The first day in London_Dec/2/2013

Arrived at Hilton Euston London after around 14 hours flight from Singapore

Yay, finally!!

The b/w BigBen photo at the lobby in Hilton caught my eye.  

I would like to bring it home and put on the wall in our room, ha-ha! ;)

After relaxing a little bit, we took the tube to go to Tower Hill Station.

There are two main attractions near Tower Hill Station; one is the Tower of London and the other is Tower bridge. 

Okay then, the Tower of London first!

As we entered the Tower in no time, we found many people were following a Beefeater(Yeomen warder)in large group who telling some interesting tales related to the Tower.  Without any hesitation, we joined the group and followed him for a while.  

Darrin with beefeaters

The guards at the Tower of London are officially called Yeomen Warders who look after any prisoners at the Tower and safeguard the Crown jewels.  They have the nickname Beefeater, and now they are more like tour guides.  

There's a diversity of opinion concerning the actual origin of the name Beefeater.  However, it is more likely to have originated from the time when they were given chunks of beef as their salary in 1800s.

After the Tower of London, we walked down to Tower Bridge right next to the Tower and waited till the Bridge lighted up to take better shot.

It looks more prettier at night.

The temperature drastically dropped down after sunset, therefore we moved to the next destination, Oxford Circus, in a big hurry.  

We started to feel more Christmassy there, Twinkle Twinkle~!

♬(^0^)~♪

Just right before dinner, we stopped at Liberty, one of the largest department stores in London.  The huge ornate Christmas decor was dangling from the ceiling.

Kua 'Aina is one of the must-go restaurants in this London trip.  

Darrin ordered Avocado Hamburger with some chips this time.

And I had Teriyaki Sandwich with some sweet potato chips.  

Whoa, how could they make sweet potato chips so tasty and chewy!!!   

In my hometown, Seoul

Between Autumn and Winter in Seoul 

Darrin at the Pork Restaurant

I came to fetch Darrin at the bus station in Gang-nam, Seoul.  He showed up with long hair in two weeks. 

He cut his hair close to make himself more handsome first, then we went straight down to one of his favorite pork restaurants.

Woohoo, look at the juicy meat, yummy!

It was good to have a traditional Korean tea after so long. 

Looking for the fresh fruits at the mini-mart

Dinner with my two sisters and two nieces at Kim-dae-gam, a popular roast duck restaurant

After dinner, having some tea time together

Darrin with Dr. Yu and Lee on the noticeboard at Bonecare Clinic

Dinner with Eun-kyung's family

A nice and tender tenderloin steak

Eun-kyung cooks and we just eat as usual.   

^o^~~♬

Darrin gave Chae-bin a little gift, the winter panda-hat.  

She is so cute in it.    ノ^_^)ノ

And,, Eun-yung and Steve tried it on.

The seventh day in Shanghai

Signature Weekend Brunch at Jean George 

I had the JG Brunch Plate and Darrin chose the Luxury Brunch Plate.

JG Brunch Plate

House Smoked Salmon on Pomme Maxim

Buttermilk Pancakes

French Toast

Eggs Benedict

Croissant aux Amandes

Pain au Chocolat

Luxury Brunch Plate

House Smoked Salmon on Pomme Maxim with Caviar

Lobster Tartine

Black Truffle Eggs Benedict

French Toast

Croissant aux Amandes

Pain au Chocolat

After brunch, we headed for Yuyuan Garden which is just 10 mins walk away from Jean George.

Yuyuan Garden was finished in 1577 by a government officer of the Ming Dynasty named Pan Yundian.  It's amazing that this grand sized attraction(around 20,000 sqm) in the middle of the city used to be his private garden which was built as a gift to his parents.  -_-ㆀ

Diachun Hall in the Garden

In the garden there are 10 different halls, 5 pavilions, a couple towers and chambers, several bridges, etc.

By the Zigzag Bridge

I love love love this charming and exotic door in the Garden.   

What a lovely corridor!

Deer cresting on the roof

Dragon wall with undulating gray tiled ridges

As you can see in the picture, the Dragon has only three claws, not five like an imperial dragon, so as not to incur the emperor's rage.

The tour guide was telling about the story of the Dragon Wall.

The Garden is a quiet and elegant place surrounded by Mother Nature.

In front of Cuixiu Hall 

Performing at the Big Stage

Taking a rest at the Sansui Hall

Koi in the large pond

One of the Chinese character s, 大 on the wall

It is derived from the shape of the human body.

I was showing the Taxi 大众's character to Darrin on the street, so as not to forget easily. 

 ^L^  ↓ 

 Short video at Yuyuan Garden