Around York

(2nd day)

In the hotel room, there was not much to do except watching TV (cartoons channel all the time, sigh). We ate some fruits and at the same time, I be the fruit-feeder to the boys whose eyes were so glued on the TV screen.

Looking at the beautiful blue sky outside the window, KS and I started to feel restless very soon. We couldn't stand to waste the time just like this. So we decided to drive to the York's outskirts for sight seeing though the time was slightly after 4 pm by then. Well, we were not too worried about going out that time, knowing the sky won't turn dark till 9.30 pm.

From the booklet we got, we noticed a lavender farm that is 14 miles from York town. Also, there is Castle Howard 3 miles from the farm. Sounds great! We didn't need to think much for this distance. Furthermore, the boys were thrilled about going to castles. They really think they will see the king and queen and prince and princess and most importantly, ARMOURER there!

The way to our destination is very straight forward, not many tricky turns to gamble our luck.

About 30 min driving or so, we bumped into an unknown small town that is very near to the lavender farm. Strange, I saw nobody around the neighbourhood. It's just so quiet out there. I wonder if they had gone to sleep at that time, 5 pm?

I like the way they deliberately let the grass to grow up to the wall. Cool !

Even the most simple design, like the 1st house we learnt to draw in kindergarten age looks so elegantly beautiful.

This house is more resemble to the modern design. I like the bricks and stones that used to build the wall. If I have the chance to build my own house, that's the kind of wall I want it to be. I made it very clear to KS since that moment on wards (hehe...)



I think this remote town is a very pleasant place to live in, if one is not scared of boredom. From here, we made our turn and drove to the place where we suppose to go.

5 min later, we reached the lavender farm. It's called Yorkshire Lavender, the North of England’s Award Winning Lavender Farm, Gardens, Herb Nursery.

As with many things in life, it wasn't what the founder and his family had planned for. It was prompted by the death of his wife Lynne, fourteen years ago from cancer. Since then, Yorkshire Lavender became a family project for him and their children. I think there must be a very touching love story behind all this.

Admission is free, car park as well, yippe...

That's the 1st time I have ever been to a lavender farm. This farm is nearly 60 acres set in the Howardian Hills Area. I was so happy to see the flowers scatter all around the hill. Seeing this purple patch, I can still smell its distinct and heady scents, so refreshing.

Lots of bees are bustling around the lavenders. So much that I could simply catch one with my bare hands.

Lavenders are not the only plant here, there are also many other flowers and herbs too. All of them mix and match to present a beautiful scene to the visitors.

Out of all the plants in the farm, Vincent was particularly interested in the one that grow taller than him (in front of him). He thought it is wheat. I didn't know what exactly is that, maybe some kind of grass?

He said he picked this from the ground there, asked me if he could take it home to make bread?

William has been sleeping in the car long before we reached the lavender farm. It's kind of hard to wake up a very sleepy child. KS got to carry him like this even after we got off the car. Isn't this picture a weird combination?

Ok, finally he was half awaken. As usual, the only person he wants is his mommy when he first open his eyes. So, it's my turn to carry him now.

A guy told me in excitement that there is a deer park a little bit down the hill there. So, we went to check it out. Ok, nothing too special about it! We said hi-and-bye very fast.

Standing at the top of the hill, the panoramic views over the Vale of York and beyond is spectacular. This is the landscape we have been driving through off the highway. Now, we have a better look at the land from a hill top.

It was until someone approached us and told us the farm would be closed around 5.30 pm then we quickly walked back to the entrance.

Near the entrance, there is a Tea Room / Restaurant that serve morning coffees, lunches and afternoon cream tea. It is an award winning EJ's Licensed Tea Room / Restaurant. I have no idea what this award is all about, but I guess this is a kind of quality assurance. I would love to taste its famous lavender scones with jam and cream, and home made lavender ice cream too. But too bad, it's just time to go.

To make our way out, we must pass the gift shop. At a quick glance, I can see they sell many 'Yorkshire Lavender' related products, range as well as practical gifts, books and mememtoes and specialist foods from the sister companies, The Lavender Food Company and Howardian Herbs.

As we have promised the boys when we left the hotel earlier, we would go to Castle Howard. This castle was not in our plan, but I myself was thrilled about going to the place as much as the boys too.

