Europe Trip - Paris Day 1

Back to my Europe trip dairy...

This day, we will be taking 9.00 am Eurostar to Paris from London - St. Pancras station. So, we couldn't enjoy the English breakfast in hotel. When we were in the station, Qiaoyi went to the E-ticket counter to print our pre-booked tickets, then we found this shop for breakfast - Crepe Affairs.

The girl making our crepes

I think they never expected that their crepe can be selling this fast... we altogether ordered 7 but they had enough material for only 6, then we weren't informed, I kept waiting for my crepe then we heard the annoucement that we need to check in. So, I told her just dump whatever they had, then I brought up to the train to eat.

Yeah, boarding d...

Enjoying my crepe... very delicious...

After breakfast... what can I do? Sleep lo... the train is very smooth and fast, when I'm sitting in, I can't feel it was moving until the train enter the tunnel, because I can feel my ears block.

How amazing, in just 2 hours, we already in PARIS!!!

Queing up for Paris Visite ticket - ticket valid for bus, coach, metro and etc.
Ticket that we bought was 3-day pass for Zones 1-3.
The tickets are very tiny... careless people like me, I got to use and keep it with extra care.

Then we took metro to our pre-booked hotel - Grand Hotel Amelot, crossing our fingers that this hotel will have a life (we were carrying our luggage up and down 4 floors in London).

The metro was very very pack... and the underground in Paris is even complicated than London. When we took the interchange at Republique, the rest had boarded to the train except me. haha... the problem is, I don't know which station to get down and which train to take? hhaah
Thanks to cellphone, in a minute, Qiao Yi called, directed me to get down at St. Sebastien Froissart station.

If you ask me whether I was scared at the moment, not at all... hehe

Grand Hotel Amelot is just a street away from the station, location wise is very strategic. Furthermore, along the street, there are bistro, restaurants, convenient shop... I like that place...

We were told (actually don't know told by who), language is a barrier travelling in France. When we arrived, I think that's true.

1st incident: In the hotel
We communicated with the PIC with English... I think he can understand, just that we replied us with Franch, either he doensn't want or doens't know how to speak English. Check in was easy, but we had problem to fix the air-con in our room.

It was funny, we were told the room that we stayed was air-conditioned, but we couldn't find where was the remote. Then, I found a stand-alone machine in the cupboard, I never seen this before but we believed it's an air-con. When turned it on, yes, got cool air coming out, but at the same time, hot air released at the back of the machine too, so, it's actually getting warmer in the room rather than getting cooler. Then we asked the house-keeping lady... thanks god, she knows how to speak English. She told us, we got to connect the "hot air releasing hole" to the wall, but due to the hotel has just undergone renovation, the hole on the wall was block.

Then we asked the reception guy for a room exchange. But he insisted to fix the wall. He was trying very hard, believe me, real hard, then suddenly, he came to us and shouted a few lines... as if we know Franch... we think, he either scolding us for finding out the problem, or scolding the contrator who has sealed the hole. To make us feel better, I take the later.

The air-con is real classic, not only has to connect with tube to the wall, there's water collector in the machine too, when the water is full, the machine will stop, then we got to drain the water in order to make the machine work again... normally, I got to wake up in the middle of the night to drain the water. What an experience!

Time for lunch...
(at 3pm something Paris time)

Incident 2: in the restaurant

Restaurant which still served lunch in late afternoon.
We asked few restaurant, some didn't have English menu, some waiters/ waitresses don't know how to explain in English and finally, we found this, and the waitresses claimed that she speaks little bit of English.

We were being cheated la... when we entered, the menu all in Franch, then she has no idea how to introduce the food for us too.
No choice, has to base on our luck d. We ordered a salad, a duck and fish dish as main course for sharing. It's not easy, we got to repeat and repeat mention "DUCK... DUCK... DUCK", "FISH... FISH... FISH"

The duck dish
Luckily, everything turned out to be very nice....

