Day 6: Wednesday, 22nd July

Did the laundrey again. This time, it felt like I walked into the set of Oliver, because people around us were talking with a Cockney accent. Thanks, luv! That's alright, darlin'! Tuppence? Nancy! Fagin! Wott?? You want summore???? Ok I'll stop.

After laundry, Abah and I took the tube to the London Bridge station. Honestly, I didn’t know what I was expecting, but I certainly didn’t expect London Bridge to be… a bridge. I mean, a normal bridge that links two points across a river. Eh. But the day was nice. It was sunny, and the breeze was cooling but not to the point of freezing. We walked through the Tower Wharf, a waterfront-like walkway, towards Tower of London. We passed through HMS Belfast, Hay’s Gallery, which is an outdoor-concept shopping area where they even have lawn bowling and a Jules Verne-like structure in the middle of it, the City Hall, which has a futuristic architecture that looks rather weird when juxtaposed with the ancient Tower Bridge, and they also have free musical performances at the courtyard.

We didn’t go into Tower of London, because… well, didn’t feel like it. It’s one of the most famous prison in the world. To walk along the paths of the dead, the wrongly prosecuted… I mean, I watched Ghost Whisperer enough to know that tortured souls can haunt you if they choose to. I know I know. But STILL.

After the Tower, we went to Malaysia Hall for lunch (again), and since Abah was feeling sleepy, he went home while I continued enjoying the sunny day by myself, walking through Kengsington Park and Hyde Park again. They are such beautiful parks. And it’s not even a chore to walk, despite the distance, because the breeze is cool and you hardly sweat. I wanted to sit and read my book, but I realized that it was already 530pm, and I wouldn’t want to go back too late because… hmmm. Actually there was no reason for me to go home early because it only gets dark after 9pm. I guess old habits die hard. At least by going back at 530pm, I get to see if there were any cute mat salehs coming back from work in the tube. Oh, I saw a young Brad Pitt lookalike in the tube once. What’s uppppppppp.

Day 7: Thursday, 23rd July

Oxford Street again, this time with Mak. Again, while going through the shops, I only bought a DVD from HMV. Again. This time it’s Oliver: Special Edition, for £8. Arrghh I have a problem!

Someone please recommend a DVD-addiction support group, asap.

Day 5: Tuesday, 21st July

What?? It’s day five already??

Today we went to Madame Tussauds. Didn’t expect that there’d be so many people going here, since it was a weekday, but there were. It was 1 hour and 15 minutes queue to buy the tickets. Though it was a long line, Madame Tussauds was clever enough to put a lot of camera-worthy attractions along the line, so that people won’t get bored. Did you know that the real Madame Tussauds was only 5ft tall, and her palm is slightly bigger than mine? Yeah, I read that from the info wall that they have along the line. Did you know that Obama is 6ft and 1.5inch? Now you know. Anyway, we finally got our tickets and proceeded to enter the first room (theme: A-list Party), and OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGG… I’ve never seen so many people crammed into one small space! If it wasn’t because of the cost of the tickets, I would’ve bailed. So this room had some wax figures of famous celebrities, but the one that I really wanted to take a pic with was Johnny Depp’s wax figure. Apparently seven hundred thousand girls had the same idea too. I actually had to push my way in to get a pic with him. AND GUESS WHAT? When it was finally my turn:

IT’S OUT OF FOCUS. THANK YOU ABAH.

But nevermind. At least I have a pic of Johnny Depp and myself. Why do I look so short???

There were other wax figures but really, only Johnny Depp deserves to be mentioned here. We continued to another room, and this time the theme was Hollywood Movies or something, again had to go through the maddening crowd, to get a picture with abang Daniel Craig!

I think you can actually feel the discomfort coming through from both me & Cici in the pic. Abang DC (eceh) is one of the more famous wax figures, so both of us had to actually fight for a place. Then, we continued to another hall, and there were some wax figures of old Hollywood icons. Poor James Dean, no one wanted to pose with him. So I did my civic duty:

Why do I look so excited? And James Dean isn’t very tall, right? I could totally pass for his girlfriend. Shut up, I could!

