tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824152514548144382024-03-13T23:05:43.236+00:00London CosmopolitanLily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.comBlogger279125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-64049506683726177032014-07-01T22:46:00.000+01:002014-07-20T22:50:54.383+01:00Newcastle: Geordie Territory<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Last month I had a chance to visit
Newscastle on a two-day work trip. For you Americans who still follow this
blog, “Geordie” is a reference for people from the Tyneside metropolitan area
of Northeast England. They have a distinct regional accent and a proud
heritage, best known for Newcastle Brown Ale, Cheryl Cole, and the Great North
Run.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We arrived in the early evening with
the sunshine greeting. My colleagues and I made our way to the stylish Sandman
Hotel, just opposite of the iconic St. James Park, home of Newcastle Football
Club. As a nod to its famous neighbour, the hotel was decorated with old
historic photos of the stadium as well as Newcastle, blending the historic and
modern in a chic fashion. Being such a glorious evening, we met our gracious
hosts who took us on an architectural tour of the city centre and along the
Quayside for view of The Sage Music Centre, and finally to the spectacular
Milleninum Bridge, a pedestrian path connecting Newcastle and Gateshead. On the
tour, we learned that the Kittiwakes, a protected bird, is pretty much free to
nest anywhere in Newcastle City Centre. They are everywhere!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On final destination was the BALTIC
Centre for Contemporary Arts, previously a flour mill and now a modern art
museum with fine views over the Tyne River. We had an enjoyable meal at Six
Rooftop Restaurant where the food are locally sourced from the North Sea and
the surrounding areas, and the beer menu consisted of only local microbrew. It
was a great evening and good conversations on cities, urban innovation,
electric vehicles, World Cup, and Tour de France.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Being so far north I didn’t expect
the sun to rise so early at 4am – blackout shades was something they did not
have at the hotel. But as I am training for a half marathon in September (yes,
after a seven year hiatus from running) and it was a beautiful morning, I decided
to go for a 4 mile run along the Quay. Then it was a long day of meetings,
meetings, and more meetings. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was then on to the Free Trade Inn,
a beloved historic pub along the river with an impressive list of local craft
ales. Our final evening was spent at the
Blackfair, another historic Newcastle landmark founded in 1239 by Dominican
Monks. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is true what they say about
Northernerss, they are truly a friendly lot. I enjoyed my brief stay up north
and next time I’ll be sure visit Northumberland National Park and that
impressive Durham Cathedral. Until next time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-50910265729509016772014-06-24T11:25:00.000+01:002014-06-29T11:41:24.942+01:00Royal Ascot 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This year’s Royal Ascot coincided with the summer solstice, the longest
day of the year. Summer is was; it was a glorious day for horseracing with
endless sunshine and blue skies. Royal Ascot kicks off the quintessential “British”
summer festivities along with Glastonbury and Henley Royal Regatta; a high
society event attended by HM The Queen and other members of the Royal Family
who are given a royal procession around the course before the first race of the
day. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A while ago, another American couple friend invited us to join the fun
at Ascot with 20 plus people from their softball team. Being such a large
group, we opted for the Silver Stand for a more informal, relaxed atmosphere.
Whilst there’s no dress code, all spectators in the Silver Ring wore smart
suits, knee-length dresses, and of course, a fabulous hat and/or fascinator for
the ladies. After spotting the Queen in her powder pink outfit on the horse-drawn carriage during the Royal
Procession, we got comfortable on the picnic grounds nibbling on grilled Portobello/ goat
cheese sandwiches, drinking endless glasses of champagne, and catching up
with friends on upcoming summer plans. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Whilst we’re not big gambler, Keenan and I put a few bets at the “bookies”
to keep the day interesting. Knowing nothing about horses, we strictly picked
the horse by the sound of their names rather than the odds. We were down for the
better part of the day until the last and final race of the day in which we got
a tip-off from a fellow racegoer to place our bets on Pique Sous. Indeed Pique
Sous won the race and we went home 5 quid richer!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Happy summer all and happy World Cup!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-25010269913701528222014-06-10T23:51:00.000+01:002014-06-16T23:51:38.333+01:00The Shard<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guest post from <a href="https://insaeculo.wordpress.com/">https://insaeculo.wordpress.com</a></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sharply protruding into the London skyline is a glass tower that has invoked mixed reactions among Londoners. Constructed relatively quickly, the Shard now occupies an iconic place in the image of London and I’ll admit, in my opinion, Renzo Piano’s famed architecture has added some much needed flare to London’s south bank area.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It occupies a relatively small footprint which is literally situated on top of London Bridge station, taking over the ruins of Victorian archways and tunnels and replacing some unique bars and pubs with what will eventually become a new shopping arcade. From a land use perspective, London didn’t really lose any space. The tower was simply dropped on top of a train station which was in desperate need of modernization. Any morning commuter can attest to the fact that London Bridge station is bursting at the seams, so the station redevelopment and neighborhood regeneration is a welcome improvement. It was entirely privately funded by a consortium of private Qatari investors, so no public taxpayer money was wasted. So what is it about Europe’s tallest building that solicits so many disparate viewpoints?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The fact that London has three major central business districts in the West End, the City, and Canary Wharf raises the question of whether or not the addition of the South Bank as yet another business center is actually warranted. The Shard, along with it’s sister building, The Place, known as the Mini-Shard, comprise the new London Bridge Quarter development, joining More London as the primary office developments on the south side of the Thames. Combined together, along with additional improvements in infrastructure and further building projects, London Bridge and the South Bank will become a fourth CBD in London.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As it is vacancy in Canary Wharf has historically been higher than in other parts of London and still maintains competitive rental levels. However, with the available stock of large square footage and the ability to customize modern fit outs, it is becoming an increasingly ideal location of banks with JP Morgan, HSBC, Citigroup, Barclays, and Morgan Stanley already headquartered here. The West End office market is among the most expensive in the world and the stock of available space is limited, driving prices up and attracting the likes of private equity shops and hedge funds. The City continues to remain the preeminent location for all other financial services, including those banks which have not decided to relocate to the docklands. In a city built primarily around professional and financial services, where does this leave the Shard and the wider South Bank area?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since it’s inception, the Shard has struggled to attract new tenants. Still under construction and only a ten minute walk across the bridge to the City, the “Walkie Talkie” and “Cheesegrater” towers are already approaching stabilized levels of tenancy signings. Despite it being one of the most interesting buildings in the city, is it that the Shard is suffering from an inherently dated anti-South London bias and the misconceptions that come with it? More London has demonstrated its resilience and has performed well since its launching, becoming the new headquarters for Big Four firms Ernst and Young and PwC. If it were purely a South London issue, then why have other projects been so successful at getting off the ground?</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Her Majesty, The Queen's visit to the Shard</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Believe it or not, one outrageous criticism of the Shard has been that it is a massive terrorist target. How it is anymore of a target than financial meccas in the City or Canary Wharf, I am unsure, but that could explain away some of the hesitancy on the parts of firms looking for new space. Others have claimed that the Shard, situated minutes from Borough Market and directly on top of London Bridge Station, is just too touristy to be a place of work. As a tenant of the Shard for almost a year now, I certainly agree here. Imagine working in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf or Pike’s Place in Seattle everyday for example. Although Borough Market is a fun place to eat, its novelty wears off after a while.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">However, my own experience is that the Shard has some very well known deficiencies and tenants can probably find better options elsewhere. In a city loaded with sophisticated firms, news gets out quickly and my hunch is that people know more about some of the downsides that Sellar Group, the developer and management company, prefer to keep quiet. Bottom line, coming from Canary Wharf, the property management company is sub-par at best. The main lobby of the tower is not what you would expect of such a high profile skyscraper. Small and cheaply fit out, there are only two chairs in the waiting area. Although occupancy is currently low and we are nowhere near capacity, I can only imagine what this lobby will look like at 75 percent or even 50 percent occupancy. While on the outside the building was clearly expensive, the inside was fitted out on the cheap and was clearly an after thought. The lift bay, in an overly complicated automated system, does not set out to accomplish exactly what it is meant to do, streamline and speed up the task of getting upstairs to work. As the only tenants in the building, I cannot figure out why the waiting times are so long.