Big Ben’s Down :'(

Oh yeah, I forgot to add about the weather here. So I went in late May, and the weather’s still pretty spring-ish. It’s about 15-20 degree celsius in the day, which can dip to low 10s in the evening/night.

Begun the day with their in-house breakfast (you have to pay a quid for it). Pretty basic stuff with cereal, toast, coffee, and some fruits. Good enough to get you by the morning!

Our plan was to go on a route backwards all the way up back to our hostel (the oval part is not where our hostel is, our hostel is further up northeast. I’ll explain more later, somewhat). Got off at Westminster station and head up these steps expecting to see the Big Ben smack right in our face, but we didn’t see anything…

Photo by me, taken on the Nikon D3300 with the NIKKOR 35mm f1.8G

UNTIL… we reached where tourists would flock to get shots of the London Eye. I was just casually looking around until I saw this huge clock surrounded with obvious construction like structures.

Bummer. But it’s all good, still managed to get a picture of the London Eye, which unlike its landmark counterpart, appears untouched.

Photo take by me, on the Nikon D3300, with the NIKKOR 35mm f1.8g

Just a random thought, but I swear when memory fails you, just take a look at the pictures you took, and they come back in an instant (yes, it just happened to me).

Right, so after hanging about the very beautiful River Thames in between the Westminster and Hungerford Bridge, we headed towards Buckingham Palace.

Managed to get this along the way:

There was the Guard changing parade going on so we managed to go at the right time, which means… CROWDS… A. WHOLE. LOT. OF. PEOPLE.

I swear it’s like a multicultural tourist infestation right there.

Anyways, it was something I had to experience at least once in my life, yeah?

At Trafalgar Square, I got hit up by a guy who said he was an immigrant and had no money and needed to provide for his family back home (yeah if you’re not used to it, you’ll see a lot of them here). I rejected. But man his persistence is crazy. I gave him 5 pounds but he asked for more. At that point I was just annoyed and I said, “take it or leave it. You’ve got money from me, if you don’t want it, give it back.” Later on, I found out from Eugene that he’s a twin and I looked over and saw him with his brother, clearly arguing with each other. Con or not? I can’t be sure, but I have an inkling I submitted too easily…

Headed up to SoHo next to grab some steak at Flat Iron. Yes, it’s good. Like, really good. Hands down one of the best I ever had. Get it in Medium Rare, as per their recommendation. It costs 11 pounds for your steak, plus you get a salad! You even get to buy the knife for 15 pounds! Oh, and I don’t think they accept reservations here, so find out the nearest one, make your way there and get queueing! It would take about 15-20 minutes for you to get in, depending on your pax size.

The next few hours after that were spent shopping around SoHo area, so I’ll just share some of my shots, though my DSLR died halfway so thank God for my handy dandy iPhone 8 Plus!! But still, the following are all from my Nikon D3300.

Okay so, we wanted to hit the night scene out in London but we went to take a nap back at our hostel and, you know what happens after a long day touring a city… 😴

Living out a dream

“It’s actually happening, it’s actually happening, omg omg omg.”

These were the exact thoughts pacing through my head as my Norwegian 787 Dreamliner took off (despite the 2 hour + delay, which was terribly annoying as the plane became pretty humid and warm inside. Tried applying for a claim through AirHelp but turns out it’s only valid if the delay is 3 hours or more).

I had to go on a budget for this so a direct, 14-hour, no layover, flight made perfect sense to me. And at the cost of 750SGD to-and-fro? Sign me up man!

You can check the airlines out here: http://www.norwegian.com

So besides the delay, everything else went pretty smooth. Flying past Afghanistan, Iran, Austria (and many more countries (which I would love to go one day), I arrived to the gloom and showers of Gatwick.

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I prepaid for a ticket from Gatwick Airport to London St. Pancras, but when I inserted my card into the reader, it said that I couldn’t use that card to collect my ticket. In a rush to meet up with my friends, I didn’t really want to figure out what was going on and I just went a bought a new ticket. There wasn’t much of a difference, but I guess if you want cheaper rates you should buy your ticket way ahead in advance (probably 3 months or earlier), and you have to figure out how to collect your ticket just in case something like the reader fails on you.

