Meet King Kong

Meet King Kong - A giant Harrods bear.

And in case you are wondering..

Nope. I didn't buy it from London. Neither do I know anyone who is crazy enough to buy it home. King Kong belongs to a friend's brother (ops, I didn't mean to say he is crazy... I hope he doesn't read my blog). King Kong is occupying a significant corner in my friend's spare bedroom at the moment.

King Kong is HUGE - see the picture below with the iPhone on his nose for size comparison. He is so huge he got stuck at the door when my friend tried to move him into the room. He is a Harrods 2006 Christmas bear and comes with his own little bear in his left pocket. If you google "Harrods bear 2006", King Kong's pictures will show up.

I have never seen something like this in a friend's house. Every visitor to my friend's house, including all delivery and repairman, have requested to take a photo of King Kong.

I'm of course no different.

I'm lucky to have a few very good pictures of King Kong before he gets "mummified" to keep him less dusty. (Imagine having to give him a bath!)

King Kong with an iPhone for size comparison..

Fish and Chips

I love Fish and Chips - especially if the fish is fresh, the batter thick and crispy. I don't particularly like your typical thick-cut fries that comes with Fish and Chips, but the restaurant will score well if they serve Fish and Chips with mashed green peas and homemade tartar sauce - like this pub at Canary Wharf.

I was so glad to have Fish and Chips in the home of Fish and Chips - United Kingdom. (Hm... some would argue it is Australia actually.. )

What's your favourite place for Fish and Chips? The one I like in Singapore is at the Serangoon Gardens market - no mashed green peas and fancy fries, but the fish is usually very good.

Harrods - a truly English Institution

Harrods is a most amazing department store. It is truly one-of-a-kind - extremely difficult to find your way around (All the sales people asked if I needed directions to me next destination. Every single one.), has the most opulent looking decorations indoors (especially the Egyptian escalators) and has a  breathtaking array of products on sale (From wedding gowns, to grandfather clocks to food. The food department is especially amazing - see pictures below.)

I think it can be ranked as one of the top tourist destination for London, right alongside Buckingham Palace and the British Museum. And indeed tourists swarm this place. The number of people picking out reusable Harrods shopping bags and bears is really quite staggering. Personally, I don't see what is so special about the 19 pounds plastic shopping bag but maybe it is just me because there were lots of tourists buying such bags.

Going to Harrods always gives me a slight headache afterwards but I really do enjoy gaping at the selections available. This trip, I also found that if you know what it is that you want to buy, it is a very good place to buy from - Harrods do stock up rather well and the VAT-back processing service in Harrods is first class.

Photo from here

 

Even the selection of fresh flowers and small potted plants is pretty good..

And of course, there is always a few of these giant 

Harrods bears on sale. This one cost about 1900 pounds (!!)