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Basic day to day maintenance is a head scratcher also. As tenants, we have no rubbish bins at our desks and we are subjected to the constant noise of construction occurring below us in London Bridge Station as well as the floors above us. We force our way through swarms of tourists every morning only to reach the revolving doors of the Shard to be met with skepticism by building security that we are in fact paying office tenants and not visitors trying to get to the viewing platform. There is a serious lack of practical amenities in the area, so running lunchtime errands is pretty much impossible. Despite our constant feedback, the office seems too cold in winter and too hot in summer, the perils of working in a building made entirely of glass. No, despite even having a visit from the Queen, working in the Shard isn’t always as glamorous as it sounds. I won’t get into the story of the rat we encountered while occupying our temporary space last winter. Even the Shangri-La Hotel has encountered it’s own problems. The Financial Times revealed the other day that its double glass, floor to ceiling wall-window designs has resulted in patrons’ ability to see into the room next to them. All rooms are now being fitted with blinding curtains, defeating the purpose of staying in a room with supposedly breathtaking views starting at a cost of GBP 500 a night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">However, for all of my criticisms, I am bullish on the overall development and regeneration of the London Bridge and greater South Bank area. More London is the home of two of the colossal accounting firms and is a short walk from the Mayor’s Office. Residential towers have been approved with construction commencing shortly. London Bridge Station, with the addition of Cross Rail and the completion of the large-scale National Rail and Underground redevelopment, will become one of the finest transport hubs in London. The Mini-Shard is now 100 percent leased to NewsCorp and its subsidiary companies The Sunday Times, Harper Collins, and the Wall Street Journal, making it a major media headquarter. These signings have also helped to get the overall London Bridge Quarter’s occupancy figure to 65 percent for the first time in 2014. The Shard still struggles to obtain signings, but it will likely improve over time as the surrounding area is totally regenerated and becomes a more attractive business destination. We are probably a few years away from realizing this, but likewise Canary Wharf was a very different place five years ago than it is now. As with all neighborhoods in London, they are constantly changing and evolving. In the meantime, I will continue to navigate the crowds of lost tourists who are looking for the view from the Shard and will treat myself to the occasional overpriced Borough Market sausage to keep myself sane.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">-KV</span></div>
<br />Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-50961961449153229492014-06-01T23:15:00.000+01:002014-06-16T23:41:11.148+01:00Reisling Tasting in the Moselle Valley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Supposedly we were to scale back on all European travels for the remainder of the year, but I couldn't refuse the <span style="line-height: 21.18199920654297px;">£40 RT per person tickets to Frankfurt Hahn, albeit on RyanAir {{shudder}} over the late May bank holiday. I must say, however, RyanAir were surprisingly pleasant and allowed 1 luggage AND 1 personal bag. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.18199920654297px;">We got the idea for a relaxing weekend getaway to Moselle Valley, the Rhine River's low-key younger sister, from another couple friend who we travelled to </span><a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/land-of-fire-and-ice-wild-iceland.html" style="color: #1155cc; line-height: 21.18199920654297px;">Iceland</a><span style="line-height: 21.18199920654297px;"> with last August. Known for its lovely Rieslings and fairytale castles, the Moselle Valley is as picturesque as can be with steep vineyards, charming hamlets, and a 545 km ribbon-like river. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 21.18199920654297px;">Using the quaint cobble-stone town of Cochem as our base, on Saturday we took a leisurely drive up to Burg Eltz, a medieval castle perched on a hill about 30 minutes outside of Cochem. Dreamy and one of the most well-preserved German castles we've seen, although we have yet to see the famous Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Burg Eltz makes for a great half-day trip. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 21.18199920654297px;">Back in Cochem, we spent the rest of the afternoon wine-tasting and exploring the medieval town centre. Unlike Napa/Sonoma where you drive to vineyard to vineyard, here in Moselle, all the tasting rooms are along the riverside promenade or hidden in narrow alleyways. My favourite winery was Knolls for their dry and crisp Reislings. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 21.18199920654297px;">The next day we rented bicycles and did a 60 km bike ride along the Moselle River from Cochem to the Saint Aldegund. It was a glorious day with perfect riding conditions, beautiful scenery, and easy flat terrain. On our bike ride back, we stopped off at Beilstein, a postcard perfect town often used as a film backdrop, for some wine-tasting in a cave tavern and ice cream. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 21.18199920654297px;">On our last day, we hiked up to the hilltop castle above Cochem for wonderful views of the town before driving back to the airport. The castle was reconstructed so it lacks the authenticity of Burg Eltz. </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; line-height: 21.18199920654297px;">A lovely bank holiday weekend of sipping Reisling, hiking, and cycling. </span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-54076018890496247452014-05-28T13:13:00.000+01:002014-06-14T13:14:40.223+01:00Hong Kong & Macau 2014<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">For me, a trip to Asia is never complete without a weekend stopover in <span class="" style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Hong</span> Kong to indulge in my favourite past time: eating and hanging out with the niece! As per usual, we ate our weight in suckling duck, dim sum, Shanghai dumplings, sushi, and hot pot. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">In between our eating <span class="" style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial;">extravangzana</span>, we also did some shopping, mostly at my kid sister's request as she was on the market for new eyeglasses, perfume, and make-up from her favourite shop - the ubiquitous Sasa. On our </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">shopping list was upgrading our iPads, picking up a Chinese TV pad for my father, iphone and camera accessories, and new eye glasses. Buying electronics in Hong Kong is fun and not to mention a bargain! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;">My kid sister, Keenan, and I also took an excursion to Macau, a former Portuguese colony about an hour ferry ride from Hong Kong. Macau is often dubbed as the "Las Vegas of the East." Whilst the gaming industry in Macau is 7x larger than Vegas, thanks to visiting Chinese tourists who are serial gamblers, however, it lacks the vibe and entertainment options of Vegas. I'm not a fan of gambling but Vegas has always kept me entertained with its shows, concerts, and celebrity sightings, whereas in Macau, it's all about gambling and high-end shopping for the growing middle class in China. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">With street signs in both Portuguese and Chinese and walls adorned with the classic Portuguese azulejos, the central parts of Macau can be easily covered in a few hours. The highlight of course is visiting the ruins of St. Paul Cathedral which was destroyed in a fire in 1835. Fortaleza do Monte, a fortress overlooking Macau's numerous casinos including the tacky Grand Lisboa, is worth visiting as is the nearby Museum of Macau. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">On Largo do Senado with the classic wave-black-and-white-patterned streets is flanked by baroques buildings and churches. Closer to the waterfront are all the casino hotels. We visited a few, including the Grand Lisboa and Hotel Lisboa, both were packed with Chinese tourists because of the week-long holiday period known as the "Golden Week" as well as the Wynn and ending at our final destination for MGM Grand where we had a Las Vegas style buffet lunch. All in all, it was great to finally visit Macau.</span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-1023541840423351442014-05-20T22:05:00.000+01:002014-05-27T23:22:04.284+01:00Thailand: Island-Hopping on the Andaman Sea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwCxr-36y-OTHtjhlYGAIE2S0U87PPTFbsxMdkcibq7jS_ODSpgA0d2Ypl0Hvdqnz5N9aQKWUESAEJSYR0OJRQ0WCN7PaJPXZWwidJx93lDDKE0PW9mp61Q6RNVdvmCx2YX2C41Std5oI/s1600/P4304656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwCxr-36y-OTHtjhlYGAIE2S0U87PPTFbsxMdkcibq7jS_ODSpgA0d2Ypl0Hvdqnz5N9aQKWUESAEJSYR0OJRQ0WCN7PaJPXZWwidJx93lDDKE0PW9mp61Q6RNVdvmCx2YX2C41Std5oI/s1600/P4304656.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/one-night-in-bangkok.html">Bangkok</a> we took a short flight to Phuket where we met my family who flew in from Hong Kong. As the middle child with sisters both 7.5 years older and younger, growing up I never thought we would ever holiday together in our adult life, but we do and we have fun together. Unlike our Greek holiday back in 2011, this year we have a tiny tot in tow -- my adorable niece. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We rented a fantastic 3BR/2BA 2,400 sq. ft. villa with a pool on the west side of Phuket on Bangtao beach near the Laguna Complex which was perfect for us -- family-friendly, secluded, nearby amenities, powder white beach, and private:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We had no agenda and five days looked something like this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sunbathing on Bangtao and Surin beaches:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alfresco drinks:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Beachside dining:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gazing at sunset:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pool time:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And repeat x 5 = pure bliss. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It wasn't until my kid sister, Keenan, and I headed to Koh Phi Phi where we had a more active holiday. Koh Phi Phi is a car-free island made popular from the movie, "The Beach". It's a photogenic island with calm sparkling aquamarine and towering limestone cliffs. As we went during off season, Koh Phi Phi wasn't heaving with tourists but Maya Bay where The Beach was filmed was impossibly busy with day-trippers from Phuket. Be prepared to be disappointed if you are looking for a secluded sandy beach. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We rented kayaks and even encouraged my kid sister to try out scuba diving with us! In between the fire shows and short walks around the island (OK, the island is so small, you can walk it in less than an hour), we found ample time for lounging on Long Beach and two hour back massages. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was a perfect way to round out our amazing two weeks in Thailand. But first, it was back to Hong Kong/Macau for eating and shopping before embarking our long-haul flights back to London and San Francisco.</span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-53626093316723498072014-05-14T22:00:00.000+01:002014-05-27T22:04:18.133+01:00Thailand: One Night in Bangkok<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4hA2zB5guPD889aZnxKavfPiBQVXl_CPuOPmksD_DPptSTqZTLdqiLYDQZBM_Ym4SOtjNeJ7l1C4CclKlA-bD8GIeqeFJPA6LFVLUPqHzRpY1AdbUyg46We7F_cGkjYxrr_9viPlqI0/s1600/P4244253.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4hA2zB5guPD889aZnxKavfPiBQVXl_CPuOPmksD_DPptSTqZTLdqiLYDQZBM_Ym4SOtjNeJ7l1C4CclKlA-bD8GIeqeFJPA6LFVLUPqHzRpY1AdbUyg46We7F_cGkjYxrr_9viPlqI0/s1600/P4244253.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">.... and the world's your oyster. OK, make that two nights in Bangkok. A big, polluted, and crowded metropolis, definitely not my favourite city in Asia but there are some lovely temples and Grand Palaces to keep you busy for 48 hours or so, and lots of parties if that's what you fancy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We opted to stay near the Chao Phraya River for close proximity to the river taxis and the metro system, which we never ended using as taxis are so cheap in Bangkok (you can get around town for less than 100 THB). The heat in Bangkok was stifling and unbearable. We knew it would be hot in Thailand, but I hadn't realised that April was the hottest month of the year! