Okay, so I’m a little late with the photos from the snow from last Monday, however I thought I’d still post some for you guys to see. Miraculously, even though most of London shut down, I still managed to do my normal long commute including the tube, train and a taxi to get to Marlow.

So I didn’t get to spend the day building a snowman, or sledging but how weird it was to see the likes of my tube station covered in snow, and still managing to operate (even being above ground). The photo above is the snow falling on the benches. Below is a street I stopped in on the way to work, just to demonstrate how thick it had been falling. It’s one of the ones between Baker Street and Marylebone station.

Finally we have Marylebone Station covered in snow. Already one of the better stations both in terms of commuter-friendliness minus the crazy antics of Waterloo, Victoria or Paddington in the morning, it looked even more spectacular covered in snow.

Somehow Chiltern Rail still managed to provide a full service although some of the trains were about half an hour behind schedule. Still a cool day overall. It’s just a shame I couldn’t hang out with everyone else who got to play in the snow.

And snowing heaps in London! Yay!

I went along to the Shochu Lounge after the work pub and found it a nice little gem around Goodge Street. It’s located right next to Roka as it’s run by the same set of people. It’s dark, cosy yet they count the number of people going in (both at the top and bottom) to make sure it’s never crowded. When we arrived, most of the tables already had people though they do have plenty of places to sit down with a group.

The crowd was chic, and most people looked liked they had put on some effort to come out here. Unfortunately we sat next to a group of totally drunk Americans who ended up being excessively loud and attention seeking, being asked several times to stop standing up on the low couches. Fortunately the rest of the crowd was much cooler and relaxed.

Of course, their Shochu is definitely one of their “things to have” on the menu, including a decent selection of Shochu cocktails. On top of this, they reserve a number of tables for those people who want to have food, where you can order from its parent restaurant, Roka.

I’d definitely want to go back there again. I enjoyed the atmosphere minus the crammed-in-can-barely-breath nature most other popular London bars tend to have.

Attempted armed robbery just happened on Marlow high street today… Unfortunately (fortunately?), all we saw was the police questioning afterwards.

I’m surprised at how fast this week went considering it’s the first full week I’d been back at work. Monday I caught up with Toni, Luca and Mike at The Green. We had some nice tapas there and fantastic that it wasn’t so busy. I’m still commuting to Marlow, so stayed over a couple of nights before coming back.

Friday night headed to drinks at the work pub before checking out the Shochu Lounge. It’s a cool place to hang, nice atmosphere, nice looking people inside without being overly pretentious and mindfully kept at a certain capacity so you don’t have to sqeeuze in and out to breath.

Saturday ended up at Golden Dragon with Mike and Vanessa for dim sum, and then finished the weekend off with brunch with Gerrod and Kristy at the Electric Brasserie before walking home through Hyde Park.

We’ve had some wonderful weather and even though it’s been a little bit rainy, it’s still been quite nice overall.

With London cold enough for snow to fall instead of rain, it’s perfect conditions for it to host the first London Ice Sculpting Festival. Located just outside the National History Museum near South Kensington tube station, it’s easy to find located right next to the ice skating rink that sits outside.

Calling it a festival seems a little rich, but considering it takes these artisans a while to sculpt a particular block of ice, not to mention time to defrost, they several teams competing definitely need the time to put together their entries to the competition.

It’s fascinating to watch them at work, with either tiny picks, or chisels or when they pick up the mini chainsaw to carve away large chunks of ice. They even have their own assistants to sweep away the shavings so that the artists can focus on their creations.

It’s great to watch them in action and see some of their creations, particularly lit up at night time.