Lake District

This picture was taken over the Christmas/ New Year period of last year in the Lake District.

Obviously, our plans of spending a quiet holiday in London didn't materialise. We drove up to Lake District for a few days after Christmas.

Chinese New Year celebrations

Chinese New Year celebration was celebrated in full swing at Trafalgar Square – there were processions, fireworks, lion dances, and Shaolin Kung fu and dance performances throughout the day. It was said that over 200,000 people attended the celebrations; the biggest outside China.

The dragon and the lion, side by side.


The Chinese God of Wealth (“Tsai Shen Yeh”) making his appearance in London, creating waves of excitement amongst the kids. Touching the "Tsai Shen" is said to bring multitudes of wealth. Being slow in the uptake KL missed his chance as the Chinese God disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Year of the Dog

It's a quiet chinese reunion dinner for the Wongs to usher in the Year of the Dog.

Fresh scallops as starters...



followed by a romantic steamy dinner.



NB: A note of appreciation to Mr.Khoo for the steamboat set, who'll be pleased to know that it's still being fully utilised!

Winter Wonderland

This photo was taken 2 days leading to Christmas in Canary Wharf. I do appreciate this post is way overdue but .... better late than never!



Pictures from National History Musuem. We were there to see the Wildlife Photographer of Year 2005 Exhibition.





KL has been really busy at work while I was away at home. So, we were both quite contented in spending a quiet Christmas in London. My very first!

I know I can't really compare with KL since I was enjoying the comforts of home but I had a hectic and tiring trip. It was supposed to be a joyous occassion with my cousin getting married and all - it was coincidentally dampen with the passing away of my paternal grandpa.

Bric-a-brac

Portobello Market, the world’s largest antiques market. I can't believe I haven't been more frequent than I should have. KL’s previous trip to the market was not memorable – hence we’ve never made it a point to come (until now, that is). I suspect he probably came on a wrong day.

Anyway, after a hearty breakfast of ‘karipap’ and ‘nasi lemak’ washed down with ‘teh tarik’ at the Malaysian Hall, we took a 5 minute bus ride down the road to Nottinghill Gate. Though we were unsure of the exact location, we just followed the throngs of people hoping that they would lead us there and they did!

The market stretches the full length of Portobello road was bustling with activities and the streets were infested with people though it was wet, cold and gloomy!!

The stalls offer anything and everything that you can think of – (mostly) second hand items from clothing, jewellery, furniture, cameras, telescopes, chinas....


Further along the road, there are stalls offering household items, fresh fruit and vegetable stalls , lovely flowers even fresh fish.


I had an excellent time - it was really fun browsing through the stalls (new and antiques). I'm definitely heading back there soon.

More photos on Travel Pod

Carlsberg Brewery København

How can a trip to Copenhagen be complete without a visit to the famous Carlsberg brewery? That’s what I thought anyway. Since the hotel that we stayed in was only 20 minutes walk away, it only affirms our decision to make a quick trip to the brewery.

The whole tour was quite enjoyable and quite value for money. It costs DKK40 per entry which equates to roughly £4. With that comes 2 free vouchers that entitle you a pint of beer or soft drinks at the end of the visit. We obviously opted for beer as we wanted to try the different beers available (bad decision!!) …. E.g. Limited Christmas Beer, Brown Ale, Caramel Beer. As KL and I were not beer drinkers – we basically had to force the beer down! I think we were the only ones there who did not finish the beers. If my dad was there, he’ll probably reprimand us and finish it for us. =)

The bar where we got our free drinks from.

The tour was really informative – it shows us how beer was processed as you would expect, stables where horses were still used as means of transportation around the brewery, video presentations comparing the traditional and modern method of beer processing….etc. The highlight I thought was the amazing beer collection they had on display. It is apparently the largest beer collection from all over the world.


Presenting the world’s largest beer collection…




Did you know that Carlsberg was first brewed in 1847 by Jacobson? The first brewery was built just outside Copenhagen on a hill (berg in Danish). The brewery was named after his first son Carl hence the name ‘Carlsberg’. ;)

Epping Forest

It’s been awhile since we explored the vicinity of London as any chance we get, we’ll be trying to get away from the city. Anyway, we were looking for nearby places (by our definition - less than an hour to get to) so we decided on Epping Forrest - a forestry area well known for its fine woodlands and wildlife. A definite must for nature lovers, walkers and keen photographers!

Epping Forest stretches for about 12 miles, running from the town of Epping. It's easily accessible from London by jumping on the red Central Line to Theydon Bois or Epping station. So, it’s a great day out.





The vibrant colour of the moss stands out among the dry leaves.