Scythe

2009-01-13T06:46:00.000-08:00

Day 8

Monday

14 July 2008

Well, woke up around 8 in the morning to freshen up and eat breakfast, though still quite disturbed from the weird hotel room. Anyways, we were supposed to be ready to go at 9, though Dione didn't appear, so I recommended that we should not wait for her, because she might have gone out with other groups.

The three of us went head straight for our furthest destination: Tower Hill, where the Tower Bridge is. The Tube ride there was rather long, so HD actually fell asleep, while Yit An and I were reading papers. I took extra note on the important news, like crime and money, though the papers weren't really informative enough.

Upon arrival at Tower Hill, we were welcomed by the picturesque landscape of the vicinity. There was this sundial just a stone's throw from the station, and I was wondering how come the sundial was standardised to daylight savings too. Interesting. We saw this Trinity House, and saw this monument of the men who perished during WWII, and were dead in the seas. I remembered it was for those who did not have a proper grave, who perished in the seas, or something like that. Basically, the area was mournful, but it didn't dampen our spirits for the rest of the three days in London. We walked towards Tower of London, which in fact is a castle. I thought that it was a skyscraper or something tall, but it was maybe 5-6 floors high. It's architecture is quite amazing, but I was more interested with the Tower Bridge, which is the main structure I was looking out for in the area. The bridge was indescribable, as the view on the bridge itself was spectacular. Even though we saw most of the choir people there at Tower Bridge, and we finally found Dione with the others, we weren't that bothered anyway.

Tower Bridge had this exhibition, which I doubt anyone of us will enter. £10 was the fee to enter the exhibition. Thinking back, I think none of us could afford the exhibitions, because it's simply too expensive.

Then, we headed across the bridge and found this awkward looking building they call their City Hall. Nothing like ours, theirs was hi-tech, and so modernised it looked like a structure built by aliens -- a half dome which acts like a canopy across the building. There was this white scaffold which looks so clean on the lush green grass. I doubt the grass is synthetic because the air felt so fresh!

We walked on the banks of River Thames and had a look at this classy restaurant's menu, which cheapest main course is £13. I was thinking that I was probably stuck to cheap food, and indeed I was. Maybe the GBP should depreciate more against SGD. I just felt so poor in UK. Walking down Hay's Galleria, which had a huge gigantic pirate ship model, we saw PeiJia and JingWen, who were as blur as sotongs. We continued our journey towards London Bridge, which held the London Dungeon. I think it was the dungeons in the past, which was commercialised to become a theme park. Because we were rushing for time, we dismissed the thought of entering the dungeons. Freaky-looking people entertained us by dolling up like cousins of Frankenstein, and I walked into this 2-metre-tall man in a big coat, who patted on my head. I was wow-ed, and spoke some words to him. Probably he was speaking some alien-language(or English with a deep British accent), and I couldn't understand him. I waved goodbye to that giant, and thought of that tall guy in the college right away. Shudder...

London Bridge is falling down, falling down...

I wonder why they came out a nursery rhyme on London Bridge, because there was nothing special there. NOTHING. It's plain concrete and cement was a thorn in the eye as compared to the Tower Bridge. Maybe there was history behind it. But it looked plain for a rhyme to be written for it. On the bridge, we saw the Tower Bridge 'opening' for ships to pass. AHA! That brief one-minute was so cool! We actually saw the ships entering through the bridge.

Then we moved to Monument station, and walked unknowingly to Bank, and saw Bank of England, the Royal Exchange and the Stock Exchange. The area felt historical, yet full of the vibes of the modern society. How intriguing.

We took the Central Line to St. Paul's Cathedral, where it was our second major site of the day. It was breath-taking. Upon reaching the station, we couldn't find the Cathedral, because it was blocked by some building that blocked the magnificent view of the Cathedral. After walking for some time, and meeting the people departing for Singapore on that afternoon, a.k.a. the people taking A-Level MTLCE three days later, what we saw was this building that seemed like it took up hectares of land. The house of God was so great, we needed to stand quite a distance from the Cathedral to take the photo of the front view. Upon entering the Cathedral's underground passage, we saw this little souvenir shop selling interesting things, like crucifixes(normal), stationeries(weird), candles(okay), blocks of wood meant for children(er...), books, crosses, magnets(they're everywhere!!), etc. We exited without any purchases, but went to the entrance of the Cathedral, where Britons ate their all-meal sandwiches and pigeons flew around scavenging for crump. We were looking at this replica of a statue that looked hilariously funny when this pigeon sat on the Queen's head.

Entrance fee into the Cathedral was £10, so once again, we did not enter. However, from where we were, the foyer, we viewed one of the most intricate interior designs of our lives, though we can't take any photography.

