Back to Paris: A Duo’s Journey 🇫🇷🇫🇷

After almost three years, my trip in Paris still stays as one of my most memorable journey of all times given it was my first time travelling solo oversea. So, for this bank holiday weekend, I can’t be more excited of going back!

This time, however, instead of travelling solo I will be exploring it with my bestie! 🏃‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️ And we kicked the first night with a late, boozy dinner at Déviant! 🍸🥂

These octopus ceviche tostada were so delicious! 😍😍

*From left to right clockwise:* Beef tartare, pistachio gnocchi, pollock pil-pil and rhubarb sorbet

Hoping we weren’t too hungover the next morning, we stopped by a beautiful smelling bakery on our way to the Louvre museum! 🤤 I ordered a delicious gammon quiche which as I was taking a picture, dropped onto the floor!! 😱😱😱 (but 10-second rule right?? 😂)

The Louvre was packed full of people on the day just like last time. However, this time I was smart enough to reserve a ticket beforehand, but it still took quite some time queuing to get in! Finally, I get to meet the famous Mona Lisa (my friend wasn’t as enthusiastic about her though! 😂)

The famous Mona Lisa (so many people around it!!)

I really enjoyed the Egyptian section of the museum

Napoleon III Apartments at the Richelieu Wing

I do love chandeliers! ❤️ (But also very warm in the room haha! 🥵)

After a brief rest, we then embarked on our long walk towards the Eiffel Tower, passing by Café de Flore and Luxembourg Garden on the way! (Completely broke my record of steps that day haha! 😆🏃‍♂️)

Grand Bassin Rond – the weather was so good that ☀️ ☀️ we sunbathed here for a bit!

Second meal of gelato – needed it hahaha! 😂

Dinner time – and bestie absolutely refused to eat the snails! 😂 🐌 🐌

Climbing up the stairs of Eiffel Tower 💪

The view of Paris up at the Eiffel Tower

Second dinner – someone is REALLY hungry after all the walking! 😂 (and it’s not me! 🤣)

The next day we then visited the spectacular Petit Palais. A perfect spot for some morning relaxation and a light brunch! 🥰🥰

Maximising the time spent outdoor in the glorious weather, we also went picnicking back at Tuileries Garden by the Louvre as well as visiting the rooftop of Galeries Lafayette.

The most sophisticated supermarket packed lunch I have seen! 😆 (Love how the olive oil and vinegar came in a tube!) Also realised many of this packed lunches in Paris don’t include cutlery inside – so you need to buy your own one.

Another gelato snack – FYI stracciatella 🍫 and lemon 🍋 sorbet is a magnificent combo!

My bestie was heading back to London a day earlier than me, so after saying goodbye 👋 to her at Gare du Nord, I am running solo again for the rest of trip! My first stop was the famous red windmill of Moulin Rouge (after unknowingly wandered passed the red light district of Pigalle 😂🔞 probably won’t shared pics here in case people needed parental guidance haha! 🙈🙈)

I was initially planning to visit Le Petit Canard nearby in the area for the famous duck à l’orange, but unfortunately they were fully booked up (and also closed for the following day). 😔 So, I took the metro line and headed back to one of my favourites from last time – Le Comptoir de la Gastronomie! The onion soup was one of the best I ever had! 👌

And on my last day of my Paris stay (which coincided with Labour Day), I visited Marché Saint-Quentin and the Arc de Triomphe before taking Eurostar back to London. Somehow I gradually got a bit lost track of time and ended up being a bit of a mad dash home! (Typical! 😂)

Wandered around for a long time deciding what to eat in the market 😂 but went with this delicious Moroccan place in the end

How can you not try patisserie whilst in France?

Got the Fraisier and the passion fruit chocolate cake

A very quick sneaky visit to the president palace (hoping to meet Macron haha)- all the roads were blocked off with guards so that’s the best photo I could get 😅

Was running quite low on time and chowed down this duck à l’orange in under 5 minutes and ran to Gard du Nord for my train back to London! 🚄🚄

Day 2 in Vienna: The Earth is Round and so is Vienna

Guten Tag here from Vienna! After a less than ideal night of sleep (due to a combination of my jet leg and the hotness of the hotel room 😓), it was rise and shine, and ready to go for a day of sightseeing!

