Brrrr...illiant Iceland!

My father has always had a childhood dream to visit Iceland! As a kid he thought it must be fascinating to live in an icy, cold place. So of course he dragged us along to check it out! 

We took an IcelandAir plane from Helsinki to get there! 

Here are some of the old buildings in Iceland and a pretty town square. But Iceland is most famous for its natural attractions. So we took a driving tour to see the sights! 

I climbed the basalt columns of Reynisfjar Black Sand Beach made of lava and we explored one of the caves! According to Icelandic legend. these basalt columns were once trolls trying to pull ships from the ocean to the shore but since the trolls went out too late in the night, they were turned into solid stone when dawn broke.

The shoreline of the Reynisfjara beach with rock formations called Reynisdrangar in the distance! 

Here are some old military vehicles in an automotive museum!

We saw some magnificent waterfalls when we were travelling around Iceland! The impact from the water from the waterfalls hitting the ground was so strong that I was splashed from a few metres away!

Hallgriimskirkja church in Reykjavik, Iceland! The architect designed the church such that it resembles the basalt columns in the Reynisfjara Black beach!

We also saw a magnificent geyser that spouted out water every few minutes! WHOOOOOSH!!! If you get dirty from all the sight-seeing, you can have a good soak in the Blue Lagoon hot spring in Iceland! Some parts of the Blue Lagoon smelled like sulphur! Eww.... 

I'm glad my pa had this childhood dream to visit Iceland as it really is one of the coolest (haha) countries I have ever visited! We rate Iceland 10 Steaming Hot Poo Poo Rockets 

From SIN to HEL

The funniest thing about flying into Finland's Helsinki airport is that the airport code is HEL. And the code for Changi Airport is SIN. So you're literally flying from SIN to HEL! Geddit? Muahahahah.....

Besides that fun aspect of Finland, there is a lot of other stuff to enjoy there, including of course the car scene! 

Check out this classic Mercedes-Benz that I spotted parked at the side of the road! Although I am not a big fan of classic cars as I prefer modern cars, it was so cool to have spotted one as I wouldn't have seen that back home in Singapore.

Here is the really grand Sennett Square in Helsinki which is the main cathedral in the city, and that's me again in front of Esplanadi Park in downtown Helsinki!

Besides grand old buildings, the city has lots of good food to offer as well. The old market hall by the pier at Market Square which has been operating since 1889. It has a lot of eateries there and the soup we had for lunch there was DEEE-LISHHHH-OUUUUUS!

We  also chanced upon a burger joint called NaughtyBRGR! That's me next to the restuarant's  toilet door saying 'Naughty Boys'. My parents thinks the sign is very appropriate for me! Hmm, I wonder why.... The burgers there were FAB!

From Helsinki, it's easy peasy to head over to Tallinn, Estonia by ferry. First stop, the oldest cafe in Tallinn, Estonia called Maiasmokk, whose specialty is marzipan!  

The city is dotted with beautiful ancient buildings and feels like it's trapped in the past! Here is one of the many beautiful ancient buildings in Tallinn and also a stunning view of Tallinn from the top of a hill!

We also checked out the Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu in Tallinn! We were so tired that we even took a short nap in the park nearby ZZZZZZZZZZ 

Our trips to Helsinki and Tallinn were short, scenic and (marzipan) sweet! We rate the two cities 5 Poo-Poo Rockets each!  

World of Top Gear

Top !!!! Gear!!!!! Need I say more? I virtually went to petrolhead heaven!! 

Since my parents had indulged my sister's love for Harry Potter, they were guilt-stricken into taking me somewhere that I liked too! MUAHAHAHA! And boy did they surprise me, by taking me to Beaulieu (pronounced as BEW-LEE), which is where the National Motor Museum and World of Top Gear are located. WOW!!!!  

We began with a monorail ride to get an aerial view of the entire estate! After that, of course we headed straight to World of Top Gear which featured all the memorable cars from the series! For a diehard Top Gear fan like me, it was simply an eye-popping experience! 

Check out my pics! The top picture is the TG12, which is a train Jeremy Clarkson made from a Jaguar to race Hammond and May in a commuter train to transport officials to the finish line in Series 17 of the show.  The middle picture is the Rover James which was built so that elderly people could drive it easily, which was originally a Fiat Multipla, but had its name changed as Jeremy thought that the brand Rover was an old people’s car and it had the model name changed to James as James May looked the oldest of the Top Gear team. This episode is in Series 19 of Top Gear.
                                                                                                                             

The bottom picture shows the amphibious cars the Top Gear team used to cross the English Channel to beat the record of the fastest time to cross the English Channel, where each presenter built their own amphibious car to see which one was the best in the sea. James’s vehicle sank twice and was damaged beyond repair, while Richard’s vehicle’s engine became damaged in the middle of the ocean. In the end, Clarkson’s vehicle reached the end of the English Channel but did not beat the world record.

Who can resist a picture with the rocket the Top Gear team made with a Reliant Regal ? They even attached it to a snow plough and used it to clear snow on roads during winter!

Just me and the Top Gear team hangin' out!  

Some antique cars which are collector’s items and probably worth A LOT OF MONEY! 

A motorcycle and a Volkswagen Beetle.

Besides World of Top Gear, the National Motor Museum was another amazing experience! There were countless classic cars including a Citroen 2CV (below), a car built in 1981 which was a big hit when it was launched. Over 1 million of these cars were sold. 

Here is a picture of the chassis of the car with all the car’s parts next to it. The average car is made out of more than 30,000 parts. Can you count them all?!?!? 

Some old cars at the motor museum, including a blue BMW Isetta (below).  It was an old car BMW made and you entered it through the door in the front of the car. Cool eh?

