London Tube Challenge : Jubilee line

I read about this Tube Challenge in an article somewhere and I was intrigued. What is Tube Challenge? It is the accepted name for the Guinness World record attempt to visit all the stations on the London Underground network in the fastest time possible. The record for fastest completion is currently held for 16 hours, 14 minutes and 10 seconds.

Hmm why not? Let's do something crazy. I'm not going to break the record, of course. But, I'm going to try visit as much stations as I can. Bought a week travel card that covers from zone 1 to 3. I don't  plan to tag out if there's nothing to see outside of the station. So, I guess the travel card is sufficient to cover my journey. It costs me 40 quids for a week. Better make the most of it.

I decided to start off with the Jubilee line as that's the one that I'm familiar with. The journey started from Canary Wharf station towards Stanmore. I got down at Bermondsey station just to have a look at the area. I was curious. Walked from Bermondsey to London Bridge station. I've put up a post on that part of the journey earlier (see blog post here)

Next, I got down at Green Park Station which took me straight to St. James' Park. There were a lot of people lying on the green grass, enjoying the warm weather. Snapped some pictures and continue on to my next destination.

The station looked like it had gone thorough refurbishment. The red tiles really brighten up the otherwise grubby looking station.

St Johns Wood - There's where the famous Abbey Road Studio and zebra crossing are. The walk from the station to the studio was very relaxing and hardly any passers by around. But then I saw a bunch of people standing beside a road. Oh my god, it was so funny looking at those people trying to get the 'Beatles shot' on the zebra crossing. And the poor drivers need to stop everytime someone tries to cross. I did not take any picture but I had fun watching, though.

Swiss Cottage - The district is named after an  inn called the 'The Swiss tavern' that was built in 1804 and on the site of a former tollgate keeper's cottage. The inn's later named to Swiss Cottage. It is now becomes a pub. The station itself dated from 1939.

Finchley Road - I stopped by the station to find something to eat. There's a Mark & Spencer and Waitrose just outside the station. Then I saw a sign to Freud Museum. I decided to follow it just out of curiosity. Well, the route through the Trinity Walk was kind of challenging with a 60 degrees steep. Unfortunately, the museum was close that day. It only opens from Wednesday to Sunday. But at least I've seen his last house from outside.
I saw this Victorian building which I guess a pub with 1850 plaque on it. I googled it and according to London Remember, It was built in 1850 as one of first building to grace the new Finchley Road. It was purpose built as a pub.

I continue on the Jubilee line without stopping at any station till I reached the end of the line, Stanmore station.

It was a tiring feat to achieve and it took me 7 hours to complete the ride from Stratford to Stanmore and back. But I did take my own sweet time exploring the area nearby the station as well. Will I continue with other line? I don't know. :-)

A day In Bermondsey / Southwark

I was on a crazy mission to visit as much tube station as I can when I alighted the train at Bermondsey station. I was curious what kind of place Bermondsey is. The name just sounds exotic :-)

Don't know which way to turn once I'm outside the station, left or right? Saw the Shard building on the left, so to the left it is. There were not many people around as it's just past the morning rush. The place was quiet and not much traffic either. So, just calmly walked along the road until I saw a sign to Thames path. So I followed it. It brought me through a street with wharves on both side of the it. It was so pretty. I think it's probably old wharves building turned into high end residential estate. The name of the wharves that interest me most, Java Wharf, St. Saviours, St' Georges, St' Andrews, New Concordia, Butlers wharf & Tea trade wharf. I wonder how the wharves got its name.

I reached the Design Museum and in front of it is a weird looking sculpture. It looks like a face of a man.

I walked straight on along the Shad Thames. The small alley is interesting due to its cobbled stone, very dangerous if one is wearing high heels. Swanky restaurants and delicious looking bakery lines the street now. But it used have largest complex of warehouses that stores tea, coffee and spices unloaded from river boats.

The converted warehouses retain their original features and named after the commodities which were originally stored in them - Vanilla & Sesame Court, Cayenne Court, Ginger Wall and others. I did smell a hint of vanilla when I was in Vanilla & Sesame Court, though. Then, there's a striking red structure that caught my eyes. It's the China Wharf, which is actually a new residential building. There were also boat houses docking in front of the New Concordia wharf.

