Jonk in Great Britian!

Some photos

2007-07-06T18:47:00.000+01:00

Some photos I've worked on..
London Eye

Houses of Parliament & Big Ben

Friday | 22 June - Last day in the UK, at Beckenham, Kent

2007-06-22T10:45:00.000+01:00

So today's my last day in the UK. It's been 2 weeks gone by really fast, but very meaningfully as well.

Last night, I took Aunty Cynthia & Uncle Robert, Aunty Anne, and Andrew out for dinner. They decided on eating at the Friendly 8 Chinese restaturant, just a 10 minute walk away. The food was pretty good, but I was full from my late lunch so I only had a single a la carte dish. I insisted that I pay for the dinner, which they graciously accepted - very happy that we could share a meal together!

I walked back to Aunty Cynthia's house with Aunty Anne, and she showed me the old houses and the flowers that adorned their gardens. She let me smell the honeysuckle of a particular house. The skies were very beautiful that evening - it was still bright at 9pm, and about dusk.

I spent the night at Aunty Anne's place, which is a 10 minute jog from Aunty Cynthia's place. Aunty Anne is really very nice and friendly - she showed me the kitchen, where to find water/food/breakfast and told me to help myself.

She showed me the shower, and also showed me the bath tub (in a separate bathroom) "in case I felt like having a bath instead".
She let me check-in online and print out my boarding passes, and provided me with a map (hand drawn) to Aunty Cynthia's place by foot, and also scissors to cut up magazines which I wanted to bring back (alot of good photography which I hope to learn from).

She went to bed earlier than I did, while I spent about 1-2 hours repacking my bags and discarding useless stuff.

I woke up at 7am, thinking she'd be at work already. But hearing activity outside my room, I went out to see Aunty Anne having her coffee and breakfast. She told me that my coffee was by my bedside - that was so very nice of her to make me coffee and put it at my bedsite table for me! I sat at the sofa next to her, and dozed off.. much to her amusement.

She showed me where breakfast could be found, and how I could use the telephone. I told her I think I'd sleep in (I was really tired) and I'll call Aunty Cynthia that I'll be over for lunch instead of coming over for breakfast. She immediately made the call to Aunty Cynthia for me.

She went off to work after that, while I went back to bed. I woke up to finish my coffee and call British Airways (on a free line, not the PREMIUM RATE line, which Uncle Peter cleverly found out for me - he has these ways of finding out the cheapest way to go about doing things). I'm relieved, and more confident of bringing back ALL my things home without any additional charges.

I'm going to wash the dishes in the kitchen and write a thank you note to Aunty Anne, as well as present her with a bar of Thronton's chocolate.

My total expenditure so far is probably about £550.. Won't be spending any more today!

excess baggage - a way out?

2007-06-22T10:41:00.000+01:00

My Free Checked in Allowance

World Traveller and Euro Traveller – 1 Bag
Maximum dimensions per bag (H+W+L): 158cm (62in)
Maximum weight per bag: 23kg* (51lbs)

* Please note: we will continue to accept a piece of baggage weighing up to 32kg (70lbs) for travel completed by 30 September 2007.

So I may be able to check in my luggage, which weighs just under 30kg.

Alternatively,

"You may check in your free checked baggage plus one additional item of sporting equipment providing that it weighs no more than 32kg and does not exceed the dimensions: 2.5m x 1.00m x 0.8m (98cm in x 39 in x 31 in). "

So I can try checking in some of my stuff as sports equipment - the kites, the ball & mit sets, and also throw in some of the heavier stuff like postcards, etc. Should just meet the 23kg (for my first check in) and definitely less than 10kg for the additional bag.

Praying everything will work out..

EXCESS BAGGAGE ):

2007-06-21T23:38:00.000+01:00

Oh dear.. If you could, please pray..
- for a safe return flight.
- for my baggage NOT to be taxed, and if so, for a viable alternative to be easily made.
- for the families i've stayed with, that God may bless their households.

My check in luggage currently weighs 30kgs (thereabout), the heavy stuff being the jams, sweets, chocolate, enamel signboards (bought, not stolen), three ginormous kites and sports gear. i really cannot afford to chuck those! will be repacking tonight and reducing the weight as much as i can.

I'm currently staying with Aunty Anne, a friend of Aunty Cynthia. It's a 5-10 minute run from where Aunty Cynthia stays, so I'll be running over to have breakfast with them tomorrow.

Just checked in and I got myself an aisle seat, so I have easier access to the toilets and such.

See you back in Singapore.

Thursday | 21 June - Summer Solstice, the Longest day; Royal College of Surgeons

2007-06-21T17:06:00.000+01:00

Today's the longest day in summer, with 17 hours of daylight.

Visited the Royal College of Surgeons Museum with Jialun and Kaiping. It was a nice visit, and quite an eye opener into the development of the practice of Medicine, and surgery specifically. I was surprised by how far back surgeries and medical procedures were employed in medical practice! It's really amazing how the surgeon and anatomist John Hunter was so ahead of his time, and how ideologies and concepts he developed are still very relevant today. He clearly was ahead of his time.

Afterwhich, we had lunch at this pub, with a "2 for £7.49" offer. We had 4 meals between the 3 of us, sharing a Caesar's Chicken Salad - which was great. A filling meal for 5 quid each.

We split up after that - KP went to Madame Tussaud's while Jialun went to National Gallery; I went to Piacdilly Circus to purchase the rest of my kites from Lilywhites.

I went to buy espresso beans and had them ground for Uncle Peter, as well as bought chocolate milk and chocolate mousse from Marks & Spencer. The chocolate desserts are really good. I got back just before 5pm, with two hours to pack now.

Have to pack very quickly now, because I have to leave Sydenham HIll for Beckenham where I'm staying tonight. I'll be meeting Aunty Cynthia, Uncle Robert, Aunty Anne and Andrew for dinner (which I will treat them to).

I fly off tomorrow at 9pm (4am Singapore time) and arrive in Singapore at 5.15pm (Singapore time). My flight's BA0011.

See you guys soon. Will update the rest of the photos and trip when I get back.

