17 Dec 2007 (Monday): London

We started late this morning, although we planned to be early... all because of the hiccup in the hotel arrangement... Count ourselves lucky to notice the change of the room and insisted clearing things up before the group left for the airport... else, the experience of the next few days would be very different. Yes, one lesson learnt: Always insist on the hotel booking voucher if we ask the tour agent to help extending the stay in the same hotel.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

• We joined the free guided tour to learn some key info facts of the garden... for instance, how it came about (OK, it's again, the king and queen stories).
• First time went into a greenhouse - it was exciting... Wow! Plants and trees growing indoor? Lucky I did not wear my spectaculars, else it sure fogged. Oops! My camera lens!!!
• The Princess of Wales Conservatory alone provides upto 10 different types of climate for plants' growth and research! It's amazing! One word to describe the flowers we saw here - "WOW" !!!

• This tree survived a bad hurricane. Because of it, experts discovered how to take care of big old trees.
• The following art work was made from the woods of trees destroyed by the hurricane. Can figure out what's in the masterpiece?

• There are 20 odd sculptures in this garden, by the famous Henry Moore. The exhibition is on from mid-Sep to end next March. Among the pieces, all were made of bronze except the white one - made of fibre glass.
  

• We also set on the Kew Explorer to go round the garden, well protected from the wind :D

Lunch...

We came across a fish & chips cafeteria... While Chai Noi had her Chicken Drumstick and chips, I had my Fish 'n Chips! By the time we finished our lunch, it was about 3 pm!

After that... we went to Oxford Street... and return to Chinatown for dinner. This time, we tried the porridge 艇仔粥 Yes, the Hongkong style. Well, it cost us 5 pounds per bowl! Well, well, well, it seems like "5" is the magic figure for chinese food!