London

I think it should be no secret that I love London.

Welcome to London.

The Queen’s Life Guard trotting out of Buckingham Palace.

I climbed 311 steps for this aerial view of the Tower Bridge.

The Tower Bridge, often mistaken for the London Bridge (the latter is less impressive).

Piccadilly Circus at night.

Stonehenge: The most overrated pile of stones to exist.

A childhood dream come true.

Dimsum with Cherry!

West End: Before watching the Phantom of the Opera.

London was at the top of my must-go list when I accepted my exchange placement. I contacted my cousin Charisse and my childhood friend Cherry to check if we could arrange any meet-ups while I was there and I got more than I asked for: Charisse accommodated me in her apartment and Cherry brought me to watch Phantom, an experience I will never forget.

There are endless things to do in London. Museums, palaces, theatre, shopping, football… The list goes on. I didn’t have the chance to visit any museums and neither did I catch any ‘live’ EPL matches but these are more reasons to go back to, IMO, a home away from home.

The city, however, is not without its flaws. For starters, it is horribly expensive, even after adjusted wages. But for foreigners who hail from cities with a much lower cost of living, the difference can be astronomical. The SGD is weak against the GBP so every purchase I made there (except for the ones in Primark) I had to think twice to decide if it was necessary. Mains at low-range restaurants cost an average of £10 so it is definitely not one city you can scrimp on. Transport via the London Underground (also affectionately known as the Tube) cost at least £2 for a single trip. (I have renewed appreciation for public transport costs in Singapore now.) Don’t even get me started on rent prices; paying an upward of £3000 per month for rent of a one/two-bedroom apartment in a central location is not unheard of. If my cousin hadn’t kindly offered to stay in her flat, I don’t know how much I would have spent on accommodation at a decent location.

Then there are the crowds. At every major Underground interchange points (e.g. Victoria), the crowds are massive. Thankfully, though, it is not the suffocating kind of crowd where you feel trapped in indefinitely. Think of Orchard Road during the Christmas season – That is London every day for you. For a person who gets claustrophobic in huge crowds, London was pretty manageable.

Having said all of that, there still exists budget shopping in London. They come in the form of:

1. Primark.

I am not usually an impulsive shopper but when you have a tube of mascara going for £1 and slip-ons for £5 you can’t not buy them. The quality of Primark’s products, of course, remains debatable. But honestly, with prices so cheap that are nearly impossible to find in Singapore, you can’t really complain. As for other high street brands such as Topshop and River Island, the prices are comparable to Singapore’s but they also offer a substantially wider range.

2. Poundland

I only found out about this shop when I arrived at Cardiff. I am not sure if there are outlets in London, though. Everything in Poundland retails for £1, even full-sized shampoo bottles and Colgate toothpaste. Essentially, it is the Daiso of the UK.

Finally, if there is only one activity any tourist must do in London, it would be to watch a musical or a play at West End. I watched Phantom (there are many others, such as Matilda and The Book of Mormon) and it was absolutely surreal. Each time the orchestra started playing the introduction to Phantom of the Opera my heart swelled with excitement and gratitude. Also, each theatre in West End is dedicated to only one show and not multiple ones a la Singapore’s theatre scene. In Cherry’s words:

“They make Singapore’s theatres look so promiscuous.”

During the 4.5 days I was there, I travelled extensively using the Tube, took a leisurely stroll from Buckingham Palace to Piccadilly and soaked in the pulsating energy at West End. Mostly alone. I think I would go as far as to say the moments I spent exploring London alone and the day I spent with Cherry are the ones I felt truly at peace with myself since I came to Europe.

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P/s: Many thanks to Charisse and Bryan for accommodating me in your apartment!

P/p/s: Thank you Cherry for taking time off your busy schedule to bring me around Chinatown and West End!