Breakfast buffet in the hotel – I am always amused by the amount of cheese available whenever I visit an European country 🧀🧀🧀

Hoping to recover from our bumpy ride yesterday, we devised a plan to visit all our interested points of attractions for the day with our first destination set to be Schönbrunn Palace – the summer residence to the royal family in Austria (which to me, it’s almost like an Austrian equivalent of the Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh 😂). I searched up the location and noticed it was within very close walking distance from the hotel. But only upon arrival do we realised that I misspelt it as “Schönborn Palace” and in fact the actual Schönbrunn Palace was much further away from we were! 🤦‍♂️ 🤦‍♂️ (MISTAKE NUMBER 1! ❌ )

Back on the underground, we went for the 24 hours daily train ticket (costing only €8) and finally arrived at Schönbrunn Palace after the minor delay. The place was just like one from a fairytale! ❤️❤️ We went with the grand tour around the palace, and I would love to show you the inside of it, but unfortunately the place bans any videoing or photography. One of my favourite places was the beautiful grand ballroom – imagine hosting a party in there! 🎉 🎉🎊🎊🎊 One could dream lol! 😂

360 degree view!

Lost in the majestical feel of this garden 🧚🏻‍♂️🧚‍♀️

For lunch, we then decided to head to Kim Kocht, a Korean fusion restaurant run by a celebrity chef featured on MasterChef Korea- a place I was much looking forward to going to. We then headed to Währinger Straße-Volksoper station, but thought we ended up at the wrong station due to a different location show on the maps app. 🤷‍♂️ We then changed a different train to Schwedenplatz to the said location, but then found out that the place is permanently closed! 😱😱 (Turned out we were at the correct station where the current restaurant is, but the maps app did not update about the closure of the old address! – Still I should have checked the address on the website first. MISTAKE NUMBER 2! ❌ 🤦‍♂️) In the end, we settled at Hard Rock Café nearby and filled up on a larger platter and rehydrated from all the walking.

We then continued onwards with our sightseeing, visiting the beautiful St. Stephen’s Cathedral and Mozarthaus before returning to the hotel for a short rest.

Mozarthaus (again no video or photography allowed inside unfortunately)

After feeling refreshed from my brief nap, we headed out again to the evening. Our destination for dinner was the futuristic Rollercoaster Restaurant inside a quiet fairground. In here, foods are ordered on an iPad and then delivered to the customers through a rollercoaster track! 🚄🚄 (Behold the future of food delivery! 😂👏👏) It was actually a bit noisy and scary when the food landed, plus the food was rather average (my friend got a burnt burger and I received some undercooked pasta…😐) However, I am sure the gimmick will be one to enjoy, especially with family and children.

Very futuristic!

BANG! Here comes your food! 💨

And finally to end the night, we visited Onyx Bar just opposite St. Stephen Cathedral. The night view of the cathedral was amazing and so were the cocktails! 😉🍸🥂🍹

Great nightview from the bar! 🌃

After the cocktails, my head is now truly spinning round lol! 😵

Three Days, Two Nights and Plenty of Foods

Hurray to me for finally being able to catch a break from work! 🙌🙌 For my week off, not only my mum is visiting me right now in London, but we were also able to make a city getaway trip to Bristol and Bath for the past three days and two nights.

Bristol and Bath are major tourist’s attractions in the UK, the latter especially for its historical significance. I actually visited both cities once before around two years ago, so this time was more of an opportunity for my mum to visit herself! 😛 However, why would I deny the offer of a getaway trip haha? 😂😂

Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel, where we stayed

Bristol was apparently the hometown of Banksy. Now, I got to confess I actually don’t know much about Banksy’s works, but street art is definitely a big part of the city wherever you wander.

I don’t know if any of these is by Banksy, but they sure do look amazing! ❤️

Our first stop for arrival was at Little Chinatown (sticking well and truly to our Asian roots lol…) The food wasn’t bad at all, but we did end up waiting for over half an hour before we were fed after they confused our orders with another table… 😡☹️ (and my mum was definitely not a happy woman by that point haha! 😅)

After the very filling lunch, we decided to go back to rest in the hotel room. (Our unlucky streak though continued when we went back to the hotel… The reception checked us into the wrong room TWICE! 😓) Having then recovered slightly from the food coma after a quick lap, we went for a stroll by the sunset 🌅 around the Bristol harbourside and had dinner in Za Za Bazaar, an international food buffet restaurant. Turned out to be a big mistake because we were both beyond stuffed afterwards! 🤢

On the second day, we decided to take the train from Bristol to Bath. It was a very short journey between the two cities, lasting just under 10 minutes! 🚂 The biggest two attractions in Bath are the Roman Baths and the Thermae Bath Spa (how could one not wonder where the name of the city came from lol!), but my mum was uninterested in either, so we decided to simply stroll around the city… 😗 (I have been to both places in my last visit and the Thermae Bath Spa was right up my street with their rooftop pool! 🏊‍♂️ The Roman Baths was nice to see for its history though with a very hefty ticket price…)

