Back from London

Yippee !!! I’m back ... back to Delhi.

On Tuesday, I went for shopping at Primark (Oxford Street). I heard about this store from few of my colleagues at Delhi. They told me that it’s like Mecca for all foreign budget tourists. Even though I was not too keen on buying anything from London per se, but Divya (she came to London with me for training) was very keen on shopping. Girls ... what can I say ... they are inherently shopaholics. Anyhoo ... I tagged along and got out of the office little early (5:30ish). The store was just outside the Marble Arch tube station and it was really big. On weekdays the shop is open till 9 PM, so we had ample time to shop around. I was just roaming here and there and when I saw some of the good stuff at almost throwaway prices, I just couldn’t resist and bought few gifts for my kid cousins. I also treated myself with a pair of jeans, a white shirt, and a backpack. The cost of backpack was ₤3 ... imagine that. I would recommend any visitor with limited budget to look no further and visit this place. Little by little I bought few gifts and amazingly it all put me back by mere ₤60.

Next day I went to Tesco Metro near Liverpool station and picked chocolates. Took me a while to pick up chocos because there were so many varieties ... most of which I have absolutely no clue of. Anyhoo ... final day came and I woke up early to pack up all the stuff. The cab (booked online by office) came at sharp 8:30 AM and we reached Heathrow Terminal 5 after little more than an hour. At Heathrow, you got to tag your check-in bags at automated check-in machines (before getting the boarding pass). While tagging the bags, the machine told me and Divya that we do not have a confirmed seat yet. That was shocking ... we rushed to the British Airways counter and asked them about it. The person at the desk told me that since there were many flight cancellations in last few days due to bad weather, the flight is over booked. So he gave us 2 options – either go for next flight or wait for an hour to get the status of the existing flight. He also informed us that if we go for voluntary scheme of next flight, we would be compensated with €300 (in cash) or €450 (in gift vouchers) ... EACH. Ohhhh yeah ... my mouth was filled with water ... so I asked when is the next flight and he told me that it’s after 4 hours. €300 cash for 4 hours of patience ... seemed so cool to me. But I said NO ... I wont be going for that scheme and asked the guy to put me on stand by for the current flight. OK OK ... I know it sounds little crazy not to take that €300 for mere 4 hours of wait ... but I did not took that because of couple of reasons – first I knew about the weather forecast ... it was not good at all. I didn’t wanted to take the risk of staying back and then get stuck in snow or thundershowers. Secondly, I am a very impatient man ... I cant wait for anything to save my life ... so 4 hours seemed like 4 days to me (and I really wanted to go home ASAP). So we were put on the stand by list and the helpdesk guy told me to come back after an hour to get the final status about the boarding passes. At 11 AM, when I reached the helpdesk again ... I got the boarding passes ... that was surprising because I remembered the guy telling me that I was 50th on the list. But when I turned around I saw a huge line of people standing in the voluntary zone – mostly Indians – aah the lure of money ...

The flight took off at 12:30 PM (EST) ... after 40 minutes delay (scheduled to be at 11:50 AM) ... due to air traffic. Finally I reached Delhi at 2:30 AM (IST) ... and reached home at 4:30 ... did not sleep because I had to go to office. I was feeling very sleepy so I thought of writing this post ... now the eyes are little open ... opps gotta go ... lunch time. C ya.

