day 7 (day 1 in UK); Part 2

So, Camden Town. When I got off the tube, the first thing I saw was the incredibly long and steep escalators. I was a tad bit timid about it at first, as I was afraid of heights, but I got used to it by the end of the day. Dogs are allowed in the London Underground, which was a surprise for me when I saw the 'Dogs must be carried' sign by the escalators. I saw a few dogs joining the peak hour tube too, and I coo every time.

Our first stop in London and it felt eerily like Petaling Street, with shops and stalls selling postcards, t-shirts and merchandises along the street. They play loud music in the shops, and there are people buskering right beside the road or on a bridge, singing with their guitar for a pound or two.

We went past a street or two, shuffled past some alleys and steps to find a food-court like place in the middle of the town. There's stalls full of different food, from Mexican tacos to Greek street food to Indonesian Rendang. Guess what we settled for? Fish and Chips. How typical of us, eating the typical Britain food smack in the middle of London. My cousin, her partner and his child got Indonesian Rendang, some Mexican fold, and something else I didn't manage to see because my food took 15 minutes for some reason. I'll attach a picture of it later when I'm back in Germany, but let me tell you, the fish is Great. Maybe it's subpar in the standards of the British, but dude was it good for me. The outer was crispy but the fish somehow retained its juiciness. Imagine eating piping hot fish in the winter. Yeah, satisfaction.

We then ventured into the Horse Valley Market, where apparently it was a horse valley refurnished into a marketplace, with all the decorations still intact. They sell all kinds of things in pretty shops and stalls, but one particular store caught my eye: it's a bookstore, with leather bindings and all. I couldn't go in and see though, as I have 4 people waiting for me, so yeah, I left. Much regrets. We left Camden Town 2 hours later via the tube to Tower Hill.

One thing that I must say is that London is quite glorified, in my opinion. I noticed the litter all around, it's no better than Malaysia, actually. For a developed nation, their waste disposal is not up to par, in a sense that recycling systems are not as good as what they have in Germany. The tube, although fast, is quite noisy, but they are upgrading the whole thing so yeah I shouldn't judge them yet. The canals has alot of rubbish in it, too.

However, their architecture is very pretty. Their transport system is very convenient, and they actively discourage the use of personal cars and all that by charging crazy fares to the cars moving within the city. Their reading culture really appeal to me, where people actually read when they are in the tube or anytime when they could.

Tower Hill is the stop where we could see the famed Tower Bridge. I didn't know that the 'beautiful bridge in London' wasn't London Bridge (London Bridge is a pretty ordinary bridge down the River Thames). We took pictures and stood on the side, just looking at the water churning down the river and the ships going down the stream. The bridge is magnificent by itself, I could spend a day there.

Then, for some unknown reason, we decided to walk to London Eye and the Big Ben. When we walked, we came across numerous joggers that run up and down the River Thames, and I'm genuinely impressed at their ability to jog in sports wear in the winter. It turned out to be further than what we expected, and it was turning dark already (London sky darkens around 5pm) so we settled for a picture across the river, far from London Eye and Big Ben. It's too tiring for the child to walk that long a distance. 

We embarked to Baker Street after that. No one with me knows the significance of Baker Street, but I insisted on going. We arrived at 6.30pm, and the museum was closed, but I did still take pictures of 221B and paid homage to my favourite consulting detective. Sherlock BBC was a flop this season, so this helped soothe my soul, just for a little bit.

Leicester Square is where Chinatown is, and we went there for dinner before going back home. We ate pho at a Vietnam place, and it was surprisingly decent, although nothing compares to what I had in Ho Chi Minh. It's great having soup in the winter, so I still loved it.

We left after that and drove back to Manchester, which was a 4 hour ride. 12am and we were home, and I passed out soon after.

I would really like to travel alone in the future. I couldn't stay at the places that I love because I don't want to delay the rest, and it's a little bit disappointing. Meh, I had a great day either way, so yeah! London, off my checklist!

I know this update was delayed for too long, sorry la, busy ma. Happy Chinese New Year, people!