The Jube is Coming!

You know something's going on when there is a giant photograph of the Royal Family completely covering the Sea Containers House (not a small building!).  Yup, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations are coming up very soon!  

I had no idea that the Jubilee would coincide with my trip and up until last week, I didn't know what it signified.  A lot of pomp and pageantry it seems!  More cynically so, it is the celebration of person who descended from inbreeding plunderers and by her birthright ('better blood') inherited the privilege of sitting on a throne as the Head of State of several countries all over the world.  We're celebrating that she's managed to sit there for 60 years and only the second monarch after Queen Victoria to do so.  Yippee!!  It is really quite an offensive concept, isn't it!?

Just like the Royal Wedding last year, in the face of an offensive concept, I question why I have any interest in the Royal Family.  I know the answer now - I love kitsch.  I can't help but get into the mood when I see the shops full of Union jacks, bunting, corgi and QEII themed biscuits, cakes, mugs, plates and rubbishy knick knacks.  I'm a sucker for useless knick knacks.  

There's a bonus four day weekend in June too!  I'm on holidays so that doesn't matter much to me though.  

Hermès: Leather Forever

The Hermès: Leather Forever exhibit was recommended to me by Mimsta had visited twice already and mentioned that for a free event, it was very interesting.  I had never really given Hermes much thought but I can appreciate a behind the scenes production and so I thought I'd catch it before it shut up shop on Sunday.  

Walking up the grand staircase of Burlington Gardens. 

A ostrich leather rhino greets me at the entrance. 

Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside.  Boo, but you can see some pics here.  What I hadn't realised before is that each Hermès bag is handmade and handstitched by a long-serving single artisan, not merely 'just another employee'.  They even had two women sitting there, each making a handbag in front of us answering any queries we had.  I stood there fascinated for about 20 minutes.  I wasn't being weird!  There were other women who had clearly been watching for much longer.  I continued on peering at old and new handbags along with other leathergoods.  Most impressive was a winged leather saddle made specifically for a Japanese rock band.

The worst part about this exhibit was how much it made me want a Hermès bag!  I left really, really pining for one.  Good advertising Hermès!  (Or maybe I'm just another woman who loves handbags.  Yeah, that's probably it.)  

Leisure Time In London

And poof!  I'm back in London.  What's even better is that Summer seems to have kicked in early (don't worry, I know this is temporary) and I thought it be best I take advantage of this while it lasts.  I shuffled over to the Tate Modern, undecided about paying for the Damien Hirst exhibit.  I mean, I don't really appreciate modern art so I thought I would just wander inside the Tate and make up my mind while there. 

Move out of the way people!!  One of Hirst's works outside, Hymn.   

In the end I saw that they were exhibiting For the Love of God for free so I lined up for that, ooh-ed and aah-ed at all it's sparkleness and decided, 'Yep, I've had my Hirst fix so I won't go into the paying exhibit'.  Unfortunately, no photos of the diamond skull were allowed.  I did end up wandering around on the floor though.  

A very phallic piece indeed.  Louise Bourgeois' Fillette. 

 Something that reminded me of poo-poo.  I can't remember what it was called.

Hymn enjoying the view.  Luvely! 

Now to enjoy the rest of my time in London! 

Poor Monopoly Man

The Occupy London protest has set up on the steps of St. Paul's and while it's now even more crowded in an ever-crowded bit of tourist/work/public space, it's good see the space is being used efficiently for displays like this:

A broke Monopoly man!  Hehehe.  Look there's even a silver boot.

Buckingham Palace

Whilst serving a self-induced banishment in Rad-City, I came across something that tickled my excitement - Kate Middleton's dress going on display!  In the same way I was confused about how much I cared for the British monarchy, I was again a little confused about my excitement for Kate Middleton's dress.  The whole concept of royalty is outdated and based on battles and plundering!  But.. but... I couldn't shake off The Royal Wedding fever!  

