Winter Wonderland, this time with Momma C !

This weekend saw my momma come down for a few days.

I decided that I would take her to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland after she saw my photos of when Dan and I went and said she'd like to go. After stopping for something to eat, we headed to Hyde Park.

We went into the Magical Ice Kingdom where there's beautiful ice sculptures in -10 cold!!

The castle is as big as a real house and on the side of it is an ice slide.

Since the last time I went on this slide was extremely slow, I decided I'd just let mum have a go and I would video her. She went down so fast! It was so so funny!! 

Following the slide we headed to the ice bar where I decided to introduce Mum to the fireball whisky.  The man behind the bar kindly said he would take photos of us.

Mum not looking at the camera.

Cheers! (with mum still not looking at the camera!)

There was an absolutely hilarious photo followed on from this which had Mum's face scrunched up with her eyes crossed over. Unfortunately I can't put it up, because she'd probably kill me.

After warming our cockles with whisky, we continued to look around and I was eyeing up the awesome ride.

I asked Mum if she wanted to have a go, and she obliged! Only when we got to the front of the queue did she say "Ruth, I hate heights." TOO LATE!! We headed for our seats before slowly getting taken up to the top which absolutely breathtaking views of London and Hyde Park all lit up. It was absolutely gorgeous. After keeping us on the edge of our seats (literally!), the ride dropped and Mum and I screamed like we've never screamed before. Oh my gosh my stomach was in my mouth! We screeeaammmmed so much!! It seemed to go on and on, going up, dropping down with screams all the way down!

Front of the queue: next up!!

In our seats waiting for the ride to take off.

After getting off and feeling like jelly and a little bit sick for a good 20 minutes afterward, we wandering round and enjoyed the sites and smells, grabbing a lovely drink of mulled wine.

The next day saw Dan off to his friends for a birthday do. It meant Mum and I could spend some quality time together so we travelled to Kings X to see him off.

Mum and I wandered down Oxford Street stopping for lunch and yummy Bodean's. If you haven't been yet, and are not a veggie, go! It's so tasty and the pulled pork is to die for.

After going into  a few shops, moaning about queues and people who suddenly stop when you're walking behind them, we started seeing a few santas. Then a few turned into a few hundred followed by thousands! There was some sort of drinking santa event going on, with people dressed in cheap pound land outfits getting lary.

After stopping on the way home for free Nandos thanks to Dan's high 5 card, we headed home and watched a girly film and chilled, since our feet were aching like mad. All in all, a wonderful, fun, filled weekend. Was so nice to spend time with Momma C :) xxxxx

Chung Yeung Festival, Yuk food and Mountain fire!

Last night we went to The Avenue of the Stars to see the view of Hong Kong's beautiful harbour after we went out for dinner.

Today was the Chung Yeung Festival which falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.

Similar to the Ching Ming Festival in spring, the Chung Yeung Festival is when entire families congregate at cemeteries to engage in age-old practices of ancestor worship.

It is also popular to hike to the city’s high points on this day, as it’s believed this will bring good luck. This custom is rooted in a Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) legend in which a soothsayer advised a man to take his family to high ground for the ninth day of the ninth moon. The man complied and the next day discovered that all the inhabitants of his village had been slaughtered, while he and his family had been spared by leaving for the hills.  

In Hong Kong, people go to the great outdoors for a picnic on this day, with many people eating special cakes called ‘ko’. The name sounds similar to ‘high’ or ‘top’ in Chinese and people eat them in the hope of being promoted to high positions.

Today we went to Mong Kok and did some shopping.

So eating at a certain restaurant was interesting today. Dan ordered a chilli hotdog and after he had eaten half of it, I saw something shiny. What could it be? Plastic in the food. I complain and they say 'We bring you another' so we waited 15 minutes and Dan gets a new hotdog. Second bite and Dan pulls out plastic in his mouth. I lose it. Went crazy at the fact that the second piece of food had plastic it and say we're not paying. They didn't even apologise so I tell them I'm walking out. Eurgh. I was livid!!

We think people taking part in the festival might have had a little accident because we came back from our day of shopping in Mong Kok today and the mountain is on fire!!

oopsie.