The other noticeable thing in Bath was its many pastry shops selling the traditional Cornish pasties. However, it seemed all the shops label their own Cornish pasties as ‘award winning’ or ‘best’, which made me sceptical about who to believe. 😅 Nonetheless, we did manage to sit down in one and had a taste of their Cornish pasty, but ended up falling in love instead with their Cornish pudding (which tasted like a custard-rich bread pudding to me. 😋)

The Cornish pudding on the right was absolutely delicious! 😍😍

Afterwards, we decided to head to the famous Pulteney Bridge by the river, bathing ourselves in the feelings of autumn. 🍂🍂

By Pulteney Bridge

And we decided to have one quick meal at a spicy noodle bar before jumping back onto the train back to Bristol! It was delicious! 😋😋

Beef Tripe Salad (top) and Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with Roasted Duck (bottom)

Our hotel stay came with a free use of the swimming pool and it was perfect to make up for my lack of spa time in Bath! 😁 (The odd thing was that the hotel’s fitness centre was located in a different building next door, so I needed to walk out the hotel’s entrance, cross the street with my towel and sandals and back lol.) I swear I could doze off there just by lying on the bench lol 😴😂 (Meanwhile, my mum was sound asleep in the hotel room haha! 💤 💤)

Relaxing by the pool 😎😎 (There was also a jacuzzi!)

As for dinner that day, we kept it easy and dined in the hotel’s restaurant before heading out and bought a bunch of ice creams back to the room! (My excuse- it was discounted in the supermarket! 😜)

We didn’t have much time on our final day in Bristol (as our bus was scheduled for the early afternoon), but we did manage to visit the university area and catch a good valued Italian lunch at Sergio’s before heading back to London! 🚌 (We didn’t quite manage to finish so we took the pasta away with us haha! 😂😂)

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… 😅)

Day 3: Tomb Raiders

It was a really warm day in Paris today with the temperature reached 38C in the afternoon! 🔥 🔥 Undeterred, I started my day early and visited the area around the Hôtel de Ville, and also dropped by for a look around and some food in the Bazar de L’Hôtel de Ville (a department store).

Following a suggestion made by one of my work colleagues, I next headed to Sainte-Chapelle, a chapel famous for its beautiful stained glass. They were absolutely breathtaking! 😮❤️❤️❤️ Being under 26 and from Europe, I was even able to skip the long queue! (Though I did ask a member of staff if UK still counts as part of Europe now despite the current political climate… 😂😂😂)

I also dropped by the Notre Dame which was nearby. Obviously the fire meant that it is now out of bound, but I still had the image of Quasimodo singing ‘Out There’ here from the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The feel~ 🎶🎶

Now, moving on to my main event today, which was to visit the Catacombs. This was the location all of my work colleagues who I spoke to recommended to go. To head there, I took the RER (the regional train) from Notre Dame. And the station entrance was an elevator hidden in a back alley!

The elevator takes you right down to the platform 😮

Setting the feel for the Catacombs, I was excited as soon as we arrived at the station gate. But as I dug my hand into my pockets, I noticed that my 3-day train ticket had gone missing! 😭 I searched all the pockets and my bag, and I could only conclude I must have dropped it somewhere earlier today. 😓 Could this be a bad omen…?

Nonetheless, I decided to head to the Catacombs first and worried about the journey back later. But my excitement was quite diminished when I saw the massively long queue outside the Catacombs entrance. 😱

I guess my stubbornness took over and I decided to queue regardless. The weather was burningly hot and I was directly under the sun. The queue was also moving at an extremely slow pace due to the Catacombs only being able to hold a maximum capacity of 200 people on top of visitors with fast passes being prioritised. Many people either gave up and those who remained like me gradually got exhausted and frustrated after standing in the heat for so long. 😣

In front of me stood a pair of brothers who came from America, and behind me there were an American girl (who I later found out is now studying in China) and her Chinese friend. After two hours of just glancing at each other and making only very small talks, we gradually shared the same dislike of the heat, and started to have many deep conversations. 😊 We chatted about where we were from, our general lives and shared how we were all here in Paris for holiday. (The older brother of the two boys told me the Catacombs was the attraction he wanted to visit the most which was why he was so adamant about queueing!) The brothers were planning to visit the Louvre with their parents tomorrow and the two friends will be going to see the Eiffel Tower – both had got tips from me after what I learnt yesterday! 😂 We even talked about American and European politics and so much more. 😁😆