There were other rooms, but I rather not go into it all because OMG the crowd!! I cannot stand the crowd. By the time we finished through all the rooms, I was ready to QUIT. LIFE. Ok, dramatic.

After Madame Tussauds, we walked to Sherlock Holmes Museum which was a couple of blocks away. This, I loved. As you know, I’m a giant nerd, and Sherlock Holmes was one of the literary figures that filled my childhood. Wah wah. But seriously. The museum is at 221b Baker Street, which is Holmes’s address in the story, and it’s just a three-storey townhouse, that’s furnished with Holmes’s things. They had his bedroom, his study, Dr. Watson’s bedroom, the sitting room… it actually felt like a real house that Holmes’s actually inhibited. They even showcased letters from all over the world, mostly written by kids, that was addressed to ‘in the care of Sherlock Holmes’. They were all very funny, and endearing, that the children thought of him as a real person. Oh yeah, Dr. Watson greeted us when we came in, and apparently he has been to KL. Impressive, my dear Watson. Beside the museum is their souvenir shop where they sell expensive but unique Holmes’s related items.

We left the museum to have lunch at Malaysia Hall (again), and it started to rain. After lunch, it was still raining. From Malaysia Hall, we took a bus to go to Trafalgar Square, where we intended to visit the National Gallery. It was almost a 40-minute ride, because the bus went through Oxford Street which was massively jammed. Riding the bus is rather soothing, actually. Cici even fell asleep. Anyway, we came down at Piccadilly Circus, where we walked to Trafalgar Square. By the time we reached the Gallery, it was pouringgggg. And, you know, I tried. I tried to appreciate art. But all I can come up with were “Oh, that’s nice”, or “Yeah, that looks like a person”, or “Ok, another painting”. Then we went to see the Corot to Monet exhibition, and at least I added “Oh, nice brush strokes”, and “Wow, how could they painted that from just observing”… that sorta thing. So I guess we can established that I’m not an art appreciator at all. It looked like the rain had stopped, so we went outside the Gallery to the infamous Trafalgar Square, but I guess because of the rain, there were no pigeons on site.

And then, we went home because Cici needed to leave by 6pm so that she could catch her bus to Heathrow, before flying off to Malaysia. Bye2 Cici!

I realized that my mood went down exponentially from the time it started raining. Am I now a Londoner, now that I have weather-related depression? Perasannnnnnn.

Yay, I managed to sleep after Isya’ this time!

Day 3: Sunday, 19th July

We were so tired from yesterday that we didn’t feel like doing anything much today. After breakfast, we went to a local launderette a couple of blocks away from our place to do our laundry. There was an old man in a suit and an earflap hat, an Australian backpacker, a normal english dude who opened the door for me when I was struggling with the laundry bag while my dad who was already in the launderette just stood there watching me struggle (typical, tsk), a group of big brawly guys who of course used the large-load machines, and other interesting characters. It was fun just observing people in the launderette. And now I’m one of those people who know how to use a public launderette, woo-hoo! I feel so urban.

Our original plan was to go to one of the parks and maybe have a leisurely afternoon tea after laundry, but that didn’t happen because my parents had their daily quarrel and my Mum decided that she was just going to stay in the room. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only grown-up sigh. So, after my dad ranted his side of the argument while I dutifully listened, we decided to go to Oxford Street because one of my to-do list was to go to HMV and get some BBC-made DVDs. From Euston Station we took the subway to Tottenham Court Road and walked towards Oxford Street. Being this a Sunday, there were sooooo many people at Oxford Street, especially in Topshop/ Topmen/ Miss Selfridge… it’s like every European teenage girls and their boyfriends were there. I didn’t even try to go in. We found HMV a couple of shops away, and of course spent the bulk of our time in there, just browsing along the aisle and wishing that I had more money and more luggage space to buy the things that I wanted, but I settled for 4 movies (well, three tv mini-series, and a movie). All of them were on sale, ranging between £3 - £12. The normal priced items were quite expensive, if you convert them to RM. Cheaper to buy them in HMV Hong Kong, actually. Oh, Hong Kong. I have to plan for a trip there next time. Borders were having 50% off on everything because they were closing down, but I couldn’t find the books that I wanted, and the whole store was in a disarray so I really didn’t know where to look at what. What? *shrugs* After that, we both felt there really wasn’t any need to hang around Oxford Street much, so we went home at around 430pm.