The fish dish

The salad

After lunch, we shoped for drinking water
wow, the vegetable in the convinient shop are all so fresh and huge.
5 tomotoes = size of my face

Statue of Liberty?!
I didn't know there's one in Paris too... although I knew the one in US is a present from France
But I think this statue is a little bit shorter and "fatter" then the one in US right?
Just merely what I think, because I never seen the one in US.

The purpose of the trip!!

I called them best of the best... or else they won't be asked to protect the Eiffel Tower right? hehe

You just can't not falling in love with it...

Police officers in shorts
Weather was too hot...

Right under Eiffel Tower

After lots of shooting... shooting photo of Eiffel Tower, it's time for dinner...
well, sky still very blue... because it's summer time, day was longer

Crossing River Seine by walking across Pont de Lena (the bridge)
Those are restaurant cruises

The reach the Palais de Chaillot (Trocadero)
no idea what's that, but it's a good place to see Eiffel Tower

Walked few streets down, we came to this Chinese restaurant
Ya, we were here for dinner
The owner is a Paris-born Chinese, but he never forget about his root, he said his father was from China, migrated to Paris and open this restaurant. Although he grow up and study in France, but he speak very fluent Chinese, because they speak Mandarin in the family.
Food vice... erm, so so only, not as authentic as the Mandarin that they speak

Golden statues @ Palais de Chaillot & Eiffel Tower

Program of the night - watching Eiffel Tower light on
We found a nice place, sitting on the grass, waiting patiently for the moment
The only thing that we can do was - posed and took photos with beautiful Eiffel

Around 10pm...

Eiffel shined like a diamond
If the sky was darker, the effect will be more significant and beautiful
Yet, we already felt touched seeing that moment
oh God, where's my lover? please let him come out from the jungle

Gradually, it turned gold

Wailoong said Eiffel Tower will shine like a diamond again... however, we didn't know when. Instead of waiting, Qiaoyi and I took a ride on the Mary-Go-Round there. Another kind of romantic, seeing Eiffel Tower and riding on a Mary-Go-Round with good friend :)

I love this photo of Mary-Go-Round, especially the colour
This is one of my favourite photos in this trip!
What do you think?

It's a long day, everybody were tired, sky was getting darker.
Qiaoyi and Ken's parents were urging us back, because it's not very secure in Paris at night, a lot of pick pocket.
But, Eiffel Tower has not shine again yet...

We got to pass by the base of Eiffel Tower to the nearest Metro station. Then the guys said they need to use the washroom.
When we girls were waiting...

Suddenly...

Both me and Qiaoyi shouted out loud!
Eiffel Tower shined again!
So gorgeous, so amazing, felt so touched again and again!

The moment has worth everything... everything...

Sanbanto

Got to stop blogging my Europe trip and slot this post in first.

This is a new restaurant, not solely a restaurant... but shop selling fresh pork too... opps, sorry for those muslim reading this... it's non-halal.

Been eating a lot of pork lately... ate 3 all-pork meals in 3 weeks... crazy or not? As if I'm a big fans to pork... but it's actually nothing wrong for saying so.

1st two times were birthday celebrations to my friends, @ El Cerdo and Sanbanto, then the 3rd time was bringing my colleague for a casual dinner after work @ Sanbanto.

Will blog about El Cerdo later. But I certainly would like to introduce to you this unique pork selling and eating shop - SANBANTO.

What will you relate when seeing this name - SANBANTO? I thought it's a Japanese name, but I was wrong.

It is a family business, according to the owner, to be specific the youngest son who is helping up in the shop, Sanbanto is a name of a place in Johor, somewhere in between Mersing and Kluang and they have their own ISO22000 certified pig farm there. That's the origin of the name. Oh... ic

The shop is located in SS2, same row as KTZ, the desserts house. The shop isn't very big, but 麻雀虽小五脏俱全, sales counter, kitchen, cold storage has already occupied half of the shop, so, space in the dining area is limited. I was lucky, 1st time when I was there, they still be able to spare a small table for 2 at a corner. Then 2nd time, I wouldn't want to take the risk, they are kind enough to let me book a table for 6 and allowed me to book some of their fast selling signatured dishes.

