London – Day Four.

This is the last day, so it better be good!

After purchasing my tickets from the box office for tonight’s show (Dealer’s Choice), I KNEW it will be good! I got a seat just a few rows away from the first – for almost half the price, lucky me!

So today’s agenda was the Buckingham Palace and Camden Town (again). And the play of course.

I took the Tube to the Victoria Station and just guessed my way to the palace from there. It worked with no detours, but it was a loooooong walk. Remember, I’m not the sporty type, so anything beyond 500 meters is really a major challenge.

The weather was perfect, though. So that made up for all the struggles I had

Had lunch in Camden Town, chilled and strolled a bit, and before I knew it, it was time for the show.

This wasn’t the last time I was here!

 

London – Day Three.

We set off for Greenwich to check out the Prime Meridian before we visited some other far-out London spots today. Unlike the past few days, it was cloudy, windy, friggin’ cold, and I was quite pissed. It’s hard to be cheerful while your inner organs are freezing.

All bad vibes aside, we arrived at the Greenwich station and actually wanted to see the Cutty Sark, a clipper ship used as a merchant vessel which was built centuries ago, but were downhearted to learn that the good old ship is currently undergoing restoration.

We then proceeded to pass by the Royal Naval College just along the riverpath. On the same grounds was The Queen’s House which featured some ancient paintings and artworks etc. “Photographing is not allowed, Miss”, the keeper warned me while I was taking a picture of Queen Elizabeth I’s portrait. Oops.

Did you know that One Tree Hill is not only a TV-series, but a spot in the Greenwich Park as well?

Some park impressions:

 

A few meters southwards was the Royal Observatory which also marked the location of the Prime Meridian. The Peter Harrison Planetarium was just right behind. Standing at the Royal Observatory, one can overlook the River Thames and the London Docklands.

We decided to check out the Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs before we had lunch. So we headed back to the railway station and found these on the way:

 

 

 

One Canada Square at the Canary Wharf: The tallest building in the UK.

 

It was waaay past midtime and my energy level was so absolutely down to null. Time for Lunch in Brick Lane, a.k.a “Banglatown” (the dishes offered at each restaurant will tell you why).

 

One cute encounter I had:

 

Oh Wenty…

 

London – Day Two.

Today’s tour started off at Covent Garden, a marketplace known for its Royal Opera House and street performers. We got off the station and were just about to check the happenings and some shopping spots before we set off to Westminister when we came across a huge crowd formed into a semi-circle. Standing amidst all the pairs of curious eyes and ears were two fine gentlemen dressed in suits, one soap box, and a unicycle which, as far as my eyes could have guesstimated from up close, was about 3 meters tall (that’s approx. 10′ for all you non-metric-unit-users). How lucky of us to just have arrived on time to witness some funky street stunt show.

First, the right guy started snacking on his apple, then he juggled two machetes. While snacking on the apple. The left guy then made some gross gag of eating the apple from the right guy’s mouth. I friggin’ swear. It was so yucky that it impressed me. A volunteer joined them later on to help hold the unicycle up, while the stunt man tries to get on the saddle. Actually, it’s child’s play. Watch:

I’d rather not try that one at home, though.

 

That performance was a real whackin’ and a wobblin’.

 

 

But that didn’t end there! Little Scott from the audience was asked to throw some pins for the unicycle-guy to catch. It took some minutes for Scottie to toss the pins right as his cast range was quite limited due to his height. Ooooh, now that made the audience’s heart melt. The two stooges ended their show with an exchange juggling act. The guy on the soap box threw his pins to the guy on the unicycle while juggling and vice versa. Great show.

The street performers got an enormous round of applause and a generous amount of donations.

So when then moved on to Leicester Square to purchase tickets for tonight’s show of Chicago *shriek*, checked out some souvenirs and headed to Picadilly Circus afterwards.

We passed by the Trafalgar Square and found the Admiralty Arch on The Mall. And as we walked down the Whitehall, we saw the Horse Guards surrounded by hundreds of wild picture-happy tourists (me inclusive, though it must have really sucked for the guard to be in such a weird spotlight as they are actually supposed to maintain a straight face while doing their jobs. And, of course, many made some nutty attempts to crack them up. Bozos . Lucky for them, the horse didn’t get pissed off. I felt with that guard, really. ).

Then we finally reached the Bridge St. to get a sight of the world-famous Big Ben, the giant clock tower on the Palace of Westminister. Today is Saturday, so there was a lot going on in the streets. Most of them stood on the bridge to snap some pictures of Big Ben and London Eye. We wanted to check out London Eye too actually, but the eternal queue turned us off. Besides, it was cooler to experience the sights from up close rather from up above anway – my humble opinion.