I slept at 7pm up till morning. Still jetlagged, obvs.

Day 4: Monday, 20th July

Cici came from Southampton because her flight to Malaysia was supposed to be on Tuesday, so we picked her up at Victoria Station as she was arriving by coach. Victoria station is where the Apollo Victoria Theather is, where they are playing Wicked right now. Science, I sooo want to see it, but the tickets cost a friggin bomb! My cash is just enough for food, yo. Anyway, since Cici has never been to London, we decided that we’ll do the official touristy thing together. We walked a bit to Buckingham Palace to catch the Changing of the Guard. The thing was supposed to start at 1130am, but when we arrived there at 1030am, the place was packed with all the tourists like us, standing near the gates to get a better view. Dayyymn. My mum, having seen the changing of the guards before, decided to sit at the fountain, while the three of us decided to go squeeze ourselves in nearer at the gate. Didn’t happen. Then my dad went off somewhere, so myself and Cici just went around the fountain and sat facing the St.James’s Park entrance where the procession was supposed to start. It was a sunny and warm day and I even took off my jacket. I think I have a tan now. When the thing finally started, we got some good pics of the guards coming from St. James’s Park, but after that it was all a blur. Couldn’t see anything because there were so many people in front of us. Exhibit A:

Click for larger pics. The first pic is people at the fountain. The second pic is people at the gate (and beyond). The third pic is the view from my camera when I extended my arm above everyone’s heads. Yep. Couldn’t see a thing. But we did hear the guards/ marching band played some songs.

So after the whole hoopla finished, we decided to go to Malaysia Hall at Bayswater because Cici wanted to see if they have a room for her for one night, even after we tried to convince her to stay with us instead. Also, we wanted to have lunch. We walked through The Green Park, which was lovely and green, straight to Hyde Park which was amazing (so amazing), but by the end of the park, all of us were pretty tired from walking, and Mak was especially hungry, but there was no tube station in sight! We had no option but to walk through Kensington Park to get to Bayswater. Itu lah, perasan terel. Even though my feet were aching, I can’t even imagine how Cici must have felt, because she was carrying a backpack with her laptop in it, and she was wearing flats. OMG, I would’ve thrown a temper tantrum if I were her. Nevertheless, all the parks were beautiful, even the un-manicured part of Kensington Park. Pics below:

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We finally reached Malaysia Hall, unfortunately they couldn’t confirmed if there was any room available for Cici until later in the evening, so she finally agreed to just stay with us for one night. The food at the canteen was good, cheap and fulfilling. It’s like we never left Malaysia. After lunch and prayers, we took the tube from Bayswater to Euston Square to our place. After dumping everything in the room, and resting for awhile, Cici, myself and Abah walked to the British Museum which isn’t that far away from our place (but our feet still felt like exploding), and spent some time at their Egyptian exhibit. So cool. They had so many stuff: mummies, ancient documents, ancient wall paintings which they brought from one of the pyramids of course, ancient statues of their deities, etc. They even had a mummified alligator which was wrapped in its original linen wrapping. One of the exhibition was described as a typical grave of a low-class person, and the mummified body was not wrapped in linen. I could see the hair and eyelashes of the mummy, yo! Disturbing. Since the museum was closing at 530pm, we went out and took some pics of the front entrance of the building. Very impressive. Pics below:

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By the time we reached home, my feet couldn’t take it anymore, and I announced that I was finished for the day. I don’t know how they get their energy, but Abah and Cici went out again to catch the London Eye. Hmmmmm, view of London at sunset, or resting my aching feet. Feet!