So I hopped on my Thameslink train and arrived in 45 minutes at London St. Pancras. Do note that this is not the tube! It’s another service that runs across different parts of the U.K. Which means, for example, you can get from London to Liverpool through it.

 

Photos taken by me, on the iPhone 8 Plus

And here I was, in London, rain ceasing, cars honking, people hustling, surrounded by both quaint and modern architecture all over.

Photo taken by me, on the Nikon D3300, with the 35mm f1.8g

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Met up with Eugene and Norman, two of my friends who are on a much longer trip across Europe, and I’ll just be following them through U.K., Belgium and Netherlands. Had some good ol’ meat and chips for dinner at Greene King before heading to our hostel.

We stayed at the Clink261 hostel, in a bunk consisting of about 16 beds. Trust me guys, if you ever go on a trip alone or with your friends, go to a hostel! You’re bound to meet people from all over the world, it’s truly amazing. There were people from France, Australia, and China in our room.

You can find the property’s page on Hostelworld here: https://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Clink261/London/516

Photo courtesy of TripAdvisor

Anyways, if you guys are concerned about smoking, you can practically smoke anywhere in the U.K., except indoors. And DON’T purchase your tobacco in U.K., it’s way too pricey (about 8-10 pounds for a pack). Go get them at duty-free at the airport where you’re departing from.

So for the rest of the night, we headed off to Clink78 (it’s another subsidiary hostel with Clink 261) for some drinks. Alcohol here is pretty decently priced. You can get a pint for about 4 quid? And sometimes you can get cheaper rates at supermarkets. And for hard liquor, you could probably get a bottle of Vodka or Whisket for about 19 pounds. Oh, and a bottle of Evian there costs a quid (sorry, in Singpore they cost like 3.50SGD. I’m in disbelief).

Of the two hostels, I would suggest making your stay at Clink78, as there are a bit more facilities inside there:

• Bar (pool table, cheap booze, daily activities – from movie screenings to beer pong)
• Dining Area
• Breakfast (you have to pay a pound for it if I’m not mistaken)
• More rooms

Oh and the architecture inside is pretty awesome at the entrance.

 

Pictures courtesy of getaroom.com.au

You can find the property’s page on Hostelworld here: https://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Clink78/London/21954

But then again, both hostels are sort of the same. You can have access to both if you have your proof of stay – which is essentially your room card.

Back.

Haven’t been here in a reeeeeaaaalllllyyyy long time. Quite a bit has happened while I was away, but the definite highlight was my Europe trip which I am still in absolute disbelief that it actually happened. Will be definitely be sharing more about it here. But for now, here’s a narcissistic shot of me at the British Museum..

Jovan’s 21st

Favourite shot from a morning stroll on Friday.

Proceeded on to Bedok Camp for Eugene’s ORD parade! Real proud of you for completing these 2 years bro.

Our Europe trip awaits and I can’t wait. It’s always been a dream for me to visit Europe – I remember staying up watching football matches and telling myself that one day I WILL visit Europe. Can’t believe that it’s finally happening. Wow.

Still got some planning to do but it’s all good. Been contemplating on which SIM card to get there but I guess I’m going with “Three” network SIM (45SGD for 12GB/30days). T-24 days! 🙏🏻

And here’s a big happy 21st to Jovan!! Was a great party held by him and had some fun playing beer pong and catching with some friends. Hope you like the shots bro.

Managed to catch “Avengers: Infinity War” too and I must say, I’m pretty taken aback by the outcome. Really interested to see how they’re gonna continue the story from here. Thanos is just insane.

Happy Birthday, Mom.

Real shagged out today. Booked out from camp with only 4 hours of sleep? Had to go straight to cohesion (it was decent though, played some football, which has been long) all the way at Yishun.

Got home, washed up, after what seems like a terribly warm and humid day, read my book and got a quick nap before heading out with mumsies for her birthday dinner. It was a small one, nothing big, but we managed to have plenty of meaningful conversations, which made me really happy. So glad she’s still as youthful as ever.

