Street Art - Southbank

London has a very lively street art scene. In a lot of places, it's a norm to find performers striving hard to attract public's attention to their performances. Mimes, paintings (including on the pavement), street dancing, magic show are among the favourites. Apart from the usual 'living statues' there are also dancing statues and music playing statues.








A nice way to spend an afternoon is to take the Tube to Embankment Station and from the station, walk across the Thames on the footbridge towards Waterloo station. The view from the bridge is great all around especially facing the London Eye On the embankment in-front of the Jubilee Garden, there's nearly always a gathering of street performers showing off their talents.

There's a lot of mimes, balancing act, Charlie Chaplin and even Chameleons riding bicycles. Pavement paintings are also very impressive and the amount of time the artists spent to complete their paintings are usually written below the paintings and these are usually in region of 50 to 100 hours.

Apart from the usual mimes of metal coloured 'statues', a table with 2 potted flowers was also there. Only upon closer scrutiny of the pot on the left will the secret be revealed and usually to the surprises of the spectators. Talking flower pot?



A silvered coloured Elvis was seen walking around saying hello to the other performers and there was also an invisible 'King' sitting on his throne. It's a good idea to take some loose change during these walks to tip the performers.

Apart from doing their own performances, posing for photographs with members of 'audiences' and in general entertaining people, especially wide-eyed children who keep asking their parents whether that is a real person or not and how can s/he remain still for so long, they like to get the public involved in their act as volunteers. Kids are usually very excited if they are 'chosen' to volunteer - budding future street performers maybe.....

Home is.......

Saw this on an Ikea truck in Central London the other day....don't you agree?

The next question is 'Where is home?'
The kids like talking about it and we usually end up with a lot of definitions.

The Famous Red Phone Booth

The famous (but now seldom used) red phone booth is one of the most well-known images of London. Of course with mobile technology being so pervasive now their usefulness and therefore usage is severely affected. We have yet to see anyone using one.

However, they still make a nice photo..... one of the theories we've heard is that they will still be around until Superman figures out where to change if there's no phone booth around...

Westfield

We first passed it during our first week here when we were driving around. Every time we passed it, the expansive building never failed to amaze us and made us wonder what could it be. There are relatively small signages in red saying "Westfield" at various part of the building.

Later we found out that, Westfield is one huge shopping complex. It's located to the West of the city and features a huge selection of shopping attractions. Just opened end of last year, the interior is spacious and in fact to us, quite 'airport-like'.

Greenwich

Weather is beautiful today. After midday we headed to Greenwich. It's a town South East of London with a lot of open spaces and greeneries. That's our impression when we got there and the experience of driving 'out' of the built-up area to the open greeneries was quite surreal. The Greenwich Park seems to command the attention of everything around it and within this huge park are the Royal Conservatory (where the Greenwich Meridien Line is located) and the National Maritime Museum and the Queen's House. We only visited the park and the Royal Observatory during this visit. The kids have heard of it and were excited about standing on the spot where they can put one foot in the Western Hemisphere and the other in the Easter Hemisphere.


Finding a parking space was a challenge but after making a fews rounds up and down the Blackheat Avenue in the park, we got a space.

As with all other parks when the weather is great, the Greenwich Park was full with people and there seems to be a filming crew there as well. The view from the outside of the Royal Observatory where the sort of cliff fall off in a steep gradient and you get to see the other half of the park was simply breathtaking.

And then of course the Royal Observatory itself with the GMT stuffs and the .....
There was a big crowd at the 0' Meridien line with a long queue waiting for turns to take photos 'on' the line. Basically, a metal line along the meridien that runs for about 5 metres towards a sculpture. This is where you get to have your feet in the Western and Eastern hemispheres.



Then we were off to the Astronomical Exhibits. The hands-on exhibits were great and very interactive. For good reasons, photograpy is not allowed inside. We also got to see a huge refracting telescope built in the late 19th century......

Special Dinner Tonight

At the request of the kids, Agent Lady Boss made a very special dinner tonight. They must have been quite full because we had a late lunch at Regent's Park Mosque earlier today. The briyani, rice and dishes are simply superb there; in fact we think it's better than Khan's. Took a photo of the internal outdoor court of the masjid. We love this wonderful place and every visit there never fail to add to our fonds memories of Muslims in London. This time around is a Chinese brother from Xinjiang China who goes around greeting everyone with a huge smile on his face. "Brother Ali, it is nice to have met you too."




Did I just digress again....well some explanation of this great dinner should be of no harm right? The kids' request for tonight's dinner is banana fritters (goreng pisang) with ice-cream. And on a warmish night like tonight, it's just extremely nice. Preparation is easy and quick but the results is simply fabulous. The kids really enjoyed it....and we did too. A light dinner is always good. We also had a bottle of cola as a special treat today complete with ice-cubes. Towards the end of the dinner they got the brilliant idea of having floats.






The 'pisang goreng dengan aiskrim' treat has been in our family since more than 12 years ago. However, since the idea of having desserts after dinner is generally not something we encourage to the kids, it does not appear on our dining table that often. But having desserts as dinner is not really bad; sort of those who have salads or starters for meals instead of main; We know...there'll be a lot of you out there who are about to tell us that we are wrong. Try it out....then make up your mind.

Bon Appetit.......

Oxford Street......is different today

Most Malaysians who have been to London would know Oxford Street. Starting from Marble Arch, the straight street that is also a shopping haven is widely known by shopaholics and their partners....from Marble Arch, the main shopping areas are up to Oxford Circus and even to Tottenham Court Road. Therefore most people would have walked the whole length of Oxford Street but how many have walked ON the street instead of the pavements along it?

















