Little towns of Northern England

Tuesday 30th October 2007. After a nice breakfast with Ming, Zen and Ethan, we set off with Ming to visit some little towns before we got to Edinburgh, Scotland, our final destination of the day.

We set off from Bacup where we were staying to Skipton first. A pretty place. The experience of these little towns was just great! Thanks Ming!



At Windermere, we chanced upon an antique car who got fined by the way!!



We took a photo by the lake at Windermere. By the way, this is part of the Lake District. Lovely scenery and weather!!



This was taken at Ambleside. If you look in the background, you see a little building over the stream. That is a little shop. Really little!



Another photo taken at Ambleside. Its so nice!!



I was starting to feel a little sick now. In fact I came down with a cold! Thank goodness it was a cold and not a flu. We finally reached Edinburgh, Scotland around dinner time. But we took the time to take some photos around the city centre and of course Edinburgh Castle.



Edinburgh Castle at night.



We had an Italian dinner and headed to Livingstone where we spent the night at a Travelodge.

Manchester

Monday 29 October 2007, saw us traveling via the virgin train to Manchester. We had to lug both bags as they refused to let us store one at the hotel, due to security reasons (we were coming back to London). We got into Manchester on time. Our friend and one time colleague of mine, Ming came to pick us up. He was such a good host I must say and he has a lovely family! we had our lunch and headed off to Old Traffic. We had to, since we were already there, even though we were not into soccer!

We visited the Man U shop and got something for Kevin. So much merchandise, no wonder the club is so rich!!

Our day tour out of London

We decided to take a day tour out of London the Sunday we were there (28 October 2007). We visited Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath all within the day. Loved it, though it was drizzling/ raining at certain parts of the day.

Windsor Castle, the weekend residence of Queen Elizabeth II. Loved the place. Very well maintained. Better than the Versailles. Very aristocratic and "breeetish!"







This house was just outside the Windsor Castle. Our Scottish tour guide for the day told us to check out this house. A good photo opportunity she says!



Off to Stonehenge we went. This place kinda intrigued me. Loads of theories about these stones. The initial stones were brought from Wales they say which was like really far away. Well, we got the book about Stonehenge, but I have yet to read it!!
Was telling Shirley that we don't really need to take photos as they have this as a background picture on the windows os on our computers at work!







Notice anything about the stones?? Anyone smiling at you?



We then went off to our last stop. Bath. Specifically we visited the Roman Baths. Apparently, the Romans used the baths here when they were here a very long time ago. We could still see the steam from the baths today. Still warm. Unfortunately, the water is dirty as they have not treated it, but I hear the water is directed to a commercial spa/bath down the road.

Free cash???

Shirley and I were walking on the streets of London very early Sunday morning (28 October 2007), when I walked past an atm. Free cash withdrawals!!! I could not believe my eyes!

London

Saturday 27 October 2007.

Got into London in the early afternoon. After lugging our luggage all around their tube, we finally got to "OLD STREET" station where our hotel was. We checked into the Travelodge, a budget chain of hotels which you can also find in the USA. Hey! It was still not cheap by the way!!

Anyway, we dumped our stuff and made our way to Oxford Street where all the shops were. We were walking along and we saw these signs. Shirley found it amusing that these people were hired to stand around the whole day and they cannot move anywhere else because of the arrows. Have a look!!!

Eurostar, high speed train to London

Saturday 27 October 2007.
Finally we leave Paris for London. What I dreaded was taking our luggage onto the Paris Metro, changing trains and all just to get to Gare Du Nord station to get on the Eurostar. We had bought the tickets in Singapore. Boy, were they expensive. But we were damn lucky as the first class tickets were just a few dollars more than the economy ones. So we jumped at the opportunity!!!

It was an experience I guess. But I think we were so used to trains already. But we did get a meal, wine and champagne, which was nice, though I would not rave about the food. We were watching "High School Musical" all the way from Paris to London Waterloo Station. The whole trip only took 2 hrs 15 min.

