(tbc)

How do you even begin to miss someone?

I don't know how.

I just can't believe anyone will actually miss me, you know? 

London

(26/08/15, Covent Garden, London)

London is merciless.

I would never have expected myself to stay in a city outside of Paris for more than 4 days, but here I am in London for going a week. London, is merciless in a few ways. Let me walk you through the first one: weather. The rain comes on and off when you least expect it. I just braved through periodic rainfalls before getting to this cafe, where I could finally enjoy the warmth of a nice cuppa flat white and flourless chocolate cake.

It isn't a shocker to me though. I have always heard that London is a gloomy city. In most photos I saw online, Big Ben is always standing solemnly in the dark grey background. As I was cruising through the streets, it didn't really hit me till I tried to take a photo of Uncle Ben myself. My photos are all too dark. It frustrates me that even my newly bought Canon DSLR couldn't capture the beauty of the clock tower in a 2D frame. Oh well, largely because I'm not yet familiar with the settings too hahaha.

This was taken on my very first day in London. Even if I try to retouch the picture, the sky remains dull. Or you can call it mysterious - like the setting of a Sherlock Holmes movie; depending on your perspective ;) It really isn't that spooky in real life. In fact, the glamour of London glows, albeit dimly. I was in awe with the intricate design of the Big Ben Clock. Just last night, I took a stroll along the River Thames after watching 1984 the play. The view was spectacular, and the intermittent chimes were most definitely haunting. Just imagine the bell chiming in the background music at the start of a thriller. Yep, this is it.  

If I ever save up enough for a good watch, I'm going to get the Big Ben-inspired design. Hopefully I would be as classy by then. For your knowledge, the official name of Big Ben is the Elizabeth Tower. It was named after Queen Elizabeth II in her Diamond Jubilee (60th Anniversary of accession) year. 'Ben' refers to Sir Benjamin Hall, the man who oversaw the installation of the Great Bell. 

(Cont. 29/08/15, in Paris Apartment) 

Big Ben, ever so glamorous 

Iconic Telephone booth ft. Big Ben the limelight stealer

Every Londoner, I believe, has a good set of windbreaker and umbrella. The Londoners around me just casually whipped out an umbrella when the rain came pouring! It is this easy to distinguish the locals and the foreign travellers. I embrace the rain a lot though. It made me exceptionally happy to skip and dance in the rain, with Calvin Harris's "Outside" playing in my ears~

Heh. Got this golden raincoat/high-class poncho/budget windbreaker at the V festival and it had served me well since! :p Lesson learnt: If you are lazy to carry an umbrella around, get a raincoat like mine! It really saves a lot of hassle!

When I want my pimples to be blurred, the blogger doesn't do so. You good.

Well, there are clear blue sky moments too! They just seem shorter when compared to sunny Singapore.

Churchill War Rooms, with London Eye at the back. (The picture is not slanted. The building is. Insist.)

Trafalgar Square.

Tower Hill Bridge. So this is iconic one, not London Bridge. Then why "London bridge is falling down~ falling down~"? So misleading. Haha my friends and I almost headed off to the wrong station aka London Bridge. A piece of advice guys. If you want to catch sight of this magnificent bridge, alight at "Tower Hill" station instead.

People simply couldn't resist taking off their clothes to sunbathe in such good weather! The man next to the lady in white shirt and pink pants looks like a nude model LOL. Btw check out the futuristic buildings in the background! Feels like a 2030 world.

Sea Gull at the River Thames. I swear blogger is comprising the quality of my photos!!! They are much clearer in my iPhoto!

Clear blue skies @ Seven Kings, where our first 4 days of apartment is at. 

Speaking of our apartment, we had a really unsettling experience.. .... ............. hahahaha. It is true! Our host has a really bad temper and she scared (and scarred) us pretty badly. We didn't have the entire apt to ourselves; just a private room with 4 dorm-style beds inside. Take a read at this review and have a good laugh. Haha it is closely accurate to our experience. 

"I felt like in a horror movie." LOLOL true story. Every dinner when we started talking about our stay, my friends would go bonkers and discuss about moving out and finding another place to stay ASAP.

It never happened. Hahahaha.  

