Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf was where I was at in London for the whole 2 weeks. I stayed in an apartment at Canarf Wharf, worked in one of the buildings there.. and had my dinners nearby every single night. Except for the weekend and a night when I visited a friend, I never had to take the tube.

Canary Wharf is a major financial district in London and contains many of the UK's tallest building. Being business district, it is very busy in the day and somewhat deserted and quiet in the evenings and weekends.

However, there is some shopping around that area and a very good selection of pubs and restaurants, which makes it still a nice place to stay. Not a bad place at all to stay if you visit London.

For me, the best part about staying at Canary Wharf was that I could walk to work. This really makes a difference because it meant I could go in to work easily at an early hour. But it also meant I ended up starting my day at around 7am in the office every day! I even got in one day at around 640am!

The buildings and banks at Canary Wharf

 

The apartment I stayed at in Canary Wharf

Scones and Tea at Covent Garden

This trip to London, I had one weekend to do a bit of sight-seeing and a whole lot of shopping.

I don't remember when I last shopped so much! I basically spent the entire Saturday shopping. It was a classic "shop til you drop" kind of day - I hit the shops really earlier at around 10am and staggered back to the apartment with extremely sore legs at around 6pm.

So I decided to spend the Sunday in a leisurely manner. I went down to London bridge to visit to famous food market - the Borough market. Alas, it was closed when I got there. The Borough Market is closed on Sunday and I should have known better and checked before I went. The closed market looked so interesting that I promised myself I would be back!

There are stalls selling truffles, homemade jams, handmade breakfast cereals, artisan breads, homemade fudge, coffee, fruits and vegetables. Honestly, just walking around the market made me hungry. Their website is also beautiful and I've already narrowed down on all the shops I want to visit when I'm there! I was kicking myself for missing out on visiting this market for something as commonplace as shopping..

But then I decided to visit a place I know was open on Sunday - Covent Garden. I have always liked the festive feel of Covent Garden, and was certainly not disappointed when I got there. There were interest shops and stalls selling different kinds of knick knacks and I thoroughly enjoyed my Sunday morning. 

I ended my very pleasant morning in true English style - scones with clotted cream and blueberry jam.. with English Breakfast tea! The bakes at Le Pain Quotidien is really good and I'd highly recommend you to visit it if you go to Covent Garden. I wished I've brought home a dozen bottles of their jam with me.

There's always lots to see at Covent garden - quirky street performances, 

street opera (the lady singing in the top right picture) and lots of interesting handmade crafts

The shops at Covent Garden had beautiful window displays

A huge scone.. with the loveliest clotted jam and blueberry jam

I don't usually like jam - but this one was especially good. 

Fruity and not too sweet!

The tea was very good as well - and it came with a small pot and 

a HUGE bowl that you are supposed to use as a cup.

Happy Rabbit Year!

Happy Chinese New Year!

For those who do not celebrate it, this is the year of the rabbit. The Chinese Zodiac, or Sheng Xiao (生肖) comes in a 12 year cycle, each year representing a different animal. Apart from the mythical Dragon, all others are actual animals that most people will be familiar with.

I am not one to believe in Zodiac, but did you know that the Chinese zodiac is also used to label times of day, with each animal corresponding to a Chinese unit of time called Shi Chen (時辰)? There are 12 Shi Chen in a day, making each Shi Chen a 2 hour slot.

23:00 ~ 1:00 is called Zishi and belongs to the first zodiac, the Rat. This is the time when Rats are most active in seeking food.

01:00 ~ 03:00, named Choushi belongs to the Ox. This is the time when Oxen begin to crush their food, regurgitating them to the mouth slowly.

03:00 ~ 05:00 is Yinshi, and this belongs to the Tiger. This is the time when Tigers hurt their prey more and show their ferocity.

05:00 ~ 07:00 named Maoshi, belongs to the Rabbit. This is the time when rabbits come out to eat tender, dewy grass. According to Chinese legend, this is also the time when the Jade Rabbit is busy pounding herbal medicine on the Moon.

07:00 ~ 09:00 named Chenshi is this is the time when Dragons are hovering in the sky to give rain.

09:00 ~ 11:00, or Sishi belongs to the Snake. This is the time when Snakes are leaving their caves.

11:00 ~ 13:00, or Wushi is most familar to most of us. This is the time when the sun is high above and other animals are lying down for a rest, while the Horses are still standing. Hence this hour belongs to the Horse. Some also say that this is the time

13:00 ~ 15:00 named Weishi, is the time when the Sheep is being let out to graze.

15:00 ~ 17:00 is called Shenshi and this belongs to the Monkey. This is the time when the Monkeys are lively.

17:00 ~ 19:00 named Youshi, This is the time when Roosters begin to go back to their coops.

19:00 ~ 21:00, or Xushi, belongs to the Dog. This is the time when Dogs begin to carry out their duty of guarding the houses.

21:00 ~ 23:00 named Haishi, is Pigs are sleeping sweetly.

See this website for more details

So the next time you come across people saying the Chinese Zodiac signs in order, with 2 characters instead of 1 - "子鼠、丑牛、寅虎、卯兔、辰龙、巳蛇、午马、未羊、申猴、酉鸡、戌狗、亥猪" - You know what first character to each zodiac means.

Picture from here