April 2017 is the first time in years that I don’t get a chance to celebrate Songkran. However, it is also the first time I get to visit London. It’s only for a few days and I can just only see the city as some snippets.
Because of my work visa condition, I need to get out of the country after 90 days of arrival. That could be anywhere. And the timing coincides with a friend’s wedding in the UK.
I go straight to Oxford for the wedding, which is held in the afternoon on the day I arrive. The ceremony goes beautifully and I get to meet wonderful people from both the bride and groom sides. After the wedding party and dancing, the drinking continues until 4 am. Thus, the morning after is a pain to get back on the train to London.
This counts as Day 1 in London. I need to recover from the hangover in the hotel room in Notting Hill. By the time I can manage myself up and function again, it is pretty much late. At least, I take the Tube to Waterloo, walk across the Thames to Trafalgar Square, Chinatown, and Soho, then take the underground back to Notting Hill to explore what Netflix’s geo copyright has to offer in the UK.
The next day, I meet a friend from Cambridge whom we met in my Bangkok local pub. We visit the Saatchi Gallery for an hour. Then we start a pub crawl from Camden to Soho. My mission is to find some local good craft ale. But after a few pubs, I give up since nothing has come to my taste. So, I just enjoy the company for the evening.
The morning after is not too bad because of the low ABV we drank last night. This is quite new for me, frankly, and I’m told by the friend that low ABV is actually designed for the pub crawl session. It’s the last full day in the city. Something I have to tick off my list is Tate Modern and some gay bars then end up with a Pad Thai for late-night supper. I’ve got to try that in London.
This is pretty much it, the short time in London. But there are more in my head about it. So, that will be the next post about what I see about the city from these snippets.
3 Pingbacks