London Bridge and Tower Bridge

From Westminster Station, we took the tube to London Bridge Station.

"Ooh!!  Nak tengok London Bridge!", Amani cried excitedly, probably visualizing an ancient bridge from that famous nursery rhyme.
"London Bridge dah lama kena jual..."  Hubby added matter-of-factly.
"Eh, ye ke Jeej??" I said half-believingly. 
"Iye... Ada kat Arizona, U.S." he said confidently. 

The reconstructed London Bridge at Lake Havasu, Arizona, U.S.A.
Pix credit:  Aran Johnson

A google search later revealed that what he said was true, but there is still a  (new) London Bridge in London.  The one sold to an American entrepreneur was in fact, just one of the many London Bridges constructed, according to English history. 

Drawing of London Bridge from a 1682 map.  Pix from Wikipedia

Besides the nursery rhyme, London Bridge, specifically the Stone Gateway on the south, was well known for displaying severed heads of traitors "impaled on pikes, dipped in tar to preserve them against the elements"... gross!  The head of Scottish hero, William Wallace (remember Mel Gibson's sterling performance in "Braveheart"?) was the first to appear on the gate in 1305.  See if you can spot those heads from the picture above :)! 
To know more about London Bridge, go to this link ...

So, did we go to London Bridge? Nah...  We went to the other bridge:  the Tower Bridge.

From London Bridge Station, we walked down Tooley Street, through a place called 'More London' where I took the (above) pictures of Tower Bridge and these eye-catching buildings (below)...

London City Hall rupanya...

Bangunan lonjong yang nampak kat belakang tu ialah
"The Gherkin" at St Mary Axe.

Big Ben and London Eye

From Buckingham Palace, we walked back to Victoria Station and boarded the tube to Westminster station.  Our next stop was the Houses of Parliament, known for it's iconic Clock Tower @ Big Ben. 

The Houses of Parliament on the north bank of River Thames

Posing on Westminster Bridge

Across Westminster Bridge, on the south bank of River Thames was the London Eye. A ride on the gigantic ferris wheel?  Maybe next time.  We've been on the smaller Eye on Malaysia before and figured that the experience would be almost the same :).

 To pujuk the kids, kenalah beli ice-cream...  Cheaper than London Eye's tickets :P.

London Reconnaissance - Buckingham Palace

From Victoria Station, we walked along Buckingham Palace Road until we reached the palace complex.  It took us about 7 minutes to reach the Royal Mews (stables).  Further up was the Queens's Gallery, a gift shop, and the ticket office to the State Rooms.  At the end of the road was the entrance to Buckingham Palace.  Nak melawat semua tempat ni boleh, sediakan aje duit... or like us, you can just take pictures outside the premises :).

Amani in front of Buckingham Palace

Guard duduk dalam pagar.  Tengok je lah dari jauh...

As we missed the changing of guard earlier in the day, the only changing of guard that we saw was this...

Hehehe!

The east-front principal facade of Buckingham Palace

London Reconnaissance (Part 1)

My  recent visit to London was a reconnaissance of sorts.  It was my first visit to the city and rightfully, 2 days and 1 night would not have sufficed for me to cover all the tourist attractions.  So, I was contented to just let my husband take the lead.  After all he's been here a couple of times.  

As we were not quite sure which zone our lodge was situated within London, hubby decided to pay the 'congestion fee' just to be on the safe side.  The fee was 8 pounds per-day. 

The journey to London from Bristol normally takes about 2 hours but during peak hours (before 9.00 a.m on weekdays), it can take up to 3 hours just to reach the place. 

Thanks to the satnav, we were routed to our lodge via another long-winded way, which was, however, outside the congestion zone.  Buat rugi je bayar congestion fee!  But as hubby was saying, it's our 'learning fee' :).

As we arrived early, we decided to check into our room.  10 pounds melayang...  (another 'learning fee" :)).  Lesson learnt:  it doesn't pay to be early (when you check-in) or late (when you check-out) in this part of the world (Malaysia boleh pulak... Huhuhu...).  Just be on time! :)   On the bright side, the lodge has its own car park (quite rare for a budget hotel in London) and the parking fee for guests was only 5 pounds for a whole day.  So, after unpacking our things and having a light snack, we were all geared up for London.

As advised by a 'Londoner' (thanks, Lena :)), we bought off-peak day travelcards from a neighbourhood store, which enabled us to take any available public transport (bus and tube) within the zones covered by the tickets (ours was for zones 1-2).   The price for a one-day off-peak travelcard was 5.60 pounds for an adult, and 2 pounds for a child between 11-15.  Kids below 11 travel free with an adult. 

From the Battersea Travelodge,  we took the famous red double-decker bus (no. 44) to Victoria. 

