Sunday, January 28, 2007
Visiting Various Attractions in London - The City of Rain
Above, you'll find some pictures of my trip to London.
Also, for another proof that the Japanese have a great sense of humour, check out the following video:
Above, you'll find some pictures of my trip to London.
Also, for another proof that the Japanese have a great sense of humour, check out the following video:
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Visiting Various Attractions in Barcelona - Capital of Catalonia
Some pictures from my recent trip to Barcelona.
Today I saw the movie "Lucky Number Slevin", which turned out to be much better than I expected. While it opened a long time ago in the US, it is only now playing in Japan. Too late to give a proper review, I guess. It was a great looking movie, though the plot is rather thin.
Some pictures from my recent trip to Barcelona.
Today I saw the movie "Lucky Number Slevin", which turned out to be much better than I expected. While it opened a long time ago in the US, it is only now playing in Japan. Too late to give a proper review, I guess. It was a great looking movie, though the plot is rather thin.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Today I visited another couple of famous London sights. First I went to the Houses of Parliament (Westminster Palace), though I did not do much more than taking a few pictures - obviously making sure to include one of Big Ben.
Following that, I headed over to Westminster Abbey. Since I did not pay the entrance fee for St. Paul yesterday, I decided to splurge the £11 to see this one from the inside. It is an old Gothic church, and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English monarchs. I enjoyed seeing all the famous tombs and plaques, and I have decided that I want to have a tomb made for myself when I die. Many of the epitaphs were not exactly humble, and that is just what I would like: "He was a tall man with lots of friends and no enemies. Charitable to the end, his only weakness may have been being too humble. His passing will be an eternal loss for mankind". Something like that, just a bit longer.
Following my visit to Westminster Abbey, I headed over the visit Liz in Buckingham Palace. For some reason, she appeared not to be expecting me, so instead I took a stroll in one of her gardens (St James's Park).
After getting tired of birds and grass, I decided to visit the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. Now, this was an interesting exhibit. It is wonderful that many of the war rooms are in the same condition as when they were abandoned. Seeing the War Room, from where the course of the war was directed, was particularly interesting. Thinking about the Second World War, I noticed on BBC that a German director (Dani Levy, apparently Jewish) has made a comedy about Hitler titled "Mein Fuehrer". This has apparently triggered a lot of debate about whether Germans should be encouraged to laugh about Hitler, though Charlie Chaplin in "The Great Dictator" showed that laughing at Hitler is quite possible. Either way, Dani Levy commented in the TV program that his motivation was to create a politically incorrect movie, and that is good enough for me. I will probably rent the movie when it comes out.
Speaking about politically incorrect movies, today I finally got a chance to see "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan". Although the movie opened a long time ago, it was still showing at a movie theater near Piccadilly Circus. I have been excited about seeing this movie since early this year, so finally getting to see it was fantastic. I read that "Bruno The Movie" is scheduled for release in 2008, so that gives us something to look forward to. Sacha Noam Baron Cohen is a genius.
Following that, I headed over to Westminster Abbey. Since I did not pay the entrance fee for St. Paul yesterday, I decided to splurge the £11 to see this one from the inside. It is an old Gothic church, and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English monarchs. I enjoyed seeing all the famous tombs and plaques, and I have decided that I want to have a tomb made for myself when I die. Many of the epitaphs were not exactly humble, and that is just what I would like: "He was a tall man with lots of friends and no enemies. Charitable to the end, his only weakness may have been being too humble. His passing will be an eternal loss for mankind". Something like that, just a bit longer.
Following my visit to Westminster Abbey, I headed over the visit Liz in Buckingham Palace. For some reason, she appeared not to be expecting me, so instead I took a stroll in one of her gardens (St James's Park).
After getting tired of birds and grass, I decided to visit the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. Now, this was an interesting exhibit. It is wonderful that many of the war rooms are in the same condition as when they were abandoned. Seeing the War Room, from where the course of the war was directed, was particularly interesting. Thinking about the Second World War, I noticed on BBC that a German director (Dani Levy, apparently Jewish) has made a comedy about Hitler titled "Mein Fuehrer". This has apparently triggered a lot of debate about whether Germans should be encouraged to laugh about Hitler, though Charlie Chaplin in "The Great Dictator" showed that laughing at Hitler is quite possible. Either way, Dani Levy commented in the TV program that his motivation was to create a politically incorrect movie, and that is good enough for me. I will probably rent the movie when it comes out.
Speaking about politically incorrect movies, today I finally got a chance to see "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan". Although the movie opened a long time ago, it was still showing at a movie theater near Piccadilly Circus. I have been excited about seeing this movie since early this year, so finally getting to see it was fantastic. I read that "Bruno The Movie" is scheduled for release in 2008, so that gives us something to look forward to. Sacha Noam Baron Cohen is a genius.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Today, I finally spent my first day in London. First though, on my flight from Barcelona to Amsterdam yesterday, I discussed a couple of issues with a Canadian couple. A couple of negative aspects about Barcelona have to be mentioned. First of all, it seems like everyone is smoking all the time. It is almost impossible to walk around outside without being bothered by smoke. Second, there is graffiti basically everywhere. Even in the Sagrada Família, there was lots of graffiti. The police should make more of an effort to prosecute and jail the individuals responsible for the damage done to Barcelona's old buildings and monuments. Perhaps shooting a few of the responsible idiots would do the trick.
When arriving yesterday at Heathrow, I joined the line of confused visitors trying to buy subway tickets. The Oyster card seems to be the cheapest way to go around, and I soon got a hold of it. The subway in London appears to be fairly efficient, though of course it is vintage compared with the system in Tokyo. No one can beat Tokyo when it comes to convenience (or food, fashion, and other things), so I guess even trying to compare is useless.
The first thing I did this morning was to visit the London Dungeon. It was recommended by my silly guidebook "TimeOut" as one of the best sights in London, though it is really just a rather mediocre amusement park (with only one attraction, that being the Dungeon). Don't expect to learn anything there, though I enjoyed the Labyrinth Maze of Mirrors, which apparently is the the largest Labyrinth made of mirrors in the world.
A memorable memory from the London Dungeon, however, was "meeting" a Japanese celebrity. Standing just behind me in line was a Japanese guy with two elderly folks. Since he had most of his face all covered up, I did not figure out who it was before he started talking. I decided to confirm my suspicion by asking, and the elderly woman confirmed that this was indeed "Gekidan Hitori". From reading the Japanese Wikipedia, it seems like both his parents work for an airline (the father being a pilot, meeting the stewardess working mother on the plane). I guess the elderly couple he was with were his parents, and they all could speak a little English. Anyway, just to prove this, check out the below pictures. I had to fork out £10 for these, so please enjoy.
After visiting the London Dungeon, I strolled over to the Tower of London. On the way, I visited the Monument, which a 61-metre (202-foot) tall stone Roman doric column. Designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, it was built to commemorate the Great Fire of London that occurred in 1666.
Following that, I went to the Tower of London. I had almost imagined this as being a gigantic tower in the middle of London, but this obviously could not be further from the truth. Instead, it is a complex of several buildings set within the outer defensive walls and moat. I was able to catch a guided tour, and that is probably the best way to experience the place. Following that, I stopped briefly by St Paul's Cathedral, though I did not pay the entrance fee due to being fairly tired of seeing things. Perhaps I will try going tomorrow instead.
This evening, I did quite a bit of shopping on Oxford street. After seeing all the well dressed people in the City of London today, I really feel a need to renew part of my wardrobe. The biggest surprise of my visit so far has been seeing quite a few attractive girls - basically I have not encountered any on my previous visits to England. I guess the simple explanation is that London has more immigrants that the Northern cities that I have visited in the past (e.g. Liverpool and Manchester), and I have not really seen many attractive natives. London should be happy for its immigrants, but not primarily because they provide good looking people. A more important reason is the food, though I will not try many ethnic restaurants here. Eating out is way more expensive than in Tokyo, so I will try to patient for another week.