Later in the afternoon we took the Tube at the Waterloo station to drive to Camden Town and visit the street markets and Camden Lock.

That “Lost” billboard was practically everywhere in town, and there was no chance for one to miss it. Unfortunately, I did not see any Prison Break billboards

Camden Town is one helluva ‘hood. The beauty of this town is its eccentricity. There was so much crazy stuff there, I was too busy gaping to take any snapshots (a thing I will regret until I come back here again). There was either a tattoo or a piercing studio (or a tattoo AND a piercing studio) on every block. And we met a gang of authentic punks hanging around enjoying themselves in front of the Camden Lock. Too cool for words. It’s a paradise for all punks, goths, and ravers. And yeah, regardless of the fact that I’m surely not one of the three, it was definitely amazing. A superficial peek into London’s subculture.

The Camden Lock Market was a bit of a world market, with stalls and shops full of unique goodies and yummy food from all over the world. It’s an absolute must-see!

We drove back to Leicester Square later that evening to experience my personal highlight of today the whole trip:

One really gets dazzled with all that jazz .

London.

Yeah, baby, I’m in London! The second largest city in Europe after Moscow – or so I heard. Today was a perfect day for a city stroll, and I couldn’t help but hum “London Bridge” while I was driving from Greenhithe to London Bridge by train.

So my first stop for today was London Bridge, which runs over the River Thames . I was desperately looking for its two iconical towers when it just so happened that I turned my face to the sun (which was on my right) and accidentally found the two towers I was searching for on the other bridge, standing there in all its grace.

That was worth a slap on the forehead. So kids: Never mess up London Bridge with Tower Bridge. I repeat: London Bridge is not Tower Bridge. So I reset my course and aimed for the Tower Bridge, walking along the Thames path.

And it looked something like this:

On my way there I caught a glimpse of the Tower of London:

You might have noticed the clear blue skies shining through the background. BBC forecasted snow days before! (At least that’s what my friend warned me about). London = My lucky town

My artistic attempt of the bridge (uh yeah I know – thanks anyway )

Then I had to pass through this path to get up on the bridge. Did I mention that Jack the Ripper used to live in the very same city a few centuries ago?

And this I did not ride. As fun, convenient, and as a “must-do” as it may be, the thought of my tropical buns sitting on the deck while the 2°C wind blows my sun-spoilt cheeks at approx. 30-50 km/h actually turned me off.

So I took the Tube at the Tower Hill Station and saw this sign on my way there:

Now that’s some sign. I was definitely on my way to West End (to save some theaters by patronizing them – though I wouldn’t exactly refer to myself as an angry star) when I saw it. I stared at the sign for about half a minute, then left with my head shaking and the edges of my lips moving upwards. What. A. Coincidence.

Upon arriving at Leicester Square, I grew tired of the constant map checks I was doing since London Bridge, so I decided to get a fix on my current location, mentally bookmark the few spots of my interest, and just simply rely on my geographical instincts and go from there. And yeah, it worked.

One good thing about strolling in a foreign city without having to pack out bulky maps out of pygmy-looking (yet mysteriously spacious) bags on every block was that you actually get to discover some neat spots by accident. Travelling this way, you practically always have to be ready for a surprise. And don’t worry about getting lost – that’s quite a hard thing to do in London. There are signs and maps everywhere! So unless you’re illiterate, or persistent / stuck on going for your own fixed agenda, I heartily recommend you to let your instincts guide and lead the way. It’s worth the kick.

So that’s what led me to Chinatown. AFAIK, it’s Chinese New Year so the streets were all decorated accordingly. I saw some half-crisped ducks hanging on some diner windows and well, it kinda stupefied me a bit. Not that I’ve never seen some dead animals hanging on the window before, mind you (hellooo, I grew up like, in, Manila?), but the sight just came so “in-your-face”-like. But then again, it was Chinatown, man! Chow of all sorts (dead, alive, or something in between ) was the least one should expect.

There was also this cute shopping center full of Hello-Kitty-goodies and all other kitschy stuff that ever exist. Some were even ludicrous. Like this one here (makes me wonder what ever led that guy on the shirt to do so in the first place):

I was gradually feeling some strain on my feet (I have been walking for about 5 hours) so I decided to slowly but surely head back home. Then I just took the next walking route which I thought would lead me to the nearest tube station. And, surprise surprise, I discovered The National Gallery at the Trafalgar Square. I was actually thinking of checking it out as they offered free admission that day (and I usually take advantage of such treats most of the time), but the foot ache I have been enduring since the last half hour advised me better not to. That, or I’ll just drop dead at the gallery. A tough choice for a Gemini to make, but I settled for the former.

Quite good for the first day, huh?

Now I really felt all warmed up for some real sightseeing the next few days.

