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England and Scotland 2 weeks trip with the family - My Wunder Life
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England and Scotland 2 weeks trip with the family

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It is the yearly family trip once again and this time I have decided to finally bring them to the United Kingdom. It was almost 30 years ago that I went there as a young student pursuing my bachelor degree. Cannot imagine this time I will be bring my family here.

Day 1, 9 Nov Sat – Arrival

We took the red eye flight to London on SQ306 and arrived about 730am. The first day was spent in London just taking it easy as it was a long flight.

Lunch was spent at Chinatown Four Seasons Restaurant. We had the lamb, pig intestine soup and the roast duck. The lamb was tender and tasty but I liked the pig intestine soup the most. Rich and milky and not too much of the pep-perish taste common in Singapore. The main star is of course the roast duck, juicy, tender and very tasty.

We strolled around chinatown reminiscing my student days coming here in so many weekends. The things we missed most about being away (apart from family of course) was the food. We would satisfied ourselves with a plate of roast meat rice and also replenishing some much needed Chinese/asian provisions for cooking.

We would always head to the Wong Kei restaurant for some much missed roast meat as it was the cheapest, even though the service staffs were known for their rudeness. Well, beggars can’t be chossers. I once witnessed a chinese waiter threw some coins at one of the western customer for perceiving the tipping as an insult. Also dropping by the always vibrant Leicester square.

Leicester square has always been one of my favourite as it is always buzzing with activities.

A Christmas fair during our visit.

Day 2, 10 Nov Sun – Harry potter studio tour and Covent Garden

The next day was spent strolling around Covent Garden. Covent garden has always been interesting with market like atmosphere where you could buy interesting handicrafts and very creative gifts.

Lunch was at Grana Cheesy Pasta where the pasta was handmade on the spot. Yes, you actually see them making the pasta in the tiny kitchen.

This was really handmade and fresh pasta.

Another major attraction in London is the Harry Potter studio tour at Watford for any Harry Potter fans. That’s where they filmed most of the movies. It is located about an hour’s journey by train to Watford Junction and then they will have a free shuttle to bring you to the studio.

That was where poor little Harry Potter slept before Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Day 3, 11 Nov Mon – Natural History Museum

The funny thing is that I had never being to the Natural History Museum during my undergrad days despite it being free of charge (even till now) and its amazing collection. I think it is probably because I am more of a history buffs that natural history guy. Dinosaurs are not my thing. Well, at least it is to my boys, Having said that, they really have an amazing and impressive collection of fossils.

This is a real fossil or at least most of it is real.

For dinner, we went to the Tao Tao Ju in London. We ordered several dishes but I only managed to take pictures of the stir fried beef and the san mee.

Day 4, 12 Nov Tues – The usual tourist thing: Big Ben, Westminster, London Eye & Tower of London

This day was spent doing what most tourist would do when they get to London. Visit the Big Ben, Westminster, London Eye, Buckingham palace and Tower of London.

Lego was the kids’ favourite so it is incomplete without a visit to the huge lego shop in Leicester square.

Dinner we went to an indian restaurant Dishoom highly recommended by an Indian relative who used to study there in a boarding school when young. I find it odd that most my chinese relative went would say it is excellent. I believed the Indian relative taste’s palette but the chinese? I doubt they even go to any Indian restaurant on their own accord back home to be able to make a meaningful comparison. To me, It is for sure above average but my taste bud is not honed so acutely to Indian food to be able to tell the difference between good and the very good. That is despite my travels to India for work.

The long queues for walk in.

Day 5, 13 Nov Wed – British Museum

This Arome bakery came highly recommended so we decided to try it for our breakfast. We had to wait in the line for about 20 mins as it was very crowded. The size of the pastry was rather big but my only gripe was that it was served cold. Would be great if they heat it up. The best among them should be the honey french toast. That’s the one that looked like well a french toast.

The British Museum is one of the “must visit” in London in my opinion especially for history enthusiast. It housed some of the most valuable historical pieces in the world. Some acquired legally but most were not i think. Well i suppose it also depends on how you define “legally”. Colonialism via invading other countries while you were the superior power don’t seem that legal in our current world now. Some said British Museum is a biggest crime scene in the world. It is like a burglar proudly displaying all his (or her to be more inclusive..ha) stolen items in full display. Many countries have demanded their return such as Greece and Africa but were still refused till today The entire frieze of the Parthenon was hacked away and move to Britain.

This is what Greece has been calling for the return.

