Somserset house, London

Even though most of my time in London saw me shuttling between Bloomsbury and Central Camden, I've visited the beautiful Somerset house at the Strand on many occasions. It is a huge pale-washed Neoclassical building and a great delight to just relax by the side with a book or some doodles. It overlooks the River Thames and the Waterloo Bridge, and many Brits perched themselves on chairs facing the sun for some much needed summer sunshine.

Aesthetics aside, the Somerset House serves as an Arts and Cultural centre of London. They provide contemporary art programmes and host art exhibitions which range from paintings to graphic design to photography, as well as workshops and guided tours around the different wings - check them out here. It is also the home base for London Fashion Week. In winter, the fountain area doubles up as an ice skating rink (R's friends saw Emma Watson at this very ice skating spot!).

My favourite place within the premises would definitely have to be the fountains in the Edwond J. Safra Fountain Court. Located in the heart of the building and facing the Strand entrance, it's a grand sight to behold. The fountain jets are constantly in play throughout the day, and there's just something about the sound of water that is musically therapeutic to the ears. In  the warm(ish) summer, they are a huge attraction with the kids.

Brought my family there when they came over as well.

Al-fresco coffee and tea.

The in-house Rizzoli Bookshops offers a spectrum of artsy collaterals and subject books, ranging from fashion to architecture and interior design. They also have stationery from local British local designers (albeit the hefty prices) and programme booklets for exhibitions. Worthwhile to pop by anc check them out, got really tempted to purchase a few merchandise many a times.

Landmark: The Fields of Photography exhibition.

Stairwells

My doodle notebook.

The security guards are very friendly. I was sitting precariously on the railings (was very careful but would plunge about 2 storeys down if I were to fall back), and the guard came over to tell me to be careful and we struck up a conversation about acute mental disorders and the psychology. We spent some time talking before we split ways, and he insisted to help me take a picture with the grand building.

 Ah, the beauty of conversations with strangers.

It's definitely a place to just relax - perfect for a book and cuppa tea on a cool summer day. Will be back for Winter ice skating, hopefully soon - ciao!

Strand, London WC2R 1LA

United Kingdom

Jamie's italian: Covent garden, London

Walked around Covent Garden when my family came over for a visit in London and we settled for a cosy lunch at Jamie's Italian. The bright colours and open dining concept caught our eye - and also because while we were spoilt for choices in lunch options, many were really expensive restaurants.

The portions were large, we ordered 3 mains and a side to share so we could leave room for some to-go snacks later in the day. The Pumpkin soup was served in a petite porcelain cup, with toasted bread on the side. The consistency was rather thick because of the pumpkin fibre, hence it was good for sharing with my sister. However, it tasted flavourful and was naturally sweet so we thought that it was a good complement to the savoury mains we had ordered.

The Free-range chicken primavera was one of the more popular dishes in the restaurants and my dad's favourite. It comes with a blend of peas on top, and baked free-range chicken sitting on top of creamy baby potatoes and asparagus.

The Fish'n Chips dish was huge, but there wasn't anything particularly fancy about this dish considering we were in the UK with tons of good Fish'n Chips options around. What we liked about it, however, was the butter and chives spread that came along with the dish. While it complemented the fish really well, it got pretty heavy going after a while.

Ciao!

Jamie's Italian

11 Upper St Martin's Ln, London WC2H 9FB

United Kingdom

Regents park in summer,

Located North West of Central London, Regent's park is practically just a stone's throw away from my backdoor ♥ I've previously visited the park during winter so click here if you want some winter scenery, but come summer the park blossoms into an array of colours enveloped in a beautiful golden tinge. The abundance of summer sunshine gives it such an extreme makeover, I didn't know seasonal transitions could be so gorgeous!

Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London and spans across the the London Borough of Camden and the City of Westminster - within which houses the London Zoo and Regent's University London. In the vicinity lies Primrose Hill, great place for a view of the city and stroll about in its tranquility; and you can definitely spot out the unique dome-shaped London Central Mosque in the skyline. In winter, activities are limited because of the buildup of snow (but of course snow fights are still permitted! And I saw a group playing football in the bitter cold) but come summer and the park comes alive with activities from tennis to ultimate frisbee, to lively children playgrounds and boating in the main lake - the latter of which I dearly miss being able to do. Or you could pop by the Garden cafe for a slow morning brunch.

I've walked around the park umpteen times but one of the little joys I never fail to engage in is duck watching. There's just that magical feeling of just gazing at them enjoying the peaceful surroundings and feeling so much in their element without bothering about us passerbys. Snapped these quick pictures with Ana when we walking through Regent's to get to Baker street - and it was just a lot of fun being silly cawing at them....and observing their puzzled responses. They are extremely graceful in the waters and are such a joy to watch!

What I love about Regent's that sets it apart from the other Royal parks is that it is a 166 hectares open parkland with different sections that you can never tire of wandering about. It consists of 2 circles, and the inner circle surrounds the charming Queen Mary's Gardens, an Open air theatre, the Italian gardens and English gardens. There are many quiet spots around the park to just laze and soak in the summer sun, or just to bum around with a good book and some quiet time - things I truly miss doing with such great weather! It is way too hot to do these outdoors in Singapore, and especially so with the hazy situation we are currently facing.

The nearest tube station would be either Regent's Park, Baker street or the Great Portland street, as they serve respective entrances to the park. This would definitely be somewhere I would visit again should I return back to London in the future, hopefully this coming December :) Ciao!