random london observations

the heart of london is so multicultural. to think i once thought that s'pore is very multiracial..

everywhere you turn, every other person (almost, i'm not exaggerating) is of a different race/nationality. yesterday i must have heard at least 7 different languages - brit english (duh), american english (not the same as brit english mind you ;P), french, german, chinese, korean, spanish, and eastern european (might've been russian, but how would i know?)...

and i passed by people of countless nationalities... there are many people of asian and african origin in london.

i asked myself a couple of times during my walkabout: who are the real natives of london? most people here appear to have been transplanted here from elsewhere.

it's so fascinating. the cosmopolitan-ism.

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crowd - what crowd?

maybe it had something to do with the fact that yesterday was a weekday. but where were the throngs of crowds i had expected? compared to orchard road peak hour, the streets are much less busy. but then again, i've only been around bloomsbury, leicester square, trafalgar square and the embankment... cher, my cousin, says that the area where she works - around westminster - is much more crowded and abuzz. we shall see :)

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the public transport system.

maybe i'm being overly optimistic. but i actually found the london transport system easy to use and efficient.

my cousin jay almost snorted when i expressed this opinion to him. hmm.

you know how s'pore's mrt station platforms have this informative screen telling you how many minutes will pass before the next train arrives?

well some london bus stops have that too! it's pretty convenient, to know that your bus will arrive in 7 minutes, especially if you want to pop into a shop nearby briefly and don't want to miss your bus.

and london's superbly walkable largely thanks to the cool weather. it's very possible to walk from one tube station to another (actually this is also possible in s'pore, it's just that the humidity and heat makes walking unbearable).

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homeless people. one begging in the tube station. another feeding pigeons from his makeshift bed in the underground walkway. a third unconscious on a bench, with a plastic bag filled with 3 beer cans sitting on the floor.

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i'm gonna go gallivanting a bit today again. probably go up to hampstead heath, which is supposed to be this huge park. and i'm pretty sure i know where the creperie is now ;), so i'll go there later too.

it's not as sunny as it was yesterday. slight gloom.

i've figured that happiness has to come from within. i'll try my darndest not to let the weather get to me. think happy thought. :)

solitude is different from loneliness. most of the time i'm enjoying my solitude, but occasionally i get lonely and think about people, wish you were here with me.

but then i look at the photos and see all the cheery smiles, and any sadness just melts away.