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

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..

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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..