Love.

Tuesday | 19 June - Windsor Castle, Great Windsor Park, The Long Walk, Phantom of the Opera

2007-06-19T23:45:00.000+01:00

The group that went to Windsor.

Windsor was great. Went to Waterloo to meet Milton at 9.45am, and Shawn and JIA LUN came along. Joel joined us later.
We got tickets cheap - a 2 for 2 offer, so we paid half price at £3.90 each for the return journey. The 50 minute trip there was passed by playing cards - Bridge, Dai Dee and Egyptian Rat Race (which I keep winning).

Today happened to be the Royal Ascot Races, held at Ascot which is a short drive from Windsor itself. The Queen was in attendance, and she was probably at Windsor Castle at her royal apartment.

Upon arriving at Windsor, I got maps and we went to Windsor Castle. £6.50 entry, and we were in to explore the place. Really big and beautiful and there were many intersting things inside - Queen Mary's Doll House collection, the Royal Art Collection (featuring works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo and more), the Royal China Collection (porcelain tableware), Armour and weapons, the St. George's Cathedral, and the castle environs.

Afterwhich, we went to grab some lunch at a cafe (I had a stuffed potato with tuna and corn, and an ice cream) and clever me went to buy two 2l of drinks for £2.60!! This shop had a one for one offer (: Pretty good deal, considering a 500ml bottle of coke at the cafe cost £1.30 (:

Then we went to the Great Windor Park. Gosh, it was so beautiful and massive - the Long Walk is so simple with the boulevard of trees gracing each side of the road path, and that was beauty in itself. The 3 mile road leads to Windsor Castle. The group of us sat under a tree and ate our lunch while we talked. After lunch, we passed the time playing cards and enjoying the lovely breeze and summer weather, while Jialun made sketches for his sweetheart. I'm kidding, but Jialun was drawing whatever he saw. Very remarkable interest and means of expression, and I really admire Jialun's drawing ability.

Then the moment we'd all been waiting for - PHOTO SHOOT! Took lots of scenic shots of the Long Walk, Windsor Castle, and also us with the lovely scenery. We took cool shots as well - I enjoyed it!

After the Great Park, we made our way back to the train station, with 30 minutes to spare so we walked around Eton for a very short while - not enough time to visit Eton College though. Well it was good enough fun, and we went back from Windsor via the train to Waterloo, grabbing dinner at McDonalds' before catching the Tube to our various locations for musicals. JIalun and Shawn went to watch the Lion King while Joel and myself went to catch Phantom of the Opera with Bird, Yanling, John and Milton.

Phantom was quite an awesome musical. The set was great - very elaborate and well designed and thought of. The thing that kinda grew stale after a while was the constant use and re-use of the same tunes, with lyrics changed accordingly with the situations and dialogue. Nonetheless, the strong melodies and themes held true - song like Music of the Night and That's All I ask of You were really well sung. The performers weren't bad, singing and dancing well. And there was much use of pyrotechnics and explosives - flames and firecrackers were used for effects, the phantom would escape using a small thunderflash and a shroud of smoke. The smoke machine was very cleverly employed for the water scenes (:

it was training on the outside when it ended. So we waited outside for the rain to simmer, while we took some photos of ourselves. Then we headed home via tube, along our own separate routes.

I found myself at Green Park at 10.45pm, with a train that would depart from Victoria at 10.52pm (though it actually departs at 10.50pm). So with great determination, and really couting every second, I hopped onto the Victoria line train, alighted as soon as it arrived, ran and cut through the crowd like a meandering stream, dashed up the escalaor, tapped out of the gantry and ran up the stairs into the Victoria station, made a quick check on the Departure boards to confirm my train's platform, dashed through the gantries and boarded the first carriage of the Orpington line train as soon as I saw it..

Ten seconds later, the doors closed and the train departed. Thank goodness - it would have been a 30 minute wait for the next train just because of that 10 seconds lapse.

I'm going to have a shower before hitting the sac. Going to update the photos asap (:

I'm meeting my friends at Westminister tmr, and then going to watch the Changing of Guards again. Then we'll see what there is to do before going for dinner at Edgware Road for dinner at night.

Monday | 18 June - Tower Bridge, Baker Street, Serendipity

2007-06-19T00:02:00.000+01:00

Woke up late - again ): 9.30am and I rolled out.
Quickly got ready, didn't shower (it's not needed here since it's not so humid) but fixed a quick breakfast and hung out my clothes to dry with just ONE MINUTE to rush to the train station to get the next train to Victoria.

I happened to hop into the carriage where the Ticket Inspectors were on - they checked my Oyster card which was obviously in service (:

Then from Victoria, I took the District and Circle line all the way to Tower Hill. Upon getting there, I got out - and it rained.
Was marooned there for almost an hour.

When it simmered down, I set off for Tower of London and Tower Bridge, in the gloomy weather. Long queues formed for tickets to Tower of London. Seemed very interesting, but I went into the Visitor Centre (free admission) to watch the video which showed a general overview of what's inside Tower of London and a very rough idea of it's history and significance - THERE! I've seen Tower of London. Took a few photographs, though I think the only nice photos of Tower of London would be taken from the inside, or from the air (by helicopter or from Tower Bridge).

While taking photos of Tower Bridge with my tripod, it began to pour! DRAT. So I dismounted my camera from the tripod, hid it under my sweater and ran for shelter. Decided to hide from the rain until it was clear that it would be sunny. So just as well - I had lunch while waiting. I had a £3 meal, which was a BUY ONE GET ONE FREE. So I ended up having 4 pieces of chicken and a lot of fries. Not bad by London standards.

The rain stopped and I carried on my way to see where I could take more photographs of Tower Bridge. it was about 12noon by then. i walked along the banks of the river thames, on Tower Bridge itself, and across to the opposite banks. Finally found a few good spots to take the photos with proper exposure. I went on my way, talking towards London Bridge and turning out to the main road where I could take the train from London Bridge Underground. I seem to be going by this place MANY MANY times.

