a tale of two cities

Adrian celebrated his birthday in Manchester City and London over the weekend (from Friday the 25th  plus Monday and Tuesday).

It was a meaningful celebration as his son was just recovering from a recent accident. It was about family and close friends.

Although i did not take pictures of the city (we have been to Manchester many times before, and took many photos then), both Manchester and London are ties Adrian and i could not break away from. 

He has and all of his families are there. And our closest friends in the country live in London.

Just like my umbilical cord is tied to Cebu forever.

some pictures over the weekend of the beautiful places we have been to. 

the Trafford centre in Manchester is one of England's biggest shopping malls.

on a weekend, you are more likely to bump into a footballer's wife or girlfriend

or a reality tv star in this massive shopping complex.

We went there for lunch, and for me to buy some toiletries which i forgot to bring with me (i know!).

I never ever forget toiletries, but the bag, which holds all my toiletries, my hairdryer, and all bits and bobs for self-preservation (from moisturiser, to eye make-up remover) was still left in the frontroom when Adrian was loading the car. 

So it was his fault basically. My fault too, because i didn't check if he loaded the car with all the bags i needed to take. moral lesson: whenever he says, "all bags are in the car, always check,lol".

On Monday, Adrian's real birthday (28th), 

we went to London to renew my passport and to have lunch and tea in the city.

This is what greets you when you get off Tower Hill station. 

Another addition to the skyline is the very tall The Shard (that pointy glass building).

Im tempted to show old photos from before where that building wasn't in view at all. 

Maybe some other time.

Around lunch time, Adrian and i had to dash to a quick lunch, as i was given an hour out of the embassy for lunch and come back for the biometrics.

So we decided to go somewhere quick (Yo Sushi to the rescue!). 

So much for romantic birthday lunches. 

We made it up by having tea at the charming cafe in The National Gallery. 

And browsed their bakeshop,too. And bought some nice stuff from the gallery shop,too. (LOL)

After the tea, we headed back home to meet our friends. 

We had reservations to eat at a local steak restaurant, 

but our friend C was still recovering from jetlag from her recent holiday in Thailand, 

and she also was feeling fluey.

We ended up getting chinese takeaway and ate in their house. 

It was unexpected, spontaneous and just felt right.

Most of all, Adrian was happy.

**

I will post some pics from Adrian's birthday on the next blog. 

missing...

this...

and this

..

i'm happy to be going back for a visit this weekend.


looking forward to be in my old favourite nooks and crannies in my first (UK) city love.


PS. the Queen had a garden party at Sandringham today. hence the traffic,and the deluge of luxury 4x4s that passed the house. one day, i will get invited to that.. x (libre ang mangarap! teeheee!!! ).

how was valentines day?

we attended a wedding on valentines day.

my ninang Celsa from Cebu arrived in England and rang me out of nowhere, and asked me if i could witness her daughter's wedding on valentines day.

it was quite a surprise as i was not expecting a phone call from her,much more,being in england in the middle of a very bad winter and a wedding to boot.

So adrian and i grabbed the opportunity to celebrate our Valentines day in the company of fellow cebuanos in a very meaningful way.--what could be more meaningful than a wedding on valentines day?

**

some pics from the day:-)

i made myself up. knowing it was freezing cold and my lips were chapped so much from the cold, i decided i could not wear any lipstick at all. so i played with my eyes..and just slicked lipbalm on the lips

in the car.. i still have not got over the novelty over losing (some) weight..

i miss seeing my neck. it's very childish but i must indulge.

adrian's photo of me when we got to the carpark

sitting in the register office,waiting for the bride and groom

Ninang C, walking Jan to her groom..

it was emotional because i know my ninong wanted to be there and so did Jan's siblings.

an iphone photo of the bride and groom with their parents

arriving at the reception..a photo with ninang C

ok,it was cold, so i had to put my jacket on again.

my partner for life;-)

he got emotional at the wedding..such a softie.

a pic with ninang and Sheila.. Sheila is also ninang's goddaughter who lives in the UK. she called all her inaanaks so we all could attend her daughter's wedding.it was lovely meeting her (Sheila), also a cebuana, and speak with someone once again in good Visayan tongue.

Sol (Sheila's sister-in-law), Tito Jun and Tita Babes (Tita Babes is ninang C's sister,

and tito Jun is her husband)

saying goodbye..we had to travel to Norfolk that night, and Sheila and her husband and kids had to travel to Bristol.

saying goodbye to the bride..and her friends

**

because it was a long drive home, we stopped for some coffee with extra espresso shots.

our valentine date,lol.

coffee at Earl's court Costa.

reading an article that Adrian pointed out about Whitney Houston.

Valentine happy;-)

**

it was so nice to be in the company of people from cebu. hearing the language and be with people you know from home just made the valentines day more special.

..and most of all: we had lechon at the reception,too;-) that was the biggest bonus of all;-)

*grateful*

**

how did you spend your valentines day?

dimsum satisfaction

one of our new finds in soho area.

we have our usual favourites but it was a saturday where London seem to have grown thrice in tourist population,so we decided to try their dimsum.

at Leong's Legend


**

waiting for our number 11 red bus;-)

the date and i;-)

8 meat dumpling..;-) (adrian had a plateful each)

2 orders of prawn and chive dumpling...and pork shiu bun

pork belly wrap;-)

the lady in question

the prawn siomai (Adrian and i had one plateful each: our fave).. and Leong's braised belly (just like my Mama's humba, i swear im going back for this)

Adrian's special fried rice;-)

my egg fried rice;-)

King prawn steamed in oyster sauce

we were there just half past 1pm..lesser people, and not too embarassing to take pics

the restaurant;-) (whoever is coming to visit me in the UK should remind me to take them there)

**

after a hearty lunch, we did some shopping in Oxford street, and ended up in Selfridges..

we headed home around 7 pm;-)

at night, on the way home..

*

truly, the lunch was worth the day;-)

fridate

one of those days we have nothing to do and just decided to take our time and have a leisurely day for ourselves.


we started really late. left the house at 2pm and got to victoria by 3pm and went ahead and just followed our nose.


we ended for a snack at wasabi..

went to church to say our prayers for Papa whose birthday would have been on the 14th..

had coffee at leicester square

We did some windowshopping..and bought more books! (as if we need anything more to pack).

and had a pasta dinner at The Italian at Leicester Square..

**

i cannot wait to post pics of our 'dates' in norfolk (in the future)...;-)x

have a nice week ahead from Mr.S and i;-)