londonponders

yesterday i went on another great walkabout. different from the first great walkabout becuase this time it involved shopping (hmm, make that window shopping). just about killed my feet. but it was worth it, not least because i made more london observations! shall call them londonponders. lame name. ah well.

did you know...

- some of the clothes in GAP (kinda like a british giordano/u2, slightly more upmarket though) are manufactured in singapore.

- the singapore tourism board advertises in london. i saw this 'uniquely singapore' ad in a tube station. the ad's main picture looked suspiciously like macritchie. well, i could be wrong. it could be peirce.

- harrods has a "hen-cam" (i kid you not, that's what it's called) at its eggs section. live webcasts of chicken - oops sorry, i mean hens ("old cotswold legbar hens" and "burford browns") in their coops at "clarence court" (some farm).

[harrods is incredible, by the way. all the stuff (a word which doesn't do justice to all the fantastic, um, stuff there, especially in the food hall). at incredibly cardiac-arresting prices too.

i've found a book i really want. a year in the merde (which means 'shit' in french) by one stephen clarke. more faux-pas-in-france stories. now all i have to do is convince myself to part with £10. (which could get me 5 scoops of gelato ice cream in harrod's food hall)

no, can't be done.]

- the toilets at harrods are labelled "luxury washrooms". i guess they're clean and odour-free and all, but they're certainly not the most luxurious i've ever seen. oh, and the toilet doors are forever closed. even when there's no one inside. the toilet attendant was beside herself with frustration, raising her voice to tell the women standing patiently outside empty cubicles to throw themselves in.

- oxford street... probably the london equivalent of s'pore's orchard road, which doesn't even come close. i counted at least 4 large zaras. ditto h&m (this really cool relatively low-price fashion store). i had to do so many double-takes.

- near an oxford street bus stop, an area teeming with people, there was a fellow armed with a loudhailer going on and on about demons and whatnot. crazy.

other londonponders

- a decent (e.g. cheese & tomato?) sandwich will definitely cost >S$8

- lots of people are actually employed to hold large placards (e.g. "cheap deals inside!" or meals from as low as £4!") outside stores

- strangers can be quite polite. i've had 2 guys (ok, not that many, but still) hold doors open for me at store entrances. and sometimes people give up their seats to other people quite readily on the tube.

- people ask cigarettes off each other

- the trains come quite frequently. and the punctuality rate's a dismal 86%. the trains are actually quite clean. so much for the older northern line trains ;)

- i could get really fat here if i don't watch out! food portions can be quite big. but then again, my budget is small. so there.

.

had indian food for dinner just now, a friend's father treated us.

the food was great. i love nan, it reminds me a lot of zha (fried) mantou, which i love to death (have eaten 6 at one sitting before).

i realise that the student house i'm gonna be living in is a bit 'far' from where most singaporeans will be living (in halls).

at first i was made to feel a bit daunted. ("wah yar hor, you're staying very far leh...")

but now i don't care. i'm in london dammit. where everyone's from everywhere, it's so amazing.

there's so much to see and do in london. love it.

(and i do love the tube, haha. but i guess i'd change my mind if i were stuck in a tube tain 45 mins during winter. ouch)