When arriving yesterday at Heathrow, I joined the line of confused visitors trying to buy subway tickets. The Oyster card seems to be the cheapest way to go around, and I soon got a hold of it. The subway in London appears to be fairly efficient, though of course it is vintage compared with the system in Tokyo. No one can beat Tokyo when it comes to convenience (or food, fashion, and other things), so I guess even trying to compare is useless.
The first thing I did this morning was to visit the London Dungeon. It was recommended by my silly guidebook "TimeOut" as one of the best sights in London, though it is really just a rather mediocre amusement park (with only one attraction, that being the Dungeon). Don't expect to learn anything there, though I enjoyed the Labyrinth Maze of Mirrors, which apparently is the the largest Labyrinth made of mirrors in the world.
A memorable memory from the London Dungeon, however, was "meeting" a Japanese celebrity. Standing just behind me in line was a Japanese guy with two elderly folks. Since he had most of his face all covered up, I did not figure out who it was before he started talking. I decided to confirm my suspicion by asking, and the elderly woman confirmed that this was indeed "Gekidan Hitori". From reading the Japanese Wikipedia, it seems like both his parents work for an airline (the father being a pilot, meeting the stewardess working mother on the plane). I guess the elderly couple he was with were his parents, and they all could speak a little English. Anyway, just to prove this, check out the below pictures. I had to fork out £10 for these, so please enjoy.
After visiting the London Dungeon, I strolled over to the Tower of London. On the way, I visited the Monument, which a 61-metre (202-foot) tall stone Roman doric column. Designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, it was built to commemorate the Great Fire of London that occurred in 1666.
Following that, I went to the Tower of London. I had almost imagined this as being a gigantic tower in the middle of London, but this obviously could not be further from the truth. Instead, it is a complex of several buildings set within the outer defensive walls and moat. I was able to catch a guided tour, and that is probably the best way to experience the place. Following that, I stopped briefly by St Paul's Cathedral, though I did not pay the entrance fee due to being fairly tired of seeing things. Perhaps I will try going tomorrow instead.
This evening, I did quite a bit of shopping on Oxford street. After seeing all the well dressed people in the City of London today, I really feel a need to renew part of my wardrobe. The biggest surprise of my visit so far has been seeing quite a few attractive girls - basically I have not encountered any on my previous visits to England. I guess the simple explanation is that London has more immigrants that the Northern cities that I have visited in the past (e.g. Liverpool and Manchester), and I have not really seen many attractive natives. London should be happy for its immigrants, but not primarily because they provide good looking people. A more important reason is the food, though I will not try many ethnic restaurants here. Eating out is way more expensive than in Tokyo, so I will try to patient for another week.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
First, a small Christmas greeting:
http://www.elfyourself.com/?userid=33c2580bda6a022effb2186G06122914
We counted down to the New Year at Placa de Catalunya, one of the major squares in Barcelona. I had honestly hoped for some more excitement, and there was apparently no public fireworks in the city. Whle Placa de Catalunya managed to gather thousands on people for the New Year, there was no digital clock or anything to provide for a count down. Most people were therefore rather confused as to when the New Year was supposed to begin, but wild shouting errupted a few seconds into 2007. By then, I guess most people were convinced that the New Year had arrived.
The following day, we visited the Montserrat Monastery, which is located about one hour outside of Barcelona. We were lucky not to have gone today, as a major massive rockslide has almost completely isolated the monastery.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?userid=33c2580bda6a022effb2186G06122914
We counted down to the New Year at Placa de Catalunya, one of the major squares in Barcelona. I had honestly hoped for some more excitement, and there was apparently no public fireworks in the city. Whle Placa de Catalunya managed to gather thousands on people for the New Year, there was no digital clock or anything to provide for a count down. Most people were therefore rather confused as to when the New Year was supposed to begin, but wild shouting errupted a few seconds into 2007. By then, I guess most people were convinced that the New Year had arrived.
The following day, we visited the Montserrat Monastery, which is located about one hour outside of Barcelona. We were lucky not to have gone today, as a major massive rockslide has almost completely isolated the monastery.
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