Having lived in London for three years, it was never my priority to tour inside Buckingham Palace.  But now with the dress on display, hey, why not?  I had initially try to book tickets online on the day of release but the server crashed and I was left a bit disappointed.  Knowing that tickets are limited, I figured I missed my opportunity.  However, the drive from Heathrow to London home, passes the palace and I thought, 'Hey, I'm gonna try to get tickets again!'  Yay.  Ticket purchase successful!  Smee and I opted for the full works ticket which included access to the palace state rooms, Queen's gallery and mews.  The importance of pre-booking tickets was shown when we turned up at the palace gates.  So many other tourists were turned away as the daily quota for ticket sales had been reached.  

First stop, the Queen's Gallery.  

The Queen's stuff... for public adoration!  

Appreciating the stuff.

Next stop, the State Rooms within the palace.  No photography was allowed indoors - boo.  But it's as grand as one would expect.  Detailed decals, gold plated staircase, all that stuff.  I had the audio tour but I've pretty much forgotten everything that was said.  Kate's dress looked as it did on TV but even more impressive up close (or more like, as close as the general public were allowed).  Her shoes looked unworn and more importantly - my size!  Also on display were Kate's earrings, a replica of her bouquet and part of the original wedding cake.  The tradition is that the newlyweds keep the top two layers of the cake aside t o serve at their first child's christening.  Wedding cake can last that long?  

The only photo I was allowed inside Buckingham Palace was actually outside the palace back entrance.  

Next up, the Royal Mews.  This shows how poor my English is - I had no idea what was a mews.  In my defence, I've never come across a real mews in my life because living in Oz, they probably never built any!  Anyway, it's where the horsies and their handlers reside.  

The Glass Coach.  Wow so much history!  I'm so close, I can almost touch it!  Believe it or not, there weren't any security personnel in close range either. 

The Gold State Coach.  Even older!!  That wheel is massive. 

A brown horsey.  The youngest of them all.  *pat pat*  Smee got a lucky shot because when it was my turn to pose with the horsey, he turned around and showed it's bum.  

This is a Royal Watcher's delight but for everyone else, it's just an optional touristy activity.  For those interested in tickets, just be aware that the palace is only open over the Summer months.  As I said before, try to book your tickets at least the night before and avoid the lottery of trying to purchase them on the same day.  

The Royal Wedding

Today was a special day - I was going to witness history in the making!!  It was Will and Kate's wedding day!  Wow, I couldn't believe that I was going to be in town for an event that was going to go on the same list as Henry VIII's several marriages, Queen Victoria's marriage to her first cousin Prince Albert (ew) and Charles and Diana's nuptials.

Like most people I had watched Prince William grow up through reading the usual women's trash mags.  We are similar in age, so it was like we grew up together!  Except he was in pictorials and I errrr wasn't.  His wedding day?  I'm gatecrashing.

Seeing all the bunting out on the street, department store displays and decorated public transport, it was hard not to feel proud of being British... or in my case feeling proud of being pseudo-British.  Also, the cheese hoarder in me was being roused out of hibernation by the displays of crass, kitschy souvenirs - I wanted them all!

Eww, my wrinkly, old woman hand.  A £2 imitation Royal Engagement ring from the ever faithful Primmy.  So many imitations for varying prices, this was the best bargain by far.  How could I say no to this bit of fun?  Well I didn't say no and I ended up buying five of them.  Gifts, of course.  I originally bought one from M&S for £18!!  It was a better finished replica than the £2 Primmy one but it didn't sit on my finger well.  

Ok so on to the actual day.  I originally had been quite prepared to head in early morning and set up a roadside camp.  However, the idea of only having a portaloo for 6 -8 hours (or no nearby loos!) was not very appealing.  Leesh had looked into several of the luncheon options offered by the opportunistic businesses around town and we settled on Altitude 360 and their Wedding Breakfast.  We were confused as to why they referred to it as a 'breakfast' when it was going to be served at lunch but this wiki entry explains the history.

Altitude was located at the top of the Millbank Tower and in the back of my head, I always thought, "Hmm that's kinda far from the action."  But with their description of being 'steps away from Westminster Abbey', I thought, "Yay!" despite knowing that 1 kilometre is hardly considered being 'steps away'.

'Breakfast' wasn't going to be served until 1pm but doors were open from 10am for the live broadcast.  My day began with a walk down the Thames. 

This giant seagull wasn't going to joining in on the celebrations. 

