Bayswater/ Greenwich/ O2

After the lazy wkend last wk, we recharged ourselves and had a very eventful wkend this wk! We checked out a few interesting places:

1) Leicester Sq

ok, we went there for a haircut as we tot they mite be able to cut a hairstyle most similar to hm..esp wen we just wanted a 'trim'..unfortunately, it turned out to be a disaster and it almost spolit my entire wkend! I swore i will never go back to those salons there!! We went for dim sum lunch after that as my hub wanted to cheer me up (appreciated his tots but i was too upset with the bad hair cut)..well, can only console myself that it doesnt take long for my hair to grow back..sob sob..

We happened to witness a fire scene while we were at the Chinatown. Many pple were crowding ard and we also joined in the kay poh for awhile..heh..






Thereafter, we strolled to Leicester Sq and as we walked past this building, the bells rung and there were many little figurines moving along with the music..everyone stopped for a moment to appreciate it.

2) Bayswater

We decided to chk out Bayswater as the popular raost duck restaurant, 'Four Seasons', Singaporean restaurant 'Kiasu' and apparently, the biggest shopping mall in London are situated there. There are quite a lot of Asians living in this area.

The area is quite nice as there were alot of food outlets! yum yum..

However, we were kinda disappointed with the 'biggest' shopping mall in London as it isnt very big and there arent many pple shopping inside - lighting very poor as well! We went back shortly after that as it started to drizzle..

3) Greenwich Park/ Royal Observatory

Before i bring you to Greenwich, i thought i should show you how the Japan Centre looks like (managed to capture a shot on the double decker bus)!

Frankly, i didnt know that the Greenwich town we are heading to is the home of Prime Meridien untill my hub told me! I cant believe i acutally have the opportunity to visit so many places that i only get to hear about in Spore and i truly count myself lucky to be able to do so.

Abit of background on the place - Since 1884, the world has set its clocks according to the time of day on the Meridian of Greenwich, longitude - an imaginary line joining the North and South Poles through the dead centre of a specialised telescope installed at the Observatory in 1851. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich in London. It is now often used to refer to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when this is viewed as a time zone, although strictly UTC is an atomic time scale which only approximates GMT in the old sense.

We actually have to walk a short distance from Greenwich tube station and climb a mini hill (like bukit timah) to reach the top of the obseratory. It was kinda tiring for us as we havent been exercising for some time..heh..but the view fm the top is gorgeous!

Here it is!! The line where the west meet the east.

Yes, i am right in the middle of the 'earth'! Haa..

This is the green laser light inside the observatory that marks the middle of earth too!

Look at the huge collection of instruments used..

4) 02


Before we returned home, we popped by the famous 'O2' - a state-of-the-art concert arena. It also includes a music club, cinema, exhibition space, piazzas etc..

We used to have a very good impression of O2 as many of the popular concerts are held there. However, we were kinda disappointed after our visit. The location is really very ulu, the design wasnt fantastic (looks like some construction site to me) and there wasnt much to do inside as well (i mean when there is no concert gg on).

However, i must say that the management were quite good as they tried many ways to bring in crowd to the venue (esp during wkend). They created this indoor man-made beach for families to bring their kids to have fun and some high-tech 'para-para dance' set-up.

Other than my bad hair cut, i had a great wkend adventure this wk AND i am certainly looking forward to the world's biggest carnival - Nottinghill Carnival next wkend!! 8 )

Lazy Green Park/ Richmond

It's a very lazy wkend and we cant really decide where to go..

The Japan Centre at Picaddilly Circus has become one of our regular hangouts after we discovered the cheap and good sushi there..after stocking up some japanese instant noodles, we got ourselves a plate of yummy sushi for lunch. We had a hard time deciding where to eat it as we didnt want to stand along the walkway or the road. So, we took a short stroll down to Green Park, found a good spot and had a simple yet gd lunch there! ;9

Then on Sun, we were also unsure where we wud like to go so we took a bus from the bustop rite in front of our hse and went all da way to Richmond - doesnt seems far on the tube map but gosh, the bus journey took us almost an hr ++!

Despite the distance fm the city centre, Richmond town houses many of the high street brands and yes, it's one of those places where the rich stays.

We took a stroll down the streets and discover this French pastry shop! I cant help but drool outside the display window..they look so pretty and yummy!!

There wasnt much to do there so, we took a bus back after walking ard the town for abt 1-2 hrs..*tired*

Kensington Palace/ Tower Bridge-City Hall

Where shall we go this week? ; )





Wait! B4 i start on my wkend adventures, I must share this 'interesting' sight with you 1st! My hub 'caught' one couple sun-tanning on the dirty & smelly roof-top opp our kitchen window. You wun believe hw desparate these pple here are to get a tan, during summer. Then ard the same time, there happened to be another guy opp our room's window, who climbed out of his room window on the 2nd level and sat topless on the edge (just on top of the ground level shops)!

1) Kensington Palace/ Sepertine Gallery - 4 Aug

Following the recent commemoration of Princess Diana's 10 yr death anniversay, we decided to check out Kensington Palace (where she used to stay) this wkend.

Here's the grand entrance to the Palace.

The Field of Flowers: a temporary art installation in Kensington Palace gardens to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Diana, the Princess of Wales.