I'd originally planned to go to South Kensington just to take photos of the flowers I had seen yesterday at Cat's place. And perhaps go to the museums. But the gloomy weather made me decide otherwise - I decided to go to BAKER STREET - home of Sherlock Holmes!

Took the tube to Baker Street, making only one transfer - I'm quite attuned to riding the tube now (:

At Baker Street, I realised there was more to see - Madam Tussauds Wax Museum, a Beatles Memorablia Shop and Museum, an Elvis Presley Memorablia Shop, and the famous 221B Baker Street Residence of Sherlock Holmes. Went into all those memorablia shops - very nice collectables and badges and such, and also a little Beatles Museum and Sherlock Holmes Museum! But I wouldn't part with my Sterling just for that! So the only two souvinirs I took home from there were - 1. the business card of the Sherlock Holmes Museum and 2. a mental note to remember to take a photo of Abbey Road, of Beatles Fame.

Leaving the place, I contemplated having an ice cream - STUPID JONK. It was then that i ran into these blokes:

Jia Lun, Shawn, John Hsu, Gillian and Huipei.

OH MY SON. what a small world. Serendipity strikes everywhere!

Gillian left, and the rest of us went to Canada Water to go back to Huipei's brother's rented apartment (he's a fourth-year medical student at King's) - they'd be staying there for a few days before they fly back home. The apartment is a really lovely place, and I quite liked the layout (albeit it was quite a messy living arrangement) and how cosy it was.

After a short rest, we took a bus to London Bridge (see - i'm there AGAIN) where we took a train to Tottenham Court Road (where they were to catch Les Miserables the musical). I got myself a Java Chip from Starbucks to indulge in ): £3.15!

On the way, the bunch of them went to get Krispy Kremes at the station before we took the tube to Tottenham Court Road. We had dinner at Wong Kei Chinese Restaurant at Chinatown. Food seemed quite decent, and portions large. However, we were in a smoking section ): And the waiter sounded MORTIFIED when I didn't make an order. He was like,

"NI BU CHI FAN?"

And I was like "BU CHI!"

HAHA. So we had a good time over dinner, eating and talking and drinking tea (i like) and toasting to our promotion.

Then they went to get their tickets and subsequently, meet up with another group - my OG, comprising Yan Ling, Xinrong, Bird, Milton, Kaiping and Thomas. Was great seeing them, and we talked a bit while waiting to go into the theatre.

The Group at the Theatre.

I went home for dinner. Aunty Amy cooked chicken rice, which was really lovely. We finished the whole platter, including veggies and I ate the leftover curry from last night's dinner. This was followed by ice cream, which Uncle Peter cleverly concocted some fudge made out of melted dark chocolate (from the microwave). It was good - and I'd better exercise alot when I get home!

I spent the rest of the evening planning a day trip tomorrow for us - considering going to Windsor OR Salisbury/Stonehenge OR BOTH. Both seems out of the question, it's way too rushed.

Adeline sent me a text to sell me Joel's here and is bored and gave me his London line. Will rope him in for tomorrow's outing.

Hope tomorrow goes fine. I reckon we'll go to Windsor!

Will update with photos asap!

The Week in Retrospect..

2007-06-18T00:04:00.000+01:00

Time to take stock of what I've done this week. It seems week well spent..
with the awesome company of good friends, and visiting great places.
Thanks alot Grace, and your mom, and Aunt and family. It's been great travelling with you!
And much thanks to Cat too - thanks for showing me around (:

Saturday
British Museum & Library tour with Cat
Royal Albert Hall
Italian Dinner with Cat
Kensington Gardens to watch rollerhockey (meeting this guy named Alex)

Sunday
Church service at Salvation Army, Penge Corps
Lunch with Aunty Cynthia and friends at home
Afternoon with Aunty Cynthia, Uncle Robert and Andrew
Dinner at Aunty Cynthia's house

Monday
Picadilly Circus with Grace to shop at Lily Whites
National Gallery with Grace and Jenny
Tea at Covent Garden
London Transport Museum
Travelled around (attempted to go Tower Bridge), went to Waterloo
London Eye
Video arcade!!

Tuesday
Tate Modern
Millenium Bridge
St. Paul's Cathedral, Evensong
Fame, the Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre

Wednesday
Cambridge, with Grace and family
Dinner at Chinatown

Thursday
Oxford University with Grace and Jishan
Eagle and Child Pub - where the Inklings met up
Punting
G&D Ice Cream
English Tea

Friday
Natural History Museum
Science Museum

Saturday
Bath City & Environs
Roman Baths
Royal Crescent
Thornton's Ice Cream and Chocolate

Sunday
Church with Cat at Holy Trinity Brompton
(which started the Alpha Course)
Lunch - Four Seasons Duck Rice at Bayswater
Science Museum Part II

Sunday | 17 June - Church, Equipment Failure, Four Seasons Restaurant, Science Museum, Lily White to buy kites..

2007-06-17T22:05:00.000+01:00

Went to church with Cat today. It was a very good service (worship was led by Tim Hughes) and the message today was very very apt and fitting, and ministered to me much. The pastor spoke well, and very down to earth - pragmatic with strong basis on the word - which I really enjoyed. If I were living in the UK, I'd probably go worship at that church.

The message today was "How to handle anger". Scripture reference was Matthew 5:21-26.

He made six main points, chiefly:
1. Consider the CAUSE
2. Press the PAUSE
3. Watch the WORDS
4. Master the MIND
5. Couting the COST
6. Pursue the PEACE

Very thought provoking, and I left feeling a sense of peace and desire to work on how I manage my emotions and respond to situations. How apt, considering it's father's day as well.

Have yet to call home, and tell my dad that I bought a 1:43 model of the Vauxhall Victor F Series, and to wish him happy fathers' day.

There were tons of beautiful flowers in full bloom on the road to church today. Changed to my macro lens to take some nice lovely photos of them. Then walking back out - we see a lovely classic Jaguar parked on the street, along with a nice BMW. So I make a lens change from my macro lens to a wider-angled lens.

And then when i switch on the camera - 'Err CF' displayed on the status panel.