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As Keenan had never been to Bangkok, we did the touristy circuit and spent one evening hanging around Khao San Road. We did what the locals did and feasted on street food on the adjoining streets of this famous backpackers haven, and enjoyed some live music at a low-key bar. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The next day, bright and early (it was 28C by 10am!), we took the river taxi gliding past the elegant Wat Arun to Tian Pier for some temple-hopping starting with Wat Pho which is famous for the 43m long Reclining Buddha and contains over 90 chedis and 400 images of Buddha. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Across the street from Wat Pho is the majestic Grand Palace which I failed to see on my last trip to Bangkok in 2006. Built in the late 1700s, this beautiful palace was the official residence of the Kings of Siam until 1925. Today it is still used for official state events and royal ceremonies. Among the highlights are the Temple of the Emeard Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) and the Golden Stupa. If you only have time to visit one attraction in Bangkok, make it the Grand Palace, definitely worth it even in the unforgiving heat. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Next up: the Andaman islands. </span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-2990263630505670852014-05-11T21:02:00.000+01:002014-05-18T21:28:28.998+01:00Thailand: Ayutthaya in Photos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Approximately 80 miles north of Bangkok is the ancient Siam capital of Ayutthaya, also a UNESCO world heritage site. Most people bypass Ayutthaya in favour of Siem Riep which is spectacular and one of our favourite architectural marvels. But if you have time and need a dose of awe-inspiring architecture, it's worth taking a day trip from Bangkok (2 hour train ride) to visit these ancient temples. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We stopped in Ayutthaya enroute to Bangkok on an overnight train journey from <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/thailand-chiang-mai.html">Chiang Mai</a>. The bad news is that you arrive at the crack of dawn and none of the temples are open until 9 am, and as Ayutthaya is not really on the tourist circuit, the town is very quiet, even more so during off season. The temples and wats are spread around town so best to hire a tuk tuk or a bicycle for the day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Enjoy the photos:</span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-17522093411526827492014-05-07T08:20:00.000+01:002014-05-18T20:28:36.182+01:00Thailand: Chiang Mai<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We’re just back from two amazing weeks in Thailand and Hong Kong. What was originally booked as another K+L long-haul trip to Asia turned out to be a fun mini-holiday with my sisters, BiL, and my 20 month old niece. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My last visit to Thailand was in 2006 for a work conference, followed by a few not-so-sunny days in Koh Samui on the Gulf of Thailand. Having missed out on visiting the northern city of Chiang Mai and the fabulous islands on the Andaman Sea on my last trip, we made sure to include some jungle trekking and island hopping in the itinerary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Working our way north to south, Keenan and I spent a week exploring Chiang Mai, Ayutthaya, and Bangkok on our own before meeting up with my family in Phuket. Chiang Mai, the “Rose of the North” is a fairly laid back city with over 30 temples within the old walled city. Due to its walkable scale, it is quite easy to cover the old wall city in half a day, leaving plenty of time for relaxation by the pool (it’s scotching hot in April) and two hour massages (yes please!). If you’re in Chiang Mai on a weekend, be sure to visit the Saturday Walking Street on Wulai Street (South Gate) for souvenirs, street food/open air market, and people watching.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Most people use Chiang Mai as a gateway for trekking and adventure trips around the Mae Tang area. Having spent 5D/4N trekking in the stunning <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/poon-hill-annapurna-himalayas.html">Annapurnas</a> in Nepal in October, the 2D/1N trekking package was a walk in the park. Whilst it was touristy, it gave a glimpse of the hill tribal life in Northern Thailand and included an elephant ride, lunch, and a three hour uphill trekking to a remote village on Day 1. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Elephants are one of Keenan’s favourite animals. They are indeed cute! If you join a tour, please be sure to do your research and ensure that the elephants are treated well. With no running water or electricity at the village hut, we past time by playing cards with six other fellow trekkers, majority were from the UK, and slept in one big wooden hut, and probably with other critters and bugs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The next morning, we hiked to a small waterfall for a refreshing dip in the river, followed by some river-rafting, which was great fun. We only wished the rapids were just slightly stronger. We finished off by a leisurely ride on a bamboo raft before lunch. We were back in Chiang Mai in time for a sun downer near the river and some shopping at the Chiang Mai night bazaar. Check out the Bus Bar on the river for some cold Chang beers, good 80s/90s music, though the music can be cheesy, and overall chilled out vibe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Whilst Thailand is known for its pristine coastline and stunning beaches, be sure to take some time out to visit Northern Thailand; you’ll appreciate that Thailand is an ideal all-around destination with excellent trekking, culture, city-life, historic architecture, tasty (and spicy!) street food, and lovely beaches. </span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-71223457881942214652014-04-03T23:01:00.003+01:002014-04-04T09:36:38.307+01:00And we're back...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hello friends. I wonder if anyone still reads this semi-retired blog? After getting our <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/indefinite-leave-to-remain.html">PR</a> last October, I’m lacking serious inspiration to write, partly because our daily life has become more routine, but also because we’ve decided to scale back on personal travels so we can focus on other goals, namely Project House; hopefully Project Pet shortly after; and Project Passport in October. After spending five plus year sharing our adventures about London and travels on this blog, I agreed with Keenan that I couldn’t let the blog just retire without a proper “exit strategy.” So I’ve decided to back date a few blog entries on our trip back to <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/home-for-holidays.html">California</a> and our “sun” trip to <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/new-years-in-playa-del-carmen.html">Playa del Carmen</a> for January, and perhaps write on few back posts about living in northwest London.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you can believe it, Keenan and I managed to stay in London for a whole 3 months! Yes, three months. This is the longest stretch since 2008 where we did not travel outside of London. Feels a bit strange, and I’m starting to get travel withdraws. It's good that we have a siblings trip planned to Thailand over Easter break so definitely looking forward to some trekking, beaches, and islands with my family and little niece.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So you may be asking what we’ve been up to as of late? Well, we’ll start with Project House. Since returning from California/Mexico, Keenan and I have been hitting the ground hard with flat viewings every weekend, and learning the ropes of this utterly crazy London housing market. Yes that includes a few episodes of Location, Location, Location; understanding the difference between a leasehold vs a freehold; and being best friends with the estate agents whom I speak to almost on a daily basis. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We viewed over 40 properties, most of which were “open days” when 30 or so would be buyers view the property within a two hour time slot, mostly in Southeast London. The whole experience can be summarised in this <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/06/hackney-house-price-bubble" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Guardian</a> article that my colleague sent me who just sold his 1 bedroom Hackney flat for a handsome profit and bought in family-friendly Kingston in anticipation of the arrival of his son. Trying to buy a property in London is like the wild, wild west. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stay tuned for more… Until then, we may reflect a bit and share with you some our favourite places. </span></div>
Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-11515157642519332942014-02-12T08:10:00.000+00:002014-05-12T08:19:48.276+01:00Life in West Hampstead<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So we’ve been living in West Hampstead for over half a year. What’s it like? Well, where we are, it’s technically South Hampstead as we're on the "garden" streets. It’s very residential and certainly lacking the fun vibe of Clapham Old Town that we miss so much. The residents here are mostly early 30s working professionals, couples, or young families. South Hampstead doesn’t have the quaint village-y feel mostly because Finchely Road is a big road dividing NW3 and NW6 postcodes. Where it lacks in atmosphere, it more than makes up for it in terms of convenience of nearby high street amenities (Sainsburys, Waitrose, Boots, Habitat, Waterstones, cinema, Virgin Active, and excellent transport links.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We’re equal distance between South Hampstead and West Hampstead overground stations, which takes us to Euston (5 mins); West Brompton (20 mins); Highbury Islington (22 mins); Thameslink to Kings Cross (9 minutes) and Farringdon (16 mins); and two tube lines (Jubilee and Metropolitan lines). Unless there is planned engineering work on the weekends, transport is a breeze.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">West Hampstead has a more “village” feel with West End Lane, its high street which has a mix of cafes, pubs/restaurants and independent stores. It may feel a bit shabby chic in the immediate vicinity of the tube station, but the residential “Greek” roads are leafy with lovely period buildings. Some of my favourite local bars/restaurants in the West Hampstead include: Sarracino which has excellent pizzas – we go here at least once a month; the always-packed bar The Gallery for craft beers; One Sixty Smokehouse for American-style ribs and craft beers; and numerous of sidewalk cafes-cum-bar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you want more information about anything and everything about West Hampstead, check out this blog: <a href="http://westhampsteadlife.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://westhampsteadlife.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nearby Kilburn has some interesting bars, such as the Earl Derby, Betsy Smith, and Love & Liquor, however, most of Kilburn High Road feels a bit down-heel due to the number of low end shops and some dodgey people hanging around, but overall safe if you keep your wits. We don’t hang around Kilburn unless we’re looking for a good Turkish kebab fix at Woody’s (excellent grilled meats) or some solid Afghan food at Ariana II (it’s also BYOB).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The perks of living in northwest London is the ability to walk to different neighborhoods i.e. Belsize Park, Primrose Hill, St. Johns Woods, and Hampstead, which I will eventually write about.</span></div>
Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-35083893368371711112014-01-23T22:22:00.000+00:002014-04-04T11:14:17.881+01:00New Years in Playa del Carmen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our families couldn’t understand why we booked a “sun” trip to Mexico when there’s plenty of sunshine in <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/home-for-holidays.html">California</a>, so my father asked. Truth is, we used United miles for our air tickets and it was fairly affordable to add Cancun into the itinerary, so we thought why not as we’ve always wanted to visit the Mayan Riviera, plus we needed a proper beach holiday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We spent the first few days relaxing on the stunning, if busy, beaches of Playa del Carmen; strolling up and down the pedestrianized 5th Avenue; and eating our weight in guacamole and fresh fish cerviche. After ringing in the new year on the beach with a live concert by DJ Armin Van Burren, we were eager to go diving around the famous Mesoamerican coral reef.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We booked a 3 day package with Scuba Playa (Calle 10, between 1<sup>st</sup> and 5<sup>th</sup> Avenue) which included 2 dives around Playa; 2 dives in Cozumel (excluding ferry tickets); and 2 cenote dives. We had perfect diving conditions in Playa, but we were unlucky with the weather enroute to Cozumel, making the boat ride out to the island a very unpleasant one. I wouldn’t recommend staying in Cozumel unless you are a diving enthusiast. I thought the island was drab and lacking the cool vibe of Playa del Carmen. That said however, we did see a few nurse sharks swimming around and that was quite cool!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Cenote diving (natural sinkholes found on the Yucatan) however is very different, and is not for the faint-hearted as you’re basically underground following a circular path with a flashlight. There was one point when the fresh and salt water mixed together making the water blurry, quite scary! It definitely wasn’t my cup of tea. Interesting enough to see the natural limestone formation, but we prefer tropical reef diving of no more than 18 metres. We wanted to do another day of diving around Playa but the weather wouldn’t cut us a break as the Yucatan got the tail-end of the Polar Vortex storm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> We did manage to visit ChichenItza, the magnificent Mayan pyramid built in in the pre-Colombian era, as a day trip which was about 2.5 hour drive on a lonesome Mexican highway. The city itself was larger than expected covering at least 5 square kilometres, and the monuments itself were incredibly well-preserved. It’s very possible to spend the entire day at Chichenitza but do bring a hat and plenty of water as it can be sweltering hot. Visiting the last of the seven wonders of the world have been high on our list for some time, and glad we finally made a trip to see it, despite having a flat tire on our way back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks to United, which we vowed never to fly with them again, our outbound flight to Newark was cancelled because of the “weather.” I don’t think so, because there were multiple flights flying to Newark and JFK, including other United flights! After arguing with the United counter for over two hours, the earliest flight we could get on was three days later. Yes I know there could be worst places to get stuck, but for next few days in Mexico, it was wet, rainy, and cold. So much for a sun vacation eh? Should have listened to my father and stayed in California… At least we had two seasons of Sons of Anarchy to remind us of sunny California and keep us entertained whilst being stuck in rainy Mexico.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A few of my favorite restaurants in Playa del Carmen:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Restaurant Il Baretto - 5th & 26th -- Italian food and pizza</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Aguas Chiles -- 5th & Constituyenes and 1st -- low-key restaurant specialising in cerviche and all things seafood. Local favourite. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">El Fogon -- 30th & Constituyenes -- taqueria style Mexican specialising in grills and meats. Local favourite -- a bit of walk. </span></li>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-16350795853325413412014-01-16T22:04:00.000+00:002014-04-03T22:21:20.118+01:00Home for the Holidays<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s no place like home for the holidays. It’s hard to believe it’s been over 2.5 years since we last visited California in July 2011. Naturally we had a busy agenda given the holiday season, dividing our time equally between San Francisco and our hometowns of Tracy and Sacramento. My sister, BiL, and 18 month old niece also flew in from Hong Kong so we had ourselves a family Christmas at our parents’ new house in Elk Grove. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you can believe, it’s been over five years since my family have been under the same roof; the last time was when Keenan and I got married in 2008. It’s the downside of having two daughters living abroad, but it’s also a good excuse to get together in different parts of the world, be it California, Europe, or Asia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We made the most of our 12 day trip -- spending time with our extended family; squeezing in coffee/lunch/happy hour/dinner dates with friends; drinking amazing Californian wines and craft beers; and enjoying all the natural beauty the San Francisco Bay has to offer. It was also unseasonably warm in northern California with plenty of sunny blue skies that we found ourselves wearing shorts and T-shirt in the middle of December. The perks of Californian living!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The food and restaurants in San Francisco is among the best in the world. Although we didn’t make it to the latest “it” restaurants, we visited some old haunts and neighbourhood gems, including the beloved Pizzaiolo Restaurant in up-and-coming Temescal in Oakland; Lers Ros Thai in TenderNob for some authentic Thai Food; Universal Café in the Mission; and Barbacco, a buzzy Italian restaurant in the Financial District, all in the company of great friends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Back in the good ol’ suburbia, we made frequent trips to Trader Joes and Target (oh, how I miss you both) and celebrated Keenan’s birthday with an extended family dinner at a local Indian restaurant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was a great trip home, a much needed trip to keep our wanderlust souls grounded. We feel truly blessed to call London and the San Francisco Bay area home, both places are special in their own ways. After living in London for half a decade, we’re starting to miss California and ponder whether a move back Stateside is in the cards in the next 3 to 5 years? We’ll see…</span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-57849968233304906082013-12-17T22:00:00.000+00:002014-01-19T22:01:20.873+00:00Sojourn in the Persian Gulf <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In a period of about six weeks I travelled to <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/dubai-superlative-city.html">the Gulf</a> three
separate times, specifically Dubai once on the way back from <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/dubai-superlative-city.html">Nepal</a> and Abu
Dhabi twice for work.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">All trips involved
the usual visits to extravagant hotels and pricey restaurants and some obligatory
sightseeing, none of which was very interesting in comparison to some of the
other gems on offer across the Middle East.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Paling in comparison to places like Egypt, Syria, Jordan,
Israel/Palestine, and Turkey, the Arab Gulf lacks any sense of history and it
is difficult to nail down a genuine cultural identity here.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The landscape is comprised of flat deserts,
massive highways, and over-engineered skyscrapers.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The major exception I can think of and one of the only cultural
attractions worth a visit is the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. During the first work trip to Abu Dhabi we
stayed in the RItz Carlton which was directly across from the mosque so I had
the opportunity to visit and was pleasantly surprised. Although not as old and historic as some
other amazing mosques I've seen in North Africa, the Middle East, and India, the
mosque impressive in its own right and worth a visit if you're in Abu
Dhabi. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Aside from the mosque, there is not much in the way of
sightseeing. Although I expected this
going into it (this was not my first time to the Gulf as we had been stranded
in <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/pit-stop-in-bahrain.html">Bahrain</a> on way to <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/ayubowan-sri-lanka.html">Sri Lanka</a> a couple of years ago), the tedium of the place
got to me as three visits in a period of a month and a half is more than
enough. Dependent on cars and taxis for
transport and mostly confined to your hotel or another hotel for dinner
options, this can get very old quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The UAE is very good for certain things. The shopping malls are an impressive mix of
the best of British and American retail, the hotels rival the magnitude and
bling of the Vegas strip, and the restaurants do offer high quality fare,
albeit at a steep premium. The meals we
had ranged from Thai, Pan-Asian, steak, seafood houses, and Nobu at the
Atlantis Palm, all of which are well worth the time and money. The restaurant choices in the St. Regis Abu
Dhabi were a bit more atmospheric than the ones in the Ritz Carlton as they are
located on the water. Overall, when it
comes to dining, you won't be disappointed.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you are an expat from the West you can have a pretty
comfortable life. Local skills and
talent are on short supply as the number of Emiratis who actually work is low
and they need educated foreigners to help run the economy of the country. From a family life perspective you probably
couldn't find a better place to live with great schools and affordable full
time childcare, virtually no crime, big modern homes, and efficient
roadways. As a business traveller, you
can have even more fun with the corporate credit card and expense account and
enjoy some of the finest hotels in the world, boozy dinners, night caps, and
all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">However there is another side of the Gulf that is far more dark
and not everyone who lives in this region enjoys the blessings and trappings I
refer to above. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The plight of the migrant worker in the Gulf states continues to
be a source of frustration for me when thinking about my experiences here. Despite all the luxury and convenience
bestowed upon the foreign skilled foreigner, most of who come from the west,
the migrant workers from Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia face working
conditions and violations against their freedoms which should not be legal or
accepted in the twenty-first century.
