Clutch of Inspirations.

Greater Manchester doesn't seem to offer much attractions for tourists. Chiakhuan's friend Weizhe came over to Manchester for a day trip so we played the role of tour guides for a day. Met him at Picaddilly at 10a.m. and off we went on a city-centre + uni exploration tour that almost turned Chiakhuan and I into ice.

1st place we went. Well, not actually..since we didn't even entered, just walked past it on Market Street..

Manchester Eye! Apparently most major cities in UK has one ferris wheel too.

6 pounds per ride so it's literally impossible for us to hop on.

Crackers with all kinds of bramley to try with! Apple bramley is nice :)

Christmas market outside the Triangle.

Chocolate truffles~torture my tummy.

Classical old english cottage? Nah, bars..

Chiakhuan and I scampered inside The Triangle excitedly after seeing the banner that read "free photo with Santa Claus every Saturday". But low and behold, the place was so quiet and deserted...the Christmas tree itself looks so forlorn.

World's biggest Hard Rock Cafe? But I googled it..biggest HRC in Orlando, US!

Manchester Old Cathedral is undergoing renovation - only this part is currently untouched :P

Entrance doorway.

What have I to say? The churches and cathedrals here are all stunning.

The weather was considered great that day - no rain + 2 hours of sun(?). Now it would be wonderful if it wasn't so frigging cold! My hands and toes totally went numb!

This just makes me miss my violin more. And the guy on viola is a Japanese~guess they're from RNCM. Church people probably won't be playing Eine Kleine Natchmusik on the streets.

Teacakes for teabreak!

Classic brown chocolate, Latte, Cappucino.

Blackcurrant and honey almond - my fav!

Bananas, strawberries, grapes, marshmellows, raspberries...everything dipped in chocolate!

In front of the John Rylands Library in the city centre. 1st time we visited too XD

So cooooooool right??? Like Hogwarts corridor.

Weizhe, Chiakhuan and I.

The founder of the library himself - John Rylands. No, not that man at the side, he's a staff :D

The most significant view of the John Rylands Library.

Books and books and books. Can't be taken out though. Everything is on exhibition.

But the study atmosphere is thumbs-up! Maybe we really should go study there :P

*Proud of the magnificent library owned by uni*

Bumped into Mr Santa who can't move or talk or gimme sweets when we were strolling around Spinningfields looking for......

..the ice-skating rink! Ain't the little boy cute! And that dummy-looking penguin tooo...

Beside the ice-skating rink.

Back to Christmas markets, back for more free testings! I heart free samples!

Then we had the 1.50 pounds pastie. Chiakhuan and I shared a lamb and mint one; Weizhe had cheese and onion but us two greedy girls "helped" him finished it off since he found the cheese smell too strong and heavy.

Albert Square Christmas Market again.Super-duper bored Santa sitting on Chiakhuan's head.

BIG crowd.

We popped into Manchester Art Gallery for a while but found out that we weren't artistic enough to enjoy and admire the artworks etc.

Visit to Chinatown accomplished by taking photo of the arch XD

Then we walked all the way down to the uni's main campus. I find this pic of our Uni Place lobby quite chio, lols. It's supposed to be a cafe, just that the stalls aren't opened on weekends.

4th church we entered. Yeah it's Holy Name Church just next to the Chaplaincy I used to go.

How Great Thou Art.

Going into the Old Quadrangle, I was shocked to see the formerly covered in red climber wall transformed into a creepy wall with bare climber veins. eww.

Hallway to Whitworth Hall was nicely illuminated but we can't enter cause there was some party going on later so it was closed for preparations.

Exhausted, we rested at the sofas in the Charles Darwin Extravaganza chamber in the Museum for quite a while, finishing off the teacakes.

Walking back to the city centre was bone-shivering cold again. Sky had turned dark at 4 something.

BIG crowd did not disperse. BIGGER crowd accumulated. I guess you know where this is already.

Weizhe's gigantic German sausage which he spent some time and energy to buy XD chiakhuan and I were busy hunting for free samples.

Shine, christmas tree, shine!

Last destination of the day. Anyone recognize this street? Kidding lah, we just walked past and randomly told Weizhe about this gay street. yuck.

My Learning Outcomes of the day :

1. Best attraction of Greater Manchester - John Rylands Library.

2. Weizhe's the tourist but Chiakhuan and I were the ones taking photos of ourselves.

3. Do not wear toes-exposed shoes out on a 4/5 degrees celsius day.

4. Do not walk the whole day with already cacat feet and improper shoes.

5. When chiakhuan says "fattening ahh...", i say "expensive ahh...."

2 Comments: