London’s Chinese New Year celebrations are said to be the largest outside China itself. Half a million people were estimated to be on the streets this Sunday. I was one of them.
Currently sat in a coffee shop in central London. Trafalgar Square is a stones throw away and, what with the close proximity of most of londons highlights, so is everything else of interest. I’m not in London for any particular reason. One of the benefits of living so close to London is that you can just pop in for lunch and then pop back. That’s pretty much what I’ve done today. I took the DLR to Canary Wharf, admired the shimmering skyscrapers, looked around in a shopping mall that I hadn’t previously known existed, struggled with chopsticks to eat Japanese soup with vegetable dumplings and noodles, took the Thames Clipper to Victoria Embankment, wandered to the Strand and here I am. None of it planned but all of it enjoyed.
Lately, I’ve been troubled. My sleep pattern is starting to be disrupted by anxiety thoughts. On 1 March, I’m off on my travels again. This time, it’s for much longer than I’m used to and I’m going much further than I’ve ever been before. It’s my first steps outside Europes safe, comfortable border (wherever that may be). It’s a little unnerving. Thing is, I can’t really pinpoint what the specific problem is. I guess it’s just fear of the unknown. If I think practically though and weigh up the positives vs negatives, the positives far, far, far outweigh the negatives. In fact, if any negative were to arise, I am confident in my own ability to deal with most situations. I’m just a anxious person I suppose. Once I’m out there, I’ll be fine.
I’ll post more about my trip when we’re a little closer to March and obviously, when I’m abroad, you’ll be hearing all about it.
It’s my birthday today. Just though I’d mention it. :)
Winter Wonderland At Hyde Park
Christmas is nigh! London celebrates the yuletide in the same way as the rest of Europe; hot nuts, lots of fairy lights, a glug of mulled wine and a Christmas market or two.
Tour Of Britain 2010
I’ve been to London to see the final stage of the Tour of Britain for the past few years now. Each year, the event has grown in popularity and prestige. This year, the lap was moved from its usual Embankment setting to the Olympic and Paralympic borough of Newham.
All the landmarks were now not present and to be honest, the dual-carriageway look didn’t do much to promote the race. On the plus side though, as the race was out of the city centre, it could stretch it’s legs. There were more trade stalls and the race had a real festival feel. That said, this year’s tour arrival lacked character and I hope the race will return to the centre next year.
Yesterday was another busy day in London. There were plenty of places I had to be. The tube is great for getting around, particularly with a travelcard, but it was a sunny day and I wanted to potter about at ground level. So, with my access key in hand, I tried out the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme for the first time.
I didn’t let the fact I didn’t really know where I was going deter me. I inserted my key into the dock, waited for a green light and hauled (with some initial difficulty) my bike out. After testing the brakes (extremely tight), the bell (loud) and setting my seat level to ‘6’, I set off. And immediately made a wrong turning. But that didn’t matter. It was fun! The bike was sturdy, easy to steer and with 3 gears, easy on the legs.
So long as you keep your wits about you, London’s streets aren’t as deadly as some make out. I found all the bus and taxi drivers I encountered to be quite courteous and patient. Pedestrians are probably the biggest worry. On several occasions, I had to brake for jay-walkers (not illegal in the UK, but in cases like this, a problem).
After 13 minutes and 24 seconds, my first journey was complete. And because I’d docked the bike within 30 minutes, it was free. I just paid the £1 access fee. For those making the same journey day after day, the scheme is a godsend. Considering the annual access fee is a meer £45, the journey-on-journey saving is hefty enough to dust off the high-vis tabard and get biking.
Thames Emergency
Yesterday, I was running a few errands (one of which was ‘eat Japanese food’) in the capital. While resting along by Lambeth Bridge, suddenly, the peace is disrupted by the military and the police.
Art In London
I always try to visit cool, new things in London. This short video is some of the footage I capture on two separate trips to the big city. The first section of the video is of an awesome laser show from an exhibition celebrating ten years of broadband internet in the UK. The second part was shot underneath Somerset House. The exhibition called ‘River Sounding’ was “a journey through the hidden sound worlds of the River Thames.” It was as weird as it looks.
This is the first year in five years that I didn’t go down to SW19 for The Championships at Wimbledon. Why?
- Money! A day at Wimbledon isn’t cheap! A hotel room the night before (see below for why you might need one) costs no less than £80, the cost to get in is anywhere between £20 and £90 depending on the ticket you get, and food & drink is a total rip-off. A small cup of Pimms (nice as it is) costs £6. Ouch! With the forthcoming iPhone 3G on my shopping list and upcoming trips to Paris and Norway, a day at Wimbledon doesn’t fit inside my current budget.
- It’s a long day! To ensure you get a seat on one of the show courts, you need to get a good spot in the infamous queue. To maximise your chances, you really ought to be in the queue by 06h30-07h00. To do that, you can either start the day from home, in which case you need to wake up at 03h00, or you can book a room at a hotel, which still means you need to wake up at 05h30. What with the more expensive peak-time evening hours on the trains, you’ll not want to leave the ground until after 19h30 and if there’s a good match on, you could be there until 21h30. That means you’d be getting home at 23h00. What with all the waiting around in the queue (normally 4-5 hours), it’s a draining day.
- Catering at Wimbledon is rubbish! This is a minor point, but still important. I’ve already mentioned how expensive the food is, but it’s also worth saying how terrible it is. No matter what time of day you go, there’ll be an enormous queue and by the time you reach the counter, you’ll be disappointed by the selection. Incidentally, you’ll be joining the queue without knowing what’s on offer since the list of available items is written in tiny font behind the counter. The selection is the same every single year and is not particularly good quality either.
- The best seat is at home. Seriously! It’s particularly the case if you’re in Britain where the host broadcaster, the BBC, lay on a plethora of ways to watch. This year you can watch in high definition on BBC HD, choose from six courts at any one time with BBCi, watch on the BBC Sport website or watch again up to seven days later via BBC iPlayer. While you don’t get to soak in the unique Wimbledon atmosphere, you do get the closer to the action.
It’s important to note that these are the reasons I’m not going this year. I’d still recommend you go, especially if you haven’t been before. It’s a very special event that is so deeply routed into British culture that everyone ought to experience it at least once, even if you’re not that into Tennis. Seeing world-famous Tennis players in the flesh (doing their best to ignore you) and seeing the court attendants pull the covers on as another shower floats over is exciting! If you can put up with the catering, the expense and the long day, you should definitely go. Do yourself a favour though and get yourself entered into the public ballot for tickets. That’s what I’ll be doing for next year. It doesn’t guarantee you tickets, but if you are lucky, the day is much more relaxing and there’s hardly any queuing at all (unless you want a cray fish sandwich).
Last Saturday, I spent much of the day in London for my very first Flickr Meet. About 50 Flickr members and I went on a very pleasant stroll around London’s South bank along the Tate Modern’s Street Art walking route. Even if you’re not into Street Art, it’s still a great way to spend a few hours in an area of London you may not have otherwise ever ventured into. The art, by five Madrid-based street artists, was pretty cool. Not sensational, but still worth a look. Some of it is pretty random, while other pieces you can appreciate for their obvious complexity. I have to admit, I found wandering through unfamiliar streets and seeing brand new, shiny buildings standing next to old, dirty warehouse buildings more of a thrill than the art. Even more thrilling was seeing my first ever Space Invader, followed shortly afterwards by my second. That’ll be 20 points to me then!
After the walk, we all followed the pink and blue balloons towards the Founders Arms where Flickr treated us to a free drink (literally anything from the bar) and piles of free toasted paninis and sandwiches. Oh, and there was also the obligatory Flickr Schwag and geeky chat. I was a good day. The photos you see in this post were all taken with a Panasonic Lumix TZ5, a camera that boasts an impressive feature set (9MP, 10x Optical, Intelligent Auto mode, HD video). With good reviews elsewhere on the net, and the device looking good on paper, I was expecting to get my money’s worth. My expectations however, were not met. Compared with my much cheaper Nikon L6, the Panasonic did produce sharper images, but failed in producing rich vibrant colours. On the whole, the colours were washed out with a slight, yet detectable blue tint. The lack of vibrancy affected the depth of field and so the images looked flat and lifeless. Some of the images were OK, but for £240, OK isn’t good enough. After two days of ownership, it’s now been sent back. Disappointing.