Itchy Feet.

I booked my next trip.

I will be visiting an old friend in…. *drumroll*

LONDON!

I’ve been there 10 years ago already, and I’m so excited to see all the new stuff that has been happening to this hunky-dory metropolis.

I am really looking forward to West End: Theatreland! Yes, yes, yes! Hundreds and hundreds of theaters…everywhere! 18 more days to go…

My heart is melting.

A Day at the Beach 3.

My last stroll along the beach *sniff* before I fly back home.

All The Games People Play.

After staying at the resort for more than 10 days now, we finally managed to take part in the daily hotel activities they offer their guests. We started off with at 1100 hrs with air rifle shooting. I lost. As in like I was really the last one on the list with whopping 6 points or so while the others had 20 points at least.

After lunch, and a short walk around the block, we proceeded with beach bowls at 1400 hrs. The goal was to throw your metal ball as close to the target ball as possible. My talent of focusing on target and aiming for it still has not improved yet since this morning. The game was fun but in spite of all the enthusiasm I felt, I lost. No big deal.

 

1600 hrs was dart time. Now that was something I was actually familiar of and even got to play sometime in my past. I did have a few good throws, but they still were of no 1st-place quality. So guess what? I lost. I’m starting to get comfy with it, however. Practice makes perfect, you know. One positive side effect of being such a chronic loser though is that you get to know people people get to know you. They even tend to dig you more than the game winners. So, yeah, that was pretty cool

Last game for today was horseshoe pitching. I scored a few points during the first rounds. But you know the story. I did it again. And we all ended up celebrating my successful and continuous series of defeats.

We also bought tickets for tonight’s bingo game. My friend bought one, I bought two. And you know what?? I won. I got five digits right. TWICE. Now how’s that for a compensation? I got 2 bunches of some cool deals: 2 boxes of Turkish delights (which have been ingurgitated by some avid fellows that very night) , Ali Baba slippers, 2 bottles of red wine from Pamukkale, 2 gift coupons for a back massage in the hotel’s spa, and a spice collection.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut .

Resort Impressions 3.

Looking Back.

2007 has been quite a momentous and enlightening year with all its usual ups, downs, and plateaus. Encountering severance from someone who practically used to be the center of my life left me… empty. It’s like trying to fill that hole with all sorts of waddings, yet the pit seemed bottomless. I tried to patch it to at least cover the hole. But really, sewing has never been one of my assets. Still, this hole was yearning to be filled.

The whole situation forced me to betake myself to a quest; a quest with an unknown destination. Which turned out to be everything but fruitful, as it’s really hard to quest for something when you don’t even know where to start – let alone what you are looking for in the first place. I tried to find some orientation by formulating the real issue I had as accurate as I could: “I want to move on with my life, and fill the hole as I go.”

The search for my quest’s destination was so obvious, but I was caught up in other major life-boggling issues for kids my age that I failed to see the woods for the trees. My new quest’s destination is:

Me.

So I started new hobbies, had a new passion, went on great trips, met new people, made new friends, widened my horizons, grew up a bit more. 2007 was not that bad after all. Come to think of it, if I never had this heart-breaking experience in the first quarter of 2007, I would have never got into doing all the other refreshing stuff.

I also found out that this hole that keeps on haunting me was actually the new chapter of my life’s book in disguise. It’s now ready to do some major rocking. No wonder its bottomless. For as Mr. S. Tyler once said: “Life’s a journey, not a destination.”

You live, you learn. Funny how some childhood hits first start to make sense as you grow older.

As of the present, I’m starting to get ready for tonight’s party. Food, music, dance, wine, cocktails, and eye candies are some of tonight’s agenda.

Let’s end the year with a big “Thank you!” and welcome the new one with a warm hug.

Bring it on, 2008. I’m ready.

Alanya, Gözleme, and Tavla.

We went to Alanya for some shopping today and visited the Citadel which was built during the 13 th century. The castle stands on a peninsula, and one can get a marvelous view of its tips while standing on the castle’s seaward.

I skipped breakfast as well as lunch today, and I was really running out of energy and stamina (not that I had a high level of such, though, hyak hyak) from all that hiking and hill-climbing so it was high time for me to refill my calorie tank again. While driving downhill we past by a local homey tea garden. And stopped there as a matter of course. It was no coincidence that they had snacks too. Lucky for me. Instead of having a çay, I decided to go for an ayran (a refreshing Turkish yoghurt drink), as this tastes better with gözleme (“goez-leh-meh”, a Turkish pancake). I had one filled with feta cheese and minced meat. What a soothing relief to my hungry palate.

We ended the day hanging out and chilling in the same café bar we were in Manavgat yesterday, playing tavla (Turkish backgammon) and smoking nargile.