Paris

Went to Paris yesterday! It's weird because it's only a 2 and a half hour train ride there. You really realize how the whole of Europe is smaller than the whole of the United States. I couldn't really tell you what it's like to pass through the channel tunnel though, because I fell asleep thru it both times.


I'm going to make a comparison here though... the Eurostar is crap compared to Japan's Shinkansen trains. It goes slower, isn't as clean, and the seats are arranged kinda funny. But then again.. can you really compare a lot of what we do to what the Japanese have created? My trip was so awkward - they arrange the back half the seats in one car facing forward, and the front half of the seats face the back. So you have two rows of seats in the middle of the car that face each other. Guess who got stuck there? ME. With a family of 7. It was so awkward, especially when I found my seat. It's like... it was bad enough that one of the girls kept staring at me, but it felt too weird to fall asleep. The middle seats also get jacked on legroom, and I couldn't see out the window or stare off into space (or if I did, I had to try to find a place to stare at that wouldn't involve me staring at one of them... AWKWARDDDDDDDDD). Stupid Eurostar. I ended up listening to my music and falling asleep the whole time anyway since I'm so freaking tired from working 12 hour days this past stupid week.


Yep... how come we don't have benz's as taxi's over in the US? haha


First stop... Eiffel Tower. My illusions of the Eiffel Tower have been shattered... I now think this thing is just a big pile of junk. It's just this really old huge antenna that sticks out in the middle of the city.


View from the first floor. France is a really level city, so going up higher doesn't really do much.


View from the first floor of the line of suckas that have to wait to get in. Since I went w/ a tour group, we had quick and easy group access without waiting.


My gourmet French Lunch... aka cold chicken + salad in a baguette. Picture me trying to order food in France... "eh... sandwich?? chicken??" The lady stared at me, then took a cold sandwich out.. and I was like.. ok I'll take it!


The prettiest part of the tower... the flowers.


Went on a cruise on the River Seine...


Notre Dame


Entrance to Notre Dame... so many ppl around!


Front


Me inside the Notre Dame. The architechture of this cathedral is amazing. For some reason, one of the few religious places I don't feel completely out of place in. But that might have been because there were a billion other tourists milling around...


After Notre Dame, we headed over to the Louvre... it's HUGE. I think it used to be a fortress/royal palace. Supposedly, if you were to take 3 seconds to stand in front of every single painting/exhibit in here, you would be in there for four months. The clear pyramid thingy is the new main entrance.


The Arc de Triomphe... built during the Napolean era to commemorate war victories? As you can tell, my history/knowledge of all of this is kinda iffy.


My tour guide... she had this heavy french accent so I couldn't tell what she was saying half the time. BUT check this out - you know how asian tour guides always hold up those fobbyass flags? They hold up colorful umbrellas... much more stylish, but still funny to see.


And of course... the Mona Lisa. This is as close as I could get to it. It gets so crowded around it that not only do they put it behind a velvet rope, they also display it behind a glass case. At the entrance of the museum, you can pick a number of tours to go on, and one of them is the "Da Vinci Code" tour. So you basically walk the path and see everything that was mentioned in the book. Awesome way for the Louvre to capitalize on that!

After the Louvre, it was time to head back to London...


And in five days, it's time to head home... yay =)

V&A

I think I've pretty much seen everything in London that I want to see... but with nothing to do today, I headed out to see some more museums... bleh.

No real point in having pictures cuz the buildings probably all start to look the same haha.. but here's the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum)


I actually liked the Prints & Drawings and Modern/20th Century exhibits here. It's weird to see stuff from the '90s till now... on display.

Me on the front steps. hahaha this is kinda funny... more pictures of my shoes to come!


After this, I went to the science museum, but after checking out a display on plastics, I just thought... this blows. I'm reading about the history of plastic.

Sooo I went back to my hotel. I'm tired of this place.

Hyde Park & Covent Garden

Even though it's pretty cold here - around 40 degrees F (at least, that's cold for someone from from California) - I have to admit that London can be beautiful, especially in the Fall.

Hyde Park


Look at the skies! =)


Ducks galore (should I mention I had bbq duck noodle soup for lunch? haha)


Princess Diana Memorial Fountain... it's a really pretty fountain, even though you can't tell from here


Kids playing around the fountain... I envy their carefree innocence


Kensington Gardens


Marble Arch - it's not as impressive as you may think. Plus in order to get here, I had to dodge traffic because it's on an island and there aren't any pedestrian xings... you're supposed to go underground but I kept taking the wrong exits haha


Covent Garden - similar to 3rd street with it's street performers and shops that line the streets


I ended up shopping, which is bad because I really shouldn't be spending money... but yes, retail therapy!