Equipment fault - the CF just wouldn't work. And I didn't have another CF because it was lying back home with yesterday's photographs. I'm going to check the card to see if there are any photos which could be recovered.

Otherwise, today went on fine (aleit without photos). Went out for lunch with Cat to this Hong Kong restaurant called 'Four Seasons' and they served pretty good duck rice ("the best duck rice you'll ever eat," according to Cat). Was not bad - I had mixed meat while she had duck rice. Split the tab, and we each paid £8 for lunch - decent by UK standards.

Walked through Kensington Gardens while walking Cat back to her hall. Was a nice long walk, and we saw many kids and dogs running all over the place. Cat mentioned she'd have trouble keeping a pet, cos she has enough struggles feeding herself in UK - things really aren't cheap there!

Except for some things, like clothes during sales. Or Thornton's chocolates which we got from Bath yesterday.

After seeing Cat back, I went to the science museum to finish off where I'd left off. Was so amazed by the collection of model boats. They're so beautiful and intricately made, and I didn't have my camera to take photos ): The war ships and diving vessels really intrigued me - how they're so sophisticated and.. cool! Haha - i mean, everything's built for action. Weapons. Hatches. Gadgets. So exciting!

I saw the exhibit on the Spitfire planes, which Britain made throughout the Great War from 1936 all the way up till 1945. It's amazing how much spending the poured into the craft, as well as how many improvements they constantly made to it [There were 24 marks (revieions) of the craft].

It celebrated the human spirit of faith, perseverance, courage, comradeship, loyalty, unity, ingenuity, and great engineering design. From the great ambitions and clever design of RJ Mitchell (who sadly, died of cancer, living only long enough to see the prototype fly), to how Joe Smith carried on the project .. And how many women were recruited and TRAINED to work in production lines to build these crafts from scratch. It's just amazing how the country united in such dark times. There were many stories of pilots who were drafted from all over the world - New Zealand, Thailand, Jamaica, India, Scotland, Czech Republic, etc. Some of these men had escaped their countries (which had been occupied by enemy forces) to come and continue the fight from Britain as pilots. Some of these men were allies, and come from diverse backgrounds and even distant shores. I found this exhibit very enjoyable.

The museum closed at 6pm, and I went off to Lily Whites at Picadilly Circus to buy a kite and some games to play for picnics. Then I went to WHSmith to browse photography magazines - still deciding which one to buy, cos there are a few issues which deal with the same things - shooting and composing landscapes, portraiture and (most importantly) common photoshop techniques for photographers. That'd be very handy to me, with practically no Photoshop knowhow!

Saturday | 16 June - Bath City & The Great Expenditure..

2007-06-16T23:23:00.000+01:00

I was almost late for the bus to Bath City - I had missed the train (the first time!) and the next train would take me there JUST on time. I had some trouble finding the Victoria Coach station, but Boris and Cat were so nice in waiting for me and trying to direct me (unsuccessfully) over the phone.

Anyway we were on our way, just after 8am. Cat and I were tired, so we slept. Boris kept himself entertained with music. There was a jam on the M10 motoryway, so we took a detour and ended up arriving 30 minutes later than the expected 11.05am. It was a very long and tiring journey, at least for my bottom. It also rained along the way, and we feared it raining at Bath.

Upon arrival, it DID drizzle. So much for going to Bath, only to have a shower.

Anyway, Cat got a map and found out all the key places to visit. And we were on our way...

First stop, lunch. We had lunch at a church cafe, which was run by volunteers. The people there were generally warm and friendly, and I was quite blessed by the warmth of this old lady who helped us clear our plates. Had myself a salad, soup, and milkshake.

Then we went on our way to see the Roman baths. Quite an intersting development in time, the whole hot springs, bath and temple idea. The architecture is very clever, and well arranged. I'm somewhat disappointed though, that a commercial tourism group has overtaken the ruins of the bath, and made it into a properly arranged 'museum' of sorts. Makes it lose its 'ruined' and 'ancient' charm, although I do believe this way it allows for better maintenance and protection of historic artefacts from thieves (and idiots). I'm very very in awe of the ingenuity of the human race.

The Roman Bath in Bath, England (Source: Wikipedia)

We took our time in there - at least I did. I took lots of photos, and had a look in every nook and cranny. Bath was a spa, a place of cleansing, a place of worship, a place of healing to the Romans who occupied Britain back in 43AD.

Moving on, we went to explore the city of Bath. Not that spectacular actually. We saw the Museum of Costumes - half closed for renovations, so half price! But never went beyond the reception. I joked that we paid half price, to see the models half naked. Hurhur.

There was a wedding going on in that same vicinity. I saw the wedding photographer and his Lowepro CompuTrekker bag. I think wedding photographers are really cool. All ready for action, and with the coolest gear around. I saw him set up - as I expected, he had with him TWO Canon EOS 1D bodies, flash units (both on stands and camera mounted) and a whole array of lenses (notably the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 USM L, which is so large and distinct in white) with their rear glasses UNCAPPED. The Pros don't really care much about dust and all - just getting the job done, and making as fast lens changes as possible. And here I am in Great (dusty) Britain with so much fuss over the dust that's been landing on my glass and camera body. Long way to go to be pro! Haha.

We saw a very awesome Royal Crescent - you could probably run end to end and cover 150 metres. It was arched, and a couple of stories high. Possible housing a few families/houses. But in any case, I'm sure it was a HORROR to clean. You'd probably need a PA system or mobile phones to call your kids for dinner. In front of that house was a ginormous piece of land with a lovely lawn - what a dream home!

The Royal Crescent in Bath, Somerset, England (Source: Wikipedia)

We roamed the town, and among other things that caught our attention, we went to look at Italian Ice Cream (with 30+ flavours of milkshake), an English Fudge Shop (I bought 99p chocolate to eat), a Candy Shop (with 300+ varieties of sweets), Sally Lunn's Bakery - the oldest house in Bath, a Car model shop (where I bought my dad's Vauxhall Victor) and HMW (where I bought 3 DVDs for £20/SGD61).