Incidentally, if you’re considering going to the Tate Modern, don’t! It’s rubbish! Even though it’s free to get in, it’ll be a waste of your time. After just 25 minutes, I left feeling a mixture of depression, confusion and anger. I can appreciate art so long as it looks like someone’s taken time over it to make sure it resembles the thing it’s meant to represent (and admitedly, there are some pieces in the Tate Modern that fulfil this criteria). I cannot and will not appreciate “art” that looks like someone’s rubbed the canvas on the pavement, or dipped it in in a vat of sewage or spilt tea over it. Utter twoddle! It’s the only free attraction I’ve been to where I’ve left feeling I’ve been robbed. The best part of visiting the Tate Modern was crossing the Millennium Bridge (above) to get away from it.
Related Content
For more photos taken on the day, check out the Flickr set.
It’s Christmas Eve and this my second attempt at posting this article after yesterday’s run-in with Wordpress’ unreliability. I don’t expect this article will be anything like the one I wrote yesterday. It’s already pretty different as you might imagine. But you wouldn’t know would you, as you haven’t had a chance to read it… because Wordpress didn’t save it. Anyway, let’s get on shall we.
In the last two years, the few days before Christmas have always been rather busy. Mainly drinks with friends or drinks with people who think we’re friends but I secretly don’t like very much. Nothing too taxing. This year has been no exception.
Last Thursday, I went, with my mum, to London. In particular, we went to the inaugural Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, a rather unnecessarily over-the-top title for a small German Market and fun fair. The German Market was quite nice with stalls selling gifts and trinkets ranging from small wooden puppets on springs to reindeer hides. There were also stalls selling food and drink, which we were glad to take advantage of. Nothing like a portion of Dutch pancakes, washed down with mulled wine to keep the chilly air out. From the German market, we ventured into the centre of the capital, sampling London’s main tourist attractions. We’d both seen them all before, but we’d rarely seen them in darkness. Buckingham Palace looked as grand as ever, the London Eye and Westminster were both as magnificent as always and the massive Christmas Tree in Trafalgar Square was, as usual, terrific. We were lucky to visit during a public carol singing event at the foot of the tree. The event was in aid of seafarers and had attracted a fair crowd, most of whom were joining in the festive jollity. It was great.
On Saturday, I went to London again. This time, I passed straight through the centre and carried on going into Surrey. My team, the Bedford Blues were playing Esher. It wasn’t a great game, with the Blues displaying an almost complete lack of ideas or passion. We were 20 points down by half time. At the end of the second half, we were still 17 points down. With only a few minutes to go, one of our boys found a gap in Esher’s rock solid defence and score a try. Well into stoppage time, Blues seemed to have finally switched on. A minute of two later, it happened again. Another try was scored in front of what was now a stunned crowd. The gap was now only 5 points. Sadly, that was how it ended. The final score was 35-30 in Esher’s favour. Had we had another minute or so, we may have won it. Two tries in about 4 minutes had given us 1 bonus point for scoring 4 tries and another bonus point for losing within 7 points. Crazy!
Yesterday, I completed an unintentional Zooey Deschanel film marathon. I’m not much of a film buff, except around Christmas where I find a taste for them and can’t stop watching them. On Saturday evening, after I had been dropped off by the Blues Followers coach, I watched Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It was pretty good, pretty funny and apparently, kept pretty true to the original Douglas Adams book. Yesterday evening, I watched Elf, a film with plenty of really funny moments but which ended bizarrely. It had nothing to do with the actors. I think it was just badly written, which was a shame. I had planned to watch these two films a few days in advance. Both films starred Zooey Deschanel, an actress whom I had never heard of before and whom I thought was rather lovely. A weird, yet rewarding coincidence.
And that is that. This article actually turned out better than the one I wrote yesterday. You know, that one that Wordpress didn’t want to save. Oh, that’s right, you never got to read it… because Wordpress didn’t save it.Whatever you’re doing this Christmas, I hope it’s everything you want it to be.
Peace and love and Merry Christmas to you all.
Related Content: As always, you can find photos related to this article in my Flickr Gallery.
