Manchester

Easter weekend.

37 pounds return train to Manchester.

12 am touch down.

Straight to Tai Wu for supper. 30% off food after 12am.

Want me to grow fat can!
All the jealous toots out there!!!

And Manchester being the King of all Chinatowns in the UK...just wouldn't be right without a bakery.
Polo pau! (Pineapple bun) A slab of butter down into the middle, 1 minute in a hot oven/grill, and you have the perfect pau, crispy on the outside and buttery goodness in the middle.

Of course, you also have the variety of cakes that you do not get in other shops in the UK. Don't know why the ang mohs just have NOT mastered this form of baking.
And no chinese bakery/eatery will be quite so complete without Pearl Milk Tea. And Egg Tarts. Puff pastry ones too.

But let's not diss ang moh food to hell.
Let me introduce to you:
See that red sign?? That means you have ascended into the ultimate 7th heaven of doughnut delight.
The factory at Trafford Centre boasts a glass paneling that showcases the master mind machine behind the bun with a hole it the middle.

Firstly, the dough is given time to rise in moving 'lifts' and once they are big enough, they are passed onto a conveyor belt that runs through hot boiling oil. It then gets flipped so that both sides are fried in equal depth.
Soon after it is golden on both sides, the doughnuts are passed through a waterfall of sweet white icing and they come out the other side perfectly glazed to wholesome goodness.
The workers consequently pick the dougnuts off the conveyor belt and hand it to the customers for free.
Who said there are no free things in this world? I have just saved 1.50 in cold hard cash.

Ooooh... hot, runny white icing that melts into a sugary sheet over your tongue ; your teeth sinks into the soft fluffy dough in the middle while crunching through the slightly crispy outer layer. It is not too hot or too cold, it is not to soft or too hard, it may be a bit too sweet, but heck, my pancreas can take it, and it is definitely the best doughnut EVER, EVER.

And of course, a whole variety of them to choose from. Oh, the decisions we have to make in life.

See, another mark up in the scale of calories.

But God gave me a chance to redeem myself.
He sent me a person in the name of Clement who happens to be a classmate from university who amazingly comes from Manchester, who was there at the time I was and also who very happily owns a car.

So Mr. Clement brought us for a day of calorie burning and heart pounding fun in the form of Pleasure Beach in Blackpool.
30 pounds for unlimited rides and being the roller coaster lover I am, off I go!

We hopped onto Pepsi Max first.
The train goes up up up into the sky and spills over the other end; its force lifting you out of the chair and also increasing your adrenaline secretion by 600%. No shit.

And since I am from Scotland, and Scottish people being very proud, Pleasure Beach HAD to have the Scottish Irn Bru ride.
For the uninformed, Irn Bru is a Scottish energy drink that was created in Scotland. So got Pepsi Max, how can no Irn Bru!?!? Scotland GO!
Like an energy current itself, the Scottish ride only lasted a short - what, 5 seconds? But it was fast. Sharp. Scary. And of course, wholly Scottish.

Did I mention it was Scottish?

We then went onto the park's newest ride - : THE-
Oh crap, I have forgotten its name.

Wait let me Google.

Ok, come again... THE INFUSION!!!

Whirly, twirly tracks that spin and curve all around an unbelievably small amount of space, you see people being strapped in:-
and being sped along the tracks.

By the time you alight from the ride, your brain will be filled with mash and carrots, your eyes will see the world topsy turvy and the most important symptom of all, your ears will hurt like hell from the banging you get as you get thrown from left to right.

And then there is this ride called the Valhalla.
You see us in raincoats because you get wet. Very wet. And it doesn't help that the weather is cold too.
Cold AND wet.

I have always loved theme parks.
2 years ago, I went to the best theme park in the world ever.

DISNEY WORLD

Oh to be a princess and live in your own castle.

Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, my favourite princess

But Cinderella gets all the limelight.

Epcot Centre

In Pleasure Beach, the nicest buildings I can see are these:In Disney World, the ugliest buildings I can see are these.

Let's not even go into the nicer ones.

Woops. Too Late.

In Disney World, we can afford to sit silly rides like the Merry Go Round because it is just too darn cute not to.
I've forgotten what the 'adult' name of the Merry Go Round is so bear with me.

In Pleasure Beach, the merry go round is for KIDS.

I have met Mickey Mouse(and I know so have most of you, but mine is freaking authentic alright)
and also Snow White who looks alarmingly like the cartoon character.

The great lengths Disney goes through to get look alikes.

Don't think I quite made the cut. OMG my hair. That was 2 years ago ok, please forgive me.

Ok, I have to stop praising Disney World.
Sigh. All the American propaganda.

But Oh, I just CANNOT resist.
Yeah, I am childish. So what. You're just jealous.

Ok, going back to Manchester, which happens to be in the UK.

The last day was spent walking about the city and stumbling upon The Wheel of Manchester.

Sad to say only London gets the worldwide fame of having the London Eye. And every country tries to copy it, including Malaysia.
However, loads of UK cities have got a humongous ferris wheel of its own, except for of course Edinburgh. Which is the capital of Scotland. Once again, Not Glasgow you twats. But wait! We do have our own ferris wheel. Only during Christmas. See once again, Scotland has gotta be different.

All in all, I ate so much Chinese food, it should satisfy my craving for dimsum until I go home again in June.

But speaking of which, I am off to eat Chinese again this weekend.

Some things just don't change. And so be it.