London Calling Part II

Posted on July 20, 2012 | 8 comments

Please read the Part I of my London experience if you haven’t already. This is a continuation of that experience.

Tower Bridge and Tower Bridge Exhibition

Tower Bridge, which was built between 1886 and 1894, is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name.

I had seen so many photos of people in front of Tower Bridge that when I saw it for the first time I felt that I had been there before. It was a nice summer day the day we went to the Tower Bridge. We walked along the Thames River taking photos of the bridge from different angel. Then we went inside to see the Tower Bridge exhibition. We had bought a London Pass and it was included in the pass.

The tour started in the lift while up to the top with a tour guide telling us what to expect. When the lift stopped at the top, we were ushered into a room to watch a video (which was good and informative). Then we were ushered to see some pictures of different bridges along one of the enclosed walkways inside the bridge. You can walk through the Tower Bridge exhibition at your leisure and have a self-guided tour as all necessary information was available at each point of interest. We loved reading the history of all the bridges from around the world that were displayed along with their photographs. When we saw Sydney and Harbour Bridge, I stopped to take a photo while when we saw Los Angles bridge, AS stopped to take a photo. I guess his heart is still set in the States despite living here for almost 2 years. Then we walked through the other walk way where they had pictures of cities which have hosted the Olympics over the years.

There were even free Olympic Games for the children, ring tosses, etc. As I am still kid at heart I tried the game and it was fun 🙂

The view from the top level of the tower was fantastic with views of Thames, east & west of the bridge. We both really enjoyed the visit.

Then we went downstairs to see some of the equipment used for raising and lowering the bridge.  There was a video playing with information about the history and making of the bridge. We had the opportunity to see the Victorian-era machines that kept the bridge operating efficiently from the moment it was made operational, as well as other areas of the bridge. The engineering is wonderful to see.

On the way out we went to gift shop and bought some souvenirs.

St Paul’s Cathedral

St Paul’s Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604.

St Paul’s Cathedral

St Paul’s cathedral seemed to have different opening time depending on what’s going on there. We were lucky that we checked the website to get more information and got the information that the day we wanted to visit the church; it was closing at 3pm. So we decided to go there first before going to the other attractions. We took the red bus to the Cathedral.

St Paul’s Cathedral front

You need to pay to enter the Cathedral but as we had London Pass, our pass covered the cost. As soon as we got in, we were given audio guides which guided us through the place very comfortably helping to make sure that nothing got missed. The audio guide gave me a lot of information about the history and the construction of the building. The building itself was really beautiful.

The size of the building is immense, particularly when you step underneath the 365 foot dome. Taking the 259 steps to the dome, the whispering gallery is a must climb, no matter what shape you are in, it can take a while and definitely gives you a workout.  That is when you begin to fully appreciate the magnitude and the sheer splendour of the building. It was a great experience. There is a painted line on the wall and it is believed if you whisper below that line then your words can be heard by someone on the other side of the gallery. The views down into the main church are also fantastic from there.

The dome view from the top

From the whispering gallery, you can take further 119 steps up to the Stone Galley where there is a viewing platform. Inside, I noticed along the way that there was a small window in the floor that allowed us to look directly down at the floor of the cathedral, which meant the window was right at the centre of the dome. From the Stone gallery, we can see many of the most popular sites in London. We could see the Tower Bridge and London Eye in one direction and the Millennium Bridge at other. It was a bit windy at the top but the experience was definitely worth it.

Stone Galley

View from Stone Galley

View from Stone Galley

I thought that was it when we noticed that we were not at the top yet. There are 152 more steps to go to the Golden Gallery. Even though it was tiring, we decided to go to the top as we were nearly there already.  So we went up the stairs for another hike. The top viewing area was really small but people were taking turns to take photos. It was really windy as well so in most of my photos, my face is either covered by my hair or I was trying to hold my hair. But I am so glad we went all the way to the top as the view was even better than from the Stone Gallery. You are so high up that you notice that people and cars on the street look like small dots. I was really happy to see the magnificent view.

View of clock from Golden Gallery

me on the top of Golden Gallery

AS on top of Golden Gallery

After some time there we decided to return but this time we had to take 528 steps to take us all the way down to cathedral floor. It was a great experience with some exercise along the way.