Applied for ‘The Travel Intern”, as an intern, from July to December this year. Big hopes on that one honestly. It would be an absolute banger to be able to that – travelling the world, meeting new people, experiencing new cultures, and being able to document and share them with others! Amazing. Prayers!!

Note to self: Have got to start settling my Europe trip stuff asap!! Trip’s in less than a months time! 😯

Renew

Decided to finally start doing some blogging.

Was feeling terribly unmotivated and uninspired earlier today, despite heading out to take some shots with my new lens (Nikkor 35mm f/1.8g).

Trudging back home with an empty feeling has definitely got to suck, big time…

So I spoke to my mum about it and she suggested I start penning down my thoughts, not in the form of a diary, but more like an online platform, like a blog – so that my thoughts are not just kept to myself (she jokingly asked if I had depression), but are put out there, to be heard and hopefully appreciated.

Had some doubts at first because ‘I had a lot of things on my mind’, but I fucked the doubt and just went straight with it. So here I am. Not sure where this goes but I hope it’s for the better!

Listening to this Lo-Fi playlist while writing this and it’s so damn good. Jeez.

Thanks again Wei Jie.

Probably gonna end the day by watching Bucks take on Celtics for Game 4. Really hoping the Bucks will go through. Main man Giannis gotta show up, he’s been pivotal for Game 3 and has to come through again today.

Alright, that’s about it for now. On to the week ahead.

Match Report: Liverpool 5-0 Norwich

After a dreaded defeat to arch-rivals Manchester United, Liverpool are hungry to get back to winning ways. They take on Norwich City at Anfield with Sturridge making his first home Premier League debut. This is another perfect opportunity to show if Sturridge and Luis Suarez can link up well.

Norwich only managed to hold Liverpool for twenty six minutes before the onslaught began. Glen Johnson, who played at left-back, latched onto a sumptuous ball from captain Steven Gerrard before crossing to Suarez. Suarez, who has been in effervescent form lately, squirms away from three Norwich defenders. However he got dispossessed. Still, fortune favoured Liverpool as the ball trickled outside the box, to Henderson, who slams a magnificent half-volley into the back of the net. 1-0 Liverpool.

After that goal, Henderson was feeling the groove and he took another chance with an audacious long shot which this time, Mark Bunn, the Norwich keeper, was equal to.

Luis Suarez, the controversial yet magical Uruguayan forward got on the scoresheet again. It was Gerrard the provider yet again. A long grounded pass which Sturridge dummied, to the surprise of Norwich defenders, found Suarez, who runs a bit of distance, then finishing clinically with his left boot. This was his twentieth goal in all competitions this season and he looks set for plenty more.

Norwich had a slight share of opportunities at the Kop end, one through a Grant Holt volley which Liverpool teenager, Andre Wisdom, headed clear to safety.

The firsst yellow card of the game came in the forty first minute when Glen Johnson cynically brought down Snodgrass with a mistimed tackle. The former received a yellow card, while the latter was being treated at the sidelines.

If there were any doubts of the Suarez-Sturridge partnership not working out, it should be shunned after this game. The combination took effect again as Suarez sets up Sturridge who shoots at a tight angle. To Norwich’s relief, Mark Bunn made a decent save to deny Sturridge.

Liverpool were playing liquid football and were also piling on pressure against their opponents. They certainly didn’t fail to keep up their good work in the second half.

The third goal arrived fourteen minutes into the second half. A pass from Henderson, a pass from Downing and Sturridge was there to finish the job. Talk about being at the right place at the right time! By now, Liverpool obtained total control over the game and had no worries of a Norwich comeback. They could freely attack now.

And attack they did. In the sixty fifth minute, Johnson drove in from the left to the middle and gives the ball to Stevie G who has been the engine of the Liverpool attack throughout the entire game. The audience at Anfield were then blown away by a trademark screamer from the Liverpool skipper yards outside the penalty area. It has been such a joy watching Gerrard bang in plenty of goals from such distances. Even the commentator said: “They should make a DVD compiling all of Stevie G’s long range goals.”.

