Football fan? I am not actually, but...

I'm not a fan of football. I'm really not. But living in London, I can't help but noticing how people here are so crazy about football. Or football mad as some people call it. A few weeks before world cup started, I already saw cars with England flags on everywhere. Houses, windows, balconies were decorated with bigger flags. I also saw on newspapers that there was even a pub whose owner is a football fanatic and he decorated his pub's roof with the largest England flag he bought on ebay. A few days before the world cup started, the news then went on talking about how people would call in sick and avoid work to watch the match and how it would cost UK businesses because of that.

Today, my office was a little quiet. Quite a few of my colleagues finished worked early to watch the 3pm qualifying match of England vs Slovenia. And yes, if you're wondering, we are allowed to go home early to watch the game and we can pay the hours back later. I think a lot of companies do that too. After 2 rather disappointing games, many people were very hopeful that England could go further. Anyway...where was I? Oh yes...my office was a little quiet and then suddenly I heard people cheering so loud. Yeaahhhh! There must have been a big screen or big TV somewhere near my office building where people gathered to watch the match. The cheer made me and my colleagues who were working to wonder. What happened? Did England score a goal? So we checked the internet and found out about the first goal. Another loud cheer - the almost second goal. And so on, until the game finished where England won 1-0 over Slovenia. England can go forward. Yeay! And people were happy. Somehow I could feel it. Football brings people together.

So you see, now I know that much about the world cup and football...:). And not to forget, the world cup song, which my daughter keeps on singing everyday as her school has been preparing its students with world cup theme for its open day this Friday.

Here's the link to the song in youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhM-cpSwrmM&NR=1

And my last words to people here who are really passionate about football: Go England Go!

Spring Blooms in St James' Park and Green Park

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine told me to visit St. James' Park because the daffodils in the park were abundant, blooming everywhere and breathtakingly beautiful. She also told me to go quickly before all the daffodils went wilted. Well, I only managed to go there last weekend and yes, some of the daffodils were wilted but most were not. I also went to the nearby park Green Park and saw loads of fresh daffodils there. Wilted or not, I think they're still beautiful. Proofs are in the photos below. And thanks for the tips, J!

Fresh daffodils in Green Park

I always love these lines of trees in Green Park

Cherry blossoms in St. James' Park. Notice that everyone is seeking the sun, no one is under the shade.

St James' Park with bits of London Eye in the background

Getting up, close and personal with these lovely flowers in St. James' Park. I was literary under them.

The line of trees and the daffodils (both the wilted and the not) in St. James' Park

Chatting with friends amongst the flowers is the best way to enjoy the park

I'm Walking London: Primrose Hill and Regent's Park

There is nothing more exciting than waking up in the morning to find the sun is up and shining through my bedroom windows. I know straight away that spring has come. For some reason, the days are always fresh, the sky is always blue and the birds are chirping more happily than before. The weather has been very good to London these past few weeks and it makes people get on with outdoor activities. I myself feel obliged to go outdoor every weekend. I know I don’t have to but I must! London is famous for its cloudy sky and when the cloud disappears and is replaced by the sun with blue sky in the background, everyone in London is flocking every outdoor places you can imagine available, be it the parks, the beaches or their own backyards. It always feels good to be outside and to enjoy the good weather.

Last weekend I went out to walk for a bit. I kind of need the exercise, you know, after months of hiding in my apartment away from the coldness of winter. I need to breathe in the spring air and to re-introduce my skin with the warmth of the sun. And so I did a walk that I followed from a book called ‘Walking London’ by Andrew Duncan. It started from Chalk Farm tube station toward Primrose Hill Park and Regent’s Park and ended in Regent’s Park tube station. It is spring time and we need the walk in the parks!

The walk from Chalk Farm tube station to Primrose Hill Park was about ten minutes and I passed by a local high street on Regent’s Park Road. It’s got a few cafes, restaurants and pubs. It wasn’t very crowded but quite a cozy street to stroll when you need to get a quick bite after your rest in the park. Once I entered the gate of park, I immediately saw a hill in front of me. It was where a lot of people hung around. I hesitantly walked up to the hill but when I reached the summit, I understood why many people hung around here. The view from the summit was fantastic. I could see the London Zoo, Regent’s Park, London Eye and some building blocks of the city. I could also see the whole park itself from up there. It’s a small park, grassy, and manicured very nicely with walking paths and line of lights. You can bring your picnic baskets or read your book or just sit or lie on the grass and enjoy the weather. The park has got a very inviting ambience which is very pleasant.

