London Calling

It's been over 10 years since I got my M.A. from the UK ( wow that rhymes) and more or less 10 years since I last set foot in London. This was to be the last leg of a 6 day (crazy) work assignment and I had already shelved the idea of having enough time to go around and see a city that held a lot of wonderful memories. I was hoping to see my classmates ( or at least one) from my school before, have some typical pub fare and catch a show at the West End. After taking a look at the itinerary given to me by the DOT I decided not to expect anything since the 3 days we were going to be there would have us occupied from early morning til evening. In fact, it got to a point that I had to ask my friend and her husband to make an allocation to just meet me in my hotel for drinks since I didn't think I would be able to step out and see her! But, on a very happy note, things turned out much, much better than expected. Apologetic for our 'blitz' like stay in Berlin the DOT informed us that 1) Our first afternoon in London would be spent at our leisure and 2) that they were going to get tickets for two West End performances.Namely Lord of the Rings and Wicked. My heart leapt-I had been DYING to watch Wicked ever since I read the book and heard from my friends who had seen it in New York that the music was terrific. I wasn't too keen on Lord of the Rings since I wanted to spend an evening with my friends, and I hadn't heard any reviews about it-at least about the music, it was heralded to be a feast for the eyes in terms of visual effects and stage design. So, when the clock hit 4pm I got a phone call from my former classmate, Natasha, and we met in my hotel lobby to hit the streets of London. The sun had decided to come out that day so walking around was still cold but definitely more bearable than Berlin PLUS you could see around you for miles with the sun beating happily down. After walking around and taking photos in South Kensington and Knightsbridge ( the photos will be posted soon) we went for typical pub fare in the Soho district. I couldn't decide between fish and chips or a heartier bangers and mash...so I just asked the waitress who laughed and said "The bangers and mash of course! It's so much healthier!" her cheery sarcasm was appreciated and I went with the 'healthier' option.
I was able to reconnect with Natasha and her husband, Gavin, who I never met since they were wed about 7 years ago ( I was unfortunately not able to make it to her wedding) and as luck would have it Ulrike another classmate of mine was able to join us! She was someone I hadn't seen since we had our graduation ceremonies down in Kent. Although I was pretty tired ( our night ended around 10 pm) I thoroughly enjoyed myself and felt so happy that my friends could join me at a last moment's notice! Plus, I had Wicked to look forward to the next night, this trip could have already ended with that thought since I hadn't expected much in terms of personal activities.
Again, the luck of the Irish was radiating strong in Londonium because the next morning during breakfast of warm brown toast and jam we were told that we could have the morning free since the DOT activities were going to begin in the afternoon. That was GREAT news our hotel was within walking distance of two museums, The Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum ( the V&A) I sms'd Tash just to see if she was free to meet up with me at museum's opening at 10am and she was! We spent a great remainder of the morning visiting them both and I caught a great exhibit at the V&A that dealt with costume design and set design (in miniature) and we popped down to the coffee shop where I had my absolute favorite, scones with clotted cream and tea! Yum!
The afternoon was spent at the Excel Center where the International Dive Show was taking place and I must say that the Philippines' booth was practically the only destination exhibit booth there. So many people came and went especially when Filipino food was served for as well as drinks towards the end of the evening- we even had a band playing and some San Miguel beer accompanying the mixed cocktails! At night, it was off to Wicked, which was marvelous, I loved every moment of it and the theater was packed-literally from first row all the way to the back. It had a lot of funny moments-great delivery from the actress who played Glinda and the music was powerful- gotta get my hands on the soundtrack!
After the play it was off for some comfort eating of Asian fare at Bugis Street Resto at the Millennium Hotel in South Ken, again walking distance from our hotel (Grange Strathmore).
Even if that night ended in some rain and quite late ( not much sleep for the wicked watchers) I don't think I could have asked for a better way to bulldoze through 72 hours in London the way we did. God Save the Queen ;-) Photos coming soon!