My cousin flew over from Hong Kong so me and my mum are showing her around.

Also using this as an opportunity to test out Darktable’s Sigmoid tonemapper (in development).
So far, nicer colors with minimal tweaking compared to the Filmic tonemapping module.
Maybe, once it’s officially released, I’ll finally have that good-enough one-size-fits-all approach so I can finally batch process all those old Hong Kong holiday raws that I gave up on.

Coffee while we’re waiting for the train to London. This Brazilian cheese bread thing is nice.

Boob bag.

London Bridge

There’s a train that goes straight to London Bridge. I don’t need to stop by Victoria first.

Tower Bridge and the HMS Belfast.

On the other side of the bridge you can see the BT Tower and St Paul’s Cathedral.

I took this photo because I thought it had something to do with the Harry Potter movies.
I was wrong.

Southwark Cathedral

Borough Market

Ooh, vibe.

The UK’s oldest market. I’ve always wanted to come here.

Woops A R T

Gastronomica

My mum got this pistachio cream spread.
Damn, this is nice. I imagined it’d be like peanut butter but it’s sweet and creamy. It’s almost like it’s melted white chocolate. Not much of a pistachio taste, though.

Bread Ahead Bakery

Raya Grocery

Image from Kappacasein Dairy’s Instagram

Got this 4 cheese toastie from the Kappacasein Dairy cheese shop. The name seemed familiar and there was a queue forming so I thought this place must be good.
Yeah, it was pretty good. The onions really enhanced the flavour.

Chocolate fondue strawberries.

Octoling ancestor.

Monmouth Coffee Company

These guys were part of the original coffee wave, pushing the specialty coffee trend in the UK.

There were a lot of Japanese tourists queuing up to buy their roasted coffee beans.

You don’t see many cafes outside specialty coffee shops doing pour overs in the UK.

Iced filter coffee and a canele.
These caneles are nice. It’s like a Japanese custard pudding but in cake form.

We took a walk around the neighbourhood.

The cliche faraway backlit shot of an urban sports courtyard.

Oh hey, it’s the Skytree Shard. Tallest building in the UK.

I’ve visited London so many times but I’ve yet to see a play in a theatre. One day.

That thin building is creeping me out.

S K Y T S H A R D

Oh yeah, it’s Remembrance Day.

King’s Cross

Dropping off my cousin’s suitcase at her hotel. We’ve been lugging it around all day.

Coincidentally, this is also where Platform 9 ³⁄₄ is.
She really wanted a photo so we queued for an hour.

There’s a souvenir shop here too. I was gonna get a butterbeer but it was £5 per bottle and my sister said it’s pretty much just cream soda with a marshmallow tasting foam.

Fitzrovia

Six by Nico

Ooh, God. My cousin booked this place online that she wanted to go to and it’s one of them extra fancy restaurants where you don’t get to choose your own meal and it costs £50 per person.
I don’t usually have a good experience at these kinds of restaurants so I tried to see if there was someplace that served more normal British food like the restaurant at the Sky Garden but everything is already fully booked on a London Friday evening.
Oh well, no harm in trying it (except for my wallet).

The set menu is Alice in Wonderland themed. Also the menu is edible.

MAD HATTERS TEA PARTY
Mushroom Tea, Smoked Bacon Jam, Truffle Parmesan Royale, Pickled Walnut & Keens Cheddar Scone

Aggressively mushroomy. At least now I can say I’ve eaten truffle.

THE WHITE RABBIT
Rabbit & Date Ballotine, Beef Fat Roasted Carrot, Tarragon Pesto, Rabbit Bolognese, Carrot Ketchup

First time I’ve ever had rabbit. Not sure I liked it. The carrot ketchup was nice though.

PAINT THE ROSES RED
Celeriac Rose, Baby Beets, Garden Radish, Kalamata Olive Soil & Red Apple Caramel

I liked this one. It was mostly just sweet pickled vegetables.

EAT ME, DRINK ME!
Roast Cod, Miso & Yuzu Glaze, Bonito Emulsion, White Turnip Puree, Pickled Tokyo Turnip, Dashi Broth

AGGRESIVELY fishy.
Maybe it’s the lack of sleep or it’s the dairy I had earlier but this is making me kinda nauseous.

OFF WITH ITS HEAD!
Pork Belly, Choucroute, Apple Gel, Pig Head Croquette, Cauliflower & Sauce Charcuterie

Everything at this restaurant is so heavily flavoured and salted.

LEARN HOW TO MAKE MUSHROOMS
54% Chocolate & Cep Cremeux, Praline Ice Cream, Candied Hazelnut, Chocolate Soil, Smoked Maldon & Cask Sherry

This was actually pretty nice. Not too sweet, well balanced flavours and textures.
This restaurant gets a ²⁄₆.

The underground station at King’s Cross was closed due to a fire alarm so we walked the last bit back to her hotel. Good thing we accompanied her, she wouldn’t have known what was going on.
King’s Cross sure does seem to have a lot of bad luck with fires…
Luckily it opened back up when I went home.

END