Finally, after a ridiculous 4 and a half hours in the heat, we were finally let in to buy the tickets. 😩 But because of the capacity issue, we were let in gradually: the brothers went ahead, followed by me in a few minutes, and the two friends weren’t long after me. The five of us though were able to meet back down underground and we explored the Catacombs together! 😁 We were literally laughing and joking around like old friends that have known for many years not mere hours. I felt so blessed by the company! ❤️

Honestly, I couldn’t imagine how one could possibly walk alone here with all these skeletons around! 💀💀💀 It was a damn creepy place! (And hopefully I won’t be getting nightmares tonight…) But, with my new friends, this was one fun adventure underground that I would really missed! 😆😆 I was so sad when I had to say goodbyes to these people who I just happened to cross paths today. 😔 (The brothers both shook my hand when I left.) I wondered had we all met in different circumstances, would things be any different? (I did ended up bumping into the brothers again though when they struggled to find their way back to the entrance of the Catacombs where their parents were to met them – the exit was a whole street away from it, so I helped them to find their way back! 😂)

To finish my day, I visited a patisserie shop called Thevenin nearby, and I literally just made it in time before it closed.

I bought the raspberry & chocolate entremet and also the passion fruit, mango and coconut entremet. The latter was absolutely scrumptious! 😋 I also got some unexpected delicious Chinese takeaways from a restaurant just a few shops down, and I could tell you I devoured everything when I got back into the hotel room! 😂

Day 2: Midnight in Paris

Bonjour to another day in Paris! Having finally recovered from the food coma yesterday, I was up early raring to go out and explore. My first stop was to get some breakfasts from a bakery, called Du Pain et des Idées, which my friend had recommended. I chose their chausson à la pomme fraîche, which is an apple pastry. I also used this opportunity to practice my KS3 French, and I thought I did a pretty good job. That was until the server immediately answered me with English… 😅

Moving on to my next stop which was the Louvre, I decided to take the metro line there. To be honest, I was initially a bit nervous about taking the metro but it turned out to be just as straightforward as taking the underground tube in London. Directions were very easy to follow as long as you followed the signs and more importantly they have air con! (For those of you who don’t know, London underground has no air condition and can be as hot as a sauna in the summer…)

When I did arrive at the Louvre, I was taken aback by how long the queue was. (Okay, I did expect there would be a queue, but this took queuing to another level!) Looking around the place to buy a ticket, I ended up being told that tickets were only available online and all the tickets for entry today were sold out! 😭 (I think my lack of thorough research is showing…) However, I did have a great walk around outside. 😉 The temperature wasn’t too bad and it was very easy to duck back into the mall shall it get too hot. 😅

For lunch today, I decided to visit another restaurant that my friend recommended, called Le Comptoir de La Gastronomie. The restaurant appeared to be very well known and popular in Paris, especially their foie gras dishes. As a fan of foie gras, this place was one not to be missed by me.

Pan-Seared Foie Gras with Gingerbread and Mixed Leaf Salad

As the reviews suggested, I was not disappointed! 😋 The ceviche was very refreshing with the lime and was very appetising. The foie gras though was absolute the star of the show as it was cooked perfectly and accompanied very well with the lightness of the salad. I was pleasantly surprised by the gingerbread as it actually worked rather well with the rest of the dish. 😊 After lunch, I took a stroll around a shopping mall nearby (to walk off the calories lol) and went back to the hotel for a quick nap before heading out again for the evening.

After a brief visit to the famous arc, I decided my main activity tonight was to visit the Eiffel Tower. It wasn’t much of a long walk from there, and I was very much looking forward to seeing the whole view of Paris from the tower. I went for the cheapest ticket which required me to take the stairs up rather than using the lift.

How long do I still need to walk…? 😭😨🏃‍♂️

There are a restaurant and some shops on the first floor. I was going to eat at the restaurant when I came down, but it was closed by then… 😕

Not going to lie, my legs were absolutely shaking as I walked up to the first floor. 😖 The gusts of wind blowing against me did not help one bit at all. (I was constantly worried that I would end up dropping my phone 😰…) I was sweating so much (mainly from nerves) that I needed to take a seat down on the first floor before continuing…

I didn’t know if it was because I got some practices or I was just suddenly filled with adrenaline, but the walk to the second floor felt a lot easier. And if you were able to conquer this fear of height like me, the views from there were absolutely breathtaking! 😮❤️❤️ (I took some videos too, you can see those from my Instagram!)

I was starving by the time I got back to the hotel though, so ended up eating a cheese-and-ham toastie (though a very subpar one… 😂) at the bar at 1am! And honestly, it felt nice to be on the ground again! 😂