Home-stay!

Picking up from where the last post left off, Princess & I headed north towards Manchester where we spent 4 days with my Aunt Theresa, Uncle Ken & cousins Darren & Tessa, both of whom I hadn't seen in eons!

We couldn't have gotten our trip to Manchester off to a better start than with a glorious meal featuring chinese delicacies like lobster and prawns. Hmmm, yummy! After that it was straight to Knutsford where my aunt lives, a quaint town on the outskirts of Manchester, for some rest and relaxation =)

Uncle Ken cooks a mean "full Monty"

Post-breakfast there was a torrid pouring of sleet, so we spent the best part of the afternoon listening to Uncle Ken play the piano and looking through old photos of my cousins. A nice relaxing Sunday afternoon it was.

My uncle ken and kou kou whipping up dinner!

Dinner is served! - Char siew, BBQ sting-ray & curry! Shiok lah!

Family portrait!

Tessa sacrificed her room for us =)

Field trip to Old Trafford! My kind of tourist activity! We even managed to sneak into the Museum for free... haha

What Man U is all about

My favourite section of the museum...

An entire wall containing the names of United players past and present

No trip to Old Trafford is complete without a visit to the megastore!

After Old Trafford, it was time to fill the tummy with some Dim Sum!

Tessa wields a mean pair of chopsticks

So, after filling the tummies, it was time to empty the pockets! Love to shop? Manchester's the place to go crazy...

True enough, the gals came out bags ablazing...

Darren & I relaxing after a round of evening football

Tessa had a share of the crisps too

THE NEXT DAY...

Char siew bao for breakfast!

Scones & tea!

Tummies filled, it was off to a little look around Knutsford! This here is the solitary tourist attraction in the whole town... The tower-like structure is the town hall apparently...

We actually ventured to the city of Chester that very afternoon but that was such a scenic trip that I'll use it as a seperate post =) We idled the whole day there before spending a last night in Knutsford with my aunt...

A last shot before we left for Edinburgh... thanks kou kou & Uncle Ken for having us!

Darren & Tessa, stay in touch k! It was so good to see you two again after so long! I'll be sending you guys all the pictures, don't worry!

Easter 2006

It was a sweet-sourish easter... more sweet than sour. My trip to the theatre of dreams for the game against Sunderland provided most of the sourness... wtf man, I honestly felt cheated at the 0-0 stalemate.

On the bright side, it was another eventful trip to London, managed to re-stock our tea supplies and visited the few remaining attractions that we failed to cover on the first trip there. I'll let the pictures do the talking =)

DAY 1

First up was the British Museum, a mighty impressive collection of artifacts and knowledge, of which most did not belong to the British.

The "Tree of Life" - assembled using thousands of surrended weapons from bloody wars in Africa. Chilling.

We subsequently strolled across London to Marble Arch

National flags flying proudly against the London gale at Marble Arch

Well thought-out vandalism at an underpass

We then went strolling as the sun set in Hyde Park...

A beautiful sunset it was to share...

A good end to the day =)

DAY 2

Off we went to St Paul's Cathedral where we managed to get in without paying the 8 pounds entrance by attending the lunch time service =P

That was unfortunately the highlight of the day and though the cathedral was beautiful (Princess' favourite cathedral) inside, no photo-taking was allowed. Alas!

DAY 3

It was a nice sunny day! Not too often does one get to say that about London...

They even took out the deck chairs at Green Park!

London's finest tea - Fortnum & Mason's!

And one quick stop at a little flea market before we rushed off to Manchester to visit my aunt & cousins! =)

Theatre of Dreams 14th April

Ok, so i apologize for my belgian post getting lost somewhere between Civilization 4 and Advanced Corporate Finance... I'm still trying to get the hang of this blogging thing. Pay close attention and you'll notice that my blog has gone back to a default setting.... talk about screw-ups... (-_-) sigh

On a brighter note, the easter holidays begin today for me. I fly tonight back to London for a week long tour of the UK, beginning with good old London, followed by a trip up to Manchester to visit my Aunt. Then, its off to Edinburgh for a visit to my ex-relief teaching colleague before i make my long-wished for pilgrimage to Old Trafford together with Uncle Phua! We will both rush back to Edinburgh after the match for a 3 day tour of the Scottish Highlands...

Packed schedule ahead... better go pack now. wee.... there goes my advanced corporate finance...

I will be bringing my text so that i can read one chapter a night and catch up with the class by the time i get back to aarhus.... =)