London (Re-post from Journals)
Going to London:I'm finally on the plane to London. Am I excited? Hmmm.. I think I'm more tired than excited. Went straight home from work, pack and off to the airport without any sleep. The flight from SFO to Chicago took 5 hours, 2 hours stop over and another 9 hours from Chicago to London. When we landed in London, they made us fill out a landing form. I finally got a little excited that my 10-month wait to Europe is finally over. We arrived to Heathrow around 8am, went through Customs and got my first stamp in my passport. Yay!
London:
It's almost 3:30am. I can't sleep or I'm just fully awake. Yesterday was the most exhausting day ever due to lack of sleep on the plane. I went to bed at 9:30pm and here I am-fully awake. Anyways, we arrive to the airport about 8ish. My plan was to get to the hotel by 10 to leave our luggage but we didn't get there until 11ish, b/c we got a little lost and our luggage was so heavy. (Rule of thumb: always take ½ clothes and twice the $$. If not, you should be able to carry what you bring and buy. It's only fair!) I was a little piss @ Wendy, b/c I carried one of her heavy luggage that had water inside-imagine 2-liter and 16 small bottles, I told her that we should get rid of it. Her excuse was that she's allergic to the water in Europe, but I know she wanted to save some $$, she says the water was for us- but at the end, it was mainly for her. Beside, if anyone knows me, knows that I try to pack as light as possible. I wanted to call a Taxi, but I could tell she didn't want too. The hotel was pretty nice; we stayed at the Hilton in the financial area.
We left our luggage at the hotel. Then we went to Notting hill for Portobello Market. Somehow we got lost after taking the underground and then the bus. (Actually they were having constructions done that weekend, so some stops were not available.) People are quite rude; "They don't excuse themselves," like they are in a rush or something. Seem like they just mind their own business. Man, if London is this bad- I can't imagine how Paris would be? Anyways, we finally got to Portobello Market. It started to rain, so I brought an umbrella for the both of us and 15 mins. after it stop raining. (WTF!) I brought a few souvenirs for family, friends and co-workers. Then we headed over to watch "Stomp", it was ok. It has it moments, but there were time where both of us were falling a sleep. (You have to understand that it's 3pm, we barely slept on the plane and our last meal on the plane was just a croissant and some juices.) After the show, we went to this upscale pizza place called "Fire & Stone". We both order a pizza each; Wendy's Marrakech lamb pizza was so yummy that we finish her and barely touched my spicy Thai pizza, which didn't taste so good. I wonder if people in London tip? B/c the 2 girls at the next table didn't leave any tip at all. Neither of us know whether we should tip or not, so we left a small tip. I wanted to leave more tip b/c the service was nice, but Wendy say it was fine. Which ticks me off a bit, so I gave a little more as Wendy walked out, in front of me.
Next we went around to Convent Garden for some shopping and then back to our hotel, but both of us thought it was too early to go back to the hotel. So we went around to Piccadilly Circus, Chinatown and then Trafalgar Sq. for some shopping. Brought a few things at H&M for $43 bucks only, then Wendy reminded me that it's pounds (2x the US Dollars). Oh shit, it's too late already. Chinatown was really small and pricey, a drink would normally cost 1.25us cost me $1.50 in pounds. I brought a few cans of Chinese drinks that were $1.80 pound each.-since I was tired of water and Cola. (By the way, London's Cola or sodas are flat. At first, I thought I was unlucky to get 2 flat Cola. I guess, they prefer it like that.) Usually I don't mind people smoking, but it seem as though everyone smoke, even the kids. Got back to the hotel, re-pack my stuff and advised Wendy it's better to leave the water, b/c it too heavy. She made a smart remark stating she'll carry it, ok then whatever. Shower and then went to sleep by 9:30 pm and now its 3:45. Maybe I'll take another nap and go for a jog or something. I'm hoping today will be better.
London
After my short nap, I decided to go for a morning walk by myself with my mp3 so I can absorb London. It was so relaxing that I wonder why I don't do this often. I decided to buy us some fresh pastry and juices for breakfast. =) Finally a friendly smile from a jogger and a simple thank you from the clerk was all I needed.
We basically checked out the Tower of London, walked across the Tower Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe- took a mini tour and learn about the Rose Theater's history, which was quite interesting then off to the Tate Museum. After we took a mini cruise down to London eye, it was down and the lines were too long. (Beside Linda say it wasn't worth $25 bucks.) Suddenly it started to pour, so we went to the Aquarium for a little bit. Wendy really liked the Aquarium, but I wasn't really into it unless I brought a child there. We walked pass Big Ben, checked out Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace. Felt a little sad for Princess Diana- the life she had with Charles and what happened to her. We did some shopping at another H&M, then checked out Harold's and Harvey's- both department stores were way out of my budget, even if I were rich I don't think I'll spent that much $$ at these stores. After we brought our luggage to Royal National Hotel and checked in w/ Contiki. We did some shopping around Russell Square.
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