Snowing cats and dogs

It started to snow on Sunday evening and continued until Monday night. It was not mild flurry – it snowed cats and dogs (if that is an emphatic expression). The roads, tree, buildings ... everything wore a snow-white look. Is it my luck or what ... I like snowfall like I love chocolate ... and it snowed like the heaven’s gate were let loose by the almighty. Aah ... the weather is bringing out the writer in me. Well anyhoo ... where was I ... ooh yeah ... the snow. I just saw on the telly (very British ... ahahahaha) that this was the worst (magnificent to me though) snowfall in last 2 decades. So much so that the entire city’s public transportation stopped. It was Monday ... but judging from the streets you would not have guessed it. The streets were empty like it is a curfew. My office was almost empty ... in fact none of my teammates came. To be fair ... they simply could not because there were no buses or trains to travel. This was the story across all the offices ... the schools were closed ... most of the tourist spots were empty ... overall the entire city stood still.
 This brings me to the famous Mumbai rains couple of years ago when entire Mumbai was crippled due to relentless rains. We all were quick to point out the hapless public infrastructure. I distinctly remember that I said that if something like this happens in any rich city they would have handled it in better way. Ooh ... how wrong I was. I saw what happened to London and to be honest I felt like Mumbai dealt with it in a better way. At least the Mumbaikars showed more grit and determination to deal with the nature’s fury. My brother in law walked 15 kms back home from office and his brother stayed at office for 2 days. But Mumbai never died like London did yesterday. It is very easy to point figures when the public system breaks down. But today I realized that no matter how affluent a city is, it is still a pawn in nature’s hand. When Mother Nature unleashes her fury ... no amount of planning or organization can save us. Nature still dictates the terms and we human beings are still way behind to calm her or face her wrath.

Talking about mother ... I miss my mommy ... coming home soon mom ... I so miss you.

London Tour: Tower Bridge and Westminster

After a hectic day, I was sleeping like a baby ... suddenly at around midnight, fire alarm broke out in my room. I was horrified ... I thought that it was the wakeup alarm ... I was still half asleep ... so I tried to shut the phone alarm ... but to my surprise the alarm kept ringing. I tried to switch off every electronic stuff in my room ... but the alarm kept ringing. Darn !!! Then I got out of the room and saw everyone was outside ... bemused and little bit annoyed ... just like me. So we all went downstairs. Man ... it was freezing outside. So I went back to my room (climbed 6 floors ... wuf !!!) ... got little cosy in my thick jacket ... grabbed the money and passport and ran back downstairs. We all (around 200 guests) stood in the freezing cold ... tired and sleepy ... oh what an ordeal. The fire brigade found that someone broke the fire alarm at 10th floor. They checked all the floors for fire and then we all were let inside. Goddam ... what an anticlimax to an eventful day.

Sunday ... time to see the rest of the stuff today. Today was Westminster and Tower of London day. Took the tube to Tower Hill and as soon as I got out the tube station, I was little horrified to see the weather. It was cloudy and very very cold. Well ... should have known because the weather channel predicted to be a bad weather day. Anyhoo ... got to the tower of London ... boy, it was sooommmeee bridge. I remember that whenever I saw any picture of London, it always had either Tower of London bridge or Big Ben. Seeing it with my eyes ... it felt kinda surreal. As a kid, I always dreamt of visiting all those places whose pictures I saw ... like New York, London, Paris ... and to actually see them in person ... the feeling is indescribable. I crossed the bridge and got to London Bridge Pier from where I took a ferry ride to Embankment. I always enjoy the ferry rides ... there is something in water bodies which makes you go ... mmmmm !!!. After getting out of the ferry ... I went straight to Big Ben. I tried to snap pictures but due to bad weather they all appeared a little dark. So I decided to come back to that place after doing the London Eye and Aquarium.
 I crossed the Thames and went to London Eye. Since I already bought the ticket in advance (group ticket at Madame Tussads), I simply got it vouched at the ticket counter and got in the line. The line wasn’t long and soon I got inside the famous London Eye giant wheel. Basically London Eye is simple a monstrous version of a giant wheel ... its monstrosity makes it FUN. The wheel circled very slowly giving us ample time to see entire London and snap plenty of pictures. It took almost half an hour for the wheel to circle ... plenty of hang time I must say ... hahahaha.
 
 When I was boarding the London Eye, it started to snow. But when I got off it, the weather changed drastically ... plenty of sunshine ... aaah what a relief. I went straight to London Aquarium. I had a discount coupon with me (which I picked up from my hotel) and asked the ticket lady to give me the 20% discount on the ticket. She told me that since the aquarium is not fully functional they have reduced the ticket prices and the discount won’t be levied on the reduced fare. Oh what the heck ... I took the tickets and saw the aquarium. Fishy I must say ... saw plenty of fishes ... big and small ... most of them were simply breathtakingly beautiful. When I got out of it ... my stomach was asking for fuel. So went straight to McDonalds and got the only vegetarian burger along with some fries and soda.
 