Further along, I reached the Tower Bridge and walked along the Queen's walk on the riverside. As usual, the place is packed with tourist with selfie stick trying to get the best shots of the Tower Bridge as a background. Walked past the shell-shaped City Hall building and the Scoop, the open-air theatre that opens during the summer. There'll be a live telecast of Wimbledon games as well. Yeah! 

A riviera just popped up in London with view of the Thames. The colourful deck chairs were so cute with palm trees scattered  around the area. 

There's an exhibition going on near the Tower Bridge pier. It exhibits Thames tideway tunnel system, London sewerage system and hidden Thames gems.

Walked into Hay's Galleria, which now houses offices and restaurants where it used to be a warehouse. It was named after its original owner who acquired the property in 1651. In a fountain at the centre of the Galleria is a 60ft moving bronze sculpture of a ship unveiled in 1987 to commemorate its heritage. I thought the ship has been there since the 1700, I was wrong! 

Walked past by the HMS Belfast ship/museum but I didn't go in. Its admission price is to steep for a poor Londoners like me. Plus I had visited a battleship before - back in August last year.

Straight on until I reached the London Bridge station where I hopped on a tube to continue on my silly Tube Challenge :-)

A day in Kew Garden

Another late entry. I visited Kew garden with my husband last Saturday (6/6/2015) and didn't get to write an entry due to extreme exhaustion :-) So here goes.........


It's finally Saturday and I'm so excited!!! We're going to Kew Garden today. Been planning this for weeks. 

We went out approximately 11 am (late, I know). Took the DLR and got off at Bank station. But surprise, surprise, when we arrived, we saw a sign stating that the Monument station was close. So, we decided to catch a District line train from Tower Hill station. So, we took the DLR again back to Shadwell and change for Tower gateway train. But......the Tower Hill station was close too!!!! I felt so silly for not checking the tube status before we went out. Rookie mistake! Hence, onto the DLR again to Shadwell, to catch the Overground train to Kew Garden. Surprisingly, there were no closures on the Overground line. Normally, there'll be massive closures on the Overground line during weekends. There's no direct route from Shadwell to Kew, so we need to change at Cannonbury for train towards Richmond. 

It's mid-day when we reached Kew station. There were a lot of people trying to get out from the small station. Once, we are out of the station, we followed the signage to Kew Garden. It took us up a crossing bridge to the other side of the station and walked for another good 10 minutes before we reached the front gate. 

I saw lots of people queueing outside its gate. Lucky, I decided to buy the tickets online. If you buy the tickets online, you need to print it out and they'll just scan it at the gate. No more queuing! Oh, and the ticket cost 14 pounds if you buy it online compared to 16 pounds at the gate. Save time and money, what more do you need?

We were so rushed trying to get to Kew as fast as we can (the park/garden close at 6 pm), that when we passed the gate we were quite a loss on where to start. We only have like 5 hours to cover the vast park so hubby became the time keeper. We tried our best to visit all the attractions in the park.

Palm House

It was built in 1844 and has been in the park for 160 years. Impressive! It houses palms & other tropical trees from around the world. I'm from tropical climate country and most of the plants in there were familiar to me. But it's still fascinating to see it. I saw a Durian tree but no durian fruit! I guess they alter the tree DNA or something so that it won't have fruit. Just imagine a thorny durian fall on visitors, that would be a disaster. I saw a person fascinated with a banana tree. I used to ignore the banana trees at my grandma's house but here people are fascinated by it. I should be grateful that I grew up knowing the things that I knew. I'll definitely teach my future children to be one with the nature. The glasshouse was so hot inside, that I felt like melting. Once, I stepped out of it, I felt so relieved. I wonder how it will be in the peak of summer heat. 

There's another large glasshouse in the park, the Temperate House. It's the largest surviving Victorian glasshouse in the world. Unfortunately, it's currently being restored and will only re-open in 2018. 

Waterlily House

Next to the Palm House, is the Waterlily House. It was built in 1852 to house the natural wonder, the giant waterlily, Victoria Ammonica. There were also other beautiful waterlilies in there as well. It was a joy to take pictures of the flowers.

