Journey down memory lane (Day 5 – 15 March 2015)

Day 5

Today again we woke up at about 7am. We showered and by 8am, we are ready. Church only starts at 10.30am and I wanted to go to the Downs again as i didn’t manage to stroll through the downs yesterday due to the windy weather. We parked at Rutland Hall and I spend sometime taking in the scenery at the downs, reminiscing the time I walked to school daily in the past. It is still pretty windy today so I only walked halfway and went back to the car.

Flower started to spring out…

Hubby also took sometime to visit Coates and Tower Building where most of his classes were held when he is studying.

Coates Building

Faculty of Engineering

Tower Building

After which we drove to the new site which houses Cornerstone Church. They have moved since we left. The church used to hold their weekly service in one of the primary school but now they have their own building at castle boulevard. We even pass by the Nottingham Castle, but didn’t have time to visit it this time round.

This new building is much bigger now with modern design. We were seated at somewhere at the middle and the back as we have to leave before the services end to make our way down to London.

Attending service at Cornerstone Church, Nottingham

Though the “look” have changed, but the church’s soul pretty much remains. The band is still as nice and most of the church members are still around, nice to see familiar faces!

The band

Colin Webster, one of the church speaker which leaves an impression when we attended service in the past

We left at about 11.15am and makes our way down to London. We takeaway KFC and starbucks halfway on the motorway for our lunch (sharing one sets for the two of us).

We reached Hilton Tower of London Hotel close to 3pm due to the traffic. The hotel is strategically situated next to Tower Bridge and Tower of London (within walking distance).

However, the view from the room is pretty disappointing. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of the Tower Bridge but….

Oh well, we were glad that the room is quite comfortable. Bed and quilt is comfy, MacBook as computer and TV, water pressure in shower is good but no bath tub.

Room is pretty chilly despite tuning to the highest temperature and the hotel staff kindly help us rectify the issues.

Oh and did I mention that the rates in Hilton is surprisingly cheap at SGD 240 per night on Sunday and it is only on Sunday. Other days rates can be as high as SGD 400 plus. So for those travelling to UK, do check out Hilton if you will be staying in London on Sunday, it is pretty worth it for the rates 🙂

View from room

Wardrobe and tea/coffee facilities

Computer which doubles as TV

MacBook in each room

Comfortable bed and quilt

Toilet

Shower area

General look of the room

Each of us got a complimentary cookies from the check in counter and it seems like a tradition in UK as we got cookies in our room in Salisbury and Nottingham as well. I didn’t seem to see the trend until we were given cookies in our third stay in UK. Must have some significance I think.

Complimentary cookies

We rest for a bit and we are on our way to return our rented car. The car return station is pretty near to where we stay, it is actually a car park lot at Q Park near the tower bridge. There are few designated parking lots for Sixt Car Rental and we just need to park the car there, inform the security on duty as the Sixt Car rental booth is closed on Sunday and place a time stamp on the car to show the time we return and that is it! We took picture as back up but everything is in place 🙂

Meet this cute vacuum cleaner we passed by in Hilton… Took pic cause this looks exactly like the one i used while studying. Memories memories….

After returning the car, we strolled along the Tower Bridge and the view is still as great as ever. The tower bridge does look as good as always each time I passed by this area…. really one of the nicer sights in London. We then catch a cab to Soho for our dinner at Burger and Lobster. It is about 14 pounds for the cab fare…

Strolling along Tower Bridge

I have seen many wonderful review of Burger and Lobster thus would not miss the chance to taste the food myself … they do not take reservation unless you are in a party of 6-10 people. So, when we reach, we put our name down at the waiting list and wait patiently at the mini round high table which is provided for our turn. We were there at 4.30pm just before the dinner peak hour and we waited for about 30 minutes and the wait is definitely worth it!

Opening hours and Menu

Interior seatings at Burger and Lobster

The menu here is really simple. You either get the Lobster (steamed or grilled), the lobster wrap or the burger. Everything is at 20 pounds and you get a selection of drinks from their drink list. Each set comes with fries and a salad.

Their very simple menu

There are a few huge lobster available and that is at a different price depending on the lobster’s weight which is written on one black board. Once the particular lobster is ordered, it is strike off. We were satisfied with their normal menu so we go with their usual menu. Both hubby and me ordered the steamed and finished with grilled lobster with lemon and garlic sauce. The lobster is amazing! The exterior is grilled with salt i think and it complements the lobster meat very well… and the lobster is pretty big i must say, not the mini type so it is totally worth it. Lemon and garlic sauce on the other hand did not fare too well, it is still good to go with the fries but i wouldn’t waste dipping my lobster in it as the lobster is too good on its own already.

Hubby and his lobster

Finger licking good!

Yummy!

We left the place happy and satisfied with our meal. Took a stroll through Chinatown, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square. Then we took a cab again back to our hotel (We initially wanted to take tube but it is 9 pounds for the two of us plus lots of change in tube line, we figure taxi’s fare is not much difference plus we get directly send to our hotel door step so we just hop on a taxi and on our way back)

Back to the room and showered, we watch TV for a bit and went up to the 12th storey sky bar to enjoy the night view of Tower Bridge.