The stairs were narrow

Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus

There are lots of people I know who now live in London but I wasn’t planning to meet all of them due to the time constraint. One of my English teachers from middle school, Mr. R lives there as well. He used to be one of my favourite teachers in school. He is also my Facebook friend and always used to ask me to visit him if I ever came to London, so I asked him if he was free to catch up with us on one of the days we were there. He was happy to meet in London even though he lives in Reading. So we caught up after 15 years.

We both knew what was going on with each other’s lives thanks to Facebook. We introduced AS and his wife and all of us went for a nice evening out at Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus.

Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street , to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west.

In the middle of the Square is a small park, in the centre of which is a 19th century statue of William Shakespeare surrounded by dolphins. The four corner gates of the park have one bust each, depicting Sir Isaac Newton, the scientist; Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first President of the Royal Academy; John Hunter, a pioneer of surgery; and William Hogarth, the painter.

Piccadilly Circus looked like a mini version of Time square. It had a similar feeling with lots of lights, the union flags everywhere and big digital advertisement screens. It is surrounded by cinemas, a wide range of eateries, pubs and clubs.

It is also near China town so after the Square, we walked along China town. While we were walking we noticed that one of the restaurant was a dual restaurant, Japanese as well as Nepali. We decided to have our dinner there.

We had bara (Newari version of lentil pancake), our favourite momo and chhoyela. Mr. R and AS also had Chhayng (homemade Nepali alcohol, made from rice). It was a great night out and chatting with my teacher and his wife.

The post is getting too long so I will continue on next post. Please click here for more photos. 

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Meet the new man in my life!

Posted on July 19, 2012 | 12 comments

I am pleased to share with all of you the great news that we have a new man in our family. My brother and sister in law had a baby boy yesterday and I am a fufu (aunt on the paternal side) to a gorgeous little boy. As he is the first child in our family, my parents have become grandparents for the first time.

Meet my nephew

It is so exciting to see this little baby who we eagerly waited nine months for to come out from his mommy’s tummy. For the first time in my life, I saw a baby when he is only a few hours old. He looked so cute with wrinkly hands and feet. I couldn’t get enough of him. Now he is here, I am sure my post will have lots about him. His name is still not finalised so for the time being he will be Little J.

New Fufu and Baby J

New Fufaju and Baby J

Both mum and bud are doing fine 🙂

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London calling – Part 1

Posted on July 17, 2012 | 9 comments

I was really excited to go to London as I had heard so much about the city. As we had stayed with AS’s cousins we caught a train from Hove station to take us to London. The train was full so we had to stand near the doors with our luggage. After a while I was so tired that I sat on the floor :).

A lady came with a trolley selling tea, coffee, biscuits and cake like in an plane. This was something I hadn’t known would be available on the train. I guess that is good business as many people will need tea and coffee to wake up in the morning. The train dropped us at Victoria station and from there we planned to go to our hotel, which was near Hyde Park.

Experience with London tube

At Victoria station we bought the London pass as well as a day pass for the tube. One thing about the tube station we hadn’t know beforehand  was that in most of them, there were no lifts or escalators but there were plenty of steps everywhere. Both AS and I had a big suitcase each, a hand carry and I had a small bag as well so going up and down so many stairs was a nightmare. When we got on the tube from Victoria we meant to go to Notting Hill station to change for our next tube that was supposed to take us to our hotel but unfortunately something was wrong with the tracks and we had to catch another tube which meant we had to go through more stairs with our luggage. Poor AS had to go up and down several times with the heavy luggage as I couldn’t carry my suitcase up and down the stairs. After one more tube change we finally managed to get to Queensway Station which was near our hotel and were done with the tube for the moment.

We were booked into Central Park Hotel which was close to the city and next to Hyde Park. When we checked into the hotel, I was very disappointed with the size of the room. It was literally just a bed with a side table and a bathroom. It didn’t look very good either with plain white sheets and plain looking curtains but as we didn’t plan to stay inside much, it worked out OK.

We were really hungry so we went out for a stroll and to have some lunch. In Queensway Street, there were lots of restaurants as well as many shops. We choose to try some Thai food. We ordered Thai curry and Pad See Wee. The food was ok but the portion size was huge. After lunch we went back to the hotel, freshened up and were off to explore London. London tube was excellent when you were not carry luggage and we made the most of it.

Ride on London Eye

The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames, in London, England. The entire structure is 135 metres tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres. It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually.

