travel: london & reading

its the weekend!! what are you guys up to? we're going to drink martinis by the pool!!! :)

we crashed over in song's apartment in central london for one night ala student style, grubby bathrooms, kebabs but so-fast-you-can-download-tv-drama-internet connection! all so we can shop the next day yayyy! thanks dad!!! :) the girls headed our separate ways to covent garden. it has the cutest selection of shops! we found the cutest toys from urban outfitters!! i love that place! :)

just breezed into an inconspicuous shoe shop and found out that my favorite ballet slipper brand, bloch, is following the footsteps of repetto and making street-friendly ballerina flats! very comfy and pretty colours! i can hardly live without my heels but they make very easy in-between shoes! loves them! no blisters yet!!


really pretty cute store.. scored some fun acrylic rings for the girls..


tons of calories.. but it really spoke to me...


mum loved the al fresco chairs and the sun! :)

met for lunch at clos maggiore with the boys and lunched under canopy of manicured dogwood. the outside looks like just any other townhouse in covent garden but once you step in, i was swept away by the details of the decor. there were a few sections in the small restaurant, we sat in the gardeny, romantic and quirky section, next to the flying pig.


hard to take romantic shots if your brother and mum wants in on every picture.

the inside of the restaurant even prettier with cascading cherry blossoms and mirrored walls! wow!! next time i guess!


the food was interesting but a little too avant garde. but the dessert, OMG, was the bomb. i had poached peach!


mum reckons an additional component should be added to wine sampling. song proves their wines are all rounders.. no seriously though, their wines and cheese selection was superb.

we sent dad back with shopping and headed to oxford circus. 



apparantly where the queen shops.. i fell in love with their apothecary jars-full of coloured candy. bought some lemon bonbons for the wedding here!! the packaging here is amazing!! :)

then hopped onto the train back home to reading, where the kids were waiting for an evening of movies and sumptious dinner of si yao gai gai (soy sauce chicken). just what my weary tummy needed to reset.


and exchanged some rome souveniers from their earlier travels.. *sigh*


and finally unpacked some boxes and found some scrubs for tengsy.

so hot! :)