4.30.2015

PAALAM, LONDON

(With apologies to Margaret Wise Brown. And Google Translate.)


Sa lungsod ng London

May isang Abogadong Diplomatiko

At asawang LLDD-Hyphen-L

At LLDD na Sanggol

At may mga Briton

At mga Fil-com

At mga kaibigan malaki

At mga kaibigan musmos

At trabaho't papel na may tatak "Rush".


Paalam, London

Paalam, palaruan sa Kew


Paalam, bedroom naming tatlo


Paalam, bahay


Paalam, sala (na puwedeng malinis pala)


Paalam, fashionistas


Paalam, mamahaling high street . . .


. . . at mumurahing Primark


Paalam, mga movie premiere sa Leicester Square


Paalam, mga palabas sa West End


Paalam, salu-salo


Paalam, consular outreach na malalayo


Paalam, Pasuguan . . .


. . . likod at harapan . . .



. . . at mga walang-paalam na nakiki-parada na kotse ng Kazakhstan


Paalam Peppa, paalam Shaun



Paalam, paaralan


Paalam, mga kaibigan


Paalam, lamig at ulan


Paalam, mga bulaklak na minsan rin naaarawan


Paalam, traffic sa M4


Paalam, Heathrow


Paalam na, sa lahat sa inyo



4.25.2015

MGA PAHABOL NA PASYAL

Ain't it always the case?  Some great thing is right next door, but you take it for granted and are all, meh, I can always visit next week, and then before you know it - bam! - it's already time for you to leave and you might never see the place again.  

Kaya eto, kung kelan paalis na, saka lang napuntahan ang...

LONDON EYE








Why the wait? Precisely because it looked so easy to get on to at anytime, we never actually got around to doing it, if that makes any sense.  Plus, over the course of our stay in London, we got to visit a few other vantage points (Westminster Cathedral, The Shard, Greenwich) that offered similarly spectacular views.

Worth the wait? Yeah, because the Eye is still the most central of the high-up viewpoints, so you can practically look into the bathroom windows of Parliament and see....I've said too much.


BRITISH MUSEUM








Why the wait? I dunno, I guess we just weren't that into marbles and mummies.

Worth the wait? Well, we're still not much into those things, but the building itself was totally gorgeous. Apropos of nothing, I remember reading a headline off a newspaper on the tube one day that said James Denies Book is "Mummy Porn", and thinking "Ewww!!!! Gross!!!!! Why would anyone write a book about ancient sexytime?!!"  It was only later that I understood "James" was the author of the 50 Shades series, and "mummy porn" was the British way of describing mothers who really liked the books because, well, you know...


HAMPSTEAD HEATH








Why the wait? It's relatively far off and hard to get to, and is so big and sprawling that you can easily get lost in its woods (and not in the cutesy fairy tales and woodland creatures way, either; no, I'm talking some Blair Witch-level of messed up)

Worth the wait? Once you realize this is also the place where they shot those scenes from Notting Hill where Julia Roberts is on a film set, you're golden.


TOWER OF LONDON








Why the wait? There always seemed to be thousands of people lined-up waiting to get inside.  Plus, the Crown Jewels were here, and I didn't want the LLDD-Hyphen-L to get any ideas.

Worth the wait? "Jewelry is timeless" -- LLDD-Hyphen-L


LONDON MUSEUM OF WATER AND STEAM




Why the wait? Let's face it, water and steam might not be in many people's bucket (har!) list.

Worth the Wait? Hell, YEAH! The LLDD-Baby held her birthday party/despedida for her friends here, and they had a blast!  There was a real miniature steam train, huge old-timey engines and pistons, different levels of funny interactive water displays, and so much more.  Even though this ended up being the place where the LLDD-Baby said her last goodbyes, everyone went home with big smiles, happy thoughts and great memories.


So yeah, happy kami na na-ihabol.