Breakfast at Tiffany's

Wed (27 Jun 07) - We were supposed to have a picnic dinner before watching "Breakfast at Tiffany's" at the Scoop Outdoor Theatre. But as usual, the typical London weather did not fail us. It started pouring even before we got to the Scoop so we were forced to have dinner indoors.
At Strada - yummy Italian food especially the desserts! Val and I shared a really nice strawberry mascorpone tart.

Ben Sherman guitar?

Garry the rock star!

Guitar with Rod Stewart's signature. The van behind me was getting ready to screen the movie but there was no audience.

Guitar signed by Ozzy Osbourne (and Garry trying to be funny!)

For any James Blunt fans (shot taken in the pouring rain)

A shot of the girls!

Guitar display and the Tower Bridge. Apparently the Americans paid a huge sum of money to buy the London Bridge thinking it was this beautiful Tower Bridge they were buying, but only realised after the deal was done that the London Bridge was not this pretty bridge but a different one! (hmmm....did they not believe in basic due diligence?)

Guitar signed by Sir Paul McCartney

Thao, Max, Val, me (and Garry, the photographer)

Tower Bridge letting a boat through.

Screening of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" at the Scoop - can you believe that I have not watched this classic? Surprisingly, when we finished our dinner, there were lots of people watching the movie despite the cold and rain....obviously quite a few Audrey Hepburn fans!

Garry's favourite shot of the Tower of London and the paddle-boat speeding past.

A clearer picture of the pretty lit-up paddle boat!

Standing in the cold on a summer's night watching the last bit of the movie - wish I had brought my doona!

Homemade Nandos!

Sunday (24 Jun 07) - We had a Nandos craving so Galv and Garry decided to make their own Nandos. Galv reckons he can whip up anything to satisfy our food craving (occasionally with the help of his "Kuching Grandmother's Recipe Book").

Chook to be slaughtered - the three master chefs hard at work (whilst I was um....uh....hmm...what was I doing? hehehe....I was surfing the net for more holiday ideas!)

Galv & Garry's homemade Nandos - garnished with Cath's homegrown basil. Looked pretty tasty but marinade from Mr M&S needed a bit more spice! Galv made steamed chicken too! There was enough chook to feed an army but we ate it all! (notice free marketing for Diet Coke too!)

You can always trust me to appear at the right time - hehe...when the FOOD is ready!

A Shakespearean weekend - Stratford-upon-Avon

Sat (23 Jun 07) - It so happened that we had arranged to meet up with Jasmin on the Saturday to visit Shakespeare's birthplace at Stratford-upon-Avon after watching "A Midsummer Night's Dream" the night before. So it was a very timely visit after all! I have finally seen this place so many years after having scored a 100% on a research essay on Shakespeare in high school (Thanks to Aunty Jenny for proofreading my essay...but she must have stopped proofreading my stuff afterwards cause that was my first and last 100% ever in English Lit!)

Shakespeare's birthplace - house owned by his parents, John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 but it is believed he was born a day or two before his baptism. Jasmin reckons he was born on 24 April 1564 (same birthday as her!).

Photos inside Shakespeare's house - courtesy of Garry's dad. Ba and Mum visited the same place with their friends two weeks ago. This is a photo of a reconstruction of what John Shakespeare's dining room would have looked like back in the 1500s.

We were told that the man of the household often sat in the chair at one end of the dining board, hence the expression "chairman of the board". We learnt that many other phrases also came about from other basic English household items. For example, some decorative wooden tables back then were made of a piece of wooden board sitting loosely on top of a supporting base and if an extra bed was needed, the wooden board would be turned over to be used as a bed, hence the expression "to turn the table on you". Other phrases: "to give you the cold shoulder" (back then, favoured guests were offered warm ham but if you weren't a favoured guest, you would be given cold ham, hence the "cold shoulder" expression).

Shakespeare's birthroom.

Servant's room. See the rope around the wooden frame (the rope acts as the equivalent of a slat today). The tighter the rope, the more comfortable the bed. Hence the expression "Good night, sleep tight!".

Back garden of Shakespeare's birthplace.

River Avon

The building with the American flag flying at the top is Harvard's House, so named because it is owned by Harvard University. The grandparents of John Harvard (founder of Harvard University) previously lived in the building. John Harvard studied at Cambridge University but migrated to "New England" (America) to pursue religious freedom and started "Cambridge New England" (renamed as Harvard). The house next to Harvard's House with the pretty pattern on it is Garrick's Inn, the oldest pub in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Nash's House and New Place - the former home of Elizabeth Hall, Shakespeare's granddaughter, and her first husband, Thomas Nash. The adjacent gardens contain the bare foundation of New Place, Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway's last residence (the second largest house back then in Stratford), which was demolished by its subsequent owner, Reverend Gastrell. The guide told us that Shakespeare was not only a brilliant playwright, he was a shrewd businessman. He worked himself up from a lowly actor to a scriptwriter and eventually became a shareholder of the London theatre, getting a cut of the theatre profits. When he returned to Stratford from London, he was a very well-off man and succeeded in having a coat-of-arms granted to his father.

Gardens at Nash's House.

The Knotted Gardens at Nash's House - knotted gardens in those days were signs of great wealth, only the rich could afford gardens like that.

