December 27, 2016 – CinqeMinte

My last day with my family was spent in London (of course). Xinyi went to Stockholm so it was just the 4 of us this time.
Honestly, I just want to cherish every moment of it and I can remember every event we went through. Waking up in the morning, we had breakfast at the hotel. After which, we went to my hostel to bring back the luggage we left on Day 1. Staying there with my family for the last time was kinda hard haha, and I then brought them to the place where I usually do my grocery shopping – ASDA.
We combed the place section by section, row by row. At the start, it was really exciting to show them what I would buy and what they can bring back to Singapore, but as the number of rows decrease after time, my heart got heavier as I know the time to leave North Acton is getting near. We spent 60 pounds for this shopping though, omg!
Had lunch at the ASDA cafe before we head down to Westfield Shopping Center. Quite a nice place with a few high end shops here and there. However, there is nothing much to buy. We then walked to the police station to file a second report before we headed over to Marble Arch for our lobster dinner at Lobster and Steak.

The best dinner I ever had is in London. This Lobster and Steak meal is SO good! Every lobster or steak set is 20 pounds, which includes the main (Lobster or Steak) , salad and unlimited fries. The lobster and steak are SO DELICIOUS! We really enjoyed the meal and we chatted merrily hahaha!
After dinner, we then went back to the hotel for some last packing before we had our last night in London.

The day came and I solemnly brought them to the airport. Carrying the luggages down 3 levels of stairs and lugging them through the one hour tube to Heathrow were hard, but nothing was harder than sitting down at Costa Coffee with the family for our last breakfast. They began to remind me that I am gonna miss home and CNY, asking me to take care pf myself while I am in London and all. I remembered every word they said and I will keep them close in my heart to keep me warm through this lonely winter.
After the breakfast, we walked to the departure gates. I hugged them and we had a flurries of saying goodbyes, as if trying to compete who would bid the last goodbye. I won, and they finally went in. My heart sank. The airport staff was watching us and she was really nice to let me hang around there for awhile to pick myself up. “Was that your father, mother and sister?” She asked. I nodded and I turned back. Walking to the tube was really hard, I watched the number of devices connected to my personal hotspot drop to zero and I know that they are gone. I stopped to tear a little before continuing to walk.
As I was in the tube, I got a messenger call from my family. They showed me that they are already in the plane and told me how they were chasing for it until the airport staff gave them a ride on the airport cleaning vehicle. Hahaha! So funny! But yep, seeing them well and happy made me really satisfied. I did my best to give them a trip to remember and they did their best to warm me up for the next six months too. Thank you, family!

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After a week with the Lim family, I finally met my own family. The most look forward to trip is one that you can feel fully at home. When I saw my family, I was so excited that I began chatting non-stop to them about London! But I can feel them getting really tired from the jetlag on the first few days and it kind of made me 心痛 a little!

The london stretch spanned across four days and I brought them to Trifagar Square, London Eye, Tower Bridge and several touristic places cause they have not been there before. Pity that the weather was foggy but at least they managed to capture a view that they have wanted to see!

Brought my family to my hall in North Acton to show them my living conditions and also explain to them my lifestyle during exchange and was really happy that they are more 安心 cause I have been living really well:) I brought Xinyi’s family to birmingham too and as I explain to Xinyi’s mum about her life in Birm, I could see her smiling and feeling rather satisfied to have sent her daughter for this exchange. It’s a nice feeling and I am starting to know better on how a parent will be feeling haha!

Got to try a lot of food that I have never eaten before in London so far due to the cost. One of such is Spanish tapas at Jamon Jamon! I felt guilty for not being able to bring them to Spain so I decided to get the deal on Groupon:) Thankfully, they love the meal a lot and they asked me to bring them back again if we are out of food options😁

Thanks to Novia and Kenneth, I knew that Starbucks cards are free to take in Europe and I brought my sis around to collect the different designs! Turned out to become our favourite hobby in this trip as we go around hunting for the cards every time we walk past a starbucks. #shameless

Went to the platform 9&3/4 but I have to say that it was too touristy that the queue to take the photo was about 2 hours long?! Gave up queuing and went to Camden instead. Kind of happy to also meet Xinyi’s family for 2 meals – Duck Confit burger at Southbank Market and chinese meal at Goldmine. Glad that the meals turn out well and the two families are able to talk casually to each other! Marriage is a lot easier next time HAHAHA! On a side note, Goldmine is really overrated and I suggest people to pay a little more and eat at For Seasons instead. And the tip to eat at Four Seasons is to order white rice for one pax and ask for refill (it’s more worth the money as one pax of rice costs £3.20 but it comes with free refill)

We also tried out Duck & Waffles and I would say that the view up there is amazing but you have to book 2 months in advance to get a nice timing! We got a slot for 5 people at 7pm! The food are expensive but their sauce tasted really well. Xinyi and I have cooked something similar to the chicken dish before and it is definitely not easy to do so:) one restaurant off the bucket list yay! Now left with Burger and Lobs! Anyone coming over to London, jio pls!

Winter Wonderland is overpriced but it is still worth a visit in the night! The Christmas lightings are really nice and the festive mood is there when we were there jostling with the crowds:) Advise to not take the rides cause they are a waste of money but I heard the £5 churros are good, so it might be worth a try!