London Metblogs » lon_wa http://london.metblogs.com Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:56:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 A walk through London by night http://london.metblogs.com/2006/09/21/a-walk-through-london-by-night/ http://london.metblogs.com/2006/09/21/a-walk-through-london-by-night/#comments Fri, 22 Sep 2006 02:19:32 +0000 lon_wa http://london.metblogs.com/2006/09/21/a-walk-through-london-by-night/ Took part in a 17mile walk around central London last weekend to raise money for the Maggie’s centres which help people with cancer, what a walk it turned out to be.

I grateful that it was more of ramble rather than a race, we took our time with the walk. The highlight of the walk for me was seeing some of the most amazing buildings on the way. The walk started off at the Guildhall in the city, what surprise it was. We only got to see couple of the halls there and man was I impressed or was I impressed. Will definitely make an effort to go there sometime and see the remains of the Roman amphitheatre and the gallery there, hopefully sometime soon. From the Guildhall the walk took us through Clerkenwell, Bloomsbury, Kings Cross areas, and next came the St.Pancras station fully lit up the Gothic building looked so perfect. Tried to get some pictures of the beautiful building but somehow it just didn’t come out right.

We carried on through the night, stopped off at the Wellcome building for some refreshments and the best part was as we left we were all given some glow in the dark bangle kind of stuff which I thought was cool. Past a few more stations such as Warren Street, Great portland street, Regents park, Baker street, Marylebone etc and by now we had fallen behind so much and we had a lot of catching up to do. There was apparently some refreshements to be had at Whiteleys but we marched on, I was also told that there was some fireworks or something organised at the Argentinian ambassador’s house which we missed. By the time we got to Buckingham Palace, we were shattered. More than aching legs it was mental tiredness wanting to sleep rather than anything else. As we dragged ourselves further I got to my highlight of the evening, the HM Treasury was open for the walkers. I just could not believe it, I was (still am) so excited, I was in awe. They also served us some of the best platters of sandwiches possible. Next stop was the London eye, from where we had a wonderful view of the Westminster palace at dawn.

I am so glad I went on this walk, I got the opportunity to see London by night and also got the opportunity to visit buildings which I never would have. Am I doing it next year? Don’t think so. But am vaguely considering registering for marathon though.

]]> http://london.metblogs.com/2006/09/21/a-walk-through-london-by-night/feed/ 1 Footloose the Musical http://london.metblogs.com/2006/09/16/footloose-the-musical/ http://london.metblogs.com/2006/09/16/footloose-the-musical/#comments Sat, 16 Sep 2006 20:49:29 +0000 lon_wa http://london.metblogs.com/2006/09/16/footloose-the-musical/ Things not to do before a theatre visit

Do not spend the previous evening watching programmes on 9/11 which in turn results in nightmares and loss of sleep. As a result of which I promptly fell asleep at Footloose the Musical. All I remember of the show is that the few mins in the beginning where I thought that music was a teeny bit too loud and the lights too bright from time to time. I vaguely remember some kind of line dancing and thats about it. I did wake up during the interval, looked around sheepishly got myself an overpiced tub of icecream, scoffed it and promptly fell asleep again only to wake up during the curtain call. Fingers crossed that I wasn’t snoring.

]]> http://london.metblogs.com/2006/09/16/footloose-the-musical/feed/ 0 Bendy buses and the fair dodgers http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/28/bendy-buses-and-the-fair-dodgers/ http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/28/bendy-buses-and-the-fair-dodgers/#comments Mon, 28 Aug 2006 15:06:32 +0000 lon_wa http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/28/bendy-buses-and-the-fair-dodgers/ I am not a great fan of these bendy buses, like most people I remain nostalgic about the lost double deckers.

There was a thrill attached to those double deckers, will the driver start the bus before you and your toddler have managed to get on it? Will you both make it to the seats or will you lose the balance and fall over your fellow passenger? And oh lets not forget those windy steps,should I start making my way downstairs whilst the bus is still moving thereby increasing the chances of losing my balance and falling down or should I wait till the bus stops thereby increasing the chances of missing my stop? It was all fun. And now all we have are these boring old bendy buses which are supposed to be a lot safer, but I’ve been told that they make cyclists lives miserable. But then again anyone who cycles in London must be suicidal I suppose. Transport for London website tells me that these bendies can carry 40 passengers more than the double deckers and these buses are also extremely time efficient. But that doesn’t stop me from wondering about the amount of fare dodging that must take place.

