Fairytale of London

Happy Mau Speaking:

That was how the three days felt like to me - being in a place so comfortingly familiar, yet with so many wonders and attractions for me to explore; a fairytale of sorts.

Broadly speaking, the whole exchange experience is one long fairytale. Recently, some of the other ERASMUS exchange students felt their time on the fairytale clock ticking more acutely because they only had a month left to go; and long for this period of enjoyment, carefreeness, surreality and decadence to never end. Happily ever after, so they say.

But back to the fairytale of London. While I would have liked to have stayed there much longer, perhaps it was also good to leave after just a few days, that the magical experience would linger on.

Cranky Mau Speaking:

By now you should realise I'm just talking nonsense, part of the whole London thespian image. I would definitely be going back London, because my lovely flight back to Singapore takes me via there. And the entire fairytale image was partially damaged by the fact that the idea of Fairytale seems to be very marketable. And so it is only as real and magical as you can afford it to be. Just for illustration, I was quite keen on getting a haircut there with English Stylists, but 40 pounds a pop at Toni & Guys nearly gave me a cardiac arrest.

Let's start now from the very beginning...



Early morning pick-up by Michael in his Mitsubishi. Great start to the trip.



Liverpool St Station, where the STANSTED EXPRESS took us. It's just a fancy name for a crappy ol train. From there we decided to hike it to the hostel. I was all right with that, cos I only had on a backpack which weighed 5kg.

Got to see a lot of the city in the one hour. I really like the architecture and huge buildings of London; gives the place a very majestic and impressive look.



Top left: London eye. Funny how it was the one thing I aimed for in my London trip, but I ended up not going for it. It certainly looks pretty at night when its all lighted up, but in the end, the hefty price tag just was not worth it for me. I might do it in the summer, on a nice clear day, when I can see for miles up there.

Top right: Ooh I see a Big Ben. Michael insisted I delete the picture when I took it but I am rather pleased with the result. My rationale: if it looks too perfect and whole, you can get it off a postcard.

Bottom left: Horse guards. The guard was looking totally shagged out. The sign is kind of funny, but nice warning to all the people who went to take photos with the horsie.

Bottom right: Admiralty Arch. Go google it for more information, I'm not a History Major.

\\\ MUSICALS ///

Whats a trip to London without experiencing a musical (or two! or three!) in West End. For that you gotta ask the Austrian brothers. Hahaha. The girls went to watch Lion King, while I happily whacked these two.

Lovely, absolutely lovely.

Except for the curious stares I get from people wondering whats my story watching a musical like Dirty Dancing on my own. Or maybe its because I know my Mom notices people like that, so I'm being self conscious.

---FOOD---

The sad part was that I actually ate McDonalds while in London. That was really a low point in my life. Big N Tasty! Sheesh.



Breakfast at The Breakfast Club in SOHO. I suggested it, and I don't think there was anything to complain there. The waffles were so good. And the atmosphere, lovely.



Fish N Chips with Ale in a nice English pub called Wellington's. The bartender was really friendly, and let me sample three different ales before I settled on Abbot Ale. Fresh fish, nicely done mashed peas... my tummy felt really cosy after. Normally I wouldn't even eat peas.



Thats Emilia playing with her food - Wanton Noodle Soup. Heh heh. I had Roast Duck. The real fun was when the others dropped in while we were having dessert. What I learnt: Europeans find Red Bean strange. But they love Mango Sago.



Tower Bridge at night. It was the only well lighted one - my photos of Tower of London were pretty much useless. Throughout the journey in London, while we were freezing our butts off, we saw many joggers decked out only in tights running comfortably along the Thames River. Some had backpacks on, I suppose for a reason. But it was just too strange for us to fathom.



And yea, ever the Arsenal supporter. Just took a walk around and went into the souvenir store - only way to enter the stadium was to take the stadium tour. Fairytale with a price tag.



Maybe not the best photo to end off with. Changing of guards at the Buckingham Palace. Nothing spectacular, but just do it, to say you've seen it. Haha.

Happy Mau: And they all lived happily ever after
Cranky Mau: Yeah right, b*tch