The installation of ten golden dandelion heads designed by artist Sofie Layton, echoes the thousands of flowers that mourners left in front of the palace gates ten years ago. The golden dandelions are 3.5 metres tall. Each of the heads has been individually gold-leafed by members of the public visiting the gardens. One completed dandelion has been erected in the gardens each week since 1 July and the final, tenth sculpture went up on 31 August, the date of the 10th anniversary.

After taking a walk around, we decided to explore the park and find the Serpentine Gallery.

Look at all the British scattered all over the park - sun bathing, reading, chatting, munching & playing!

We then passed by this lake full of swans and duckies, which reminded us of Dublin and the Portobello lake. My hub got cheeky and did a wild 'swan' chase! Heh..

After a long walk into the park, we finally found the Serpentine Gallery - one of London’s best-loved galleries for modern and contemporary art!

2) Tower Bridge/City Hall - The Scoop - 5 Aug


There was a free play gg on @ The Scoop near Tower Brigde/City Hall area in the evening and we decided to check it out after dinner.

We were late but still managed to catch the later half of the play.

After the play, we strolled along the South side of River Thames and was surprised to find some new arts installation next to the City Hall! They were guitars with covers designed by famous celebrities and all of them had very interesting designs.

Also, i must mention the 'slanted' City Hall building behind me - one of my fav. Designed by Norman Foster, City Hall is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London. Interestingly, The building has an unusual bulbous shape, intended to reduce its surface area and thus improve energy efficiency. Do check it out if you visit London!

My hub with another 'designer' guitar.

On the river, we also saw the HMS Belfast - a unique 20th century cruiser. HMS Belfast was the first ship to be saved for the nation since Nelson's HMS Victory (due to her historical importance) and is now a museum moored on the Thames between Tower and London Bridge.

Beautiful night view of River Thames

We kept walking and walking, till we saw this huge covered mall - cant really rem the name but it's very near the London Bridge/tube station. We took a walk around and then headed back home.

Buckingham Palace / Shakespeare Globe

1) Buckingham Palace - 22 July


I have always wanted to see the changing of guards ceremony, as it seems like the 'must-see' if you come to London. Apparently, there are a few venues where you can catch it and one of them is Buckingham Palace. I did some research and found that the ceremony takes place everyday during summer at 11am (note: it also depends on the weather).

My hub wasnt very keen in going initially but i dragged him there in the afternoon (though the ceremony was over).






Okie, this is Buckingham Palace - old colonial building with 'golden' gates!

There were plenty of tourists snapping pictures and trying to peer through the gates to get a 'closer' view of the palace. I got my hub to pose ouside the gates - as if he has been locked up. The irony is, the real people being 'locked' up are the royal family. It can be quite sad - i can't imagine spending my whole life in a locked building. Though you live in a big & grand palace, there is no freedom to do or go anywhere you wish.

This is one of the best pix we took so far after we relocate to London - one that has both of us with a nice backgroud in a great weather!

Fountain outside Buckingham Palace.

Found a good angle for photos!

There are 2 beautiful royal parks directly opp the Palace - Green Park & St James's Park.

Look at how well-aligned the trees are in the park!

The closest station to Buckingham Palace should be Green Park station but you can also walk from Victoria station.

We took the chance to explore the Victoria area while we were there and found this modern building - Victoria Carndinal. The building serves a number of purpose - residential, retail & office.

What caught our attention was the automated toilet - u put in money, the door opens, you go in, do your business and when you leave, the toilet, powered by technology, will be washed & cleaned thoroughly!

2) Shakespeare's Globe - 29 July

The hotel we stayed when we initially arrived, gave us an invitation form to visit the Shakespeare's Globe F.O.C.

Located along the Thame's River, Shakespeare's Globe is a unique international resource dedicated to the exploration of Shakespeare's work.

Here's the wooden replica of how the 'Globe' or theatre:

When we got there, we were slightly disappointed to be told that there was a play going on and we would be only allowed to go on the Rose Theatre (instead of the 'Globe') tour. After learning more about the Rose Theatre, we thought it might be a blessing in disguise as we would be visiting the space for which Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson wrote their greatest plays and in which Shakespeare learned his trade. If we wanted to view the Globe, we can easily get a pair of tickets to the plays (which we will prob do so next summer!).


We were first treated to a free & easy tour of the exhibition. Sad to say, this is the first disappointing attraction i have been in London. The set up was pretty artificial with a huge fake tree right in the middle of the exhibition ground and all the fake displays - very much like those attractions you find in Spore.

There was a free talk about plays gg on and people started to crowd around the centre stage.

A peek at one of the displays.

After about 15mins, we met our guide and she took us out to visit the Rose Theatre - the site where the 'real' playhouse (not the white re-built one along the river) was back then.

It might sound complicated but this was the earlier site of the Shakespeare's Globe before they move to the bankside.

The good thing about having a guide is that you learn more about the place and its history. The guide also showed us the area/ring where 'bear-fighting' similar to bull-fighting took place many years ago. In fact, the south side of London was not even part of the city back then. They used to do a lot of trading along the river Thames and my hub is sitting on one of the preserved Ferryman's seat built against the wall - now you know how small their bums used to be, to be able to fit into such a small space!

We ended the weekend with a bus ride down from town to Hammersmith. We took a short stroll around the area and went back shortly.

Weekend comes and goes so quickly here! Sometimes, I reallie wish time can slow down - i dont want to age so fast + i have got so many places yet to visit + so many things yet to achieve/do!