The last time I took one of these bendies, having been away for couple of years I didn’t realise the difference an oyster card could make. When I tried getting a prepaid ticket from the dodgy looking machine near the bus stop, it promptly ate my £1.50 and happily stared back at me doing nothing. Yesterday on the other hand using my oyster card it cost me a reasonable 80p and got to admit it was hassle free. But what did strike me during my half an hour journey was that apart from me (feeling very smug right now) only one other person validated their oyster card in that half an hour. I am having difficulties in believing that most of the other passengers had prepaid for their journey in one way or the other.

]]> http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/28/bendy-buses-and-the-fair-dodgers/feed/ 2 Unfriendly Londoners? – Myth busted http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/25/unfriendly-londoners-myth-busted/ http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/25/unfriendly-londoners-myth-busted/#comments Fri, 25 Aug 2006 06:31:33 +0000 lon_wa http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/25/unfriendly-londoners-myth-busted/ Must be a coincidence. Today’s Metro and the Daily Mail were full of reports based on some study or the other which concluded that Londoners are a friendly bunch, apparently even more so than people in Yorkshire. Based on my personal experiences and more importantly from listening to the following conversation on the train home today I have to agree with those reports.

Train home, found a nice comfy seat and settled down with my book. Just as the train is about to depart in walks this young lady with headphones on, trips over my feet and with no word of apology plonks herself on the seat across.

At the next stop gets on this young gentleman again with headphones on, happens to sit next to her and the following happens:-

She – So you like your music?
Guy removing the headphones politely says yes
She – Have a look to see what I am listening to (and shows him the display stuff on her ipod and talks endlessly about the music she is listening to and even made him listen to it)
He politely nodded and said all the right things
Now curiosity gets the better of her, wondering loudly what he is listening to she asked him
He – I am not listening to anything
She – Oh in that case why have you got your headphones on?
He – so that I don’t have to talk to people!

and by now I trying my best to keep a straight face and not laugh out loud.

I do love London and Londoners :)

]]> http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/25/unfriendly-londoners-myth-busted/feed/ 4 A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Regents Park open air theatre http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/22/a-midsummer-nights-dream-regents-park-open-air-theatre/ http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/22/a-midsummer-nights-dream-regents-park-open-air-theatre/#comments Tue, 22 Aug 2006 19:47:06 +0000 lon_wa http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/22/a-midsummer-nights-dream-regents-park-open-air-theatre/ I better warn you first, taking my knowledge of English literature and theatre into account I am totally unqualified to review any plays whatsoever. This is therefore just an account of my evening at the Regents park open air theatre rather than a review of the play.

As sod’s law would have its been pouring down this August, apparently we are well over the average this month, but thankfully come the day of the play, the skies started to clear up and I am glad to say that it was perfect weather. Slightly, very slightly chilly.

With over an hour to spare we walked from Marylebone Road through the ever so grand golden gates which impressed me a great deal. The park was teeming with life, toddlers running around, slightly older ones kicking football, tourists with their cameras, retired people sitting there nattering. The best one of all was a group of middle eastern ladies about 30 of them who had congregated near the rose gardens and dragged the benches (which were laid out in a row by the park authorities) to form a nice circle for them to sit down and gossip in. We didn’t get to see if the park authorities turned up to tell them off. But it was certainly nice to see so many people enjoying the beautiful summers day.

My first impression as we walked through the theatre entrance was that it looked magical, all those fairy lights made it look very pretty. The picnic area and the bar which serves barbeque buffet and drinks were nicely crowded by the time we got there, thankfully we had our own bounteous homemade picnic consisting of salads, sandwiches, pasta , fresh fruits and trifle.

We were then ushered to our seats, having never been there before I was not sure what to expect but was pleased to note that they had proper chairs. We had almost the best seats in house, right in the middle on the third row. What more can a person ask for. Thinking about it now, we couldn’t have watched a better play in the open air theatre, with all the tall trees surrounding the stage it looked like a clearing in a forest the pefect setting for the said play. I was so pleased that I was able to follow the play without too much difficulty, either I remember things that I read as an 8 year old better than I care to admit or the script was easy enough for me to follow. Either way it got a lot of laughs from us, especially the craftsmen including Mr.Bottom and the 4 young lovers were hilarious. At one point when Helena was dragged along and thrown into one of the bushes, the person sitting next to me literally gasped wondering if it is for real. I am sure Helena must have hurt that day. And I am still not quite sure what to make of the bald headed fairies though, very odd.

Presume the air ambulance centre is near the theatre somewhere as that was the only disturbance we had all through the performance, I was pretty much amazed that we didn’t hear anything else apart from the birds despite being in a bustling park.

