1. West End Shows
Musicals, plays, dance, films, comedy, there's bound to be something for everyone! The best place to get tickets is at the TKTS booth at the centre of Leicester Square (got 2nd row Phantom tickets at 35 pounds each!). The other alternative is to book your tickets on lastminute.com and collect them at the box office of the theatre (got 2nd row Blood Brothers tickets at 12 pounds each!) I managed to catch Phantom of the Opera (really brings back fond memories), Les Miserables (my fav coz the music is so nice and the story so sad!), Lord of the Rings (superb visuals!), Blood Brothers (heartwarming story), and Footloose (fun song and dance!)2. Best Sandwiches I've ever eaten!
The British just eat a LOT of cold food. Cold sandwiches, salads for almost every meal! I love my usual hot breakfasts of nasi lemak, roti prata, or dry mee pok, but while I was there, I fell in love with their cold sandwiches! Juicy, fresh, bursting with ingredients, TASTY like mad!! I had a sandwich every day, mostly for breakfast, sometimes for lunch! The one here is Pret A Manger's Provencial Chicken sandwich, with grilled chicken, sun dried tomatoes, olives, salad greens and caeser dressing in sweet malted bread! *YUMS*3. Vibrant Shopping Choices
From shopping institutions like Harrods and Liberty, to high street labels like Topshop, Jigsaw and H&M, quirky vintage at Carnaby Street, to the "bargain warehouse" Primark (really cheap stuff with dresses around S$35! But beware the crazy check out queues!) London is shopping paradise in terms of choice. However, due to exchange rates, I ended up having to bite my lips and control my buying urges!
Animal rights groups giving out pamphlets and shouting to everyone to "boycott Harrods" coz apparently Harrods is the only store in London that sells fur. However, their calls just fall on deaf ears as everyone just streams into the huge store, maybe only after stopping to take a picture! 
Topshop is extremely expensive, its better off buying it from here! One shop that I really liked was Urban Outfitters, which is just a few stores away from Topshop.
4. Rich heritage 
In c. 200 AD a defensive wall was built around the Roman settlement, then called the London wall. For well over a millennium the shape and size of London was defined by this wall. The area within the wall is now 'the City', London's famous financial district. Traces of the wall can still be seen in a few places. The above photograph shows a section of wall as it stands today at Cooper's Row, near the Tower of London. This wall is just 3 minutes walk away from my hotel and 5 minutes to my office. Its also interesting to note that as I explored different districts in London, I sometimes feel like I'm in different cities altogether, as they often give off totally different vibes due to the different architectures.
5. London makes you appreciate Mr Sunshine! 
London skies are almost perpetually gloomy. The above picture shows a typical grey sky often filled with clouds (this was taken during lunch time mind you!). Most of my colleagues carried umbrellas in their bags and you could see them everywhere! It rained on half the days I was there, but luckily usually during office hours! Hehe! The showers were usually fleeting, sometimes really heavy but over very quickly. And I was so lucky to meet Mr Sunshine on the weekend! Check out the clear sky!
Took the opportunity to chill at Hyde Park, soaking up the sun! 
Hyde park is really huge, and on a sunny day like that, there were lots of people, just chilling with a book, lying on the grass, roller blading, strolling, picnic-ing, and there was this lake in the middle of the park where some people kayaked!Took the opportunity to chill at Hyde Park, soaking up the sun! 6. Eye Candy Galore
London blokes either have great genes, or they really know how to groom themselves. Everywhere I went, there were always cute guys to oogle at! Perhaps it helped that everyone wore smart suits, but nevertheless it was fun to bask in their glory and let my closet SPG come out! (but of course, I only love you, darling!) haha!
7. Cheap trashy magazines
Shy as I am to admit, I'm a sucker for trashy magazines. Used to subscribe to Star magazine from U.S to get my weekly dosage of celebrity gossip, so you can imagine how crazy I went at the newstands! Magazines like HEAT, STAR, REVEAL, etc were going at an average of 1 pound each! How to resist?!?!
8. Huge variety of things to do
From touristy stuff like London Eye, Big Ben, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, to the interesting Borough, Camden and Portobello markets, to the many museums (check out Tate Modern), my only complaint is that I only had one weekend in London this time. So much to do. So little time.