A large greenery field is there to welcome us. As soon as the boys got off the car, they ran so fast towards it. Such a nature call to them.

They joined some other kids who were playing round-and-round this tree.

This isn't an ordinary tree. In fact, the tree is empty inside. The children were so happy to take turn to squeeze themselves into the big hole there. For Vincent and William, they made-believe-play a rabbit, hiding in the secret place from the chase of the big bad lion.

It wasn't very hard to pull them away from that tree. Just tell them we would enter the castle will do.





Every castle in England seems to have a very interesting history and story behind. It would be a totally different perspective for one to tour the castle with and without knowing basic knowledge about the castle itself.




The construction of Castle Howard took more than 100 years before it could be said to have been finally completed, and spanned the lifetime of three earls and numerous architects and craftsmen.


As the house was built and decorated so the grounds were filled with lakes, temples, monuments and a grand mausoleum. A thriving estate grew up encompassing several villages and acres of farmland.



The story of Castle Howard is really one of incessant change. The house and grounds have grown and altered through successive generations of the family, and it is this essential dynamic, continued through the unbroken occupation of the house, that has made Castle Howard so special today.


The single most significant event since the day it was built has been the calamitous fire of 1940, which destroyed the dome and nearly 20 rooms, as well as numerous treasures. For the next few years much of Castle Howard was open to the skies, its once splendid rooms gutted shells.


It was until George Howard, who inherited the house, after the deaths in action of his two brothers in World War Two, determined that the house should be lived in once more, and made the bold decision to recover Vanbrugh's architectural masterpiece.

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It is largely due to his remarkable efforts that Castle Howard is today still home to the Howard family, and enjoys such popularity with the public welcoming nearly 200,000 visitors each year.

Too bad. The castle has been closed by the time we stood in front of its ticketing counter. Silly we, for not aware of its opening time is from 10 am to 5 pm.

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Anyway, since it was not in our original plan, we felt ok. Just that the boys were very disappointed about it. To cheer them up, we told them we would take them to another castle on the next day and it would be 'super-grand' (in their words : 超勁) than Castle Howard. Only then, they were happy again.

Before we left, William wanted to play in that "inside-empty" tree again. Just a simple request, why not? This time, he asked me to squeeze in the hole, then climbed up till to the upper opening, and then I must show up my head so that he could see me from the hole there. Cry, what's made him think his mommy can do that leh?

He really likes that hole so much. I forgot to ask him why?

Oh yes, a veteran marching band + young scouts were doing their rehearsal at that time too. I'm not sure what is it for?

Finally we drove off at around 6.30 pm.

Sheeps can be seen everywhere. I think they probably is the 2nd largest population after the human race in England.

Good-bye Castle Howard. I hope I will have the chance to come to visit you again some time in the future. Since you are still growing, I wonder how you will look like by then?

The time was around 7 pm something when we returned York town. We got very hungry by then. KS was craving for carbohydrate foods, precisely, he wanted to eat pasta, rice or noodle. Luckily, we remember we bumped into a Chinese restaurant somewhere near our hotel in that morning time. So, we drove quick to the restaurant for 'take-away' foods.

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I ordered fried rice and fried noodle. While waiting for the foods, I started a conversation with the girl who took my order just now. She is about my age. At first, we talked about the places in York town we've been just visited. Then, we proceeded to ask for the origin of each other. We were pretty shocked when we got to know both of us are Malaysian.

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Then I asked her : "Which part of Malaysia are you from?" She said : "Ipoh". "Oh, I'm from Kampar, a small town very near to Ipoh, do you know it?" Her mouth wide opened, in disbelieved : "OMG, sure I know that place, my husband is from Kampar too." It's my turn in the greatest shock. OMG, this is like one in a billion chance. Isn't this so bizarre! Since the, we felt like old friend already, that we talked so fast, hoping to catch up with each other in the shortest time possible. She told me she came to York town about 2 years ago, and life here is pretty boring. And I briefly told her about my life in HK instead.

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Since KS was waiting for me in the car that parked outside, worried if the police would come anytime, I just got to say bye to her after the foods were ready. Before we left, we shoke hands together. I wish her all the best. She, in return, gave me a full packet of shrimp-crackers, said it's little something for the kids. Boy, I really felt overwhelming at that time.

