London

My summary of London:
















Family















Family















Family.

Though I did get to the major sights, a lot of my trip was spent with my Auntie Liz and cousins (and his kids that I had never seen before).

15 years is a long time...

Lure of the Golden Arches

I must say that i have been very good.

So far I have only had McDonalds here ONCE















Not that I always have it back home.

But i probably would if it had....

(Kevin, brace yourself...)




















Can you see it? Can you see it?
















=)

Its their Big 'n' Tasty - totally lives up to its name.

That medium set put me back £5 which is around RM27, making it the most expensive McValue Meal I've ever had in my life!!!

Am I glad it was worth it...

(But the thought of spending RM27 each time I feel llike a McD's meal...Ouch!)

Baaaaa chee wemm baaa.....

Try and guess what the title refers to.

Got something in mind?

Hold that thought and see if you got it right.

As an early birthday treat, my Aunty Liz got me tickets to watch,
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The Lion King!

Its all Oprah's fault. Ages ago when the production first came out, she went to see it and raved about how good it was. Well, ever since then I've hoped it would come to Malaysia but yeah right, how many musicals actually reach our shores...




















The theatre is quite nice, I mean, compared to some of the others around its considered small, but I think it was the right size for the production. If it were too big the audience wouldn't be able to experience, er, certain things.

Well, one thing definitely didn't let me down - the costumes. I had heard they were fantastic, and they exceeded my expectations. Obviously it is a challenge to turn humans into animals, but whoever designed their costumes are geniuses. Some were as simple as body suits, while others looked like engineering works of art!

Can't take pictures inside the theatre, but here are some I got off Google images.



















The opening scene where the sun rises and all the animals come and gather round Pride Rock is absolutely phenomenal!

Only thing I was a little disappointed in was the boy who played young Simba, he wasn't a very good singer. Understandably, he is a young fella so gotta be forgiving. Besides that though, i thoroughly enjoyed myself and loved every minute of it.

Well, I did sneakily take a picture of,










a super happy me and Gran moments before the show started.

I left the theatre smiling with a warm and fuzzy feeling in my heart.

=)


It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

The Queen

18/11/09
Went down to London on an overnight train and arrived at a very early 6.30am. Unknown to me (till that morning) the Queen was gonna leave her palace to give her speech at the State Opening of Parliament. Cool!

After dropping off our bags, we headed to Buckingham Palace.















The road that lead to the palace was lined with the Queen's guards, in their winter uniform, not the usual red. Kinda pitied them cause there was a bit of rain initially, so they had to stand super still, all cold and wet.















She was supposed to come out at 11am, after some pictures and guessing which side of the carriage she'd be sitting on (we asked a police man for advice and he told us the side he saw her sitting last year, so we went with that), we took our places and waited.

Not having time to go online to read up about what exactly was happening, all I knew was she was coming out in her golden carriage, something that only happens 2 or 3 times a year. Lucky me!

Thank goodness VIP's here are not like the ones in good ol' Boleh-land, and right on the dot, the procession started from the palace gates.



As my Aunty Liz put it, the Brits really know how to put on a show, and no where else in the world can you find such pomp and ceremony.

Was a real treat, there was easily 200 of those black horses, trotting by in batches, then the absolutely beautiful carriages, with the coachmen in their uniforms - it was like something from a history book.
That's all it is though really, keeping up with tradition.

A chatty lady next to my aunt told us about the 21-gun Salute that was to happen in Green Park, just across the road from where we were, and as soon a barrier opened up, we nipped across to check it out.

Call me ignorant but I thought its was gonna be guns going off, not cannons, and boy were they loud!















Amazingly, the horses that were nearby didn't flinch, move or even bother with the loud bangs... Makes me wonder if they're wearing ear plugs, or just freakin' well trained.















Even more impressive, as soon as it was over, all those horses you see behind me, went over to collect the cannons back onto their carts, and off they went. Quick as lightning. Was packed up in a flash!



