Life's Little Pleasures....and those that are not.: 18 Dec: Day 2 - St Paul's, Tate Modern, Borough Market, Leicester Square.

*Photo Intensive Post*

After the first day, I realised a couple of 'mistakes' in my planning.

1. Food wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be. Budget about £15 per person for a normal meal will be good.

2. Nightfall came really early in the winter - around 4pm. Plan activities accordingly.

Also, if you are travelling F&E, be sure to check the tube updates and get alternative travel routes such as buses.

Walking is also good. It may seem far on the map but it isn't really when you walk on foot.

Get the Oyster Card from any train stations for traveling on the tube and buses.

It works the same as HK's Octopus Card, SG's EZlink Card or Taiwan's 悠遊卡.

Best of all, there's a cap amount and it's much more cheaper than getting a one way fare (a lot cheaper).

The deposit is £3.

If at the first purchase you want to put in £20, the value will be £17 reflected.

Upon refund, the £3 will be given back.

You can also use the card on buses there.

Only need to tap in as it's a single fare for all distances.

So, most of our trips we took the tube.

Saturday morning to St Paul's.

Since we left the hotel late (ma forgot her Oyster card), we missed the first walking tour of St Paul's.

I suggested going to King's Cross Station first to find Harry Potter's Platform 9 3/4.

I didn't do enough research so we didn't find it la.

So, we headed back to St Paul's Station.

The current standing St Paul's cathedral is the fourth one on this site.

As with many other names in London, St Paul was built to commerate St Paul and this was re-architect by Sir Christopher Wren.

Before heading to London, I happened to catch the show 'Megastructures' on cable and they covered the architecture behind St Paul's.

I was truly intrigued.

Do note that it is recommended to check their website for events or closures before planning your dates if you want to head into the Cathedral.

If you take the tube, you'll need to pass through the above Temple Bar before seeing St Paul.

This monument is the only surviving gateway into the City of London which was originally standing at the Strand.

Previously, the structure was made by wood but after the Great Fire which devastated London, it was instructed by King Charles II to remove the remains of the the wood structure and rebuld it with stones.

After many turns, it was re-erected here.

Past the bar, you'll see the side of St Paul.

Currently, the cathedral is undergoing a cleaning and repairing of the surfaces which costs over £40 million.

This is to mark the 300th anniversary of the cathedral in 2010.

The front of the Cathedral.

It was magnificient.

Since we arrived late, the Cathedral was closed for a Christmas Carol session.

We took some photos and headed off so as not to waste time.

As you can see I was bundled up really well.

I guess I was wearing close to 5 layers (tank, thin thermal, turtleneck, dress and jacket) or more.

There is a reason why the lampposts in London were painted black.

And, it's for a real sentimental reason.

Queen Victoria (24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) married Prince Albert in 1839 after falling in love with him.

Prince Albert died in December 1861 (after Queen Victoria's mum passed away earlier in March the same year).

Queen Victoria went into self-imposed isolation at Windsor Castle and was always wearing black.

The nation painted all lamp posts black as a mark of memory.

Since than, it has always been black in London.

We walked towards Millenium bridge and saw the dome of the Cathedral.

This was the side entrance.

It looks small right?

But this was taken after we crossed the road and walking a short distance away.

Crossing the millenium bridge to Tate Modern.

It was freezing!

Millenium bridge is the only bridge not opened to traffic that crosses River Thames.

Does this look like Korea or Japan?

The trees were standing there in a small plot of land so we focused on it.

It was surrounded by concrete buildings.

That's St Paul, the Millenium Bridge and River Thames.

We decided to head into Tate Modern to be arty-farty.

Lest did we know we'd be saved from a snow storm coming.

Tadah!

Snow Storm!

So we sat in the cafe for lunch.

Which we all regretted a little and you will know why later.

My egg mayo with bacon sandwich.

Minced Meat Pie.

Which I read was a Christmas only pie.

I was really shocked to find it sweet!!!

I finished it anyway.

And there's like no meat inside.

Mr Look told me I took the wrong pie from the tray.

So I went to wiki it (yeap, I ate it first not knowing what it was and than wiki it when I came home).

Mr Look, it is minced meat pie!!!

From wiki:

"A mince pie, also known as minced pie, is a small British sweet pie traditionally served during the Christmas season.....its ingredients were a mixture of minced meat, suet, a range of fruits, and spices such as cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg."

Mr Look's arty-farty lunch.

After lunch and a quick trip to the toilet, the snow fall cleared up a little (or so we thought).

Time to leave!!

If you can compare this to the earlier photo you'll see the amount of snow that came down in that 45 minutes.

Narnia!!!!hahah...the snow and black lamp post only.

Shakespeare's Globe theatre.

We gave that a miss since the theatre was open air and no seatings on the tour.

We walked and trudged and it snowed and snowed!

There was even a short period of time that it wasn't snowflakes falling on our head but small ice balls!

Finally we found the destination!

Borough market!

See how heavy the snow was?

Christmas Trees for sale!

Remember I said we regretted eating in Tate?

The below pictures will show you why.

Freshly baked breads.

All sorts!!

I'm a bread person, give me bread anytime over rice.

Mr Look and I saw this at the pub we went for dinner during the first night and had wanted to try.

This is Mulled wine.

Also only found near Christmas period.

We had no idea what it was except that it was warm and red.

Basically, it is red wine heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, cloves, citrus and sugar.

Tasted unique and different.

Since I had to pass on the wine, we saw this other winter warmer.

Hot apple and cinnamon.

This was made from fresh apple boiled with cinnamon sticks and other spices.

This was yummy and really warmed me up from inside out.

Basically, the whole market was a gathering of various stores selling stuff from olive oil to bread to cheese to poultry and sweets!

There were so much to eat but we were too full from the sandwiches!

Fresh Turkey!

Fresh Ducks!

We don't see this in Singapore anymore so it was pretty interesting =)

Turkish Delight.

Nope, we didn't get any as we felt that it might melt/stick together when we come back.

Time to head back to St Paul's to see the interior.

Subway =)

The compound in front of the Cathedral.

Sad to say, we didn't see the interior as it was closed due to adverse weather conditions.

We still couldn't understand why as it's already stopped snowing and the cathedral was sheltered.

Anyway, change of plans which is what I like about going overseas F&E.

We wanted to wait for a bus but I felt we've done enough waiting so we took a LONDON CAB!

Mr Look's first experience as he's never sat in the Singapore one before.

Headed to Leicester Square to get tickets for a show that night.

I think the cabby heard us and dropped us right in front of the TKTS stand.

For those of you who like to catch a musical like Chicago or performance like Stomp, head to TKTS booth at Leicester Square to get tickets for that day's matinee or night performances at a cheaper price.

Note that not all performances are available.

I wanted to catch Wicked and it wasn't available at TKTS but I managed to get the tickets at another booth.