[L.E.P.A.K series: London] Chapter 26: The Morning After

It's our last morning in London. Boohoohoo. :(

We woke up to another chilly morning with heavy hearts, knowing that we will soon bid farewell to this gloomy city that we have came to love through the past week.

Baker Street Station turned out to be so much bigger than we thought. After so many visits throughout the entire week, we somehow managed to find ourselves at another part of the station that we have yet to explore before.

A good 30 minutes later, we found ourselves in front of a lovely view of a cosy London neighbourhood. Sure, the trees are bare and sticking out in a weird scary kind of way but hey, it's a view nonetheless and a view that we don't see at home. So it's still pretty in its own eccentric way. :)

Yup. We're at Portobello Road. If the name doesn't ring a bell then Nottinghill probably will. We're here for another morning market experience! Sorry that your tour group would probably give market places like this a miss because here's where the action really is. Hehe. 

 Or at least that's what we thought.

We were confused and disappointed when we walked around to see this. 

A quiet morning with no activities going on. 

 What? Are we at the wrong place or something? 

 Not really. It's just that fellow Londoners are just not 'rise and shine' people I guess. Can't blame them though since Miss Sun herself does not seem to understand the 'rise and shine' concept here as well. It's a cloudy London, most of the time.

Oh well. We can wait. Though not really since we have limited time for the day. 

So instead of visiting a market place, we decided to do some 'self-discovery'.

And somehow managed to stroll into a secret garden behind some houses.

No wonder they kept it hidden. It was soooooo beautiful.

*hearts*

And we met Doggy here! He or she (gotta be gender neutral here) was all excited to see us. Its (safer choice... :P) tail was wagging so hard, we were worried it might fall off.

Preeeeeetty.

When we left the garden and stepped back onto the streets, waaa-laaa! They are here!

Market strolling begins!

You'll find almost anything and everything at Portobello Market. Even junks! 

Like they say "One man's rubbish is another's treasure". So true.

Though we certainly hope poor doggy is not for sale. :( Then again, if its owner is not going to be able to take good care of it, I guess it's better to find another caring owner. Hmm...

Finally! Time for breakfast yo!

I usually avoid baguettes for fear that they turn out to be as hard as a bat. Yes, I know this is not exactly a baguette but what's more important here is the fact that it was sooooooooo yummy!

Crispy crust on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. The decision to go with mustard sauce was a BIG WIN! It put the oohm into the smoking hot sausage. The combination was just too good. *sigh in content*

Lookie at what Cik Anai got for herself.

It's the last one right here. Spinach and cheese pie. 

It's not that bad. Unfortunately my awesome 'hotdog' has set the bar too high and the pie just pale in comparison. 

 With our breakfast in hand, we set off to explore the market!

-tbc-

[L.E.P.A.K series: London] Chapter 25: Windsor Castle

June is here! And I have only but a handful of posts left for my L.E.P.A.K series. :( 

I’m bracing myself for the end of this adventure. *sobs*  Now where did I left off from my last L.E.P.A.K post? Oh right! The Changing of Guards Ceremony came to an end and we were once again off to our next location and it is no where within London city. 

What?!? 

 These two girls are barely back in town for less than 24 hours and they're crazy enough 

to head out again? 

Of course not! Don't be silly. 

 We rode the tube back to Westminster Station and from there bought tickets out to... 

to... Windsor & Eton Riverside! That's right. 

 We're heading to Windsor Castle. 

 Speaking of Windsor Castle, Cik Anai and I sort of owe ourselves to the place. Just the name itself was grand and influential enough to 'save' us. Hahaha. Here's what happened. Just the day before when we were supposed to ride the Eurostar back from Brussel to London, we naturally had to go through custom once again. The usual Q&A between the custom officer and us ensued. The difference this time from the one we had at the airport was the fact that we did not have my crazy-ass 32-pages long itinerary with me to do the convincing job. Not to mention we both looked totally worn out from our two days of adventure. Even our appearance was probably very suspicious looking. Hahaha. 

 Oh no! 

 And then it happened! Lady Officer asked me "Where will you be heading to London tomorrow?" in which I went on to answer, "We're going to St Paul's then to catch the Changing of the Guards and probably Windsor Castle but we're not too sure about that one." 

 SCORE! 

 Why? Because Lady Officer immediately perked up and insisted that we should pay Windsor Castle a visit in which I replied "Really?!" and we went on a little from there. She then looked over to Mr Officer at the next counter who was 'interrogating' Cik Anai and asked "How? Okay?" and we both got our stamp of approval to enter. 

 Weeee! 

 Because of that, we make sure we visit Windsor Castle no matter what. The reason for the initial uncertainty was that we had planned to catch Wicked (the musical) that evening and was worried we wouldn't be able to make it back on time. We did make it back on time after all yet we did not catch the musical. Big big bummer but more about that later. Right now let's head to Windsor!

Within an hour's train ride and we reached our destination.

It was certainly a beautiful place to step out to. A curve and a stroll later... 

