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Day 2 - 8 Nov 14 - London
We got up the instance that the alarm went off. No snooze unlike any work day. we were really anticipating a great day ahead of us.
We had breakfast at the restaurant at the hotel. As we had the set dinner deal last night, this morning's breakfast was free or rather, the cost was already inclusive in last night's dinner. Over breakfast, Denise was helping us to set up the selfie stick (apparently, there was even an app that needs to downloaded). And we took our first group picture using the selfie stick.
We then made our way to Harrods which is near Knightsbridge. Emma bought a new belt for herself as she forgot to bring one. We were supposed to also buy a pair of shoes for Yu as we had somehow missed it out. However, due to lack of time (our lunch reservation was at 12 noon), we went off after just paying for the belt. The weather was cold but we thought we might still be able to make do with the thick pair of socks and mittens that we brought from Singapore.
Lunch was at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at Mandarin Oriental. The hotel was situated near Hyde Park. As it was researched by Denise, it was arguably one of the best that we ever had. I had roast iberico pork chop while Emma had cod in cider. The best thing about eating in group was that we got to share one another's orders in bite-sized pieces. It was indeed a gastronomical delight.
(After Emma took her order, she went to buy a new set of clothes for Benji by herself as he had accidentally wet himself from his pee. However, the UK size of a 24 month does not fit the size of my Asian boy).
Thus, after lunch, we went back to the mall to change to his appropriate size.
Next, we took the tube to Westminster station. We were supposed to meet Franjoce but as both their phones went flat, we weren't sure if our last message to meet at Westminster station was read before it went flat or after. Nevertheless, we waited for them for a few minutes, hoping against all hope that they would somehow show up at the station. But they didn't and so regrettably, we went ahead on our own.
The iconic architectures at the Westminster area are so quintessentially London that I found myself taking pictures almost at every turn with my Note 4 - they were just too awesome to be missed. We also learnt that there would be fireworks near River Thames and part of our walking (besides the leisurely stroll) was for the purpose of searching for the vantage point where the fireworks display would be best appreciated. However, it poured so heavily that we struggled to get away from the throng of people that were flooding the whole place. In the end, it wasn't the vantage point from which we saw the fireworks; it was at a shelter from quite a far distance. Oh well...
Dinner was spent with Sue Ann, Ralf and Leanne. We had pizza at Pizza Express which was located very near the Baker Street station. It was a good time spent with them.
We got back to the hotel at about 9pm. After settling the kids, we showered and went to bed. What a long day.
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