Wrote this for M, and I figured I would just post this for future reference (in any case where I might have lost the file). The grass is always greener on the other side because even a photo taken with an unimpressive digital camera can produce such photos. Sigh
London
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Borough Market – opened on Thursday, Friday & Saturday, near London Bridge Tube Station, Zone 1.
Queue in summer stretches to an hour wait or more.
What the… this Henry VIII must be crazy obsessed with hunting to have a hunting ground so big. Anyway Serpentine Musuem is near Serpentine Lake, it looks pretty rad from the outside but it was closed and turning dark when we walked passed it.
Areas
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Borough Market – opened on Thursday, Friday & Saturday, near London Bridge Tube Station, Zone 1.
It is a food market, somewhat akin to a food fair. I heard, there are many stalls selling multifarious food and snacks options such as cockles, oysters, wild board sausages, and even coconut pancakes. An eclectic posh food market, some of the snacks tend to be rather expensive. Even if you are not gusto enough to try the food, I think it is worth the visit for the atmosphere and charm.
Brick Lane & Market – not sure, heard its open only on Sunday. Alfgate East Tube Station, Zone 1
They have a nice salmon and cream cheese bagel which you might want to check it out. You can try the street snack before buying. Some reviews remark that the restaurant waiters tend to be pushy and pressurizing in asking you to dine at their spaces. It’s increasingly becoming touristy, so I guess this might be the reason why. Indian food from Bricklane are popular and much raved and you can always take a stroll from Bricklane Market to Columbia flower market!
Camden Market – Camden Town Station, Northern Line, Zone 2.
Heard great reviews about this market – it’s like a youth market
Soho – forgot the tube station but it’s like the centre of London, Zone 1.
Oops, apparently the infamous high street shopping place is not called Sixth Avenue (maybe Sixth Avenue is New York or something) and the lobster space I mentioned? It’s called Burgers & Lobster. Everyone says it’s good – darn, remind me to dine there when I go to London again.
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Tourist Attractions
Queue in summer stretches to an hour wait or more.
Westminster Abbey – Westminster Tube Station, Zone 1
You can crash the service if you want, I think. Charles Darwin is buried there.
Big Ben – it’s next to Westminster Abbey and near a bridge, a traffic light across if I recall correctly.
St Paul Cathedral – St Paul Tube Station, Zone 1
Madame Tussauds London –
Book your tickets online for this and also if you are going to Florence and Italy’s museums, sometimes you get discounts and you don’t have to queue in the hot sun to buy your tickets. It takes hour to queue, you don’t have to book them before your trip but like when you are travelling and in your hostel, it is always good to book and plan beforehand.
http://www.madametussauds.com/london/
Suffice to say, I still stand by my firm conviction that Madame Tussauds London is a waste of time and money. It’s literally a museum of celebrity wax worship and you went to Hong Kong, so you must have definitely visited HK Madame Tussauds.
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Hyde Park - Near a lot of tube stations because it is so freaking big that almost all of West Central stations surround it.
“Once the hunting ground for Henry VIII, this large royal park is best known for its famous Speakers' Corner, where people speak their minds; Rotton Row, a famous horse-riding area; and Serpentine Lake, home to waterfowl and oarsmen.”
What the… this Henry VIII must be crazy obsessed with hunting to have a hunting ground so big. Anyway Serpentine Musuem is near Serpentine Lake, it looks pretty rad from the outside but it was closed and turning dark when we walked passed it.
Picnic, chill and observe the locals and tourists. There are swans and ducks in the lake. I really like Hyde Park.
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London Bridge
Tower Bridge
Abbey Road
Les Miserables
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Anyway all the museums in England are free, it’s paid by government taxes because the British has a lot of pride for its heritage and culture. Given that they are free, the quality and standard of the curation is really impeccable. People often tend to not recommend the museums given the variety of must visit spots in London but I love them. Most of the museums I went in England (ok only Liverpool, Birmingham and London) are well curated and exhibited. The theme and “message” is kept very consistent where the experience and transitions are made to flow fluidly as you move and interact in the spaces.
National Gallery – Westminster Tube Station, Zone 1.
Art museum housing Western European pieces that spans from 1250 to 1900. You will enjoy this better than contemporary art museums or Victoria & Albert Musuem (which is next to British and Natural History Museum). I think they have Italian Renaissance pieces but don’t expect the best as the best would be kept in Italy. Art pieces from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, though English, are not kept here but in Birmingham (if I remember correctly because I was so ecstatic to find their painting when I was at Birmingham)
Anyway, the sad thing about art museums in Britain is that Britain has few great artists or famous art period/movement – literacy figures abundant but not their artists. Paris is the nucleus for the Impressionists and Baroque (the ostensibly over dramatic Versailles as a manifest), Romanticism is the strongest in Germany and Renaissance in Italy – to be honest, England is most known for ushering the Industrial Revolution and its ubitequous factories so ya, go figure the irony.
Anyway, I have a confession I didn’t visit National Gallery because by the time I reached it was 6pm and closed. The Trafalgar Square is outside the National Gallery.
Natural History Museum – Kensington Park Tube Station
Crowded. I don’t remember if I thought it was worth it partially because I have null interest in geography and natural history. I am sorry. Though, I remembered taking a free map with all sorts of altitude, latitude information for a geeky geography friend would like a.k.a Ratna Kartika Sari.
Victoria & Albert Museum – Ibid. Same as Previous, they are a dime throw away from each other.
I like V&A but it's really depends on what you want.
Food and dining in V&A is reasonably priced and the atmosphere is real good.
British Museum – Ibid.
The Courtauld Gallery – Mayfair, St James Tube Station
Unfortunately, this gallery is not free. Its £7, though it’s free for students (you might want to check if the student free admission extends for international students or students studying in UK)
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Food
& Supermarket because you are a broke college student and you will swear by them.
Tesco
Sainbury – This is my favourite England’s supermarket. You can get 3 for 1 cookie offer at 1 pound, pecan maple bread at less than a pound. Its supermarket bread but I swear the pecan maple bread beats any pecan maple bread you can find in Singapore’s bakery. The pecan maple bread found in Singapore is often small, soggy and expensive given its inferior standards.
Oriental Supermarket – sells Oriental products like SHIN ramen, Milo etc. A niggling intuition that their “Oriental” is heavily influenced by Singapore’s taste buds – meh - but still, when you are homesick and tired, visiting this is like having a piece of your refuge and home.
Burger & Lobster
Byron Burgers (http://www.byronhamburgers.com/) – eh, they have blue cheese burgers… I haven't gotten the chance to try it. Please bring me there the next time I visit London
Rose Bakery – really crowded though. Carrot cake.
Cafe Rouge - Heard its comparatively cheap
Honest Burgers - 4A Meard Street, hand burgers which comes with rosemary salt fries