Pork Belly Salad...
doesn't has ** next to the name in the menu, but I find it taste really good, best salad of all

Sanbanto Bread Crumbed Pork ear salad
I think not everybody can accepted this, pork ear is deep fried, I only tried one piece
All salads are served with a small bowl of yellowish sauce, I think this sauce is a mixture of honey with "something"... but I don't know what is/ are the "something"

Pork Bolognese
The pasta is homemade... I tried this in my 1st visit, I think the dish is nice and fun! Because they put pork lard together with the minced meat, what a Spanish & Chinese fusion!

Pork Sphagetti
Actually same style of cooking as pork bolognese, but in my second visit, they said all homemade pasta has sold out, so, they suggested sphagetti, in fact, I like sphagetti more than bolognese, just a personal favourism to sphagetti.

Actually there was another pasta that was recommended by them, it is Cordon Bleu Pasta... but too busy eating... forgot to take picture. The meat roll has cheese wrapping inside, it was very very tasty too...

I like this the most... Sanbanto Bacon N Cheese Burger
The burger is so juicy and tasty... must try must try... highly recommended

BBQ Ribs
my friend said this remind her of Tony Roma's... I don't eat beef, so, I can't comment how true is that, but the pork is really very tender and even the fat layer on top of the meat can melt in mouth too... amazing...
Another friend commented that the sauce is a little bit too sweet, ya... maybe the chef has to do something to it.

Dessert time...
Hot Chocolate Brownie... oooo, the chocolate so rich... I presume, they are using good chocolate, because it has a taste of bitterness, very fine, very pampering.
The guy said it is best in town... well, no comment, you got to try it out first.

"if you wouldn't mind, you can also try another dessert, named Pistachio Pannacotta..." the guy continue selling his dessert to us.
Well, erm, it's an Italian dessert, the dessert tasted like creme brulee without the caramel topping... I can said, I'm still pretty conservative in dessert, I don't really know how to appreciate that, although the presentation is very attractive.

I had a litte chatting with the guy, I asked what make them think of doing this business? He said, they are trying to educate the consumer, what's the real organic pork, because there are too many people out there claimed that they sell organic pork but in fact they are not.

They has a tagline too "From Our Farm to Your Table". The pork products are claimed to be Beta Agonist Free; No Drug Residue and hygienically produced and prepared and they have the Moody Certification too. Well... I know nothing about that, I only know food is nice, price is reasonable... Go try it yourself!

Sanbanto
32, SS2/63,
Petaling Jaya,
47300 Selangor

Tel: +603 78761728

Business Hour
Fresh Pork: 7.00am - 8.00pm
Food: 11.30am - 3.00pm, 6.00pm - 10.00pm

Europe Trip - London Day 2

Maybe we had been getting enough of sleep for the past few days, on our 2nd day in London, Qiaoyi's mom woke up very early... (FYI, I'm sharing room with Qiaoyi's mom & brother). When she woke up, I woke up too. Initially I thought it's already maybe about 7am or so, but checked out my watch, it's only 5 something in the morning... and looked, I even can took a picture of this through the window of our room.

Beautiful sunrise between London Eye & Big Ben

The canteen in the hotel is homely type. The worker will ask for your choice, then they will prepare it in the kitchen rightaway.

Breakfast was included also... it's a traditional English breakfast - sausage, baked bean, ham and egg with orange juice and coffee or tea

Wailoong, me and Qiaoyi's mom @ Stanley House Hotel entrance

Queue up to buy tube ticket
If purchase ticket after peak hour, the ticket will be cheaper. Since we will not be spending many days in London, we decided to get the daily ticket - £5.60, unlimited ride

We actually had planned to visit s few places, but we were flexible too. 1st station, we planned to walk to Buckingham palace to watch the Changing the Guard.

Then on the way, we passed by this, a shop selling souvenir related to the royal family

The batch on the gate

One of the statues on the corner of the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace

Posing @ Buckingham Palace
They said when the Union Flag flies from the Palace means the Queen is not in residence

Statue of Queen Victoria

This is either the Angel of Justice/ Truth

This road is called The Mall

A cute little girl posing for her father

The carriage

Waiting for the Changing the Guard

At Buckingham Palace, Changing the Guard takes place at 11.30 am. It is held daily from May to July, and on alternate dates throughout the rest of the year.

