Rebecca Heng: A Trip to the UK ( Manchester & Kent )

10th January 2014

It was my first time in Manchester which is quite a big city too but I find it less crowded compared to London. The only thing about Manchester is that it is lack of tube stations, which are very convenient to travel to anywhere and everywhere, also accessible to people like me who has hardly any sense of direction. There are only bus services and I still couldn't figure out the destinations that the buses are heading to. For visitors, you can purchase the weekly Megarider bus pass which costs £12.50, and you'll be able to travel to everywhere in Manchester with that pass.

Brunch with Christy and Kelvin at Gorilla, which is said to have the best burger in Manchester. However, we didn't have any but the food we ordered were great too.

Kelvin's Full English for £7.50. It consists of bacon, a sausage, hash brown, baked beans, fried egg, mushrooms, roast tomato and buttered toast.

My Eggs Royale which consists of poached eggs, smoked salmon, hollandaise and English muffin for £7. The portion looks small but it was satisfying.

Christy's Poached Eggs & Mushrooms for £5.50. There are sauteed mushrooms, poached eggs, hollandaise and English muffin.

We also tried their Roast Butternut Squash seasoned with chilli, red onion, sage and pumpkin seeds. £3.50 for one.

Then, I went to the Manchester Museum while the both of them studied at Starbucks for their upcoming examinations. The museum is pretty similar to the Natural History Museum which has exhibitions of rocks, animal life, prehistoric life and etc.

Masks and cravings.

These wooden fertility dolls were carried by women or girls so to ensure that they would bear beautiful children. I wonder how true this is.

Ritual masks worn in Sri Lanka in performances and in exorcism.

' Out of Clay '.

Arms and Armour.

Pair of moccasins which are decorated with beads.

Bows and Arrows.

In their Ancient World galleries, I was given a piece of paper ( shown in the picture above ) where I could actually get more details of the artifacts online by matching the symbols shown on the information plates.

More figurines for fertility used in Egypt. These were put in tombs to promote fertility and rebirth in the after-life.

More animals;

A collection of seashells.

Butterflies.

At the Earth Sciences,

Percy, the Plesiosaur.

I actually made the effort to read most of the details on the information plates, but almost nothing went into my mind.. Well, at least I managed to spend 3 hours there taking all these photos ( I didn't upload all though, they may bore you. ) for memories. The Manchester Museum is actually situated near the University of Manchester or the Aquatic Centre, which is only 5 minutes walk away for me because I stayed over at Christy's when I was there.

Dinner at the well-known Jamie's Italian with them after their study session! Good food with good ambience.

The Vault for private dining.

Truffle Tagliatelle with black truffles, butter, Parmesan and nutmeg for £6.75.

' The Jamie Italian's Burger ' which consists of flank steak with smoked mozzarell, mortadella, balsamic onions, tomato, pickles and chillies with chips for £13.45.

Turkey Milanese stuffed with prosciutto and fontina with a fried free-range egg and truffles for £12.25.

Epic Brownie with Amareto Ice-Cream and Caramelised Amaretti Popcorn. The name of it is not even exaggerating. It's the BEST brownie anyone could ever have. I can't bring myself to order a brownie from anywhere else because my expectation of it has gone too high after I had the Epic Brownie. £4.95 for one.

11th January 2014

Christy suggested to make my trip worthwhile by going to more places like Kent, Liverpool, Glasgow etc. So I bought the train ticket the night before to Kent to have a one-day trip there! Luckily Zhi Yan who's furthering his studies there, was having his holidays and was free to bring me around.

I had to wake up at 4am to catch the 5.20am train at the Manchester Piccadilly Station. Christy had to make a trip to the station because I couldn't claim my tickets with the reference number I had from the ticket machine and her debit card used to purchase the tickets were needed. Sorry about that. The ride actually transited at London where I had to walk for about 10 minutes from the Euston Station to St. Pancras Station. I started to panic when I couldn't find terminal 11 to Canterbury West and there wasn't any staff who I could ask. Found a security guard to ask about the location at the last 7th minute before departure and I ran for my life because the terminal was on the opposite end of the extremely huge building. Things started to fall from my untightened bagpack. Seriously, why do such a thing happen only when I'm alone? But fortunately, I got up 3 minutes before it departed and you have no idea how glad I was.

On my way to Canterbury West Station!

And this, is Canterbury, Kent. Thanks Zhi Yan, his friend, Joon Ren and their university friends for bringing me around! Oh, I also bought a daily bus pass for £6.20 which is very convenient.

The Canterbury Cathedral; one of the oldest Christian buildings in England which was founded in year 597. It's amazing how they can preserve and maintain it in such a good condition, right? Admission fee is £9.50 but will be increased to £10.50 from April 2014 onwards. I kind of regret not going in but there is always next time!