Not sure where this guy was going with his painting of the couple. 

Walking over Westminster Bridge and observing the slow march of people heading towards the abbey. 

Oh dammit, here I am walking away from the action! 

Our view of the abbey.  Well I guess they didn't lie.  It was a view of the abbey but just not a very useful view.  

There was an excited gasp as Kate left her hotel and we got a glimpse of the dress designed by Sarah Burton of the Alexander McQueen fashion house.  Very Grace Kelly and royalty-cover-your-arms appropriate.

Will and Kate exchanging vows.  The balcony kiss.  It did feel a bit silly to photograph a TV.  

Now on to the breakfast which was based on food served at Diana and Charles' wedding.

(L-R) Home cured Scottish salmon with fennel Carpaccio.  Supreme de Voilaille Princess de Galles chicken breast stuffed with a fine lamb mousse served with spring vegetables and new potatoes.  British rhubarb trio – rhubarb crumble, rhubarb braised with orange and rhubarb with ginger ice cream.  Hedgehog slice I think. 

To be honest, the food was pretty average and not worth the price tag.  But that's what happens at events like these and I had been mentally prepared to be ripped off.  I couldn't help but think 'Is this really what they served at D&C's wedding?'  It was rather... plain!  (Arguably, that makes it British too.) 

Afterwards, we went out for a walk to Westminster and Buckingham Palace.  The crowds were still out and about and from what Smee reported, a lot of people had actually been denied access to the Royal Wedding Procession route.  Despite it looking crowded on TV, a much larger number of people had converged at Trafalgar Square (and other access points) but were not allowed entry.  Smee reported fights breaking out between frustrated members of the public trying to get in hahaha.  

Bobbies on a break from crowd control. 

Bobbies on The Mall.

Horsies on The Mall.  

Someone had to say it.  Why not put it on a poster? 

The kissing balcony.  They shortly began dismantling the decorations while we were there.  

But not before I got my pic of me displaying my ring outside Buckingham Palace!

We spotted Jane Seymour interviwing... someone.  She's looking mighty fine for a 60 year old.  

The aftermath from days of crowd camping.  

This is very considerate.  These campers left their rubbish in a nice, neat pile.  

With the party drawing to a close, I headed off home with a few extra mementos (Royal Wedding Official Program, Will & Kate flag, crown headband) and added them to my growing collection.  

The Bunting is Out!

London is in absolute party mode with the nuptials of Will and Kate less than a week away :D *excited face*  It's really hard not to get caught up in the joyous and relaxed atmosphere and by that I mean it's making me want to buy all sorts of cheesy memorabilia while wearing a Union jack flag.  I've already gotten my limited edition Oyster card (by 'limited' there are 750,000 available.. pfft) and I have contemplated buying the Kate Middleton doll.  Fret not, that purchase is not going ahead.  I never realised I cared so much for the Royal Family!  

The bunting is certainly out and proud all over London.  Here's how it's looking on Regent St.  

It's a bit hard to see but the London Eye also has it's red, blue and white on.  

Sticking with the Britishness of it all, Smee and I did our frequent thing and popped down to Borough Market for lunch.  He's been telling me about these baguettes from a stall called The Guildable Manor which he's been eating as an alternative to the boring sandwich stores littered around his office.  Each baguette costs about £4.80 and you have the choice of various meats and adding different sauces to round out the flavours.  

A queue is good sign of yumminess.  Not sure if you've made the right choice to join the queue?  Have a whiff of the grilling meats!  Mmmm grilled meats smell so good.  

We both had the lamb with fresh mint, coriander, paprika and cumin baguette.  Extra halloumi on top thanks! 

Check it out the next time you're at Borough Market.  I sure will!

Bottled Boat

Those familiar with Trafalgar Square will know that Nelson's column sits in the centre with the famous four lions at it's base.  Four plinths are placed at each corner and while statues adorn three of the plinths, the fourth one has remained empty since the 1800s.  (They ran out of money hehe.)

For some years now, they have kept the plinth as a site for temporary pieces of modern art.  Recently, they allowed members of the public to climb on top of it and perform whatever they wanted.  That was pretty cool.

