A Long Hot Weekend ☀️🔥

For those of you in the south of England like me, you would know that we have been hit by a massive heatwave 🔥🔥 (red warning alert! 🚨) With Monday and Tuesday forecasted to be the hottest days ever, I am so glad that my workplace has decided to switch to remote working for the two days (like come on, we don’t even have air con!!), which means I also got a “sort of” 4-day long weekend as I head into my final week in London! 😉 My work colleagues have been so nice doing leaving-dos with me going bowling and meals for two days in a row, which means I only got some alone time until Sunday and I sure kept my day busy that day!

On Sunday, despite a massive broke down in the Central line, I managed to cross back to the other side of London via the overground visiting the Van Gogh exhibition I have been wanting to see for weeks. (Like literally it’s popping up every other day on my Instagram lol! 😂)

The signature sunflowers marking the the entrance

Café Terrace at Night – always get a sense of nostalgia seeing this painting as we used to have one back in my old family home

I was so surprised when I learnt that Van Gogh has been heavily inspired by Japanese culture (a favourite of mine!) Moreover, it was so amazing to see many of his arts brought into 3–D form.

Wasn’t sure if it was a geisha or a mermaid lol😂

I then also had a play around in the colouring room! 🎨 😂

Everyone is showcasing their skills here hehe!

And finally into the Immersive Room watching the show as the amazing arts are projected live in the giant room. Here are some of my favourite snapshots!

Swallowed by the big waves! 🌊 🌊

Such beautiful night sky! 😍✨✨

Ambushed by sunflowers haha! 😂

After the exhibition, I spent more time exploring the hipster neighbourhood of Shoreditch and the famous Brick Lane, and ended up eating lots of street food. (Was supposed to cut down a bit but I got so tempted! 😂)

Wow! Curry fish balls from my childhood – and so nice to pump into some fellow Hong Kongers running a stall here! 😂 👍

And after 5 years in London, I finally got around visiting to the famous Brick Lane Beigel Bake! Worth the wait though! (A massive chunk of salt beef covered with gherkins and mustard- what’s not to love? 😂)

Very busy inside the store – but the queue moved really quick thank goodness! (Wasn’t sure how long I could bear standing in the sun!)

The world famous salt beef bagel. Look at the size of the meat! 😂😂 (And now I am already craving to come back for another one!)

After a rather lazy day on Monday shading away from the heat, I eventually managed to brave the heat in the evening to see the new Minions movie! 🎥 🍿 Such a cute and whole movie, have you seen it yet?

Day Out in Chiswick

As lockdown easing will hopefully continue on Monday, there is most definite a great sense of normality back in life. Weather in London is as turbulent as ever though as we went through a cycle of rain, sun, rain and more sun throughout the day – but what great fun I had enjoying a day out with my best friend! 😁

We decided to visit Junkyard Market in Chiswick, and after running a bit late on the London tube, I arrived at the outdoor venue just as the rain was about to fall. 🙁🌧

But thankfully as busy as the tent area was, we eventually managed to find a spot to sit down. Due to COVID measures, all orders were done through the app and QR code at the table – but it did allow easier browsing in my opinion. I decided to order an African grilled chicken thigh with chips and also sausage and beans mac and cheese! 😋

It wasn’t long before the sun is shining back out again (typical London lol) and then very quickly back out again! 😂 It literally lasted about 10 minutes when we took our jackets 🧥 off enjoying the warm sun ☀️ before putting them back on again as the dark clouds came matching back! ☁️☁️ But I did grab a vegan ice cream just in time haha!

Quick snap before the dark cloud was coming back over us again! 😂

After staying cosy back in the tents to sit out the rain until it stopped, we decided to take a walk around Chiswick (juice 🥤 in hand) as we made some surprising art discoveries around the area! 🖼

A ‘Stay At Home’ mural made by students in the area really touched home for me
❤️❤️

This is such a cute sign in the park ☺️☺️

Stumbled upon this amazing-looking building!

Isn’t it just amazing how new discoveries are always around the corners? 😊 Hope all of you also have a lovely weekend!

Day 2 in Glasgow: Back in Time

After what seemed like a very short night of sleep, we continued our second day in Glasgow after checking out the hotel at 10am (yes, that was the official final check out time… 😛) We headed to Bill’s for a conventional full Scottish breakfast (how I missed black puddings lol!), then decided to stop by the Riverside Museum and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum today before heading back in the late afternoon.

We decided to go by the route via the Glasgow Subway. Unlike the London Underground, it felt much cosier and I actually found their small carriages quite cute lol. 😂

Wall painting outside the subway station

The museum itself is a transport museum where many of the displays are interactive for visitors, so many of the transports can be climbed inside.

This reminds me of the mini vans in Hong Kong.

Inside the van. A nostalgic feeling for my mum.

Or, even better, walk in the old streets of Glasgow and taking the old subway. It’s like being transported back in time. 😮

Guess I can come here if I need some cash…?

Inside the old subway (it actually smells a bit… 😅)

The museum is also well known for the Tall shop from Govan parked outside by the harbour. The ship was built back in 1896 as a cargo ship and visitors were able to also go on board to take a look around. (Totally felt like I was in the Pirates of the Caribbean lol 🌊🌊)

Could actually imagine me bathing here lol 🛀

Exploring to the depth of the ship… 🤭🤭 (actually only a café and a souvenir shop down there 😂😂)

The bottom of the shop (there is a children playground right next to this! 😆)

Before my mum started feeling too seasick (lol), we then decided to move on to the Kevingrove Art Gallery and Museum not too far of a walk away.

Greeted by an organ performance upon entering (thought we accidentally stepped into a church service lol)

Probably my favourite painting of the ones I saw ❤️❤️

Tired from all the walking and sightseeing, we finally decided to head for lunch at the Hard Rock Café. The portions were absolutely massive! 😨😅 (Still delicious though haha!)

Nachos, Spicy Prawns and Buffalo Sliders

We loved the nachos (No joke, it was probably the biggest plate of nachos I had ever come across in my life!) with its overload of cheeses and spices. The spicy prawns were okay but slightly too much mayo in the coleslaw. I liked the sliders but just couldn’t really taste the blue cheese. The portions were so big that we had to take a huge doggy bag with us on the bus back home! 😂😂 (P.S. we were still having it for lunch today… 😅)