What's next on the list? Cost of living. Of course. Great Britain Pound (GBP) is still the strongest currency in the world. This makes London one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in. I keep making the mistake of equating £1 with SGD$1 when I am shopping for food.. Like "hey omg! $1 for a bread!" when in actual fact, it is $2.20. Gosh.

Good thing there are still value-for-money supermarkets! Sainsbury's is one. Just google it and you can find it easily at almost every corner of the road. Do not go to places like WHSmith, The Convenience Shop, Tesco. They are giant mosquitoes.

The pastries in London are pretty mediocre too, so don't bother paying for  a £2.55 croissant! Save your tummy for Paris! Hahaha.

Red velvet cupcake from The Hummingbird Bakery.

Well, this is an exception :D It is even better than the PV cupcakes in Singapore! It could be due to the more favourable weather here in London, of course. The cafes in London offer different prices for food to stay and to go. Food "to stay" are more costly. I'm guessing it's because you're taking up their space and they have to clean after you. But hey! Don't customers make your store seem more popular and bring in more people???? We should be given commission for that. Hahahaha.

My luxurious traditional full English Breakfast with a cup of vanilla latte (IT'S SO GOOD I CAN FEEL IT MAKING A LITTLE DANCE IN MY MOUTH) @ Moi and Toi Cafe, Soho

The breakfast cost me £8.50. That's around the price of a big breakfast brunch in a high-end cafe in Singapore. Still cheaper than Wild Honey~ It is a really good marketing strategy to offer patrons a street-viewing table. I saw many passer-bys stealing glances at my food and walking into the cafe afterwards. See, get why am I fighting for commission? 

  
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Parks. Are mercilessly beautiful... They made me question "if Nature exists, why should Man do?" Man and Nature. Nature and Man. Why do we separate ourselves from the nature? Why do we emphasise on our unity.

Aren't we a part of them? Okay. This is something worth discussing in another day. Hahaha.

I present to you:

1) St. James Park 

I love this pic! A "queue" of ducks. Hahahaha.

Is Blogger trying to protect me from photo stealers..that's why blur my photos..

Just lazing around in the parks~ We need more accessible parks in Singapore! All these parks are located in the heartlands, and a few minutes walk away from the tube. I will elaborate on the transport in London later! :)

Was brought here on the first day by a "free" tour guide. The " " is because nothing is free in London. The public guides expect you to tip them at the end. It is customary. If you don't, you'll be shamed and scorned as cheapskates. Same thing applies to street gigs. 

2) South Kensington Park 

I'm so in love with this sight. Plentiful of birds just doing their own thang, poking at themselves LOL.  In some other country (up to your interpretation), they would have already been kidnapped home and slaughtered and probably sold in restaurants.

Doomsday

Erm.. I can explain. I love ducks. I really do. Ducks are friends, ducks are also food :D 

Four Seasons @ London's Chinatown

I have no idea what kind of ducks they used for this dish though. Mallard, I suppose. Hopefully not Grey Goose LOL. And yes was I delighted to taste Asian cuisine!! Speaking of which, if you really can't survive without rice, I recommend you this super duper delicious Japanese food franchise which you can find everywhere in London. 

WASABI SUSHI & BENTO!! It's legitly good! I would buy their food even in Singapore. They have sit-in and takeaway bentos & sushis depending on the location of outlet. 

Chicken Teriyaki Bento! This is my favourite selection :D I ate Wasabi for breakfast 3 out of 7 days in London hahahaha loser me. 

3) Hyde Park 

These duckies thought they were at Abbey Road. Hehe. The Beaktles.

It was raining cats and dogs when I arrived at Hyde Park. This was taken when the rain stopped momentarily.

I really love English parks. You see a lot of greens and birds around. They make you feel so close to nature, away from the hustle and bustle of cities. They give you the space to think about life and reflect upon yourself. Well, technically, you can do that everywhere but parks especially offer you the mood for doing so. 

THEATRES. PLAYS. MUSICALS!!!!! They are merciless because they make you wanna spend all your single cent on them!! TOO GOOD.

There are theatres everywhere offering you the best kinds of shows you can ever imagine! Someone told me before that I'm an easily excited person. Well, that's not true. I have come to the point when soon things will no longer faze me.. LOL. But you know, sometimes just when you thought you've seen enough things, something amazing will happen and take your breath away. 

