So... It's been 2 months since London and I'm finally ready to tell you all about my trip!
My travel buddy, J and I, did a short 4 days stay in London and took the Eurostar to Paris, where we stayed for another 4 days. 8 days is alright to explore the main attractions in both cities, although we could do with more, haha!
-----------------------------------
Flight Information
• Singapore Airlines // January 2016 (Winter)
• SQ306: ETD SIN 0120 ETA LHR 0745
-----------------------------------
Essentials
• Data SIM card // Cheaper than the wifi routers, no kidding!
It costs just £20 for a 30-day plan (minimum) with unlimited data usage + 300mins talk time + 3,000 SMS. What makes this deal even more irresistible is that if you happen to also use your SIM in other Feel-at-home countries, roaming is FREE OF CHARGE! How awesome is that?!
"This means you can use your device there at no extra cost. Calls and texts back to the UK and using data will come out of your existing Pay Monthly allowance, if you have one."
We managed to use our devices in Paris without any problems. Connectivity was fast, too!
I was reluctant to not get the wifi router at first, simply because I was too used to having everything prepared beforehand. Having to find a store that sells SIM cards at reasonable prices downtown means we had to go without the internet for a few hours, and that scared me.
However... After check in, we immediately googled for the nearest telco and found this - Three. More about it here.
- Pros: Cheaper than wifi router (just ~S$42 for up to 30 days vs. S$200 for 10 days!)
We bought our SIM at the Kensington High Street store.
- Cons: tethering is not allowed - meaning you have to buy one card per device.
Take the Circle or District Line, get off at High Street Kensington (underground) station.
• Oyster Card // Like ez-link, but better.
We didn't have an exact plan on where to visit, so we opted for the pay as you go card. More info here. J purchased her card after clearing immigration and collecting our luggages. It costs approx £20 with a £15 value??
- Pros: convenient, can be used on almost any public transport in London.
- Cons: we forgot how much we spent in total (HAHAHA) and I guess the day passes could be cheaper if you plan your journey ahead??
-----------------------------------
Accommodation
• Best Western The Cromwell Hotel // 110 Cromwell Rd Kensington, London
This is a 3-star hotel that is located super near the Gloucester Road tube station - about a 3 mins walk. You can also walk to the National History Museum (Night at the Museum!!) within 15 minutes.
Shops nearby within 5 mins walk includes a Waitrose supermarket (opposite), Tesco Express, Boots. Hungry? Fret not! There are also Starbucks, Pret a Manger, Paul, Burger King, KFC and even Byron (the burger joint) within 3 mins from the hotel.
Transport is easy-peasy. Gloucester Road tube station is on the Picadilly, Circle and District line. Change to the Central line via Notting Hill Gate station for shopping. Victoria and Bakerloo lines are also easily accessible via Picadilly Circus or Oxford Circus station.
Direct access to Heathrow Airport (LHR) via the Picadilly line (approx 30-40mins?) is a big plus too!
-----------------------------------
Day One // Borough Market, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Oxford Street
We were starving after the 14hrs long flight and commute, so the first thing we did was to comb Borough Market for fooooood! It was Saturday when we landed, so the market was bustling with locals and tourists alike.
• Borough Market // a foodie's heaven!
There were many things that we wanted to try... And in order to sample more things, we only bought one portion of each item. In the end... It was still quite a handful so we only managed to try 4 items. :(
Salt Beef Bagel with aged cheese and bacon, £8.
It's really quite salty (as the name suggests, hahaha) and I'm not the biggest fan of cheese (much less aged cheese), so I think this was so-so. J loves this though!!!
Fresh Calamari Rings £6 + Seafood Paella £6 (not pictured).
My God. I am salivating just thinking about these heavenly calamari rings as I type. They are the best calamari rings I've tried in my last 25 years of existence! Fresh, tender and no "squid-y" taste at all. The batter complements the squid so well, I literally wolfed down this tray of goodness. I remember dropping one on the floor and went like NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I scared the angmohz around me LOL.
The paella was okay, maybe because I was already so fascinated with the calamari that I didn't remember much about the main. At just £6, it's definitely worth a try!
Then we hopped on over to Monmouth. J said she read reviews about the coffee online and wanted to try it out. Well... I'm a boring 3-in-1 coffee drinker and didn't know much about the artisan coffees, so I went ahead with a mocha (please don't judge me) while she went for a Flat White.
The chocolate truffle balls went so well with the coffee, and was just what we needed to warm ourselves in the cold weather.
Outside Monmouth Coffee.
We also roamed around the fresh produce section of the market... and bought a punnet of strawberries. Only £2!!!!
No plastic bag so I chucked it into my trusty Duffle 6. Which ended up being partially drenched in strawberry juice. #owned
After satisfying our tummies, we walked over to London Bridge and the nearby Tower Bridge.
• Tower Bridge + London Bridge // not falling down
We took a 45 minutes walk to the Tower Bridge and chilled (literally) at the foyer. People watching is always a good idea... just not in winter, with the strong winds blowing in your face. J was dying in the cold (HAHAHA) so the jet-lagged us decided to end the day with shopping at Oxford Street.
