Showing posts with label Office Hours. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Office Hours. Show all posts

Friday, July 1, 2016

Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Team Dinner

P7189232 copy 
I have received another invitation to Sales Conference 2016, which prompted my poor memory that I had unfinished entries for Leeds Castle. I'm jotting down a quick entry to finish up on Day 2 before heading for the next conference in a couple of weeks time. 

Ducks lazing around and finding comfort on the grass. They don't seem to be afraid of humans and stayed at their comfort zone even when I stood really close to take the pictures.
With my fellow colleagues from the various offices. We worked closely together, but some of them had already left the team for other ventures by now.
We had a pre dinner drink session in the Castle Library. However, the weather was so good that we decided to head outdoors to enjoy the evening. I had a glass of my fave bubbly and we gathered around exchanging notes and stories. It felt good to see other colleagues from the various offices. 
 
As evening came, we gathered in the dining room in our pre assigned team. During the course of dinner, there will be quizzes and each team will have to pit our wits against one another to win the games. The winning team will get a prize, which usually consists of champagne, lol!
 My place card for the table.
A 3-course dinner accompanied us, as we exhausted our brain cells figuring out the answers on the various quizzes. Due to jet lag, I didn't had a good appetite but nonetheless, the food was really delicious! I was surprised at the quality of the food, as I wasn't expecting restaurant-standard. It was almost mid-night when I headed back to my room and boy, I was really tired that I concussed immediately after shower.  

❤ ❤ ❤ Read the rest of my London-Kent Castle adventures here ❤ ❤ ❤

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Stables Courtyard

Looking back at these pictures made me yearn to travel again, even though I just got back from Melbourne 3 weeks ago. Well, guess I will have to wait for next wanderlust to happen :) Instead of dwelling in my "sadness", I channeled my energy to another chapter of London travelogue! The first part of the conference zoomed past with a tea/coffee break in between. As evening came, the "tedious" part of the conference officially ended and we retreated back to our respective rooms to freshen up before pre-dinner drinks in the Castle Library.
All rooms were randomly selected, but the bosses get the better rooms in the Castle, where there are 20 sumptuous bedrooms, where five of which have four posters bed and original art deco marble bathrooms. Besides the castle, there are other accommodation available in the Maiden Tower as well as Stable Courtyard - the furthest away from the Castle. My room was assigned at Stable Courtyard; a 15 min walk from the Castle compound.
Staying at Bedroom 2.
With my keys in hand, I began my walk to Stables Courtyard. A few of us were stationed there as well, so we got company as we walked and soaked in the scenery. Those wooden benches were reminiscent of my schooling days, where we'll wait for one another before/after classes and copying working on our lecture notes/tutorials.
The whole building with just 3 bedrooms, haha! Bedroom 2 is on the 2nd floor - hmm, thankfully my luggage is not that heavy if not I'll have difficulties dragging it down on the day of departure.
Stable Courtyard rooms are luxury en-suite rooms refurbished to the highest standard offering indulgence and comfort. I wasn't expecting modern bathrooms, but boy - I'm liking the bathtub and the shower area :) The bathroom was so big that I can put in a mahjong table with 4 chairs.  
Overlooking the Culpeper Garden, which was originally the site of the castle's kitchen garden. 
  
While heading back to the Castle, we were greeted by this lovely peacock roaming freely. What a pretty sight! *out came all phones and cameras to take pictures*
Then, the peahen came along. The peacock (male) is usually an iridescent shade of bright blue and the enormous trains (tail feathers) to help attract mates. On the other hand, the peahen (female) tend to have duller colours like brown, grey or cream. An interesting fact - only the female peafowl build nests and incubate the eggs while the males show no parental involvement at all #soirresponsible, haha!
 As it was getting late, we hurried off to the main Castle and headed for pre-drinks session. More on that in another post!