1) The Curious Incident of the Dog at the Night-Time 

The first play I caught in London! 

Not sure if you guys have read that book before~ Do it give a read! I strongly recommend. If you have read Jodi Picoult's House Rules before, you would have known what Asperger Syndrome is. 

What I really like about the play is how the plot is presented to the audience from the protagonist's perspective. The main lead is the boy who's suspected of killing his neighbour's dog. I remember this particular narration: "I don't like people. People are so confusing. They like to tell you what to do but they give unclear instructions. For example, when they ask me to keep quiet, they don't tell me how long should I do it for. Secondly, people use metaphors. Metaphors are lies. It is when you describe something by using a word for something that it isn't. This means that the word "metaphor" is a metaphor."

Some of the quotes that I like:

“Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.” 

“Sometimes we get sad about things and we don't like to tell other people that we are sad about them. We like to keep it a secret. Or sometimes, we are sad but we really don't know why we are sad, so we say we aren't sad but we really are.” 

There are many more pertinent quotes you can find online! Best is still to read the book :D

2) 1984 

"Big Brother is watching you." Thoughtcrime. Thought Police. 

Ever heard of these phrases before? This play is an adaptation of George Orwell's "1984". I don't consider myself a well-read person (that's a shame), but I'm fortunate to have come across this book. As a political science student, I'm instinctively drawn to the plot. It's a story about a man (Winston), who was a member of the totalitarian ruling party. He sought to rebel against his own party and broke rules by having a secret affair with a fellow party member. He failed in the end. 

In the book/play, everyone around Winston appears to have been brainwashed utterly by the party. Nobody is allowed to have any negative thoughts about the party, because that would amount to a "thoughtcrime".

"War is Peace.

Freedom is Slavery. 

Ignorance is Strength."

What I like about the play is this part about confronting your fears and betraying someone you love. 

It says that everyone has this ultimate fear that would cause him/her to completely break down at the expense of anyone else. 

Please read the following excerpt:

"I betrayed you," she said baldly.

"I betrayed you," he said.

She gave him another quick look of dislike.

"Sometimes," she said, "they threaten you with something you can't stand up to, can't even think about. And then you say, ‘Don't do it to me, do it to somebody else, do it to So-and-so.’ And perhaps you might pretend, afterwards, that it was only a trick and that you just said it to make them stop and didn't really mean it. But that isn't true. At the time when it happens you do mean it. You think there's no other way of saving yourself, and you're quite ready to save yourself that way. You want it to happen to the other person. You don't give a damn what they suffer. All you care about is yourself."

"All you care about is yourself," he echoed.

"And after that, you don't feel the same towards the other person any longer."

"No," he said, "you don't feel the same."

It makes me think a lot about humans and love. Can love be truly unconditional? Perhaps in the face of torture, even the deepest of bonds can be broken. What is that one thing that you fear so badly that could force you to focus only on yourself and betray someone you deeply love?

If you aren't afraid of death, what is your nemesis?

You may not even know it yourself, till something forces it out of you.



3) Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

Hahaha after talking about such a dark topic, it's good to move on to a light, happy and dreamy one. Willy Wonka!!!!!!!

We'll begin with a spin
Traveling in a world of my creation
What we'll see will defy explanation

I love this song so much!! T_T Willy Wonka sang it to Charlie while they're moving up to the sky inside the glass elevator. They really did fly!!!!! The whole musical is very high tech. I witnessed Mike TV's mum pulling a screaming and jumping palm-sized Mike out of the TV! And Augustus being sucked up the tube :O Childhood dream to see the Oompa-Loompas coming to life came true T_T

What a magical moment. I was so agitated. Hahahaha there were so many kids around me I felt just like one of them. Speaking of which, there was like a real-life Augustus family sitting behind me LOL you know what I mean.

I felt so happy after watching the musical :') I really like that it inspires people to imagine and embrace a world full of possibilities. Our world is how we perceive it to be, yeah? The thoughts in our mind create our reality. I really really don't mind going back to London to watch more of such beautiful musicals~ HOPE FOR BUDGET AIRLINE PROMOS!


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London is indeed merciless.

It just makes you not want to leave.. :( Its streets, broad pathways, people, performances and views are ever so captivating.

