Friday, 19 August 2016

London - Day 3 & 4

Day 3
So, after 2 long tiring days of walking..
I decided that we would take our time to relax for our last night
I heard so much about covent gardens
that i imagined it to be much bigger 
and made it the only plan for the day
as it was only open at 12pm for sunday...

We arrived around 1130am and went breakfast nearby
I had the typical english breakfast
while husband had his first eggs royal,
which is similar to eggs benedict but with smoked salmon.




I don't know was it because we walked too much for the past days
i was totally flat batt by 2ish
and also, we had completed covent gardens
While munching on a steak and kidney pie in a church's garden
Husband took up the job to plan for the rest of the day
im so glad that he is always so full of energy compared to me
especially when we travelled
he can also take on my stupid tantrums and whinning..haha

So, we decided to take a bus to the london towers
Normally, we saw many modern double-decked red london buses
and took them often during our trip
However, by pure chance,
our bus to london towers was the vintage double decked london bus!
There was only 1 entrance/exit at the back of the bus
the passengers are separated from the driver's seat
and there was a ticket seller to scan our oyster cards!
Apart from the vintage seats etcs,
we were totally amazed that the ticket seller shouted out the stops,
it totally felt like we are in the 1950s of london.
There was a slight traffic jam near london towers
and we followed the crowd to just hope off the bus
because there was no door on the bus's entrance!
It was really a cool experience...






We plan to go on the street art walk that i saw online
http://hackneypost.co.uk/2014/03/21/interactive-shoreditch-street-art-tour/
and i would be really happy to see banksy artworks
However, i left the map in the hotel
because i didnt expected us to do it
and we rested at starbucks for free wifi and marked the areas on our map
before we walked to london towers..





After london towers, we started to make our walk...
We definitely missed out a number of supposedly famous artworks,
as they can be as small as a sticker on a lamp post!
And on the way, we also bypass the old spieldfields market,
which i read about it online but thought it was out of the way...

Our main street art walk was sort of the arab / hipster area (Bricklane)
Which i think is an area allocated for street art / graffiti
because unlike paris, i rarely saw any graffiti in london
but there areas were full of them!
We managed to find a few stated on the website,
but also discovered plenty interesting artwork..
It was fun trying to hunt for famous artworks
and each of us armed with our own cameras..






We decided to head back to hotel at 7ish
and were really hopeful that we could find dinner near hotel
sadly, the only cafe, which was supposed to be opened, was closed!
We ended up walking further and further away from our hotel
that we were thinking that we may end up having some express pizza etcs
Lucky for us, we managed to find an english pub 
about 15-20mins walk away from hotel
As we really wanted to finish the trip with English food!
We got our fish and chips!

We then stop by an arab / chinese supermarkets
and bought some strange stuff to be brought back.
The day ended with me packing our bags...

Day 4
With our train at 1130am, 
we decided to try to wake up and check out early
We managed to leave the hotel at 9ish 
and with the subway station near hotel reopened
we arrived at the St Pancras with plenty of time..
I wanted to refund our oyster cards,
but all the machines were out of charge
so im supposed to do it via post now, argh
We had breakfast at a cafe in the station 
and it was time to go home...

I think i have heard of many stories from people
how they preferred london to paris
Strangely, i didnt felt that life in London is totally different from here.
Yes, the transport systems and plans are much better
but so expensive.
Yes, they speak english,
but sometimes their accents are so strong,
that i have problem understanding them.
And i do think london has too much modern buildings,
that sometimes i felt like i was in a CBD area.
Haha, i sound like a parisien now trying to defend Paris..

But 1 thing for sure,
The English are much more nicer than Parisiens,
or even Singaporeans!
Husband was always so impressed
when the waiter/waitress took time to repeat our orders
or explain to us how things work
and usually full of smiles!

Once, we were at a pub,
the waitress beside us dropped her plats on the table and floor,
like the normal customers around the table,
I asked husband to check whether any food got on his jacket.
Suddenly, a man sitting beside us stood up
and walked to the waitress to ask whether she was alright!
Wow!

Another incident was during the security check for our train home,
the man at the security belt was so smiley and nice
that he praised husband for removing his belt
and even helped husband to carry his bag off him
to be put onto the security scanning belt.
Never will this happens in Paris, N-E-V-E-R...

I do like that people are nice
but im not crazy to shift to london,
now, i should just try my best to be a non-parisien living in Paris..

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