Goodbye, my dear

This is where our paths diverge...

But I am thankful for the sweet memories that you have given me...

Take care, my dear...

I will always love you...

And I will miss you very much...

Algarve

Beach holidays!! I love it because you can just laze around and not do much... hehehe...

This summer, we decided to pack our bags and head off to the Portuguese beach resort of Algarve...

The weather there was really fantastic, with the clear blue skies and sunny days...

Vilamoura, the yacht-cluttered Marina... kinda reminds me of Monaco, albeit not as posh!!!

And most of the nicer hotels are on this side of the area... there is this hotel called Tivoli if I remembered correctly that was really luxurious and even has its own private beach!! But no... we stayed at a cheaper hotel... hehehe...


Given that it's a beach holiday, of course we spent most of our time just lazing around in the sun... hahaha... everyone was trying to tan themselves... I did my nails.. hehehe... read novels, had ice creams and ice-lemon tea... sigh... how I wish I was there again!!!

And oh... one of those nights... our hotel had this tribute to MJ performance... hahaha... I found it quite funny initially but then to my amazement, the guy was really quite good... he had all his costumes, the socks and shoes.. and even the hair (and skin colour!) right... if you look at him from far... you would have thought MJ came back to life!!! :P

Given that it's me... there must be something about food... hahahaha... seafood there was really quite nice... we had grilled fish, fish kebabs... super tiger king prawns (yes, it's really big!)... fish soups, calamari, garlic clams... etc.

Well... the boys wasn't really too keen to spend all their time on the beach (which Bin Bin and I was happy to do so!!)... so we headed off to the Marina for some water activities...

The boys with their "catch-of-the-day" from our deep sea fishing trip?

Of course not... me going fishing?? no thanks... I don't have the patience to do so...

We went for the power boat ride instead...

It was quite fun in the beginning... and the ride brought us all along the Algarve coast... there are so many different beaches but each and everyone of them was packed with people!!!

We also visited some sea caves, which were really pretty....

But after a while, I didn't feel too well on the ride anymore.... bleh... me and my sea-sickness... :(

The other activity that we did was PARASAILING... it took quite a bit of convincing from Naveen before I agreed to do it... sorry, yours truly is a coward... I wasn't sure whether I wanted to be hanging in the skies above the sea!!!

Getting ready and going out to the sea with our guides...

And before I knew it, it was my turn to go up... I was really scared initially!!! Luckily Bin Bin was with me... bleh :P

We went higher and higher and higher and higher... until everything was so tiny... see... we were held to the boat by this tiny piece of rope... sigh... I am such a coward...

But after a while, I began to relax because although the boat seems to be moving at a really fast pace... we were really just floating...

and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous... the bird's eye view was really superb...

and I started to actually enjoy it... hehehe... see my V sign??

But then... the guide cheekily dipped us in the sea on our descend even though Bin Bin said that she didn't want to get wet!!!

Then it was the guys' turn to go...

... and they were like... we want to go higher... and we want to dip and swim in the sea....

The experience was really more enjoyable than I thought it would be... and it was certainly less daunting that it seemed!!! So... I would recommend you to try it!!!

After this holiday, I made a promise to myself that I would go for a proper beach holiday every year because it is really a "holiday" compared to those trips that you try to get too much done!!!

Yun's Visit

Yun came for a visit to collect her new VAIO laptop... it's a long story on why she needed a new laptop... but to make it short, it would cost her about the same to buy the same laptop in Germany than to buy it in London and fly here to get it!!! I'm not complaining because it's so much fun to have her around and I miss her!!

Given that she can't really take holidays, it was literally a weekend trip and we tried to make the most out of it... and to make matter worse... I don't know why every time she comes to London, there will be delays... the last time it was her train from the airport... and this time, her flight was delayed for more than 5 hours!!! poor girl...

Anyway... we did quite a lot of things that weekend...

We went to King's Cross Station as she wanted to see the 9 3/4 platform from Harry Potter... hahaha... she looks so cute... going off to take the Hogwarts Express...

Then she also went to watch Phantom of the Opera and we also watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince...

We also went SHOPPING!!! hehehe... although I am the self-declared shopaholic, Yun bought lots of stuff that day including at Zara, H&M, Primark etc. hahahaha.... see it runs in the family...

And of course... how can I not bring her to have all her favourite foods?? We went to Sake No Hana for Jap food, then we had tea-time at Cafe Concerto, Rasa Sayang for her favourite Prawn Noodles, Dim Sum and Lobster Noodles at Royal China... hehehe...

As you can see, we had so much to do in that weekend that we completely forgotten to take pictures together... boooooo.... :(

So... my lame attempt at taking some pictures together at Liverpool St station before I sent her off!!!

Miss you already Yun!!! And I will be so sad next time if you go home for good... no one to come and visit me anymore.... sob sob sob sob....

Portobello Market

The last time I went to Portobello Market, I was still at uni and I think halfway through, it started raining so we left without early... I remembered it being quite fun so when Nav asked what we should do on a nice sunny Saturday, I suggested Portobello Market...

I also had a cravings for roti canai that weekend and there is a Malay Malaysian restaurant there called Makan Cafe which I remembered was quite nice...

It was quite fun and there were lots of interesting little stalls to explore... from selling delicious strawberries, to posters, clothes, toiletries, paella, cheese, olive oil, pan cakes, deep fried seafood, antiques and etc... you name it, they got it... kinda reminds me of pasar malam!!! hahaha... I used to love pasar malams when I was young...





But the highlight of my little outing was CUPCAKES... haha... actually, I was just looking for the cupcakes that one of my directors told me about... he said that they were really good although a little bit pricey... I was actually expecting a little food stall... but when I asked around passerby who were eating these cute little cupcakes, I was directed to the Hummingbird Bakery!!!

I didn't realise that it is a proper bakery, and one that is supposedly quite famous for their cupcakes!!! I mean the queues were like... super long outside the bakery just to buy their cupcakes...

Aaaaaawwwww.... don't they look so pretty and cute???

And... their best selling red velvet cupcakes... they were so popular that they had a cake version of it as well!!!

Well... to be kiasu... I queued up as well... just to see how good their cupcakes were... I bought 4 different types to try out... I quite like the peanut butter and black bottom ones... but they do come with a pricey tag... just 4 of these cost me £7!!!

Oh well... it was an experience... and at least I did something different on a Saturday afternoon!!!