Pagoda 
In the middle of a Victorian park there it was a Pagoda stood 10-storey high. It was built in 1762  as a gift for Princess Augusta, the founder of Kew Garden (I think!). But you can't enter the pagoda, though. It's close to public. It was almost 3pm and we decided to stop for a quick lunch at the pagoda. Lucky we bought lunch with us, as the food in the cafe were so expensive. My time-keeper hubby told me that we only can sit for 10 minutes, oh boy how annoying. Well, the reason that we went out late this morning was because hubby woke up late and I had to wait for him to get ready.  Plus, the back and forth in the DLR trying to find your way to Kew took away precious time. Ok, enough with the nagging :-)

There's a Japanese Gateway and garden near the Pagoda complete with a Chokushi-Mon, a replica of the gateway of the Imperial Messenger in Kyoto.

Xstrata treetop walkway 
Next, is the treetop walk. The walkway is 18m above ground and 200m long. It was opened in 2008, quite recent. We took the stairs to top, what a mistake. I was out of breath when I reached the top. There's a lift if you're wondering, do take those. It was a windy day and the walkway do sway a little bit and you can see the bottom when you walked along the walkway. It's quite scary if you're afraid of heights like me. I ended up clutching my hubby's hand and walked really fast to the end. Hubby didn't get to enjoy the scenery that much 'cause I kept whining. Sorry love.

Princess of Wales Conservatory 
The conservatory was opened in 1987 by Diana, Princess of Wales. It houses various plants especially cactuses. Lots of weird looking cactuses. If you love orchids, there are various species on display as well.

Sackler crossing 
It was built in 2006. The bridge is quite unique because as you approach the crossing, you can see as if there's solid walls on both sides. But, if you see it on the side, the was is almost invisible. You need to see it to appreciate. My picture does not do it justice.

Kew Palace 
The centrepiece of the park, the Kew Palace. It was built in 1631 as a country retreat for George III. He and Queen Charlotte spent their summer with their 15 children. It was also a refuge for George III during his infamous episodes of madness. Queen Charlotte died here in 1818, and since then the house was closed up. It was only re-opened 80 years later but it was in a really bad shape. It has been restored since. It was quite a small house, I wonder how noisy it was with 15 children inside.

The Orangery (1761)
There's an orangery next to the palace but there's a wedding happening, so we can't enter it. The building is very pretty and suitable for wedding and other events.

It was a pretty long day with lots of power walking involved. I suggest if you want to enjoy the park leisurely, do arrive early as the park opens at 9.30 am. I was quite exhausted at the end of the day that I spent the whole Sunday lying on the sofa.

A day with Churchill

Place: Churchill War Rooms & Churchill Museum, London
Date of visit: 3 June 2015 @ 2pm
Cost: GBP 18 (entrance fees) + GBP 5 for visitors guide
Free audio guide provided

The Rooms first became operational at the end of 1939, but only really came into use after Winston Churchill became Prime Minister. The War Cabinet Room was the scene of numerous crucial meetings held by Churchill during the Blitz, as above ground, Luftwaffe tried to devastate London.

The Rooms have been maintained as it were in 16 August 1945 when the final light goes out in these subterranean rooms after the war ended.  It is situated in the basement storage rooms under the Office of Works and the Boards of Trade.

War Cabinet Room

The gallery starts off with the War Cabinet Room. The room's red girders on the ceiling were there to support the ceiling.

The red box on the table is Churchill's, full with state papers that he brought along with him everywhere.

Churchill suite in the bunker. Simple but yet functional. He liked having his wife nearby, hence a room was set aside for Clementine next door to his own. How sweet!

Look at that pink bed cover! 

The most amazing room was the Map Room. It was staffed by one officer each of the Royal Air Force, the Army and the Royal Navy, 24 hours every day from August 1939 to August 1945. Each day by 8pm the map room officers produced a daily summary of the war for the King, Prime Minister and the Chiefs of Staff. Unfortunately, my camera failed on me and I have no pictures of the room. Sad :( 

But there's one fun fact about that room. On the desk of the Chief Map Room Officer is an envelope marked with his name with 3 rationed sugar cubes in it. It was to avoid the sugar being taken by other people. How cute!