Went to the Whitstable Beach. Yay.

So... soothing and peaceful.

We grabbed a bite at a beach shack.

So many choices to choose from the menu!

We had doughnuts which were soft and yummy! 5 for £2.50. Hot chocolate and cappuccino for £1.80 each. It's good to warm yourselves with hot drinks especially when it's cold and windy at the same time. It feels really good too.

We also had oysters ( Rocks ) for only £1.30. It was actually my first time slurping raw oysters and it was pretty nice but I got worried when Zhi Yan mentioned how he had a stomachache when he got into contact with the shell while eating it last time.

Zhi Yan & Joon Ren. Notice that they have the same jackets.

Credits to Christy's substitute photographer : Zhi Yan.

Huge fish market.

Canterbury has quite a few bakeries and the pastries looked so tempting. I would have them if my stomach had more space and it's also partly because I needed the restroom urgently that time. Nothing else mattered.

Then off we went to Tankerton Beach! I really don't mind spending a whole day at the beaches but at that time, I was still looking for a restroom. It was really hard to find a restroom or probably there is no public restrooms in Canterbury. I really don't know.

A little similar to the beach houses in Melbourne's Brighton Beach although I haven't been there yet.

Twins!

Spot the seagulls.

Lunch at Dean's Plaice at Herne Bay. What I thought of instantly when I saw it: restroooooom. Anyway, this place is hot for its Fish and Chips and it's well-located too as it's situated near the seaside.

Such a big portion of Cod and Chips and it's only in regular size. Thanks Zhi Yan for the treat! You know you shouldn't have done that...

Fried Onion Rings.

Took a walk around that area;

Had Peanut Butter Ice-Cream for £2. I don't find any reason to not have ice-cream in cold weathers. The feeling is just indescribable.

Then we went to the Marlowe Theatre for some sightseeing.

Sunset! At the right time.

The 'tour guides' brought me to The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge.

These caught my eyes because I really love miniature dollhouses since I was young.

Paintings! What else do you expect in ' House of Art '?

'The Baptism of Christ'.

'The Virgin and Child resting in an Imaginary Landscape'.

'The Little Girl at the Door'.

Dinner at Lanna Thai Cuisine with Zhi Yan and Joon Ren before I returned to Manchester.

The place is really comfortable.

Serves really appetising food too.

Pud Thuang Ngork ( Stir fried beansprouts in oyster sauce ).

Gang Keow Wan ( Green curry in coconut milk with chicken ).

Khai Gheow Muh Sab ( Omelette with minced pork ).

Time passed really quickly that day and eventually, I had to leave Canterbury.

A picture with Zhi Yan and it was our second time meeting in the UK! We met in Kuala Lumpur once, through Christy. Till we meet again during your Summer break.

12th January 2014

Met up with Christy, Kelvin and Sanjev ( it was my first time meeting him, but I don't know why I don't have any pictures of him / with him.. maybe next time! ) and we had lunch at Kukoos Street Food, a fusion of Indian, Moroccan and Lebanon food situated at Oxford Street. Not my taste, but it was filling for me. The service was a little bit too slow with only two workers although there were not many customers there.

We chilled at Cheeky Coffee Co. after that for a study session. Here, I actually found out that the deadline to apply for the UK universities through UCAS was three days later. So, as for me, I've spent my time in this cafe writing my personal statement and I managed to finish it within a day. Phew. But of course, thanks to Christy and Jeremy who diligently amended my personal statement into something impressive in less than 30 minutes. I was in awe, really. The application was done a few hours before the deadline and I was relieved. It's up to my dad now whether he will give the green light because I applied it without telling ( It wasn't my fault. I've totally forgotten because I was rushing for the deadline. ) or discussing about it with him. I'm too fickle-minded, I know. But anyway, fingers crossed.

Cappuccino for £1.50.

A satisfying dinner at Pearl City, a Chinese Restaurant, at George Street after a long day.

The interior. The staff is really friendly too and they can also speak Cantonese / Chinese to you, if you want.

A bowl of complimentary Chicken Soup.

Stir-fry Kai Lan with Oyster Sauce.

Kung Bo Spicy Chicken for £8.10.

Maltose Glazed Spare Ribs.

Made another spontaneous decision and bought train tickets to Glasgow on the 15th January which I will blog about in the next post!

13th January 2014

Another chilled day.

The newly-installed Wheel of Manchester at Piccadilly Gardens!

Brunch with Christy at Home Sweet Home.

Menu.

Ultimate Hot Chocolate which consists of marshmallows, Oreos, cookies, Reese's peanut butter cup and chocolates. People with a sweet tooth will love it. About £4.