Because i will not be defeated

No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."— Samuel Johnson

cheh wah whacking quote all *snigger* -it would be like disrespecting myself if i didn't do a London post.

so here goes...

The dailies, whether spreadsheets or tabloids, totally pwn ST or TNP in terms of sports coverage. everything from the usual footie and F1, to horseriding and rowing, with a lot of cricket and a smattering of rugby thrown in. The variety comes from the countless commentaries on footie..so many viewpoints, all equally rivetting..some more snide than others,yes, but that was the fun bit :P

Every morning there were at least 3 dailies strewn all over the main lobby table of Holland Park youth hostel..what a treat. And whenever we happened to be in central London in the late afternoon/ evenings (which was quite often) we were assaulted by distributors shoving London Lite in our faces every 500m haha. i didnt know this until Dan Radcliffe mentioned it on Jay Leno, but there was a point of time when they actually printed on the front of the paper that "Now in ink that doesn't run (and stain your fingers)" or something to that effect lolz! a lot of tabloid shite in there but CROSSWORDS too!! i was too lazy to do em but i clearly remember one of the answers (to one that Su was doing) being ABBA :D "swedish pop group" heh. and they had sudoku tables in there too...i have never once tried sudoku in my life. so, expliain to me PLEASE -wtf is this obssession with sudoku ?!?!

our very firstest tube ride was from this station right herrrre. most stations are underground though...no airconditioning/ventilation fans or wtv so if its a hot day, too bad, the train'll be stuffy. but lucky for us the weather was in a comfortable "permanent aircon" condition state 90% of the time.sort of, anyways. lemme just say that tube rides made me appreciate SMRT trains; size-wise, comfort-wise and no.of breakdowns-wise :P but the weird thing is i didn't feel overly concious of myself on the tube as i still do on the the mrt. i find that on trains you always get "looks". looks of contempt, curiosity, glances, overt stares.. that sorta thing. but when you make eye contact singaporeans look away guiltily. but on the tube, i got smiles, ACTUAL smiles most of the time.

some random tunnel in london. no lah...it had something to do with Dickens but i really can't remember. i was mostly fascinated by how creepy and blastfromthepast it looked even though it was broad daylight outside..the eerie glow from the lamps and the lack of human traffic. perfect spot for dementor attacks eh?

Entrances to the City of London are marked by dragon statues. dragons and unicorns! ok wait unicorns indicated a royal residence i fink (?) i thought this one had the whole hungarian horntail vibe.

walking down towards the theatre district (aka West End YOOOO!!) guess what was plastered all down the front of a building...

GOOD ON YA,DAN RAD.!!! well at least we go to see Spamalot. but if we'd gone off by ourselves and seen Equus too...THAT would've been off the charts coolness. i promise you, the main draw is not the fact that dan goes starkers. IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK OF ME?! *mock shockhorror* anyways i'd feel so akward. i mean, i couldn't even take it when cho and harry kissed...as Snape put it so aptly, "I could vomit". not cos there was tenderness in the kiss or whatever, but cos its ickle dan rad from sorcerer's stone playing tongue hockey (ok fine i exaggerate) with CHO. YUCK. i can't stand her stupid accent and her cutesy, whiny-voiced "Expelliarmus" attempt and her pseudo-demureness. OK RANT OVER. katie leung has better dress sense than emma watson anyways..

Cleopatra's Needle. not ACTUALLY Cleo's...more like one of the Thutmoses' i believe. Cleo was a Ptolemy, so no connection. ok i just counterchecked with wiki and it was actually Thutmose III's! nice one.vivek and i went up to his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, KV34. Boy it was a steep climb and descent..practically a work out.we had to bend real low and slither through cracks and take care not too tumble down steep stairs (DAMN indie jones adventures sial) but it was all worth it for what was in the main burial chamber. there was a red granite sarcophagus still in there and everything (no mummy though...he's in Cairo Museum) Us two were the only ones in there, except for a guard (=egyptian commoner..someone from a nearby village paid to sit in the tomb all day and glare at tourists) who was twiddling his thumbs outside the antechamber. It was deathly quiet in the antechamber, dimly lit and even harder than usual to breathe cos the air was so thin.But i was drenched in ancient history and only a pane of glass seperated me from the multitude of drawings on the walls; stick figures that were uncharacteristic of the usual etchings i'd seen in the 2 tombs i'd visited before, but still depicting the king's final journey..from the weighing of the heart ceremony to the ascent into the afterlife- to join the stars.

The Thames by night. After "Othello" at the Globe, taken from the Millenium bridge

Paddington station. where more than once Su-Ven-Anjali-YiSiong, jogged/brisk walked to platforms 10/11 to get back to Maidenhead. The archways were beautiful...and yes there was bronze statue of Paddington Bear. much smaller than i expected. i was quite disappointed actually..i mean, its PADDINGTON BEAR! i always thought he'd be a bronze coloured statue on a 6 foot tall pedestal with pretty fountain spurts round the sides forming semi-circular arches, with Londoners sitting round the fountain on seats looking sallow. yes sallow. London is v v polluted.

my favouritest monument,if that's what i should call it, next only to The Gherkin haha. i have in my collection an excess of 30 pictures of the houses of parliament and Big Ben, whether from the London Eye or from parliament square or from westminster abbey. such.a.tourist *hides* Yes, Harry, Tonks and da gang flew past this place in OOTP :)

EARTH has not anything to show more fair;
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty.
This city now doth like a garment wear
The beauty of the morning: silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky,—
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!

-Wordsworth, 1806

I Heart LDN.