All in all, I think I spent the most today:

NATIONAL EXPRESS TICKET - £16/SGD48
LUNCH - £6.50/SGD19.50
ROMAN BATH ENTRY FEE - £10/SGD30
THORNTON'S CHOCOLATE - £10/SGD30 (which includes 15 CHOCOLATE PRALINE EGGS + 6 ALMOND BARS + 3 SCOOPS ICE CREAM - a good deal)
3 DVDs - £20/SGD60 (Shrek I and II box set, Ocean's 11 and 12 box set, Silent Hill - 5 movies)
MODEL CAR - £12/SGD36

TOTAL: £75/SGD224

Got to watch the budget for the next few days!

Daylight savings..

2007-06-16T06:30:00.001+01:00

I finally woke up this morning with my handphone alarm sounding (the vibrations on the bedhead rather than the actual noise), and having a shocked response to the light pouring into my room, as if i'd slept in till 9am.

Turns out that it was only 5.55am, and I'm still an hour early for my meeting with Cat and Boris at London Victoria at 7.30am.

Daylight savings. Scared the living daylights out of me, but sure saved me from missing my field trip to bath. And 16 quid wasted!

So much for gaffering..

2007-06-15T19:43:00.001+01:00

This Indian guy at Marks and Spencers walked by me and asked,

"Is that a Canon?"

referring to my camera.

So much for gaffering it up, to cover the brand names and the lens markings. He went on to ask me how much I got it for, and upon conversion I told him "300 quid".

"Wow! I'd give you that money now if I could.. Down here it'll cost me £500!"

Oh my son.

Friday | 15 June - a FOX in our gadren

2007-06-15T10:50:00.000+01:00

I just saw a fox in our garden!

Didn't have my camera by my side that time, so I'm waiting with my camera by the window now for it to reappear. I saw it appear twice, though I think it might have been two foxes.

Exciting.

Thursday | 14 June - Oxford University

2007-06-14T23:24:00.000+01:00

Today we set off for Oxford from London Victoria.
Grace was nice to help me renew my Oyster travelcard because it expired (I was stuck behind the stiles), and I hadn't renewed it. Cost me 33 quid!

Together, we took the Oxford Tube to Oxford today. The ride's about 1.5 hours, and takes us right to the city centre of Oxford University Town. Oxford is quite like Cambridge; Cambridge was incidentally founded by Oxford scholars. Though I found the architecture and heritage of Oxford far richer than Cambridge, Cambridge seemed livelier and more pretty to me.

Grace and I had lunch at the Eagle and Child, the pub where JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, and the Inklings met up to discuss their literary works.. (go Wiki 'inklings') Pretty amazing, to have sat and dined at the same premises as those great writers.

Jishan took us around. Was very nice of her. she showed us the various colleges, showed us her own, took us punting down the river, took us to have ice cream (really awesome) and english tea (scones, jam, cream and tea). All in all quite a good experience.

Got back before 10pm, and met up with Grace's mom before we went home.

Wednesday | 13 June - Cambridge

2007-06-14T00:27:00.001+01:00

Woke up at 8am today and met Grace and family at Beckenham Junction promptly at 9.45am, and made the 2-hour journey to Cambridge via the M11 Highway. Lovely views along the way. Cambridge was an interesting experience, seeing all the colleges, the town centre, and the river where they had the annual rowing competition.

Jenny is performing here with her band this week, as it's May Week - the week where they have all sorts of Balls, Formal Dinners, Parties, etc. as part of celebrations which mark the end of exams. Some of the undergraduates will be graduating in 2 weeks time.

We had a fish and chips lunch at one of the pubs there, and met up with Grace's mom's old friend Aunty Monica. Pretty good I must say. And I had the privilege of eating the peas and chips that Grace couldn't finish - (: . After lunch, we just walked and walked and walked around Cambridge. Didn't see much but the meadows alongside the river (where the rowing competition was held). Spent close to 3 hours walking to and fro, and finally got back to the car where we took another 2-hour drive back to London. Grace and I dozed off in the backseat, while her mom and friend enjoyed their conversation in the front.

Back in London, we went to Regent Park (slight drizzle there), before going to Chinatown for dinner. Had noodles at a small Chinese diner located within Chinatown, and it was pretty good (:

Aunty Monica dropped us off at Victoria, and we all got home. I'm gona hit the hay now. Only going to pack my camera and gear and upload photos tomorrow morning. Will proly leave at 9.30am to meet Grace and take the bus to Oxford (:

Saturday | 9 June - with Cat at the British Museum, Library, Royal Albert Hall, Imperial College, Hyde Park

2007-06-13T02:14:00.001+01:00

Will update with photos in time to come.. but here are some from last Saturday:

Joe, this little friend I met on the tube on the way to meet Cat.

"Hello," I asked.
"Hel-lo," the little one replied.
"How're you?"
"Aw-right," in his child-like timidity.

The Crowded Tube (I've been in worse)

British Museum, with Cat and the Christian Fellowship at Imperial College

Joel, dressed in a long sleeve shirt, led the tour.

Guess who I met at the British Museum? Alvin Soon and Shermyn!

The Legendary Royal Albert Hall

Prince Albert Memorial ("Uncle Al" as the locals call him)

My Britain Experience..

2007-06-13T00:39:00.000+01:00

has been quite a unique one!

I have..
- seen both the City and the suburbs (Sydenham Hill and Beckenham, Kent)
- seen a road rage fight
- seen a nude cyclist protest
- lived in a London City hostel
- visited King's and Imperial College
- visited the British Museum and Library
- fed a pigeons off my hand
- had 2 pigeons on my head
- been to two of the art museums
- been to two churches, attended a service at St. Paul's Cathedral
- played in a video arcade
- watched a musical
- seen a male drag artist in a pub

Areas I have been to..
- Tottenham Court Road
- Oxford Street
- Soho
- Covent Garden
- Chinatown
- Picadilly Circus
- Trafalgar Square
- Buckingham Palace - St. James Park
- Westminister - Parliament House, Westminister Abbey, London Eye
- Waterloo
- London Bridge - London Bridge, King's College, Tate Modern, Millenium Bridge
- South Kensington - Hyde Park, Royal Albert Hall, Imperial College
- Knightsbridge - Harrods
- Outskirts of Kent - Beckenham, Penge
- Sydenham Hill

Hope to travel outside London in the days to come! Cambridge tomorrow!

