Part 1: London

Hello wello, I'll be doing some travelogues with 5 parts. Traveling with my mother. Part 1: London, Part 2: Luxembourg, Part 3: Ghent, Part 4: Amsterdam and Part 5: Edinburgh (zoo). It's always so nice to have pictures and words jotted down on my blog and it also helps me remember the good times I had traveling with my mother! 

We went down to London for 3 nights and 4 days! Took a plane from Aberdeen and that took us 1 hour and 15 minutes where we reached Heathrow and took a tube to our hotel which was centrally located in Notting Hill. Will not recommend the hotel though, it was supposedly a 3 star hotel but really it felt like half a star. The room was so tiny, after all our shopping, we didn't really had room to walk about either and the toilet could fit just one person. The only good thing about the hotel was the location and I was thankful for the location really. The thing is we went for our trip in London on the last week of the Olympics. This is what happens when you don't keep up with what's happening in the world, Amelia. I didn't find out that it was the end of Olympics till 1 week before our trip and by then it was too late to do anything. I was wondering why the hotels were all fully booked and were so expensive! zzz

Anyway, since it is my seventh trip to London so far and my mom's third, we skipped all the touristy things to do and only focused on two things. Shopping and eating. Two of my favourite things to do. I am so happy that I was able to bring my mother to London with me. I love London, I like the hustle and bustle of the city, I like the tube, I like the variety of food that we find in London. London is great. Even when there is a little too much people there sometimes.

OOTDs. I'm wearing a Jane Norman Top and a HnM denim skirt.

The weather was really hot when we were there and I must say, we were extremely lucky for that! There was not a drop or rain and I could go everywhere without a jacket which made things a lot easier. I hate it when we have to carry a jacket around cause the weather can't make up it's mind whether it wants to be warm or cold!

My mother with the Olympic mascot thing! haha

 No trip to London would be complete without a stop at Abeno Too, an Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancake) place situated just opposite the Leicester Square tube station! There is another branch somewhere else but I've always only been to this place. I will always have Fauzi to thank for recommending this place.

My mother and I shared a large Okonomiyaki filled with Salmon and Bacon and Cheese and topped off with noodles to make it a proper filling meal. Along with the meal, my mother ordered a plum cocktail while I had some roasted barley tea. The meal was oh-so-good and also, always very entertaining to watch your okonomiyaki being made in front of you.  Some ladies sitting beside us ordered gyoza and they looked amazing, I will have them the next time I make a trip down to London again! :)

Some sandals I bought from Dorothy Perkins because the weather was too warm for my leather flats!

OOTD. Top from Urban Outfitters and Denim skater skirt from TopShop Petite. I am SO inlove with this skirt. It is perfect. Only thing about it that I can fault is that isn't heavy enough so that when the wind comes, the skirt isn't weighed down. Instead it flies up and hmm.... so I always have to be careful when wearing this skirt.

 Another place that I do like to frequent when I am in London is The Breakfast Club which is situated near Oxford Circus. Again, I have Fauzi to thank for recommending this place and I have been there many of times. Once I had the stack of pancakes topped with ham and eggs and drowned in maple syrup. That, was a pancake to remember definitely and other times, I usually go for their big vegetarian breakfast only because I am a veggie sausage fiend. Hehe.

This time though, I tried their Egg's Benedict. I've never actually tried Egg's benedict. Which I think is pretty odd seeing as I love eggs and I love, absolutely adore, english muffins. Oh, and I like ham too. I think I would have loved egg's benedict if there wasn't any Hollondaise sauce. I really do not like that stuff I found out on this trip. I think it is the sourness in the sauce that really puts me off. I wonder if it would be possible to request an Egg's Benedict without any sauce....... lol. Other than that, I can say that the dish was really nice. My mother on the other hand, had a bacon and egg bap which isn't very interesting but I suppose the bacon was cooked very nicely and the coffee is good too!

One of the days, for Brunch, we went to Yauatacha, which is a 1 michelin starred DimSum restaurant! It is situated in Soho and I booked in advance for my mother and I to try it for brunch! Interesting facts of this restaurant. It is owned by the same man who came up with WagaMama and Busaba Eathai restaurant chains and also the very popular Hakkasan restaurant in London!

Here are some of the dishes we had that day and I must say, there were all very, very delicious. Also, the restaurant was packed! So I think you would definitely require a reservation in order to dine there. 

3 kinds of mushroom cheong fun. The texture of this cheung fun was definitely very very interesting. There was all these different flavours from all the different mushrooms used in this dish and the soy sauce complimented the dish perfectly. The cheung fun skin was also made to perfection as you can see in the picture, how smooth and silky it looks. :)

Xiao Long Baos which was filled with crabmeat and pork. The broth inside these little parcels of delight were just heavenly. Teamed with some black vinegar, it really made our bellies very happy.

Pumpkin croquettes. These were very lovely, inside was a lovely mixture of pork and pumpkins and there were just divine! The skin was made with some sort of glutinous flour so it was very Q but still very crispy! No regrets here :P 

The other dish that we ordered was congee with roast duck and it was so, freaking good. I've never actually had congee with roast duck so that was a first. It was a very pleasant brunch and we definitely enjoyed our meal. It wasn't too costly as well and the meal definitely kept us full for a while.

One of the days, we headed to Westfield to do some shopping. I love Boost Juice (they originate from Australia) but I found them when I was in Macau once and ever since I have felt in love with their concoctions. Once of my all time favourites is the breakfast-to-go one! Anyway, ever since I discovered Boost Juice in Westfield, I always make a point to go there to grab a large portion of juice.

That day in Westfield was very productive anyway, in terms of shopping. My mother and I managed to snag a couple of bags as well as a whole bunch of make-up and skin care. It was good. Then the juice just made it better. Hehe

After which, we decided to check out Burger & Lobster, a restaurant in Mayfair that only served 3 items on their menu and all came with the price of £20. The three items were: lobster (either steamed (or boiled, I can't remember) or grilled), a lobster roll (lobster meat in kewpie mayo with a little lemon served in a buttered bread) or a beef burger. All three items comes with fries, a large protion of fries and a little tub of garlic butter. My mother chose the grilled lobster while I chose the lobster roll  because I am a lazy bum and I cannot be bothered with picking out the meat from the lobster. Hehe.

The meal was VERY VERY satisfying and I know that my mother loved and enjoyed her lobster very much. The way I see it, the most value for money is definitely the Lobster and if you're good with your crustaceans, then by all means, please order the lobster! The beef burger also looked very appetizing! hehe.

That was basicially our London trip summed up. Like I said, we didn't do much besides eating and shopping. On our last day, we took our morning to have a long brunch filled with wa tan ho and very very lovely roasted duck at Noodles Oodles, a restaurant on Bayswater. (also recommended by Fauzi! haha) and then we took a taxi to Heathrow to catch our plane to Luxembourg! 

It has been one of my dreams to be able to walk the streets of London with my mother and I am so happy we got the chance to do that. I love that both of us went crazy in M.A.C and TopShop and I really love that we both appreciate food and shopping. I am definitely my mother's daughter ;) and you can totes see it in us. HEHE. 

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed reading this post and stay tuned for my next chapter of traveling with mother. Part 2 (and possibly Part 3), Luxembourg and Ghent! 

Lots of love,

Amelia.