"Love is a ruthless game, unless you play it good and right. =P "
I could still remember myself being secretly jealous envy of a few friends when I saw their photos of lavender farm on Facebook years ago. Never had I dreamt that one day I could be so lucky to be able to visit such a place myself. Before we headed to the Mayfield Lavender Farm, we took a train to Oxford to catch up with Vivian so that she could guide and introduce us to this ethnically-diverse city.
Albert Einstein's blackboard in the Museum of the History of Science.
Just like Cambridge, Oxford was home to great buildings with outstanding architecture. We had a good time walking around the incredible city and gosh I so wanna give my Genie a call for a brain and hardworking behaviour so that I could study in its university or colleges. Additionally, we were also fortunate enough to visit a few Harry Potter's filming locations and we ended the beautiful day with a nice Chinese dinner.
The famous Hertford Bridge.
Christ Church's staircase - the filming location of Harry Potter.
All of us that traveled from Nottingham.
Our pretty tour guide of the day. =)
The Dining Hall that inspired the Hogwarts Great Hall in Harry Potter.
Oxford. =)
It had been a while.
Scream Chinese~
The next day, we departed early in the morning guided by Stephanie so when we arrived at the farm, there was literally no tourist on the spot and we couldn't be more pleased with it. Therefore, we took our time slowly to take millions of photos until everyone and their mother were satisfied. Purple was now officially my second favourite colour (Sorry White). I had always admired people who had guts to wear purple because it's such a bold and brilliant colour that totally screamed different and fun, unlike the boring blue. So, I guessed I should make a mental note to shop for purple clothes on my next shopping spree.
After all of the camwhoring, we decided to try most of the lavender-related food products that the farm had to offer. Among them, I loved lavender-vanilla ice cream and lavender lemonade the most as they were perfectly refreshing on a hot summer day!
Scream red purple!!!
It's just like heaven.
One of the best places.
Captivating.
Up close.
LOVE.
At the farm. >.<
Perfect~
Yummy.
In the afternoon, we tried to be a bit cultural so we decided to drop by the awesome British Museum. I hated to admit this but it's the first museum that failed to bore me in my entire life. Needless to say, it featured endless series of unique and interesting collections, ranging from Greek God statues to Mummies to prayer wheels. And such visit would not be complete without taking a good peek at the famous Rosetta Stone. Even though we're only allowed to touch the replica of it, it was definitely still better than nothing at all.
The Rosetta Stone.
The entrance. It's just so stunningly beautiful.
You're gonna hear me roar!!
My favourite piece.
China part of the Museum.
Cat cat~
Burger King~
M&M Soho!
After we came back from London, we're lucky to have a few days to rest before officially starting our 22-day europe trip. Life was surprisingly nice to me for these past few weeks and I was so grateful for it. Like every one else, there were also hard and less pleasant moments in my life but the most important thing was that they would eventually fade and go away with time. So, I guessed that I had to keep reminding myself that from time to time in the near future.
Prawn mee by Alicia~
Afternoon teatime in Beeston.
English brunch at home.
Chatime in Derby!
The buffet dinner in Derby that didn't even let me finish my food! But I was in a good mood so I didn't care.
My Taytay's live stream of her new album!! Totally not ashamed that I was super duper excited!!
This was definitely the golden age of something good and right and real. Until next time then. =)
It was my last day of work and unexpectedly I got my line manager's permission to end my day half an hour earlier and the next thing I knew was that I was back at the alluring Chesil Beach. Out of nowhere it decided to rain when we were about to gobble down the packed fish and chips that we brought along. Needless to say, umbrellas and raincoats instantly became our very best friends. And when I was about to open my mouth to complain about the weather, the rain stopped and the most incredible view of an after-rain rainbow coupled with crepuscular rays streaming through the gap of the golden clouds came into view. It was simply magnificent and I had to admit that I had never ever witnessed such an amazing view in my entire life. However, its beauty couldn't quite be captured into my camera due to my limited skill. =(
Chesil beach.
Beautiful pebbles.
Nice evening!
Byebye Chesil Beach!
The next day, we had to climb out of bed before the first ray of sun pierced through the curtains in order to catch trains, ferry and buses to get to Isle of Wight. Totally, it took us nearly four hours to reach the island but we're a bit disappointed with what Seaview had to offer. Fortunately, the astounding scenery of Appley Beach sort of made up for it at the end of the day. After some hesitation, we decided to stroll along the beach and much to our surprise, we could actually walk all the way towards the sea through the ankle-deep water. Due to the depth of the water, the reflection of its big flat surface instantly became a mirror of the blue sky above. The best part of it was that we could literally let our gaze stretch as far as the eyes could see and it was definitely one of the best unique experiences that I had.
Cute meerkats found inside the park.
White albino wallaby.
A baby kangaroo. =)
Pier of the island.
Nice weather we had.
Just loved it here.
Unexpected discovery of Ryde Sea Front.
On Sunday we departed early in the morning as well. We really ought to count our blessings as it was the very first day that had got buses operating to Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove. While waiting for the bus, we accidentally discovered a flea market opposite the bus stop, so we decided to walk around and buy our breakfast. In the end, we decided to go for a small local store that sold delicious chocolate fudge cake. However, the bus was nowhere to be seen at the station so we got quite worried as there was only one direct bus per day. Fortunately, it turned out that the bus was only late by 15 minutes. We hopped onto the double-decker and were thrilled to enjoy the great scenery of countryside along the road. It was no doubt a long way to Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove but the view they had to offer was definitely worth the ride. It was as if the heaven above had suddenly decided to open its gates and let all of its colours and beauty lay down across this coastal area. Well, the only downside was that it was full of tourists even in the morning. While trying to get down to take a good look at Stairhole, I accidentally slipped down the muddy hill resulting in my whole bag, legs, slippers, shorts and half of my camera were covered in thick mud. Luckily, a few cuts were all the damage done. =)
The spectacular Man of War bay.
Finally reached my dream destination.
Durdle door.
The White Northe Walk.
Shrimp with Avo as lunch. =)
Stairhole.
The perfect swimming spot.
The unique formation of Stairhole.
The rum flavour was the best.
Never say no to more treats.
The text-book cove - Lulworth Cove.
On our last day, we walked for nearly two hours after boarding the train just to reach Sculptures by the Lake. It was quite dangerous along the way since there was no footpath along the highway so we kind of had to jump into the bush whenever there were vehicles approaching. And I would never ever want do that again in the future! The spacious garden only opened to a certain number of guests in a day so we had to book by phone before we arrived. It was usually not the policy to pay the entrance fee on the spot but the owner was kind enough to let us do so when we called. We took a leisure stroll along the lake and with the help of the map we managed to locate almost all of the sculptures. It was really the perfect spot to have picnic or wine but too bad we only brought along some snacks.
Roe Deer: One of the first sculptures that we encountered.
With the garden hares.
It showed 12pm.
Duel.
Disappearing Worlds.
Whispering Spirit.
Search For Enlightenment.
The signature sculpture of the garden.
Tree Spirit.
One of a kind quote.
That officially ended my five-week placement in Dorchester. During this period, the most beautiful piece of advice that I got was "You have no time. " So, I guessed right now was exactly the best time to dance through life as if we're made of starlight and dreamed the impossible dreams. So looking forward to the upcoming Europe trip!
