we were fortunately blessed with good weather, given that it had been really windy for the past two days. its the kind of wind that will make an entire mess of your hair, with my hair, by the time i get to class, i look like i've been through a hurricane. well, anyway, the city walls in the background.

i love how the blue sky turns out in pictures. this is Lendal Tower...

and this picture explains it all, multiple uses of a tower. nice. at least they don't knock heritage and history down like they do back in Singapore.

along the way from the train station to the city center.

my mom and sister say that dawen should stop wearing his beanie. maybe they should see the state of his hair after he made me shave it last weekend. haha.

i still don't like fish and chips. but i like how the way the British make their pastries. after passing by for the 4th time, dawen asked, 'do you want to go in and get something? you keep looking each time we walk by.' so i caved in and got a flapjack topped with belgian chocolate.

it tasted like those uncle tobey bars. dawen said it tasted like 'sak kei ma', the chinese honey crackers thingy. anything goes, it was only for 41p anyway. this over a chocolate bar, any day.

we first went to the York Market, for lunch.

oily and unhealthy - i had a cheese and garlic burger, topped with onions, for lunch. groan.

because dawen doesn't eat beef, he bought his pork burger from another stall. again, mediocre, not worth clogging our arteries for, in the words of 'ieatishootipost'...

we turned into Shambles (a street)...

and came across this roast sandwich shop. actually, the smell was what enticed us. there was a long queue, and they offered a variety - lamb, pork, chicken, turkey...we looked at each other, and wondered silently if we should indulge in that extra 2 pounds. well, heck, we're already here, might as well just spend that extra 2 pounds, just 1 extra pound per person right?

and boy, were we glad that we bought a roast pork with apple and crackling stuffing. the pork was soft, tender and juicy, we gobbled it up before i remembered that i should have taken a picture of the sandwich (plus i was busy playing peek-a-boo with an extremely cute blond toddler).

with our stomachs full and happy, we walked to York Minster.

a statue of Constantine outside York Minster. some restoration works going on in the background, i suppose.

Roman column opposite York Minster.

i wish i had better pictures of York Minster, but unfortunately, as i confessed, i'm not too good a photographer. but, with the organ recital in the background, the tall and beautiful ceilings and glass-stained windows, its no wonder that everyone says that you have to go to York. York Minster was grand, really grand.

hello yy, if you're reading this, this photo is for you.

we found an alley, leading up to some shops,

and started goofing around,

until we realized that we were making a fool out of ourselves.

Clifford's Tower, built by William the Conquerer as a form of defense against the North, rebuilt by Henry III in the 13th century. from this picture it looks like the tower is situated in the middle of a huge patch of greenery, but it appears rather abruptly in real life, it comes up suddenly when you turn a corner round all the pubs, companies, and buildings.

because we had nothing better to do, we raced up the steps to the Tower.

at The Japanese Shop at Coppergate Walk, dawen said that i bore a striking resemblance to the kokeshi dolls - we all have big heads.

and then we were off to the factory outlets. i got two pairs of Clarks shoes for my dad, and was happily entertaining myself while my (vain) boyfriend tried on some shirts. i bought nothing for myself (finally, some self-exercised restrain) and dawen got himself a pink Ralph Lauren shirt. the huge shopping centre prides itself on 'guiltless shopping', well, if i had bought what i really wanted to, i would have felt really guilty.

and then, all the way back to the city centre. we had dinner at Little Italy - a restaurant set up by Italians, managed and staffed entirely by Italians.

my marinara pizza. this is probably my first time having pizza over here, and it was Italian pizza, not the thick crust American kind. it was good...

but not as good as dawen's salmon pasta. for someone who doesn't like salmon, the fact that he finished it says a lot about the quality of the dish.

and just like every other travelling post, it ends with food. :)