We then had a lunch break and moved to Oxford Street for some serious shopping, where we went past lots of shops, and made some conclusions; on the left are descriptions of places in Singapore, and the right their counterparts in England.

Food Courts/Hawker Centers === Fast-food restaurants

Fast-food restaurants === Small restaurants

Movies === Musicals

Supermarkets === Mark's and Spenser's

Watson's === Boots

Giodano === GAP, H&M

Orchard === Oxford Street

CBD === Bank

At Oxford Street, Yit An and HD went to purchase some souvenirs, which they kept complaining whether they would get cheated. But who cares really. I had a serious collection of the coins they had in Britain, 1p, 2p, 5p(which is smaller than 2p), 10p, 20p(which is just a little larger than 5p), 50p(one of the two weird heptagonal coins, the other being 20p), £1(which is seriously heavy, and had so many different prints on different coins) and £2(a silver coin in a gold coin). So I went to KFC and cleared most of them. Evil me, but the coins are really a burden to my pathetic wallet, and I can't change it at England because it's just too costly. We walked along the streets and saw TopMan, and I went in to check it out. The jacket that I wanted was £30, which would seriously burn my pocket, and I was lucky not to be tempted to buy it after spending thirty minutes in the shop. Nonetheless, I realised how come the British can really spend their money.

During the evening, we went to Piccadilly Circus and was with a tour with Gabriel on the various areas surrounding the region, Leicester Square, Chinatown and Nelson's Column, which Gabriel remarked that Mr Kwei told them the story of Napoleon and the Battle of the Waterloo.

Dinner was at Chinatown and the shop, Wong Kei, served seriously bad-tasting food, perhaps the chef wasn’t there. Was eating the Fried rice with egg and it was really a bitter pill to swallow.

The night of London was really interesting, with sights one will not see like in Singapore. Along the outskirts of Chinatown, there were many shops selling half-priced tickets for musicals, which we went around hunting for good prices in the area. We managed to find this shop selling Phantom of the Opera at £24.50, which we thought it was a really okay price. We found out later that some of the choir people bought the £35 and £25, so we thought we got ourselves a good deal. The night was ended with a short walk around Leicester Square, before we headed back to the hotel.

Day 9

Tuesday

15 July 2008

Started out Day 9 at Green Park and St. James’s Park, where we saw the most number of animals, and plants in the UK. Somehow UK isn’t as green as Singapore, but St. James’s Park is, like a park -- there are plants, but the additional features of the park is that there are animals in the park, e.g. squirrels, swans, ducks and some really funny looking birds. I tried to shoot as many photos as I can in the park, because it’s really nothing like in Singapore. Walking down the lanes of the park, we actually found out that we spent almost 2 hours in the park, because by the time we reached the Horse Guards it was near 11. We walked past the Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the Royal family of England. There is this Queen Victoria Memorial which looked really splendid when we reached the palace. Because Buckingham has an entrance fee, as usual, we moved on to other places almost immediately.

The Horse Guards parade was really fun, the horses were aligned in a row and there was this commander speaking English that we couldn’t understand. There was this horse that passed its motion on the gravel stones area, which was really, ‘spectacular’. The commanders took really long to report, and so by the time the parade ended, we needed to walk fast to Westminster.

We walked along Whitehall and Parliament Street, where we found really interesting things in the middle of the road. Other than the construction, there we memorials in the middle of the road, at least two, but I remembered one which was to commemorate the women of WWII. I found out that British are very patriotic, because wherever there is a memorial, there will be flowers there or people grieving. I don’t really see that in Singapore, probably we are too busy.

Westminster is the area where the Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben are, and the area is not really a tourist attraction, other than the beautiful sculptures and architecture of the buildings. We also saw the London Eye on the other side of the bank, and like the Singapore Flyer, the entrance fees are rather expensive. I wonder why these Ferris Wheels need such a high entrance fee.

Then we went to Leicester Square for lunch, walking along the streets leading to Covent Garden. We were really tricked thinking that Covent Garden was a garden, or had lots of plants of all sorts, but it turned out to be a market area, market as in shopping area, something like our flee market, just probably more classy(and expensive). I bought a vest, a cap and a shirt from the H&M there.

We split up for lunch and I met Gabriel and some year ones at MacDonalds’ before I go to the Her Majesty’s Theatre to watch Phantom of the Opera. It’s fantastic, though I must say the chandelier was a disappointment, as it just ‘fell’ instead of ‘crashing’. I bought the books for a total of £15. I must say it is very worth it. Lucky there are empty seats beside me, so I moved two seats towards the centre, and made the best out of the £24.50.