The first scrappy goal of the evening, which also is the last goal of the game, came from an unfortunate own goal by Ryan Bennett. Another Gerrard pass, which Johnson manages to keep the ball in play, fell to the sixty eighth minute substitute, Sterling, who places a shot past Bunn. It was, however, Bennett who got the final touch.

Norwich’s frustration soon showed. Robert Snodgrass lunged into Sterling in the seventy ninth minute and received a yellow. He was soon subbed out for Anthony Pilkington.

Another rousing victory for Liverpool means another three points in the bag. Maybe it’s Liverpool’s time to shine in the second half of the season? Maybe they could make it back to the top four? We sure do have an exciting finish to the Premier League.

Match Report: Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City

For the other Premier League clash, we have Manchester City travelling to the Emirates to take on North London rivals Arsenal. City have not won at the Gunners’ home ground since 1975. Thus, they look to end this barren run and gain some ground against Premier League leaders and dreaded rivals, Manchester United. City made a few changes from their previous match with Javi Garcia taking over Yaya Toure’s place, who is on national duty for the African Cup Of Nations. Matia Nastasic preferred over Lescott, Milner taking over the suspended Samir Nasri and Dzeko replacing the injured Aguero. Arsenal made only one change and that is Abou Diaby, returning from injury, in place of the injured Mikel Arteta. City threatened in the opening minutes with Silva’s shot from just outside the penalty area, being blocked by the incoming Vermaelan. The resulting corner, soon built up to a chance for Edin Dzeko who was hauled down by Laurent Koscielny in the penalty area. No one really contested for anything except Pablo Zabaleta who threw his hands up in the air and shouted to the referee for a penalty. But referee Mike Dean flashed a red card at the guilty Frenchman.

Arsenal were down to ten men in ten minutes.

Up stepped the victim of the challenge, Dzeko. To Arsenal’s luck, the Bosnian’s shot was saved by Szczesny and the ball rebounded off the post and back into the Polish keeper’s safe hands. City’s first goal came from a quick free kick which Milner finished off with menace following Tevez’s through ball. The shot flew in with such pace that Szczesny stood no chance at all. Without Koscielny, Arsenal were especially sloppy at the back. Diaby gave the ball away to Silva with his careless pass. The Spaniard then chased to Tevez who blasted his shot straight at Szczesny.

The second goal came not long after Zabaleta stood his ground and won a 50-50 challenge with Kieran Gibbs and passes to Milner who squares the ball to Tevez. The nippy Argentinian slid in and caused the ball to head towards goal. Szczesny saves but Dzeko rebounds it in. Things went from bad to worse for Arsenal with an hour left to play. Joe Hart did have something to do later when Podolski forced a save out of the England . Javi Garcia could have extended the lead until Wilshere leapt to head the ball away from the goal line. Arsene Wenger rung in the changes at half time with Giroud coming on for Podolski and Diaby going off for Aaron Ramsey.

A counter-attack then saw Tevez through on a goal who decided to round Szczesny, but the latter made a brave intervention to keep his team’s hopes alive. It resulted in a rather furious reaction from Mancini who probably suggested that Tevez should have shot first.

Another controversial refereeing decision took place. One of England’s bright young talents, Jack Wilshere became a victim of a seemingly rash challenge from City skipper, Vincent Kompany. The referee abjudged that Kompany came in two-footed. Though, replays showed that he had his left foot on the ground as he slid in. In addition, immediately after the challenge, Wilshere looked up at the ref expecting himself to get sent off and not Kompany. This implied that Wilshere thought Kompany came in cleanly. Nevertheless, Kompany received his marching orders.

Roberto Mancini then made his tactical change, replacing a striker (Tevez) with a centre-back (Joleon Lescott). This proved to work out as an Arsenal attack came in, with Walcott shooting past Hart. But, Lescott made a last-minute clearance to keep the score, 2-0 City.