Aside from having no political representation, most passports are
confiscated for the contracted period of work, meaning these workers are not
able to leave the country even if they desired to. Most workers live in squalid barrack
conditions on the outskirts of town and are transported to construction sites
where they are expected to work through 40C heat building these grand hotels
and high rises. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">All in and all, the Gulf is dull as ditchwater and my least
favorite region I have ever visited. A
weird mix of wealth and luxury juxtaposed against an underlying feeling of
despair and injustice, it is a region in which I would happily not return. - </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">KV</span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-83769675137088997222013-11-29T18:53:00.000+00:002013-12-08T20:42:19.910+00:00Happy Thanksgiving!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS7LV2XrhhyphenhyphenCIZXs8vUmwcJxt7wLX0rVYxYds4lhC1lxwBWTMM7tzoFki_WsJYCOgGiyjaRLYTwCEcdey6tw1FJkJNghCyrC8DVnVk_hg0J06WVobc1-UNYTncRqb4lU_mrzdflaool8U/s1600/PB283259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS7LV2XrhhyphenhyphenCIZXs8vUmwcJxt7wLX0rVYxYds4lhC1lxwBWTMM7tzoFki_WsJYCOgGiyjaRLYTwCEcdey6tw1FJkJNghCyrC8DVnVk_hg0J06WVobc1-UNYTncRqb4lU_mrzdflaool8U/s320/PB283259.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving with friends, family, and turkey! Our friends who just moved back from California graciously hosted Thanksgiving dinner at their lovely flat in East Dulwich. Being the creative hostess that she is, she made a pilgrim and Indian hats for us as party favours, whilst her awesome chef husband roasted a fantastic turkey with all the trimmings. It was a lovely evening with great food, laughter, and a fantastic pumpkin pie.<br />
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As if Thursday night's dinner wasn't enough, I insisted on roasting a turkey for two on Saturday just because I wouldn't feel right if I didn't spend hours roasting my own turkey and making my artery-clogging mash potatoes. After four days straight of turkey, it's safe to say that I've had my fix...until next year.<br />
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This year we are incredibly grateful for the UK granting us our Indefinite Leave to Remain, our health, and our wonderful family and friends across the world. We look forward to seeing you all in a few short weeks in San Francisco. Enjoy then, let the festive season begin! Cheers!<br />
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<br />Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-78140177747977449592013-11-26T18:52:00.000+00:002013-12-08T18:52:52.146+00:00Glimpse of Musandam, Oman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57NNqsuZSMO8BVlSfTJE3w1KS1NPOoEO7rqWSEqsJu57VPxz8K9eSA_BtXunzyW-fDknmi9M6VQvEOUE2NR6fpj9xO-pkwQC64Ug4o20ZbM8qtQfPvA5xyHKz8gb7-cwNAAbATPeneRw/s1600/Dibba+Oman+%252810%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57NNqsuZSMO8BVlSfTJE3w1KS1NPOoEO7rqWSEqsJu57VPxz8K9eSA_BtXunzyW-fDknmi9M6VQvEOUE2NR6fpj9xO-pkwQC64Ug4o20ZbM8qtQfPvA5xyHKz8gb7-cwNAAbATPeneRw/s320/Dibba+Oman+%252810%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We took a small detour to Musandam, Oman, a small peninsula between the UAE and mainland Oman, for some diving and trekking through the rugged mountains. We didn't end up trekking as we got our fix of sore legs in Nepal. We did however did a day of diving including a mini refresher course ahead of our diving holiday in Playa del Carmen over New Years. The diving wasn't great mostly due to the visibility but there is some amazing life in the Musandam -- we saw a three sting rays which was amazing! </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The scenery around Musandam reminded me a lot of the Sinai peninsula in Egypt. The "fjords" of the Middle East as they call it is no less spectacular. Here's a glimpse of Musandam: untouched and unspoilt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-81251843423722866892013-11-20T23:19:00.000+00:002013-11-25T23:37:41.729+00:00Dubai: The Superlative City<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dubai's slogan should be: "Anything you can do, I can do better, taller, larger, grander, and bigger." Who would have guessed that some 50 years ago, Dubai was a sleepy trading port in the desert, but today, there's no shortage of luxury here in Dubai. Take for example, the Burj Al Arab, the world's only 7 uber luxury hotel; or the Palm Island, the largest man-made island; or the extravagant Dubai Mall, the world biggest shopping mall equipped with an aquarium, theme park, and indoor skating ring and no less than 1,200 shops; or the glitzy Burj Al Khalifa, the world's tallest building nearly 828m -- that's almost as high as England's tallest "mountain" (Scafell Pike at 978 metres). The list goes on... but you get the point -- Dubai is a superlative city. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I must admit, Dubai was never on top of my travel list. But, as we had to fly via Dubai to get to Kathmandu, we thought it would be worth spending a few days in Gulf. Plus, Keenan's ex-coworker just relocated to Dubai with Deloitte and kindly offered to host us at his new house in Sports City, which was great as we got to experience a bit of the expat life in Dubai. There are loads of American, Aussie, British, and French families, many come on a sweet relocation package which includes a housing and car allowance, subsidized education for the kids, and tax free. However that said, the cost of living in Dubai (as is elsewhere in the Gulf) is high. Everything is expensive, except for petrol where you fill up a Ford Explorer for 25 GBP (and the Explorer is standard in Dubai). </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ski Dubai</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dubai is the most bizarre place I've visited, a place of contradictions and extremes with stark division between wealthy Emiratis, well-to-do expats, and the migrant workers from South Asia. In fact, our entire flight from Kathmandu to Dubai was carrying migrant workers, all whom work as domestic helpers, construction workers, or in the hospitality sector. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If I had to describe Dubai -- it would be a hodgepodge of American cities: Dallas (read: car culture with 7 lane highways) meets Las Vegas (read: glitzy, out-of-this-world, over-the-top) meets Miami (read: urban beach, cool hotel bars). You can drink freely here provided that alcohol is consumed within a hotel or a restaurant with a liquor licenses, and bottomless Friday brunch is all the rage in Dubai. If you wish to consume alcohol in your home, you have to apply for a liquor license and married women must get permission from their husband to buy and drink alcohol (?!!?). Otherwise, count on making a stop at Duty Free whenever you fly into Dubai. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Favourite past time in Dubai: you've guessed right - shopping. Our short time in Dubai, we visited both the Mall of the Emirates where our friend had a tough mudder race inside SkiDubai, an indoor ski resort, and Dubai Mall. Every American and British chain store you can think of has an outpost in Dubai including IHOP which is apparently quite popular. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We also spent some time on Jumeriah Beach which was surprisingly clean with clear, shallow water. Great for kids and interesting place for people-watching. We capped off the evening with sunset drinks at the 360 Bar at the Jumeriah Beach Hotel, which had a fantastic view of Burj Al Arab and the Persian Gulf. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In need of a dose of culture, Keenan and I went to explore the Gold Souk and Fish Market in Old Dubai. Whilst the souks were nothing compared to the grand bazaars of Cairo, Istanbul, Damascus, or Marrakesh, it is worth having a look if you are bored sitting on the beach. You'll get a taste of what Dubai was like before the oil bonanza in the 1960s. Our last evening in Dubai was spent with our friend and his lovely wife at the Mango Tree at the Souk Al Bahar for some delicious Thai food. Mango Tree has prime seating overlooking Dubai Fountain, which has a dazzling Las Vegas-style light and water show every half hour in the evening to delight the crowd. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you're looking for guaranteed sun, luxurious resorts, top-notched dining, trendy bars, and shopping, Dubai is your destination. Otherwise if you're looking for culture and history, you're better off in Turkey, Morocco, or perhaps neighboring Oman. We'll get to that in the next post...well at least a few lazy day of diving on the Musandum peninsula. </span></div>
Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-31395060421114976742013-11-16T22:55:00.000+00:002014-05-18T20:29:44.390+01:00Poon Hill, Annapurna Himalayas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We arrived to the
lakeside town of Pokhara, the main tourist hub in the Annapurnas, <span style="font-size: small;">after a long bus journey from <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/visiting-kathmandu-valley.html">Kathmandu</a> (6+
hours to cover 130 miles!). Our main
goal on this leg of the trip: conquering Poon Hill (3200 m), a circular loop in
5 days, covering 55 km in distance with an elevation change of +1500m, staying
and eating at simple "tea houses." The mountain scenery was
spectacular with cute Gurung villages and ancient forest covered in moss. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For the four us, we
hired out 1 guide ($25 per day) and 2 porters to carry our larger rucksacks
($18 per day per porter). For Keenan and I, we spent circa $25-$30 per day -
pay as you go for food and accommodations ($3 for a bed per night, and $5 per
vegetarian daal bhat meal). Many people asked me about the trek, so here’s
a short review. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Day 1: Long (6
hours) and strenuous to Birenthani - </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">We left at 7am to
drive from Pokhara to Naya Pul (1.5 hr), the start of the trail where we
registered our details with the government office. Then we were off on a 3 hour
trek uphill, breaking for lunch in Hille. By the mid-afternoon, it was fairly
hot and we still had another 3 hour “stairmaster-like” trek ahead of us until
the town of Birenthani. Be sure to bring a walking stick as it puts less
pressure on your knees, sun cream, good sturdy hiking boots, and a hat.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Day 2: Easy and
short walk to Ghorepani - </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">With the most
difficult day behind us, the second day was a lot easier as we walked for 3
hours up to the charming village of Ghorepani. We arrived in time for lunch (dhal
bhaat of course) and spent the afternoon browsing through bookstores and local
Tibetan shops, reading, and playing mindless card games. We also got to know
our trekking staff and learned about Nepali politics as well as the upcoming
election.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Day 3: Rewarding
but also exhausting - </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">An early start at
4:30am to catch the sunrise over Poon Hill – a short 45 minute, 800m climb to
get a glimpse of the sun rising over the Himalayas. It was freezing but the
view was worth it. I’ve never seen such majestic mountains in my life – the big
boys were seriously tall -- Annapurna I (8091m), Dhaulagiri I (8167m),
Annapurna South (7219m), and Fishtail (6993m).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After breakfast, it
was off to our next destination: Tadapani. But first it was more stunning views
and vistas over Gurung Hill which in my opinion was better than Poon Hill. We
also spotted two pairs of eagles gliding across the gorgeous blue skies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As October is busy
season, we ran into a minor problem where we couldn’t find a room in Tadapani,
which meant we had to walk another 2 hours. At this point, we had been walking
for 4.5 hours and were lucky to find one room with enough beds for the four of
us, except the room wasn’t really a room, it was a storage barn of some sort…
and the facilities were disgusting. By far the worst teahouse we stayed in, but
we were grateful for a place to sleep, thank goodness for our mummy sleeping
sacks…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Day 4: Easy
downhill trek to Syauli-bazaar - </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">We set off early
after an uncomfortable night in the ‘barn room,’ Day 4 was relatively relaxed
and easy. We stopped for an early lunch in the village of Ghundruk, a
well-established town with good facilities. Then we continued to our last and
final night on the trek, to a little town of Syauli-bazaar, and enjoyed the
views over the river.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Day 5: Easy walk to
Naya Pul - The last day </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"> was somewhat
a joke since we were “ahead” of schedule since Day 3. We were originally
supposed to stay in Tadapani, and overnight in Ghundruk on Day 4. So what would
have been a 4.5 trek on Day 5 turned into a 2.5 - 3 hour walk. The last leg
took us through rice paddy and millet fields; the scenery was very picturesque.