(Just so you know, I'm fighting the urge to post every single photo of every single step we took so as to avoid being longwinded and have to actually have two separate post for this place) *must resist* 

 Therefore, a curve and a stroll later...

...we found ourselves in front of a cross-road. Hahaha. 

Silly pun that amuses no one else but myself. Sorry about that.

I love this shot of myself *shameless* except for the awkward sitting pose. :(

And then it was the start of pure awesomeness.

The Round Tower is one of the signature architectures of the castle which 

you will see in many photos.

Here's one last pretty shot before I turn on my story-telling mode again. I love this shot of Cik Anai. It's certainly nice to visit on a weekday with less crowd around. That is if you don't find wondering around a grand and old castle that bit spooky. 

 Now, the best part about Windsor Castle is what's inside it and unfortunately, just like in St Paul's Cathedral, no photography is allowed. Windsor Castle is actually the Queen's weekend residence. Yes, there is actually the possibility of you walking around castle grounds while the queen is at home. 

 According to the Royal Windsor website, Windor Castle is the largest inhabited castle in the world. It is one of the Queen's three official residences and is often said to be her favourite. To know whether the Queen is at home, check the flag that flies over the Round Tower. The Royal Standard flies when the Queen is in residence and at other times, the Union Jack flies in its place.

Within those walls are the royal apartments and I must say, walking inside it will simply leave you in awe with your jaws hanging, literally. Hahaha. It is so grand, so luxurious and so well-aged. Though of course Her Majesty's private apartments are never open to visitors but one can imagine how life would be in here.

There is one amusing thing in this scene. Look very closely. 

 Can't see it? Wait, Cik Anai will zoom in for you.

Here you go! 

No no, I'm not talking about my weird facial expression. 

Look at what's on my right. 

 5 

 Yes, 5! Hahaha. That's the speed limit. 

For cars and bikes I hope, not pedestrian walking speed. Funneh.

At the very last leg of our self-paced walking tour is St George's Chapel. 

 The beauty of St George's Chapel is very much different from St Paul's luxurious appeal nor is it comparable to Notre Dame's classic charm. If I were to find the perfect description for St George's Chapel, I would say 'serene beauty'. It is very haunting and for a lack of a better word, eerie. Not in a bad way but you can't help bowing down and be respectful of the place. Maybe because it is the resting place of many Monarchs.

After a short yet informative tour inside St George's Chapel, we stepped out and were greeted by the royal guards. Unlike the crazy crowd at Buckingham palace, the numbers here were manageable, so we took the opportunity for a one-on-one photoshoot session with a fellow guard-on-duty.

Hahaha. Kacau aje.

We attempted to 'see' the most out of our half-day tour at Windsor by trying out luck at another route back to the train station. Different route, different things to see.

Which led us to the realisation that it was some Apple / Mac launch day! 

No wonder there was no one at the castle. They were all here. Hahaha.

Then we stumbled upon Mr Iduntalkmuch's famous ice-cream place.

Two doors down was Gadget Boy's boutique shop selling clothes for the ladies. Typical of Gadget Boy. Hahaha. Our biggest surprise though, came when we made a turn to the next road. Turns out Daniel ain't merely a boutique shop but a huge departmental store like business. Like HUGE. Hahaha. We joked among ourselves saying "Gadget Boy ho-liao!" 

 An hour's train ride later, we rushed towards Victoria Theatre to attempt to get ourselves tickets to Wicked. Crazy girls thinking of scoring tickets to one of the most on-demand musicals of West End! Na-da! Actually, there were still tickets, except they're priced at a whooping £90 each!! That's like RM450 our money. Cray cray man! Even if I'm crazy enough to splurge, I can't expect Cik Anai who's totally clueless about the show to spend that much. No can do.

We asked if there were no cheaper seats and the lady at the counter said yes, at £19 for a seat with blocked view. She said that the seats were good for those above six feet tall but not for us. Disappointed we left the place with broken hearts. I regretted oh so very much later that I did not grab those £19 seats and just kneel or did something to make myself higher to watch. But what's done is done.

Instead we found ourselves back at Piccadilly Circus with a night crowd as busy as in the day. Knowing how disappointed I was over most our unfortunate incident, Cik Anai proposed we catch some other musical. However, since its over 7.30pm, most shows have already started and we were left with a handful of musical to choose from.

And that's how we ended up with Mamma Mia! Not the biggest production nor the most interesting story. Seen the movie, know the songs. So it was not a musical filled with surprises yet it's still amazing to see how they work the stage and the whole story with one multi-rotatable centre piece.

And for some crazy reason, we rewarded ourselves with some ice cold Haagen Dazs 

on a winter night. Yup. We're definitely getting used to the cold. Hahaha. 

 And that wraps up our last night in London. Boohoohoo! :(

Stuck Again?!?

Here's a new introduction to Hiyashibeeps... 

*drumrolls*

.

.

.

The Blog that's Stuck in Time.