Next, to Churchill Museum where it illustrated Churchill's life from birth to his death on 24 January 1965 at the age of 90. He was given a State Funeral which was quite awesome for a commoner. There's a video showing his funeral procession in the gallery.

There's one thing struck me though, did you know that Winston Churchill lost his General Election of 1945 mere months after winning the war for Britons. An 'ungrateful nation' as he put it in his book, after years of inspirational leadership in the war against Hitler (I directly quoted this from the guide). I wonder what went through his mind when he lost the election. Poor man!

I love how the museum has a 15-metre long interactive table chronicling the life and times of Winston Churchill. You just need to click the date and the details & photos will be shown.

After looking at the details of his life,  I believe Winston Churchill  is one of the greatest statesmen and a war hero. '

 'We shall fight on the beaches'

'This was their finest hour'

Girl lost in a city

Actually, my initial plan is to visit Kenwood House in Hampstead Heath. But my hubby was against the idea as he was worried about my safety. He felt that it's not safe to go too far out from the city without him. Well, I take it that he cares about me. So the plan flew out of the window. 

Then I thought why not visit the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. I've been living in London for 2 years but I never went in. Ok, back-up plan is ON!

Went to Argos in Westfield Stratford to pick up my new pedometer which cost me like 4 pounds, dirt cheap. Then, off I go on the DLR towards Bank station. But somehow, my brain was not programmed  correctly, and I went out the station and tada! there I stand in from of the Royal Exchange in the middle of the Bank junction. I forgot that I'm going to the National Gallery. I supposed since I'm here why not just explore the area. So there I was, at the Bank junction taking pictures after pictures like an actual tourist. 

Bank Junction

I kept on walking towards St Paul Cathedral along Cheapside street. Even though the street name is Cheapside but the outlet along the street in not cheap, all designers. Again took some pictures at St Paul Cathedral. Thought of going to see what's inside but to my surprise the entrance fees in 16 pounds. Too expensive! I walked out of the cathedral disappointed. 

St Paul (sorry for the horrible photo, though)

I dropped by the London Tourist Info Centre just across St' Paul and picked up lots of brochures. Then I saw a sign outside the centre for a guided walk along Fleet Street themed 'High life vs Low life'. It was supposed to showcase the stark difference between the rich and poor Londoners during the 1900. Waited and waited but didn't see the tour guide anywhere so again need to think of what else to do. Walked along Peters Hill and  cross the River Thames from the Millennium Bridge. 

 Millennium Bridge 

Saw this hideous brown building in front of me, the Tate Modern Gallery. Well, why not try new things today. So I stepped into the Tate building.

Tate Modern Gallery

Actually it's a bit funny for me going to an art gallery as I used to failed my Art subject during my primary school days. My mom used to laugh at my drawings whenever I showed her my homework for Art. I think my Art teacher just hates me and that's the reason I failed the subject and not because of lack of interest in art hahahahahaha.......

Some of the galleries are free and some with entrance fees. I had a look at the free galleries and thought that it looks the same as my drawings during my school days. Why, I think my Art teacher never had a chance to learn modern art. My drawings were ahead of time, too modern and abstract for her.  Ok, enough rambling about my old Art teacher. 

The only interesting thing in the building is the viewing balcony outside of the cafe on Level 3. It has the best view of St' Paul and other buildings along the Thames. 

Took a short coffee break at the cafe while  updating my notes. I keep notes of the area and things that I saw along the way. Then I remembered that I did visit Tate Gallery in Liverpool but it was much smaller compared to London. Mental note to self: I need to put up an entry about my visit to Liverpool & Manchester last February.

It's time to head home as it is almost 4 pm. Walked towards the Monument station along the River Thames to Southwark Bridge and then heads to Cannon Street. There's a nice mural on a wall at Queenhithe on the Thames Path. It depicts the history of London from Roman times to now. 

The Thames Path is quite isolated and not many passers-by, so I did get a little bit worried. 

It was a good day as I did try new things today but it is tiring as I did miss a few turns here and there. Need to have a better route plan next time.