We had pre purchased tickets to go to the London Eye but we had to go and exchange out e-tickets for proper ticket from the counter. It was really fast as they have a special line for online tickets. From there we went and saw a 4D film presentation that showed London through the eyes of a child on the London Eye. It was quite interesting but I and AS were having fun watching people’s reaction to the 4D effects. There was a man in front of us who ducked every time a seagull seemed to come flying out of the screen towards us. It was a nice short movie overall.

From there we went to join the queue for advance ticket holders going up on the London Eye, moved pretty quickly.

We were lucky that we chose an afternoon with very little cloud and went early. We could see the whole city from the London eye and the view was magnificent. There weren’t many people in the pod we got into so we could move around and take heaps of photos from various angles. There was a lady in our pod who was scared of heights but she did manage to stand for a few photos.

When your pod reached the top, the view was breathtaking. Being an avid amateur photographer, this was a great way to see a bird’s eye view of London. The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben along with the Millennium Bridge looked just amazing from the top.

The ride takes roughly thirty minutes for one complete rotation. No food or drink is allowed on the Eye as far as I can recall. In all honesty, the money paid to experience the Eye was well worth it. It’s a splendid way to get a bird’s eye view of the city and take a few pictures. Make sure you buy them online which makes it easier and cheaper.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London is one of the busiest museums/historical sites. It is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England.

The outside area of the tower is easy to get around but inside it is really busy. It was hard to move around with visitors trying to get a glance at the  armours and other pieces. The best part of the tower is to watch a performance by Past Pleasures, a historical re-enactment and costumed interpretation company.  It was a ‘Dark Tales of the Tower’ story about an Jacobean Prisoner and the intrigue that surrounded his death.

Sir Thomas Overbury was imprisoned in the tower at the start of the 17th Century and there he was murdered.  A few years later Frances Carr the Countess of Somerset (previously Essex) and Robert Carr (Earl of Somerset) were found guilty of his murder by poisoning.  Their motive is believed to be a dislike of his attitude to and knowledge of their earlier affair (they married two months after his death).

It was a great act and the audience’ involvement made it more interesting.

The post is getting too long so I will continue  on next post.

Please click here for more photos.

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Christmas in July

Posted on July 16, 2012 | 19 comments

As you know, in the southern hemisphere, it is high summer during December so our Christmas is always a beach and BBQ affair. To compensate for not having cold weather during Christmas, every year in July we celebrate Christmas-in-July. As it never snows in Sydney, they make a man-made ice rink.

It is a really nice concept to have some winter fun. Every year they set up these ice skating rinks in Bondi, City and Parramatta.

You can choose to hire the boot and skate or just enjoy the food and the entertainment.  The food includes lots of European cuisine along with hot dogs as well as traditional hot chocolate, mulled wine, pastries, cake, and bratwurst. They also have special skating exhibitions by Australia’s up and coming ice skating stars. When we were there, there was a ballerina performing on the ice rink and it was really awesome. There are also children’s workshops and community groups’ displays perfect for school holiday’s entertainment

They also held the Winter Wonderland Party where you can choose to wear any Winter Wonderland outfit and Variety Christmas in July where you can Ice Skate with Santa while listening to a live choir.

I think it is a really cool tradition (no pun intended) to bring white Christmas and enjoy some winter fun. The place looks really beautiful with fake snows and lighting at night.

Happy Christmas in July everyone!!!

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Published : Itchy feet

Posted on July 14, 2012 | 6 comments

This article was published in +977 (a Nepalese Lifestyle Magazine in Australia) in  June-July 2012 issue.    

                                                                                   

I believe everyone in this world likes to travel. I know there are a few people who are scared of flying, like Whoopi Goldberg, but those people still love travelling. They just don’t want to fly so they may drive everywhere. If you ask me, I love travelling; actually I should say I have a passion for travelling. I have a long list of places I want to see before I die and the list keeps growing thanks to travel channels and the internet. My mum told me once that I have itchy feet and I totally agree with her. I will travel at any and every opportunity I can get and I am proud to say that I am living my dream.

If you are like me, you may also empathize with this, the most difficult part of having itchy feet is that every time you travel, it costs lots of time and money. Time, I can manage as I am lucky to have a job which has flexible time off options but money has always been a problem and I am sure it will be so in the future as well unless I win a multimillion dollar lotto. Come on, one can dream and who knows, it may come true.

