Birmingham

This will probably be my last entry on our trip to the UK. Blame it on the hormones, we took much less photos this trip as I didn’t feel like carrying the camera around the neck. The heavy winter wear was enough to put a strain to my neck already!

I feel like a kid again!

From Chester we drove 2 hours south to the city of Birmingham and our first stop was Cadbury World. Back in 2007, we made a trip to New York and went ooh aah drooling over chocolates in M&M World and Hershey’s that we decided to make a trip to Cadbury World too. And I am glad we did, heheh.

By the way here’s a snapshot of M&M World NY,

M&M World in Times Square, NY

Back to my story, the entrance fee to Cadbury World was rather dear at £13 for an adult. It would have been been a better deal if it was below £10, however we did get a handful of free chocolates throughout the visit. The tour of the factory too was very much orientated towards children and we kept saying to ourselves that our nephews and nieces back home would have really enjoyed this. So for £26 we did learn a little about the history of chocolate and how Cadbury evolved from a small family business to the mega empire it is today.

The world's biggest cadbury shop

We had a great time checking out the chocolates at the store and the one chocolate that really caught our eyes was this huge 5kg dairy bar priced at £29 pounds.

If only we could bring this home for the family!

So that’s a little info if you ever plan to go Cadbury World. Our next stop was the city and so we headed straight to the Bullring for dinner and a little shopping.

Night shot of the Bullring

Colourful windows

The Bullring reminded me so much of Pavilion and KLCC so nothing too impressive there. But to have such a massive mall is pretty rare in the UK as people talk so much about Oxford Street.

Selfridges

Birmingham is a nice city and I absolutely loved it. We are now safely back in Ireland and making the best of the weekend by staying home and recuperating. Hubby helped sort out the piles and piles of holiday laundry and after a week of eating out, I made ‘Nasi Ayam’ for dinner tonight. Tomorrow night’s menu? Nasi briyani! I think my apetite’s back

The Cheshire Experience

The route from Sheffield to Chester was indeed a memorable one as we drove through the beautiful English countryside via Peak District. I wish we had stopped to take photos though as there were lovely views of lakes, valleys and rolling hills. Pretty much like Lake District actually.

Anyway after a fabulous stay at Leopold Hotel in Sheffield, we were in search of another hotel in the Cheshire District. Hubby looked thoroughly on the web for a good deal and found one by the name of Inglewood Manor which was only a 15 minute drive from Cheshire Oaks.

Inglewood Manor

Arriving at the Manor felt like a scene out of Pride and Prejudice – we were greeted by a breathtaking Edwardian House with beautiful manicured lawns.

so english

You instantly feel at home once you enter through the door. I love the interior – lots of oak panelling and a really huge fireplace!

The bedroom was a decent size and once again, the bathroom was equipped with lovely toiletries.

I love Molton Brown

I retired early that night but hubby stayed up watching ‘The Day After Tomorrow’. We woke up early the next day looking forward to breakfast which was included in the package. We had a hearty English breakfast of eggs, hash browns, vegetarian sausages, beans and toast. Yums!

We then explored the grounds of the manor, didn’t I tell you it’s like a scene out of Pride and Prejudice? Heheh

beautiful manicured lawns

autumn leaves

side view of the manor and bright blue skies

It was an absolute gem of a residence, probably one of my favourite hotels so far. It’s the perfect place to stay if you’re touring Chester, Liverpool, the north etc.

bye bye!

Hopefully we will be back here again one day!

One Fine Day in Sheffield

We flew to Birmingham in the wee hours of Sunday morning, rented a car and drove 2 hours north to the city of Sheffield.

Sheffield high street

Spent the day discovering the city and later met-up with dear old cousin for coffee and dinner.

We spent the night in a lovely boutique hotel right in the heart of the city and had an excellent stay.

I’ll let the photos do the talking.

Listening to Boyz 11 Men - The room even came with a docking station for Iphone

Just what you need for the perfect bath!

A king size bed for a good night's sleep

And today we were in Cheshire Oaks for some retail therapy and got a few good bargains.

My body now is in dire need of some good old rest as we have another loooong day tomorrow.

Till then, good night!

Expect the Unexpected

we did 3 of these kits before we finally believed it!

The real reason why I was in hibernation mode the last couple of weeks.

And yes, that explains the tiredness too.

Bogged Down

It’s been a month since I last posted anything here. Initially it was just down to tiredness, then I was hit by the flu bug early october which meant no Eid celeb for me. I think I am slowly recovering but I don’t feel a 100% just yet…hmmm.

I promise to write more updates when I’m feeling better. I will also be taking a week of annual leave soon and that will give me plenty of time to recuperate. We haven’t really planned anything but I’m really hoping we can make a trip to Sheffield to meet up with my cousin …London sounds good too if that doesn’t happen. We’ll see.

And finally I’ll leave you a photo of 2 witches and a pumpkin from the ward..yes, Halloween is in 2 weeks!