Changing the Guard was lead by the band

It took about an hour for the event. And there are a lot of ppl, tourists waiting for the moment. We saw it half way and decided to leave earlier to avoid the jam.

When we went off, we saw these horse guard with silver hat and black horse

We then decided to go to Hard Rock to get the T-shirt. I have collected a few, e.g. Hongkong, Sydney, Bali; so I wanted to collect the London, Paris and Amsterdam too

On the way, we passed by Wellington Arch and a park
(I have no idea what's the name of this park)

Qiaoyi's mom & me @ Wellington Arch

Crosses in the park

Resting & fruit eating @ the park

Pigeons @ the park

It was about 12 something, so, we decided to have our lunch @ Hard Rock

Lunch @ Hard Rock Cafe

Qiaoyi's family & I

The merchant shop is next door...

Coming out from the England telephone booth (aka Superman's changing room) with my Hard Rock paper bag. hehe

Then we walked to the nearest tube station to visit the new stadium, on the way, we saw this

Yeah! our home brand... LIMKOKWING University

It's summer time, the local people enjoying the sun @ Green Park

Waiting for the tube

The new Emirates Stadium

The nearest station to Emirates Stadium - Arsenal

Half way walking, Qiaoyi's mom shoes have spoil, so, we went shopping!
That day was very hot, I mean the weather, shopping was a good idea to stay away from the sun.
But I have forgotten where was the place we went shopping d, if not mistaken, I think is Oxford Street.

After shopping, we were exhausted... but the day was still young, too early for dinner and we didn't want to go back to hotel yet, because once rest, you would not want to come out again. So, we continued our journey...

Next, we went to see the Big Ben & London Eye.

Frankly speaking, Big Ben had chased away my sleepiness and tireness.
When I walked out from the station, omg, I looked up and saw this huge and tall Big Ben standing in front of me... it was very soul-stiring and amazing, I don't know how to describe this feeling, but I felt so touched.

Kenleong shot me taking this picture

Big Ben standing tall near the exit of the subway

Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminter Bridge, River Thames and me

Under the Westminter Bridge
Big Ben as the background

Walking across the bridge, there are The London Aquarium and London Eye

A long-leg elephant statue in between The London Aquarium and London Eye

A gondola of London Eye

A Dali sculpture near London Eye
The human body sculpture separated into 2 with an egg in between...
Do you have any idea what's the meaning behind?

A street performer imitating Charlie Chaplin

@ The Golden Jubilee Bridge to take picture with London Eye & Big Ben

My body "battery" left about 20% after visiting to Big Ben & London Eye, but before we go to China Town again for dinner... how could we miss out Tower Bridge? Initially, we were thinking, shall we just skip Tower Bridge, anyhow, we will be back to London again after the tour to Paris and Amsterdam.
End up, we still managed to drag ourselves there... no regret tho, Tower Bridge is another amazing building in London.

The tiny yellow flower on the way to Tower Bridge... beautiful right?
I looked enjoy in the picture but the flower was really smelly...

LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN
FALLING DOWN, FALLING DOWN
LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN
MY FAIR LADY...
I know, this is not the London Bridge, but since young, when we sing this song, the image of Tower Bridge will appear in our mind.
Unfortunately, we didn't manage to see the bridge open up from the middle... no big boat passing by.
This is the last picture of the day, because both of my camera and Kenleong's camera batteries had died off...
Visited to so many places and took so many photos... must be la...

This photo was taken a day before, my friend said the roasted duck is famous in town. So, after the long day, we didn't want to explore anymore... we just took the recommendation and walked into this restaurant...
Ya, my friends are right... the food is really delicious

I felt a little excited going to bed, because the next day we will be in Paris d!! Yeah!!

p/s: some of the photos were taken from Kenleong's camera, same to the previous 2 blog entries and coming up blog entries about my Europe trip.