House BEFORE

S and I had a long weekend since Thurs was a public hol & she didn't need to work on Fri. So what we did the past 4 days was to furnish our new place! Drove out 3 times (1hr a way) to the Plaisir area which has Ikea, Darty, Castorama, BUT & many more home furnishing stores. And it was all about decisions decisions decisions. Whether the measurements fit, colors/styles match, power consumption has good rating, price-quality is balanced etc. Also, the people here are crazy about DIY so you can imagine the number of items we need to fix up ourselves -_- At least in SG we can pay a fee for fixing but no, they have no such services here, not even for ceiling lights!! But overall we found it rather enjoyable DIY-ing together :) Makes our new home feel more homely. Will prob post the "after" photos in about 1.5 months' time..
Corridor & Living Room:

Bedroom & View from corridor's window:

Kitchen & Bathroom:

Street view & Marche du Pres Wilson 5mins walk away! (opens wed & sat)

The market really got us excited, especially the seafood stalls. They have crabs, scallops, many types of fishes & so on... Can't wait to cook ;)

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London Day 5

Last couple of days in London dedicated more to shopping. Not so much the high street fashion brands but the local vintage shops, and also little handmade items that Elaine & I both love & appreciate! Visited Portobello Market (better to go on a Sunday morning when it's more lively & bustling but apparently very crowded). Interesting finds but they were closing when we got there... And then attended a concert by "The Temper Trap" at O2 Empire, Shepherd's Bush. Turned out superb! Totally exceeded our expectations :)) Love the interior of the hall & how people just sat around drinking while waiting for the
concert to begin..

Above: Opening solo singer (can't remb her name). Nice voice but no stage presence. And here's Temper Trap. Alternative music. Great band. Great stuff.

When it ended at 10.30pm, we rushed to Bayswater for a ducky supper. Even the noodles & jellyfish were so yummy. You CANNOT miss this if you're in London.

Name: Four Seasons

Location: Near Bayswater tube, London

Expenditure: ~40£

London Day 6

Shopped at our favorite Bricklane. I adore this place! You'll find treasures here that you can't get anywhere else.. We even spotted a crowd queuing for the opening of Oli Sykes' new "Drop Dead" flagship store. Cool.

When we were finally done with Bricklane, we went to "Dirty Martini" at Covent Garden for drinks. Cheap & good martinis. Worth going. Then dinner at a Japanese pancake place that was supposed to be quite popular but we didn't like the food (ex too) & we had to air our jackets for 3 days! What a boo boo.

So this marks the end of my London week. Day 7, home sweet home...

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London Day 4

First part of the day spent at Victoria & Albert Museum - also another highly recommended attraction. Started with the Fashion Gallery which showcases pieces from well-known designers like Gucci, Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana etc.

Next, I ventured around the hallway which was filled with sculptures & also explored the photography room. Quite interesting.

At first look, it's just like any other black & white drawing. But it's actually a photograph of a burnt room!

After that, I headed to Covent Garden & shopped around with Elaine at the Covent market and Seven Dials (small streets with many cult brands & homegrown fashion shops). Ended the day with the much-anticipated dance musical "Dirty Dancing" which turned out REALLY disappointing. It was no more than an amateur high-school production - bad acting, poorly choreographed dance moves, poor storyline. Tsk.

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London Day 3

Visited Tate Modern (many recommended this) and explored some of the free rooms. Very abstract art expressed through objects, materials, paintings, photos etc. Interesting but a bit too abstract for me. Just go with an open mind & check out the special exhibitions on their website before going. Some are supposedly quite good, depending on the dates you're there. Afterward, I crossed the Millenium Bridge & walked all the way to Somerset House. 2.5km so it's up to you.

Somerset House is a major arts & cultural centre but not normally mentioned in travel guidebooks. I say totally go for this but again, check their website first. Lucky for me, the "Pick Me Up" Contemporary Graphic Art Fair turned out to be really good! You'll know from the photos. I love the Nadal one but it was NFS :( Each artwork is at least 70£ I think, but really depends on the number of pieces they have. For eg., the "red bulb with yes" costs 175£ as they only have one.

What's even better than the artwork is the installation of some of the artists' studios! You can see how the printing is done. Some by hand (like the 2 below), some by machine. But mind you, the machine-printed ones (forgot what the technique is called) are also not just a 1-step process. The 2nd photo shows the studio of a rather popular artist called Rob Ryan (http://rob-ryan.blogspot.com/). Very unique & intricate technique.

Ended the day with a nice Korean BBQ dinner. Apparently it's so good that many Koreans frequent here. Was a lil disappointed with the lack of appetizers (as expected from most traditional Korean meals), but the marinated meats were not bad. You MUST order the beef in the photo! So greedy we ordered 4 meats & a kimchi soup which left us with bad sore throats.

Name: Asadal

Location: 227 High Holborn, London WC1V 7DA

Expenditure: ~50£

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London Day 1

Sushi lunch at a Japanese restaurant recommended by a friend. Apparently quite popular. You should go at 12pm as it does fill up, although not the super packed kind so I don't feel rushed at all. Run by Japanese - something you hardly see in Paris! And my friend was right. Go for the set lunch (£10). Good price good quality. [NB: there's supposed to be 3 pieces of tofu & sake was extra order]

Name: Ten Ten Tei
Location: 56 Brewer Street, Soho, London W1F9TJ
Total expenditure: £15.80

Met Juelin at Chinatown & drank red milk bubble tea! Then hung around at the usual shopping streets: Oxford, Regent, Carnaby... Didn't quite enjoy since they're all the common high street fashion brands (zara h&m topshop etc) which can be found anywhere else. So just browsed through. Then took the tube to Harrods. Nice building with very exquisite interior. Even if you don't do atas shopping, the architecture is still worth a visit. For dinner, we headed to Mandarin Kitchen. Very good lobster noodles & steamed seabass.

Name: Mandarin Kitchen
Location: 14-16 Queensway, London W23RX
Total expenditure: £67 for 2

Left house late at 11+ so only had an hour or so to walk through part of the Hyde Park. Very green and peaceful. Especially love the fresh air - a change from the busy & dusty London. People were reading, sitting around, chatting & basically enjoying the sun...a very european sight. There were even free sunbathing chairs provided! If only I had the time. If you do, walk through from Hyde Park Corner to the other side (through Kensington Gardens) & settle down for a great lunch at the Royal Garden Hotel. This place is perfect. The view, the ambience, the FOOD (go for the set lunch with wine + xiao long bao. i promise it won't disappoint). My cousin and I had such a good time :) Oh, better to make reservations on their website just in case.

Name: Min Jiang at Royal Garden Hotel
Location: 2-24 Kensington High Street London W8 4PT
Total expenditure: £51 (do tip them since svc charge not included)

Walked our lunch off at Spitafields market. Waxed (never heard of it before actually) my brows at benefit (not bad) and browsed around Brick Lane before rushing for our film. It's called "We don't care about music anyway", part of the East End Film Festival. Cheem stuff. Totally not to everyone's liking. But I find it rather interesting after my cousin kindly explained the elements to me. Hah.. So according to the art student, it's a very well directed film. Thai dinner after. Spent £40 for 5 dishes. We're insanely gluttony to have spent like that at an average restaurant!