Our Weekend Away

How's your long weekend guys? Have you had the perfect weather for it? Or have you had an inconsistent weather like we had here in England? :D
My husband and I had a great weekend. We went away for my cousins wedding in Eastleigh, Southampton. It was where my husband studied for University so he know the place pretty much. We stayed 2 nights in the hotel nearby my cousin's house, the church for the wedding and reception, so it was a very sensible hotel to stay.

Breakfast, most favourite meal of the day if I am staying in a hotel..Why? Cos it means full English breakfast with choices of fruit juices, fresh fruits and freshly baked breads like my all time favourite pan au chocolat.

And here's what you call full English breakfast. Sausage, bacons, beans, mushrooms, roast tomatoes, egg and hash brown. What a great meal to start your day! *wink*

How about you guys, how did you spend your weekend? Oh not long now and its gonna be weekend again!  :D

My Dream Holiday

A long weekend away or perhaps a week holiday is what I long desire. Take a long break from work not having to think that I have to go back the next day after staying in the house all day because of the bad weather! I want to go somewhere far, away from a busy city life and traffic. Somewhere where I could see beautiful landscapes while in a long drive. Stay in a century old hotel or in a self catering thatch cottage in a countryside surrounded by unique, old buildings, houses and shops. I wanna have a walk in the hills on a sunny day, visit state houses and castles and explore their enchanting gardens.
Spend an evening in a pub or romantic restaurant having a nice dinner with my husband. Then a pint or two of cider while having a good chat and laugh afterwards.
I want to go somewhere where nobody knows me and everybody is a stranger to me. So I could freely dance in the middle of the street in case I feel like doing it. Or I could shout or laugh out loud in happiness and nobody would mind me. Or sing while walking, kiss and hug my husband any time, anywhere without someone saying " C'mon get a room!" (nyahaha).

Or otherwise I dream of a romantic, extravagant get away..A Europe Cruise or Europe Trip..via train..Wow! It would be a dream come true to finally visit the romantic city of Paris. Have a photo with the Eiffel Tower..weeeh..haha. Walk down in the fashionable high streets of Paris..whew!
And the next stop? Roma, Italia! my dream country to visit since I was young. Perhaps a religious influence, being a catholic and studied in a Catholic school I really wanted to visit Vatican, set foot and have a moment of reflection at St. Peters Basilica one of the most holy and sacred place for us Catholics and of course the privilege or should I say if you're lucky to see the Pope, but I doubt it..lol..
3rd country to visit..Greece! I think by this time historical influence..gods and goddesses, remember?hehe..Zeus, Athena, Hercules?lol..And oh the remarkable Akrotiri in the island of Santorini and the magnificent Acropolis.
Next stop? Switzerland! Not that I know a lot about Switzerland or anything has influenced me but I really think this is one of the best country to visit. Oh actually there's one influence I suppose why I want to visit Switzerland, they're one of the best chocolate maker, for me Swiss chocolat is the best! That's why I love Lindor!hehe..*wink*

Enough of this day dreaming..But anyway I'll make sure this won't stay a day dream. Someday either by plane or train or car, my Europe Tour will be for real!

   “Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back: a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.”  by Anais Nin

Happy Week Ahead!

14 Day Europe Cruise

Hello Hello Hello! Nice to be back in blogging world again. Just in case some of you haven't noticed, I've been away for 3 weeks vacation in the Philippines! Yes indeed, after 18 months I was able to go back and visit my country once again. And now I'm back to reality and that means back to blogging world as well.*wink*
Anyways hanging around the house cos it's your day off and the weather is too cold to have a stroll makes you (me) think a lot of things, which most of the time I enjoy nonetheless frustrates me at the end of the day! lol.. Browse and browse what's in your mind till you get tired, that's what I am doing now. And one of the idea that came to me is someday making one of my dream come true, my most wanted holiday.."Europe Trip" whitwew! And just as I was browing, I came across this 14 day Europe Cruise offered by Expat Explore travel agency. visit 5 countries 14 days from £699pp. Tour Itinerary: Departs in London to Paris in the 1st day, then Paris tour in the 2nd day, stay overnight in the 3 star hotel, then depart to Switzerland and have a chance to explore Swiss in the 4th day. 5th day then to Pisca, florence and Tuscany, Italy, day 6 Florence to Rome, day 7 Rome and Vatican, day 8 Pomepei and Brindisi, then to Corfu Greece 10th day, then to Venice for 2 days then home sweet home..UK! Sounds exciting doesn't it? But before I will commit myself to this, I will first of all apply for Schengen Visa. Will share about this in my upcoming post! "Europe Cruise" goal for 2012! :) *wink*

KLM -- The Royal Dutch Airlines

It was 3 or 4 months ago when hunny and I decided to have a holiday in the Philippines this year.It wasn't easy for me/us to decide at first, thought it's not practical to travel back considering I've only been here for 1 1/2 years (though it feels 5 years already :P). And we are thinking of saving up to get our own place. A lot of things to consider financially like cost of plane tickets etc.
My sister and brother's wedding made us finally decide that Yes we are definitely going! And also my hunny promised my Mama that he'll bring  me back to my country as much as possible ( meaning every year *wink*). So after that what's the next step? Of course, checking how much the plane tickets costs. We spent days searching various websites, all airline offers and deals that will as well suite our travel preferences. After all those searching and comparing so far, hunny and I decided to stick to KLM Airlines. They had a good deals and promotions, travel time is quite straight forward, unlike other airlines. We will arrive in Manila early, plus hunny will earn travel points in his KLM travel card. We flew with this airline when I came here and the service was very good. :) So I didn't see any reason of not flying with them again!