Honestly, I thought I'll end up skipping the entire month of May but fret not! 

I am here to save myself and my dear blog. 

Now to catch up with life. Let's see. 

Office Moving Day happened. 

And yes, I blogged about packing, I blogged about more packing and then stop! Hahaha. So what happened? We moved and OMG! has been working in the new office for... more than a month now?! Wow! We just passed our one month anniversary on Wednesday. 

So how does the new office freaking looking like anyway?

Sadly, I don't have the interest to do a lengthy post on that now that the excitement has died down but here's a little peek. I'm not that heartless to leave people hanging just like that. 

Yeah right.

Behold! This is the view from my 'window'. 

Why yes, I see a bushy little hill across me every day. Well at least for most of the time, whenever the little hill is sitting tall enough or is not away to somewhere else. Ironically since little bushy hill might not always be there. Mr IdunTalkMuch dengan senyap-senyapnya offered another view of nature for all to share.

A little ball of green that calls itself 'Marimo'.

Apparently, it actually grows which in my opinion is just a tad freaky. 

God knows what it's up to at night while we are away. *shivers*

Well, that's about it for the new office. As for the L.E.P.A.K series, I have a feeling I'm in denial that the series is coming to an end and am delaying my posting on purpose. At least that's what I suspect. I also have a feeling that the next time I will be seeing you here is in June. Hahaha. 

Then again, I'm 'full' of surprises. =P

Stuck at 22!!

Say woot?!?

I was updating my L.E.P.A.K series listing on the right column there --------------------------->

when I noticed that I was stuck at Chapter 22 since I left Amsterdam three chapters ago! 

What was I thinking?

Obviously, nothing. Hahaha.

And because I am too lazy to edit my title picture again, I decided to make this post up instead for myself. So that when I look back and wonder what the heck was I doing, 

I'll have my answer. So yeah. The title of the post can be easily rectified but the title picture not so much. 

On another note... can you believe it's chapter 24 and counting?!

I ask myself at times... "Why you so chiong-hei?"

[L.E.P.A.K series: London] Chap 24: Buckingham Palace

The good and bad of travelling on your own is the fact that you can make it up as you go. Good in the sense that you have the freedom to do anything and everything the way you want. Bad in the sense that when things don't turn out the way you want and you hit the panic button with much time wasted. Though that itself is an experience on its own.

Getting lost is part of the frustration and joy of travelling.

Our initial plan according to my 32-pages itinerary was to catch our ride from Mansion House Underground (which was a few blocks away from St Paul's Cathedral) to Victoria Underground. It's an easier direct line with no interchange. From Victoria we were supposed to take a stroll to Buckingham Palace Garden. 

 Well, that was the plan. But here's what happened.

We opted to play it safe and use back Bank Underground as our start point. We decided we were more comfortable changing tubes than exploring new roads. We found our way to Victoria Underground with no problem at all. 

 Then we stepped out. Took a good look around to figure out our way. And gave up. Hahaha. We went back into the station and took the tube to an even nearer station, Green Park. See! We're making it up as we go.

It was not a bad turn after all because the park was a beautiful sight 

in a winterish spring kind of way. Hehe.

We were running out of time as the Changing of Guards ceremony begins at eleven. 

Since we didn't exactly prepared to take this scenic route, we took the leap of faith and followed the crowd, hoping they will lead us to Buckingham Palace.

Even with the time limit, we still can't help ourselves from stopping 

to take a photo with spring. Lovely (minus the lady behind me). 

Finally, Buckingham Palace was in sight. And so was the thousands of spectators!!

Even a newscaster was here! Come to think of it, we might have appeared in some random programme as one of the tiny little faces behind her. Haha. Should have gave ourselves 5 seconds of fame right there. Shameless.

Look at that crowd yo!

And so it begun! 

The band was loud, the horses were magnificent, the guards were dignified.

It's a pity it was winter, so all we saw was thick grey overcoats instead of their bright red uniforms. We were allowed to stand anywhere except the main entrance and on the road for obvious reason.

So how did we manage to get such a shot? *grins* Well, we were still allowed to walk across the entrance like any other pedestrian way, we just can't stop and stare. Which we did not. We quickly took the shot within the pause of a few seconds before we were urged to speed up and cross. Hehe.

Did you know that horses shit like nobody's business? Hahaha. Serious. 

There were shit everywhere on the road as the horses delight themselves. *sweat* 

Don't worry, I will not show you poo-poo. =P

Instead I will show you one more zoomed in shot of the guards.

And just like that, the ceremony came to an end and the new guards were in position.

Bye bye guards and shameless horses! 

As for us?

We took the opportunity to continue camwhore around the vicinity. 

Here's me in front of the Victoria Memorial.

And here's me in front of Buckingham Palace.

Let's not forget about Cik Anai, shall we? 

That's her attempting an "Attention!" pose.

And that was our uneventful participation at the Changing of Guards Ceremony.

Next up! We're catching another train out to somewhere...

...not too far away from London. ;)