ball’ it, given that Sam still had to pack. His system of
packing was infuriating and the fact that he bought so much stuff and stole all
the hotel stuff for his mum didn’t help.
Once we were almost packed, we went to Harbour City for coffee and
decided to have lunch there at the City Super Deli. I had this scallop salad,
which was okay, while Sam had a bento box. I couldn’t leave Hong Kong without
trying the crème brulee from Paul Lafayte, so we went through this elaborate
ordering and paying process to get a tub back to the hotel for my eating
pleasure. It certainly didn’t disappoint.
There was not much more to see, so we went back to the hotel earlier
than planned, got our luggage, and made our way to the airport. We figured we
could always just park ourselves at the Qantas lounge. It was a bit
hair-raising because after we got into the car, we realised that we mightn’t have
enough remaining cash to pay for the ride. As it turned out, we had about AUD$8
over the actual fare. Phew.
Checking-in was supposed to be easy but given the way Sam had been
buying things and packing, one of his luggage went over the limit, so he had to get
flustered and remove a few things from one of his check-in luggage (he already
had an additional luggage from when we started the trip). After all the
commotion, we went through security and immigration, parked ourselves at the
Qantas lounge, and sipped espresso martinis.
When we finally landed in Sydney, we had to go through domestic
transfers, which required us to pick up our luggage and go through check-in and
security again. The stupid check-in person said my luggage was a bit more than
32Kg, so I had to quickly remove one of my packing cubes and carry that with
me. We tried to explain to her that we were already weighed in Hong Kong and
they were happy with the weight of our luggage but this girl just wouldn’t have a
bar of it.
We had to wait a little bit more than 2 hours before it was time to
board again. It was kind of frustrating being so close to home yet being so far away.
The final flight home was quite hilarious – the flight attendant literally
just served up our food when the captain came on the PA to say that we were descending, so he
had to quickly collect everything again.
It was good to be home but our air conditioning system seemed to be not
working. It’s going to be a hot few days before I get back to work.
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