Saturday, June 17, 2006

Warwick Castle

This weekend has brought us to Warwick Castle. The castle is only a 12 minute drive from our town, and it has been our first time there.

The city Warwick is akin to Stratford-upon-Avon; ancient, peaceful, cultural, beautiful and extremely serene. So serene, infact, that it made me think what a nice place it'd be for (my) retirement. Away from the hustle and bustle of larger cities, with expertly landscaped gardens and parks and historic architecture, Warwick seemed the ideal place for us to unwind, especially after my extremely busy oncall week.


Arriving at the castle, we were surprised by the carpark which seemed to be located in the middle of a small forest. The "forest" turned out to be the castle's surrounding garden, decorated with beautiful summery flowers of many colours and gigantic trees which seemed to be as old as the castle itself. From the carpark to the castle was a journey itself, a 10 minute trek through the garden. Some visitors were even eating pack lunches and holding picnics outside the castle gates.

At the castle gates, we were shocked. Not only because the tour guides and staff were dressed in medieval clothes (pictured below), but especially seeing the entrance prices. Entry for an adult costs £16 and children £10. That would make the total cost for our small party a hefty £52. We were close to entering the castle grounds, but my mother sent a text saying that my parents would like to visit the castle too when they come and visit in just around 10 days time. So our visit to Warwick Castle is postponed.

Our sense of adventure undeterred, we headed for the town centre for lunch. We discovered a Japanese Restaurant called Shihan and made our minds to eat there. Our lunch was sushi, salmon teriyaki, and MS ordered a yakisoba. Overall, we were happy with Shihan's spacious and well planned interiors. The sushi was also delicious. I particularly like sampling different kinds of fish, not just regular tuna and salmon. Among today's were salmon roe and seabass. The picture I used for the blog's new banner was taken in Shihan.


However, they're also a few things we'd like to criticise about the restaurant. I think the teriyaki and especially the yakisoba were not particularly special (especially for the price). The yakisoba in Wagamama tastes multiple times better and is cheaper. Infact, I would say the yakisoba is probably even less delicious (or, at most, equal) to Tenkaichi in Cardiff, and the yakisoba in Tenkaichi is extremely good value. I was definitely disappointed with the main course. The service was also slow.

Even so, we had a great time in Warwick, especially visiting Warwick castle. Can't wait to go into the Castle grounds next time with my parents!

Notes
1. The ideal place where I would reside for my retirement should:
  • be quiet, peaceful and not a busy or industrial city.
  • however, be quite near a city, say, within at most 1 hour (for shopping;).
  • have a Japanese restaurant and shop
  • ideally be near the beach
  • have a HUGE library
  • or bookstore, like Borders
  • have a comfortable cafe, for me to spend evenings reading books
  • have a nice park and/or garden
hmm anything else?

2. Warwick is such an ancient city that even I was made to think of my retirement!

3. If you guys are wondering how come we're always eating out, even I am starting to think the same. Mental note for next month: save money!

4. Picture of MS is for all the readers who were curious to see her and for her long lost friends, especially Sherin. However, I intentionally chose a picture taken from great distance (and the size of the picture is really small, hehehe;)

5. Goodness, this blog is fast becoming a blog about food and travel isn't it? Well, I'm sorry to any readers who'd like to read about anything different. I am myself confused on what to write about in my blog. In the end I've decided to write about anything that holds my interest at the time of writing.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

You just described Kuantan for your retirement place.... Or perhaps Port Dickson... hmm

Anonymous said...

Jom Min, retire kat Kuantan.. ada UIA kalau ko nak lecture part time.. lepas tu ada kopitiam byk.. sekarang ni they are building an IT center in town. Also dekat tepi pantai... plus... kalau ada modal aku nak bina go kart track.. hahaha..

go kart track with Wi-Fi.. and F1 games..

dith said...

Mynn,

I am going to make sushi again today but I only know those conventional ones...

I am drooling looking at the spread in front of you!!!

Anonymous said...

dith
this time please take pictures of your sushi! would really like to see the results

OK
Kuantan eh? is that where you're planning to stay? i think it may be ideal. half way to KKL, near but not too near my parent's house, small town, and already lots of friends there ... infact entah2 i'll ask for work there balik msia nanti.

ayumi
it was the old town of Warwick that made me think of retirement, i think if you paid the place a visit even you would start thinking the same. oh thankssss for the song. it's practically playing on repeat on my PC at the moment. love the song.

Anonymous said...

funny, uncle de and i were just talking about retirement places (well, it was mainly me who was talking with uncle de just listening as usual!) kitorang gi round rhondda valleys hari tu masa trip pegi cardiff, and i am convinced now that if there was a place i wanted to retire to, it would be to the scenic welsh hills. so serene.. and cardiff pun tak jauh. plus, llantrisant ada borders and starbucks! :D

Anonymous said...

Nak menyampuk jugak, although I baru keje like 6 months (!!!).. ingat cam nak retire kat Kelantan ke... or Besut (I hear the gov is planning to have a think-tank/ knowledge bank over there)..

Anonymous said...

eh.. that was me! Silap taruk nama palsu..

pycnogenol said...

Mana-mana pun bagus...jangan retire kat 'old folks home' sudaaah.......

But seriously, I dont know, and have not decided where my retirement place would be. Kena cari dekat-dekat ngan rumah orang pandai buat sushi, kot?? Jangan suka garu-garu aje lah masa buat sushi tu!! ;)

Mama Sarah said...

auntie de bukan uncle de nak 'retire' dekat office lama dia ke? selamatlah kamu anak beranak...

Anonymous said...

hehehe

macamana topic kita boleh jadi pasal retirement this time eh? hehehe pycno, kena pindah dekat2 dengan rumah DITH lah lepas ni, diorang pandai buat sushi dengar2nya .... :)

Mama Pongkey said...

Marilah kita berkampung beramai2... boleh selalu buat makan2 together2, berjalan2 together2, as well as for you guys equidistant from your parents.. jom la jom la jom la
Dekat Kuantan byk projek rumah naik...

Anonymous said...

Very nice site! » »

Anonymous said...

Where did you find it? Interesting read » »