#The Twins go to London!
The Twins hit London!
At Changi Singapore to catch SQ308 from SIN – LHR, at almost 14hours this would be our longest flight thus far! We were originally planning to be back by the 18th Dec 2024 which was when Secondary School Postings for 2025 would be announced, but had we known we didnt have to ballot to our dream schools we would have either gone later, and/or extended our trip!
Arrived in late afternoon to some really turbulent weather into Heathrow – the last 15mins or so before touchdown was particularly rocky, some of the pax were visibly shaken and heard coughing violently – likely sick from the bumpy ride (we know jolly well how that felt like!). For now everyone was glad to have arrived after the long flight. Cleared relatively quickly thanks to the fast clearance for *G in Heathrow.
Weather was wet and cold, London was facing some really strong gale winds that day (we later heard about the culprit Storm Darragh that hit, causing widespread disruption to flights and ferry services).
We were literally blown away on arrival, due to the gale force winds, thankfully we got to our apartment in one piece! This would have been our first holiday in a rental apartment which we found available through the almost 2 weeks of our time in a nicely tucked away corner in South-East London.
Compton House.
We were so tired arriving in (traffic in London is horrendous!) to the apartment after almost an hour and a half from LHR. Alas, a nice respite and a home away from home.
Hit the sack early to recover – weather still looking wet and dreary the next morning (Sunday), so typical of London; but we didn’t allow that to dampen nor thwart our plans! We take it easy and hang out at M&S, Tesco Express (and Extra!) along with Sainsbury to get acquainted with the surroundings, and setup the Christmas tree! Oh we did also binge watch “Is it Cake?” and got acquainted with the “Paddington” series on Netflix!
On Monday we made our way to Green Park tube station via Bond Street en route to Buckingham Palace to catch the changing of guards (happens only 11am Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays – a ceremony marking the official handover of duties from one group of soldiers to another). It seems there are different guards/uniforms for summer/winter months (along with different music accompaniment. Check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Guard) so that day we were able to catch the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (complete with their Household Cavalry brass band in tow).
Fun fact – Daddy says when the flag is up, the King is in! 🙂
Pro-tip, go in at least 45mins before and stakeout the ‘roundabout’/circular landing (Queen Victoria Memorial Monunent) for best vantage views if you’re at Buckingham Palace. Note also there are changing of guards at St. James Palace. Once that was all done, we walked around St. James Park (saw many friendly squirrels who seems ‘accustomed’ to visitors trying to feed/pat them!), and covered a far bit of the gardens while making our way to Westminster Abbey, past Big Ben, north along Parliament Street to see 10 Downing Street, Household Cavalry Museum (Royal Horse Guards) ending at Trafalgar Square (Charing Cross station).
We spotted a super cute Peppa Pig Afternoon Tea Bus Tour on the way!
We finished up the day completing upwards of 10,000 steps (follow our trail below)!
Finishing up at Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross Station…
Tuesday
Next day, onto Oxford Circus – saw @HarmonieLondon outside John Lewis Oxford Street.
Headed to Covent Garden Apple Market and Christmas Markets.
Enjoyed some entertainment from some good ‘ol street buskers – fire/torch jugglers, some half-naked men juggling knives while balancing on a ladder, street soccer performer, and many aspiring singers!
Oh yes, we also bumped into the Grinch in the subway on the way back (reminiscent of The Horseman Pianist we chanced upon in the subway/MTR in Hong Kong)!
Wednesday
What a hearty brekkie whipped up by the J-crew! Our very own (Hilton-worthy) hot breakfast.
British Heritage Museum / Natural History Museum featuring a cool earthquake simulator / room with a mockup of a Kobe supermarket amidst the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Checkout the vid below.
Famous British Fish and Chips – The Fish Plaice (also found on the London Guide Daddy made us read up on prior to the trip).
We tried the Cod and Haddock fish, but truth be told, the Halibut @ Small Fish & Big Fish in Singapore is so much better (below 1 week after getting home)!
