Day 8
4th August 2014
Before our trip, Dad had made booking with
The Original Tour bus company for their Hop-On-Hop-Off sight seeing. With a printed booking confirmation, we needed only to wait at the designated stop to have the QR code scanned.
After a simple breakfast at home (I can't remember exactly what, but it was definitely clearing off whatever food stuff we had in our fridge).
We were at Canary Wharf slightly passed 9am, and the scene here was a typical working day whereby men and women were in their work attire, solemn faces and hurried steps. For a split second, I have to admit that I kind of miss my work life, but that thought quickly went poof, as I am loving where my life is today.
Just a slight note for those looking at properties around or in Canary Wharf - this is definitely a bustling place and worth considering. Readers' own discretion and research adviced as yours truly hold no responsibility in any investment decision making. ; )
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Rush hour on Monday slightly past 9am at Canary Wharf.
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I wonder what does these pictures mean... are they depicting a story, history or random expression of creativity?
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| This map is probably too small to read, but you can view the bigger version here. There are all together four routes to choose from, but in my personal opinion, it would be unwise and unreasonable to be exploring all four routes unless one just prefers to sit passively in the bus |
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| From on top the bus, a picture of souvenir shops which are mainly run by the Middle Eastern folks |
Praise God for yet another beautiful day with good weather, albeit after being up on the deck of the double decker bus, I was kinda feeling tortured under the heat of the summer sun, and wishing I had put on more sun block. But sitting on the top deck was definitely a better choice, in order to take clearer photos.
As I don't have much to write about today, this post will be mainly pictures:
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| The first Hard Rock Cafe was opened in London |
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| I forgotten where I took this lion picture, possibly in the area of Westminter. My son William has always thought this animal powerful and majestic. I think he is quite right, even as Aslan in the famous C.S Lewis movie, Narnia represents our Lord Jesus |
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| Another picture of the Clock Tower aka Big Ben |
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| Souvenir shop selling sweaters ahead in the middle of summer? |
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| On the Bridge Walk on route to our cruise on River Thames |
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| Left: Wellington Arch on Hyde Park Corner, Right: The London Eye |
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| On board our cruise on the River Thames. We boarded at Westminster and cruised towards Greenwich Pier. We sat inside, protected from the heat outside. I bought two snacks to enjoy on this half hour cruise. |
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| St Paul Cathedral from the River Thames |
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| This, my friends... is the underneath of the REAL London Bridge (remember the nursery rhyme song?)... there's nothing attractive about this bridge, honestly. |
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| The Shard, is home to some best offices, Shangri-la Hotel, restaurants and bars |
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| Dark clouds hovering above. Don't expect heavy rain here though. |
The River Thames cruise headed towards Greenwich Pier where we were required to hop off and boarded the next ship back to Westminster. For lunch, we returned to
St Stephen's Tavern
Later in the afternoon, we hopped off the bus near Regent's Park to explore Queen Mary's garden this time.
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| I was captivated by the smooth carpet of green moss on this lake, so smooth they look almost fake! Picture taken from York Bridge in Queen Mary Gardens |
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| Another view - this green, green lake look more like a well manicured ground |
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| White roses - my favourite! |
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| A cafe hidden in the midst of the rose garden |
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| This would be a nice spot for a picnic or even duck feeding |
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| Beautiful roses in Queen Mary's garden in Regent's Park |
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| Brown english ducks |
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| Part of the Boating Lake |
We didn't stay long in Queen Mary Gardens. Our next stop was back to Oxford Street to see if I missed out anything in the previous visit. Hehehe... this time Dad decided to just sit outside along the concrete extension of Primark, where most other men seem to be waiting too. It was a lot more crowded, and the cashier lines were easily more than 30 metres long! I bought two more big bags of clothing for the children and only a couple of pieces for myself (dare not buy more, because I wasn't game to queue for the fitting rooms).
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| Oxford Street after 5pm |
After shopping, we decided to look for dinner before heading back to our apartment. Which one would think it'd be pretty easy to do, since we were on Oxford Street - this is where retail rules but alas... eateries were limited on this part of the street. We didn't want to walk too far off as we were already near Bond Street tube station.
Pret-A-Manger was packed with after-work office workers and we couldn't find a table. Other than the Italian restaurant that we had lunch at on Day 2, there was only Pizza Hut fast food. So we ate there. Secretly I thought, why not... it's a change from the usual bar settings and maybe fast food in London offer a different experience.
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| We ordered two regular pizzas and salad came free - helped ourselves at the Salad Bar. Variety was impressive. |
Fast food is fast food... nothing great here unfortunately and we over ordered. Oh well, we asked a packing box to take away the remaining pizza which we will have for our breakfast the next day.
At night after bath, I did a final round of packing and weighed my check in luggage and handcarry. Yes, I was still within the allowable limit!
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