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There is no other words that can best describe all this but : 有缘千里能相会 (meant to be met even though a thousand miles away). I give things a thought, and I feel that some people, happen to be met in a very particular time and a very particular place, can truly add wonderful delicacy to life's experiences.

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When I told KS this, he felt the coincidence was remarkably unbelievable too. We wonder if we knew or seen his husband in Kampar before? Guess he is our age too.

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The fried rice and fried noodle were all very full-packed and ingredients-rich. Must be her special order, I guess. We were so full and content on that night. Thank you very much.

When I checked for the photos after we returned HK, I find that we did take a photo of this very special Chinese restaurant earlier that morning. It is called Jade Garden (翠园), located just opposite the Clifford's Tower.

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For whoever Malaysian who happen to read this, please take note of this Chinese restaurant if you will ever visit York one day in the future.

A Walk in York Town

( 2nd day )

I was the first who woke up on the next day. The time was 4.30 am. Man, we have slept for more than 11 hours! Can't remember when was the last time I did that? Maybe when I was an infant?

Since I couldn't go back to sleep, I woke up KS. And it's easy to wake up the boys too. Just turn on the TV will certainly do. I felt so refresh after a long-good-night-sleep. I could see that everyone felt the same too.

Breakfast was simple and healthy. Wholemeal bread spread with peanut butter + strawberries + fresh orange juice.

I felt that every cells in my body had been rejuvenated by this juice-rich breakfast. Emm..I was really in a very cheerful mood.

Our rented car. It's Honda, auto-gear. But I've never seen this model in HK before.

We checked out the hotel at around 6.30 am and headed straight to our next destination, York City. KS estimated the journey would take around 2 hours by highway. The sky looked so full of the dark rainy clouds that though I prayed hard rains won't drop, it just never happen. Guess there was nothing we could do but keep on praying with full heart.

Just when we about to reach York city, the rain stopped. Boy, called it miracle or what, our wish came true. In fact, it was a very fine day, no rain at all for the rest of the day.

We found our hotel very easily this time. Yes, Novotel hotel again. Actually, 6 out of the 7 nights, we stayed Novotel in different region. KS found this hotel from CP's intranet. From time to time, there will be some hotels around the globe, offering their best corporate price to CP's staffs. And this time, Novotel under the Accor group was doing their promotion.

KS said he couldn't find any hotel that is cheaper than Novotel. Even Bed-and-Breakfast can easily cost more than £100 per night. Compared to what we have paid to the 1st Novotel : £45 (Milton Keynes); 2nd Novotel : £55 (York); 3rd Novotel : £71 (New Castle); 4th Novotel : £49 (Manchester, for 2 nights); 5th Novotel : £34 (Coventry). Really not bad, right? See my man, he is such a genius.

Ok Ok, back to York. We arrived at York at around 9 am. Since the time was still too early to check in the hotel, we parked our car in the hotel's car park and decided to take a walk in the town centre first. None of us knew this walk would last for 5 hours!

This is the 1st junction from our hotel. See this double-deck bus is very similar to the one we see in HK, except the color on its body.

As quoted in a travel guide book : York is the kind of place that reminds us of a world before the Industrial Revolution happen, when machine is absent. It's a city of extraordinary cultural and historical wealth. Its medieval spider's web of narrow walkable streets is enclosed by a magnificent circuit of 13th-century walks.

York has 5 major landmarks to take note of : the wall enclosing the small city centre; the minster at the northern corner; Clifford's Tower at the southern end; the River Ouse that cuts the centre in two; and the train station to the west.

Ok, let's tour the town...

Soon later, we saw part of the walls that enclosed the York city. Since Roman times, York has been defended with walls of one form or another. To this day, substantial portions of the walls remain, and York has more miles of intact wall than any other city in England. They are known variously as the York walls, the Bar walls and the Roman walls.

Everything we've seen in York town is so different and fresh compare to the Asian country's town setting. Personally, I always like theirs because of their cleanliness and quietness, that can make me feel a total relaxation.

I'm not sure about other people, but I like to take photos with our face inside it so that I can remember more vividly of the things or the feelings I had had at that place, that time. In simple word : to capture the very special moment for remembrance. I hope the boys would feel the same too when they get to see the pictures many many years later. Also, to show off to people : Look, we have been there before! (ahhhemm..)

