At Last Sun was out on Shady Sunday

25th March 2007: Sunday was supposed to be a complete fun day for me. At last after a week, I was able to see the sun shining outside. So a perfect start to the day except for the fact i woke up a little late at around 10. As usual got ready and had my lunch before i left for the sight seeing. The first destination was again London Eye since all the major places worth seeing are located near that only. I was due avail the free cruise of my ticket and that's why i hurried to get it. My ticket was supposed to be valid till 3:39. I landed in the boat for the Thames Cruise which is a circular cruise from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge. There was a live commentary about all the surrounding places that came on the way thought it wasn't the longest of all the cruises. It took us through 7-6 bridges including the famous London Bridge and the Tower Bridge. Tower bridge seems to be more attractive than London Bridge. London Bridge is a simple bridge while tower bridge is well decorated one. Anyways it took me around 45 minutes to complete the cruise before i was back to the river embankment. Next, I caught a bus that of Original Tours (whose ticket i bought on Saturday) and went to Tower Bridge. I got few photographs clicked on the bridge and also helped myself with some peanuts on the way. Next, I went to London Dungeon. What's that now? London Dungeon is set i dark vaults below some railway arches. The macabre exhibition uses special effects to simulate the horrors of grisly murder, execution, medieval torture and disease throughout the British history. The displays include the Great Fire of London, the Jack Ripper Experience and Traitor, Boat-ride to Hell. I thoroughly enjoyed it though it was terrifying to be honest. It was all dark and more ghostly in looks. I got a photograph clicked there as well.

24th March, First Weekend in London

24th March 2007, It is one of the sensational days in London so far. I have loads to speak out but i am not sure if i will be able to jot down my thoughts particularly well here. It was my first weekend in London, So wanted to explore this city as much as i can; though just had a map book with me.
Day started when I woke up at around 9 and logged in to see if somebody was online on the messenger to exchange thoughts and few words; but couldn't find anyone. So called up my parents and talked to them. It was really chilly today at around 3 degrees, So i was getting lazy to get out of the bed and take a bath to start my journey for the day. Finally, i did get out of the bed and had a bath followed by preparation of ready to eat RAJMA CHAWAL.
By the time i was to leave my apartment, it was almost 1 in the noon but the day made it look early morning as couldn't get a glance of the sun at all. So where am i heading towards ? I just knew that i am going to see London eye today and doubted my abilities to roam around the places all alone. Nevertheless, i was wrong enough to think that ways and things started to fall in my court shortly.
I went to the South Quay DLR station and went to Bank from where i took an underground train to WaterLoo. While i was out on the waterloo station, i can see London Eye upfront. Now thatz amazing; firstly because i reached there in 40 minutes without any difficulty; secondly the way it is build on top of river Thames

The British Airways London Eye is the world's tallest observation wheel at 135m high. Located on the banks of the River Thames it offers unrivalled views over London. So to view and take a ride on this historical observation wheel, I queued in for tickets and i got them for 14.5 Pounds. Then there was a long queue for getting into the London Eye. Each block of the wheel is a capsule which accommodates around 25 people and goes for a 30 minute ride. While i was in the queue i met an old lady from Yorkshire who was there with her grandchild. I was exchanging few words about their plans for the day and had some light moments together before i finally step into the transparent capsule. I clicked lots of photographs during the ride and it was awsome view from top of river Thames. The major sights were Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, River Thames with cruises down ways and many other monuments like Westminster Abbey and some other Cathedrals. Trust me the view was really mind boggling. I thought i would fear the height and river down ways but it wasn't there because i was so engrossed in the view that i could not realize that i spent 30 minutes in the ride. Nevertheless, spend 14.5 pounds was worth it.

Once i was out of the capsule, i walked across Westminster Bridge (on top of Thames) to the other side. While i was in queue for London Eye, i remembered the grannie saying that if you want to see London, go for a double decker roof top open bus. It is the best way to roam and sight seeing. I recollected the thoughts and got a ticket of 18 pounds for sight seeing and got a river cruise free from Westminster bridge to Tower bridge. There were 2 travel companies who were competing for such sight seeing tours namely the Big Bus Company & The Global Tours Company. I saw the counter which was selling vouchers for the Global Tours and got one for myself. While i was waiting for the bus, I realised i should have gone for the Big Bus company as there were buses coming in almost every 5 minutes for them . I waited for 20 minutes before boarding the bus finally. While you travel in such a bus you are given headphones for the live commentary of the sights seen by you. You can listen the commentary in different languages.