In case you are lady who was seated behind me and was taking photographs repeatedly despite being asked not to, I do wish they’d thrown you out instead. Apart from that my only other gripe would be maybe the show could start half an earlier to make travel slightly easy for people who live in the home counties.

I enjoyed the performance so much that I am seriously considering joining the friends of the open air theatre. If only getting home after the show was easier though.

]]> http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/22/a-midsummer-nights-dream-regents-park-open-air-theatre/feed/ 5 Regents park open air theatre http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/16/regents-park-open-air-theatre/ http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/16/regents-park-open-air-theatre/#comments Wed, 16 Aug 2006 22:47:03 +0000 lon_wa http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/16/regents-park-open-air-theatre/ Off to see Midsummer Nights dream at the Regents park open air theatre tonight. Pretty excited

Tickets, picnic basket with both white and red wine, huge umbrella if the weather turns nasty, plastic sheet for the ground which is bound to be damp after the earlier drizzle, rug to put over the plastic sheet, camera and more importantly a fully charged battery. It looks like I’ve packed more things in that bag for an evening out than I would if I was going away for the weekend. Hope its all gonna be worth it, fingers crossed it doesn’t pour down. More tomorrow….

]]> http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/16/regents-park-open-air-theatre/feed/ 0 Clear skies http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/10/clear-skies/ http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/10/clear-skies/#comments Thu, 10 Aug 2006 20:05:55 +0000 lon_wa http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/10/clear-skies/ On train this morning, for a fraction of second it did strike me that my commuter train which is normally full of young tourists with their backpacks and families with excited kids were missing. Little did I know the seriousness of the situation.

Being half asleep took no notice of the lack of chattering Europeans at that point in time. Got to work eventually and found out that the nation was on Critical threat level - the highest – according to BBC “an attack is expected imminently and indicates an extremely high level of threat to the UK”. Scary stuff

Looking out through the windows right now from my desk I see totally clear sky, can’t remember the last time I ever saw sky remain clear for so long without an aircraft in sight. Hope things get back to normal soon.

]]> http://london.metblogs.com/2006/08/10/clear-skies/feed/ 6 Hosepipe ban? Drought? Not here http://london.metblogs.com/2006/07/30/hosepipe-ban-drought-not-here/ http://london.metblogs.com/2006/07/30/hosepipe-ban-drought-not-here/#comments Sun, 30 Jul 2006 23:05:00 +0000 lon_wa http://london.metblogs.com/2006/07/30/hosepipe-ban-drought-not-here/ Went to Anakana near old street for lunch couple of weeks ago

Have to admit the food, the decor, the service, the price, it was all good. But one aspect of that afternoon that I am not able to forget is that the water was left running, the waiting staff were unable to stop the water apparently due to some ‘technical’ problems. With the hosepipe ban in effect most of us were not able to ignore it, I am sure the water wasted that day would have been enough to feed the lawns of a suburbian close somewhere.

]]> http://london.metblogs.com/2006/07/30/hosepipe-ban-drought-not-here/feed/ 1 Brick Lane http://london.metblogs.com/2006/07/19/brick-lane/ http://london.metblogs.com/2006/07/19/brick-lane/#comments Thu, 20 Jul 2006 04:35:01 +0000 lon_wa http://london.metblogs.com/2006/07/19/brick-lane/ I love these street signs

IMG_9338.jpg

Does anyone know if the scripts are the same for Bengali and for Bangla or are they totally different?

]]> http://london.metblogs.com/2006/07/19/brick-lane/feed/ 4 Pants http://london.metblogs.com/2006/07/15/pants/ http://london.metblogs.com/2006/07/15/pants/#comments Sat, 15 Jul 2006 13:41:34 +0000 lon_wa http://london.metblogs.com/2006/07/15/pants/ Planning a girls night out in London? Worried about safety? Here follows some sensible advice and some offending (in my view) ones. And guess where the not so sensible ones comes from.

Eat before & during the evening

Pace yourself; drink plenty of water

Never leave your drink unattended and Never accept drinks from strangers

Never get into one of those unlicensed cabs which loiter outside the clubs.

Always stay together, look out for one another

and now for the advice from Sussex police, “make sure you’re wearing nice pants and that you’ve recently had a wax.” Apparently this is meant to be a gossipy tongue and cheek style advice. I can’t find this gem of an advice on their website though. I am sure I am not the only one who finds it offensive that the Sussex police have wasted their precious resources on producing this leaflet?

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