More of Versailles

I loved the scenary here at the Versailles. But of the course inside the Chateau was also quite impressive. For example, this hall:



The land the chateau was on seemed to go on and on into the horizon. Was just massive. I took a photo of part of the chateau from the outside:

Arc de Triomph at night

, originally uploaded by benkenobi_lim.

I was standing at the middle of the ave champs elysees when I took this photo. We were crossing the road and we stood on the small pavement in the middle. Thought this was a nice shot of the Arc.

Champs Elysees

, originally uploaded by benkenobi_lim.

Photo taken from the Arc de Triomph to see the Champs Elysees in the background. Of course we all know that this avenue is where all the high end shopping can be found. LV, Mont Blanc, Mercedes Benz, high end cafes etc., can be found there.

Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

, originally uploaded by benkenobi_lim.

I found out about this Chapel from my granny. She told me that it was in Paris and that I should check it out. I researched it on the Internet. This Chapel is a place visited by mainly pilgrims rather than tourists. When we were there, we noticed many pilgrims and not that many tourists, which suited me fine. We went half an hour before the mass, which was to start at 10.30am on Thursday 25 October 2007.

It all began because a lady by the name of Catherine Laboure, now a saint saw Mother Mary 3 times in 1830. http://chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com/

St Catherine's life is such an inspiration to me. she did not want to be in the limelight and she did what she had to do with the poor, the sick and the old. She also had a vision of a medal that she told a priest about it. He did not act on it at first, but it was only when Sister Catherine rebuked him, did he bring it up to the archbishop of Paris who saw no reason why the medal should not be struck.

I have attached the website for those of you who would like to read more about the history. All I can say is that, it was really great being there at the spot where the apparitions of Mother Mary took place. And the amazing thing is. St Catherine Laboure's body is at the front of the church to the right side of the altar. She had died in the year 1876. She was laid to rest. in 1933, her body was found still intact, and is now underneath the Virgin of the globe on the right side of the church when one enters the church. Her body is still intact! So amazing!!

We said our own prayers, rosary and bible reflection and stayed on for the French mass. It was great. So serene and peaceful. I wished I could have gone back again, but I believe that one day I would be back again.

The stain glass in Notre Dame

Stain glass in Notre Dame, originally uploaded by benkenobi_lim.

One of the many stained glass in the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris.

Visit to Notre Dame Cathedral

Model of Notre Dame, originally uploaded by benkenobi_lim.

We took the open tour bus and one of the stops was Notre Dame. We hopped off (something like our hippo bus in Singapore) to visit this catholic cathedral. It was quite crowded with many tourists inside. We stayed a while, saying our own prayers. Was nice, but not as peaceful as to the next day's visit to a chapel.

The stain glass of course is amazing! And to think that they managed to build such a magnificent building and create the stained glass so many years ago!!

Eiffel Tower by night

Eiffel Tower by night, originally uploaded by benkenobi_lim.

This is the Eiffel Tower by night. Such a splendid sight. They had lights flashing only at certain times of the night. We managed to see it just as we got off the open tour bus that we were on.

Eiffel Tower by day

Eiffel Tower by day, originally uploaded by benkenobi_lim.

So we saw the Eiffel Tower by day. I told Shirley that we have to go back at night and especially go up when it is dark, so that we can see the night view of Paris

Shirley with a Frenchman at the flea market

, originally uploaded by benkenobi_lim.

Will post a few more photos of our trip to Europe. But let's start with Paris. We had just checked our baggage into our hotel Pavillon Nation and decided to go get some breakfast. But before that, we chanced upon a flea market. Here, this Frenchman decided to pose with Shirley. See that smile!!

Bonjour Paris!! And Au Revior Paris!

Late Friday night 26 October 2007.

Comment allez-vous!!!

Shirley and I arrived in Paris early Wednesday morning (24th October 2007) for a holiday, yes just the two of us! We thought we'd say Bonjour all the way from Paris to our devout readers. So far we had visited most of the "must-sees" in Paris. We did a bit of shopping, but strangely did not buy anything much for ourselves. We did visit the LV store though!

We visited the Arc de Triiomphe, Ave Des Champs Elysees, Effiel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, The Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and the Chateau De Versailles.