The Great Garden, adjacent to Nash's House.

Shakespeare hotel - a popular hotel in the town centre.

Guild Chapel in the left hand corner and the adjoining building with the multi-timber facade is King Edward VI Grammar School, where it is believed Shakespeare was educated.

Hall's Croft, previous home of Shakespeare's eldest daughter, Susanna Hall, and her doctor husband, John Hall. Susanna must have been Shakespeare's favourite daughter. She was left with the bulk of his assets when he died. His wife was only given the second best bed in their marital home.

Holy Trinity Church - where Shakespeare and his wife are buried in the chancel.

Bust of William Shakespeare

Graves from left to right: Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare (with a blue outline), Thomas Nash, John Hall and Susanna Hall.

Grave of Shakespeare.

Main aisle of Holy Trinity Church

My favourite house - Anne Hathaway's family home. I love the cute looking thatched roofs made out of wheat. The garden is very pretty too.

Jas adds her touch to the picture with the wooden staircase. One of my favourite shots!

Cute looking thatched roofs

Sneaked a picture of somebody's house. We were walking through Straford's residential area where there were a few of these cute traditional Tudor houses.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Friday (22 Jun 07) - We got some last minute tickets to see Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park. One of my favourite Shakespeare plays.

At the Open Air Theatre bar.

Opening scene - spot the audience with umbrellas and raincoats. Luckily, the rain stopped after five minutes into the play.

My favourite scene - when a group of labourers performed a crude play titled "Pyramus and Thisbe" for the Duke's wedding celebrations. It was the most comical scene, the audience just couldn't stop laughing! (characters from left to right: the lion, the moon, Thisbe, the wall, Pyramus and the narrator).

When the lovers were reunited.

At the end of the play.

Trooping the Colour

Sat (16 Jun 07) - We took Ba and Mum to the annual Trooping the Colour, which is a military pageant performed by regiments of the Commonwealth and the British army. It has been a tradition of British infantry regiments for centuries, and over time has become an occasion to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday. The Queen's actual birthday falls on 21 April but because of the cold weather in April, the parade is held annually in June when the weather is a lot nicer.

On our way to Horse Guards Parade where the ceremony was held. Buckingham Palace in the background, taken from St James Park.

Horse Guards Parade and the Millenium Wheel in the background

At Horse Guards Parade. The Royal Family was sitting somewhere in the stand but they were blocked by a tall monument

Spot the Aussie flag! Go the Aussies!!!

At the Mall waiting for the Queen, the last British Queen for a while (well, in my lifetime anyway!). The next monarchs in line being King Charles and King William. Our theory is that the Queen is not going to abdicate until Prince William is old enough to be crowned King, cause he is more popular with the people than his father (who has had a tumultous past ending with Diana's death, the Princess that everyone loved so much).

Trooping the Colours is an old ceremony whereby the battalion would fall in by Companies and the colour-party would "troop" or march the Colours through the ranks so that every man would see that the Colours were intact. This was done before and after every battle.

Spot the two well co-ordinated drummers on the front who could play their drums without having to steer their horses!

Apparently it's tradition for junior members of the Royal Family to arrive in two carriages first. Prince William and Duchess Camilla of Cornwall (above) were in the first carriage. Garry was too slow to get a snap of Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice in the second carriage. Camilla and Prince William were all smiles and were waving happily to the public. As their carriage went past, everyone was clapping for them. The public certainly loved Prince William! Cheers were louder for him than for the Queen. I can see why girls go all crazy for him, there is a certain princely charm about him, and he is definitely better-looking in person than in photos.

The Queen's escorts/bodyguards.

Her Majesty the Queen and Duke Philip of Edinburgh - people were waving at them but they didn't wave back. The Queen looked a bit glum. She was either too worried about her hat flying off or she was too cold to smile. It was an unusually chilly afternoon for a spring day. Spot Prince Charles in the far right hand corner, he was mounted on a horse.

Garry got the back of Princess Anne on horseback (the dark-coloured horse next to the white one), but we couldn't see Prince Andrew.

Foot soldiers in the band.

Garry had me sitting on his shoulders whilst I took a shot of the Royal Family from the Buckingham Palace balcony. At times like these, I wish we had Klinkers' super-camera which undoubtedly would have taken a closer shot of the Royal Family. This little girl was next to me and she was also sitting on her dad's shoulders. Her camera was definitely much better than ours. I could see the faces of the Royal Family very clearly on her camera. Time for an upgrade! Spot Prince William, Camilla, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice on the balcony.

Spot the sleeping pelicans at St James Park

On our way back through St James Park, we had to make way for these foot guards leaving the pageant. Do you know why footguards wear these funny-looking bearskin hats and are they real fur?

Yes, bearskins are real - from Canadian brown bears. The Army has yet to find an acceptable substitute for real bear skins that will not become bedraggled in wind and rain or subject to static electricity when passing near power lines. (In 2005, the Army began the latest scientific study for a synthetic substitute.) Animal rights activists have repeatedly invoked animal rights in an effort to discontinue the use of bear skins, but such campaigns are not really necessary since no bears are sacrificed for the British Army. Under an agreement with the Canadian government, Inuit hunters regularly cull brown bears for ecological purposes, and a small proportion of the pelts are sold to the British army for the manufacture of these hats.