Tuesday | 12 June - Millenium Bridge, the Tate Modern, St. Paul's Cathedral, Oxford Street, Fame the Musical with Grace and folks.

2007-06-12T23:37:00.000+01:00

Woke up a little later today.. 9.30am. Had a shower and fixed myself some breakfast, and talked to cousin Andrew for a bit before setting off just before 1pm.

Had originally planned to go to South Kensington today to see the three museums (Science and Technology, Natural History, Victoria & Albert Museum), but figured I'd go someplace nearer Tottenham Court Road where the musical was. So I went to Tate Modern. Quite an interesting place - big, spacious, and filled with paintings, scultpures, installatiion art, and other displays in various galleries and exhibitions.

Though modern art often is beyond me, the grapic designs are just so appealling - the colours, the patterns, bold statements.. I guess there's some with 'meaning' and 'symbolism' or 'philosophy'.. But I believe all the same, they can be taken intuitively, or at face value, and still be as pleasurable and, if I may, artistic.

Spent the afternoon at the Tate. Covered all the free exhibits (they have a very good layout) and thereafter proceeded to visit the Millenium bridge. This footbridge conveniently connects me to the St. Paul's Cathedral which is on the opposite bank. Saw the Salvation Army international headquarters there as well.

The Cathedral is currently under renovation, so some parts were covered by canvas and scaffolding. The facade was fine, and i had some photographs taken. I was just in time for the St. Paul's Cathedral Evensong Service. They welcome people to join them in worship, so I went in to observe. They had an all-male choir, which was very good. Their voices angelic and full bodied as it resounded in the catheral dome, throughout the grand arches of the church. This was the same for the pipe organ, which itself was quite a sight to behold. I was truly quite amazed at the architecture.

Left at about 6pm, and made my way back to London Bridge, to catch the Northern line to Bank, where I could take the Central line to Tottenham Court Road. Along the way, I got myself a £1.99 seven-inch pizza. Doggy bagged it, and made off for the Underground. Reached Tottenham court road just 10 minutes to 7pm! So i sank my teeth into the pizza and took a walk down Oxford Street to find Andrew's book. Which I couldn't ): Grace called me and told me how to get to the theatre, so I started making my way down. Turned out to be quite a distant walk. But Grace was nice enough to wait for me outside the theatre with my ticket.

And so at last I got to Shaftesbury Theatre in time, with 5 minutes to spare. FAME The Musical proceeded with gusto and youthful vibe, with a very talented and energetic cast. The music was tight and well arranged, and the whole performance was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.

Ending close to 10pm, we took a walk back to Tottenham Court Road to take the Tube back to Victora to get our train back home. Along the way to Tottenham Court Road, I noticed a drag show inside a pub. And a policeman speaking to a street beggar. Alot of interesting things I've seen and done in London..

Monday | 11 June - the contrasting weather

2007-06-11T09:44:00.001+01:00

I'm uploading photos now, before I hop on the train just before 10am, where I will meet Grace Ong who is coming down from Beckenham. We'll be going down to Picadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square together.

The weather's quite cool now - about 12 degrees Celsius, and it's not very humid (my skin is drying up, have to constantly moisturise, though I don't do it very often), quite contrasting to Singapore weather..

Will update my past few days' happenings later tonight when I get back. Quite alot of photos I've taken, and I'm starting to feel a little depressed at the snapshot photos which lack alot of quality. But oh well, sometimes you take for the sake of taking to keepsake, especially since you're on holiday, and it's not so often that you get to go a thousand miles from home to see such things.

Saturday | 9 June - Beckenham, British Museum, British National Library & Royal Albert Hall

2007-06-09T23:01:00.000+01:00

Today was rather rushed. Left London bridge at 7am, just after helping Yujia with her luggage and sending her off in her cab. Managed to get to London Victoria in time for the 7.52am train (: which saw me back at 8.10am. I had woken up Aunty Amy and Uncle Peter prematurely - they were clearly not impressed. Aunty Cynthia came to fetch me at 9.40am, so I had about an hour plus to pack and freshen up.

Beckenham is a nice town. It's a little busier than the place at Sydenham Hill, with restaurants, pubs, and lots of shops. The walk from the Beckenham Junction Station is about 10 minutes wheras Sydenham Hill is just a matter of crossing the road. Aunty Cynthia stays in a very lovely and cosy flat on the first floor. Arriving at her place at 10.10am, I unpacked and settled down before leaving at 10.40am - in time to catch the next train at 10.54am!

The train was fast and I arrived at Victoria just after 11am, and was able to meet Catherine at Holborn at 11.30am, what was originally arranged.

It was really really good seeing Cat after so long! Her hair's much longer, and she's looking forward to getting a haircut back home! Apart from that, she looked great, and I trust her studies are doing just as fine. We went for lunch at the nearby Subway (£4.75 for my footlong with drink and chips) and then went to look for the British Museum, for a Tour conducted by one of her mates at Imperial.

Cat and me, at the British Museum

Will write more later as we all have to sleep here at home! Church tomorrow (:

Love to all!

UPDATE - Back from King's College, Off to Beckenham, Kent

2007-06-09T09:04:00.000+01:00

Bonjour!

I just got back from King's College at London Bridge after spending 2 nights there with Yujia (my friend from church). Got to see London Bridge, Millenium bridge, Shakespeare Globe Theatre, Tate Modern (will be going today).. and also Covent Garden and Chinatown at Leicester Square on Thursday. I left King's College at 7am, and managed to catch the 7.52am train at Victoria.. got back to Sydenham Hill at 8.10am!

I'm packing now to move off to Aunty Cynthia's house at Beckenham. Grace Ong (my schoolmate from ACJC, and now Medical School) is staying there with her aunt too, so I will probably go hang out with her. Will be staying at Aunty Cynthia's place until Sunday at least - have plans to lengthen my stay at Beckenham till Monday or Tuesday night, depending on Aunty Cynthia's plans.