The street gigs at Covent Garden are amazing! Some have real skills such as riding a unicycle or juggling knives, while others are just plain skilful at bullshitting. LOL. They talked for 30 minutes and then their finale was only 1minute ahaha. But all of them have a witty sense of humour.  

"If you give me 5 pounds, I say thank you. 10 pounds, you're an American. 20 pounds, I will go home with you." LOL. It's the way they say it that makes simple words so entertaining hahaha. 

Yup, street gigs are not as free as they seem. Like what I have mentioned earlier on, the performers expect you to tip them. Especially if you get the best front view. He/she will shame you if you walk away. Hahaha. £5 is the average~ £2/3 is fine as well. They do not appreciate receiving your loose change. Like come on, it is rather rude anyway. My advice is, if you really don't have the money to spare, do not walk away. Simply wait for all the kids to swarm around the performer and grab his/her attention before making a move. 

Speaking of kids, they are really super duper adorable. Kids remind adults of the sense of wonder they used to have for the world. "Mummy mummy mummy mummy!" This little girl chanted for her mother's attention when she saw the gooses moving behind the fence. I remember as a kid, I always had a lot of questions. I still have them now, but the difference is I don't wonder them out loud anymore. We keep to ourselves more, perhaps of the fear of rejection and more. 

The Curious Incident of the little girl in the Park 

Defensive little girl thought I'm trying to steal her food. Bleh.

Hahahaha. Look at her priceless expression! It's inevitable that we censor ourselves more as we grow older. We are always hiding behind a veil, regardless of our social status. The thickness varies from person to person. This is not necessarily bad. I mean, we all gotta protect ourselves right? I just hope that this does not strip us of our capacity for imagination. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory is such an apt musical :') 

I posted this on my Instagram but I believe it deserves a spot here too! 

Food is moderate but I did try this other famous stuff as followed:

The Whole Lobster @ Burgers & Lobsters 

We tried it at SOHO but you can easily find other outlets with your Google Map. Google Map is seriously the compass of our century. It makes traveling so much more convenient and hence, predictable. The latter may not sound like a good thing to most but well, at least it's safe. Haha. I didn't try Fish & Chips because a friend told me to never ever have it in London because all SUCK. LOL I didn't verify that statement, (un)fortunately. So it's up to you to decide the next time you're there :D 

Transport! I really like London Underground. That's what they call their metro/subway/MRT system over there. Haha. I like how they actually have a transport museum dedicated to educating people about it. 

The Underground Station I lived closest to when I was by myself 

A tube indeed.

Unlike SMRT, you have to press for the door to open. Haha the tube here doesn't open automatically. There was once my friend and I missed our stop because we just stood there stupidly waiting for magic to happen or something. Two idiots. Hahaha. Nobody actually gave a shit about telling us. The best part was.......I had my luggage with me. When we alighted at the next stop, we had to take the stairs up to go to the other side. LOL. FML hor. Nvm. Bicep game strong.

It's really convenient to travel around London with an Oyster Card. It is the Ez-link Card of London. Just have to pay for the card deposit and top it up with £5 or more to travel around :D 

Yup! That's how I got to my hostel from the airport :-) 

London is truly amazing. It could be because of the non-barrier of language, or simply because it is the first European city I have ever been to. Simple-minded. LOL. I really enjoyed walking on the streets and letting my thoughts ebb and flow in the process of doing so. Imagine listening to songs like "One Day" and "Unclear" by Kodaline while walking in a park on a gloomy day. Then rain came pouring down on you......LOL. It actually did happen. Hahahha suay max. 

I think that you can only consider yourself having traveled to this country only after you have gone deep into the heritage of it. Shopping for 1 or 2 days does not count. You have to experience it by taking a good long look at it and the people within it. Which is why I like the idea of flâneur. It is a french word for  "a man who saunters around observing society". I do that a lot a lot. It's really therapeutic, and you get to learn much more about the city than reading about it on websites. You get to hear the locals speak, to talk to them even, to discover your own favourite local cafe than to trust the Internet, to find out how things work in the city by failing at it first. You get to do and be so much so much more! :) 

With that, I shall conclude my post on London. It is taking way too long. Haha, am probably gonna start writing about Paris! A Bientot guys~