Well, today Oxford Street is different (to us at least!) as it is a Traffic Free day from 1200 noon to 0500 pm. In conjunction with the launch of the movie Night At the Museum 2, a promotional event is held along the 'pedestrian only' Oxford Street. We got there close to 4pm today and it was a different experience.

Dotted along the street are the characters from the movie and also some other street performances. The T-Rex skeleton and the rocket proved to be favourites amongst kids (and the not so young), but the main attraction must have been the crowd itself. Watching Oxford Street from Bond Street station towards Oxford street full of people is quite a sight in itself. The weather is also great today, I heard something about the warmest day in May....dunno.

Car - VW Touran

After a lot of considerations, we decided to go for a 7 seater car but a compact one; something that would be comfortable for the 5 of us in our daily use without the feeling that we are missing some passengers. This is mainly due to the fact that we expect to get visitors and it's therefore good to have the flexibility of the 2 extra seats without a full-fledged bus-like car.

We are now considering VW Touran and if possible a diesel engined unit as we've never owned a diesel car before. The 2 seats in the 3rd row folds completely into the floor when unused leaving a big luggage space. Colour would have to be either black or silver and if possible with leather seats. Of course it goes without saying that it has to be automatic as some people seems to have forgotten the lessons they had before obtaining their driving license.

Camera - DSLR

We are looking for a digital camera. Our old one (Casio Exilim) was accidentally dropped and since then the images it produces tend to be blurry and not as sharp as it used to be.

We are thinking of going for a digital SLR but a bit concerned about usability. This is based on experience. Years ago, we purchased a Canon SLR (film type) but after the initial excitement, stopped using it as lugging the camera around became quite a chore especially with 3 small kids. We ended up buying a simple autofocus camera instead for daily use.

However, the options of DSLR now are quite tempting....and bewildering....any idea? Thanks in advance.

Friday Prayer / Solat Jumaat

In the past few weeks, I have been offering Friday Prayer at my workplace. There are quite a number of muslims there and since a couple of years back, Friday Prayer has been offered there. That's very convenient and practical.

However, today I am not in the office thus decided to go somewhere else. Considering our temporary accommodation in Kensington High Street, I thought of going to Malaysia Hall in Bayswater which is a short tube-ride away. Closer to 12 noon today though, another thought struck me and I ended up going to my alma-mater, Imperial College, instead; which is in fact, a lot closer. After a quick check on the website of the Islamic Society's website, Agent W and I made our way there. From our place, we took the No 9 bus and after less than 5 mins we got off at Queen's Gate. (The no 9 here is not the bus we took, this must be a specially commissioned Route Master for Royal Albert Hall - saw it next to Beit Quad).

A short walk from there brought us to Beit Quad (I still remember exactly where it is having spents numerous hours in a gym there playing basketball). For Friday Prayer, this location is new as in the past, we used to do Friday Prayer in the Southside Gym which was a lot bigger. Apparently Southside had been rebuild a few years ago and the gym is gone. As we got there quite early (before 1230 pm), I decided to show Agent W around the campus. We finally went to the Union Concert Hall at around 1245pm and there were a number of brothers busy laying down the prayer mats.

It's quite a mental effort to ponder on how this serene and calm Concert Hall looks and feels like during its normal use. Interestingly, eventhough it is a Concert Hall, it felt like being in a mosque. I remember now how everywhere on Earth is the place of prayers for muslims......indeed.


A brother there told me that khutbah will start a 1.05pm therefore Agent W and I spent the next 15 mins or so there revising his memorisation of as-Sajdah and an-Naba'. Alhamdulillah he is doing well there.

The khutbah was delivered by a young brother (well, ALL of them look young and while I still feel young, they must have noticed an 'old' guy with his son there......) around sacrifice. It was nice and his recitation of the quran during the prayer was also beautiful. Insya-Allah, will go there again next week.

Car

London is not a car friendly place. Central London that is. With the infamous congestion charge, most drivers try to avoid getting into Central London on weekdays from 0700am to 0600pm. It costs 8 pounds a day if you drive you car within the congestion charge area. However, the reason for it is actually good; and it definitely makes a difference to driving experience in Central London and to certain extend, around it.

However, due to extensive network of efficient (relatively speaking) public transportation comprising underground and overground rail services and buses, getting around in London without a car is not impossible and definitely a workable option. In fact, that how I survived for years in London. Have Travelcard, will travel.

For families with children though, while the public transport is great in terms of value (i.e. kids below 11 travel free and those between 11 and 15 only pays 1 pound for unlimited travel on public transport), from convenience perspective, a car is necessary. This is especially true when you have multiple destinations and they are not right smack in the middle of Central London. We still enjoy using public transport with Central London as the stress of finding car parks and getting lost is a lot higher.

So we come to the topic of this posting. Car. We need a car. Currently we are driving a rented Citroen C4 but not for long as the rental is only until the end of the month. The car is quite spacious and offers a lot of nifty gadgets and tricks that initial made it quite exciting. However, driving it is not fun at all and what I hate most is the movement that somehow gives me sea-sickness, even when I am the one driving it.

We have so far driven close to 350 miles (that's about 560 km) in it. The car is diesel powered and fuel consumption is not bad. It's also fits 5 people nicely and comes with a large boot as well. In fact the guy who delivered it to me stashed his motorbike in the boot of the car.

The search for a car to buy is starting and at the moment we are looking for a cheap 2nd hand car that would fit the family nicely. Compared to Malaysia, cars are cheap here and direct comparison tends to encourage one to go for the high end models. For a feel of how 'cheap' cars are here, a 5 years old Mercedes E-Class or BMW 5 Series are selling at around 7-8 thousand pounds. That's less than RM50,000. Whereas in Malaysia they would fetch more than RM200,000.

Reminds me of my 1st car. A 450 pounds Rover that I bought years ago.