Arriving back at the gate to check out at Naya Pul, we were feeling fairly
sore. Technically, you could do Poon Hill in 4 days if you are fit, but these
would be very long days, so 5 days would be more relaxed. Back in Pokhara, we
spent two nights at the upmarket Temple Tree Resort for some post-trek spa
treatments and relaxation by the pool.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nepal is a
fascinating country and for mountain lovers, nothing tops this magical mountain
kingdom. Definitely worth a trip, perhaps together with northern India, which
was exactly what our friends did, whilst we went to Dubai and Oman. </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">More to come...</span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-64413612232952727022013-11-07T15:41:00.000+00:002013-11-10T16:03:42.283+00:00Visiting Kathmandu Valley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">Nepal has been high on Keenan's list ever since our university days, but after the grueling trek up to <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/conquering-mt-kinabalu_14.html">Mt. Kinabalu</a> last Christmas I wasn't so keen for a multi-day trekking holiday. But luckily we met a lovely couple in Borneo who encouraged us to visit Nepal. They spent two years living in Nepal and did some amazing trekking to Everest Base Camp, Annapurnas, Manaslu, Upper Mustang, and Langtang.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">So we planned for a trekking trip for mid October which is high season for Nepal where the weather is near perfect with glorious blue skies. We were joined by two of London-based friends whom we traveled to <a href="http://londoncosmopolitan.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/birthday-in-ancient-roman-palmyra.html">Syria</a> with in 2010. Together we spent 10 adventure-filled days exploring the stupas and temples around Kathmandu, taking a harrowing (and slow) bus journey to Pokhara, and trekking around the Annapurnas Himalayas. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">In particular order, here's a list of things to do and see around Kathmandu, Nepal's chaotic capital. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">UNESCO Heritage Sites: </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><b>Durbar Square of Kathmandu and Patan:</b> "Durbar" is the term in Nepal to describe historic plazas within the royal palace complexes, displaying a wonderful array of traditional Newari architecture of red-brick lattices and intricate carvings. There are also a number of temples and multi-tier pagodas flanking the square. It's a wonderful day to spend the afternoon people-watching. Foreigners are expected to pay an entrance fee of 750 rupees for a day pass to enter the complex, which tickets into the Royal Palace. In the evenings, it turns into a night market filled with locals. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><b>Swayambhuanth Stupa</b>: Also known as the "Monkey Temple", this is one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites for Nepali Buddhist located atop of a hill about 30 minute stroll from Kathmandu, and one of the oldest stupas used since the 5th century AD. It's best to go during the mornings or late afternoon for the sunset, and be prepared for a short but steep climb to the top (good training for your Himalayan trek). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><b>Boudhanath Stupa: </b>Another UNESCO-listed stupa located on the east side of the Kathmandu Valley; on eof the largest spherical stupas in Nepal. It's located within a popular tourist area where you can find all sorts of trinkets, yak wool scarves, etc. Like Swayambhuanth, Bouddhanth is graced with Buddhist prayer flags and Tibetan prayer wheels all around the circumference of the stupa. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><b>Pashupathinath Hindu Temple</b>: Located on the banks of the Bagmati River, this Hindu Temple dedicated to Shiva is another important pilgrimage and cremation place for Nepali Hindus. Expect to see Sadhus (holy men). <span style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 19.190340042114258px;">The temple serves as the seat of the national deity, Lord Pashupatinath. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><b>Shopping around Thamel</b>: Not to worry if you forgot to pick up walking sticks, fleece, or another pair of wool socks, Thamel has everything you can think of for your trekking holiday, plus more. Thamel is the main 'tourist' area, somewhat similar to Bangkok's Khao San Road. Nepal is a go-to-bed early kind of country so the nightlife is fairly low-key. There are loads of roof-top restaurants and "German Bakery" to cater to Western visitors. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><b>Splashing our for a meal at Krishnapan located in Dwarikas Hotel</b>: A lovely, lovely (and expensive) heritage hotel located near the Ring Road. The interior architecture and surrounding courtyards are simply stunning and no stranger to hosting important foreign dignitaries and royal families. The National Geographic hosted a fancy reception here when we visited. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">We enjoyed a delightful six course meal at Krishnapan's, one of the finest Newari restaurants in Nepal for our post-trek dinner. If you want, you can order the 22 course meal! It was the perfect way to end our trip.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">Pokhara and the Annapurnas to follow...</span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-15140420367636113202013-10-14T15:40:00.000+01:002013-11-10T15:41:11.799+00:00Anniversary Dinner at Hawksmoor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />We continued the celebrations at Hawksmoor Seven Dials for our 5th anniversary dinner (thanks Miss Ruby Buby for the generous gift!) still excited about getting our ILR. If you are a steak lover and haven't been to Hawksmoor, one word: GO. Amazing steak with a nice atmosphere. Even better than Gauchos in my opinion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We splashed out as part of our celebration week. To whet our appetites, we started with cocktails (as if we didn't have enough at London's Cocktail Week) -- a G&T for me and a Whiskey Sour for Keenan. Hawksmoor may be known for excellent prime cuts, it also takes its cocktails seriously and the killer cocktails did not disappoint. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Starters were roasted scallops with white port and garlic and half lobster smothered with garlic butter. Hmmmmmm....heavenly. The main was 900 gram Porterhouse Steak which we shared (yes, we're little piggies) and sides of marconi and cheese and creamed spinach. We also ordered a bottle of juicy Rioja to go with our cooked to perfection steaks. A Glenlivet scotch, espresso, and chocolates to end a lovely meal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The next evening we met up with two friends to see Susie Essmen, a stand-up comedian best known for her role as Susie Green in <i>Curb your Enthusiasm </i>(we're big fans). Before the show, we hit a nearby ramen joint Tonkatsu. Ramen houses seem to be the latest foodie craze and this place was quite good, so good that we had the pleasure of sitting behind Anthony Bourdain at dinner. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Couldn't ask for a better week of celebrations with food, friends, and laughter. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anthony Bourdain at Tonkatsu</span></td></tr>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-83890781801741652262013-10-11T09:24:00.000+01:002013-10-12T09:25:56.774+01:00Indefinite Leave to Remain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So Keenan and I hit a big milestone in our little ex-pat adventure: we were granted Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) on Tuesday. After living and working for five years, we are now bonafide permanent residents of the United Kingdom and 365 days away from getting our British citizenship. This means we can live and work in the U.K for the rest of lives if we wanted to - without being tied to an employer, giving us the flexibility and freedom that we couldn't enjoy whilst being on the 5 year work permit. </div>
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The process was fairly straightforward and Keenan's company paid for all fees and retained a law firm to assist us with the paper work and booked an appointment at the public enquiry office (PEO) in Croydon on our behalf. It involved us compiling three months + worth of bank statements and payslips; getting an employer letter, original marriage certificate; days out of the country; pass the Life in the UK test (yes, I know that the capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, thanks); and complete SET (O) forms for ILR. </div>
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The morning of the PEO appointment, we took the train to East Croydon from London Bridge to meet the agent who accompanied us through the whole process. All said and done, it took us about 3 hours to register our details, pay for the fees, complete the biometrics, and then wait whilst our application was under review. Then we get our brand new residency cards via post sent to the law firm. </div>
