On November 2009, while I was still employed at my previous company, I took one week off to visit London with my mom, taking advantage of the Remembrance Day holiday. Because of this, I used 4 vacation days into a 9 day holiday (5 weekdays, 4 days on the weekend). We took a British Airways flight+hotel package and it was quite cheap, around $1500 for one person.
The flight departed from Vancouver on November 6, 2009 at 8:45 pm and arrived at London at 1:55 pm.
The post shows our activities from November 8-9, 2009.
Approaching London's Heathrow airport.
Arrival lobby at Heathrow's Terminal 5. This is the newest terminal at Heathrow airport and used exclusively by British Airways. What surprised me was that there was no tourist information kiosk anywhere where I could pick up some tourist brochures!
We bought and Oyster card for transit and took the London Underground to our hotel near Russell Square in Bloomsbury. The trip on the subway took more than 1 hour because the train was so slow and would randomly stop midway between stations.
By the time we checked into our hotel, it was already nighttime so we decided to explore Chinatown which was close by.
What was really surprising was that all the theatres that showed musicals were all located right beside Chinatown. This ensured that Chinatown had a steady stream of foot traffic and tourists.
Central London is quite compact so afterwards we walked to the Regent Street shopping area. The street was beautifully lit with Christmas decorations.
Piccadilly Circus
The next day on Nov. 8, 2009 we went to the Whitehall area to join in the Remembrance Day parade and services.
The security was quite tight as you had to go through metal detectors before you can enter the designated parade route.
After the parade and services were over, we just walked around the area surrounding the Houses of Parliament.
Big Ben.
London Eye ferris wheel
Westminster Abbey
For Remembrance Day, they set up a "Field of Remembrance" in a lawn near Westminster Abbey. The proportion of solders who died fighting during the two World Wars and other wars from each Commonwealth country, region, etc. are represented by miniature crosses.
The Cenotaph at Whitehall.
Because of the Remembrance Day parade, all the streets at Whitehall were closed off to traffic. This provided a rare one day event for roaming the streets freely on foot.
The Household Calvary.
Trafalgar Square.
View of Big Ben from Trafalgar Square.
The National Gallery which faces Trafalgar Square.
Trafalgar Square as viewed from the National Gallery.
Admiralty Arch, this leads to Buckingham Palace.
The Victoria Memorial, in front Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace at sunset.
Harrods department store at Knightsbridge. After seeing many Japanese department stores, it didn't really impress me that much...
"Aromatic Crispy Duck" dinner at Chinatown. Family members told us that this British-style Peking duck was good, however I found it just so-so, I prefer real Peking duck to this. Unlike the original Peking duck, the duck in this dish is deep fried and you wrap the duck meat in addition to the skin with the pancakes.
Apparently, the "Crispy Duck" is very popular among people here that almost every Chinese restaurant serves it.
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