So today I am going to share a few of my travel tips to allow your itchy feet to wander around the world a bit more.

Budget! Budget! Budget! If you want to go somewhere, start planning for it and start saving ahead of time. It might take months or years but if you plan ahead, one day you will get there. They say – Wish, Plan, and Proceed – and I believe that is what we need to do.

For all of us who call Nepal home, we make sure to visit our family and friends at least once every few years. We may go for few weeks or few months but we always make sure we go as often as possible. Normally we don’t consider that as a holiday but if you think about it you can plan and make it a holiday. Why? Because you are already spending so much time and money on travelling anyway that if you plan a bit , you can squeeze holiday in.

As there is no direct flight to Nepal (I wish there would be one soon, as I hate those long transits as much as you do), we are forced to change planes in either in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, India or Hong Kong. So if you are going to Nepal why don’t you use this opportunity to take a few days holiday in one of these countries where you have to transit anyway?

Singapore doesn’t require visas for Nepali nationals while other countries have easy visa process. They are quick and cheap. Just think about it when you travel to Nepal the next time. And if you have an Australian passport you probably won’t need a visa, making it easier to visit those countries. Just make sure you check about the visa requirements.

I am sure you will love each of these stopovers. Beaches in Thailand or Shopping in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC – the famous twin towers) in Malaysia or the Culture in India, you will definitely have some unique experience every time.

If you want to go one step further, take a hop from these stopover countries with Air Asia (or any other low cost carriers) and you can get to Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, Maldives or Laos quite easily. The flights are not so expensive either. Just remember, if you are planning to do this, Air Asia has its counters outside the international terminal in most of the countries. It means that may need to pass immigration to reach these terminals and so you may require visa in your stopover country as well even though you do not leave the airport, so don’t forget to check that with your travel agent and also cross check with Air Asia.

One who plans well always saves money while travelling, so do your research. Don’t be bored about spending a few hours on the internet because this might save you heaps of dollars while on your holiday. My best friend has been Trip Advisor (www.tripadvisor.com.au) for a long time. There fellow travellers share their good and bad experience which has definitely helped me to make a better decision than I might have otherwise. Always look at more than one person’s opinion to make sure that you get a well-rounded picture of whatever you are researching.

If it is possible book your holiday at least 6 months or more in advance, especially air tickets. Most airlines have a number of different ticket types even in economy unless you are used to travelling business or first class. The cheaper seats are sold out first and they are limited. It might make hundreds of dollars of difference in your budget if you act early. This saving may allow you to extend your trip or put money towards other activities.

Sign up to get a newsletter/email from airlines and travel companies. I know it can be really annoying when you get heaps of emails when you are not planning for a holiday but if you are smart, you may get a great deal. Just make a folder in your inbox for all travel emails. Setup a rule in your email options to send this email directly to the travel folder so if you are not planning holidays, you don’t need to look at them but if you are then there may be some offers which you can use for your next trip.

Become a frequent flyer member with the airline you fly frequently. I am a member of Star Alliance as I fly Singapore and Thai a lot. The last time I went to Nepal, I had enough points to spend my 13 hours transit in their lounge with my husband. It was great with free internet, food, shower and a bed as well. Also you may be lucky and get priority for some service or even upgraded seats.

When you are on holiday keep a budget and try to stick to it but don’t count every penny. It may cost you $100 to go to the top of Burj Kalifa (the top of the tallest building in the world) but as you are in Dubai, you might as well do it (by the way if you buy it online beforehand it only costs around $25 so you save $75!). You will never be able to do these once in a lifetime things unless you go back to the same place again. Believe me; you will regret that in the future.

Travel domestically if you can’t go international. Australia has so many beautiful places that you can drive to. Just hop into the car and drive away. Also while in Nepal, just pick a place and have a family holiday. Your family will love it and you will get to spend more time with them as well and your pocket will love it too.

I think every traveller will tell you and I agree with it as well – There is no bad experience when you travel. Just keep an open mind and enjoy what that place/country has to offer. Don’t look for what you have every day. You are travelling because you want to experience something different. Enjoy new places, new people and new culture. Open your eyes and your heart to the world. You will be surprised what you discover around the next corner.

Bon Voyage!!!

Please click here to see my travel photos. 

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