Just as we were about to leave, we found out that the whole procession would be back in an hour. "An hour?", I thought, "That can't be right, how can that whole jing-bang get to the Houses of Parliament, get in, make her speech, then get back into the load of carriages and back to Buckingham Palace in an hour? Cannot be lah..."

Since it was only bout 15minutes till the hour, we thought might as well stick around, and sure enough - less than 5minutes after 12 the whole lot came back. This time I got to see them clearly (without taking any photos) and I guess she was happy she'd got that job done cause the Queen was waving out at everyone, smiling.

Yay! I managed to see the stereotypical image of Her Royal Highness, sitting in her gorgeous carriage, waving out at the people!















I suspect as soon as she got home, she put her feet up and had a nice cuppa tea.

Only happens once in your life...

Painful Feet, Aching back

I'm so sick of walking on eggshells and bending over backwards.

Some people are just impossible to please, and I'm tired.

Seems like wherever I go I'm destined to deal with such people.

BoomZ & ShingZ

For those who were entertained and amused by the clip of the former Miss Singapore, creator of the word BoomZ, here is a sorta follow up that is equally, if not more entertaining.

Cracked up and watched it at least 3 times.

Dunno if its real or exaggerated, but I find it hilarious.

Though some of course may say its totally ShingZ.

Scottish Fry Up

1. Smoked sausage
2. Black pudding
3. Grilled tomato
4. Tattie scone
5. Dumpling
6. Fried egg
7. Bacon
8. Link sausage
9. Hash brown
10. Mushrooms

A full blown, true blue 100% Saturday morning fry up, made by my Uncle Alex;




















Looked on by his loving wife my Aunty Ruth.




















Uncle Alex is my brother's mum, and lives a 5 minute walk down the street from where I am staying.

What is black pudding you ask? A type of sausage made by cooking blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled. It is also called blood sausage. Usually pigs or cows blood is used.

Well, I had to be polite...
















...and I must say it wasn't so bad.

Initially I thought it would be like the coagulated pigs blood we get in our kari mee, but its not! Its totally different, doesn't taste like blood at all and honestly if I wasn't told what was in it I couldn't have guessed.

Doesn't mean I will be eating it all the time though.

Some

Pictures i took in Liverpool.

My verdict of the city - I like.

We all live in a yellow submarine...

Although I was only in Liverpool a total of 48 hours, I think I did manage to cover quite a lot of touristy ground, and one area not to be missed is Albert Dock.




















It used to be, can you guess? A dock! Busy during the WW eras and now the area has been converted into museums. Its quite a nice place to walk around.

I'm guessing the most popular place there is the museum dedicated to 4 lads from Liverpool who created some of the hits that are still much loved today...




















Its worth going to, and your £12 ticket is valid for 48hours so you can go back again the next day if you wanna spend more time there.

You get a head set, and as you walk around you just punch in the numbers indicated next to the displays and the story unfolds.
















Well, it turns out that you are NOT allowed to take photos inside, and I dunno if I was blind or blur, I didn't see any signs at the ticketing counter and was happily clicking away till I turned round a corner andsaw a very clear, in-your-face sign NO PHOTOGRAPY. Oops...
















I liked what they did with the place. You follow the Beatles journey from how they first got together, their rise and their eventual break up.

Each section completely reflected the different stages in their careers. One section had an 'old school' record shop, another had a set of them recording their first single, another section was the inside of an aeroplane for when they first went over to the US; but I think the most famous section is the exact replica of the Cavern Club, the place the Beatles performed the most.















As of June 2009, the Beatle Story museum expanded and set up another exhibition area further down the road at Pier Head.
















Its the biggest shop for Beatles merchandise, and currently has 2 main attractions. One is an exhibition of John Lenon with stuff contributed by his first wife and son., and the other is something I came so close to missing.

Due to time constraints, I couldn't visit Pier Head on the Tuesday, so I toyed with the idea of going the next morning. My bus was at 11am, the museum opens at 10am. I was told that it is a 10 minute short movie, only 10 minutes?! Hmmmm, one hour, 10 minutes - should I squeeze it in?





Yes!














Was outside by 9.40am, waiting for the doors to open. As soon as it was 10am, I dashed in and upstairs only to be told the first screening of it was at 10.40am - oh tidak! Thank goodness staff there were really really nice (as well as cute), and while I was wondering around the Lennon exhibition one of them came up to tell me they were going to do a test run, would I like to sit in for it? Yes please!

Absolutely loved it! Would go back and watch it again, and again if I had the time! Dunno if you have to pay again though, but the £12 ticket from the other museum includes the entrance fee for this one.

Can't say much about what it actually is (in case someone reading does go to Liverpool) but its in 4D (what's that you ask?), its the Beatles (think their crazy style) and its an extension of their music in a modern setting.

Perhaps its kinda like experiencing being high, without being high - if you know what I mean.

=p

Talk myself in, I talk myself out; I guess it's half timing & the other half's Luck.

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As pathetic as it may sound, this song almost gives me hope that one day I might find someone who'll love me as much as I'll love him.

You'll Never Walk Alone

I'd been looking forward to this mini trip (trip within my trip) for 6weeks. That when I got myself all booked up to go down to watch:
















Well, that was the plan but my match ticket wasn't 100% confirmed till a week before the game. Thank goodness it all worked out, but even if it didn't I was gonna go down to Liverpool anyhow to check the place out and go for the Anfield Stadium tour. Either way I was getting into the stadium!

I took a train down early from Glasgow, and bunked over at a friend of my brother's place. A kind soul who offered his room for two nights.

Anyhow, I went to the stadium super early, 2hours before the match, to collect my ticket. As i stepped out the cab my eyes immediately were drawn to a glorious sight:















Holy, holy, holy...




Once I got my ticket and put it safely away I wondered about till I came to a gathering crowd. I kinda figured why they were all standing there, waiting so since I had nothing else better to do I joined them. Bout 15minutes later, in came the Liverpool players bus.




















Doesn't look it in the picture, but I got a great view. Right in front of the bus, so I saw Rafa Benitez and all the players getting off.

After that, I didn't have much else to do so I headed in.

Now, the first thing that is really obvious about Anfield is it is so SMALL. For a top team, their stadium seriously looks way bigger on tv. The stands are tight around the pitch, not many tiers and basically just ngam-ngam.
I found out later it can hold 40,000 people, and that's like half the size of Old Trafford.
















Another thing I realized once in, uh-oh, no big screens! Die, how am I gonna see whats going on!
















Turns out, the locals don't bother to come in and wait, they pour in just before the game starts. From an empty stadium it fills up in less than 15minutes.
















I wasn't at the Kop end (above), it was just to my right - close enough to hear all the singing pretty loudly. Everytime the ball went close to the goalmouth, like a wave everyone would stand up, and if nothing happened, everyone sat back down again in unison. Quite an impressive sight.

The crowed got pumped up once the players came out for their warm ups. Pepe Reina was the 'closest' to me. Its the best individual picture I could get.

















After one minute of silence (out of respect for soldiers who died at war because it was near Remembrance Day) and shaking hands it was time for the match to begin.

















It was fun, it was loud, there was cursing, there was laughter, jeering and cheering.

Everything you hear and see on tv when watching a live match; that was what I was a part of.

I had authentic Scousers behind me, pretty much going f*kin' ell' most of the time, and 2 somewhat drunk, bulky Russians next to me who kept screaming C'mon Agger!















First half was 'good' cause a lot of the action was at my end.

I love watching Rafa Benitez, well any football manager for that matter. They look hilarious with their furious hand gestures and try so hard to keep inside their designated rectangle.

















Overall, I enjoyed myself very much.
It sucked that it was a draw, but what can you do?
Liverpool made their usual idiotic mistakes, and Birmingham City's defence was excellent.

I had not idea what all the hoo-ha was about when the penalty was given as all I saw from the other end of the stadium was:



















There are no instant replays in the stadium remember.

To be honest, I didn't even know what the issue was the next day either because 1.I'm not a hardcore fan 2.I don't do follow ups on matches and 3. I don't care.

Dive or no dive, I had a great time.