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.

THERE'S A BODY OF WATER UP IN SCOTLAND CALLED THE FIRTH OF FORTH

Meanwhile, in my fantasy leagues this year, I got two Thirds and a Fifth.

That's it.  That's I all got.

Uwing-uwi na ako.

THE THREE (WELL-FED) LIONS

Once upon a time, there was a group of...um..."well-rounded" officemates who thought watching football and other London sporting events counted as their exercise for the year.

They lived happily ever after.

(their waistlines...ehh)

England v Denmark

Hero/Villain - England's lackluster performance.   They won, but a good sporting rule of thumb we discovered while watching: the quality of the play on the pitch is inversely proportional to the intensity and duration of the Mexican wave in the stands.

Tour De France

Hero/Villain - The Million MAMIL March.  There are some things you just can't unsee.

Falcons v Lions

Hero / Villain - Through coaching luck/incompetence, this actually turned out to be the closest NFL London game ever.   More riveting still was the awkward clash of American and European sporting event cultures.   I doubt, for instance, any NFL franchise would keep a bored-looking hipster techno DJ in house during games...

 What would Raider Nation think?

...or try to pump up the crowd by having the the pre-game show done by the host of the local Family Feud...

Survey says: wait, who what now?

On the other hand, I don't think soccer fans in say, Stoke, really need Samuel L. Jackson screaming at them throughout the match to "Rise Up!"   

 Not even as Mace Windu?

On the other other hand, I think every EPL team would do well to bring in some American-style cheerleading for matches.

 As well as a Hooters restaurant that magically pops-up in the stadium parking lot at 9:00 a.m. on gameday

Speaking of restaurants, I'm guessing British stadium food may not be a hit with, say, Green Bay Cheeseheads.

And lastly, some European fans may want to re-think their player jersey choices

Unless they were wearing them ironically or were gifts from a clueless distant aunt, in either case: respect 

Bucks v Knicks

Hero / Villain - Easy: New York.  The Knicks took six minutes to score their first point and were down 20+ by the end of the first quarter. Their fans in our row kept on trying to start a "Let's Go Knicks!" chant but were roundly ignored, so they (and I'm not making this up) resorted to stealing the beers of the people in front of them and nearly starting a fistfight.  

Saracens v Harlequins

Hero / Villain - This one's on me. I was the one who was able to get tickets for everyone on Groupon, yet because of unfortunate timing, I was the one who was not able to see the match and take a gameday selfie.  Just as well, as it turned out to be an uncompelling rout.   To make up some excitement, may I just introduce to those outside of the UK the majestically named rugby scandal, Bloodgate.   

Brazil v Chile

Hero / Villain - The great seats!  I didn't think I'd ever in my life be able to watch the Seleção -- let alone up close and for a reasonable price! And from so near, you realize how young and choirboyish looking Neymar, Oscar, Coutinho et al are, which in turn may explain why Chile spent the whole game hacking at the Brazilian stars and turning it into a slow-moving foulfest. There was still a happy ending to the day, though, as the street food in the neighborhoods leading back to the Tube proved muito delicioso.

The Lions slept well that night.

CONSULAR CLICK-BAIT IF THERE EVER WAS ONE . . .

Posted by British Embassy Manila on Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Still, good to know that governments around the world have come together to ban the duckface