At the London Victoria Station

Picking Blackberries

Tis the season to be merry and pick berries! 

I had wanted to go strawberry picking for quite sometime now but since the plan has yet to materialize, I had to content myself picking blackberries kat belakang rumah aje...

However, picking blackberries was not as fun  as picking strawberries as there were big prickly thorns to avoid.  You might want to consider covering yourself from head to toe to avoid being scratched!

As for moi, in the end, hubby did the 'dirty' job... Kui! Kui! Kui!

Blackberries normally grow wild in the bushes.  It flowers in spring and bears fruit in  summer. 

Beginilah rupa blackberry...  If it is purple, red or green in colour, it's not ripe yet.  So, tak payah petik sebab ia tak akan ranum walaupun diperam (ingat pisang ke??).  A sweet ripe blackberry would be deep black, and feels 'plumpily' soft when you squeeze it between your fingers.  Normally it will pull free from the plant with a slight tug. 

Blackberries are normally eaten raw, served with yogurt or desert and often made into jam or jelly.  Nantilah bila senang-senang, boleh cuba buat Blackberry jam (entah bilalah tu...)

Other interesting facts about blackberries:

- The ancient Greeks believed that blackberries could cure diseases of the mouth and throat and prevent many ailments including gout.

- Researches done in several institutions in Ohio found that blackberries contain potent antioxidants to fight cancer.

- According to Culpeper, the English herbalist, blackberry leaves boiled in lye solution made good grey-hair dye.

For more information on the blackberry (the fruit not the phone :P), go to this link.

Summer in Bristol

Summer is the time for outdoor activities.  Just the other day I watched this documentary on BBC about the British Outdoors.  My, the Brits really go all out during summer - camping, cycling, walking, fishing, picnicking, hiking, rambling, you name it!  Of course, we Malaysians don't really understand what the fuss is about as we live in a temperate country whereby 'summer' is experienced all year round.  As a sun-loving person, though, I welcome the summer with all my heart :D!

Anyway, summer in Bristol is not the same as, say, summer in Michigan.  Not sunshine all the way.  Maybe due to Bristol's close proximity to the sea, you'll get alternative days of rain and shine.  But then again, maybe it's just the English weather :P... 

Just the other day, my co-supervisor remarked that this summer is not a typical Bristol summer.  When I asked her what she meant, she said that it has been unusually 'hot' (when it's hot la...) this time around.  Well, I don't mind.  I'd rather have the sun scorch my skin than have the rain dampen my spirits :)!  But then again... I do think I have become a tad too tan for my liking.  Nak buat macamana, kulit Melayu... hehehe!  I guess I'll just have to slather more of those sunblock on my face :)...

Di samping Dr. Eyja yang putih melepak 
...or was it the foundation? :)

School Reports

The school term is coming to a close.  Unlike in Malaysia where school term ends at the end of the year, the term ends in July here. At this time of  year, parents will receive school reports of their children from the respective class teachers.  This being my first time (of receiving school reports in the UK), I was quite anxious and excited.  The UK school system has never failed to amaze me and I was thinking (in a good way) "what now?"

In Malaysia, school reports tend to be rather quantitative, whereby the marks (and grades) of each subject will be totalled up to determine a student's position in his/her class and cohort (very important to the parents, this :P).  There will be a small space in the report card for the class teacher and headmaster/mistress to briefly comment on the student's progress.  Most often, it will be some 'safe' forgetable comments such as "keep up the good work", "tingkatkan usaha anda", etc.  Rarely would you come across a memorable comment which would 'haunt' you for the rest of your life as "suka berbual-bual dalam bilik darjah" (like to talk a lot in class)! Kah! Kah! Kah!

In contrast, school reports in the UK are more descriptive.  No marks (surprise!).  Just the students' level (on a Likert scale of 1 to 5) to indicate their performance in each subject.  For example:
Level 3 and below represent "achievement  below the nationally expected standard for most ___ year-olds". 
Level 4 represent "achievement at the nationally expected standard..." 
Level 5 & 6 represent the "achievement above the nationally expected standard..."

What is more important, the teacher takes time to describe the academic, as well as the social development of a child.  Each child's achievement is 'celebrated' no matter how small it is.  At the same time, a child's area of weakness is highlighted so that parents can work with the child to improve his/her deficiencies.  

This is different from what I experienced back home.  I could still remember my experience during 'report-card day' many moons ago.  The moment my husband and I were seated, the teacher didn't waste any time pointing out the weakness of my daughter in math, that she needed to get 90% in all her subjects to be top ten in class (obviously, being in the top class of the cohort was not enough:P), that she was weak in this, weak in that, bla, bla, bla.  If I were my daughter, I would be demoralized!  I could still remember the weird look she gave us when my husband coolly told her that we were O.K with Nurul's 87% in math (still an A!), as we thought that she has yet to show her true potential (the daughter being the lazy bum that she was :P).  When we asked the teacher what Nurul's strengths were (since she has told us loads of our daughter's weaknesses :P), she just couldn't answer.  Hmm...