Something just as cool is the latest piece of art - a giant ship in a bottle.

You don't think it's cool?  Well, I think it's pretty cool.

Fortnum & Mason High Tea

When tourists visit London, they all run to Harrods which in my opinion is a bit overrated.  That being said, if you've never been you should still tick it off your list.  The Harrods foodhall is certainly impressive but in terms of buying 'English' foodstuffs (tea, biscuits, chocolates, jams etc), I would suggest checking out Fortnum & Mason's selection.  It's nice to get something with the Harrods logo but I think F&M do have a super (if not better) range on offer.  It probably also helps that it is easier for me to get to F&M rather than Harrods.

Anyway today was another day for eating.  I've been craving Afternoon Tea for some time and I was waiting for Moo to come over to London so we can do it London-style.  The last time Moo and I had afternoon was at the National Gallery.  The cakes sure were nice (courtesy of Peyton and Byrne) but the sandwiches were rather stale.  Wtf.  I wasn't prepared to have a shitty experience this time, so we opted to go to St. James's Restaurant on the top floor of F&M.

We were given a choice of three different afternoon teas and settled on the Fortnum's Estate Afternoon Tea.  The food was pretty much the same (unless you got the High Tea) but the accompanying teas were different.  Not that I am a tea connoisseur but the I liked the sound of the Goomtee First Flush.  Moo liked the sound of Yunnan Orange Pekoe.

Now for the food.

To start - a selection of canapes.  Goat's cheese tarts, sausage rolls (hehe) and salmon spread (I can't remember) on crispbread.  My fave was the sausage roll and Moo's fave was the tart. 

Bottom of the tier - finger sized sandwiches with no crusts, thank-you ma'am.  Middle tier - madeleines and scones.  Top tier - raspberry jam biscuits, ginger parkin (what? I had to google that) and cakes-a-plenty.  When the cake tray was brought around for us to make our selection, my greedy guts kicked in and I asked 'So how many can we have?'  Must.... make.... strategic cake decision! 

Mooey with the tiered stands.  Sterling silver?  Maybe.  

We were given two little pots of jams - raspberry and strawberry.  I don't mind jam but I certainly never crave it. But this was the nicest jam I've ever had.  EVER!!  Moo and I wondered what they were going to do with the jam we didn't consume, so I made sure I piled on a heap on each of my scones and madeleines (even though I don't think you're meant to eat jam with madeleines).  Do they just throw out the left jam?  *gasp*  What a waste!  Do they spoon it out and re-use it?  *gasp* That's gross!

Now, I must say some kind words about the clotted cream, that lump of yellowy goodness sitting there on my butter knife.  I think I've mainly had jam and scones with whipped cream in Oz and not the clotted dream cream which was served at F&M.  This stuff is the SHIZNIT.  I'm sure the uppercrust Brits would love to know that's how I describe it.  I couldn't stop piling that stuff on my scones and Moo thought it was rather amusing.  I understand that clotted cream could be at it's maximum 85% milk fat but what is life if we can't enjoy it?  Why can't I enjoy my fatty goodness?  Why?  Shuddup, you calorie-counting biatches!  I will enjoy it, thank-you very much!

Me and another butter knife scoop of clotted cream.  Moo eating cake.  

I actually don't remember too much about the cakes we ate.  All nice I would have to assume, as anything bad would have surely stuck in my head.

At the end of the meal as the waiters cleared away our dishes, I waved a teary farewell to my leftover clotted cream.  However, I felt a little bit better when asked 'Would you like to take your jam pots with you?'  :D  Yes please!  I considered asking for a pot of clotted cream, but I knew that wish would not be fulfilled.

Clotted cream - I shall return one day to rescue you from dieting monsters!

Necessary Signs, Street Art and Disappointment Noodles

A few things spotted around London.

This interesting sign in Soho on the front of a Georgian house door. (Now a converted office). Blink and you would have missed it.

I mean, they must have received so many propositions that they felt it was necessary to clarify the situation. It was a very sexy black door otherwise.

Giant hair? Coming out of a window and into a door? Again in Soho. This was a little gross but quite funny to watch people avoid the 'hair' when walking past.

