Last weekend in London

This is a day dedicated to food, both the taste and purchase of it. It was our last weekend in London and we agreed that we needed to revisit the Borough Market. Firstly, the taste of the roasted pork belly at Roast Restaurant was still lingering in my memory and I had to have it one last time. And secondly, we're going to make it to the front of the queue for those Spanish chorizo sandwiches that I was hankering for but were sold out last week.

As usual, we fed Faith her lunch in the room and rushed out to make it just in time for our lunch appointment at 2 pm. Faith fell asleep by the time we reached the London Bridge tube station. So, Louis and I had a peaceful time eating our salad while she slept in her stroller. However, she woke up just as we were being served our mains ;)

I had the roasted pork belly and Louis, the organic skirt steak. Unfortunately, the pork belly was a little of a disappointment this time around. I felt that it was a little too salty and the crust a little overdone. So, while the skin was crispy, it was a little hard, leaving one with a slightly overworked jaw at the end.

The skirt steak was fabulously done. It was grilled to perfection and we had it rare, as recommended. Thankfully, it was a nice red, not bloody when you cut through it. But the taste of it was awesome, leaving a nicely charred and smoky taste in the mouth. It was of course, very tender. Although it came with a sauce, which was rather nice too, Louis had it on its own becos he liked the taste of the smoky flavour of the beef.


We were rather full after lunch but I insisted that we should stand in line at the queue for the chorizo sandwiches. Like last week, it was a long queue, but that didn't deter us one bit. While Louis was queuing for the sandwiches, I told him that I would take Faith along with me to the other end of the Borough Market.

I wanted to see if it was possible for me to get some preserved lemons as I wanted make a lemon & olives chicken tagine. I certainly got more than the preserved lemons. I ended up tasting and buy 2 different bottles of flavoured balsamic vinegars (one with orange and the other, berry fruits), and some Moroccan amlou, a dipping paste made of argan oil, ground almonds and honey.

Loaded with all my purchase, I made my way back to where Louis was. Instead, we met midway in the market and he had the prized chorizo sandwich in hand. And that was some kick-ass chorizo sandwich that we bought.

Even though we were both stuffed, the chorizo sandwich was certainly very moreish. The sandwich was essentially a ciabatta-like bread, filled with roasted red capsicum and rockets. What made them so moreish I guess was the fats from the fried, and then grilled chorizos, flavouring the entire sandwich. We all know how flavourful fats are, even though they are so not good for one's health :)


But I had my limits and I had to call a halt after 3-4 bites. Louis wafed the rest of the sandwich down and we both headed back to the store again. Not to get another sandwich, but to buy the specific chorizos that were being used in the sandwich. And while I was there, I saw another dried type of chorizo and we ended up buying that as well.

Louis was shaking his head and groaning when he saw the amount of foodstuff I had bought. But I rationalised that we wouldn't be coming back to London for a while and I would be filled with eternal regret if I didn't purchase any of the stuff. I further assured him that he would be too -- cos I would be nagging at him for the rest of my life for it. Faced with such convincing reasons, of course he couldn't deny his wife these few purchases. But he did say we really have to look into buying a cheap luggage for the excess stuff we've been accumulating. Oops... :)

We headed back to the hotel after Borough Market and fed Faith her afternoon milk. She refused to go down for a nap since she had a short one earlier. As there was still some time before dinner, we decided to head out to the London Eye area to walk around, ride the carousel and watch the water fountains on display.

Being the weekend, it was extremely crowded and packed to the hilt with tourists. We spent some time watching a group of young, well-muscled men performing some cool break dance.



Then, we took a ride on the carousel. Faith and I were kicking our heels in delight during the ride, with Louis trying to take pictures of us with one hand. At the end of the ride, he said he felt a little giddy. Maybe it was becos he was focusing on the small camera screen while the horse was turning.


Still, we decided to walk on further to see the interactive fountain that was on display at the Royal Festival Hall. Louis ran with Faith in his arms to try standing at one quadrant of the fountain to see if they wouldn't get drenched. Of course they did! Louis sheltered Faith with his body but he ended up getting wet. Faith wasn't too happy about getting wet in her clothes and made it known to her dad in no uncertain terms :)

For 2 days in a row, I bought a scope of ice-cream in a cone from a side store, Minghella. Supposedly, they had 44 Great Taste Awards, was the Best British Speciality Food in 2006 and World's Most Delicious Ice Cream based on a Sunday Times Style Magazine May 2007 issue. I decided to have the strawberry flavour ice-cream today. I think the verdict is out that Faith loves strawberry ice-cream -- as opposed to the chocolate ice-cream that I bought yesterday. She kept wanting to lick and hold the ice-cream cone :)



We walked back to our hotel room after the interactive fountain, with Faith tightly gripping the last bit of her empty ice-cream cone.

We'll be heading back to Singapore on Tuesday and given the 7-hour time difference, we're trying to get Faith to sleep earlier starting from today. Hence, dinner tonight and for the next few nights would be somewhere near the hotel or packed-in so that she can sleep earlier.

As much as we have all enjoyed our time in London, we're really glad that we're going home soon. There's just no place like home. Especially now that Louis and I are parents, we feel the need to be nearer to home whenever possible. The key reason is of course becos of Faith. Admittedly, its easier becos we have the help of our parents back home. But the most important reason for me to want to be home is that I think Faith misses playing with her cousins and especially, both sets of grandparents. Thus, our time away from home is time away from them.