Besides car, cars and more car, Beaulieu also had a fascinating Secret Army exhibition and also a charming castle that used to house the family that owned the estate. 

To complete the tour, we visited the gardens that had lots of nice plants and vegetables but no cars though.... YAWN! 

We rate Beaulieu a whopping ten Poo-Poo Rockets! 

On M&Ms, Legos and Pottermania!

In the summer of 2017, once we were rewarded with our long-awaited June holidays, we hopped on a plane to embark on our journey to London, United Kingdom! Since we enjoyed our London stay in 2013 so much, we thought that we’d make another visit to explore this very special city.

Boarding our plane to London!

We kicked off our stay with a scrumptious meal at a pub a stone’s throw from our rental apartment. The Harwood Arms served delicious pub food, including Scotch eggs, an English specialty! A Scotch egg is a delectable concoction of a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs and friend to a golden crisp finish. Mmm.... I could eat 10 of them!!!!! YUMMS!

As we explored the picturesque area around our apartment, we discovered that the Chelsea Football Stadium was just opposite and was teeming with football enthusiasts, many sporting bright blue jerseys.

There was also a tiny market nearby which sold exotic fruits in all colours of the rainbow. We had a wonderful time picking out plump, succulent fruits that were in season at the peak of summer. They were fresh and delicious!

But our favourite food haunt was a small Japanese restaurant a stone's throw from our apartment called Don Don. It serves a wide array of Japanese delicacies, including bento boxes and sushi. The atmosphere was really pleasant and the service was FAB! 

Sitting at our favourite spot in Don Don so that Wyn could spot cool cars!

In fact, we had discovered this restaurant the last time we came in London in 2013 and decided  we had to go back! We even took photographs with the amazing chef Hiro. Pretty cool eh?

We rate Don Don 5 Poo-Poo Rockets! If you are looking for some authentic Japanese cuisine, this restaurant is definitely worth a visit.

Besides its delicious culinary options, London also has some AMAZEBALLS  retail experiences! One of my favourites was the largest Lego store in the whole wideworld! As Lego fans who have spent many hours of our childhoods honing our, AHEM!, architectural skills, we had a fabulous time in the Lego store browsing shelf upon shelf of different Lego models.

Zing! Be Very Afraid! I’ve got a lightsabre!

All aboard the Lego Express! 

Another SWEET spot was the M&M store, possibly the place with the largest amount of sugar that we have ever encountered! The store exploded with colour at every corner with rainbow-hued M&M dispensers and M&M merchandise. Although we were constantly tempted by the towering dispensers of delicious chocolate buttons, we decided that they were not worth the massive amounts of sugar they contained!.

Since Ryn had been learning about the two major World Wars in her History lessons and had become somewhat of a history nerd, we had no  choice but to pay a visit to the very fine Imperial War Museum to look at the extensive and fascinating exhibits. History??? Groan... but actually i found that it was a pretty cool place!! 

There were some mind-blowing historical artefacts that Ryn had only read about but here they were before our very eyes! 

Ryn exploring the trench warfare exhibits!

The museum also had some other vehicle-related exhibits that were way up my petrolhead alley! I really couldn't get enough of some creaky old vehicles that had played significant roles in history.

Military planes that were flown during the World Wars!

And how can anyone visit London without going Potter-crazy? For my Potterhead sister Ryn, the Harry Potter-related activities and locations were definitely the highlights of our holiday! We managed to get tickets to the much-talked about play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It was really gripping and  brought the wondrous wizarding world to life! 

We also made a special trip to Watford Junction, where the Warner Brothers’ Studio Tour is located. This museum is every Potterhead’s dream come true as it is the closest one can get to the wizarding world! It tells the magical story of how the Harry Potter books were brought to life and made into movie adaptations. The studio tour is now home to the props and sets of the Harry Potter movies and boasts life-size constructions of a plethora of wizarding locations. 

From the Hogwarts Great Hall to Hogsmeade, Ollivander’s Wand Shop, the Ministry of Magic and Malfoy Manor (just to name a few!), Potterheads will simply drool at all these exhibits. The staff were teeming with knowledge about the wizarding world, so don’t be afraid to approach them about anything Harry Potter-related! 

The studio tour certainly kept us devoted Ravenclaws occupied for an entire afternoon, and it is definitely a must-do for all Potterheads. The studio tour had many interactive exhibits that taught us how to cast spells, the camera tricks used to make Hagrid swell to an enormous size and how they made Molly Weasley’s pots and pans move by themselves!

Learning how to duel from the legendary Professor Flitwick!

The humble Weasley abode.

Snape’s dungeon classroom and the door to the Chamber of Secrets that will send chills down your spine.

So all the costumes, sets and special effects were pretty awesome but my all time favourite was pushing my trolley into the wall at Platform 9 and three quarters! This was where the magic began for Harry, who was suddenly introduced to a whole new world that would later give him a strong sense of belonging. We could also climb on board the Hogwarts Express and view the very carriage where Harry would meet his lifelong friends.

All aboard the Hogwarts Express!

The popular Hogsmeade village and a model of the magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The studio tour was a wonderful experience for us Potterheads who felt tinges of nostalgia whenever we saw exhibits that transported us to the wizarding world and we simply couldn't bear to leave. (Until our grumpy parents threatened to disown us...) We rate the Harry Potter Studio Tour 9 and 3 quarters out of 10, the one quarter deducted because of the Butterbeer which was disappointingly over-sweetened.

Samuel Johnson once said, “If you’re tired of London, you’re tired of life”. He's so right! I could go there a million times!!! Time to gather more pennies and pounds for our next trip...