Today, i'm going to Holborn to see the British Museum with Cat (my schoolmate at ACJC, now at Imperial), and probably have l lunch with her. Lynn (also from ACJC, now at University of Warwick at Coventry) and her sister will be joining us.

The British Museum

Thereafter, I'll probably roam London on my own (or with Lynn and sister). I have plans to see the Photographer's Network and the Tate Modern, and perhaps St Paul's Cathedral (across the River Thames from Tate Modern) if time permits..

Gotta run.. will update with photos from Beckenham.. Love to all at home.

jonk!

Thursday | 7 June - Covent Gardens with Yujia, Alicia and Grace, Dinner & Ice cream, King's College.

2007-06-07T23:49:00.000+01:00

Met Yujia more or less on time at 4.30pm at Covent Garden. With my backpack and CompuTrekker, I made my way to Victoria, made a transfer at Green Park, and then to Covent Garden. Thankfully, I got out of Covent Garden station without too much trouble.

At Covent Garden, I met Laura, this British girl doing some work for charity. She's 20 this year, and is on her way to Brixton to study music. She told me about Camden Town where it's quite big on the pubs and music scene. I walked around and watched the Buskers perform. The statue performers are very good at what they do, and their costumes are nice. I also saw a mime, and magician, as well as musicians.

The street magician

A street musician

After I met Yujia, we went walking around while waiting for Alicia and Grace. We went to the Disney shop because Yujia wanted to get a soft toy for her younger sister.

The Disney Shop

The Group of us.

When we all met up, we went to have cookies and hot chocolate at this popular cookie-ery - Ben's Cookies. Sitting down, we talked about old times and what we've all been doing.

After hot chocolate and much chat, we went on to meet Sarah Lim, who is studying in London as well. In the meantime, I took the liberty to take portraits in the streets.

The Many Faces of London

Shortly after, we parted ways as we all had our own dinner programmes. Yujia took me to have a Japanese dinner in Chinatown.. Which she treated me. I then insisted that I pay for dessert. So we had Haagen Dazs (:

Kintaro, the Japanese Restaurant

Ice cream was lovely. In fact, I've been eating so much ice cream since I'd come to London! We took the bus home from Covent Garden, back to Yujia's place at King's.

Yujia and me, on the way back to King's College

I was really tired by the time we got back, so I had a shower and went straight to bed (or rather, the floor). Yujia went to check on some stuff online, and joined her friend who was baking kueh lapis (wow!).

The floor was really quite comfortable after all! Had no trouble sleeping, and woke up feeling quite good (:

Thursday | 7 June - Buckingham Palace, Changing of the Guards

2007-06-07T23:47:00.000+01:00

Woke up early on 7 June to pack and go watch the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace.
Was there at 11am, and the parade started at 11.30am, with an elaborate show of bandsmen, horsemen, and soldiers.
And tons of tourists.
Afterwhich, I wandered around the parks and streets, exploring some art galleries and shops. When I got tired, I hopped onto the first bus I saw, which subsequently took me to Picadilly Circus, where I had my McDonalds' lunch!
Afterwhich, I grabbed some maps from the London Tourist Centre before finding my way back to London Victoria to get my train back home. I then packed to go meet Yujia and Covent Gardens.

Woke up to the lovely flowers.. Looks like lavender thought I cannot be sure.

A mother and child at Sydenham Hill station

Train to London Victoria arrives every 30 minutes.

Mind the gap.

Buckingham Palace Road, a 10 minute walk down leads you to Buckingham Palace.

Parks and sitting down to take it easy is a way of life in London.

Seen at a Restaurant along Buckingham Palace Road.

Police warning outside a building.

School excursion to Buckingham Palace. The place is crowded with tourists and locals alike, and children on excursions can be seen. They're both local as well as visiting school groups from Europe (eg. France).

A PETA activist protesting outside Buckingham Palace.

The Palace Guards

A closer look.. Looks torturous!

The Policemen get checked out by some tourists.

Cyclist cycling past Buckingham Palace.

The Many Children at Buckingham Palace..

A very crowded Buckingham Palace.

The Changing of the Guards

Band marches past..

The Ceremony

The Park next to Buckingham Palace

The Parks are big and the trees majestic.

Alot of people run and jog in London.

Pigeons are everywhere.

Working people in the park..

MY FIRST HOT SHOWER IN LONDON!

2007-06-07T06:09:00.000+01:00

okay. i normally take cold showers back home in Singapore.
now i had to take a HOT shower. not warm, but HOT!
my extremities were freezing - fingers and toes. and in the shower, they felt like pins and needles when the extreme cold and hot met.
anyway, it felt good feeling clean, brushing my teeth, and doing the paperwork if you know what i mean.
and calling home (:
don't think i'll be sleeping now. will go clean my lenses and plan what lenses i'm going to bring out today.
am definitely going to bring the telephoto, and maybe not the super-wide for the morning.
i'll be back at sydenham hill later to collect my stuff before going to Yujia's place at about 4pm, with all my barang barang.
looking forward to that!

Wednesday | 6 June - London City

2007-06-07T04:02:00.000+01:00

Jonk at the London Eye, 4pm on 6 June.

I finally got the thing to timestamp in London date and time.
I'm currently 7 hours behind you guys, ie it's 11am there but 4am here.

I had slept at 9pm and woken up because i had a runny nose. Gona go back to sleep soon.

Well anyway, this morning, Uncle Peter (whom I'm staying with) briefed me about his home - his wireless internet (which finally woked at night, because of some line problem), his VoIP phone, the SIM card he issued me, how to get around by bus and tube, the attractions I could visit, etc.

Went on to explore the neighbourhood. It's beautiful - will post more photos soon.

We had a simple lunch of toast, char siew bao, and cake. And Uncle Peter suggested I make full use of my travel card and go explore London. So I ran out of the house to catch the 2.02pm train (they come every 30 minutes).