• Oxford Street // shopping, shopping and more shopping!
We took the tube and got off at Marble Arch station. What greeted us upon exiting the station was the giant PRIMARK store! Needless to say most people would be familiar with Oxford Street or at least heard about it somewhat/somehow so I will cut the crap and direct you to the food instead. We used this map to navigate through the rows and rows of shops. You name it, they most probably have it.
Fun fact: we spent close to 3hrs in PRIMARK. Boyfriends, husbands and male travel companions, you have been warned.
• Burger & Lobster // because any time is a good time for lobsters.
26 Binney St, London W1K 5BN
After seeing 100,000,000 photos of B&L and hearing friends rave about this must-try lobster joint, how could we give it a miss?! Lucky for us, it was just round the corner. There was a queue (Friday night, y'know) so we were told to leave our names and come back after 45minutes.
Fri-yay!
The food menu consists of a dessert (or two??) and the mains. Choose from one of the 3 below – all of them comes with chips (fraaaaiiisssss) and house salad.
(1) Grilled Lobster (a whole lobster)
(2) Lobster Roll (chunks in a butter roll)
(3) Burger (giant juicy beef patty)
We tried the Lobster Roll and god it was so heavenly!!! Giant chunks of lobster meat was overflowing from the lightly toasted and decadently buttered bread roll. The accompanying creamy lemon butter sauce went so well with everything, I drizzled it over the fries, dunked chunks lobster in it... Basically I finished it all. What a worthy £20 spent!
Grilled lobster was next on the list – we went back again on our last day and tried it. Same great taste, except you get to use your hands and enjoy the... Fruit of your labour. HAHA!
-----------------------------------
Day Two // Science Museum, West End (Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Soho)
• Science Museum // fancy space stuff, a bit of history and some biology.
Exhibition Rd, London SW7 2DD
Thing about museums in London is... Most allow you to enter free of charge, but have a donation box for £5... We couldn't get past the free entry (lol law-abiding Singaporeans) so we dropped £10 in... Only to realise that the activities (e.g. IMAX, animations, themed exhibitions) are chargeable.
Oh, we watched an IMAX film of the universe and almost fell asleep. Haha!
My Favourite section is a tie between the human body and aviation history. Isn't mankind amazing?!??!
We spent a good 4hr or so in the museum... That's how intrigued we were.
Science museum is located at Exhibition Rd, which was straight down the road from our hotel. But we took the tube and ended up walking past the V&A and through this tunnel which was further than from our hotel itself.
Nearest station: Piccadilly line, South Kensington.
• South Kensington // white houses.
We were pretty much starving so we settled for Wasabi, a random jap food joint along Exhibition Rd, where the all-white terrace houses lined. Many middle eastern restaurants are available but we weren't into exotic cuisine so we gave it a miss.
How can I miss an OOTD, right?
Picturesque buildings everywhere we went.
Also, it was winter so the skies turned dark pretty fast – already 'night' at 4pm. How do people deal with it?!?!
• West End // tourist sights!
All that splendour.
This greeted us when we stepped out of the tube station. Yes, it's that dark! We didn't have anything in mind but to visit the major sights so we explored the area without a specific destination.
No attraction or monument is complete without hoards of tourists.
The statue of Arethos at the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain. It is near impossible to get a good shot here with the statue so we didn't bother. We sat down at the steps and people watched again... and just zoning out with the giant light boards and countless flashing display signage in our faces.
Leicester Square!
Leicester Square Garden was within a short walking distance from the statue, so after we had enough of stoning, we wandered to this area. There were many buskers (street artists?) in the area and touts, so once again we decided to sit by the corner and watch people do their thing. Behind us was the Leceister Square Garden where some people were doing a stand-up talk show kinda thing.
I guess this place would be more interesting in the day, during Summer?
Stumbled upon Kingly Court... Fancy cafes all around us!
More wandering ensued... after encountering a random shouting woman in Chinatown, we roamed into the Soho area - by complete accident and found the Flat Iron joint while looking for a public toilet! There were also many independent/street style boutiques in the Soho area, for example Fred Perry, Monki, Supreme and American Apparel.
Guess that's what they mean by you find something when you least expect to...
• Flat Iron // delicious steak for just £10!
17 Beak St, Soho, W1F 9RW
Tadaaaaah!
First introduced to me by my trusty friend Swin, Flat Iron specializes in steak on an iron plate. Each steak comes with a side of greens and popcorn for starters. Fries go for £2.5 a pop and sauces are £1 each. I typically don't do raw-ish meat so Medium Well is my choice but I think it was still a little 'bloody' for me towards the end.
I was a little peeved about eating meat from a 'rusty' plate and at one point even thought that there was an iron-y taste to the meat... But I'm pretty sure that's just me, HAHAH! Other than that, we thought this meal was really value for money and truly satisfying. Go try it out if you're in Soho or Covent Garden!
With a full and happy tummy, we strolled back to the nearest tube station - Picadilly Circus (again) and made our way back. Depending on which are you're staying at, you could also take the Oxford Circus or Leicester Square route.
Hi. What are you doing??
More on London day 3 to 5 in another post. Hope you enjoyed reading this one!
