london: day vi (03/20)

agenda:
¶ Tate Modern
¶ Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
¶ Millennium Bridge
¶ Borough Market
¶ London Bridge
¶ Shopping!
¶ Hogwarts Express at Platform 9¾
¶ Carnaby Street (dinner at Cha Cha Moon)
¶ Chinatown
¶ Covent Garden


See you at Hogwarts! :)



( last day )

That day, I went to the Tate Modern, which I liked better than the Britain. They had this really cool collection display called "Poetry and Dream" which I loved. They had de Chirico (one of my favorites), Magritte, Picasso, and a bunch of really beautiful stuff. It was a nice day, so I spent some time reading on the lawn outside the museum and walking around the Globe and the Millennium Bridge. I got to London Bridge, where they had Borough Market. I ate fish and chips for the first time this trip. :)

After lunch, I went shopping, but by this time, it was already late afternoon and I was falling asleep in the middle of Primark. Dinner was at Cha Cha Moon (same owners as Wagamama) on Carnaby Street. Since it was the last day, we had made plans to go to a bar or club, but after a long time walking around Covent Garden, we finally found a place that was more for the benefit of sitting down than anything else. By the time we got back, I had to do some major packing before the cab picked me up at 3am (I had a ridiculously early flight). Let's just say that I slept on the floor of the Heathrow check-in desk.

So ends my London updates! I decided to buy a Flickr pro account, though I still consider myself quite noob-ish at Flickr. Add me so I don't look like a loser there because I want to see all your pretty photos. :D

london: day v (03/19)

agenda:
¢ Big Ben (and the rest of the Palace of Westminster)
¢ Palace of Westminster (Parliament)
¢ Westminster Abbey
¢ London Eye
¢ Tate Britain
¢ Afternoon tea at Claridge's
¢ Evening play (La Cage Aux Folles)





( so touristy it hurts. )

If anything, this was my most "productive" day as a traveler in London. The morning was this madcap journey from Big Ben to Parliament to Westminster Abbey to the London Eye to the Tate Britain to the British Museum. And I did all of this before 2pm. (In New York, I sometimes wake up after 2pm, if that gives you any idea.) I'm still amazed that I was able to pull that off, and I only had a map with me, no specific timeframe (i.e. 8:00 -- Big Ben! 8:30 -- Westminster Abbey!).

I had my very first afternoon tea at Claridge's (sorry, no pictures -- I was so hungry that I didn't really have time to bust out the camera between sandwiches, scones, desserts, and cups of tea. You'll have to trust me on this one.), and I did not expect to get so bloated as a result. It's the good sort of bloat though -- the type you get after eating so much good food. They gave me a little tea box full of the Earl Grey that I had; it's too cute to open and I'm still looking for reasons to justify using such nice tea leaves. Still haven't found one yet, though one of these days, I might use the whole box just because. After that, I lugged my bloated self to the theatre to watch La Cage Aux Folles (definitely recommended!). By the time I got back, it was way past midnight aka sleepy time.

In other news, I got this email from LJ. As many of you LJ folk know, LiveJournal is turning 10 and they're publishing a 10th Anniversary Anthology. When I first heard, I was really excited to see how it would turn out, because I've stuck around LJ for most of its lifetime aka it has a special place in my heart and I'm attached. A few days ago, I got this email:

Hi there,

As you may have heard, LiveJournal is turning 10 next month—and one of the ways we’re celebrating is by publishing a beautiful anthology highlighting 100 memorable journals and communities from over the past decade.

kitsche is on our shortlist for possible inclusion in the book! If one of your entries makes the final cut, you’ll receive a $20 LJ gift certificate (that's a year's worth of Paid Account time or 2 years' worth of userpic add-ons)—not to mention that you’ll have one of your entries highlighted and preserved for all time in the LiveJournal 10th Anniversary Anthology.

[...]

Thanks for being such a valuable part of the LiveJournal community. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Many thanks,
The LiveJournal Editorial Staff

When I read that, I kind of fell over. No joke.

london surrey: day iv (03/18)

agenda:
⊗ Sleeping in! (Trust me -- after days of nonstop walking, this was much-needed.)
⊗ Walking around Virginia Water lake
⊗ Driving to Windsor
⊗ Train from Egham to London

Day IV was refreshingly low-key; I woke up at 1pm that day instead of the usual 8am. It was so nice to finally get some much needed sleep; the little naps that I had taken on the subway rides weren't exactly cutting it. Also, it was nice to be away from London-the-city, if only for a little bit.

My friend knew I was a huge Harry Potter fan, so she recommended that we go to Virginia Water, where they filmed the hippogriff scene in PoA and the second Triwizard task in Goblet of Fire. It's actually really beautiful in its own right! And they had swans and ducks. :)



( Virginia Water )

We then drove to Windsor, which has got to be the prettiest town that I've seen in a while. The whole town seems to be situated around the castle, because there are all these cute shops that surround it. After dinner and a bit of shopping (everything closed so early because it was still a weekday!), I took the train back to the city.

( Windsor! )

london: day iii (03/17)

agenda:
§ Museum of the day: National Gallery (AMAZING Picasso exhibit)
§ Walking around Mayfair
§ Lunch at Tamarind
§ Frolicking in St. James's Park
§ Buckingham Palace
§ Train to Royal Holloway at Egham (Surrey)


Rice pudding at Tamarind! So, so good. I can never get enough rice pudding; I love it way too much.



( Read more... )

I loved the National Gallery (but I didn't love how photography was prohibited). They had this amazing Picasso exhibit that chronicled his works thematically. One of the themes was about his tributes to the works of other artists, like Ingres and Manet. I really loved his interpretations of Le déjeuner sur l'herbe but they actually had his series of Velazquez's Las Meninas, which (by the way) is my faaaaaavorite painting. And by series, they displayed the WIPs for each interpretation that he did, so it was interesting to see what his "rough drafts" looked like. And this was just one of the exhibits! The rest of the museum was also superb; I spent hours there.

That night, we all went to Royal Holloway (my friend's school), because a friend of mine had her gospel concert, which was awesome. And since it was St. Paddy's, we all hung out and celebrated. We stayed in Egham (Surrey) for that night and the following day, so no London pictures for my next post! You'll see why though. :)

london: day ii (03/16)

agenda:
Φ Breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien
Φ V&A Museum (including the Stephen Jones HATS exhibit)
Φ Natural History Museum
Φ Lunch at Wagamama
Φ Window shopping at Harvey Nic's
Φ Window shopping at Harrod's
Φ Dinner at the Wolseley

My camera battery conveniently decided to die in the middle of all this. Shame, considering that the Natural History Museum and the V&A are the few museums that actually allow photos.


British food gets a bad rep, but I honestly can't pass up a good scone. With clotted cream. And preserves. I'm like, drooling while typing this up.


The V&A (Victoria & Albert Museum)! A great art/design place with a bunch of neat exhibits.

( london calls )

Random FML moments:
On the Underground, my friend and I tried to catch a train that was closing its doors. My friend made it in, as did I, but one of my shoes didn't. I jumped out, pried the door open, got my shoe, and managed to make it back on the train. MAJOR relief, considering that my shoe could have fallen in the gap between the train and the platform. And the bag of macarons that I was holding managed to stay intact, hah!

I also bought a SIM card with a texting plan at a news agent, so I could use my phone in London. I tried to activate it online, but the activation number didn't work. I then looked at the SIM card and the expiration date was 12/99. I got sold a freaking SIM card that expired 10 years ago. I had no idea that texting even existed back then. (Unless they meant December 2099, which would be planning way in advance.) Talk about a FML moment. Oddly enough, the phone number actually worked!