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For those of you who will be getting ILR in the near future (congrats on being in the UK for 5 years!), some helpful tips:</div>
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<li><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">If you haven't done so, start keeping track of your days out of the country on excel, including start date, finish date, and purpose of the trip. You should set up a formula to help you automatically calculate your days of the country. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">The immigration laws keep changing; so check the Home Office/UKBA on the latest rules and fees at least six to eight months prior to your application. If you want to do the premium service where you'll know of your outcome within 1 day and so you do not have to surrender your passport for three to six month, the fee is £2589 for the main applicant and 1 dependent. Otherwise, the fee is £1839. We were lucky to have Keenan's firm pay for both our application fees and legal fees. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">Whilst you need to only supply three months worth of 'proof of income,' I highly recommend that you keep <b>all</b> of your pay stubs and bank statements. You may not need all of it but you never know when you need for things like applying for mortgages. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">If you are on a Tier 1 visa and self-employed, I highly recommend that you seek legal advice. The bulk of the SET (O) form is for applicants under Tier 1. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">Last, if you travel under your maiden name (on your passport) but is known by your married name in the UK, like myself, then better for you to sort this out prior to avoid any issues. I still travel under my maiden name as I didn't get around to changing my name on my passport but all bills, bank statements and payslips, etc are in my married name. The issue was that I didn't have a proof of address that has my maiden name on it that matches my passport. Opps. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">It's not an issue at the Home/UKBA office as the name change is generally bridged by your marriage certificate. It becomes slightly more problematic at the </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">third party Life in the UK test centres where the guy outright rejected my US marriage certificate and I couldn't take the test. Apparently, they only recognise UK marriage certificates... and they follow instructions by the Home Office to the T. Anyways, I got a deed poll and got a bank account under my maiden name, but didn't need either my second time at the test centre, thankfully. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">This is by far the best gift ever on the eve of our fifth wedding anniversary. Thank you UKBA! </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif;">We celebrated the occasion by popping open a bottle of Moet & Chandon. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;">Cheers to the next five years!</span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-76124156559186735442013-09-23T09:13:00.000+01:002014-04-06T10:25:11.258+01:00Autumn in Holland Park<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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London is full of pretty parks, among them is Holland Park located in the fashionable and well-heeled Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London. As we have been petsitting my friend's adorable, if not quirky, Yorkshire Terrier, I organised a doggie playdate with another friend and her sweet Haile (her mongral i.e. mutt in British English) in Holland Park. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My friend had to cancel last minute so Miss Ruby (the Yorkie), Keenan, and I explored the peaceful setting of Holland Park, starting with the magical Kyoto Gardens. Donated by the Chamber of Commerce of Kyoto, this picturesque garden had a koi pond, waterfall, and at least half a dozen of peacocks. Nostalgic memories came flooding back of our first international trip to Tokyo some 10 years ago (yikes!). We miss </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Japan a lot and </span><br />
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have been thinking about making a trip next spring to see the cherry blossoms, and pay tribute to Keenan's late host father who passed away two years ago. We shall see. </div>
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Holland Park, covering over 22 hectares, is a delight to stroll through, definitely one of London more romantic parks and the </div>
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stunning Orangery is a beautiful place to host special events. There's a giant chess set, lovely gardens, sports pitch, and a children's play area. We then headed to Holland Park tube to meet our friends whom we travelled to Iceland with. The northern end of the park is mostly semi-wild woodlands, well with the exception of the YMCA. </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Highly recommend a stroll through Holland Park. Ruby concurs. </span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-51770640424411406192013-09-16T22:09:00.000+01:002013-09-22T22:10:25.800+01:00Tottenham vs Norwich<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">At
last, finally, I attended my first Tottenham game at White Hart Lane
thanks to a very generous expat friend who got tickets from a client. I
get slack from all my hard-core Arsenal supporting friends, including my
beloved husband, but I stand by Hotspurs even if they sold Gareth Bale
for a cool <span class="">€100 million</span> to Real Madrid.<br /><br />
My friend also lives in West Hampstead so we met up for lunch before
taking the overground to South Tottenham for the 3pm kick-off against
Norwich. Earlier this year, I saw Arsenal stage a last minute comeback
against Norwich at Emirates Stadium, so I expected nothing less from
Tottenham who ended up beating Norwich 2-0. </span><span>Sigurdsson scored on both occasions!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">White Hart Lane is a far cry
from the state-of-the-art glittering Emirates Stadium -- it's like
comparing the S.F. Giants stadium in downtown San Francisco to Oakland
A's stadium in the industrial zone of Oakland. But they have a loyal
fan base and the atmosphere was amazing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">On
Sunday, whilst hanging out with friends in Chelsea, we saw Frank Lampard
and his WAG (wives and girlfriends) at the The Hollywood Arms having a
relaxed evening with his two daughters. It's still early in the Premier
League but shaping up to be an exciting season. </span></div>
Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-74169846403318941932013-08-28T21:19:00.000+01:002013-09-10T21:53:30.212+01:00Land of Fire and Ice: Wild Iceland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Over the August bank holiday weekend, Keenan and I along with another couple friend took a little road trip to enjoy the wild beauty of Iceland. Everyone should go to Iceland at least once in their life; it's quite unique and very different from all the places we visited in Europe. It's wild with varied landscapes and natural formations from moss-covered lava fields, spectacular waterfalls, geyers, plate tectonics, and massive glaciers. Without further ado, some photo highlights from our Iceland road-trippin' tour. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Driving Tour 1 - Golden Circle: Þingvellir, Gullfoss, and the Geyers, plus <span class="st">Kerið, a volcanic crater. </span></span></div>
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First stop: <span style="font-size: small;">Þingvellir, site of the a rift valley marking the mid-Atlantic Ridge. Our friends and us at </span>Öxarárfoss waterfall</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Geysers! It erupted fairly frequently.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheY4ORag6Q9Ezpn-OFDbt15fwx9pGBtDuchu63qGVDrYkLwaFd-7knm19aePVDckU-a-DiK4HkkMFa02QYHPyGXgT2wxHijQknFEx6GfC96MpZiN6caOOc4-rR8Vpu9eWVm8js2uL5nIo/s1600/Iceland152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheY4ORag6Q9Ezpn-OFDbt15fwx9pGBtDuchu63qGVDrYkLwaFd-7knm19aePVDckU-a-DiK4HkkMFa02QYHPyGXgT2wxHijQknFEx6GfC96MpZiN6caOOc4-rR8Vpu9eWVm8js2uL5nIo/s320/Iceland152.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinZywfUxeXfzzWeCbr5qzd0-8RF3buA3apS45oHb_98NI1k2FfxYrkGVC0rJrv62pMVBG-MZ42Ea0eiYdP5kZAtbYRAJ2t6NMbd1XHEtLVs3oL-hYtmZFimNU1JPn-cWtMqR-Rs8M0Pks/s1600/Iceland122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinZywfUxeXfzzWeCbr5qzd0-8RF3buA3apS45oHb_98NI1k2FfxYrkGVC0rJrv62pMVBG-MZ42Ea0eiYdP5kZAtbYRAJ2t6NMbd1XHEtLVs3oL-hYtmZFimNU1JPn-cWtMqR-Rs8M0Pks/s320/Iceland122.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Gullfoss - Admiring this short but powerful waterfall. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESOqknIKHFse3VhOpY_G40JthQvFBc2dlnLQ3nTHwXLs_KuD-4eoFbTwW5no71MSa0OuMiC2M88KBmn4q-7G3cZqO_K2jLuclANB003qyCHS5AS7ECxZVOxkxUoyGPS3wG1Yv7elKd3c/s1600/Iceland163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESOqknIKHFse3VhOpY_G40JthQvFBc2dlnLQ3nTHwXLs_KuD-4eoFbTwW5no71MSa0OuMiC2M88KBmn4q-7G3cZqO_K2jLuclANB003qyCHS5AS7ECxZVOxkxUoyGPS3wG1Yv7elKd3c/s320/Iceland163.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Kerið Crater </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJldI6bgf8tZn78FHDP6ctvLSm5VuJOkbO_W_7qx2rQnxS0hy6BsnsSRUyhnhgfd_gHO6MYTYXjRLRimgiN5r1XYR6AcOQy_ia5RKJeREt3YbFXibOut8uWBLAosGfgeE9SqPPXocg0pQ/s1600/Iceland177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJldI6bgf8tZn78FHDP6ctvLSm5VuJOkbO_W_7qx2rQnxS0hy6BsnsSRUyhnhgfd_gHO6MYTYXjRLRimgiN5r1XYR6AcOQy_ia5RKJeREt3YbFXibOut8uWBLAosGfgeE9SqPPXocg0pQ/s320/Iceland177.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33JrCFuWdeLk-IRk5CNXc2q8mIhIfzEb3jnwgAUe90Y81CTU-Al8SdSASOZTdw6_LzPADe9GKZOEX_Nujysl8bRVvXNH9i0CUnTrKXZtlqOteVdiF7vCa-XYbtBTyZxMtwEnkGhd5GCQ/s1600/Iceland171.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33JrCFuWdeLk-IRk5CNXc2q8mIhIfzEb3jnwgAUe90Y81CTU-Al8SdSASOZTdw6_LzPADe9GKZOEX_Nujysl8bRVvXNH9i0CUnTrKXZtlqOteVdiF7vCa-XYbtBTyZxMtwEnkGhd5GCQ/s320/Iceland171.JPG" width="320" /> </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Night tour of Reykajavik -- it was quite cold and it was still summer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Harpa and famous </span><span class="st">Hallgrímskirkja church</span></div>