I continued my walk toward the south-east corner of the Primrose Hill Park and found the London Zoo. I walked a bit more and I saw one of the entry points of Regent’s Park. There were many sport pitches on this side of the park. I saw people playing football, tennis, cricket, and many other type of sports. Then I walked to the boating lake where I saw people were busy moving and rowing the boats about the lake. There was a children’s playground near the lake and many children were playing there happily like there is no tomorrow. The park was huge and tended with very proper care. Colourful flowers were blooming everywhere in the park. I enjoyed the walk from the lake to the open air theatre the most. It was, after all, a walk by the lake and I felt very much at peace. There was an area called bandstand nearby and it is really good for picnic and reading books on deckchairs (if they are available).

It was already dark before I could finish my walk in Regent’s Park. The walk was supposed to go on to the open air theatre, Queen Mary's Garden and end at Chester gate. There were so many spots in the park where we just stopped and played around. I don’t think it matters if we finish the walk or not. The important thing is we enjoyed the day and we all did. I’m looking forward to another great day outdoor.

Contact Details:

Address: Regent's Park, London, NW1 4NR

Website: http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/regents_park/

Nearest Stations: Chalk Farm or Camden Town (to Primrose Hill Park), Baker Street or Regent's Park (to Regent's Park)

Opening Hours: from 5am until dusk all year round

The cozy Primrose Hill Park

Primrose Hill Park

Enjoying the summit of the Primrose Hill Park

Primrose Hill Park

Regent's Park

One side of Boating Lake at Regent's Park 

Sunset at boating Lake, Regent's Park

Regent's Park

Daffodils in Regent's Park

Flowers in Regent's Park

More flowers in Regent's Park

Close up on a daffodil

Regent's Park

Rowing at Boating Lake, Regent's Park

More Rowing at Boating Lake, Regent's Park

Borough Market, London

The oldest food market in London, Borough Market is my favourite. Everytime anyone of my friends came to London, I always brought them here. The place is always full of people and very lively. It is touristy but that doesn't bother me at all. There are many variety of stalls around selling almost everything. I love to taste the yummy cheeses, the variety of olives, the delicious cakes, the hot chocolate (in cold weather) and not to forget, the world famous chocolate brownies. I can't resist the chorizo sandwich located at Brindisa. I always join the long queue and have it right there. Hmmm, very yummy sandwich. Now I'm hungry just thinking about it :).

This market is definitely not to be missed if you're visiting London.

Contact Details:

Address: Borough High Street, Borough, SE1 9DE

Website: http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk

Nearest Station: London Bridge or Borough

Opening Hours:

Thu 11.00 - 17.00

Fri 12.00 - 18.00

Sat 9.00 - 16.00

Monmouth Cafe, London

One Saturday, I was brought by a friend of friend (an American who had lived here before) to Monmouth cafe. We were in the Borough Market and he praised this cafe a lot for its good coffee. This place was full of people and the queue was long. I ordered a latte to take out and at the first sip, I thought it was too strong for me.

A few days ago, I went in to the cafe again. It was Monday morning and I happened to be in the area. There were people queueing but not as long as that Saturday. I ordered a cup of cappuccino and was asked whether I would want double or a single shot of esspreso. The staff explained usually the cappuccino there is served in double shots of esspreso. That explained my first sip that was too strong. I opted for a single shot and this time it was perfect.

The cafe itself is small and the interior gives a very rustic feel. There is only one big table to be shared by customers where baskets of breads and jams are displayed in the middle of the table. Other seats are individual seats where two narrow bar like tables are attached to the wall. Even window ledges are used as tables. And for those looking for munchies to accompany your coffee, there are varieties of pastries and cakes displayed on a serving table.

A bunch of leaflets explaining about the history of the company and sources of their coffees are available for you to read. This is an independent local company which travels to different places to get the best beans and has been roasting its own coffee to get the best flavour. It shows how passionate the company is about coffee.

This is one exceptional place for serious coffee drinkers. Just be warned of the long queue on Saturdays.

