. deLuxique .: Rainy London

The past 2 days were lazy mornings and busy afternoons, with showers in the morning, and in-between drizzles any time of the day.

We'd woke up late, prepare our breakfast, lazed around, and then get out by mid-day.

The Tube system in London isn't difficult and confusing at all - just follow the signs. A 1-day pass costs GBP7, and it's unlimited rides between all zones of the Tube (the official name is Underground) and their railways (which I need to take from Sutton to Victoria station).

We've always been complaining about the MRT in Singapore, but over here in London, not all their train services are good. You have to know if your ride today is good only when you are at the station and if it's not, you'd have to take alternatives. Just yesterday, there were already 2 train breakdowns. But I must say their train services, when good, is extremely prompt (we don't usually wait for more than 2 minutes for the tube service) and their rail trains depart very promptly after the whistle blows.

So while Monday was in Sutton Town, we explored the Westminster area on Tuesday. In a short span of the afternoon, we stopped at the Westminster station, checked out the Westminster Abby, walked along the Thames River, made a U-turn and walked along to see the London Eye (unfortunately it was too crowded that we didn't want to wait to get up the Eye), further down to London Bridge (which was a disappointment but credit must still go to its history) and to the Tower Bridge.

Westminster

A Chanel popped up from no where.

London Eye - World's #2. Our Singapore Flyer is #1 (but not for long).

The Big Ben

This is a real man as a statue. The birds actually thought he's one!

Sunflowers! They are huge! This little area is special for the kids - you can do any graffiti you like here! The London Bridge
We were lucky to witness the opening of the Bridge to allow a ship to pass through!

After the sight-seeing, we dropped by their Bond Street where rows of shops were. Went into Selfridges - their upmarket shopping centre with small boutiques in it, but not the most impressive.

On Wednesday, we checked out the Buckingham Palace, not all impressive and if not for the opening of the State Dinner for the summer, it would have been even more disappointing! No photography allowed, and there were many teenagers ( I think they are volunteers) to help out the tourists. The whole tour took less than an hour to complete. I was just most impressed with the cutlery used for a State Dinner, each served in antiques!

It was to shopping again after that, to check out Harrods. Before our stop at Knightsbridge, we were at Piccadily Circus and stopped by the most updated attraction - Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.

At Harrods, saw the picture of Diana and her boyfriend's photo at the departmental store adorned with flowers. Their selection of EVERYTHING is superb! I saw the gowns by Dior and many other renown designers, and was totally bowled over by their 1-floor home selection with many pretty cutlery, table settings, and anything else meant for the home. I was (and still is) tempted to buy this table runner weaved with beads. I just wish I can get our new home's stuff from Harrods and have them shipped to Singapore! Our Taka, Robinsons, whatever, is simply no comparison at all!

The Harrods