Slowly walking towards the town centre...the older part.

When we met the first bridge, we walked down to take a look.

Even a normal bridge looks so classy and elegant. No wonder people said to come to European countries is to look at their historic buildings and architectures. It really doesn't need an expect to tell how good they are.

Many ducks sat on the grass and admired the river in front of them.

They enjoyed their peaceful moment until occasionally, some kids chased after them for fun...Sorry duckies.

Some of them choose to leave the place for temporary. I'm sure they will return after the buggers had gone.

Then, we crossed the bridge and took a short cut by passing this small garden.

Soon later, we saw one of the famous landmark in York.

Clifford's Tower is the little left of York Castle. It was rebuilt after the original one was destroyed in 1190 during an anti-Jewish massacre. An angry mob forced 150 Jews to be locked inside the tower, but it wasn't enough and the helpless victims took their own lives rather than be killed.

As the book said : there is not much to see inside but the views over the city are excellent. Ok, it doesn't justify for £2.5 (per adult) entry fee then. We just walked up to the gate and took a brief peep inside then left.

Just when we crossed the road, a big guy was driving his formula one roamed away before everyone could catch a second look on it. As fast as lightning, I would say. I just felt weird my 1st time to see a real formula one wasn't in a car racing course but a narrow road. Well, anything can happen, right.

The further we walked, the older the buildings we saw.

York town seems famous for ghosts. In fact, there are many ghost tours and ghost hunts organized by local pubs and restaurants night time. We saw one in daytime too, great make up...

However, the boys were not afraid of this 'ghost' lady. I guess they don't have many creepy concepts about ghosts. They are more familiar with all sorts of monster.

It's really very nice and relax to walk slowly on the narrow streets like this. I don't feel like this a long time.

Err, something was wrong with this clock. The time certainly wasn't 4.50 as it shown, but 10.20 would be more accurate. I wonder if there is any special meaning behind it?

I had lost my sense of direction by then. But I think we were walking towards the northern part.

The River Ouse that cut the city in two.

The town area on the other side of the river.

Aha...this clock show the correct time, it was 10.45 am when we walked to this point.

There wasn't many people in the town at that time. I thought in this peak season, crowds would be seen everywhere in England? So I cherished how lucky we were to have avoided the congestion in this beautiful town. Only a few hours later, I knew I was so wrong.

We continued to walk into another narrow street. Most of the pedestrian streets are like this, made of bricks and stones. They are so match with the old buildings that built along. I just like it.

After walking for 2 hours, the boys started bugging. Sometimes they bugged for toys, sometimes they bugged for ice cream....It was until they said they were really really very hungry for so many times that we finally take a break in McDonold.

KS went to the counter to order 2 set of breakfast, and I took the boys to sit near to the window. This area is obviously desgined for parents and kids. See those tables designed with higher and lower part? Such a good design.

Just when we sat in, we saw this big dog waited outside the main door for its master to come out with foods. It is so obidient that I feel human kids are so rediculous at times. That must be one of the reason why there are increasingly more couples prefer to keep dogs than kids now a days, huh?

That's a cute photo, looks like William is sharing his harsh brown with a little dog. This dog has waited about 10 min outside in this position. Never a second it stood up or changing its position. Such a good dog!

BTW, the McDonald breakfast was sucks. I have no appetite to eat it even though I was a bit hungry too.

We sat in McDonald for around 30 min, then we continued our walk. Soon after a turn, we saw this church on the other side of the road.

But before we crossed the road, the boys wanted to play in front of this big mansion first. So, we just let them lo. Asked them to pose, and that's what they did.

I find that this is a difficult pose. Try and see if you can put your head perpendicular when you stand straight, like William did? I can't lo...

I don't know if anyone is living inside there, cause all of the windows were closed up. Anyway, since there is no fence or what, we just went near it to take a closer look. I think this mansion would look even great if they put some statues there, like this...Maybe it will help to scare off the intruders at night time.

but not this kind of little dot statue, ok. Maybe they would get stolen instead, haha...

Ok, another 15 min has gone. Finally we crossed the road and approached the church. There were many people inside there attending a rountine on Sundays.