The London Eye against London's 4pm sky.
Me and Big Ben in the background
London Bridge -The original London bridge was the first bridge over Thames River. Many mistake the more glamorous Tower Bridge for it.
Strolling across Tower Bridge before going to the office. My evenings were either spent having dinners and drinks with colleagues or watching musicals, so I made it a point to go for daily morning walks around the area before heading to the office in order to see as much of London as I could. Kiasu Singaporean? You bet!
Borough Market is like our Pasir Panjang wholesale centre, only much much better. 
Stalls sell interesting food ranging from all kinds of fruits, nuts, chocolate, cheese, sauces, pastries, and even.....
Rabbits and pheasants! I turned away immediately when I spotted these dead animals handing at the stall, and when I took this photo, I did not dare look at them even through the camera lens! 
This is the Lloyd's building - where insurance all began. Its an institution in London, and I feel so honoured to have experienced the "Box", spending an afternoon sitting amongst the underwriters and the brokers who did business the traditional way! Insurance used to be a male-dominated industry and till now, there are strict dress codes to enter the building. Men must wear their suits (even during summer) and they are not allowed to remove their jackets in the building. Women of course must be appropriately (read : conservatively) dressed. Entrance to the building is strictly controlled. Non-industry people can only enter if they are signed in by a Lloyd's staff and must be accompanied at all times. 
My London office is located at Minster Court. Walked by the office on Saturday morning and found that the entrance was hogged by "Gorillas"! Turned out there was a Gorilla run going on that morning. How sweet is that! 
Me and a random Gorilla. After we took this photo, he told me "I don't know why I was even smiling beneath my mask!" Haha!9. Fabulous Dining Experiences
As I was on a business trip, I batted no eyelid treating myself to one nice meal a day. Even my breakfast sandwiches cost around 3 pounds, so my daily "fancy" meal would probalby have been something I'd do without had it been on my own expense. Here are some of the stuff that worked their way into my tummy!
Roasted fillet of John Dory and crab tortellini on a bed of apple and lime 
The most yummy lobster noodles from Royal China restaurant. The lobster were totally fresh and succulent and the noodles just soaked up the flavours! *drool*
Mussels and Mash - The mash is wonderfully soft and fragrant and the mussels were so good I forgot to take a picture till I was halfway through it!
Poached pork loin, Peas a la francaise, lardons - The lightly poached pork melted in my mouth and went really well with the peas.
What's a trip to London without eating Bangers & Mash? I've always loved sausages and this pub near Carnaby Street has awesome sausages though the mash was not fantastic.
After a week, I totally craved spicy food so I went to an organic korean place for this spicy cold noodles and some yummy spicy seafood. 
What can I say? I'm a chilli queen and a noodles fanatic! 
Amidst all the hype about doughnuts these days in Singapore, I am one of those who refuse to queue for hours for my doughnuts. Took this opportunity to load up on Krispy Kreme (the best doughnuts in my humble opinion!). Think I had around 10 of them during my stay in London! haha! This one in the picture is a special Harrods one with chocolate cream inside!
I also highly recommend a fancy french restaurant called L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon on West Street (near Covent Garden). This place is opened by Multi-Michelin starred Joel Robuchon (voted chef of the 20th century by his peers) and they serve really yummy fare. (sorry, no pics for this place coz its too "atas" that I felt shy to take my camera out)
10. Last and very important reason, everyone speaks English so you really feel right at home!
During this trip, I also took the opportunity to meet up with my sister-in-law (Colin's sister), Cindy, who works in Glasgow. We had a "atas" lunch at The Dorchester, with exquisite food, and everyone was very primp and proper in the restaurant, talking in whispers. Cindy and I were the only ones making a racquet with our chattering and laughing away!
That's me, Cinders, and Pat after a lovely lunchOnly been back a week, and I totally miss London.....so, Boss, if you're reading this, I think there are too many issues that need to be followed up so it may be worthwhile to consider sending me again! :)
2 comments:
Babe you sure managed to squeeze in a lot of leisure for a business trip! When are you coming to Spain?
yea i sure did! i kinda felt at times that i was having too much fun on a business trip! so when are you coming to singapore? ;)
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