A giant electric socket near Carnaby street. I actually think this has been here for awhile. I think...can't remember.

Smee and I had the hungries and so off we stopped at Cha Cha Moon.  This was another venture into the restaurant world by Alan Yau, the same guy who brought Wagamama into the world.  I hate Wagamama but the food at Cha Cha Moon wasn't bad.  I dare say, it was good!  When this eating establishment first opened, all the dishes cost £3 each.  I remember being seated next to a couple who ordered the entire menu.  Ok I exaggerate but they had a good 15 plates on their table and could barely keep up, merely sampling each dish.  Much fun for them though!

The first few times that Smee and I ate here, it was only peppered by a few suspect dishes but overall we usually quite happy with the meals and definitely had our favourites.  Time went by and while it was a good thing while it lasted, the prices soon went up.  Not by much but by about £1-2.  No biggie.

Smee and I returned today and we saw that prices had pretty reached the 'norms' of Chinatown - about £5-7 each.  Still not expensive by any measure but if you think about it being only £3 only two years ago, yet the serving size hasn't changed - maybe shrunk? - well, it's not such a bargain after all. 

The menu had changed somewhat with the addition of the 'Dolly Mee Goreng'.  I like mee goreng - both the hawker and instant varieties - but wtf is 'dolly'?  Anyway, I expected to be served something like this which is what I expect to receive from hawkers.  The noodles are thicker, egg noodles.  What I got was this:

Hrrrmmmmmmm.... *scrunched up face*  Instant noodles!  Not the thick, egg (Hokkien) noodles!

I mean, this mee goreng imposter really upset me.  I understand that some hawker stores do serve this type of mee goreng and it's called 'Maggi Mee Goreng' which makes it very clear it is the instant noodle variety.  All Cha Cha Moon did was open up a 45 pence packet of instant noodles, toss in the cheapest vegies possible, two slices of fish cake and called it Dolly Mee Goreng.  Is the 'Dolly' meant to imply the instant noodle usage? 

Smee could tell I was disappointed and offered to buy me a cheeseburger as a consolation.  Smee's char kway teow (which had been his favourite) was quite disappointing too.  They had cut back on key ingredients yet was charging more than ever before.  Based on this, Smee and I will probably never return to Cha Cha Moon.  The food really is only so-so now with no price point to draw us in.  You could say that maybe they were undercharging but c'mon people, everyone knows you get ripped off in London. 

I'm not an Alan Yau worshipper and to the purists, his food wasn't always the most authentic.  However, he did know how to run a restaurant properly and appease customers.  I have now discovered that he ceased his relationship with Cha Cha Moon about a year ago.  No wonder the food has slipped!

(Note:  Smee actually realised later that 'Dolly' (bad Anglicisation) in Cantonese implies instant noodle.  Still, the menu description doesn't make it clear!)

Kt's Milestone

Kt was hitting a milestone, so what do we do?  Go to a bar and celebrate in style with martinis all around!

1...2...3...4!!!  Yes, we are proof that age is no barrier to cheesiness and lame posing.

Speaking of cheese, anyone up for crumbed-coated, fried camembert?  I, along with about 50% of the crew ordered this for our starter expecting a small portion ... not an entire cheese round!

But I must thank the person who thought of frying camembert because it was just simply delicious and not as heavy as I expected.  Excuse me while I give myself a slow heart attack. 

I ate the whole thing!  That is pretty disgusting when you think about it, but I was staa@.@rrrving, it was yummy and my red wine hopefully countered all the bad effects. *looks side to side*

I forgot to photograph my grilled salmon main.  It was nice but nothing significant.  But yee-haw, I was looking forward to dessert - pavlova.

J and I were a little disappointed.  It wasn't a proper pavlova - it was just two meringues and cream!  None of that fluffy egg white business.  :(

For whom we did not have a special cake, Kt was given her own special pav with candles.  Awwww... *clap clap*

We stayed until the music started going bizarro after which the bright glow of artificial light signaled that we were no longer welcome and we should head off to our respective beds.  Finally, I also must thank Kt (fanks babe!!) for her super-generosity for providing our nutrients for the night!  Happy, happy birthday babe! *clap clap*