How about you? Planning to travel anywhere for a holiday, visiting your country like me, or doing business abroad? Check and book now at KLM Airlines!!

Fun in the Park

Time check, 11:37pm past my bedtime but here I am wide awake still. I thought I'd be knackered by now, getting more sleep and rest after my oh so tiring 4 days straight shifts. What made me keep awake still, I don't know. It must have been the coffee I had in the nursing home when we visited grandma. Anyways since I'm still up I'd better hunt a photo for my Blue Monday entry *wink* 

hop hop hop!

Spin around Phoebs!

Spin more!

Swing and swing and swing!

Emilia and James 

These photos were taken during our holiday last month in Longleat. We had so much fun! Sharing these as my Blue Monday entry for the week..

What's Inside Chatsworth House

Hello! This Tuesday we are back again to Chatsworth House. I've blogged quite a few about it during our visit there on our honeymoon.Most of it were just the outside features and now time to get inside Chatsworth and discover what's in it. The tour starts here;

This magnificent staircase and breath taking ceiling paintings will be the first bits to catch your eye as you get in the house.

This is the ceiling of the chapel inside the house

Another captivating stairs with my bunny on it 

The paintings of the duke and duchess of Devonshire and my prince charming standing in front of it

More paintings of Duchess and Duke of Devonshire in the past reigning 

The oak room 

Carriages of prince's and pincesses of Devonshire

Hope you enjoyed the tour and my presentation! Sculpture house in Chatsworth next week's feature!For the meantime enjoy more Ruby photos in Ruby Tuesday and lovely sceneries all over the world at My World Tuesday. Have a lovely day!

The Bakewell Old House Museum II

I'm sharing this post as Ruby Tuesday and My world Tuesday entry. As I've promised, this is the continuation of my post last week about The Bakewell Old House Museum which we visited on our honeymoon in Derbyshire. Now you'll get to know the rest of the old house museum characters during the Tudor period in Derbyshire, England.

In 1777 Richard Arkwright, the founder of the factory system, built his third cotton mill at Bakewell and divided this house into 5 cottages for workers at the mill.

This is what the farmers used to wear on their wedding during Tudor period 

This two buckets the lady carries in her shoulder was used to collect milk to make cheese during Tudor period

This is the equipment used in washing clothes during Tudor period

And what my hunny is holding is the machine used to dry the clothes 

And this is the head mistress 

And this is the most popular history, the discovery of Bakewell pudding. We bought one and was so yummy!

There you go, that's a bit of history of English life during Tudor period. Hope you enjoy the tour! Back to Chatsworth House, what's inside it?That's my next entry all about. So please come and visit me again..Have a good day!  

The Home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire

Last time, I posted about Chatsworth House famous water cascade and some features in the garden. I haven't shared to you most of the photos we took there, so now I'll show you another water feature there and more of the outside views.

For those of  you who haven't seen my first post of Chatsworth, this is how it looks like. Haven't taken the whole of the house though. cos it's too long and wide and it'll be too far when I take all of it.

Ok to give you good idea of how big the whole house is, this is the little model of Chatsworth House front view, with me of course. hehe

And here's the back view with my prince-charming! (toink!) hehe

 And now presenting the Emperor's Fountain!

Closer and better view this one with the lovely lady here..haha (wink)

And this with the silly man as if swallowing the water from the fountain!hehe

And be ready to get lost in the Maze. We had a struggle finding our way in and out of this maze but then obvioulsy we managed!

And after the tiring tour, we took a break here for a cup of capuccino and a flapjack which was very yummy!

Wondering what's inside this massive and beautiful house of Duchess and Duke of Devonshire?Oh well, visit me again next week in My World Tuesday entry and discover more beauties of nature and the world in Watery Wednesday.

Good Day everyone!

The Home of Lord Edward Manners!

We are going back to our honeymoon adventure again this Sunday. As we all know England is well known of stately homes, manor, things like that. A castle perhaps as well. Aside from Chatsworth House, we also visited another manor or stately home in Derby. Nestling in the valley of the River Wye, about 2 miles from Bakewell (where we stayed), the 800 year old house, and the home of Lord Edward Manners,  Haddon Hall. Our tour starts now...

This is the outer view of Haddon Hall across the river.Do you recognize this lady sitting by the bridge?hehe..

 This is the North-West Tower which became the entrance to the hall in the early 16th century. The building was begun by Sir Henry Vernon in last 15th century and completed in the 1530's by his grandson Sir George Vernon.

The first photo is the Reredos which dates from the 15th century and was bought in 1933 by the 9th Duke. This contains 11 panels which are now reduced to 9 that portrays the scenes of the Passion of Christ.
The 2nd photo is the marble Effigy of Robert Charles John Manners, Lord Haddon, the son of 8th Duke of Rutland. As a final tribute to him his grief stricken mother, Violet, sculpted the effigy of him.

This is the long gallery which is 110 feet long and 17 feet wide. This have been used as an indoor promenade, enabling the family and their guests to take exercise by walking w/o chancing the vagaries of the Derbyshire climate.Me on the piano corner and my bunny in the long hall.

The main structure of the garden as it is today with its descending terraces. This was a typical arrangement for a late Renaissance garden in England which had been originally inspired by the gardens of Italian hill-top villas.

And this is me and my Mr. Darcy in the garden bench. Lovely flowers around us isn't it?       

Thanks hunny for taking this picture but not quite sure about my focus and clarity! By the way this is restaurant of Haddon hall, with freshly baked scones, cream, and tea.

Very nice topiary there isn't it? And handsome bloke as well?hehehe..

Enjoy more Sceneries at Scenic Sunday and lovely flowers at Todays Flowers. Have a Blessed week everyone! Hope you enjoyed the tour!