After getting our bearings straight, we headed to the Tube (MRT). We were studying the pricing on the ticketing machine when one of the station staff told us that we can buy the tickets at the counter too. As we were buying the tickets over the counter, the guy at the counter took one look at us and said, “are you both from Singapore?” How he know har? Is it that obvious?? Anyway, when the train arrived, both of us were surprised at how small the London Tube was!!
The ang mohs are all so big sized and yet their train is like those in an amusement park! Haha... As the train left the underground, I got my first glimpse of the outskirts of London. I can’t believe it! The houses are just like what I see on the television & movies! Somehow my mind floated to Jamie Oliver. Dunno why, I guess he represents the average guy in Britain to me, and people like him would stay in houses like that, well, at least before he got rich and famous.
Anyway, I did my homework and found out which station was nearest to our hotel, but I didn’t really know exactly how to go to the hotel from the station. So I was hoping that there would be some map of the area like that in Singapore MRTs. When we arrived at our stop, oops, no map! But thankfully there’s a sign just outside the station, pointing the direction to NOVOTEL, our hotel.
As we were walking, I can’t help but feeling surreal. I’m actually walking down the streets of London! How cool is that! The hotel was quite close to the tube, so I’m really pleased. But it was too early to check in, so we deposited our luggage and headed out to collect our London Pass as planned.
If you are ever going to London, I would highly recommend buying the London Pass, you pay one fee, and all your expenses for public transport as well as most tourist attractions are covered! The collection point was actually like a tourist information centre, which wasn’t opened yet, so we went to a nearby café for breakfast. I’m starving!
We ordered two breakfast sets, and then I saw that they have chicken soup, so I thought it would be great to have some warm soup on a cold morning, so I ordered a soup for us to share. I understood why the waitress gave me that “are-you-sure” look later when they served the food. Oh crap, the serving was HUGE!
And the soup, even though it was delicious, we couldn’t finish it. The soup itself was enough to fill a stomach! Not to mention the giant piece of bread that comes with it. Yummy! But I guess we have to be more careful of the portions when ordering food here.
After collecting the card, we saw a park opposite the road, so we walked over and took a stroll around there. Apparently the place is called St James Park and it was the most beautiful park that I have ever strolled in.
The bushes are trimmed to perfection, the morning air was cool and crisp and flowers were in bloom everywhere. There were also many cute animals around, all fat, beautiful and healthy, enjoying life.
Sigh, what a great way to be introduced to London! We walked pass the Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms and decided to go check it out. As it was covered under the London Pass, we didn’t have to pay a single cent. Shiok. It was amazing as that was the actual place where Winston Churchill and his men strategized and operated the 2nd World War, I mean; they actually lived in underground cabinets during the war! Cool...
When we came out, we realized that we were actually very near to Buckingham palace; it was actually just at the end of the St James Park! No wonder the park is so beautiful… We followed the crowd and strolled towards the palace. I wasn’t in a hurry as I knew that they only have the change in guard ceremony during the summer and winter. It’s Spring now, so we’ll only be able to see the outside of the palace.
Eww, we walked pass a huge pile of horse poo poo! And a few meters more we found the owner of the poops. Two towering horses! They were actually policemen patrolling on horses, but the pair was attracting just as much tourist attraction! I love horses, so I can’t resist giving them a pat on the forehead while the policeman (policewoman) was distracted by other tourists. Hehe…
They are so lovely. I want one can? When they finally moved off we continue walking towards the palace. They have such beautiful flowerbeds, it looked almost fake. Maybe it’s the cool weather.
Suddenly there was a slight commotion, some police cars cleared the roads and we were greeted with a big group of The Queen’s Life Guards!!! They reminded me of the elves in Lord of the rings as they strolled down the lane in their shiny armor, the pointy helmet with the red bushy tails, all cool and suave, mounted on their magnificent black horses.
After the initial wah~ I was gripped with a sense of panic. Wait, they are going to do a change of guards now? But we’re so far away! I thought there was no change of guard during this time of the year?? Not waiting to miss the chance, we sprinted down to the gates of the palace and fought to find a good spot to shoot the ceremony. But after 10mins, it turns out that I was right. There was no changing of the guards. Chey… So we just took some nice pictures of the place and moved on.
Yeah I was at Buckingham Palace! Next time I’ll come back during Summer, which is the only time of the year where you can tour the inside of the Palace. The guard’s museum was just nearby; we dropped by and even got to check out a shop there that sells toy soldiers!
The whole shop was filled with miniature war scene, I was tempted to buy some, but it was a little expensive and only good for collecting dust at home, so I gave it a miss. By then it was around lunchtime and people were everywhere at the park, kids playing at the playground, people picnicking on the grass, enjoying the sun. The breakfast was so heavy that we were nowhere near to being hungry, so we headed back to check into our hotel.
There was a supermarket just outside the station, so we bought a huge bottle of mineral water, a Pecan & maple croissant and a chocolate croissant to eat while walking back. Wah! The Pecan croissant was delicious! Why didn’t anybody think of putting pecan in croissant before? YUM.
Back at the hotel, we were feeling so relaxed and comfortable after a nice hot shower that we decided to take a little nap before heading out again. It was around 4 plus in the afternoon, so we could take an hour’s nap and head out for dinner after that. Before we know it, we were snoring. I guess the tough flight and the jet lack was affecting us more than we expected.
Later I was awoken by teenagers screaming and laughing at the next room and was feeling a little irritated by the disruption. Suddenly I was jolted out of my drowsiness. The sky outside was completely dark! What time is it? I checked my clock and it read 9.15pm. Oh shit! I woke Cobby up and he was equally shocked. But since it was too late to go out, we laughed and decided to just continue sleeping.
It wasn’t easy; I woke up again at around 2am. By then I’ve already slept 10 hours and I’m hungry, awake and feeling a little helpless. I wished I’ve brought instant noodles with me! But bo bian, so I made myself sleep again. Thankfully the bed was very comfortable, so the next time I woke up, it was about 7am. Yeah finally!
Both of us are fully recharged and ready! Can’t wait to see London today!
(To be continued…)
1 comment:
Fantastic.... London is a beautiful place & London Pass is the right option to visit it.
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