Just when we about to leave the place, I heard the boys exclaimed in joy. When I saw they greeted the dog, I was amazed. Isn't we have just met him in McDonald 30 min ago? Then we saw its master, and confirmed it is the one. What a coincidence! We bumped into the same dog for twice.

This lady is the master of the big dog. She has a 3 year old son, Julian. Just then, a man came out from the church, carried a baby in his hand. I thought they are her hubby and younger son. She smiled in embarrassment and told me her husband is working in London, so he can only come back York on weekends. She stays in York town with the boy cause she feels that London is not a good place for a child to grow up. Then, she told me her hubby didn't come back this week cause he needed to attend a meeting. Anyway, she said her in-law's family lives here too, so she is not that lonely. Well, I didn't probe for her story, ok. She just told me.

Her little boy is a very active one and he was so happy to play with Vincent and William. Basically they played chase-and-run in front of the church. All the noises they've made, sigh. We got to 'shh..' them for many times.

Anyway, my heart melted when I saw their happy faces that seem to disappear for quite a while. That's kid's nature, they just like to play, they won't admire the beauty of the historic archituctures, nor will they enjoy a long walk like this...

While the boys were still running around, we continued our chat a little bit. I complimented her dog for its obidience, said the training school had done such a marvalous job. She told me in pride that she is the one who trained the dog, all by herself. She showed me how by blowing a whistle. My My, I was totally impressed. She smiled in embarrassment again and said how she wish this method can work well on her son too. I nodded head vigorously in a total agreement. Oh yes, this dog is 3 years old, just 1 week older than Julian.

While the boys were playing, me and the lady was chatting, KS grabbed the camera and shot around. Not wanting to bore him, we said good-bye to the lady and her boy and her dog.

We continued to walk to the heart of the town, there lies the immense, awe-inspiring York Minster, one of the most beautiful Gothic cathedrals in the world.

I didn't know where KS took this picture from. But it's a piece of fantastic arts.

Even though York Minster is just a few hundreds feet away, it's not that 'smooth' to walk straight to there. There are distractions on the way. This time, a little garden located just opposite the minster.

Even from far, I could see the top of the tower is a master piece of beautiful craving.

This boy was in action again. I forgot what he was pretending this time.

Finally, we set foot in the York Minster.

The boys got distracted again by this train who can take people to the National Railway Museum. It's not easy to drag them away. The easiest way out would be offer them something in return. This time, I promised I would buy them ice cream when we saw the shop later.

York Minster is England's largest medieval cathedral and Yorkshire's most important historic building. If this is the only cathedral you visit in England, you got to visit this one.


Such a majestic building deserves a brief introduction about its history. Skip this if you are not interested.

York's first Minster was built on Easter Day 627, for the baptism of the Anglo Saxon King, Edwin of Northumbria. When Edwin ordered that this small wooden church should be rebuilt in stone, he was killed in a battle in 633.

This small stone church built on the same site as the original wooden one was enlarged over time. It survived through the Viking age in York but was badly damaged by fire in the year 1069 when the Normans finally took control of the city of York.

Once the invading Normans had taken control of the city a decision was taken to build a new Minster on a fresh site to replace the old fire damaged Saxon Minster. Around the year 1080 Thomas of Bayeux became Archbishop and started building a cathedral that in time grew into the Minster we have today. This vast Norman church was completed around the 1100.

In 1215 Walter Gray became archbishop and he was to serve the cathedral for 40 years. It was Walter who started to transform the Norman Church in to the Minster we have today.

In summary, the present building, built mainly from 1220 to 1480, manages to represent all the major stages of Gothic architectural development. The Minster that we know today had taken about 250 years to build.

Wonder what were those people looking at?

Oh ok, that's the minster hall they were looking at.

The boys got fussy again. It's time to take a break then.

Luckily there is a leisure park just next to the minster.

And most luckily, there is a small shop selling ice cream in the park. As promised, we bought them their all time favorite ice cream.

Sitting on the bench and looking up the building in front, I imagined how the ancestors got to build the minster with their ancient tools in their ancient method. I truly respect them for spending such a numerous amount of time and effort in creating it. They have left such a priceless precious heritage to the whole human race.

