London Trip (14-16 July 2006)

First of all, congratulations to my good friend Kelvin Teo upon his graduation from the London School of Economics! It's the end of academia, time to start work and slog it out! Haha!

So upon his kind invitation (with a little bit of self-invitation as well), I bought an easyJet ticket to London-Stansted. Despite being a budget airline, the plane was very new and clean (Airbus A319) and the crew were very friendly people. Recommended airline, as Hui Min also said!

Had to make poor KT come out to Stansted to get me because I had no clue where to go, and it was getting late (I touched down at around 2245, London time, got out at 2300). By the time we got off the Airport bus at Victoria station, the Tube was closed. No good! First time having a ride a London cab IN London... I know my wallet wouldn't like it but KT rushed to pay and didn't accept my share.

Went to his place to wash up, spent the night and early next morning, his mum (who went over for his graduation) kindly prepared breakfast for everyone. We headed out quite late after waiting for his sis (also there for his grad) and our first stop at sightseeing was Waterloo Station:


The station of the famous Channel train, the Eurostar




Quite a big station, almost comparable to München Hauptbahnhof

Just happened that KT's mum and sis wanted to change their tickets for their trip to Paris, so we just stopped by for a while. Then back on to the Tube and let the real sightseeing begin. First stop, Trafalgar Square:


Welcome to Trafalgar Square, dedicated to the famous Battle of Trafalgar where Lord Horatio Nelson defeated the French fleet in a decisive victory, securing him a place as the most famous British Naval hero








This is Nelson's Column, a monument dedicated to Admiral Nelson who didn't return from the Battle of Trafalgar, despite leading his fleet to victory. It was built in 1840-1843 to commemorate Nelson's death, although it is currently under refurbishment

Then walking down towards the River Thames, you can see the most famous sight of London:


Too far?


Closer...


Or maybe a reverse view?

The Big Ben is actually the name of the bell inside the clock tower, but turned out to be a matter of convenience to call the whole thing "Big Ben". The clock is known for being very accurate, able to strike the first blow for each hour within an accuracy of 1 second. The tower was only fully completed in 1858, although the mechanism of the clock was finished 4 years earlier.

And opposite the Big Ben is another famous sight:


The London Eye


A view of the River Thames (not very clean though)


The London Aquarium


Then back to the Tube to head for Madame Tussauds, time for phototaking with the who's who!


Outside the building


The London Planaterium


A 90min queue just to get to the ticket counter


There's Morgan Freeman...


The Rock as his character in "Be Cool"


Taking a picture with Captain Picard


The boys from "Pulp Fiction", John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson


A special exhibition, Captain Jack Sparrow from "Pirates 2"


Whoopi Goldberg


Indiana Jones


Arh-nuld


Sean Connery


Pierce Brosnan as "Bond... James Bond"


John Wayne


Charlie Chaplin


Arafat and Saddam


The other side of the spectrum, Tony Blair and George W Bush


Winston Churchill


JFK


Abe Lincoln


The Royal Family


Nelson Mandela


Gandhi


Pele


Even idiotic kids get a place here


Michael Owen


The England captain who's a better spokesperson than a soccer player... and a captain, for that matter


And what will the players be without their coach?


So you need the Pope to cleanse them of their sins, especially idiocy


Martin Luther "I have a dream" King


Princess Diana


Uncle Albert


Fidel Castro

And many others! Just that it got a little tiring taking everything, and that was about it for the famous figures. The rest of the journey was more like a theme park with rides and scares.

After that, just in time for a slow trip to Bayswater and a walk around before we headed for dinner at the famous Four Seasons Restaurant, KT's strong recommendation. Roast Duck Specialists, they call themselves.


It's very near the Bayswater Tube station


The duck is very good, better than many Singaporean restaurants, I'd recommend this too!

So that was it for the day. Didn't have much of an opportunity to take night shots because the stupid Tube closes early and the sun's setting so late. Back home to rest and chat for a while before bed.

Early next morning was a breakfast of the original Münchener Weisswurst that I brought along as a present. Had no idea what to get, besides, with the money he's going to earn, KT can easily buy anything himself. So I decided to get something that's not easily available in London.

We woke up early because we wanted to catch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, but his mum and sis didn't join us, so we went ourselves. Still can't believe it was only KT's second time after spending 3 years in London!


I finally managed to take a picture of what I call the "shit-cleaner", the vehicle that goes around cleaning the road after the horses have gone by!


Approaching the palace




It's summer!


This is the Queen Victoria Memorial






You get an idea of the crowd, yah?


































The changing of the guard, it was not as exciting as I thought, and I even thought the Prague one was nicer because it was more militaristic. This one had the band playing "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "The Phantom of the Opera"!!! I was expecting something along the lines of "God Save The Queen"!!! And it was ridiculously long, 30-45 minutes. Pity the poor guys who have to wear such a thick uniform under the sweltering summer heat.

So off we were to the next government building that's not very far off, but on the way, another interesting government building:




New Scotland Yard, home of the Metropolican Police


And we just so happened to pass by Westminster Abbey








For once, I don't have to translate the inscription for you


Further on, don't ask me why there's a statue of an American president here


Walking past Big Ben again


The World War I Memorial, similar to the one in Singapore


Old buildings


To this... the famous street, the place where every PM has been compelled to move in


Couldn't go in to say hi to Tony


The Cabinet Offices


The Horse Guard

And down the Tube to Leicester Square, where we met up with KT's mum and sis for a dim sum lunch.


There, welcome to Chinatown!

So after that fantastic dim sum lunch, KT brought me to walk around Leicester Square a little.





Then headed on to the nearby Covent Garden






Where we enjoyed good ice cream from Thorntons

As a last stop, we headed over to Tower Hill for some last-minute sightseeing. I've been into the Tower of London before, so it's a little "been there, done that" kind of feeling. No point going in again, especially when it's so expensive (16 pounds).








The Tower of London, a UNESCO World Heritage Site


And the famous beefeaters

Then just not far off is the River Thames, where the HMS Belfast is docked, currently a museum ship.






The HMS Belfast, Edinburgh-Class Light Cruiser of the Royal Navy

On the other side is something even more interesting:


The Tower Bridge

Contrary to what you've seen or heard, this is NOT London Bridge! This is THE BRIDGE on the postcards.


A closer shot


Time to block the photo


The Union Jack and the English flag on top


See that lousy piece of metal there? Yes, that metal thing across the river? Now THAT'S London Bridge

So the song does make sense, even if London Bridge falls down, it won't be as much a pity as if Tower Bridge falls down!


A stop at All-Hallows Church nearby

And that's it for London! Too bad I only had a weekend, and I missed the graduation ceremony too. Thanks alot to KT and his family for being such wonderful hosts, or my 100 pounds wouldn't have survived me at all! Glad to be able to taste the most delicious and authentic Chinese food on this part of the world. All the best in your new job at Deutsche Bank and hope to meet up soon!

Photobucket: London Trip