Then HD and Yit An went to Knightsbridge, where they complained that the prices there are astronomical, and I went to Arsenal myself, and walked the Emirate’s Stadium one round. Because there are no matches now, so there are no stars there. But nevertheless, the stadium is really a breath taker.

I then went to King’s Cross looking for platform 9¾. I actually found platforms 9, 10 and 11, but I didn’t snap photos of them because really there is nothing between 9 and 10.

We met again at Green Park, where Yit An lost her bottle of still water. I was telling her that the bottle must be singing “Think of Me” to Yit An, and she was humoured. The night ended off at Victoria Station, where I settled my dinner there. I must say the Chicken Selects at MacDonalds is really nice, but I bought Fillet-O-Fish that night.

Day 10

Wednesday

16 July 2008

Last day at London was a rush. We had to go to Greenwich, because we think it will be better than going to Kensington, though both are equally far. During the journey, we were sleeping on the DLR(like our LRT). The journey took around 2 hours to find the Observatory, where the Line of the East and West is. The Greenwich park is really huge, much bigger than St. James’s, but less features.

The Observatory is really cool, because there are many astronomers that used to be working in that Observatory. I had a certificate to certify that I was there, and the clock is accurate within 0.5 s, and the precision is up to 0.01s. I also took pictures of myself in the East and West of the line, and it’s really fun!

On the way back, we went to Charing Cross via the SouthEast-Railways, and it was much faster than the DLR. Then we went to Oxford for lunch and last minute shopping at GAP. When we wanted to take the Victoria Line back to Vauxhall, we realise the line was terminated, so we took a bus, and the bus snail-ed past the region. Alas, we thought we could reach Vauxhall on time, but the traffic failed us. However we were lucky that some others got stuck too, and arrived late, amongst which there was Ms Sandya.

The whole choir then headed on for Heathrow, and we shopped around the tax free area, and realised that even Harold’s is cheaper there. The VAT there is 17.5%, which is similar to our GST. The plane ride was bumpy, and I watched three movies, 27 dresses, Constantine and Alvin and the Chipmunks. They aren’t really bad, but I think I expected more.

Upon reaching Singapore, I headed straight home and watched TV before I slept.

2008-12-01T10:14:00.000-08:00

Finally after a long time, I should continue with my third day in UK.

Looking for my GIC journal...

Wednesday 9 July 2008

Woke up at around 8 today, though not one of the earliest, but really why wake up so early? Went to eat breakfast alone first because Junliang woke up later than me. Quite lovely, but I found the weather even colder out there. Guess what? I made a toast that was 'chao-ta-ed' and I even tried to rescue it. Too bad it died.

Had sectionals after breakfast, and it was quite light, much more enjoyable than back in VJ. We sang Katakataka on the bed, and Steven and ZY was less fierce. [at this time the alarm triggered]

Had lunch at HongDou's and YitAn's room and they were super funny. Too bad Dione wasn't there to join us.

After lunch, the choir went off to the Llangollen's tent again, and my bus made a detour to the site before heading for the church. The church's acoustics were incredible, too good for rehearsing. The songs that we sang were okay standard, with minor flaws here and there.

After the practice, we were off to the Llangollen site for lunch/dinner. We thought it was lunch because it was served at 4+. The fish was bad, the chips okay. I was advised by Pocks not to eat the chips. I was like, if I don't eat, I don't think I want to eat the rice, which looked really disgusting, nor the pasta, equally gross. Then we walked round the place for two hours before gathering back at the entrance. There were lots of small shops, though I didn't buy anything because there were mostly imports from China, India and even Thailand. That's where I got all the mud on my shoes, trousers and the back of the punjabi clothes.

At last we're going to perform. We're the first item and the hall was really dry. The miles picked up lots of weird sounds too. Looks like standing position is going to be changed owing to the mikes but I wonder whether it will help anyway. The rain became heavier as we exited the tent, which suggested that Dum Belle was a success. The British emcee was entertaining while introducing our choir, and Mr Kwei even played with the emcee and the audience. It was also the first time I saw so many whites in the hall.

When we were returning to the hotla, I was quite tired, because of the exhilarating performance, but I still had to wash my costume, because they were all stained with mud. The fire alarm was a false alarm and we had interesting people thinking that they triggered the alarm.

1. David; who thinks that the water vapour from the wet umbrellas which were placed near the heater triggered the alarm.

2. Ian; who thought that the pouring of boiling water triggered the alarm.

3. Hong Dou, who thought that she sat on something which triggered the alarm.

4. JunLiang who just came out of the toilet after a hot bath.

And the culprit was Cedric who tried opening the escape route door.

