CNY in London

I'm on a roll! London's now out of the way, Manchester tickets in my hands and there are also plans for Birmingham and Oxford still pending! Weee~~! Manchester games anybody? Here is the mandatory London post. The conclusion of my CNY Chillax Week.

Just in case anyone's wondering my National Express Nottingham-London return tickets only cost me a mere 10.50 pounds!!! Heh heh heh... I could travel to London every month like this.

University College London, YukChang's Uni.

Met with my uncles, auntie, and several cuzzies! Took some pictures, but they were all on THEIR camera, I'm still hunting down my cousins for it. Can I just add that The Westbury Mayfair Hotel is so gorgeous! I've never been in one of the posher hotels in UK, and wow I really like this one. Solely because their door men complimented me!!! Muahahaha, I'm so biased =P Don't care, they made my day.

UCL from another vantage point.

On Sunday, I met with an OLD pal from my Taylors College days, YukChang. He deserves special mention here because he forked out in excess of 12 hours of his time, despite his extremely hectic schedule just for me. We did what us Malaysians do best, EAT and CHAT!

I think you can tell that it's going to be a food review from this point on.
HARE & TORTOISE , Japanese restaurant. 10 points for the name *BIG TICK*
YukChang used to work there so he could do some "magic" in the kitchen and at the cashier, heh heh heh. So here I am, taa-daa!

I have not had any proper sashimi in 8 months, but there were some sushis from Alfred's kitchen and buffet dinners. And God, did I miss being able to express the inner glutton in me at ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET at Miyako, Sheraton Subang. BEST DAMN THING.

Back to HARE & TORTOISE...

Nice or not!!! I did put this up on purpose, because i <3 roes!
YukChang doesn't take them because he thinks they're too fishy.
In this case, I think it's fishy delicacy with a characteristic texture. This. Is HALF filled with roe, unlike the Jusco versions that gives barely enough to cover the rice!

The one who made my stomach very happy that day.

Unagi sushi, simply amazing!
Other tables get 4 pieces, but we got the entire eel's worth =P

And then the SALMON PLATTER came!!! *HYPERVENTILATES*
Crazy fella ordered this, but then told me he doesn't fancy raw food.
So WHY did you work in a sushi restaurants lah!
He made me finish all the juicy bits of fatty salmon, which I willingly obliged.
Those are some super thick, and generous portions of flesh I might add.
With generous streaks of fish fat loaded with Omega 3!

See that smug look on my face + a contented grin.
I've always wondered how sushi will be like in this part of the world.
Would it be "westernised" to cater to the delicate non-Asian stomach?
The conclusion that I have arrived at, is that at HARE & TORTOISE, at least those that I ate, the sashimi has never been more FRESH! I think it's partly because the weather was icy cold with the snow falling outside, that kept the sashimi, cold and fresh!

For dessert, we went to the cake shop next door, I dont' remember the name now.
This is Tiramisu and Pistachio gelato.
Nothing to shout about though. Quite nice lah.

The blackforest cake however was a masterpiece!
The texture was very light and fresh. Despite a tummy full of sushi, I did not experience the slightest hint of "jelat-ness", in fact I felt like I could eat 2 more!

Just when I was feeling extremely happy after a gratifying meal, something had to happen to ruin my weekend. And I thought I couldn't get more unlucky =.="

I missed my bus. AGAIN.
This time, because of adverse weather disrupting London's otherwise efficient public transport. Both the London Underground and the buses weren't operating normally.

I AM SO TIRED OF HAVING BAD THINGS HAPPENING TO ME T__T

In the end, YukChang decided to subsidise my new bus ticket to get back to Nottingham.
By that point, I was totally freaking out!!! I've got a test on Monday and I haven't studied a single word for it! We're talking about 1 of 10 tests that will account for 15% of a 30 credit module here!!! In addition to that, I'm already spending over my budget in London!

I was very close to buying a train ticket home out of desperation.
But then the miser in me woke up when the cash register flashed a deadly 53 POUNDS for a single ride from London to Nottingham. Bah. I'd rather wait, than be ripped off!!!

Poor fella stayed back and accompanied me in Starbucks for an addition 6 hours or so, until my next ride is here. It was a good opportunity to catch up even further. And I was glad that I was in London, being part of the "worst snowing episode in 2 decades" phenomenon.

After all, we don't get to experience this everyday.
Just in case you're wondering I did get back to Nottingham at 2am Monday morning, and obtained a very decent score in my test =D Yay me!