Europe - The JJ Twins!

December 25, 2024December 31, 2024

London Dec 2024 (7th – 18th Dec)

#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.

All visibly tired but glad to have arrived in one piece!

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!

Getting acquainted with M&S and the Bakery!

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! 🙂

Along the Mall outside Buckingham Palace

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.

Hintze Hall at the British Natural History Museum.

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!

Look who’s here? Mr Rowan Atkinson himself!

The Brats staking out the Bratwurst store which seems to be a staple at every Christmas Market!

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!

*Four Seasons Chinatown, 12 Gerrard Street Chinatown London*

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.

*Gotta love the Christmas deco/holly decked out across the plane during Christmas time!*

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!

December 30, 2023December 31, 2024

Europe Dec 2023 (19th – 29th Dec)

Us kids had been waiting a super long time for this trip, first planned circa July in the year, finally the day arrived (more like night since we took a night flight out to get into Europe in the morning)!

Nice festive decor at Changi!

Soon it was departure time!

SQ324 from SIN to AMS.

Daddy get some serious Priority Passenger Service treatment!

Check out the SQ bears (chef edition, this time round we get both the boy and the girl versions!).

Flight time was 14 hours thereabouts headed from SIN to Amsterdam, but seemed a little shorter (13 hours from Paris back to SIN).
What do we do but the obvious!

Day 2

Zaanse Schans village with traditional windmills, clog making and cheese making factory.

Clog Making at Volendam!

Madurodam, little miniature village with some rides and Dutch history.
Miffy! Did you know Miffy is Dutch!

Pretty much hang around the Amsterdam main shopping belt around Dam Square.

Eagle-eyed Mummy spots Primark, her fav go-to in Europe! We have dinner near Dam Square after walking past some shops selling magic mushrooms (who thought there would be magic mushrooms outside of Super Mario Land!) and space cakes!

Manneken Pis (yes like the little boy from Brussels) – voted #1 fries in Holland.

Who needs space cakes and magic mushroom when you have the best fries!

Day 3
We take it easy a little today since everyone was trying to adjust to local time, and after day yesterday!

We headed went back to the Dam Square and have some time shopping for souvenirs, tulips, clogs and the likes. There was the option to visit Anne Frank’s house which we passed on since tickets had to be prebooked ahead (The Diary of Anne Frank, which is apparently the most translated Dutch book in the world!).

Take a canal cruise and get off at Gassan Diamonds to visit the gallery. It was interesting to see intricate canal system and boat houses in Amsterdam.

Day 4
Today, we travel to the busy port town of Rotterdam. We see the De Verwoeste Stad, a sculpture by Ossip Zadkine which commemorates the bombing of Rotterdam during World War II, marvel at the innovative Cube Houses, a unique housing project that survived the war.

Next, visit Markthal Rotterdam, the country’s 1st covered market that features 96 fresh produce stalls and 20 hospitality and retail units on the 2 lowest floors. Designed by Dutch architects, this covered food market is shaped like a giant arch. A staircase in the centre of the market, named the Time Stairs, displays a permanent exhibition about the history of food and artefacts found during the excavation of the site. In the afternoon, we travel to Roermond designer outlet, close to the German border.

We spend a couple of hours there, had lunch and then drive a further 1.5hr to Cologne to see one of the most fascinating old towns in the country. We reach late in the evening and headed straight for dinner at a traditional German bierhaus (Didi says he has space cakes in Amsterdam and now beer in Germany – like Orion beer factory in Okinawa!) thereafter check in to our hotel, the Mercure Koln.

Okinawa, Japan (Dec 2015)

Day 5
The next morning we explore Koln town, mainly around Cologne Cathedral, a gem of Gothic architecture and one of Germany’s most visited landmarks. While Daddy, Mummy, Gugu, Yeh Yeh and Mah Mah (pretty much everyone else had been there in the past) it was the first time they were visiting around Christmas.

Lighting Candles inside Cologne Cathedral

There was a Christmas market adjacent to the cathedral, Weihnachtsmarkte Koln, bustling with stalls from souvenirs fashion and food for the last minute Christmas shopper. Daddy says the brats have bratwurst and crap (actually it was creppe!) and choco fondue and some warm ribena milk thingy which is supposedly warm wine which folks sip while strolling around the market (we find out they gave us the zero alcohol version but of course burps!). There was even a some stage performances. Really like pasar malam style…

We turn travel 5 hours south-West towards Reims via the Belgian border. Mummy gives us 30mins game time during this time.

In the evening we went to another bierhaus. Even though Reims is in France it’s proximity to Germany meant we (oops the adults) would likely get some good beer!

Mummy wanted to get escargots but in the end we went with beef stew and more fish and chips, obviously with beer to boot!

After dinner we took a stroll along the French Christmas market at Reims just a stone’s throw away from restaurant and our hotel.

Day 6
We headed out towards Epernay, Champagne region and visited Maison Mercier, one of the largest and longest Champagne houses (since 1858!) in France. We took a tour down into their cellars 30m below ground, and a 30min train ride around the sprawling 18km network of tunnels in the underground labyrinth. Whee!

Mummy bought some bubbly, her happy drink! We find out they are the same family as Dom Perignon, Moet Henessey, Krug having been acquired by LVMH since 1987. At 20 Euros a pop daddy had been mumbling the whole way to the airport we should’ve bought more!

2 hours later we get into Paris city.
We embarked on a city tour and immerse in some of the most iconic sights of this timeless city – Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees (shop dou nei sei) Boulevard and Eiffel Tower. Thereafter, we check out Fragonard Perfume Museum, one of the largest perfumeries in France, and indeed, it also happens to be an awesome place to purchase exclusive French scents that won’t break the bank. We get the best-selling Etoile (made of Ginger, Bergamot and Apple), Frivole and Diament. FYI #funfact, did you know that perfume came about because one of the French kings, King Louis XIV was so terrified to bathing they he forced court officials to create a new scent every week and said to spray his visitors with perfume upon entering his palace. He was said to have had only 2 baths in his adult life – both occasions recommended by his doctors! OMG… I don’t need to be a doctor to tell you bathing is good for you!

We walked towards the Louvre.

We spend the rest of the day at Galeries LaFayette where mummy gets a new bag as Christmas pressie!

Day 7 – Merry Christmas!
We hang out around Paris City on Christmas morning, and take a river cruise along the Seine. There is a point in which we see both the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty! The original apparently since the one in New York was a gift to America.

We go scouting for Chinese food after setting for McDonalds the night before!

Day 8
Next morning we get up early to head to Paris Disneyland. We take the train past Gare du Nord to Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy station about 45 mins away. From there it was a short 2 min stroll to the gates of what was supposedly the happiest place on earth.

We have a super early breakkie but when we were about to leave, we spot Yeh Yeh, Mah Mah and Gugu having breakfast!

We skip the character meets and go straight to the rides. First up was Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride. All aboard! Ahoy mate and who do we see but Captain Jack Sparrows!

We find the Indiana Jones roller coaster ride. Mummy chickens out halfway in the queue and ditches us. We take the first car and daddy’s right behind. At the end of the ride we were blown away. Whoa this was our biggest roller coaster ride thus far!

Mickey and Minnie Mouse in Euro Disneyland!

Dumbo!

It was such a cold day to be out queuing for rides in the open, seems our old man caught a chill. At which point we thought it wouldn’t be worth queuing up anymore for rides so we paid for the Express/Fast Pass for the Buzz Lightyear ride, at 12 euros a pop per pax it seems OK to escape queuing in the cold. Poor Daddy. Slept like a log all day when we got home to nurse the cold.