I drifted in and out of sleep after that, but managed to not only did my Maghrib prayer, but also Isya’ this time! FYI, over here in “summer” time London, Maghrib is at 9pm and Isya’ is at 11pm. Yeah, I pity those who has to fast for Ramadhan during summer time. Oh yeah, Subuh is from 315am – 5am. I KNOW.

Ok, that is all. Mind the gap! <-- I’m so lame…

Day 1: Friday, 17th July

We arrived at London Heathrow at 330pm. I immediately realized how cold London is the minute I stepped outside the airport. I thought this was supposed to be summer? I brought along only thin cotton shirts, expecting that it would be hot. I only have the free jacket that the company gave me, which I initially planned to wear only in the plane. Now I have to wear it outside, all the time?? By the time we checked in at our rented studio apartment in Bloomsbury, it was already 530pm. The weather aside, I gamely thought that we (Abah, Mak and I) would go out and walked around a bit before getting our dinner. I was super excited, as this was my first trip to London and by science I would act as fangirly-ish as I wanted. As we were getting ready to go out (this was around 7pm-ish), I felt this sudden exhaustion came over me. Like, I NEED TO SLEEP RIGHT NOW. So I laid on the bed, thinking that I’d just rest my eyes while Mak and Abah were getting ready, and whaddayaknow, I slept throughout the night and only woke up at 430am the next morning. This, people already in the know except me, is called jetlagged. 7pm London time is equivalent to 3am Malaysia time.

Day 2: Saturday, 18th July

You would think that at 430am it would still be dark outside. But no, the sun was already creeping out of the horizon at this time. By 5am, it felt like it was 9am in Malaysia. You know when you watched tv, and the mat salehs would say that they wake up at 5am to jog, and I always thought “How can you see anything at 5am??”. Well… now I know better. After a shower, I cleared up the table, made some tea and laid out a modest fare of muesli, toasts, fruits and yogurt for breakfast. Apparently my parents went out groceries shopping while I was knocked dead last night. We were supposed to meet up my cousin, Kak Nyah and Cici, at Southampton after breakfast. Kak Nyah is a student at University of Southampton, and Cici is her sister who just finished her internship after graduating from… a university in USA (in Seattle, I think), and was visiting Kak Nyah before she went back to Malaysia. So from the Waterloo station, we took a train for Southampton and got comfortable for a hour and a half journey. It was a scenic route... I saw the suburbs outside of London, the rolling hills of the countryside, the farming territory, the ‘Dutch Lady’ cows, horsies… even the wildflowers here are pretty and colourful. They were all a mix of yellows, purples and whites. Where are the lalangs, I ask you?

When we arrived at Southampton, Kak Nyah and Cici picked us up and drove us to Portsmouth, which is super nice of her, because it was two hours away! In Malaysia, that’s equivalent to a journey from KL to Ipoh. But with the pretty scenery along the way, it didn’t feel like a two hour drive. Kak Nyah took us to Gunswarf Quays, which is an outdoor shopping concept along a waterfront. Kak Nyah even packed us some nasi lemak, to eat picnic style by the waterfront. FYI, I didn’t shop much because… eventhough the price is cheaper than normal (or so I was told), if you convert them to RM it will still be expensive. And I don’t have enough cash with me.  For the whole trip. So only my parents did the shopping (souvenirs for the family), while I bought a couple of boxes of tea. For me. Hahahahahah.

After the retail therapy, Kak Nyah drove us to Lulworth Cove, which was a one and half hour drive away (I think) from Portsmouth. This time, we went through the countryside, and there were giant trees ‘protecting’ both sides of the roads, quaint little cottages, pebble stoned roads, village pubs, churches, roses… science, it was straight out of Midsomer Murders! I almost couldn’t believe that I was actually going through the English countryside! When we reached our destination, it was raining and the wind was blowing hard, and my teeth were chattering. It was that cold (for me). But the view… wow. You don’t get views like these in Malaysia:

click for bigger pic 

It almost felt like I was in a Jane Austen book. Perasannnnnnnnnnnnnnnn…… tapi mahu.

