One of the things I really wanted to do while I was in London was watch a musical. While these shows are not cheap, I ended up watching two of them. The first was The Lion King. At the time, I had just been hearing about how great a show it was but I didn't know what to expect. When I watched it, I was impressed by the incredible visuals of the Circle of Life opening. I also remembering being completely blown away when Mufasa's head suddenly appeared as a hologram in that scene where Simba talks to his father's spirit.
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| The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre |
I also caught Chicago The Musical. I knew nothing about Chicago at the time but I was influenced to watch it after reading about it in Time Out magazine and seeing a lot of ads in the Tube. Thankfully, I did because I really enjoyed it! Apart from the incredible show, I also had memorable experience when purchasing my ticket. The show as held at the Adelphi Theatre which had three sections. The Stalls were closest to the stage, followed by the Dress Circle. Furthest from the Stage was the Upper Circle. I had a choice between a seat towards the back of the Dress Circle and a seat at the front row of the Upper Circle. I was thinking that being closer to the stage would make my experience better so I asked to buy a Dress Circle seat but the person behind the ticket counter said that he believed I would have a much better experience if I sat at the front row of the Upper Circle because my view would be unobstructed. (Additional bonus to me was that it was 5 pounds cheaper.) I was very pleasantly surprised that the guy at the ticket booth convinced me to get the cheaper ticket when the show could very well have earned that extra 5 quid from me.
My trip to the UK was the first and only time that I stayed in a hostel during a leisure trip to another country (I did this both in London and in Edinburgh). In London, I stayed in Holland House Youth Hostel. (I can't seem to find this hostel online anymore; I think it may have closed.) Many people end up making friends with other hostel guests but I guess I'm not that friendly since I didn't really interact with anyone else for the most part while I was there. I also ended up staying in two different rooms. That's because my plans changed while in London. I booked a bed in Holland House for I think five nights because I was expecting to go to Newcastle after that. My very good friends Duncan and Amy were in Glasgow at the same time I was in the UK and we planned to meet up in Newcastle so that we could visit another friend Susan. I think the schedule of this visit to Susan changed so I had to stay in London an extra few nights but the bed I was in for my first five nights had already been assigned to someone else. The new bed I got was in a room that had no window which was unfortunate. But worse, one of the guys in our room snored very, very loudly! I remember other guys in the room being so annoyed that they were throwing pillows at the snoring guy. I'm not sure how I managed to survive two nights with that nocturnal cacophony - I think I put my pillow over my head to dampen the noise - but it was this experience that made me decide to just stay in hotels in all my succeeding trips.
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| Holland House, the hostel where I stayed while in London |
I also met up with another good friend, Dave, and I got to meet his wife Emma. At the time, Emma worked at the House of Commons so she was able to bring me and Dave into the cafeteria there. Dave told me that not everyone is allowed inside so I felt very privileged to have experienced having lunch there. The plan was for me and Dave to watch a World Cup qualifying match later that evening so he and I just hung out the entire afternoon - we went to a bar and just had some drinks - before going to a sports pub to watch the match. I gotta say, that was one of the best experiences I had in that trip. England won and the atmosphere at the pub was absolutely electric! It was that experience that turned me into a football fan (at least back then; I have to admit that I haven't been following the sport for many years now). I also became a Liverpool fan because all of England's goals that night were scored by Liverpool players.
One of the first places I went to was Harrods, the famous department store. I recall it was raining at the time so I bought an automatic umbrella that cost around P1,000. While I was disappointed by the fact that I had to spend so much (this was very long ago so that amount was worth even more back then), I ended up giving that umbrella to my mom when I returned to Manila and she said it was really good and sturdy. A friend told me that Harrods is known for its Food Halls and that I should try it. I kinda feel that I did but I can't remember it anymore.
I got pretty familiar with The Tube, or the London Underground rapid transport system. Anyone who's taken The Tube will be familiar with the words "Mind the gap" which is always broadcast over the speakers to remind people to take care when getting on or off the train. I actually bought a shirt with a logo of The Tube and the words "Mind the gap" printed on it. I have since donated that shirt to charity but if I do get to visit London again, maybe I will buy a shirt like that again.
Other memories: I had lunch in Planet Hollywood near Piccadilly Circus. I remember asking if the soda was refillable but it wasn't so I ended up ordering two Pepsis. When I got the bill, I saw that I was charged only one Pepsi so I told the waitress. When she handed me the corrected receipt, she said "You're a good man." I also visited the Tower Records a short distance away from Planet Hollywood and I bought a couple of DVDs but I can't remember which ones I got.
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