Unfortunately the Chinese section of the exhibit was closed for some private function. Not too sure if it had anything to do with the visit by our ex-PM Lee Hisen Loong. The only section opened was the impressive private collection of a wealthy British businessman. The looting from the Chinese Qing dynasty was one of the worst atrocities ever committed. The entire summer palace was burnt down after the looting by the British soldiers predominantly. That was the “trade war” of the past but a real war where people were massacred. All in the name of opium. I still can’t get my head around how a Christian nation can demand to sell knowingly harmful drugs to a country and wage war when they were denied. Best part was they knew it was harmful and prohibit their own people from consuming it. How evil is that?

In the evening, we were for the Harry Porter play. Although it was not a musical but it was done in such a way that it was very interesting and engaging, at times magical. Not exactly a magical night for me as there was a tall plus sized lady sitting right infront of me block my view most of the time. I had to shift my body most of the time to be able to see. I am not a fan of such old theatres.

Day 6, 14 Nov Thurs – Shopping in Bicester Village

The entire day on day 6 was spent shopping at the Bicester Village factory outlet. It has many luxurious brands at a good discount. Shops like Tumi, Boss, Prada, Gucci and many more. I managed to buy a Boss Jacket and a Tumi carryon luggage bag at a very good value.

Dinner was the gold mine Chinese restaurant at Bay water, famed for its roast duck. The roast duck was so far the best I have tried, juicy and tender. Roast pork was super crispy.

Day 7, 15 Nov Fri – Surrey Guildford

I finally took the opportunity to visit my old university, University of Surrey, where i graduated with an engineering degree. I cannot believe that it had been almost 30 years ago since I graduated. I came here as a young man at my mid 20s and returned in my 50s with my family in tow.

This is the high street in Guildford town where it was the nearest town to do some shopping by foot. It is just 2 streets actually, the high street and the market street.

This is the small alley that i walked through numerous times to get from high street to market street.

Market street where they sell fresh fruits and vegetables. Also where we bought some of the fresh vegetables and fruits.

The car we rented to take us around, the citreon C3. It was a decent small car that can fit 1 medium size luggage in the boot and a big duffle bag in the boot. Abit under powered but good enough for short drives.

We had lunch at a restaurant called All Bar one with pretty decent food and surprisingly cheap. Total cost of the meal on only 30 pounds. Service wasn’t great though it wasn’t too crowded. The waitress was like super stressed and tense even with so few customers. Could see her being very frustrated with her colleague who was probably new.

After lunch we drove straight to city of Bath and stayed at the Hilton double tree. The hotel room was basic but decent. The disappointment was the parking. It was mentioned in the booking there were complimentary parking but when we got there, we were told there wasn’t any available and we had to pay for our own parking next to a super market. Well, the good thing was that the car park charged a maximum of 7 pounds for entire day.

Day 8, 16 Nov Sat – Bath, Stonehenge

After a night stay in Bath, we went around the city of Bath during the day before heading to Stonehenge. The city of Bath is a charming place and not invaded by tourist. Probably because it is quite far from anywhere so most people would not make the trip. The city of Bath got it’s name because it was a Roman city and that was where the remains of the Roman Bath.

Stonehenge is really quite remote and I am still not convinced the site with few stones standing is worth all the trouble. However, if you are making this trip en route to somewhere then it is more justifiable.

After Oxford university, we stayed over at the Premier Inn at Kings cross. This hotel was chosen because it is located just next to the King Cross station where we need to take the train to Scotland. It is so near that we just need to cross a small road to get to it. Location just can’t get better than that. Very simple but surprising a very decent hotel with nice and modern decor.

Day 9, 17 Nov Sun – Loch Lamond

We took the train from King Cross to Edinburgh and it was a comfortable 3-4 hours ride and it came with free but patchy Wifi.

Once we arrived at the Wavely station in Edingburg, we went straight to the Sixt car rental to pick up our car. They recommended us to change our car with winter tyres or at least all weather tyres. I was also rather concerned about the driving conditions as i have never driven during winter time. Well, that upgrade cost us 80 pounds more per day as no other cars were available with such tyres other than XC60 which cost even more. I can’t be totally sure if they try to upgrade us for real safety reasons or just to upsell. I chose safety for my family anytime.

The reason I was sceptical was that Sixt car rental at Shepherd bush England also tried to upsell us, telling us our 2 luggages cannot fit into the Citroen. Not totally convinced, i borrowed to the keys to try it out myself and confirmed that It can fit perfectly. However for family safety, I wasn’t going to take any chances.