Contact Details:

Address: 2 Park Street, Borough, London, SE1 9AB

Phone: +44 (0)20 7940 9960

Email: beans@monmouthcoffee.co.uk

Website: http://www.monmouthcoffee.co.uk/

Nearest Station: London Bridge or Borough

Opening hours:

Mon - Sat 07.30-18.00

Closed on Bank Holidays

The Super Long and Snaky Queue at New Tayyabs, London

I went to New Tayyabs, a Pakistani restaurant that has great reviews, last night. I called to make a booking a few hours in advance but was told to come as it was on a first come first serve basis. When I reached the restaurant (around seven thirty) I was in shock to see the long queue but I thought it was not going to be very long to get a table. All of us, who were queueing, were standing in between the tables and chairs around (with people having dinner at the tables). The queue was too long that it went to a U turn at the end of the queue and that's in between the tables and chairs. Another U turn was in the hallway towards the ladies. The queue was barely moving and I stood for a long time in the ladies' hallway. It was stuffy and felt like forever. After two hours waiting, I gave up. Looking at the queue, it looked like I would be there for another hour (or maybe an hour and a half) and I was already so hungry. The food that came out from the kitchen smelled so nice and I could only stand in the queue and look at others eating it. It was a torture.

I have been to this restaurant once before. It was last summer at lunch time. The restaurant was empty and I got a table very easily. I have been warned by my friend about the queue but I had never expected it to be this long. The guy in the cake counter told me to make a booking two days in advance the next time because they don't take same day booking. Booking definitely is a must.

I'm still upset with the whole thing. I will wait until I can forget about last night and probably come back again.

I Walked on Ice

I just came back from my dentist today. As much as I wanted to stay at home, away from the cold, I had a dentist appointment that I had to attend in the morning. As I walked out my apartement, what I saw immediately was the snow had gone hard and it's not as beautiful as it looked yesterday. When it was snowing yesterday, the snow was really soft, flaky and easy to walk. This morning the flakes changed to this hard ice, something like the ice in ice skating rinks but with uneven surface. If you have ice skated before then you know how very slippery it is to walk the rink with normal shoes. Now imagine the skating rink is moved to road pavements and add the uneven surface to them. If you're not careful enough your backside could easily hit the ground. So you can imagine how hard it is to walk it. The normally ten minutes walk took me about half hour to walk. And along the way, I almost fell down a couple of times.

I'm still learning about the different types of ice after snow. Beside the hard ice there were two other types that I came across today such as the ice slush and ice crust. If you ask me which one is better I'd probably have a hard time answering because I prefer none. The ice slush is like, you know, slush. It's watery and wet, and when mixed with the debris of the roads it looks kind of brownishy and it does not look pretty at all. The ice crust probably is safer to walk as it's not as slippery as the hard ice and it's not as wet as the slush. But as I said before I prefer none. Anyway, I hope I'm not boring you with the different types of snow. I just find it fascinating learning about this new stuff.

The road to my dentist - I was resting here and taking photo at the same time :)

It's Snowing in London!

Living in London has its varieties. One of them is the snow at winter times. I've been living here for two years but this is the first time I saw the snow this thick. It was about 10cm thick in the morning and it's been snowing non-stop that in a local newspaper it's said that it has reached about 17.5cm deep. The newspaper also mentioned that this blizzard has caused the thickest snow in London since 1964.

The bizzare thing about the snow in London is that the city is incapable of coping with it. Two years ago when it was snowing for 4cm of depth, most of the tube lines were not working resulting in people flocking buses to work. I myself spent almost 2 hours reaching office. And of course, it was not a nice experience as I had to queue for a long time in the bus stop and when I managed to get a bus I had to squeeze myself to get into it with everybody else. This time, with 17.5cm of depth, I would expect it to get worse and it did. A lot of people were left stranded in the middle of going to work, some made it to office after a few hours and some others, who couldn't make it to office, went back home and tried to work from home. What happened with the public transportation? Some tube lines are either cancelled, partly suspended or with delays. Some buses were out of service due to road safety. In short, London is in a halt. You would have never thought that being a city used to wintry weather, London is having difficulty with its infrastructures whenever there is snow. And it's the sad truth. To its defense, London doesn't always experience snow in winter, especially one like this is very rare. That's probably why the infrastructures were not built to deal with it.

But it's not all bad news. I went out to walk in my neighbourhood and people were out and about, taking photos, making snowman, and in the park nearby people were sledging, snowboarding or just enjoying the snow. Dogs were obviously happy in the park. They were running around eating snow and scrubbing their faces to the snow. I also went out to Tower Bridge to take some photos of the city in white. Luckily the tube were working okay from my home to Tower Hill station and back. And so here are some photos I took today. Enjoy!

The view from my balcony

Another view from the balcony

On the way to the park - a post box covered with snow

This is an unusual sight - the park had a number of visitors today

On one side of the park with the pond

Another View of the park

Walking to The Tower Bridge

The Tower Pier and Tower Bridge

The City Hall

The Seats near Tower of London overlooking the Tower Bridge