 After the refueling, I went to see Big Ben. So again I got to cross Thames ... and on my way I saw loads of police personnel trying to control people’s movement. Then I saw a lady ... she was standing on the bridge ... she was trying to jump and commit suicide and the police was trying to talk her out of it. I tried to stand and watch the proceeding but the police man told me to move along. Poor lady ... I prayed that the policemen successfully get her back to safety. Anyhoo ... I went to Big Ben. What a building ... marvelous is a small word for the architecture. You got to see it to believe it ... aah ... I know I keep repeating this line ... but what can I say ... it is true.
 After the Big Ben, I went to Trafalgar Square ... it was buzzing with people. When I reached there I saw a huge stage ... it was a Chinese new year celebration show. From there I went to Oxford and Piccadilly Circus. Another hectic day ... and by the time I reached hotel the weather took a turn to worse. It started to snow again. Perfect timing I must say.
 

London Tour: 4 Museums

Wuhu !!! weekend again ... time to see London again. Got out of the hotel at 10:15 ... bought the day pass from Aldgate East and took the District line tube to South Kensington station. When I got off the tube and was about to get out of the station, I saw a subway which had the street signs of all the three museums (Natural History, Science, and Victoria & Albert Museums). First, I visited the Natural History museum. Standing at the door ... I was just blown away by the massiveness of the building ... also it was so darn beautiful. The architecture ... aahh ... you got to see it to believe it. Just as I entered, I was greeted by a dinosaur skeleton ... it was hugeeee. The museum had the biggest, tallest, and rarest animals in the world – in stuffed form obviously ... ahahahaha. I tried to see everything as fast as possible because I had planned to visit 6 museums. However, snapping pics ... seeing the stuff ... time just flew. So I stuck to the main areas of the museum and got out at around noon.
 
 Victoria and Albert museum was just across the road. Again the architecture ... simply superb !!! V&A is dedicated to arts. The museum was organized into 5 main areas – Asia, Europe, Modern, Materials, and Exhibitions. Since I was short of time, I stuck to Asia, Europe, and Materials sections. The museum was like a montage of all the best art artifacts of all the major civilizations. Like the Arabic section was heavy on carpets, China had chinaware and Japan had all daggers as main attractions. Europe was full of all the paintings, statues, royal rooms and dresses. The museum had an amazing collection of jewellery. All in all ... the museum was dedicated to richness and good things in life ... and my my ... it had some stuff.
 
 
Again crossed the road and got to Science museum. The area is like museum mushroom ... LOL. You turn around and baamm ... you are on the doorsteps of some museum. But I was not complaining. Even though my back and legs were hurting ... I was just in museum seeing trance. Just as I entered, I picked up the museum map booklet to plan out my visit. After visiting two history and culture heavy museum, science museum came as a welcome change. It was based on contemporary stuff and was much more interactive. Must say it was fun to see the evolution of such mundane stuff like washing machines, microwave oven, radio, vacuum cleaner, music and video players, computers, etc. There were plenty of interactive activities for kids ... well many of them were lame and childish. I had my lunch inside the museum ... when I saw the watch ... it was 2 already and I was not thru with the museum. Damn !!!
 

 Got out of the museum at 3 pm. I knew it that I won’t be able to see the rest of the 3 museums. So I had to drop 2 museums – British Museum and National Gallery. I thought that since I would be going to visit Westminster on Sunday, I would take out time to visit British museum. National Gallery ... well ... may be next time. So Tate Modern was the left on my list of museum to visit ... I quickly got to the tube station. On reaching the station, I came to know that the Southwark (Jubilee line) tube was closed for the weekend. So I came back to Westminster and then changed the tube and got to Waterloo station. Came out of the station and got a bus to Tate Modern. This museum was dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Just as I entered the museum, I saw a giant spider sculpture. However the museum turned out to be bit disappointing ... partly because I just couldn’t appreciate most of the art pieces.
 

Anyhoo ... got out of the museum at 6 pm and took the bus to get to the tube station. The bus was a double decker. So I got to the upper deck ... and saw London. Beautiful I must say. Another great day of touring London ... and another one to come.

