Five days in London (Part 1)

Earlier today we bade goodbye to London, after five days. There was a tad sadness in me. Why? 왜요?

I fell in love with London for the following reasons...
- Language
- Impressive Food
- Safe & Efficient City
- Shoppers' Paradise

I felt very comfortable and at ease in London as compared to Paris. (I compared London to Paris because I will be heading to Paris after London.) Most significantly, there was no language barrier. Communication was simply effortless. I love the Brits' pronunciation, so "authentic". Frankly speaking, I hate playing "charades" with non-English speaking people, it was rather frustrating at times.

I would say London was very much a safe city as compared to Paris and the Brits were unexpectedly amiable as compared to the French. The British apologised when they accidentally blocked your way, pushed you, and were amazingly patient when you asked them for directions. The personnels located at the tube stations were kind and gave us advice so that we could save money. In general, they were very very approachable!! I used to stereotype city dwellers as aloof, inhospitable, and unsociable. Of course, I was grossly wrong!

Who could resist restaurants by the Michelin Star chefs? Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Daniel Boulud et al ran eminent restaurants in this vibrant city.
And believe me, they were irresistible and I would add -- money well-spent! In general, having a meal in London was not and never cheap, a simple meal at the Harrods Food Hall (aka food court) cost us about SGD120! Can you imagine Kevin's jaw dropping? With that, you could probably imagine the bill for a decent dinner in a Michelin-star restaurant. Btw, we spent about SGD280 on an Afternoon Tea at the Langham Hotel - Palm Court Tea Room, and psst... Palm Court served award winning Afternoon Tea, and usually they were fully booked up! Well, not everything cost a bomb, they had this sandwich chain, Pret-a-Manger which was very similar to our Sandwich Shop in Singapore. I was having breakfast at this restaurant for almost every morning, I could hardly resist the Mozzarella & Tomato croissant, the croissants were to die for (maybe I was just exaggerating, as what Kevin said!)

Unlike *cough* Paris, the city was very much alive and vibrant on Sunday. Read me, ALL shops were open on Sunday! And supermarkets were at every turn and corner, which was really convenient!

Btw over the past few days, I had a whole new understanding of the words, "departmental store". Seriously, what is Takashimaya, Galeries Lafayette?? I didn't even intent to mention the homegrown stores. Harrods -- you could find everything that you need in this London most lavish and reputable store, toys, furniture, branded clothes, restaurants, food court, supermarket and opera singer!! Believe it or not, there were opera singers standing at the balcony at different times throughout the day to perform. There were about 300 departments and 20 restaurants that spread over 1 million square feet. I liked Selfridges on Oxford Street too.

Do you know that the London Underground (aka Tube) incorporates the oldest section of underground railway in the world, which opened in 1863 and now forms part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan lines; and the first line to operate electric trains, in 1890, now part of the Northern line. And yet, unlike of the MRT of Singapore, the system was extremely efficient and the waiting time was short and the trains were not sardine packed even on weekends. We could still breathe in the trains. Shame on Singapore!

The Brits were very cultured, I realised they were somewhat "dramatic" and animated when they talked among themselves. Perhaps they watched too many musicals. I managed to catch the musical, Les Misérables on one of the days there. The theatre was full even on a weekday, filled with teenagers and parents who bought their kids to enjoy the musicals. I was bewildered and gobsmacked at the same time. It seemed that watching a musical or play was part of their lives and one of the favourite activities that teenagers would do together. Seriously, I wouldn't expect Singaporeans to be so cultured. I would love to accompany Ziv to cultural events in future.

I blogged this entry on my iPhone Blogger app while lying on the hotel bed in Paris on Sunday, i.e shops were closed. Posted some pictures in this entry, there were probably not uploaded in the order as much as I want them to.

The following were pictures taken at the:
- Queen's Theatre where we caught the musical, Les Misérables.

- Fish n Chips (the so-called best fish n chip in the world, couldn't recall the name, was recommended by Lonely Planet)

- A snapshot of the Harrods Food Hall

- The food we ate from the Steakhouse at Harrods Food Hall. (Garden salad, steak, beer, cheese macaroni)

More posts about my sightseeing, foodie adventures and shopping spree...