Weather was cold when we arrived, but we have got used to it now. We now look forward to our train ride to London tomorrow morning for our next phase of our holiday.

Thanks for reading..... here is a photo of us at the Chateau De Versailles today!

THE FAMILY LIM

26 August 2007.

AH DEE drew this after some persuasion from AH MEE. (AH DEE and AH MEE are what I call my parents). I think AH DEE "ada talent." He should have been an artist, designer or some occupation related to art and design. My AH DEE would have been so "Shuckshessful!!"



My family portrait.

What a poser???!!

19 August 2007.

Guess what Nat was posing as?



Nat had started to pose for the camera recently. And this was just one of them. Not sure if it was a James Bond pose???

Hmmm...... which one should I wear today?

Ah Dee likes the one on the left but Ah Mee pefers the one on the right. Me? Both of course!!



PS : Thank you to Auntie Elaine who bought me the shirts from New Zealand.

The dynamic duo!

22 July 2007.

Also on this outing, Daddy and Nat tried on a few spectacles. Wahahahahahaha!

Don’t you think these two in the photo make the coolest Daddy and son duo??? Taken at River Island at Raffles City.

Scribbling stuff

22 July 2007.

We bought a whiteboard for Nat from IKEA just down the road from where we stay. We just wanted something for him to write on as we noticed him scribbling on paper and such. He was quite happy after Daddy set it up for him. He started scribbling stuff, which I believe means something to the little boy. But it is so cute to see. The only thing he always forgets, whether it is on purpose or not, is to put the cap of the marker back on! He has dried up a few markers already!



Nat posing with his "then new" whiteboard from IKEA. Can you see his scribblings on the board?

The Hi-5 Circus Stage Show

Told Nat this morning that we will be bringing him to watch the Hi-5 stage show later tonight, not too sure if he understands but he seems pretty excited and kept singing "Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi-5"!

S

Where is the 7th Sheep?

Nat woke up near dawn this morning and started counting 1 to 10 to himself!!! But he missed out number 7. I think he does not know how to pronounce it yet [2 syllables) or maybe the sheep has gone missing??!!

Then he snuggled up next to me and shared my blanket ........ so warm and sweet :)

S

Changi Airport Dinner

8 July 2007.

2 families went to the airport for dinner. Shirley Sarah and Christina's families decided to eat at the staff canteen at the airport. We had the usual satays, rice etc.

We headed down to the departure hall for a little walk and we found a "little garden" just at the side of the hall.


Cousin Enrica and Nathaniel


Daddy, Mummy and Nathaniel

Our brekkie with Charlie (that's Uncle Charlie for you Nat!)

3 July 2007.

Charlie and Lisa flew into Singapore for a few days as Charlie had to teach at the MBA course for UWA. They were all enroute to the UK after that. This was a perfect time for us to meet as we had not caught up for a long time. We were fortunate enough to meet them for Brekkie at thei hotel, Park Royal at Coleman Street. Their kids have really shot up. Anna and Andrew are so gorgeous!

Nat, Uncle Charlie and I met studying together for our MBA in Perth. We had been in project groups at least 3 times as we all worked well together. We were an efficient lot I must say as working in some groups were just not productive at all!! But with Charlie and a few of us, it was great!! Here are some photos which was taken that day!


NAT AND ANDREW


NAT, SHIRLEY AND ANNA


THE FAMILY LIM

spongebob attitude??

1 July 2007.

Off for a swim in the afternoon, before our dinner at night. The pull over towel was given by "da yi", I think from shanghai?? So cute. But you must check out Nat's attitude ....... Tsk tsk... so fierce.

Guess who was a heart breaker??

1 July 2007.

We had a bible study group gathering after such a long break. We don't meet up for sessions anymore. Guess due to people's schedules and all, but we are all still good friends. We had a dinner gathering at the Bukit Timah area. It was great to meet up again. Ken and Sonia brought their 4 kids, as did Helena bring her son. But guess who was breaking the girl's hearts? They wanted to carry him and all! Nat enjoyed himself tremendously, running around with them, falling a few times...... but hey, he needs the practice to chase the women right?????? hehehehhehe.