Thursday
British Museum (skeletons of dino).
Bayswater Duck – the famed Four Seasons and Gold Mine. We settled for Gold Mine this time as YYMM were there just May this year and had some great reviews on the duck.
After a very late lunch, we head to Harrod’s at Knightsbridge.
Friday
Next day, we head out on our own to Tottenham Court Road, we check out London’s West End Tickets – sprawled around Leicester Square (TodayTix, Leicester Square Half Price Box Office, but eventually settle for Mrs Doubtfire for Sunday’s matinee via TKTS. Never buy full-fee musical tix in London!
Walked around the Leicester Square Christmas Markets, checked out the really huge Lego Store on Leicester (we made our very own personalized miniature Lego figurines) and visited the ‘world’s largest’ M&Ms store (have you ever seen another M&M store this huge)? Dig the M&M’s on steroids!
Around the corner to the world’s largest M&Ms store @ Leicester Square, spanning 35,000 square feet across four floors.
Lego store at Leicester Square!
Personalizing our own Lego Figurines…
Strolled around Chinatown.
Rode the tube to Paddington Station.
On the platform where the bear donning a red hat and blue coat first arrived, fresh off the boat (or train) from Peru!
Saturday
Next day had some really glorious weather. Went back with YYMMGG to (guess where?!) Tottenham Court again, Chinatown, Leicester Square Christmas Markets and had more Chinese food in Chinatown! Walking around we couldn’t help notice there was a lot of horse poop along the streets. Looked like the police horse had a bad case of diarrhoea from last night’s dinner! yikes!
Sunday
Sunday, we take it easy and head to Spitalfields Markets (via Liverpool Street Station). Note – pronounced “Spiitafields, not Spite-a-fields!”.
Rushed back to Tottenham Court Rood and made a dash to Shaftesbury Theatre for Mrs. Doubtfire. We had underestimated the time to get to the theatre from Spitalfields (having had lunch at the markets and finding our way back to Liverpool St. Station via a different route!), consequently super worried about missing, or being locked out (if late) for our 3.30pm matinee! Thank God we literally made it in the nick of time – our guide who got us to the right exits and straight on to Shaftesbury!
We finish up the day playing Monopoly with Daddy.
“Who comes to London having not played the original Monopoly”?
And so we get acquainted with Liverpool St. Station, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street (Marylebone Station!) and the infamous Parklane and Mayfair both of which were mine before Daddy and Didi landed on got bankrupt!!!
Monday
Sky Garden observatory at the 43rd floor of the Fenchurch building (aka the Walkie-Talkie), a 10min walk from Liverpool St. Station.
Dazzling views across London far as the eye could see (pictured below the HMS Belfast with The Shard in the foreground).
Walk along London Bridge (humming a familiar tune?) towards Burrough Markets. We even saw a stall selling Singapore Laksa!
Bade farewell to YYMMGG, continued on our own… back to our fav spot Tottenham Court via Piccadilly Circus, walked to Leicester Square and back, checked out some shops – Foyles Bookstore, Flying Tiger (which we saw in Amsterdam last year!) and more street performers!
…had Five Guys for dinner (Mummy had her fav. Pret A Manger)…
by the way did you know Five Guys has the best chips (or “fries”, depending on where you’re from)? Apparently cooked in peanut oil (sorry all you peanut intolerant peeps), and… they even have crates loads of ground nuts free for all – with a note however that says only for consumption within Five Guys restaurants only (yeah right!)…
Lola’s 🙂
The next day was time to head home… it was a morning flight and because it took >1 hour to Heathrow we had to leave by 5am. At LHR it was pretty long walk from the main terminal (A gate to B38-B44). Take note the (newly renovated) SilverKris Lounge is closer to the B gate area and will take a good 15 mins walk at least from the main area!
Getting settled into SQ 305 for our flight back to SG.
For now, we’re super glad to be home, thanks for joining us on this journey and Merry Christmas everyone from the Christmas Carnival @ Leicester Square!
