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!

London MERRY-go-round

Ever since moving to London, we have been gg ard, exploring diff parts of the city..i guess everyone or anyone who reads my blog will prob become very familiar with the city, even thou u mite nt live here.


We explored the west side this wkend:

1) Putney Bridge, Zone 2





It's quite a nice residential area with some local shops near the tube. However, if you move further down the lane/area, you will start to find more social housing with some warehouses & the stinky Thames River...

2) Sloane Square, Zone 1

We hopped on the tube and alighted at Sloane Square, an area we have never been, and to our surprise, there are plenty of high street stuff here. It's only after we have been to the area that we learnt, it's another of the very posh area!

We 'bumped' into their wkend farmers' market n got real excited as we see lotsa yummy foodies & goodies! heh.. ;9

Here's an African store selling salads that are very popular with the ladies..

We got ourselves an award-winning pie from Pie Minister. Not cheap - abt S$12-14 for a small pie & it doesnt taste as good as it looks too!

Thereafter, we popped into John Lewis and checked out the store - we saw sm sales staff dressed up as Harry Potter, selling the highly demanded books (newly launched) at a relatively low price?!? haa..

3) Islington, Zone 2

This is a residential area in the North - popular for the area where the Prime Minister lives. We walked ard the town area where there is a 'pasar malam'/Camden style market. Things were relatively cheaper but the quality is very similiar to those china/thai products. Not very worth buying.

4) Turham Green, Zone 2

We are back in the West again then next day on Sunday. This time we took the tube to Turham Green - a small town with plenty of amenities (seems like sthg that we will like!).

There is this 'bargain' bookstore where my hub got me a 'le cordon bleu' cookbook! *vvv happie* We also bought sm groceries fm the Marks & Spensers there before returning home to cook lunch.

We are not being racists, but in london, u can assess whether an area is safe by seeing the % of ang mos (esp families with children / elderly) living there plus of cos, the type of shops located there.

5) Warren Street, Zone 1

After our fried bee hoon lunch, we decided to chk out the area near my hub working place (as he only goes to & fro work everyday). This area like most CBD, is quite dead during the wkend..but u can ind many luxury household retail outlets like Heals & Habitat etc..

6) Green Park, Zone 1 - Royal Academy of Arts

We took a bus down to Green Park area and saw this interesting gallery with 'dinosaur' sculptures. Nice gallery with some free & rotating exhibits gg on.

7) Leicester Square, Zone 1 - Chinatown


We never miss this place every wkend - either for food or groceries. This week, we 'bumped' into the Harry Potter premier launch outside Leicester Sq. Too bad, its very crowded n we cant see a single thing or person!

If you are into movie stars etc, i tink living in london (or LA of cos) wud prob suit u best..i always read in the papers where they say who's where last night etc etc..i can share with u more or less the common hangouts of the stars - many dine frequently at The Ivy or Nobu, party at clubs in West End and most of them live either in the North (Kate Moss in St John's Wood) or West area (Madonna lives ard there) etc etc..We live in the West as well but somehow we never seem to make any effort to 'look out' for them - i guess we are just not very interested, or we may not even recognise some of them if we see them! ha.. 8 )

Tate Modern

Yeah, It's wkend again! We always look forward to wkend as it's time for us to explore the city again..





We went to Tate Modern to chk out its current exhibition on 'Global Cities & its sustainibility'. Hoping to find 'Spore' being part of the exhibit, we tried going around searching for it. Sadly, it was not there. Somehow, u will be surprised (we are!) that not many pple in the west know where is spore (some tink that its part of Mysia!), even though we always pride ourselves as a global city - 1st in air & sea etc.

The set up of the exhibition was very interesting - they convert the open space to a construction site where you can find railings and pranks everywhere.

Here i m, posing on the 2nd level of the make-shift exhibition 'site'..heh..

You can also find many interesting exhibits/models being displayed in representation of the density of the global cities like Shanghai, Tokyo, New York & London etc..

This is my fav picture - showing how 'densely populated' San Paulo' is in Brazil - i am amazed!!

I have to mention my favourite exhibit as well - artistic display of London city using very 'basic' materials!

Look at hw the shoes, rolls of threads, sweets etc are being used...

It's definitely more meaningful when u learn abt the rationale behind them eg. this is another of the Tate museum, using an old sugar factory as its venue n thus the display using sugar cubes (the current one is at a old power station - yes, St James's at Harbourfront copied this idea).

And i feel like eating this building! It's built with one of my fav childhood bourbon choc cream filling biscuits..yum yum ;9

After seeing the exhibit, we left Tate Modern for King's Cross station to find a chinese restaurant - chop chop, highly recommended by my frds..Think we found it but didnt try as the area around it looks kinda dangerous with many suspicious looking 'baddies'..so, we hop on a bus that came along and went to town..

V&A Surrealistic Weekend 07.07.07

Wow..wen did my hub become so mascular?!? Haa..YES, yr eyes are playing tricks on u - the left side of him is real while the right side was 'enlarged' by the distorted mirror! kekeke..

We went to Victoria & Albert (in short V&A) Musuem over the weekend - well-known as the world's greatest museum for art and design.

The current exhibition is on 'Surreal things' and many of the displays are extremely interesting..but well, life's fun so let's get creative with our usual daily stuff:

Look at this over-sized lip chair!

A live TV being part of the portraits & frames displayed..

Me with my super-star fish glasses..heh

And chk out this 'bookmark' camera and its unique function:

Multiple-image effects - prob what u see when u get drunk!

Also, i have got a new 'peacock' crown!

After exploring the museum, we got abit tired and went to its garden for some fresh air - so rare to get such nice weather! I miss the sunshine but not spore temperature!

We also found a huge snake 'eating' itself in the middle of the pond..

We then walked from South Kensington towards Knightsbridge. Here, we got ourselves into Harrods's foodhall where you can find all sorts of goodies - rem i promised to take picture of the interior? Not a very good take (n doesnt do justice to the actual hall) but i didnt want to look too touristy la..

Look at the spread of pastries & cakes..sorry hub, i cant resist it anymore!! I got myself a slice of strawberry cheesecake and gobbled down within mins..heh..

After filling our stomach, we continued our journey up towards Hyde Park Corner and here, we bumpped into an international event - le Tour de France. It was such a coincidence that the London route took place on that day when we were there..believe me, the crowd's crazy!




We caught a glimpse of the event and took a bus back home. I can't believe we went to so many places and see so many things within a day! Our weekends here will never be boring again.. 8 )