TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

On my last day in Sheffield, Queen Victoria made a special breakfast for me: Bagels, bacon and omelette. And endless conversations. In the afternoon they were invited to a Filipino children’s party so they tagged me along. It was the birthday of their friend’s daughter. The catering was done by a Filipino and food was mainly Filipino as well. I think my favourite there was the chicken lollipop. Queen Victoria and her hubby are quite social people in comparison to Dutchman and I. We on the other hand prefer to be at home when we/I are not travelling. I also like my own company. Then there is my demanding career that is my baby that is taking most of my time. Most days I am on the road, having face-to-face meetings with business partners so at the end of the day I feel like I’ve had a very hectic social/work life and the only thing I want is to do is retreat back into my cave at home. So yeah, I am not really a socializing type at all but I can be when its needed (like at work). ...

Queen Victoria was very keen on letting me have some English hospitality so she insisted that I taste the English specialty—‘Toad in the Hole’. So we searched for the restaurant she saw earlier on the net offering this, as well as the local Yorkshire traditionally brewed ales. Unfortunately we could not find the place and because we have tugged the whole family along, we decided to just settle for a pint drink instead in the pub around the corner. For the curious geeks, click here to see what a Toad in the Hole looks like. Our locally brewed pints. Cheers! The lovely and sweet family of four. Little Marco always knows how to pose. Once done with our pints we packed ourselves back into the car to go to the biggest mall in the city, Meadowhall. I’ve been here a few times. We are not going shopping but we are going to have dinner at their favourite restaurant—Nando’s. Why is this restaurant their favourite? Nando’s is a Portuguese-Mozambican cuisine restaurant specializing in f...

After checking out the Peace Garden’s Queen Victoria brought me to the town’s Winter Garden, a temperate glass house home to 2,000 plants. Upon stepping in I realized I have been here before. Ah, memories start trickling down memory lane =) This greenhouse has an intelligent Building Management System which controls fans and vents to make sure the plants are cooled in summer and kept warm in winter. The system is supposed to adapt year-on-year as changes occur. And importantly, to go with nature’s seasonal change, the bedding plants are also changed five times a year. She sure is like a woman—high maintenance! Haha. The Sheffield Winter Garden is also the largest urban glasshouse in Europe. There are a few cafes inside the Winter Garden which makes its a nice place for afternoon meet-ups or simply to just chill out with a cup of coffee or tea with a little bit of nature company. Here is the facade of the Winter Garden with the steel balls. The design and archit...

Happy with our vintage finds , we left Sheffield Town Hall to check out the famous gardens of the city, the ‘Peace Gardens’. Like tourists, Queen Victoria and I took turns posting ourselves in front of the fountains. It was sometimes challenging because there were many people walking across and tourists as well who had the same thing in mind. But I think we managed to take a few nice ones. I must say that this inner square is the most attractive part of the city, and relaxing as well. With the award-winning gardens and the gothic town hall in the background, what else is there magnificent to add to make the heart of Sheffield beautiful? Well, the fountains of course. They are like the icing on the cake. Here’s a few facts I found about the Peace Gardens: It was constructed in 1938. It was previously called St. Paul’s Gardens and nicknamed Peace Gardens until state officials officially named it Peace Gardens. It has won many (horticultural) awards as well. Kids are always...

The next day of my visit, Queen Victoria brought me to the Sheffield Town Hall, one of the beautiful architectures of the city to see a ‘Vintage Fair’. My friendship with Queen Victoria go back moons and eons ago. We were classmates since kindergarten (35 years ago) and we were classmates and BFF’s in high school (25 years ago). Indeed a long time ago. We never thought we would both end up in Europe, I in the Netherlands, and her in the United Kingdom. It was never in the plan. I guess destiny has its own ways. Anyway, it was just good timing that the Vintage Fair was on the same day that I was visiting Sheffield. As a matter of fact, I am not really into vintage nor I am crazy about fashion. You can safely say that I was more excited to be inside the beautiful Town Hall than seeing the actual exhibit. I have always thought that fashion is superficial, you just cannot get totally serious with it, but you need it sometimes to be taken seriously. The clothes at the Vintage Fair spa...