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

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

② Leeds Castle, Kent Day 1: Breakfast & Shopping in London
③ Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Stables Courtyard
④ Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Team Dinner  

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 :)

 

❤ ❤ ❤ Read the rest of my London-Kent Castle adventures here ❤ ❤ ❤
① Leeds Castle, Kent Day 1: Arrival in London
② Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Hello, Leeds Castle
③ Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Stables Courtyard 
④ Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Team Dinner   

Leeds Castle, Kent Day 1: Arrival in London

 

Recently, I've been trying to clean up stuff on the external harddisk and I came across a London folder which documented my trips to London. 2 years ago, I blogged about my virgin sales conference experience in London. I was privileged to be invited the following year, when this appeared in my mailbox:

 

We'll be heading to a castle, how cool is that! I couldn't wait for the dates to arrive. It was then back to the usual routine and before I knew it, it was the day of departure for London. Leecher accompanied me to take a cab before he scooted back home to catch up on his TV shows, lol! This Leecher super not romantic one, he doesn't send me to/fro the airport. In his words, I can find my own way home, lol.

Breezing through the departure gates. Hunger pangs hit me even though I had dinner with Leecher earlier before heading to the airport. A visit to Burger King for their Mexican drumlets to curb the hunger, before washing it down with jasmine green tea.

Walking around after the meal to aid with digestion, by heading the duty-free shops for shopping :) 

 

No makeup face to endure the next 12h flight; hence I went to the toilet to apply some moisturizer on my skin so it won't be dry on board. I have a bad habit though - I don't reapply moisturizer once I'm on the plane, which is extremely bad (I know!) for the skin since cabin air is so dry.

   

I took the red-eye flight to London, so we'll land early in the morning. As it was drizzling during departure, our flight was delayed for a couple of minutes. Nevertheless, I was all set and ready to doze off :) 

 Always a pleasure to fly with our national carrier. I do kinda miss the flying days now that I'm not traveling frequently for work. 

I miss inflight food! Beef stew and potatoes + vegetables to start the night/morning. In the past, I will usually be on movie mode to catch up on all the movies that I wanted to watch. Nowadays, I will be catching up on sleep instead, only waking up during meal times and toilet breaks. 

The lovely view outside :)

As we slowly approached Heathrow, breakfast is served. Even though it was 4AM, my appetite was so good that I polished everything off the plate - even the bread, lol! The muffin was so yummy that I was craving for 2nd helpings but decided to curb my sugar intake. I did saved the cereal for snack later, in case we needed to wait around the hotel for the others to arrive. #dontwastefood

Peeped through the window and saw that we will be landing soon. Meanwhile, I'll just have to endure the sun rays piercing through the windows while I catch up on more sleep.

Yeah, finally landed. I was glad to be up and out, giving my body a good stretch after being confined to a tiny space for 12h. We met up with the HK team since I had made arrangement for airport transfer. We calculated that it would be cheaper to get a private car rather than the hassle of airport express + cab. Our driver was already waiting for us and we walked to the car park where the car is located.

Cruising to the hotel while the rest of us slept (what's new!) in the car. The whole journey took close to 1h due to morning jam. It was close to 9AM when we arrived at the hotel. There was only 1 room available for early check-in but Clarins allowed us to use her room to freshen up. Shower, here I come! 

❤ ❤ ❤ Read the rest of my London-Kent Castle adventures here ❤ ❤ ❤
① Leeds Castle, Kent Day 1: Breakfast & Shopping in London
② Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Hello, Leeds Castle
③ Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Stables Courtyard 
④ Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Team Dinner   

The Jitches Adventure in Malacca: Breakfast, Chicken Rice Balls and Heading Home

I'm back with the final entry of our Malacca adventure *sense of achievement unlocked* The week has been busy but I'm taking things slow over the weekend by ..... doing nothing. Okay, I did some work after doing nothing for the whole day. Guess my body is not adapting well to doing nothing, lol.

Despite having our girly chats till the wee hours in the morning, I was amazed that we still managed to wake up for breakfast. The breakfast hall is located in another shop-house across the street, within 5 min walk. The shop front sells all sort of peranakan styled goodies - such as beaded purses, shoes and outfits. This sliding glass door is the doorway to the magical breakfast room, lol!

   
It didn't take long before the other guests started pouring into the hall for breakfast.

We lost count on the servings that we had, but I really loved the chicken wings. The spread consisted of both Western & Asian, ranging from bread to nasi lemak. I have already made a mental note to wake up earlier during my next visit, so I can try everything on the menu:)

 

We headed back to pack our bags for check out. Thanks for the wonderful hospitality, can't wait to be back!

Courtyard @ Heeren

91 Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock,

75200, Melaka, Malaysia

Tel: +606 281 0088

 

We had to have chicken rice balls before leaving Malacca. However, there was a super long queue at Kedai Kopi Chung Hwa and we weren't ready to queue for 1h under the sun. Thus, we detoured to Malacca Jonker Street Chicken Rice Ball, across the street from Chung Hwa. 

 

The ordering was done via a smart tablet, but the downside was you can't have any special orders as it will cause confusion in the kitchen. We ordered a plate of mix chicken (steam and roasted) at RM$35 & 10 rice balls for sharing. Skip the otah though. The whole bill came up to be RM$82, which was considered quite decent for the 4 of us.

Our last meal in Malacca before we head home :) Till the next Jitches trip!

Malacca Jonker Street Chicken Rice Ball

17, Lorong Hang Jebat,

75250 Melaka, Malaysia

Tel: +60 6284 7377

Read our Malacca adventures here:

Malacca 2014: 5 things to do in Malacca  

The Jitches: Journey to Malacca

The Jitches Adventure in Malacca: Hotel Courtyard @ Heeren and Asam Laksa at Jonker 88

The Jitches Adventure in Malacca: Snacks & Pastries in Malacca
The Jitches Adventure in Malacca: Conquering Jonker Walk

The Jitches Adventure in Malacca: Geographer Cafe