Lunch at Gherkin top

Just came back from lunch at Gherkin top. My London team mates told me about it ... they said it was a great view and you can have lunch as well ... so today after the morning training ... went there with the team. Chris (my team mate) told me that the place is little expensive but the view is nice ... especially the view of river Thames and the bridges (London and the famous Tower Bridge). Since it wasn’t raining and weather was somewhat nice, the view was good. He also told me that not everyone is allowed to have food over there because of some membership rules. You gotta be working in Gherkin or need to be a member of some club (forgot the club name) for eating out there. They don’t even allow general public to come up and see the view. If you are a member of Gherkin building then you can bring 5 other people. Me being a curious traveler ... decided not to miss this exclusive thingy ... cause you never know when you be able to get back again ... if ever.
 Since I’m a vegetarian, there wasn’t much to eat. I asked the waiter to bring me anything which doesn’t have meat/fish or egg in it. He suggested the side menu and told me that I can have Roaster Potato along with Rocket Parmesan salad. I also ordered the Tiger beer ... must say it was really good. The potatoes were good ... not too sure about the salad though. To my surprise, it did not cost that much ... just £10. Whenever I am out of the country, I find it hard to get nice veggie meal. Sometimes I wish I can eat meat ... but then ... you always tend to find alternative food to survive. So as long as I can find something veggie to eat ... I would stick to it.

London Tour: Tussauds and Dungeon

First day I reached office little late because I didn't knew the exact way to the office. Even though, my office is in one of the most famous building of London (The Gherkin), it took me a while. Actually I was moving in complete opposite direction and I realized it when I asked a road service woman; she told me to turn around and go all the way back ... damn. Anyhoo ... when I reached office, I realized that its just 5 mins walk from my hotel. Niceeee !!! The first two days at office were full of training sessions and meetings. Kinda boring ... ahahahaha

London is really expensive ... everything costs double than what I would pay in New York ... and that says a lot because NY is not the cheapest city in the world. I bought a pack of juice from the nearby Tesco shop. Now the problem was how would I keep it in cool place since my hotel room do not have fridge. Being an Indian, I came up with a jugad (out of the box way to accomplish a task). I opened the window and kept the bottle on the edge (it was 6-7 inches wide). The cold weather of London kept my bottle chilled thru the night. Now that I have successfully tested this I am using that window space for keeping my stuff cold and fresh. LOL.

Saturday came and I was ready to see the city. Like every other western city, London too slows down in weekends. The tube/buses/DLR etc cut down on its services. So I got to the nearby tube station and enquired at the information counter about how to reach Greenwich. The lady there told me that I need to take a bus and then need to ride the DLR. OK ... like I know every freakin bus and DLR route in London ... huh!!!. Anyways, I bought the day pass (£5.60) which was valid in all public transportation in Zone 1 and Zone 2. The thing is if you have a pass for particular zones, you can travel anywhere (within that zone), anyhow (tube/bus/DLR). With the pass in my hand I rode Bus # 100 from Aldgate, which took me to Shadwell. From there I took the DLR to Greenwich. It was fun .. I saw the National Maritime Museum, Queen’s House and Royal Observatory.
 
 
 All right, Saturday gone ... came Sunday. The plan was to see Madame Tussauds. My planning was immaculate. On Friday, I checked out the weather forecast for the weekend. Saturday was all sunshine ... Sunday was wet and wild. You should always check the weather in unknown cities before venturing out. As a result, I planned Greenwich on Saturday because it was all outdoors and planned Tussauds because its indoors. Again I bought the day pass and took the Metropolitan tube to the Baker street. Madame Tussauds is just near the tube station. At the ticket counter I came to know that there was some bulk deal ... so I took the £50 ticket which would enable me to visit Tussauds, London Dungeon, and London Eye. Even though it seemed kinda steep ... but who said that visiting a European city would be cheap. Saw all the world famous wax figures .... man it was fun.
 
 
  
 
 Came back to hotel ... rested for a while and then got out again for the London Dungeon. Reaching there was bit tricky as I had to change couple of tubes ... took the train to Mooregate and from there took the Northern line to London Bridge station. Like Madame Tussauds, Dungeon was also adjacent to the station. Since I had the ticket beforehand, I avoided the queue. Like its name ... Dungeon was an ode to gore ....
 
 Oh ... want a fun ... two days of city roaming ... wow.