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<span class="st">Driving Tour 2: Along the southern coast to Vik</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdBA0warXy758a42iFJZz1H0EMNLUhJsG-UKSkxEfXO9F268vQaaPnE_qj1MQ29b9CC8fQErA4M_-DOAtHuKI9_38Mjq8C0t24lqfz-wHhWtycHgJAfOVOYfyxfaQtslIXtkSnJXOBT0/s1600/Iceland228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdBA0warXy758a42iFJZz1H0EMNLUhJsG-UKSkxEfXO9F268vQaaPnE_qj1MQ29b9CC8fQErA4M_-DOAtHuKI9_38Mjq8C0t24lqfz-wHhWtycHgJAfOVOYfyxfaQtslIXtkSnJXOBT0/s320/Iceland228.JPG" width="320" /></a></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdBA0warXy758a42iFJZz1H0EMNLUhJsG-UKSkxEfXO9F268vQaaPnE_qj1MQ29b9CC8fQErA4M_-DOAtHuKI9_38Mjq8C0t24lqfz-wHhWtycHgJAfOVOYfyxfaQtslIXtkSnJXOBT0/s1600/Iceland228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIK9kOrG82fBUo09gsakYHrTUNPjHbTHJ32j0GomMEWHCRo3VCcdo8U5cxCSb2rytxnfa4mtgNgpZXaYM3n68kltr9GCnxZrWFgEKrTwKBgLoRUzcmf7fVafiFtlU-blfECkO0PPkpEzs/s1600/Iceland241.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIK9kOrG82fBUo09gsakYHrTUNPjHbTHJ32j0GomMEWHCRo3VCcdo8U5cxCSb2rytxnfa4mtgNgpZXaYM3n68kltr9GCnxZrWFgEKrTwKBgLoRUzcmf7fVafiFtlU-blfECkO0PPkpEzs/s320/Iceland241.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqS8N85T6zF1caXo6lvV6JYlfBmuxo5Dc_f_3c_GBA8EXi9eA2e2hQ7LSNW5v0lM5AnfJxORzKX2DuPNPjIsj0KYUmQMRR5LKTLOHY_ZobUUoinzvFBUGP5mzg2PhKgWtok8kWzFI6nOo/s1600/Iceland238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqS8N85T6zF1caXo6lvV6JYlfBmuxo5Dc_f_3c_GBA8EXi9eA2e2hQ7LSNW5v0lM5AnfJxORzKX2DuPNPjIsj0KYUmQMRR5LKTLOHY_ZobUUoinzvFBUGP5mzg2PhKgWtok8kWzFI6nOo/s320/Iceland238.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWO5leUSuxtLLAFg3OqpK21E2HbgTdB-v3lPwZIDjHYijqeKgF_cC4tPPCNDsia9LWsDW-Vq7NOe_E_BzSLEOBB4SpaM7HCdrvEvoBblXCrh_hH-8tG4TVLn_qg_N9RULF8Tumyus0HSM/s1600/Iceland270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWO5leUSuxtLLAFg3OqpK21E2HbgTdB-v3lPwZIDjHYijqeKgF_cC4tPPCNDsia9LWsDW-Vq7NOe_E_BzSLEOBB4SpaM7HCdrvEvoBblXCrh_hH-8tG4TVLn_qg_N9RULF8Tumyus0HSM/s320/Iceland270.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Enjoyed some glacier hiking and some climbing. Amazing and highly recommended!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFZD713B0M4k9Qt6J93XLA2JUJf_Aqb2YjoJb1gIKvYHX6TR6UJLBbrvoVhcalvgmpeCIXx79aFUZE6uu5cYmvR1BP5m0FBDM5-xeAaGj6Jofauyi1aYajg0sLEX2oUXEkodiv6ijF3Y/s1600/Iceland306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFZD713B0M4k9Qt6J93XLA2JUJf_Aqb2YjoJb1gIKvYHX6TR6UJLBbrvoVhcalvgmpeCIXx79aFUZE6uu5cYmvR1BP5m0FBDM5-xeAaGj6Jofauyi1aYajg0sLEX2oUXEkodiv6ijF3Y/s320/Iceland306.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> The black beaches on the coastal town of Vik. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXCuxvMAsJEZB6S1Zj5boS_BRTG8MitneDosrfmsDd5IqylfKtoBWiKUPIoBKz2XjUHLXuCphENeahW64NhlFTMgRNUlsOheiJ67bdYxIT78EhEKbCSnFrAg-Sg6Kw00SoCsGBMn0Ed4/s1600/Iceland323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXCuxvMAsJEZB6S1Zj5boS_BRTG8MitneDosrfmsDd5IqylfKtoBWiKUPIoBKz2XjUHLXuCphENeahW64NhlFTMgRNUlsOheiJ67bdYxIT78EhEKbCSnFrAg-Sg6Kw00SoCsGBMn0Ed4/s320/Iceland323.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Beautiful Skógafoss and a lovely rainbow</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHToNhSM-xox-6yBPRQ4F3Gsj0I9uVB2GAYjtC8EAkKL-O2zzYAetPmrwqEaDdTxiy6IrQpu1qdJd3dMiuwPMgyqTn4lOVsvnQOjbcc1IV40bYYZyTAB_1hZIYuKb8Hb4fEJsfFtRtho/s1600/Iceland348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNwjzNKo1olUHg4ioi2wkzqrfFmY8er_MElyAVCwtrkZUjXi-lPfXss8d52Vq9-X1BvNfQTOMP1VA76IG2HAX9px07LsSfkPDpfidW_vTol_Tvf4AI8gLXQ-4a1BWVDAA-Je261PyeGU/s1600/Iceland357.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNwjzNKo1olUHg4ioi2wkzqrfFmY8er_MElyAVCwtrkZUjXi-lPfXss8d52Vq9-X1BvNfQTOMP1VA76IG2HAX9px07LsSfkPDpfidW_vTol_Tvf4AI8gLXQ-4a1BWVDAA-Je261PyeGU/s320/Iceland357.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0a2z0rxhmqPaCSq1jOe-dp4vGKnAh560QNJLJfxF9p5ml_ZQ-jPXJH6yOKbAtYQsftI_zaEYaURrpuTbFo7Duf3L9lEW9OMkI5b41QLw-jutYu2Owfgb7TFJrztPylCSTiV35Urg7GyM/s1600/Iceland365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0a2z0rxhmqPaCSq1jOe-dp4vGKnAh560QNJLJfxF9p5ml_ZQ-jPXJH6yOKbAtYQsftI_zaEYaURrpuTbFo7Duf3L9lEW9OMkI5b41QLw-jutYu2Owfgb7TFJrztPylCSTiV35Urg7GyM/s320/Iceland365.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Picturesque waterfall where you can walk behind the waterfall. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA8nTwG2oPs-nqgxVHvFk0Ofpu52yWCJe2hznyFZeEWTopB9hGCVUsw60IQ9rPj7AtzP3JucSIEGIEK4-cJ3EmOowRkRA6cbmB6ESfZcxNa0txNkkbiVw6UjP23EG-BWvx8lwcimIPskM/s1600/Iceland086.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA8nTwG2oPs-nqgxVHvFk0Ofpu52yWCJe2hznyFZeEWTopB9hGCVUsw60IQ9rPj7AtzP3JucSIEGIEK4-cJ3EmOowRkRA6cbmB6ESfZcxNa0txNkkbiVw6UjP23EG-BWvx8lwcimIPskM/s320/Iceland086.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHToNhSM-xox-6yBPRQ4F3Gsj0I9uVB2GAYjtC8EAkKL-O2zzYAetPmrwqEaDdTxiy6IrQpu1qdJd3dMiuwPMgyqTn4lOVsvnQOjbcc1IV40bYYZyTAB_1hZIYuKb8Hb4fEJsfFtRtho/s1600/Iceland348.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHToNhSM-xox-6yBPRQ4F3Gsj0I9uVB2GAYjtC8EAkKL-O2zzYAetPmrwqEaDdTxiy6IrQpu1qdJd3dMiuwPMgyqTn4lOVsvnQOjbcc1IV40bYYZyTAB_1hZIYuKb8Hb4fEJsfFtRtho/s320/Iceland348.JPG" width="320" /> </a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Wild landscape and wild horses</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDZmPqW9glMnK5Coh89bnMDQ-WHq4QjvTsot1HxaxoMn-H93E8ZA2YMVAhyDpL4EWm4JQX5W1VATfuz2AdztWlZN9CG9vYs6SZlhCxHm6ICYTHn4b98L6B6ONphntVPdAm4jqKXkTgp4/s1600/Iceland399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDZmPqW9glMnK5Coh89bnMDQ-WHq4QjvTsot1HxaxoMn-H93E8ZA2YMVAhyDpL4EWm4JQX5W1VATfuz2AdztWlZN9CG9vYs6SZlhCxHm6ICYTHn4b98L6B6ONphntVPdAm4jqKXkTgp4/s320/Iceland399.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYRw_ufj7xW1Y4GUCnoZlFF5vPRgo0wBPG8UCS3sWSLw-CTPoYG87SgHgOdSJpM8nCGk_N2q4a3uzp1XWNDOS_40WCa183Zm3_8jElfHH6tZ0p6bLAhpngbDRbSDqAkarWxUngHO0piI/s1600/Iceland405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYRw_ufj7xW1Y4GUCnoZlFF5vPRgo0wBPG8UCS3sWSLw-CTPoYG87SgHgOdSJpM8nCGk_N2q4a3uzp1XWNDOS_40WCa183Zm3_8jElfHH6tZ0p6bLAhpngbDRbSDqAkarWxUngHO0piI/s320/Iceland405.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The famous Blue Lagoon -- a great way to end our trip. </span></div>
Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682415251454814438.post-44807605685677951992013-08-05T22:52:00.000+01:002013-08-07T22:52:40.875+01:00The Emirates Cup 2013<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: inherit;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Preseason
football is underway. No, I'm not talking about American football
though I understand the official preseason just kicked off, I'm
referring to the footie (Americans: soccer). On
Saturday, a group of die-hard Arsensal fans got together for Day 1 of
the Emirates Cup, which is a pre-season friendly played by four teams
and hosted by Arsenal aka 'The Gunners' annually. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">This
year's teams included Galatasaray, FC Porto, Napoli, and The Gunners.
Each team plays two matches over two days. The competition is based on
points where three points are awarded for a win, one point for a draw,
and none for a loss. The team with the most points wins the tournament. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The
first match was between Galatasaray and FC Porto which was a rather
dull game but we were excited to see Didier Drogba play. Galatasaray won
1-0. The second match between Napoli and Arsenal was far more
interesting where Arsenal staged an amazing comeback to equalise at 2-2
but couldn't quite close out the game. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It
was a great day out under the glorious sunshine (yes, we're having a
real summer!). Even coming from a Tottenham Spurs fan, the Emirates
Stadium is always good fun. The best part is being able to walk to Upper
Street in Angel for post-game dinner and drinks, this time at John Salt for fun
dinner and conversations over craft beers and summery cocktails. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Look forward to a new season of football on both sides of the pond. </span></div>
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Lily and Keenanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14010020208205966818noreply@blogger.com0