I've also really been craving milk tea, so I found this HK cafe place that had it... it cost 3.50 gbp but I HAD to try it!

Def not worth 7 bucks... =( I want some REAL milk tea like we had in HK

Oh how I miss you, St. Alps!!

The 39 Steps are flooded

Today, I attempted to watch a show at the Criterion Theatre in the West End. Unfortunately, it turns out the theatre got flooded! =( This bites, I was really looking forward to it too. At least a got a nice picture, I guess. Now I have to go thru the hassle of trying to get a refund or to reschedule.

London gets pretty boring when you can go for an entire weekend without talking to a single person, discounting the times you tell the cashier "Thanks" or ask the front desk for your laundry.

Today has been an overall bad day.

>>You don't "trash it" here, you "bin it." Took me a bit to get that one!

the loo..??!

Today... I met up w/ A's friend, M. Kinda funny bc I had no clue what he looked like, and we're like... ok let's meet at Trafalgar Square after work! The square is pretty big, and there's always a billion tourists milling around - so, perfect! Well, ok, I figured "asian guy" would be easy enough to find. haha turns out we were right. Anyway, yay it was nice to be able to hang out with someone who is also sorta exploring London =). We wandered around to St. James's Park, where there's this huge lake with all sorts of cute/gross ducks. And yes, ducks can be cute and gross at the same time! Boo I forgot to bring my camera... but I have some pics from my cell phone.

View from the lake (you can see the London Eye in the background)


Very exciting stuff - ducks


I think this is St. James's Palace


After eating dinner at this place called "Thai Square," (supposedly the best thai food in London... it was decent, I guess) we were debating what there was to do, but it was sorta like the blind leading the blind. We had no idea so... decided to just go home haha... so with me leading the way, we promptly got lost in trying to find the tube station. Y'all know how GREAT I am with my sense of direction! So I suggested the ol' trick of.. just following a group of people in front of us, which led us to up this bridge that was crossing the Thames River (I think it was the Hungerford Bridge? I may have to go back) Ok at least I KNEW that I did not cross a river to get to the square. But it ended up that this bridge had an excellent night view of the Eye and Big Ben... almost reminded me of the nice view from the Peak in HK!

My pic does it no justice... I think Big Ben is on the right somewhere


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As promised, here are the "oddities" or differences I've had to get used to here in London:

>>Aside from driving on the left side of the road, jay-walking is not a term that is well known here. It's called "crossing the street." I've adjusted and I cross ALL the time on red lights. Everyone's always in such a rush, they just cross the street (after checking to make sure no cars are approaching). If you're in the street and a car is coming, you better run your ass outta there fast cuz you're gonna get hit! Think of it like being a pedestrian in Asia . Also, lights are red, then they turn yellow, then green. Between green and red, you get nothing. So if you're driving and you're at a red light, you'll see it turn yellow (get ready to go??) and then green. Then it'll turn off for a few seconds (be prepared to stop!) and then turn red.

>>I still feel weird asking someone where the "loo" is. I think they'll understand if you say "restroom," but when in Rome...

>>On a rainy day, don't tell people your pants got wet. Pants = underwear here. Your trousers may be soaked, but if you tell anyone your pants are wet, you might get a funny look.

>>It's not a cell phone, it's a mobile. I mean, mo-buy-ul. Also, they don't get charged for incoming calls here. No fair!

>>A pound, a quid. A dollar, a buck.

>>They call the subway the tube, and instead of "exit" signs, you'll find "way out" signs.

>>You don't have to tip at restaurants, and if you do, 10% is good enough. I think they get paid more here, unlike Americans that work for min wages+tips.

>>The British like to drink beer. None of this fancy mixed stuff, they want beer! And don't mess with them when they're talking about Rugby or Football with a beer in each hand. It won't be pretty.

>>Don't insult their tea. Just don't.

>>You don't just like her, you "fancy" her.

More to come as I think of them... I had more earlier but blogger didn't save and I lost my original post =(

St. Paul's, Millenium Bridge, Tate Modern...

Today was a busy day! I went to St. Paul's Cathedral, then walked across the Millennium Bridge to Tate Modern. After that, I headed to the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. It was an art-filled day!
St. Paul's





Millennium Bridge


View from the bridge


Walking across - the tall thing in the background is part of Tate


The front of Tate. Does anyone else remember a huge spider like this at the top of the Roppongi Shopping center in Tokyo?


