Saturday we went to London Eye. Yes it's a tourist thing, but if you have an Oyster card (London equiv of HK Octopus card), you can get 2-for-1 entry. Came out to being 6.75 each. Takes half hour to go all the way around. We were lucky, it was one of the few sunny days in London!
Then we went to the National Protrait Gallery. It's pretty neat there, you can learn a lot about the British empire and their history. They also had an area devoted to the Beatles, which was pretty neat. It's even better that it's free hahah! On the third floor there is a restaurant with a pretty nice view, we went there for afternoon tea. And in case you ever need to know, the toilet (yes they actually call it the toilet) is pretty clean.
We had no plans after that, but ended up buying cheap tix (15 quid, not bad) for La Traviata put on by the English National Opera. Wasn't until the opera started that we realized the entire thing was sung in English. Verdi must have rolled over in his grave. It was ok, but if I had paid more than 15 I would have been annoyed. I think next time I'll go to the proper opera house, where it's sung in the original language.
Sunday we took a day trip via an organized bus tour. First stop was Leeds Castle. Wasn't as impressive as I had hoped, but it was still quaint none the less. The lucious green English countryside is beautiful, especially when there's some water near by. Too bad it was a rainy day today, otherwise the pics would look a lot nicer.
Then we went to Canterbury to visit the Cathedral. This was where Thomas Becket was murdered under the orders of King Henry II in 1170, and where the tomb of the Black Prince is located.
The bus then took us to Dover, which is on the far southeastern tip of England. Here you can take a ferry over the English Channel to Calais, France. It is also known for the white cliffs, which are composed of chalk.
Last stop was Greenwich (pronounced grenich), where the Royal Observatory Greenwich is located. This is the site of the prime meridian, which is where zero degrees longitude. We didn't get a chance to get off and walk around, but I did find out out that it's incredibly close to London, and is accessible via the tube! Will definately need to make a day trip to Greenwich.
Got back, and went for dinner. There have been two restaurants that we've frequented on a regular basis. One is called Wagamama, which has stuff like ramen in soup. And the other is HK Diner, a cheap-but-ok-tasting Chinese place where we can get our fix of BBQ Duck in soup noodles, chinese choy, congee, and other tummy pleasers. No I haven't sucessfully cooked yet, but I'm sure no one's surprized.
The other touristy things we've done in the past couple weeks is walk all over London, mainly in the areas neighboring Chinatown, hahah. All our adventures and decisions are based on where and when is the next meal =) But it's good, we walk so much that we don't *feel* like we're gaining weight... I don't have a scale here so I can't tell you whether that in fact is true!
Also, we went to see the Dirty Dancing musical. Move over Patrick Swayze, this new guy from Australia who plays Johnny is quite a sight! Funnily enough, Patrick Swayze is in town doing Guys and Dolls. I wonder if anyone thought to invite him for the audition?! =) hahah!
Tired and full day. Time to veg in front of the telly!
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