Day 3
Today we woke up at 3.30am again, but we decided to went back to sleep so sleep again from 5am to 7.30am. Looks like we are beginning to adapt to the time zone in UK.
Today is going to be a travel on the road day as we will be travelling to London for a fine dining experience at Gordon Ramsey Restaurant in Chelsea and after that we will be returning to Nottingham to our university which is the highlight of the trip (for us of course since Nottingham is not one of the tourist first few choices of town to visit but it does hold significant meaning to both of us and those who had studied there before).
So, we had a hearty breakfast ( i ate quite a fair bit of toast plus some home cooked eggs, bacon and my favourite mushrooms by our host), we showered and we enjoyed the scenery from our window once again before departing at about 10.15am.
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| Having breakfast, reading magazine with a view! |
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| Today i ordered egg, bacon and my favourite mushrooms! |
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| Getting ready for my first dining experience at Three Michelin Star Restaurant! |
After 2 hours drive (including horrendous traffic in London), we reached Gordon Ramsey!
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| We reached! |
We were first greeted with a warm welcome by the waiter at the reception area and our coat were taken for safe keeping. We were lucky that we manage to get a reservation for this restaurant. Initially, reservations are full when we tried to book it online via their online reservation system. Thus, I emailed the restaurant to request to be put on waiting list and few days later, we manage to secure a table!
For those who wanted to dine here, do book your tables early once your holiday plan is firmed. Do note that the restaurant would require a credit card to secure the booking and in the event of no show, a particular amount would be deducted, do check out their website for more information. Oh ya, and they are quite particular about dress code, thus no sneakers, T-shirt, jeans are allowed. If you are travelling and would love to dine here, do bring an extra sets of formal clothes :)
After our coats were taken, we were brought to a cosy small dining area with about 10-15 tables. All tables are well set with white and silver tableware and we were seated at the side of the restaurant, facing the middle of the restaurant. We do note that all the chairs are placed in such a manner that the diners faced the middle of the restaurant, probably so that the waiter could easily explained the courses for us which they did for all the food that we ordered and served.
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| A picture before we tucked in our starter |
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| Nice environment while we fine dine our starter! |
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| Me and my rabbit meat dish |
All in all, I think Gordon Ramsey Restaurant does give it's diner the whole package-from the quality of the food, the presentation of the food and the wonderful service rendered. For a £55 per person for lunch (which includes 2 specials), I think it is pretty worth it to experience at least once in a lifetime this perfect dining experience at this Three Michelin Star Establishment in London. No wonder they have hold tight to their Michelin Star since 2001. Am really glad to have enjoyed this wonderful perfect lunch! We did spend almost 2.5 hours for our lunch which is the longest lunch we had I must say, worth every seconds :)
We left for Nottingham at about 3pm and we only manage to reach at 6.30pm due to the congestion as there are road works being done. First entrance into University of Nottingham via the entrance near Pharmacy Building. Driving pass the Trent Building, the lakeside, Portland Building and so much memories just came flooded back. All the routes that we take on our way to school years back that we took for granted, and now we travelled 10,000 km just to have a peek at our university, walk on its pathway and grass. Indeed, studying abroad is a once in a lifetime experiences, away from our family and learning the road to independence. Am really glad to be able to experience that :)
We manage to book a room in one of the catering halls in the university (not the one that I stayed before though) just to experience our stay in university in the past. For a double bed en-suite room, it costs £55 pounds per night which includes a breakfast on weekday/brunch on weekend. For more information, check out the university
website.
Timing for check in is very flexible as there is Hall Manager, Porter and Security on-site 24 hours (on rotation basis) so we manage to check in with the porter when we arrived. Paid the accommodation fees in cash and we were shown to our room with access card for key and for breakfast.
Parking is additional charges but we did arrived on Friday after 5pm and will be leaving before 8am on Monday morning so complimentary parking for us :)
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| Our room |
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| Private shower |
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Wash basin and heater
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| Table with portable kettle, and complimentary tea/coffee and biscuit |
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| Complimentary tea/coffee and snacks |
Had a quick shower and changed into something more comfy, we drove to Beeston to have our dinner at Yod Siam , one of the Thai Restaurant we dine before when studying. I must say that either their standard had dropped from the last i dine in probably 10 years ago or my taste bud had become more picky, the Pad Thai definitely taste so much nicer in the past. Tom yam soup that we had is still nice and warm our stomach especially in the cold weather in Nottingham (3-7 degrees) with winds...brrr....
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| Familiar places |
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| Pad Thai |
Went to Sainsbury to do mini groceries shopping but mainly just to reminiscence our memories of groceries shopping there almost every weekend to enjoy the "reduced to clear" item...I still remembering us walking out in the cold so that we can get the "reduced to clear" doughnut... great memories!
Finishing the day but having a Muller, one of our favourite yogurt when studying and it still tastes as great as ever!
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| Yummy! |
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| Got this off the shelf at Sainsbury as well for our dear daughter who is a super Elsa fans! |
Next up- best day of the trip as we savour memories from our university days... also the main reason of our trip!
