Marble Arch in London

Located at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane and Edgware Road in London. It is very near to the famous Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park.

Greenwich Park

Visited Greenwich Park last Sunday. This was my first visit to the park which is quite near to my sis-in-law's house. The park is said to be oldest enclosed Royal Park in the UK and covers approx. 73 hectares (183 acres).




The daffodils were in full bloom and looked fantastic

Was looking forward to taking some great pictures but let down when I found out that the camera batteries were down. Ended up taking pictures with my old Skypephone but in the end, the results were not that bad.




The Observatory

I was looking forward to going into the Observatory and posing on the Prime Meridian but the gate was closed.


Shepherd gate 24-hour clock


View from the top of the hill

Will definitely be going back again, making sure that the batteries are fully charged.

Trip to London Zoo

This was my second trip to the London Zoo. The first time was in 1982 on a school trip, along with my parents and sisters. That was around 26 years ago.

This was my son's first trip to a zoo and for his cousin, Noah as well.





The zoo's just 1.8 miles away from my sister-in-laws house and driving there took only a couple of minutes. We made the mistake of not buying the tickets at the car park and had to stand in a massive queue. Fortunately they opened up few other counters and we were in soon.






High five

I realise the Zoo is run by the Zoological Society of London, a charitable organisation but the tickets were really costly (£ 15.50 for adults and £12.50 for children above 3). Most of the animals were inside because of the cold and We didn't get to see the lions or the tapirs amongst others. I felt like we didn't get our moneys worth.




The pink girl





Any way the kids enjoyed the trip. The highlight of the trip were the Gorillas who put on a show. However, my son liked the aquarium the most. He was fascinated with the colourful fishes.



Here's the address:
ZSL London Zoo
Regent's Park
London NW1 4RY
ENGLAND

Snowfall in Coventry Feb 09

Went to London yesterday to see my nephew Noah who just arrived on Saturday. A really cute fellow and it was amazing he was willing to let me hold him. He got on fabulously with my daughter as well. However, he became cranky later in the after noon - jet lag I guess.



While we were there it started snowing - a bit at first and then later in the evening, became a blizzard. I was quite worried and decided to drive back before it got worse. I was so worried, I didn't even get chance to say bye to Noah. It was terrible in London but as soon as we hit the M40, the weather suddenly cleared and it was Ok the rest of the way home.



Woke up this morning to find everything white. It was not that bad and I sent the kids to school. I think I made a good decision to come back instead of staying back in London yesterday because we would have been stuck there today. Apparently they had nearly a feet of snow there yesterday.

Some London Pics

My daughter With Ayah Muz in Wok in the Box




Paddington Station


At a cafe. They asked me not to take any more pictures. Wonder what was so great about the place.




Dinos at the museum






Strange, an almost empty London street


Not so empty London street


It's still busy in the evening

Back to cold Coventry

We are finally back in cold Coventry after a few days in London. Did some house hunting, some shopping and a lot of walking.


My sister-in-law had only about two weeks to find a house and we saw some houses. Today I learnt that she has put in an offer for the first house we saw. I guess the parking, easy access to the tube and proximity to the park did the trick.



The shopping was good but personally I prefer Coventry with our small cozy house with cheap rental) the huge garden. We can also park anywhere along the road totally free-of-charge.

Driving in London is a nightmare with traffic jams,the congestion charges and limited parking. Even though the tube are regular and most efficient way to get around the city, they are not exactly cheap and not really child friendly either.

Buying 3 pay as you go SIM card

My sister-in-law who's just moved to London wanted to buy a pay as you go SIM card only, as she already has a phone. It was meant to be a temporary thing before she signed up for a monthly payment plan. Of course I suggested 3. So off we went to their store in Bayswater, London. However, I was quite surprised when I found out that they didn't have any pay as you go sim card in stock.

Further down the road there's a Phones 4 U shop and they eventually bought the 3 sim card from there.

This is yet another example of a 3 store disappointing me. My previous experience was buying a phone from their Coventry store. Yet another reason for interested customers to buy phones or SIM card from their online store.

Driving in London

Last Sunday, we drove down to London to meet up with my sister-in-law who just moved to the UK. My brother-in-law had arrived a few days earlier. I hate driving in London and my sister-in-law was staying in an apartment right in the heart of the city - in Bayswater (near the Malaysian Hall). Fortunately I didn't have to pay the congestion charge as it was a Sunday. Moreover metered spaces and single yellow lines were free for parking.

I don't know what I would have done without my TomTom. A Sat-nav is a must have gadget for anyone who drives in the UK. However, I realised that I need to update to the latest map as it kept telling me to go into one way streets - the wrong way and into roads that didn't exist any more. It also tells me that the fastest route to our house is via the M6 whereas I prefer to take the M40 - which is even faster. It took me more than half an hour just to get out of the city on the way back. Sometimes technology can drive you crazy.

Going back to London again this week and I have to pay the congestion charges. Fortunately a friend has allowed us to park our car in front of her house for free otherwise I would have had to spend a huge amount for the parking.