Rebecca Heng: A Trip to the UK ( London )

7th January 2014

Woke up as early as 5am to have the 'trip's best meal' or probably the best waffle I've ever had at the highest restaurant in the UK. Duck & Waffle is located at the 40th floor of Heron Tower and it's open for 24 hours. You can even watch sunrises and sunsets and overlook the expanse of the city at the restaurant while enjoying a really good meal. Also a perfect spot for a romantic dinner to the couples out there.

Duck 'n' Waffle for £15, which consists of a crispy leg confit, fried duck egg, waffle and mustard maple syrup. A little bit pricey but it's delicious and with the amazing view to enjoy with, it's absolutely worth the price. Don't let the appearance deceive you because this is the best combination a waffle can have! Another place to revisit when I go to London again.

Colombian Eggs for £10 which consists of organic eggs, avocado and toast. This was pretty good too!

Also, a good company made the meal even better.

Jing & Sher May.

Aaron ( you're featured! ) & Caitlyn who were at another table.

With zee Christy.

Christy, Zhi Yan & Kelvin.

The views.

To the Tower Bridge! It's about 10 - 15 minutes walk from the Heron Tower.

Another picture with them!

Went to Madame Tussauds with Kelvin ( Thanks for the treat! ) for an online price of £22.5o because Christy had to study for her exams.

I sincerely apologise for the numerous pictures of me with the same repetitive dull facial expression.

So, can you find any of your favourites here?

At the Bollywood & Party corner;

Shahrukh Khan.

Morgan Freeman.

George Clooney.

Dame Helen Mirren.

Kate Winslet.

Orlando Bloom.

Jim Carrey.

Johnny Depp.

Robert Pattinson & Taylor Lautner.

David Beckham & Victoria Beckham.

Emma Watson. ( Doesn't look like her though. )

Russell Brand.

Leonardo DiCaprio. ( Doesn't really look like him too )

One Direction.

Wrong Direction. Jokes.

Film industry;

John Wayne.

Humphrey Bogart.

Charlie Chaplin.

Marilyn Monroe.

Robert Downey Jr.

E.T.

Bruce Willis.

Audrey Hepburn.

Daniel Craig.

Robin Williams.

Judi Dench.

Shrek.

Sports Industry;

Rafael Nadal.

Usain Bolt.

Tom Daley.

Jessica Ennis-Hill

Olga Korbut.

Jonah Lomu.

Jonny Wilkinson.

Cristiano Ronaldo.

David Beckham.

Tiger Woods.

The Royals;

Diana, Princess of Wales.

Prince Harry, Prince Charles & Duchess of Cornwall

The Queen, Duchess of Cambridge & Duke of Cambridge.

Culture;

Van Gogh.

Stephen Hawking.

Isaac Newton.

Albert Einstein.

Pablo Picasso.

Music;

The Beatles.

Kylie Minogue.

Madonna.

Michael Jackson.

Justin Timberlake.

Justin Bieber. Before puberty, I guess?

Robbie Williams.

Elvis Presley.

Rihanna.

Jimi Hendrix.

Freddie Mercury.

Britney Spears.

Lady Gaga.

World Leaders;

Nelson Mandela.

Dalai Lama.

Winston Churchill & Adolf Hitler.

Boris Johnson.

David Cameron.

Vladimir Putin.

Francois Hollande.

Barack Obama.

Mahatma Gandhi.

Pope.

Indira Ghandhi.

Scream in the Chamber of Horrors;

Well, we did not go into the Chamber of Horrors because it looked and sounded really scary.

Sleeping Beauty.

Voltaire.

And this, is Madame Tussauds.

We took The Spirit of London Taxi Ride to take a look at the capital's cultural and historical events which shaped London into the current leading global city.

And last but not the least, the long anticipated Marvel Superheroes.

Nick Fury.

Spiderman.

The Hulk.

Wolverine.

On our way, there were a few distorting mirrors.

Captain America.

Kelvin and his idol.

Then, we experienced a short video of Marvel Super Heroes in 4D. It was not very exciting, but good enough.

You can buy some souvenirs on your way out too.

One Direction bobbleheads anyone?

Then, we met up with Jacelyn and Dang at the Natural History Museum at Cromwell Road. Admission to it is free.

And again, I shall let the pictures speak for themselves. It's impossible for me to remember every single detail of the specimens in the museum, right?

Giant Moa.

Magnificent Headgear.

T-Rex.

Many interactive infographics in the museum!

It's like a zoo in there! The only thing about it is the animals are stationary.

This is interesting.

Here's one of my favourite;

Human evolution;

I actually find the Natural History Museum more interesting than the British Museum probably because there are many subjects and information in the museum which I can relate to. Also, I've always wanted to visit such museum ever since I watched Night at the Museum many years ago! But the American Museum of Natural History in New York is still on my 'to-visit list' which is a must for me to visit in the future.

At night, we ( with Christy, Zhi Yan, Aaron, Caitlyn, Kelvin, Dang, Jacelyn, Jing and Sher May ) had dinner at Four Seasons Chinese Restaurant in Chinatown which is very famous for their Roasted Duck. The Chinese waitresses there speak English, Chinese and Cantonese which made me felt like home when I was there.

Look at the perfectly roasted crispy-skinned ducks and chickens.

We had the 'Ma Po' Beancurd with Mince Beef for £8.

