This is my 2nd time within 5 years visited London... still love it.. great weather and great food... yea.. don't doubt with what i just said.. that was what i exactly experienced... london is amazing... and i am lucky to enjoy the best part of it...
Summary of my 4 days trip
9/18 day 1
Arrived Heathrow around 11am.. glad we are no longer need visa to go london.. easy passed thru the custom. Thought i should watch my budget and decided to take tube to the hotel... Piccadilly blue line to Piccadilly and transfer Central red line to Oxford Circus (ps. i regret it afterwards... too heavy to carry my big luggage ups and downs, only suggest ppl do it if have "man"power or with small carry-on)... as for tube fare, suggest to get day trip ticket it's GBP 5.60 for unlimited bus and tube till 4:30 am everyday.
Finally, after half an hr of tube ride, i arrived my hotel, No.5 Maddox St , i would say it's more like a service apt than a hotel, with nice size kitchen...
After checked in, tried to catch Portobello saturday market (central line to Notting Hill Gate), browsing along the street, went into a random fish n' chip shop, George and realized it's also a well known fav. shop for Jamie Oliver~~~delicious ~~~ the crispy skin with amount of flour and the fish is super fresh... after satisfied my tummy... took a detour to Westbourne St and Ledburry St, where has brand name boutiques.. love one of the organic lifestyle store, daylesford, if have some free time, could take a break from long walking and sip a cup of english tea at the shop, on the way home, purchase some organic bread and dinning accessories for souvenir.. :) after some contemporary market shopping, went back to Portobello, got spotted as designer when i was bargaining for 2 vintage bags... end up.. the merchant, Dimasi is a big vintage bag whole-seller, who provide inspiration bags for Chloe, Lanvin, D&G etc... we exchanged contact and made an appt the next day to visit the showroom...
Tube back to Bond st. and check out Selfridges and Browns ... ahhhhh GBP is too strong.. i can't even afford anything i want there.... :(
ps. on New Bond St. right across Browns, they also have Browns outlet..
9/19 day 2
Concierge sent a giant basket of bakery for breakfast, after a quick bite, get ready for the day....
Took Central Line to Liverpool and visit funky market at Brick Lane on the way to brick lane will pass thru another small market Spitalfield market for local designer stuff. Lunch time head over to Covent Garden/ Jubilee Market (central line to Covent Garden), a semi indoor market hall with bunch of restaurants and craft shops. Still have time before my appt w Dimasi, head over to another market Camden (northern line to Camden Town), it's really not my type of market, too much like 西門町 but it's fun to walk around...
at 3:30 pm, went back to Portobello to Dimasi's office... he brought out at least 10 boxes of vintage bags for me to pick.. too bad it was end of his selling, didn't get to see the best of best... but still, i bought about 15 bags from him for work (please stay tune with my future design collection...:p)
After 2 days of walking, my legs feels no longer mine... craving for hot asian food, luckily, our hotel is not too far from C-town. went have some light food at this Taiwanese stall forgot the name (4 macclesfield street)
That night, since i had unlimited pass, decided to take bus for a Tower Bridge nite tour (London seems doesn't have bus map, better check before go) end my day wandering in a quite nite at Tower Bridge
9/20 day 3
Pretty much used up my london shopping budget yesterday for all the vintage bags. Trying to figure out what should do today... chat online w friend and decided to go for high tea in the afternoon and visit London Design Festival sites.. first went to Knightsbridge area, where Harrods, Harvey Nicole located.. the most fun site i visited was a food lab, by using cooking food to interact w audience.. when we got there, was still too early so didn't really get a chance to experience it.. like the concept tho.. after couples of visit.. got email confirmation from concierge about our afternoon tea reservation at Hotel Claridges ( at the corner of Brook St. same hotel where Gordon Ramsy restaurant is) it's probably the #1 high tea place in London (tks Chi Wai's recommendation).. the savory, the dessert, the tea... it's unbelievable... and it's all you can eat, whatever u want more they will bring it to you... by end of the meal they even give you a box of tea as gift... for the side note, if went to gift shop, they give out small bottle of jam for tasting, take as many as you want...>,< soo touristy today...
Friend and I were very cautious with the portion we ate at the high-tea, saving some room for dinner at Ledbury (127 Ledbury Rd, London - 020 7792 9090) michelin 2 stars restaurant, GBP 75 for prix fixe dinner, end up spending abt GBP 100 with wine. I would give it 4 stars, as i said earlier, i think London has the best and consistent food than New York, every dishes they have is remarkable, i almost licked all over each plates before they took it off from me... also glad to meet some local friends...
9/21 day 4
Too exhausted... stayed in till noon for lunch at Hibiscus (29 maddox st), just right next to my hotel, a michelin 1 star jewel box like restaurant, 3 courses lunch GBP 29, the dishes has very complex mixture taste, with its modern cooking technique brings out ingredient's original flavor... quite a striking dinning experience.. 4 stars rating from me...
the last full half day in london, continued my LDF visit to Tom Dixon's workshop at Portobello Dock
it was quite an adventure to get there (central line to white city, transfer Hammersmith line to Wood Land and get off at Ladbroke Grove and transfer #70 bus to the destination), the neighborhood is a little bit rough to me, but once you get into the dock it's a design happy land...
Thought i was smart enough to know how to take bus back to central, end up...... #@!%^& anyway, i have deiced i have to have duck dinner tonite... finally found my way to get off at Bayswater and bought yummy BBQ duck at Four Season for take out..
9/22 last day
learned my 1st day lesson, didn't dare to take tube to St. Pancras Station, took a cab cost only GBP 10... not too bad... Eurostar to Paris.....
*markets map
http://www.streetsensation.co.uk/markets.htm
*restaurant lists to be added
- Bellocq Tea Atelier (try noble savage) -kings road
- The Corner Room (@town hall hotel) good affordable food
*where to stay
- The town hall hotel and apartment
8 patriot sq, london (www,townhallhotel.com)
