UK Day 7: Holy Communion at Westminster Abbey and more London

Day 7
3rd August 2014

Today we look forward to Holy Communion at Westminster Abbey Church.  As this is both Dad and my first time, we are inevitably excited!  I planned a simple floral dress for this significant episode too. The weather was welcoming and warm but just to be safe, because the English weather is notorious to change anytime (that's why the saying goes, "as crazy as the English weather!") I brought along my H&M hooded jacket.  I love it for the color and the furry insides.

Canary Wharf Underground Station is modern and vast

Thomson Reuters just in front of Canary Wharf tube station.  On a Sunday, this place is quiet and void of office workers

It was a perfect day for photography.  As we both enjoy beautiful pictures, we spent sometime just clicking away our cameras.  I have so many great pictures to share but I can't possibly load everything here, so here are just a few shots to enjoy...

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament from the Westminster Bridge

The London Eye

Another view of the Houses of Parliament

Look, it's 5 minutes passed 8am, and we are late for our Holy Communion which starts at 8am

Welcome to Westminster Abbey.  Security check to go in and no photography allowed inside.  

The Holy Communion in Westminster Abbey was a first for both Dad and I.  We were expecting the usual church service with worship and sermon the Priest only conducted the Holy Communion.  We were given each a bulletin to read from, and this bulletin was to be returned after the service. The pews were not filled, and probably half the congregation were tourist just like us.  It's sad that the House of God on a Sunday is so empty but this shows the reality of the state of spirituality in this country.

HC was done in less than an hour.  Although it was short, this was a priceless experience for us.

Some statues around look so lonely, so we took pictures of them.  For the record, I'm a flower person and not so much a statue person... but hey, this was Churchill on the left, and Nelson Mandela on the right... 

Guards at the gate of 10, Downing Street

How come Malaysian buildings don't fly the national flag so proudly like the British?  Just saying.  

We walked past the Household of Calvary Museum and I immediately remembered my time here in my previous trip.  We walked in to have a look see but coincidently the change of guards was about to happen so we hung around... Got a good spot waiting for the horses and guards to change, but alas, we waited for close to half an hour I believe and nothing happened.  So we decided to move on...

Spotted some police on duty riding on horses on the streets...

Arrived Trafalgar Square... weather is still very good and hot.  I carried with me in my backpack my 1.6litre capacity water bottle and jacket.  It sure is tiring lugging this around under this kinda weather.

The most photoed lion on earth?  My first encounter with this lion was in 1985.  

Many street performances just in front of the The National Gallery at Trafalgar Square.  I'd think this was a normal Sunday crowd and I'd have enjoyed hanging around more if the weather was not so hot.  However as you can see, it's great for photography and the ones we should spare a thought for are the street performers, who have to adorn costumes and heavy makeup, some standing for hours.

The guy on the left hanging in mid air is quite cool, eh.  Donald looks malnourished here whereas and Batman is out have a galla time too

We passed by this place La Roche cafe yesterday but ate at Garfunkel's instead for dinner.  This time, we decided we'll eat here as we both had our eyes on a second round of fish and chips.  One thing I didn't find in London though, was little shops that sell fish and chips the way I known and loved it, with salt and vinegar served wrapped in grey food paper.  The best memory I have of eating fish and chips this way is on a cold autumn or winter day, picking juicy bits off the treasure in my palm, walking back home after tutorial.  Oh, and a choice of haddock or cod!  

Lunch - English breakfast tea with fish and chips

                            

Fresh flowers on our table. 

I decided to have fish and chips the second time this trip because we were coming to the end of our trip. 

After lunch, Dad and I decided to split as I wanted to walk around Covent Garden Market but it'd be very tiring for Dad.  It's good that we each have a Lebara line which allows us to call each other for free, or any other Lebara line for free.  (I'm still on my Lebara sim so my London mobile number is effectively still valid, but heck, who's gonna call me anyway?) 

So I headed off to CGM with only a paper map that Dad passed to me. I walked along some streets packed with high street brands and accidentally strolled into a few of them but thank God I did not succumb to any unrealistic buys.  There were many window shoppers just like myself around.

My main objective here was to look for the LUSH outlet but not known to me, it had closed a few months ago and the internet was not updated.

Songs, performances... this place is definitely a MUST-GO.  Whether you're with friends or alone, it's just nice to soak in the atmosphere and enjoy the scene

An opera singer entertaining the crowd 

I enjoyed a few minutes here just people watching

After about 2-3 hours away, I headed back to Trafalgar to meet Dad.  We walked to Regent Street in the West End of London, where the bigger, more glamorous brands display proudly in beautiful, old concrete buildings.  

Doing a selfie at TS

Saw this... quite ingenious.  People would put small change on the country of their choice, more likely where they originate from or have a personal affection for.  

                          

The National Gallery

We walked through Piccadilly Circus... place was too crowded. 

Left:  The famous Ripley's Believe It Or Not building
         Right:  Piccadilly Circus?                        

Regent Street.  The architecture here is also breathtaking

And finally... thanks to Dad's sharp eyesight otherwise we'd be walking all the way to the end of Regent Street and back... we found the place I wanted to go...

LUSH Handmade Cosmetics... looks so edible and I suppose they won't harm you if you can't resist tasting it because all products does not contain harmful chemicals.  What's even better is that this company is more than just business, but is all about preservation of Mother Earth and giving back to society and fair trade.

Sadly, there's no LUSH outlet here in Malaysia, and the closest to us is in Singapore.  My first purchase was from Hong Kong, and now in London and I'm planning the next in Singapore.  Obviously the prices in UK is lower as this is a local brand.

Some for me, some for Vic... from toners to moisturizers and masks, shampoo and conditioner to bathing cream and lotion!  Check out my two tubs of Mask of Magnaminty!  

Since it was relatively still early, but we needed to rest our achy legs from all the walking.  So we checked our map again and saw a Regent Park nearby... not in our itinerary but hey, why not?  A quick google shows this place to be quite big. 

I. SO. LOVE. THE. TERRACE. HOUSES. HERE.  Really.  Really.  Really.   These are just a stone's throw away from the beautiful Regent Park yet they have a private garden just across the road.   

Dad and his best friend.  Not me.  His iPad la.  

Beautifully manicured gardens.  And this is only a small part of the whole Regent's Park

This is one of my prized pictures I took.  Needs no skill but I think comes out so professional *ahem ahem*

While Dad rested on the greens, I headed off to look for the Ladies and bought a blueberry muffin along the way back.  All the walking has made me very hungry and I was looking forward to dinner already 

We decided we will come back tomorrow.  A short walk towards Madam Tussauds brought us to this pub called The Globe along Marylebone Street.   Here we both ordered Roast Beef... soft, juicy and well marinaded!

By now, our minds are probably already back home, and eventhough Dad doesn't complain but I think he's wishing he had a car to chauffeur him back to our apartment.  Dinner was quiet as we dug into our roast beef.  I was so stuffed towards the end I remembered leaving one or two potatoes behind.

Tomorrow we will hopefully not be walking so much, because Dad has planned the Hop-On-Hop-Off from the Original Bus Tour Company.