Whatever the reason for the upgrade, the Mercedes A class was a really good drive. Good pickup for such a small car and also very good handling. Driving along the long and windy road of Scotland was a breeze. I would really struggle if it was the Critroen.

First night was at Oak Tree Inn at Loch Lomond, a cosy and delightful little Inn. As the name suggested, it is situated pretty near the lake or loch in Scottish. As Scotland is further up north of London, it was expectedly colder.

They have a small restaurant but the quality of food was pretty good.

Day 10, 18 Nov Mon – Stirling

Stirling was another place I visited during my undergrad days. I was inspired by the film Brave heart about the uprising led by William Wallace. That was where there was the famous battle of Bannockburn took place. Scottish history is pretty interesting and made for very good reading. With all the uprising and the brutal clampdown by the English, it was rather ironic that the Scottish descendants end up inheriting the British throne. That’s if my history didn’t fail me.

Went for a little hike to see some waterfall.

The Magnificent Stirling castle. It must have been really impressive or even mythical in the ancient times to see a castle so high up.

Imagine walking the same path where William Wallace or Robert the Bruce threaded hundred of years ago.

The imposing Wallace monument. This wasn’t built during William Wallace times but more “recent times” like 1869. It was said to be the place where William Wallace watched the approaching army of King Edward I of England.

We went to a nice award winning Scottish restaurant BREA which was very near the castle for some local Scottish food.

Scottish national dish the Haggish. The waitress tried to warn us that it consist of some innards but we told her we are perfectly fine. We had lots of innards themed dishes back home.

The tenderlion steak was really good. Grilled to perfection.

For the loggings in Stirling, we stayed at Westfield Farm Holiday Lodge. It appears to be a farm where they subsequently built some accommodations on the plot of land as an afterthought. You can do fishing, house riding, etc. As the weather was too cold, fishing was totally out as we could not imagine fishing without the gloves in this coldness. Kids were not keen on the house riding either could be due to the coldness too.

Day 11, 19 Nov Tues – St Andrews

The next place in Scotland for us was St Andrews. This is home to the oldest Golf course in the world, the St Andrews Golf Club. The other thing i always remembers is the beautiful beach there.

For some reasons i could not recalled, we stayed at Dundee instead of St Andrews. I wasn’t sure if it is because there were no more decent accommodations or some miscommunications with my wife. In any case, it was still alright as we get to visit another city in St Andrews. Dundee seem to be more like a modern city like than the rest of Scotland.

The Waterfront apartment was good value for money. Very modern and clean. The biggest problem was the temperature control. The heater wasn’t working then and it was freezing cold. The owner did not respond to our message nor calls. At least i found a portable heater in the store room which helped somewhat. However, there was only 1 and i had to take turns to warm up 2 rooms which wasn’t fun. That’s one of the downside to AirBnB. No 24/7 service. If there was no portable heater, we might be frozen stiff that night.

Day 12, 20 Nov Wed – Edinburgh

The final stop in Scotland was back to Edinburgh. Of course, not to be missed was the Edinburgh castle. We actually missed the castle as by the time we reach Edinburgh castle, we were told tickets were all sold out. Unfortunately, our early morning train ticket back to London the next day was booked in advance so we could not change it. Thus I decided to just book a new one way ticket in the afternoon back to London which was costly of course and tried to seek refund via their portal. I can skip as I had been there before but I do not wish my family to miss it after making it here.

This was one of the best accommodation so far. It is right at the corner of the Royal Mile. Not cheap but i absolutely loved it. Not only for the location but also for the traditional design which probably dated back centuries. Though the heater was old and weak but at least it worked unlike our last stay at Dundee. Love it!

This is the Royal Mile. Straight ahead is the Edinburgh castle in 5 mins walk so location was fantastic.

The biggest downside was this steps to the apartment. We had to carry the heavy luggages up several steps. Will be a challenge to those with mobility issues.

Edinburgh Castle is one place of interest in the city not to be missed. You can actually spent several hours if you wish to go into greater details on the histories.

Right after Edinburgh Castle, we head straight to the Edinburgh Waverly train station to catch the train back to London.

Day 13, 21 Nov Thurs – Back to Singapore

Having spent a night in London, we headed to the airport early morning. It was a tiring but very fruitful 2 weeks trip with the family. Definitely worth it the effort to fill up the memory banks for the family. I always feel that accumulating memories is more meaningful than buying stuffs. The memories will stay with you forever but the novelty of any new stuffs will wear off after a while. These are some of the best investment one could make. These are all treasured memories which i always looked back with fondness especially photos are so readily accessible on your phones. It never fails to bring back a smile on my face.

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