I feel cherish that it still exist until today so that I have the chance to look at it. I hope the very next generation will have the same chance too. Thus, I pray no war nor disaster would ever destroy it. Mayt it be preserved eternally.

Ok, ice cream time was over. They happy, we happy. I think it should be ok to lure them to walk a bit longer after that.

After the break, we continued the walk to the other side of the minster.

On the 9th of July 1984, fire broke out in the South Transept after the Minster had been hit by lightning. The damage resulting from 3 hours of fire took some 4 years to fully repair and restore.

The minster is open to public now a days. In fact, I think it's very tourism orientated. Seeing the list of the admission charges, we were hesitated whether to go in or not to go in?

Just when we were discussing, William pulled our sleeves and said he really need to go to toilet. KS asked the guide for the nearest toilet, and guess what? The kind man released the red rope and show him the way to toilet in the pay zone.

Before they came back, Vincent and I lingered around the ticketing zone. There are things for FOC viewing.

I have very little knowledge in Catholic's history and its development. I think for those who have vast knowledge in the religion and its background, they would appreciate the minster more than a layman did.

There are many this kind of windows around the chamber, everyone of them are different.

Only the ticket holders can go inside there.

However, I was 'thick face' enough to zoom up a picture over the carved figures there.

About 15 min later, KS and William came back. He said he almost tour every places inside there. No doubt it's gorgeous and equivalent good to the Holy See Catholic Church in Vatican City. I think I can visualize how it looks like then.

So, we decided to give up the Minster tour but to its tower instead. Just when I line up to buy the ticket, KS saw from the banner there : To climb the tower, the accompanied children must be 8 or over. Oh, we think Vincent can marginal pass that though he is not yet 8, but William is too far below this requirement. Sigh, got to quit then.

We left the Minster, feeling a bit lost that we couldn't go up to the tower.

Anyway, we had found a short cut to capture the whole picture of the York Minster....

and some of its interior design and decoration....

no need to pay to see it wo...guess how?

if you look at the picture carefully, maybe you will see a clue at the bottom left corner there....

by this way, ok. Got it? (haha....) I didn't even buy the post card after I shot its photo. Really feel ashame of myself lah.

As a token of appreciation, I will try to remember this small shop for as long as my memory span can last, ok.

By then, we have been walking for more than 3 hours already. William was very tired and he bugged for a lift. To a little boy, I think 3 hours walk can be equivalant to 5-6 hours walk, right? Sorry baby...

Only when he saw something interesting, then he was more willing to walk on his own.

Street art. The boys stood there and stared at the man for a long time, until he winked to them. That made them giggled so hard.

That's the boy's favorite 'toy' shop, but must remember all of the items can be seen only, do not touch and do not take photos. Must remember this, cause the shop owner is very fierce.

Have seen many 'Ghost' signboard hanging here and there. Make me curious too...if there were just KS and me in this trip, I would drag him to join the ghost hunt at night time.

I started to feel exhausted at this point of time too. Didn't know since when, the constant flow of school groups and organised tours has swamped the place from every direction, that they had invariably clog up my viewfinder.

Even KS was getting very tired too. So, we slowly found the way to go back to the hotel.

On the way back, we took a short break at a street bar. We sipped coffee, let the boys drank hot chocolate and ate some cakes.

The shambles, poor people used to live here.

I don't think this is the poor people's place any more. Like all the other narrow streets, here got many shops that sell all kind of souveniur.

Those tarts are actually very big, diameter around 8 inch.

Salted-dried fruits. If I weren't too tired, maybe I would buy some to eat.

Very tired, just wanted to walk back fast and get some rest...no mood to look around anymore.

Didn't remember how many times I've said that to the boy : "We are almost back, come on, keep walking"...

"Just cross the bridge and we'll be there, ok, keep walking..."

"Almost there, almost...."

But this street performer played his music so well that made us stopped for a while. Some people even bought his CD after listening to him for a while. Maybe one day he will be a superstar? I asked the boy to put some money in his box, then we left.

Guess they must be the most exhausted children in York town that day.

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Finally we walked back to the hotel somewhere around 3pm. Strange enough, soon after the boys went in the room, they turned on the TV immediately, and started to bounch from one bed to another bed like a whole new person. Amazing!