❤ ❤ ❤ Read the rest of my London-Kent Castle adventures here ❤ ❤ ❤
Leeds Castle, Kent Day 1: Arrival in London 

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Hello, Leeds Castle

  
I'm back with another chapter on the journey to Leeds Castle :) Though it was a busy weekend - we finally got to clearing the bomb shelter! - I decided to switch on the laptop and blog on the London adventures. Hopefully, I can keep up the momentum and try to finish this series of entries within the next couple of months *fingers crossed*
After a good night of sleep - thankfully I wasn't jet-lagged! - I woke up earlier to pack my bags since we'll be shifting accommodation. We stayed at Crowne Plaza but the place was undergoing some renovation, hence a lot of facilities were not opened. After packing, I felt hungry hence I headed up to the cafe for some breakfast for the breakfast hall is located on the 7th floor at Globe restaurant. A wonderful (mini) spread of Asian and Western cuisine is available.
All set and ready to tuck in! I started with some warm food for the tummy before heading for some yogurts/juices. Shortly after, I started to bump into familiar faces and we started catching up. It was definitely good to see one another again after 1 year!
The view from the Globe restaurant. From here, you can be greeted with views of The Gherkin (more formally known as 30 St Mary Axe) - one of the most iconic building in London, as well as the beautiful London skyline.   


With Sidney and Clarins at the lobby as we checked out of the hotel and made our way to the office building, where a shuttle bus is waiting to pick us up to Leeds Castle. Sidney arrived around evening time the day before, so she didn't join us for our shopping. Well, there is always a next time! 
Crowne Plaza Hotel London Shoreditch
100 Shoreditch High Street, Tower Hamlets
E1 6JN, London, United Kingdom
Once the coach hit the highway, I took a nap since the estimated journey will take approx 1.5h. I woke up just in time to soak in the scenery of the countryside. No pictures as the coach was moving too fast to capture anything. I love the countryside Deep down, I'm more of a countryside person than city person, though I don't deny the conveniences of living in the city.
A few turns later, we reached the entrance of Leeds Castle - check out the number of parked cars as we drove in. This must be a popular place for families and visitors to explore. We alighted from the coach and identified our luggage. The staff took down the details and informed that they will bring our luggage directly to the rooms. We then headed to the castle for briefing and lunch. 
 
Crossing the bridge across the moat to head into the castle compound. 
The conference will be held in one of the function rooms at the Maiden Tower, an elegant stone building adjacent to the Castle. This 16th century stone building was previously used for weekend house parties in the 1920s, overlooking the golf course and surrounding parkland. Besides, there are 5 en-suite bedrooms in the building and only 5 lucky people get to stay in this building and don't have to walk across the compound to attend the conference every morning, lol! Alas, I wasn't the lucky 5 :(
The conference was held in the Tudor hall, where we were divided into 5 different groups to compete against one another.
I was hungry by the time we sorted out the admin part. Time for lunch! The weather was lovely and the wind was cooling. We sat outside to enjoy the breeze while admiring the surrounding. I also met up with new faces from the other offices, which I find extremely important rather than seeing a name via email. I have to head off to sleep now, will be back soon! 
Leeds Castle,
Maidstone, Kent ME17 1PL

Tel: 01622 765400

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Leeds Castle, Kent Day 1: Breakfast & Shopping in London

Once everyone has freshened up, we headed for breakfast. The morning breeze caressed my face as soon as I walked out of the warm hotel lobby. We stayed at the same hotel for a night before moving to Leeds Castle for an official start of the conference the next morning. 
Back to Patisserie Valerie for breakfast. This seemed to be the same routine during the sales conference, since I remembered visiting this place previously. We always ended up at the same place, lol! I ordered a pot of hot English Breakfast Tea (£2.75) to warm up my body from the chilly morning breeze.
We decided to sit outside since the weather was lovely and get to people-watch, haha! 
 
Having breakfast together with the HK team - Kathy, Clarins and Cindy. Kathy was just hired when we attended the conference, but she has left us for greener pasture earlier in August. Good luck in your new venture!
The cafe served all day breakfast and brunch (hooray!) and we ordered a set each. As usual, Eric ordered Full English Breakfast set, which came with 2 poached eggs, fried/scrambled eggs, bacon, cumberland sausage, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans and toast (£7.95) while Kathy & Clarins went for Eggs Benedict instead (£7.80), love the hollandaise sauce covering the poached eggs! 
 I went for my fave - scrambled eggs with smoked salmon on granary toast (£7.95). Ignore the Heinz Tomato Ketchup, as Eric "photobomed" my picture, haha! 
Patisserie Valerie
37 Brushfield Street, London
E1 6AA, United Kingdom
Tel: 44 020 7247 4906

After a hearty breakfast, we walked around the area before adjouring to ...... Selfridges, lol! Check out the loots that we bought! I love my Cath Kidston purchases and even brought it to Finland for our Northern Lights adventure (more on that for another day!)
As night came, I was glad to head back to my own room for a good night rest! Till the next post, tata :)
 
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