Stir Fried Kong-Po Chicken for £8.

The famous Special Roasted Duck Cantonese Style ( Half ) for £12.50.

Braised Beancurd in Oyster Sauce for £8.

Dessert with Christy and Kelvin after dinner at Amorino! It's quite popular for its gelato. Amorino also has coffees, milkshakes, waffles and crepes.

Just take a look at these...

I tried the Straciatella, Pistacchio & Caramel with Salted Butter flavours. I love them all especially the Pistacchio flavour where you can actually find many Pistacchio nuts in one scoop! Total of £7.50 for these three scoops.

8th January 2014

Accompanied Christy to Heathrow Airport to pick her boyfriend, Jeremy, up who came back from Malaysia. It was my first time meeting him and I'm finally being introduced to the best friend's boyfriend ( hey, it's important ok? ). Only Christy and I will know the 'fate' Jeremy and I have after countless incidents of not being able to meet him.

GBK for brunch, again! This time with Christy, Jeremy, Jacelyn, Dang, Zhi Yan & Kelvin. It was our last meal with Jacelyn before she returned to Malaysia.

Homemade Onion Rings for £3.35.

Classic Chicken for £7.75 with an additional grilled mushroom for £1.65. Total of £9.40.

Then Kelvin, Jeremy, Christy and I went to visit the Big Ben and London Eye!

Big Ben.

Bros; Jeremy & Kelvin.

Also 'bros'; with Christy.

So much feeeels.

And love.

And friendships.

Thank God for such good weather!

"A telephone booth! Quick, take a picture in it. Everyone does it when they come to London!", says Christy.

Spot the Big Ben.

Panorama of the place.

The London Eye. You can take a ride on it for at least a price of £17 ( online ), depending on the type of ticket you purchase.

There were many pigeons in that area and we discovered that Jeremy could be a bird whisperer. Look at the number of pigeons he attracted by throwing grass to the ground ( which the pigeons thought it was food ) and making weird sounds.

Then we had a break at Bakery County Hall, about 10 minutes walk from the London Eye entrance.

The interior. So pretty.

A variety of cakes and pastries to choose from! The price range for cakes is from £4.50 to £5.50.

Ordered the Elysee. Dense and creamy enough.

& Lemon Meringue. I liked the crust alot!

With a teapot of Earl Grey to go with for £3.75.

Dinner at Burger & Lobster at Farringdon, also with 8 others that night. A wonderful restaurant that only serves burger, lobster and lobster roll as their main course for £20 each. Reservation may be needed because it's on full house most of the time!

Lobster. It won't taste the same without eating with the garlic butter sauce.

With the tour guide II, Kelvin.

Jeremy & Christy.

Shared cheesecake with the girls and it was really nice and light!

Then, we went to Tinseltown which is just next door for some milkshakes. Sadly, I was too full for any but I did try a sip of Sher May's and it was tasty and flavourful!

The interior of a 50s-inspired diner which gives a chilled vibe in the atmosphere.

Menu.

After having one of the best meals, we went over to Aaron's and well, a lot of laughters were involved and it was a great night indeed. I'm not going to go through every detail of what was going on that night. So let's move on to the next day.

9th January 2014

My last day in London with Christy and Kelvin before we left. Went to the Buckingham Palace to witness the ceremony of Changing the Guard at Green Park with Kelvin because the rest of them were too tired but we met up with Aaron and Caitlyn there instead!

Literally a Green Park. A really beautiful place.

The Buckingham Palace.

One of the three gates.

If you are ever going there to witness the ceremony, do check online for the time that it's going to take place. You probably will get to watch the whole thing behind the fence near the middle gate. If you stand too far away from the gate, you can only hear the band playing..which was what happened to me. One thing I didn't get it was why was one of the band's songs Michael Buble's 'Haven't Met You Yet'?

Then we went to meet up with the others at Covent Garden. And there was a street performance again!

Wasn't he feeling cold?

Indian cuisine for lunch at a Bombay Cafe called Dishoom. Another great restaurant to visit if you're in London especially if you love having Indian cuisine!

A refreshing Mango & Fennel Lassi for free if you check-in on Foursquare! Just simply show the waiter that you've checked in and he'll exclude it from the bill.

Dishoom Calamari for £5.20. It was tender and juicy, combined well with their own Dishoom drizzle.

Dang & Kelvin's Kacchi Lamb for £8.90. It's really spicy, according to them.

Zhi Yan's Dishoom Chicken Tikka for £6.90.

Pau Bhaji for £3.90. The mash vegetables goes so well with the hot buttered pau bun. I was craving for more.

House Black Daal ( £4.90 ) with Roomali Roti ( £1.90 ). The daal was simmered for over 24 hours and can be eaten with anything like roti, naan or even rice!

Christy & Jeremy's Sheekh Kabab for £7.20.

The company.

Teatime at Maison Bertaux, Soho after lunch.

Baked Cheesecake.

Almond Croissant. This, is the best croissant, ever. Its crust is very crunchy but inside, it's soft and has the same texture as bread. Total of both cost £7.50.

Last meal in London with Christy, Jeremy, Sher May, Jing, Kelvin and Dang at Hare & Tortoise ( yeap, again ) before we catch our train back to Manchester. A lot of brainwashing was done to me to apply and study in the UK though.. My decision will be revealed later on in the upcoming posts.