Washing clothes isn't simple -.-

day 2

2008-07-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Started out at the hotel's(Britainnia) lobby right after breakfast. Was quite frantic, even though I knew I should have brought all my stuff along. Owing to paranoia, I thought I left my alarm clock, even though it is in my bag. Then we went to Chester, a town of many friendly people, even though I took half and hour to find the toilet, Only the market has it, though some small shops have toilets too. Bought nothing but pasteries, and they are lovely. The cheese tarts and pizza and strawberry tarts are amazing. The next time we went there later in the afternoon, they were all gone. Took quite a lot of photos on the streets, and the feeling at Chester was cozy and warm.

Nothing much happened after the trip to Chester, because we were transported to the competition grounds and only Mr Kwei, the EXCO and the teachers were involved. Llangollen is rather high and sandy. Wondered how they managed to hold the competitions for 40 years annually. Had small group practices after that, at Premier inn, our best lodging in UK. It's 2 stories high, with fantastic rooms, and the lodging was just almost perfect. The corridors got pretty chatty at 9 plus, and I slept at 2230. Got a knock from Pocks and JiaSheng for loud music, and not in bed by 2130. Hope the jet lag is not severe.

NB: I did not encounter jet lag at all, while JL felt sleepy all through the trip. I was quite worried about him, spiritually wise. Luckily he was okay once he's back.

Day 1

2008-07-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

Arrived Manchester Airport at 6 plus. Quite freaky, because on the plane, the skies were already so bright, i.e. 1100 h. However, when we're back on Earth, the skies were still quite dark, probably due to the cloud layers. Quite fortunate to witness so many eye-openers on the plane, starry skies, beautiful auroras, sunrise, and the paradise-like atmosphere that seemed like they were designed by the heavens.

After a coach ride of one hour away from the airport, we went to Leeds. Leeds is a small city on the banks of a river, or canal, and had many churches around the small town. Lots of history, and I recalled the tale on the Leeds' witch quite vividly. The tour guide was friendly and took very good care of us, and he even became a temporary traffic police. Leeds is quite a lonely town, very unlike the big busking city of Singapore. Walking for one hour along the banks of Leeds, we spotted less than fifty people, though we found a few ducks swimming in the river.

Next, we went to the National Armory Museum. This place is freaking cool! Weapons, armours and more weapons. I took note of the swords and rapoers and even those that looked really weird that are on display. Well, though the museum gallery was free for entrance, the souvenirs were expensive. Though they were fanciful, but even some locals(boys from some English school) thought that they were above market prices. The most intriguing thing is that for every cash withdrawal made at their ATM, there is a charge of £1.75. That is equivalent to SGD 5 for every withdrawal.

We then returned to Manchester for lunch, and on our way back, we witnessed how spacious England is, hectares of grasslands, a half dozen horses roaming on the grass, and lots of cows feeding on it. Imagine Singapore was that big.

We went to Trafford Centre for lunch, which is actually a mall. This mall is huge too, unlike those in Singapore, there are no supermarkets around. Or rather, Marks & Spenser’s was the closest we could find. Hong Dou, Dione, Yit An, Ian, Junliang and I went around hunting for water, and at last we found one 1.5-l bottle that is sold for £0.35. Nevertheless, some choir people were tricked into buying those 1-l that costed them £1. Tough luck.

We then met Mr Kwei at the washrooms, and he told me to turn off the tap because I was wasting water. Well, the tap was automatic, though I got freaked out for a moment. At the meeting point the weather was cool, ~19°C.

Going to the hotel, we past Old Trafford, and the Manchester United Stadium. I guess some people really got excited about this, especially Man U lovers(and haters too).
The Britannia Hotel(South Manchester) is like a budget hotel. No air conditioner(most British buildings do not have an air-conditioner, their room temperature is already ~20°C, but they have heaters), but at night, the temperature had fallen from 16°C at 1800 h to 12°C when I just woke up. I guessed the minimum temperature was 9°C or 10°C. The TV cannot be switched on, and thus we didn’t watch any programmes on the TV, till we went Olivia’s room for dinner. The shows, BBC based, were really boring, which were not entertaining for Singapore kids like us. The group dinner that evening only had five people, Olivia, Si Ting, Junliang, Sherman and me, with the hostelites missing.

Junliang was tired that day, and so we went back at 2030 h, and slept till 0600 h. By the way, the sun haven’t set by 2100 h, and when we woke up, it had already risen. So, how short is our night?

*There is Day-light Savings in Britain during summer time. Thus all the time that are mentioned are one hour ahead of the real time. More pictures at http://s223.photobucket.com/albums/dd290/scythe333/