We had to do a bit of hiking to get to the beach, but nothing too strenuous. At least I broke into my new walking shoes (which btw is a size 1 1/2… FOR KIDS). I thought it was too cold for anything, but I saw some people swimming in the sea. Must be from Norway or somewhere freezing because they could swim in a weather like this. There was even a wedding reception held at the cove… oh man, I envy their wedding pictures. In the pic where there’s all five of us, at the left corner of the pic you can see an arch-like stature, which is called the Durdle Door. Actually they even have a Lulworth Castle along the way, and we tried to get in, but it was closed for a private function. I think it’s for the same wedding party. Damn those people and their beautiful wedding!

We then went to Kak Nyah’s place in Southampton for our prayers, then dinner at this Muslim fast food shop (service with an attitude), and finally she dropped us off at Southampton Central.

Kak Nyah is the best host ever! Thanks, man. We had a tiring, but exciting day. SO. MUCH. EXCITEMENT. Maybe too much, because when we reached London, we konk-out immediately after that. That’s British for knock-out. Ehem.

Day 3 & 4 to come….

Too funny! This is some big budget sh*t right here:

I remember when we had to do a video marketing campaign too with zero budget and skeletal resource for Heroes Happen Here… oh memories.

I told just about anyone who would listen that I love Johnny Depp. After watching him play John Dillinger, I think I will marry him.

My personal and inappropriate feelings for Johnny Depp aside, the movie itself… leaves me unsatisfied, like there’s something missing. The movie starts off with John Dillinger (Depp) in the process of breaking into a prison to liberate his gang, and continued immediately with crime sprees of Dillinger and his fellow outlaws. Along the way he met Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) whom he courted rather charmingly aggressive; only “charming” because we’re in movie-land, but if it was reality his courting method will be on my radar as POSSESIVE SERIAL KILLER RUN AWAY RUN AWAY. FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) is the disciplined, intense and focused lawman who is put in charge of apprehending Dillinger and crew to justice by J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup).

Aside: I watch Criminal & Investigation channel a lot, and it has some programs that features J. Edgar Hoover, and though the programs were independently made, it seemed the unanimous consensus is that JE Hoover is an asshole, who founded the FBI. Most reports about him would go, “J.E. Hoover founded the FBI, but nobody liked him and he’s a jealous SOB, but he founded the FBI without which justice would not be as it is today” or something to that account. I would’ve thought that someone who is passionate about law and order would be an upstanding, moral guy. Was he really an asshole or were some influential yet corrupted top hats were pissed off with his attempts to stop crime at a national level hence cutting off their ill-begotten income? end Aside.

I think Marion Cotillard’s attempt at American accent failed. Big time. Her voice had a squeaky quality to it, and I could hear french-tinged words and rhythmic pronunciation in some of her dialogues. Of course, this could all come from jealousy because she’s so pretty and perfect and Johnny Depp was romancing her, but seriously I think they should’ve casted a normal dark-haired American beauty to play Billie Frechette. Would’ve been less amusing that way. Other than her accent, I think she’s an awesome actress because she managed not to hyperventilate or faint from happiness everytime Johnny Depp talked all sexy and romantic to her. Gah!!

Also, I unintentionally played the Spot The Cameo game during the movie. I spotted Stephen Dorff, that Step Up guy, Faramir, Phoebe of Friends half-brother Frank, Diana Krall… and a couple of faces that I recognized but couldn’t put a name to it. I think I was most excited when I saw Stephen Dorff on screen… remember when he was the IT-boy of Hollywood and how he had so much potential but then he just… disappeared? And then randomly appeared in Britney Spear’s music video and disappeared again? Yeah. Whenever I think of Stephen Dorff, I would think of Christian Slater. I don’t know why, but where the heck is Christian Slater, eh??

I read somewhere that while filming, Bale didn’t socialized with Depp because he’s a dedicated method actor. Bale, dude, waste of opportunity! Who doesn’t want to hang out with Depp?!

ANYWAY. This movie had everything going for it. Why isn’t it great, though? Why?? I can’t figure it out. 3 out of 5.