IT'S THE NEXT SIX YEARS, I MUST BE IN . . . LONDON!

Mabuhay, I say!

Yes, the LLDD is finally at post in beautiful, sunny . . . (check that) . . . dreary and drizzly . . . (hold on) . . . cold and windy . . . (oh, come on!) . . . back to beautiful, sunny London!

(Wow. They weren't kidding about that whole "Four Seasons in a Day" thing.)

It's been a hectic, unsettled couple of days here in Brittania. Fortunately, everyone at the Embassy - and, yes, all of the locals - have been so nice and helpful that our uprooting and transfer has gone as pleasantly as possible. Once again, the LLDD-Hyphen-L and I have been blessed with the greatest of circumstances, and nothing it seems could possibly ruin our arriva . . .

Bloody hell.

FIRST SATURDAY

The LLDD-Hyphen-L was, of course, pumped for the trip. She showed no signs of jet-lag after the 16-hour flight . . .



. . . quickly surveying upon our arrival our new surroundings from the window of our temporary flat in Chelsea . . .

. . . and immediately zeroing in on the essentials.

Secure in the knowledge the nearest Zara is just a five-minute walk away, the LLDD-Hyphen-L settles back at the flat, discovers "Britain's Got Talent".

Hello to you too, London!

FIRST SUNDAY

Ye Olde Church Search

Ah, yes, the challenge for every Filipino travelling on a weekend: finding a place of worship. The LLDD-Hyphen-L and I were told there was a Catholic church in a nearby place called Brompton. Using my excellent map-reading skills (developed over hours of "Warcraft"), I spotted two possible sites. The first was a chapel at the far end of a cemetery where, despite the presence of ancient crypts and coffins, the LLDD-Hyphen-L was more freaked out by the squirrels. The chapel was closed (just as well, because the squirrels seemed to be eyeballing us), so we headed around the town towards the second possible location, one with a high bell tower visible from afar. After a long walk, we were relieved to arrive at the church . . .

. . . and find out it isn't Catholic. (very pretty, though.)

We decide to head into the city and take our chances there. The LLDD-Hyphen-L had had enough of my navigation incompetence (and the trailing squirrels).

Oh. Hey. The Place Where I'll Be Working for the Next Six Years. Or Less.

Again, because of my precision planning, our first trip into the inner city coincided with a little something called the London Marathon, complete with the screaming throngs, road detours and tube station closures. What was supposed to be a simple commute turned into a clueless, circuitous journey around and under London. The silver lining: we stumbled upon...The Embassy! My new place of work! So this is what it feels like to be on the "Amazing Race" and actually find the pit stop without being the last team to arrive!

(only Phil Keoghn isn't there to receive you because it's, you know, a Sunday, and places be closed)

First Time for Everything

Ok, we now know (by accident) where my home base will be. Now, where's everything else? With the marathon ongoing, the LLDD-Hyphen-L and I have little choice but to go with the flow of the crowd and see where that takes us. This actually turns out to be a good thing as we get our first views of many of the great London scenes and landmarks. Among our many firsts:

First glimpse of Big Ben (initial impression: jaw-droppingly beautiful; and quote Sabretooth to Wolverine, "ooh, shiny!" [seriously, I did not know Big Ben had that much gold trimming])

First glimpse of "The Eye" (initial impression: for something so big, it jumps out of nowhere; kinda like Cloverfield)

First glimpse of Downing Street (initial impression: are tourists supposed to be able to get that close?)


First Picture of the LLDD-Hyphen-L with a Horse (initial impression: she can stand next to a huge horse, but is freaked out by squirrels?)

First Picture-Picture to be Ruined by Someone Walking Through our Shot (initial impression: Itsura mo!)

First...ahem...Unobstructed View of Parliament (initial impression: apparently, the front of Parliament is the place to hold rallies and demonstrations; unsolicited advice: don't hold your rallies and demonstrations on the same day and venue as the London marathon -- the rallyists went largely unnoticed among the thousands of race spectators, while the runners were left wondering why some people were cheering them on with "U.N., U.N., take action now!" chants. Really, it was just confusing for everyone.

First view of Westminster Abbey (initial impression: very nice, not unlike the front of San Sebastian; and isn't there also a Westminster Cathedral?; the LLDD-Hyphen and I might actually be close to finding ourselves a church)

First Picture of a Guy Dressed as a Toilet (initial impression: a guy. is dressed. like a toilet)

Pssst! Still Looking for a Church?

Continuing down the closed off roads, we stumble upon Westminster Cathedral. Why, this will do nicely!

It even has a very high viewtower with - and this is important in old British buildings - an elevator! (oh, excuse me, lift)

In case my video voice-over wasn't clear, we were looking out of the east side of the view tower, where we got our first far-off glimpses of: A) Buckingham Palace (initial impression: can't . . .get . . . clear . . . view . . . must . . . not . . . stretch . . . too . . . far . . . fall . . . off . . . viewtower);

and B) "The Gherkin" (initial impression: seems to stand out in the city as a worthy foe for "The Eye", like Mothra was to Godzilla; my money's on "Gherkin") . . .

I'LL CALL IT AN APARTMENT IF I WANT TO, DAMMIT

Newly posted foreign service personnel have just a few days to find a more permanent place to live before being kicked out of their hotel, so most of the week following our arrival was spent shuttling between work and viewing assorted flats to let (called "apartments for rent" in the U.S., or "wanted bedspacer" in Libertad).

After a week of cris-crossing the city, looking at all sorts of flats, lusting at the can't-afford places and grovelling for the can-afford ones, bidding, being out-bid, and then bidding some more, the LLDD-Hyphen-L and I finally ended up getting . . . the very first flat we saw. It's a modest-sized space, but in a great neighborhood (that I like to call "Cheese Whiz") and with a pretty view of a park and an old church.

(OK, fine, the buses stop right outside our window, but once the light turns green and they move on, there's a view, I tell you)

And one of the great selling points of the flat: it came furnished with sofas, a TV and - most joyously - hanging capiz shell lamps that I'm 99% certain came from the Philippines!

Finally, moving in day is efficiently executed, with me on my moblie taking care of the plans. . .

. . . and the LLDD-Hyphen-L carrying it out.

Welcome to London!