Day 15 - 21 Nov 14 - London

We woke up at 515am. At about 7am, we lugged all the luggages and walked from York Place apartment to Edinburgh Waverley station to catch the train to London. The train arrived at around 8am.

The coach of the train was very warm. When we boarded at Waverley station, it didn't feel as bad but as more and more passengers boarded at the various stations, the train became very packed and the temperature became quite unbearable. During the journey, I had to walk to where the train doors were, to at least feel the cool temperature as well as to pat Yu to fall asleep.

At 1245pm, after approximately 5 hours, we finally reached King's Cross station. Our hotel, Premier Inn, was only 5 min walk from King's Cross and that really helped in reducing the physical strain from lugging the luggages.

After checking in, we headed towards Covent Garden by tube. The Covent Garden Market was bustling with people and Christmas decors adorned the piazza in preparation of the festive cheer. We stopped off at Le Pain Quotidien cafe for a break and enjoyed our strawberry tarts, Devon ham and cheddar savoury tarts, tomato soup and a cup of latte, complete with an alfresco experience. Later on, we met up with Denise and Peiks and continued walking around Covent Garden Market (Franjoce had a different plan and thus, we didn't arrange to meet them up).

Peiks, Emma and I went back to the hotel at about 445pm as Emma felt that the temperature was colder than expected and that she wasn't prepared for it when we first came out. Peiks wasn't feeling too well as well. So, we took the tube back to our hotel. Back in our room, Emma wore more layers of clothes to combat the cold weather and she also nursed Yu before we went out again to spend the evening at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland at around 6pm plus.

We cabbed and alighted somewhere near Marble Arch where the main entrance to Winter Wonderland was. At the park, we were just soaking up the Christmas atmosphere, the loud music blasting through the speakers and the shouts of laughter coming from kids and adults alike who were exhilarated from the various rides. It was a lovely experience just walking through the park though we neither took any rides nor bought anything (oh except for pretzels which we bought and ate along the way).

We left Hyde Park around 730pm. While waiting for a cab, a British lady noticed us (with a toddler and an infant on a cold winter night) and offered to call cab service on our behalf. She was about to complete the ordering of cab on her phone when she spotted one coming and helped to flag it down for us. What a helpful lady! We thanked God for meeting such kind souls in London.

We had dinner at Thyme, the restaurant within Premier Inn. We were too tired to explore anything else and moreover, it was beginning to drizzle. We finished dinner around 9pm plus.

Tomorrow, we will be going back to Singapore. Well, it has been a wonderful first time for us bringing both kids to U.K., seeing new places, learning from the two days conference in Wales as well as spending up close and personal time with some of the closest people in my life. And most of all, thank you God for making this trip possible for me and my family. Good bye London and see you soon, Singapore.