I come to London with a tight budget so the breakdown of cost for Day 1 is:

Travelday Card:  7.60 pounds. Chicken Burger: 2.99 pounds. Kak Farhana cooked masak lemak cili api and bread pudding: priceless (double thumbs up!)

London is everything that hippie, gay priding , live partying and tam-tam-ing Montreal is not. The only thing that Montreal may share with London is the rich in history Beaux-Arts buildings littering the city for common commercial and household use. However , much can still be said about it because London still uses its Beaux Arts buildings for businesses apt for its architecture instead of a weed and tattoo parlour.

London,  is in short , quintessentially British; where everything is prim, crisp, and classy. The men dressed nicely in fitted tailored suits. I saw a bow tie reception on the side of  Thames River and among them there was a guy in a pony-tailed suit propped on cane like Lucius Malfoy. It is absolutely true that the city takes after Your Majesty Queen Elizabeth on that quality. People use slangs of the form “bollocks!”‘brilliant!” and “f*** off! ( throw away that lame ‘cool’ or ‘awesome’ ones). After hours crowds herd into pubs not in jeans and t-shirt but still in suits and tie.  There was a touristy petanque demonstration and the women who volunteered is still in her red powersuit and her office identity tag still hanging around her neck.

Apparently after hour parties in London are in formal dress and includes petanque playing

Enroute, i made mental notes of what are the things that made me broke into a small smile — signs of amusement. First off , are the friendly blonde stewards on British Airways politely asking ” would you care for a breakfast miss?”  in incredibly sexy British accents. Yours truly here is used to blonde males with fringy indie  hairtsyle in tight fitting American Athletics V-neck t shirts and aviators, not the likes who asks about your beverage preferences.

Secondly, is the hands down fantastical public transport in terms of coverage, frequency, cleanliness and service. The only marks being cut off  are the rates. I was expecting something like New York subway but London Underground is a cut waay above else. Despite the high traffic,the train comes every one-two minutes max. It is easy to mistook the word  ‘Underground’ since it connotes various detestable adjectives such as dark, dreary, dingy and dirty. It describes aptly the New York subways but not here in London, no siree. I almost want to cry hallelujah when the extremely helpful attendants fixed my travelday card (the card refuse to open the clearings for me in every station )because i was reminded of the Latino attendant who wouldn’t even want to go out of his glass cubicle in New York and spoke through a microphone.

The tube map is hallmark of great ergonomic grid-like design. Most lines have been straightened out in the centre, but it is topological – it bears no relation to the distance between stations or their exact location. A famous trap is Queensway and Bayswater stations which are actually right next door to each other, but way apart on the tube map.

Truly an icon of clarity in complexity

Now, is London expensive?

Verily, if you choose to. This is a profound quality because one still have the option to NOT choose this route. The paid attractions that is worthy spending money on is not much ; Tower of London, St Pauls Cathedral and Madame Tussauds ( as for me, i already went to the one in NYC so i don’t really bother). All museums are free of charge and stay with a friend if you can. It doesn’t matter if the place is not at the heart of London, the excellent subway system can make up for that.I also find the hop on hop off bus service here very impressive but with a map, Travelday card or Oyster, careful planning and strong legs, everything is accessible by foot. DO NOT buy the London City Pass because its not worth the money you pay unless you can fit in 4 paid attractions in one day.

This day i arrived at Kak Farhana’s house near Holloway Road, Islington. Holloway Road is what i call halal glory on a road. Almost every shop and food joints along this road is brimming with halal-ness. I heart this a lot.

I hit the city starting with Trafalgar Square/Nelson’s Column/National Gallery near Piccadily Circus station moving towards Big Ben- Scotland Yard-Horse Guards Parade-Thames River in that particular order. It was over 4 o’ clock and the day looked like it was only 1.00 pm.Good thing about summer is that the day is considerably longer.

If one would walk along the Thames, you are covering nearly half of the London sights already. The Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Abbey,Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, HMS Belfast, The Oxo Tower,  the lame London Bridge, and Hungerford Bridge. Strong legs are highly advised. Fret not if you’re tired, the subway is practically within walking distance everywhere. Just hop on one and off you go.

Walking along Thames might present you with this rare sight. Ship on the right is the HMS Belfast

By 8.00 pm ish, i was ready to wrap it all up but the day was still bright to straight away go home. So i looked at the tube map and…ahah! the Kings Cross station( always look at the tube map for inspiration heh). The premise of the idea was brilliant but lacks some practicality. The platform 9 3/4 was nowhere to be found. There was platform 9 and 10 but no 9 3/4.  I sprained my eyes looking for groups of people gathering near a wall if its any indication of tourist snapping pictures but there was none. The station is also much more modern than what was depicted in the movie. I went round and round and gave up when the day is dark. Sidenote: Later i went researching where it was located and i am supposed to go ONTO the platform to look at it. I was busy browsing around the station. Apparently it is suppposed to look like this:

The trolley was a nice touch. Source: wikipedia

Overall the first day experience was pleasant. There are many muslims in this area and salams are often received from kind strangers. It also the first place i didn’t have to correct people’s guess that I’m from Malaysia instead of Indonesia. I could isolate two unpleasant ones that doesnt involve me but a rather pathetic sight nonetheless. Twice today i encountered incidents of men jeering and leering at women who are walking alone in front of me. I had to grit my teeth because there is a difference between complimenting beauty and being a plain pervert. I have always thanked God for being covered but this makes me feel even more glad. Alhamdulillah ,i am protected from unwarranted attention and i hope to always seek protection from Him.

Chow!

Exit is called ‘way out’. Too cute.

P/s : The writer thinks that the lack of homeless population in London a fascinating juxtaposition of the evergreen urban problem.