Victoria, London

At Victoria, I walked out of the station - without a proper street map, and only the tube map and bus-attractions map.

I ditched the map for two reason - it was bulky and it made me look like a tourist. So I literally wandered London, keeping in mind the turns I made, so later on I could cross the street and back track, taking on a different view (:

Englishmen on the streets - there are MANY MANY parks in London, and people bother to go there just to sit down.

As it turned out, I walked very very far (about 3-4km, making numerous turns..
From Victoria, I went down Buckingham Palace Road, down to Buckingham Palace, along the way taking at look at the shops and Buckingham Palace Mews (museum) and alot of interesting stuff. I saw the Girl Guides Association of UK!

Finally, down a long road.. Buckingham Palace. Taking photos was hard because the sun was shining from behind the building and statues, causing terrible backlighting, and underexposure of the critical subjects, and overexposures of the nice blue skies. Have to come at different times of the day. Or at night. gah! Also, I was alone and felt very afraid of exposing my gear too much, or being confronted for taking blatant photos (alot of my people photos were shot from my belt level).

Buckingham Palace
The Queen Victoria Memoral in the circus in front of Buckingham palace.
The Queen Victoria Memoral from the front, with TERRIBLE backlighting.
Chilaxing by the Statues

Further down, the road, the streets were adorned by Union Jacks.

As I came to learn, today they commemorate D-day with an event called "Beating the Retreat" (in reference to the drums played when forces march in retreat from the war). That night, there would be a commemoration at the Horse Guards Parade just outside St James Park.

Admiralty Arch is next to the Horse Guards Parade. I walked through it and ended up at Trafalgar Square - National Gallery, Nelson's Column, and busy people..
Admiralty Arch
National Gallery

Along the way to the Admiralty Arch, I witnessed road rage! Two police cars came in promptly (they drove on the pavement!).
Road rage on the streets - the police came in promptly to accost them

From Trafalgar Square, I noticed - BIG BEN! A long way down Whitehall to Parliament Street. So I walked.. Along the way, I saw a protest outside a government building. Police were on standby..

Protest outside the MP's office.

Then at last, I was at Westminister - where Parliament House, Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, and the London eye are.

Westminister Underground
Big Ben
House of Parliament - One very massive building, with a nice gold sheen.
London Eye
Bridge Street

Next to the London Eye is an open area for Buskers. As it seems, all these buskers do (and do VERY VERY WELL) is pose as statues. Fancy that! There are enough statues in London already! Tomorrow, I'm going to put a hat in front of one such (REAL) statue and by lunch time, I'll have cash to eat fish and chips and buy souvinirs for all at home.

Statues.. I mean, Buskers.

As I mentioned earlier - things in London are big and vast, even the monuments and statues. And there are SO MANY STATUES - will take more photos when I explore London tomorrow.

Duke of York Column
Some building I saw. Towers over you, like you've shrunk by a quarter.

It's 5.30am now, and it's as bright as Singapore 7.30am, even 8am actually.
It was still as bright as Singapore 7pm at 9pm last night. (:
Daylight savings. haha.

Today is a new day. And I'm out to get it. I think I'll go take a shower and BRUSH MY TEETH. then nap about 20 minutes before having breakfast with Uncle Peter and Aunty Amy at 7am. Aunty Amy will leave the house before 8am to get to work on time. I might just follow her.

Tonight, I'll be staying at London Bridge, until Saturday when I'll be moving to Kent with Aunty Cynthia.

Carpe diem baby!

Photos from 6 June

2007-06-07T03:35:00.000+01:00

The many things I observed abut London..
1) Almost everyone reads the papers, especially while commuting.
2) The large number of office workers go to work dressed in suits (coat and tie, on top of business wear.
3) The tube/train stalls every now and then.
4) It's a very racially diverse place. On the tube to Victoria, I saw more Sikhs in turbans that I had seen in Singapore in the past week.
5) London is VERY crowded. Hard to take photos ):
6) Alot of people smoke.
7) There are alot of parks, and the folks ACTUALLY take time to sit down and relax - talk, read a book, chilax.
8) There are alot more pigeons around. They're also bigger and look more interesting than their Singaporean cousins.
9) Buildings here are SO MUCH BIGGER. And I dont mean absolute height or size (compared to Singapore, with limited land and height restrictions), but by sheer magnitude and grandeur - the buildings here are VERY grand, EXTENSIVE and VAST.
10) Cycling is a very efficient and common mode of transport.

On the British Airways BA016 flight..

On the Tube at Heathrow..

Victoria Train Station

at Sydenham Hill (National Rail).

My room

Behind the home is the woods, a nature reserve of sorts. Occasionally, you find foxes in our backyard. Would be quite a sight to behold (: Here are some photos from their garden. Will take a wide-angle shot of the neighbourhood later this morning.

Arrival in London

2007-06-07T03:09:00.000+01:00

Arrived in London Heathrow at 6am (2pm Singapore time, SGT)..
Cleard immigration by 6.15am, and waited a good 15 minutes before luggage started rolling out.
Went to take the Tube from Heathrow T4, and was out just before 7pm.
Got a weeklong travel card by Oyster (just ONE of the many travel companies) - £39 (SGD120).
Well, Heathrow to Hammersmith was about 40 minutes - that's where I made my transfer to the District line to take the tube to Victora, London where I would take the train to my aunt's place.
Arrived at Victora at 8.10am. The staff are generally quite helpful, albeit curt and impatient at times. But generally nice, and the greater part of them are genuinely friendly. My train to Sydenham Hill was to leave at 8.22am, and I managed to locate it and then I was off.
All along the way I didn't feel like taking out my SLR camera for fear that I might be identified as some Japanese tourist and get mugged. Besides, I had a bagpack and a suitcase with me.
Well, the journey to my Sydenham Hill was about 15 minutes, and upon getting there, I wasn't sure which exit to take.
This English Gentleman lent me his mobile to call my Uncle who gave me concise instructions as to how to get to his place.
And so I got there just before 9am, in one piece.
Not bad - three hours from the airport, 26 miles across London to Sydenham Hill.
Will keep you all updated.. (: