One of the things that I really wanted to do on this trip was to see a musical. I love musicals and I still remember my time watching musicals in Broadway when I was in NY in 2005. So prior to my trip, I was already researching on the musicals/shows that were showing in London's west end.So I was lucky that despite it being a short trip, I was able to catch not 1 but 2 westend shows, Oliver! and War Horse. I enjoyed both very much. Oliver! is a musical based on the Charles Dickens story Oliver Twist and War Horse is a play based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo. Tips for those who plan on catching a show in London. The TKTS booth located in Leicester square is a good place to check ticket prices as they always sell tickets at discounted prices on the day of the show itself. Otherwise, there are many ticket shops around which sell discounted tickets. For example, when I was in Madam Tussands, there was a ticket shop in the museum store and I just asked if they had any cheap tickets for the night. Voila... just a phone call and I got my answer. So it never hurts to ask really, and my experience is that the sales pple are usually very friendly and patient with yo :)
So most of the theatres are located in the covent garden area which is also where most of the nightlife happens in London, so even after your play/musical ends (usually at around 10.30pm), you can expect to come out of the theatre and still find restaurants and bars open around the area. Covent garden tube station is also always pretty packed with pple trying to get home after so it's like a massive human jam here..
BUT: walk maybe like 400m down the road back to Leicester Square and you find yourself in Chinatown! Recognisable immediately from the red laterns and sudden influx of chinese restaurants flanking both sides of the streets. I came here with Kah-Ling and Patrick after watching War Horse for supper and it was like wow walking around.... it was also how I managed to get my mooncake fix this year :P
We had supper in one of these taiwanese style bubble tea shops which also sells small snacks and deserts. Kaya toast, honey dew melon pudding, sugar cane pudding below.... Funnily enough, the shop was playing 林俊杰's karaoke dvd.... (S'pore singer)
Kah-Ling and I.... thanks to her, she made sure that I ate VERY WELL during my stay in London :)
So back on to the sightseeing..... well, i also did some shopping here :) Oxford street and Bond street and famous shopping areas in London, and I did allocate a few hours walking down the streets (it's a very very long street :)) London has the best shopping I swear... heaps of different shops around.
Famous Fortnum and Mason store: managed to buy some cookies to bring back.... have been munching on their chinese ginger biscuits ever since I came back :P
Some of the biscuits I lugged backed to budapest.... On top of the ones I bought from Fortnum and Mason, I got some from the V&A museum and Crabtree and Evelyn (who knew they sold food products!)
Burlington House on Piccadily street.
Burlington house has many societies occupying its grounds such as the Royal society of chemistry and the Royal Astronomical society.
Bond street: where all the designer shops are and almost every shop has a burly security guard standing near the door.
hehe Danica... I couldn't resist taking this picture inside Burberry.... I really love Emma Watson's campaign for Burberry...
One (more) thing I like about London is that most of its museums are free! Just goes to show how much appreciation and funding is given to the arts here. I met a lady working for the natural history museum in Chicago on this trip and she shared with me how amazed she was to find that the museums here in London were free to visitors, especially when back in USA, admission fees contribute towards the upkeep of the museums. This time, I visited the Victoria and Albert museum (museum of decorative arts). It has collections from all over the world, and while I was there, it also had a special Fashion exhibition since it being fashion week at that time.
Interior gardens of the museum.... despite it being London and autumn, I enjoyed sunshine throughout my whole trip, and it was very relaxing to just take a break from the exhibits and have a drink in the gardens, and continue once replenished...
Artistic piece hanging in the entrance foyer...
The tomb of Buyanqui Khan who was a muslim descendant of the great Genghis Khan. For a time, he was the puppet ruler of central asia, but when he tried to assert his own authority, he was assasinated by a local warload. His tomb was built in a cemetery on the outskirts of Buachara and the entire building was covered in tiles, inside and out. Below are tiles taken from the tomb which you can see are covered with inscriptions and engravings.
Fashion week exhibition: Dresses by Christian Lacroix, Yves Saint laurent, Vivenne Westwood and Versace from left to right
In clockwise order:
3. Bodhisattva Guanyin
5. Tiles depicting the warriors of Mara, taken from the Shwegugyi temple in Burma.
In clockwise order
1. Ardabil carpet: Islamic carpet commissioned by the Shah of Iran as a pair.
2. Ceremonidal ladle from Sri Lanka, 18th c.
3. Portable shrine (Nepal)
5.Dagger and sheath from Iran said to be a gift to a office from the British EIC.
6. Mother of Pearl bowl.
In clockwise order:
1. Drake jewel. Given to Sir Francis Drake from Elizabeth 1
2. Wine cup made out of coconut husk
3. Salt and pepper shakers in European style but Chinese design.
4. Mermaid jug and shell shape matching wash basin
5. Nautilus shell cup
6. Mother of Pearl basin
Original Beatrix Potter illustrations..
An interesting feature of the V&A museum is its casts courts. The casts of famous monuments was created for educational purposes when it wasn't easy to travel and see original works. The casts provided an opportunity for students to study European sculpture. Some of the famous casts that one can see include:
Tabernacle in the church of St Leonard, Zoutleeum, near Brussels
Western portal at the cathedral of St Saveur, Alx-en provence, France
Trajan's column, Rome
So most of the theatres are located in the covent garden area which is also where most of the nightlife happens in London, so even after your play/musical ends (usually at around 10.30pm), you can expect to come out of the theatre and still find restaurants and bars open around the area. Covent garden tube station is also always pretty packed with pple trying to get home after so it's like a massive human jam here..
BUT: walk maybe like 400m down the road back to Leicester Square and you find yourself in Chinatown! Recognisable immediately from the red laterns and sudden influx of chinese restaurants flanking both sides of the streets. I came here with Kah-Ling and Patrick after watching War Horse for supper and it was like wow walking around.... it was also how I managed to get my mooncake fix this year :P
We had supper in one of these taiwanese style bubble tea shops which also sells small snacks and deserts. Kaya toast, honey dew melon pudding, sugar cane pudding below.... Funnily enough, the shop was playing 林俊杰's karaoke dvd.... (S'pore singer)
Kah-Ling and I.... thanks to her, she made sure that I ate VERY WELL during my stay in London :)
So back on to the sightseeing..... well, i also did some shopping here :) Oxford street and Bond street and famous shopping areas in London, and I did allocate a few hours walking down the streets (it's a very very long street :)) London has the best shopping I swear... heaps of different shops around.
Famous Fortnum and Mason store: managed to buy some cookies to bring back.... have been munching on their chinese ginger biscuits ever since I came back :P
Some of the biscuits I lugged backed to budapest.... On top of the ones I bought from Fortnum and Mason, I got some from the V&A museum and Crabtree and Evelyn (who knew they sold food products!)
Burlington House on Piccadily street.
Burlington house has many societies occupying its grounds such as the Royal society of chemistry and the Royal Astronomical society.
Bond street: where all the designer shops are and almost every shop has a burly security guard standing near the door.
hehe Danica... I couldn't resist taking this picture inside Burberry.... I really love Emma Watson's campaign for Burberry...
One (more) thing I like about London is that most of its museums are free! Just goes to show how much appreciation and funding is given to the arts here. I met a lady working for the natural history museum in Chicago on this trip and she shared with me how amazed she was to find that the museums here in London were free to visitors, especially when back in USA, admission fees contribute towards the upkeep of the museums. This time, I visited the Victoria and Albert museum (museum of decorative arts). It has collections from all over the world, and while I was there, it also had a special Fashion exhibition since it being fashion week at that time.
Interior gardens of the museum.... despite it being London and autumn, I enjoyed sunshine throughout my whole trip, and it was very relaxing to just take a break from the exhibits and have a drink in the gardens, and continue once replenished...
Artistic piece hanging in the entrance foyer...
The tomb of Buyanqui Khan who was a muslim descendant of the great Genghis Khan. For a time, he was the puppet ruler of central asia, but when he tried to assert his own authority, he was assasinated by a local warload. His tomb was built in a cemetery on the outskirts of Buachara and the entire building was covered in tiles, inside and out. Below are tiles taken from the tomb which you can see are covered with inscriptions and engravings.
Fashion week exhibition: Dresses by Christian Lacroix, Yves Saint laurent, Vivenne Westwood and Versace from left to right
In clockwise order:
3. Bodhisattva Guanyin
5. Tiles depicting the warriors of Mara, taken from the Shwegugyi temple in Burma.
In clockwise order
1. Ardabil carpet: Islamic carpet commissioned by the Shah of Iran as a pair.
2. Ceremonidal ladle from Sri Lanka, 18th c.
3. Portable shrine (Nepal)
5.Dagger and sheath from Iran said to be a gift to a office from the British EIC.
6. Mother of Pearl bowl.
In clockwise order:
1. Drake jewel. Given to Sir Francis Drake from Elizabeth 1
2. Wine cup made out of coconut husk
3. Salt and pepper shakers in European style but Chinese design.
4. Mermaid jug and shell shape matching wash basin
5. Nautilus shell cup
6. Mother of Pearl basin
Original Beatrix Potter illustrations..
An interesting feature of the V&A museum is its casts courts. The casts of famous monuments was created for educational purposes when it wasn't easy to travel and see original works. The casts provided an opportunity for students to study European sculpture. Some of the famous casts that one can see include:
Tabernacle in the church of St Leonard, Zoutleeum, near Brussels
Western portal at the cathedral of St Saveur, Alx-en provence, France
Trajan's column, Rome
