Just like the previous day, my second day in London was filled by many activities. After having breakfast in our room, which was basically croissants and buns that we bought from Sainsbury the day before we headed to Whitechapel to meet Aufa. Aufa was my schoolmate in MRSM Beseri few years ago until we did A-Level in INTEC.
Whitechapel is located about 20 minutes from the city centre (by tube). The Royal London Hospital is located here and Aufa's room is located just behind it. There were lots of Muslims reside in Whitechapel because we could see many Pakistani open their shops here. So, it was easy to find halal food around here. We went to visit Aufa because we need to leave our big luggage there since we were going to Berlin tomorrow. Thanks to Aufa for the hospitality. =)
Back to our trip, our first stop was St Paul's Cathedral. The building itself was nice and beautiful with pillars, whitish design and a fountain in front of eat. Nothing else to do here except photographing. After that, we took tube to Hyde's Park Corner. We were going to visit Buckingham Palace and the nearest tube stations were either Hyde's Park Corner or Green Park. We intentionally chose Hyde's Park Corner because it is situated near to Hard Rock Cafe London. Before going to Hard Rock Cafe, we spent a little while photographing around the Hyde's Park. There is a giant arc with several statues at the park. Only me, Wanji & Duwe went to Hard Rock Cafe while my parents stayed at the park for a moment. At the Rock Shop, we bought t-shirts and I also join the membership to entitled me with 10% discount with each purchase. That was kinda niceeeee.... I also got a beg and a pin for free!
After purchasing our stuffs we rushed to the Buckingham Palace to watch the changing guards. Although we made it on time, we were unlucky because there was no changing guard ceremony today. =( The ceremony usually held at 11.30 am everyday, but for summer it is done in every other day. What an unlucky situation we had. Still, there was a tonne of people waiting outside the palace. However, there was a mini changing guard ceremony at a distant place, near the Queens Park.
Next, we went to Trafalgar Square. The National Gallery is located here as well. Lots of people hanging around the square. There are a few fountains and a monument here. Lots of street performers came to cari makan here; some sings, some dresses up and some give speech.
Lunch at Jom Makan Restaurant. It's a Malaysian restaurant. Although it was quite pricey, we still ate here because we already tired to find other restaurant to dine in. The food was ok for me, not too spicy. Maybe because they want to suit the local taste. We had Nasi Ayam Panggang, Nasi Ayam Hainan, Nasi Ikan Goreng and Ikan Masak Lemak.
At Baker Street, which is famous with Sherlock Holmes, we went inside The Beatles Shop then to The Sherlock Holmes Museum. We did not really entered the museum, we just walked around the souvenir shop. We ended up buying nothing here.
Our last stop for today was London Central Mosque which is located at Park Road near Baker Street. The mosque interior is beautiful and quite huge. We performed our prayer here before we headed back to our respective places. There is a cafe at the basement. We bought chicken briyani, roti naan and tandoori chicken for our dinner tonight.
We got plane to catch tomorrow morning! Off to Berlin! =)
waiting at Stansted Airport
Whitechapel is located about 20 minutes from the city centre (by tube). The Royal London Hospital is located here and Aufa's room is located just behind it. There were lots of Muslims reside in Whitechapel because we could see many Pakistani open their shops here. So, it was easy to find halal food around here. We went to visit Aufa because we need to leave our big luggage there since we were going to Berlin tomorrow. Thanks to Aufa for the hospitality. =)
Back to our trip, our first stop was St Paul's Cathedral. The building itself was nice and beautiful with pillars, whitish design and a fountain in front of eat. Nothing else to do here except photographing. After that, we took tube to Hyde's Park Corner. We were going to visit Buckingham Palace and the nearest tube stations were either Hyde's Park Corner or Green Park. We intentionally chose Hyde's Park Corner because it is situated near to Hard Rock Cafe London. Before going to Hard Rock Cafe, we spent a little while photographing around the Hyde's Park. There is a giant arc with several statues at the park. Only me, Wanji & Duwe went to Hard Rock Cafe while my parents stayed at the park for a moment. At the Rock Shop, we bought t-shirts and I also join the membership to entitled me with 10% discount with each purchase. That was kinda niceeeee.... I also got a beg and a pin for free!
St Paul's Cathedral
Hyde Park
After purchasing our stuffs we rushed to the Buckingham Palace to watch the changing guards. Although we made it on time, we were unlucky because there was no changing guard ceremony today. =( The ceremony usually held at 11.30 am everyday, but for summer it is done in every other day. What an unlucky situation we had. Still, there was a tonne of people waiting outside the palace. However, there was a mini changing guard ceremony at a distant place, near the Queens Park.
Next, we went to Trafalgar Square. The National Gallery is located here as well. Lots of people hanging around the square. There are a few fountains and a monument here. Lots of street performers came to cari makan here; some sings, some dresses up and some give speech.
Lunch at Jom Makan Restaurant. It's a Malaysian restaurant. Although it was quite pricey, we still ate here because we already tired to find other restaurant to dine in. The food was ok for me, not too spicy. Maybe because they want to suit the local taste. We had Nasi Ayam Panggang, Nasi Ayam Hainan, Nasi Ikan Goreng and Ikan Masak Lemak.
At Baker Street, which is famous with Sherlock Holmes, we went inside The Beatles Shop then to The Sherlock Holmes Museum. We did not really entered the museum, we just walked around the souvenir shop. We ended up buying nothing here.
Our last stop for today was London Central Mosque which is located at Park Road near Baker Street. The mosque interior is beautiful and quite huge. We performed our prayer here before we headed back to our respective places. There is a cafe at the basement. We bought chicken briyani, roti naan and tandoori chicken for our dinner tonight.
We got plane to catch tomorrow morning! Off to Berlin! =)
waiting at Stansted Airport
[to be continued]
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