London

LONDON - tubes, fish and chips, Thames, architecture..oh and pubs! How could I forget that?

Too many people rushing past me, that's what I felt like when I first arrived here in London. Just way too many people. Okay, you can't blame me ;)  I've been living in Texas for the past 5 years. My friends say "But you're from Kuala Lumpur! That's a congested city!". But yeah, I haven't been actually living in Kuala Lumpur for over a decade. For those of you who have no idea where Kuala Lumpur is, look it up. As most travellers will say, it's above Singapore. I guess once you start living somewhere, you kind of just start adapting to the lifestyle and way things are in that place. So, coming for a trip to London was overwhelming at first. But then the city girl in me came out and I was enjoying the tube rides, how fast it gets you somewhere and how connected the railways is.
Though I have to tell you, I love my SUV and will not trade it in for anything, including taking trains everywhere I go. That's the Texan in me talking. I have done travelling by trains during my younger days in Kuala Lumpur and I know how difficult it is to walk, skip and almost run to the station in the heat and rain, worse still snow, especially if you have young children in strollers or babies in your arms. Nope, I'll stick to my car, thank you.

Complaints aside, I truly loved the architecture and food culture. I mean, travelling through time inside of Westminster Abbey itself is enough to make you gape at the amazing interior and intricacy of it all and wonder how they did it all those centuries ago. St.Paul's Cathedral and Big Ben and Tower Bridge and London Bridge, I mean everywhere I looked, there was a sight to behold. I guess if you're living in London or have been living here all your life, you'd just get so used to the idea of passing by Westminster Abbey on the way to work everyday. Or going out for coffee with your pals in a cafe next to Tower Bridge. I couldn't take it for granted, I was simply absorbing all the views and experiences. I could tell that my daughter was too. She's an artist and she was just having an experience of a lifetime coming face to face with all these magnificent architecture.

And my son was on the other hand, having a gastronomical experience of his own. He was eating fish and chips in every restaurant or pub we went to. Nothing else caught his fancy, just him and his fish and chips!

As for me, how could we go to London and NOT have tea? That's a no-no for me. So, I arranged for us to afternoon tea at BB Bakery at Covent Garden. Two tray loads of assorted sandwiches, scones, pastries and cakes. Delish! My son ate all the meat sandwiches and my daughter all the cucumber sandwiches, leaving me and my husband the scones, pastries and cakes. The things you give up for your kids ;)

Next on the agenda - river cruise. Our friend, also our tour guide, came up with this brilliant idea of doing a 'cruise' on Thames - except on a speedboat. His exact words in describing what we were about to venture "It'll feel like we're in a James Bond movie". Okay, the speed boat came with the James Bond theme too! I wasn't expecting that. Thought our pal here was pulling our leg. But it was fancy and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Water in your face (not worried if it was clean or not at that point), lovely view and great company, it was a cool ride!

Will I go back to London? Heck yeah! In a heartbeat. No questions asked. There's so much more to explore. I haven't had the time to describe my trip to the Jack The Ripper Museum. It'll have to do for another day.