Inside the Tate Modern is this big artistic piece on the first floor (literally). It's a big crack. According to Wikipedia:
Doris Salcedo is the eighth artist to have been commissioned to produce work for the turbine hall of the Tate Modern gallery in London. Her piece, Shibboleth 2007, is a 167-metre-long crack in the hall's floor that Salcedo says "represents borders, the experience of immigrants, the experience of segregation, the experience of racial hatred. It is the experience of a Third World person coming into the heart of Europe."

It just looks like a big crack to me. Very artistic, indeed! But I'm not exactly the most cultured person ever.

The crack and me.


I took the tube a lot today, so here's a picture of the inside.

Looks like any other subway, except I think out of all the ones I've been to (NY, HK, Japan), I think London's is at the bottom of the list in terms of efficiency/newness. The announcer guy thought he was being funny and announced to everyone waiting for the Northern Line at Charing Cross that the train will be stopped due to a robbery or something or other. Everyone heaved a collective groan and then the guy goes "ahem... I have now been told the train is back in service." Thank god cuz I might have collapsed if I had to walk all the way back!!

The National Gallery (the Portrait Gallery is in the back). Wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, so that's as much as you're gonna get.


Some Jewish thingy going on in Trafalgar Square


After that long day, I really wanted some ramen... so I had to go for London's answer to Japanese food: Wagamama. I've had a number of [non-asian] people recommend this place to me for it's excellent food. The first time I tried it, I thought it was TOTALLY bland, and that these people needed to be taught what real Japanese food tastes like. Nevertheless, it was the only place around Victoria that I knew had ramen. Since I hadn't spent any money at all for the day, I splurged!

Gyoza too!


Ramen... with spinach? And that white thing is a little slab of fish... and a portabello mushroom. Very strange indeed, but tamed the craving for the time being.


Sigh... time to head back to my hotel. Night view of Victoria Station.

British Museum

Went to the British Museum today... but I took the tube to the Russell Square stop and so I could wander through it (as opposed to taking the bus directly to the museum - I like the tube better anywho).

Russell Square is basically this cute little park in Camden. It's one of those places where you'll find people sitting on parkbenches reading. Really peaceful, especially in such a bustling city. Upon closer inspection though...

What's that in the middle?

It's a bunch of FATASS pigeons! I don't think I've ever seen pigeons that fat in my LIFE. Do you see that one huge one that's just sprawled out in the middle? He's not dead... I saw him move. They're fatter than the pigeons that camp out in back of supermarkets (or chano's if you guys can remember).

Anyway, the British Museum was very nice... seems like they've done a really good job in the upkeep of the place.

And... that's all I really have to say. I took a bunch of pictures of some exhibits in there, but after a while, I got bored as I usually do in museums. I spent a good two and a half hours in there though! After I left, I had my first thai iced tea in Europe.

I ate lunch at this place called Thai Garden Cafe. YAY for asian food and noodles! Mind you, this thai tea cost me about 4 usd once you convert it... bah. After I finished eating, I walked down Oxford Street, which is a huge shopping street. There is literally an H&M on every other block, and Esprit isn't too far away either. The thing I love about Esprit is that they list prices in all currencies so you can see that the prices they charge are pretty close to what you would've ended up paying at home. I ALMOST spent 29.95 GBP on a sweater that was so cute (retail therapy, ya know), but they didn't have my size... which is a good thing. I wanted to check out this store called Primark, which is supposed to have SUPER cheap clothes. On the way to Primark, there was a ton of commotion - I think someone got hit by a bus! Traffic here works very much like in Asia - ie, stay out of the way of cars! I hope that person is okay... all along Oxford Street, double decker busses were stopped... no traffic was getting through at all.

So if you're looking for really cheap clothes in London, Primark is the place to go as long as you're prepared to wait for a really long time to pay. The "queue," as they say here, went around the store - it looked worse than Best Buy on Black Friday. But even I agree that stuff is really cheap there - you can get a decent looking coat for 15 quid! I don't know about the quality (probaby sucks) but that's pretty damn cheap. I didn't buy anything because I didn't want to wait in line. Afterwards, I wandered down Regent Street for some more window shopping.

I did so much walking today that my legs feel sore... bleh! Tomorrow will be day 2 of a fun filled museum weekend. bleh again. I really need to book that day trip to Paris.