What can I say?  The Malaysian education system is exam-oriented!  Perhaps if teachers were not burdened by the system (and headteachers, and kiasu parents...) to churn out A students, they would take the trouble to nurture our young ones to realize their full potential as  human beings (not just academically)??  I hope I live to see the day...

13

Hubby and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary exactly a month ago.  The fact that I'm blogging about it now shows how busy I have been! Even on the day itself, I was too busy doing my assignment (which was due the next day) to celebrate! Cheh! When we finally had the chance to celebrate, it was rather low-key.  No fancy presents or elaborate dinner, but I'm thankful that Jeej and the kids are here with me.   

If there ever was a theme for our 13th anniversary, it would be sacrifice.  Sacrificing your career, friends, comfort... To enabled me to achieve my dream, my dearly beloved practically  sacrificed his 'life'!  Although he hated the English weather, the skemaness of the system, he is still by my side and for that I'm truly blessed :)! Alhamdulillah ...

The Roman Baths & Pulteney Bridge

When you are in Bath, the natural thing to do is to visit its namesake - the Roman Baths. 

Situated in the city centre of Bath, it is "one of the finest thermal spas of the ancient world". Seperti biasa, you have to pay to enter the world heritage tourist site.  Equiped with our audioguides, we started our tour around the place. 

 View from the terrace with Bath Abbey in the background (right)

View of the great bath from the terrace

The Roman Baths is actually a sprawling site but from outside one would never have thought so.  Its underground complex houses the sacred spring, the Roman temple,the Roman bath house and other artefacts. 

 

The Gorgon's head excavated from the ruins of the Roman temple ... 

... the sacred spring where worshippers threw in their scrolled wishes or curses inscribed on sheets of lead and pewter, in the hope that its  dwelling spirit, the goddess Sulis Minerva would grant them.  

After all these centuries, the sacred spring still yield mineral-rich spa water which visitors got to drink for free (just show your entrance tickets). The taste?  I thought it would be heavenly macam air zamzam, but who was I kidding?  Rasanya payau tapi baunya ... Puh!  Macam air longkang je... Kui!Kui!Kui!Sungguh mengembangkan tekak! :P.  

(pix by Stan Zurek)

Talk about longkang, here's an underground longkang (drain)that has lasted the test of time and is still functioning! 

Besides these, there were the changing rooms, saunas, heated rooms and plunging pool which I didn't care to photograph as I was too engrossed with my audioguide :).

The great bath was the most interesting place of the tour because you'd see actors (supposedly portraying people from the township of Aquae Sulis) getting into their character, thrilling the crowd. 

Amani sitting beside a Roman Marge Simpson :P. This hairstyle was supposed to be in vogue those days.  Now we know where Matt Groening got his inspiration from! :) 

 After buying souvenirs, we moved on to other parts of Bath.  We went to Royal Victoria Park for lunch, took pictures (my dad lah) at the Royal Crescent, before stopping at our final destination: a park near Pulteney Bridge.

My most unforgetable memory of Bath, however, came a few weeks later in the form of a traffic offense notice.  Caught in (foul) action by traffic camera! Huhuhu...

  

Much ado about a batu

It took us 9 months and my parents' visit to finally reach Stonehenge.  If my parents hadn't insisted on going there, it would still be the last place that we would visit.  After all, the place is just an hour's drive from Bristol (read:  go to the far away places first :)).

Thanks to the satnav, we were taken down narrow, winding roads through small traditional villages (thatched-roofed house and all), and into vast green meadows.  Sadly, I couldn't take any pictures because I was on the wheels. 

When we reached the place, it was almost noon but the weather was wonderful.  There was a long queue for the tickets.  Yeah, you have to pay to look at the batu... :P.  Luckily, we managed to get in free as we had "English Heritage" cards (thanks K. Fariza!:)). 

We were given audioguides to enable us to listen to information about the place.  The ultimate new age 'tourist guide', you listen to what you want, when you want and how (many times) you want.  Cool isn't it?  What impressed me was that the gadget managed to keep my hyperactive sons occupied, toying with the buttons and listening intently to the commentaries (macamlah faham sangat! Kuikuikui!).  I'm one happy mother!

The batu was ... well ... a pile of stones in the middle of a field.  We can't go near 'em though and can only view from afar.  So tawaf ajelah keliling batu... hehehe!

Some pictures of Stonehenge from different angles ...