Arsenal have run out empty-handed here in terms of terms of points and goals. Man City, on the other hand, are still in the race for the title in 2nd position, behind leaders United.

Match Report: Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool

Today marks yet another highly-touted rivalry clash between Manchester United and Liverpool F.C. Before this match, held at the Red Devils’ home ground, Liverpool have won 74 of the 186 meetings and Manchester United, having their share of 62 wins with 51 draws between them. Liverpool look to build on that lead as they have Luis Suarez back on form. The Uruguayan having banged in 19 goals in all competition already this 2012/13 season.

However, it turned out to be a lackluster first-half for Liverpool as United relentlessly forged chance after chance. It wasn’t long before the first goal came, and it came in the from none other than, Robin van Persie. A swift United play saw former England under-21 midfielder, Tom Cleverley, pick out Patrice Evra on the left, who whipped in a low cross to van Persie. The Dutchman, the instinctively guided the ball past Pepe Reina to make it 1-0 to the Red Devils. Another glorious chance came from United. This time, it was Ashley Young who was the man behind the move. After receiving the ball from teammate Cleverley, the 27-year-old winger cut in from the right and laid out an inch-perfect pass to van Persie, whose shot sailed over the crossbar. Joe Allen, known for his clever passing, uncharacteristically set up Danny Welbeck, who looks set to score, until Liverpool’s center-half, Daniel Agger slid in to block the shot. It was a close shave for the Kop as United went hacking on. Good work down the right by Young, as he delivered a cross which Allen headed away, onto Cleverley’s path, who came so close to doubling United’s lead as he slammed a left-footed volley just wide of the post. Soon, United’s second came. It was through a van Persie free-kick which Evra got onto it and slightly deflected off Vidic into the goal.

In the 2nd half, Liverpool looked determined to force a comeback as there was a clear contrast in the way the played compared to the 1st. Their rewards were soon reaped. The ever-hardworking Stevie G, stole the ball off Carrick, played a one-two with Sterling and shot straight at De Gea who parries. Sturridge then pounced on the loose ball to reduce the deficit. 2-1.

The home side almost made it game over for their bitter rivals as Kagawa’s first-time curling shot was well diverted away by Pepe Reina. Liverpool tried and tried but couldn’t find the vital equalizer. Sturridge firing at the side netting and Fabio Borini, who came back from injury, volleyed well wide just minutes later. At the closing moments of the game, Suarez scrambled through United’s penalty box as the ball found its way to Sturridge. The former Chelsea man, however, blazed his shot over the goal and into the stands. Since taking over at Liverpool, this is Brendan Rodger’s 1st loss in his 1st game to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, who extend their lead to 10 points at the top of the table.

Match Report: Viktoria Plzen 0-4 Barcelona

It all started with Marian Cisovsky getting sent off in the 16th minute, conceding a penalty. Down to 10 men, the Czech champions could not put up a fight against their superior Catalan opponents. Up steps Messi. With no memory of his penalty miss against Sevilla, The 3-time Ballon D’or winner slots the ball coolly into the bottom-left corner and is then mobbed by his teammates. For his 2nd goal of the night, the little Argentinian subtly weaved his way into the penalty area after being well set up by his Brazilian counterpart, Dani Alves. He then played a quick one-two with Adriano and finishes with ease. The third goal came after some good work from 20-year-old Spaniard, Isaac Cuenca, who beat his marker, and crossed to Fabregas who nodded home emphatically. With a hat-trick the previous game against Mallorca, Messi, repeated the same feat after Chilean, Alexis Sanchez passed to Pique, who backheeled towards the surging Argentinian. Messi just had to do the simple job of rounding the keeper and tapping the ball into the empty net to make it 4-0. Midway through the 1st half, Plzen goalkeeper, Roman Pavlik had to make a couple of stops and Thiago’s header got denied by the bar. The Czech side only created one scoring chance in the 2nd half but wasted it. This win sealed the cup holder’s’ passage through to the final 16 while their opposition stayed bottom of the group with only a point. This match also marks Victor Valdes’ record of 877 minutes without conceding a goal.