Saturday in London

Saturday, February 7th, 2009. Two days before my 24th birthday, marked as the official date. A date to be recognized for what? I don't know, for being on my own, feeling the world beneath my feet, traveling through Europe, leaving home, proving that I can be independent, seeing how long I would last, for being forgotten, for forgetting, for experiencing the present instead of the future, being young, foolish, hungry, and curious, for feeling small yet alive, discovering, dreaming, living my dream. There were times when I had thought that I would have never embarked on this journey, given all the forces that would have left me staying in Cali, but here I was, in London, speaking English with my American/Chinese accent, glad to be understood.


A "L" photo in front of the Big Ben, with the sudden appearance of a random pedestrian passing by.
Same view, but with a different pedestrian passing by, both just saw me taking a photo and joined in with a smile. Cool huh? There goes another group of pink hat-ted Irish, happy to share a moment of flash together.

I am sorry for all the Frenchies who would read this far, but the honest answer is that I find the English to be more open, easier to get along, and less complicated. Maybe it's because of the language barrier. Who knows. One common phenomenon in France is that people almost never talk to one another randomly on the street. Everyone hangs out in his or her already established niches and almost never mingle with strangers even in bars, pubs, or coffee shops. I mean in your defense, when was the last time you took a picture WITH a stranger? Give it a try next time, it would be good for your spirit =) All right, I know this is a travel blog, not a critic blog about the French, so let's move on!

Off to my favorite subject then--- the escalator. Here, my fear is lessened INCH by INCH with the elongation of the plateau.
A little desperate story of how I had ALMOST (seem to happen to me more often than I would like) missed my plane to Amsterdam resulted in a great step forward of overcoming my fear of the descending escalators. On my way to the airport, the big suitcase was caught in between the gates of the metro train and three big English men had to drag it in for me! Faced with the push of time, I closed my eyes, ignored my racing heart beat and sweating hands, up! I leaped!

The rest is history, but I wouldn't have been able to accomplish such a feat without the help of the added INCHES. Why is USA the only country in the world that still uses inches and feet is anybody's wonder. Even the UK, the original inventor of inches, pounds, and miles, switched off to the standard units of meters and kilograms long ago.

1 inches = 2.54 centimeters

1pound = 0.45359237 kilograms

1 British pound = 1.5921 U.S. dollars (today's rate)

10 pound equals 4.53 kg, Yup, I felt it. It was heavy...especially given this current state of the economy.

Mr. Tao also felt it when he went to England. Unfortunately, the same story will not be news worthy in America. Everyone can recount one or two of these in the snap of a finger. That's what's most beautiful about America. A place where everything can happen, well, supposedly.

Thank you for the warm welcome England has showed me! And Robert, wished you were there with us!

Wow, forget about taking pictures of the old British style taxi that's everywhere anyways, and look instead for these luxury cheeky BMW police cars in hip colors. I even saw a pink stretched limo once. America, we need to do better! Let's have all the Arcadia moms drive out their Mercedes-Bentz.

If you are expecting to be wow-ed by french police cars, you would be very disappointed. If you are expecting to be wow-ed by french police men though, THAT would be another story...Ah, I kid, I kid... Can we get some of those hats for our guys?

The french has got quite a Berkeley spirit as well. The days of working your way through the protester crowd on campus was relived in France. I've already witnessed several "manifestations" big and small. If everyone has got more love for one another, we would all be living in a better place =)


"All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need." by the Beatles.

This reminded me of the movie, "Love Actually", where the fake prime minister announced in a press conference, "England is a smaller country. But a great one as well. We have the Beatles, David Beckham's right foot, David Beckham's left foot. Do not exercise your power and look over us, or else we will be prepare to fight back by all means." Of course the rivalry country here being the U. S. ~~ Something like that. No, but the point IS, it was a good movie, and you should watch it. No I mean, England is great, America is great, France is great, everyone is great! (run...)

But seriously, England is actually pretty cool. A place I like it a lot and wouldn't mind coming back for more.

The famous London Eye (isn't it just a big ferris wheel? What's the big deal? Hey, I didn't say it, you said it! >_>)

The famous Tower Bridge (not the London Bridge, which is across from it and no one cares).

"O"

a failed "N"

but here is a "D" for Dana in LonDon!