The bus journey started from West Minster Bridge whereby Houses of Parliament and Big Ben were already visible. The bus went across the Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace. The palace is a royal monument of London and house of Queen Vitoria. We are allowed to get down at any place which we want to see and can get another bus after sometime. I didn't go inside any of the places as i didn't have much time. I came to know that these buses run at max till 5:30 and it was already 4:30, So i thought i should be seated there and have an eventful ride across the side. So from Buckingham Palace, we went through Victoria Street and Hyde Park crossing Speaker's corner , Marble Arch to the Oxford Street. Oxford street is said to be the busy most streets in London for shopping. All the branded items are available on the street and its a healthy and crowded market to do bird watching :)

Nevertheless, the bus kept moving from the Oxford street to Portman Square and then had the next stop which was Baker's Street. Madame Tussuad's famous wax museum was right infront of my eyes and you won't believe it i was surprised to see something there. What's that ?? A glimpse of India, our own King Khan's huge poster on top of Madame Tussuad's museum. The poster read " King Khan in coming on April 3rd 2007"; which means Shahrukh Khan's Wax Statue is going to be part of Madame Tussuad's museum. Now that amazing achievement for the lad and India.

Nevertheless the bus moved from the baker street where a large tower of Bristish Telecom was visible. We passed by Langham Palace which is a BBC broadcasting station. Next we moved on to the Regent Street which has lods of markets and malls around. Hay market was one of them which is supposed to be the largest markets of Hay in the past. From there we moved on to Trafalgar Square which has some history attached to it but if i write it all this blog will be a boredom. Let me tell you Trafalgar Square is the place from where all the distances are measured in London. The bus was supposed to go to other places like St. Paul's Cathedral but since i was already late i got down at the Westminster Bridge and realized that it should be the end of the day.

I am still left with the free cruise and more sight seeing which i could not do as i was late but luckily this ticket is valid for 24 hours which means i can use it tomorrow till 3:30. I have mission to complete on Sunday.

Enough for the day, I think it's already late here. By the time i am over with these blogs, all back home are about to wake up, unless they are planning to utilize the weekend with a long sleep. I will keep positing as and when i have new experiences. I have plenty to write but then i don't want to elaborate things more so as to make them a boring affair.

You can check the photographs here: http://picasaweb.google.com/saurabh.agrawals

Till the time I write more,bbye !!

!! M@iDeN tRiP 2 LoNdOn !!

18th March'2007 : After a long time, I have got something to share, rather words have started to pour in finally. So howz everyone reading these blogs? I hope in best of the spirits.

I am in London while i am writing these blogs. I had no idea that i will be in London; but i am here for a month or two on a professional visit. How does it feel ? Well, mixed reaction on that but certainly should have an experience of this sort.Here is how the journey started for me when i left for London on 18th March. It was early morning on Sunday  All preparation for the trip was done just one day back. Thanks to my friends Manish and Gaurav; the young lads who are really attached to me always. They made sure that i don't miss out on anything and also were on the airport to see me off till i didn't actually cleared all the formalities. Another surprise visit was that of my parents, who flew all the way from Indore just to see me off. It was an emotional departure and shows in India still we are strongly bound to each other by emotions.I boarded BA-256 of British Airways to commence my journey. I met this guy Renan in the plane who was a French guy and a doctor by profession. He was sitting next to me and we exchanged lots of words in the journey. It was good to see him giving me tips on different ways to make your travel cheaper in Europe. Once i landed in London at around 11:15 A.M., it was damn windy and chilly though the temperature was around 8 degrees. I managed to reach the immigration counter but was asked for a medical check up which comprised of a chest x-ray. Whenever you enter Europe  you need to get this done for the first time entry.

The first day in London was filled with all sorts of confusions in every move of mine. But i guess it happens when you are at some new place; luckily for me language is not an issue. Anyways but it is a good learning lesson.It took me 1 long hour to clear immigration and i was worried about the luggage. When i managed to clear customs and immigration, i got my luggage in safe condition and i was delighted to see that. Next i was a little tensed as if i wont get my car for pick up since i was delayed in the proceedings by 1 hour and 30 minutes. But a Desi Indian bhai was waiting outside with a Mercedes Benz for me. He is in UK for last 35 years and i had a drive of 1 hour from Heathrow to Manilla street where i am putting up in Docklands.

When i reached Regatta Point (my apartment , the guy gave me keys of apartment no 9 but i was supposed to be in 13, so again some confusions. He drove me to his office and handed over keys of 13. I was finally inside my apartment. What next?

The room is awesome and has all the amenities that we can think off from the heater, washing machine, music system, DVD player, TV, dishwasher to modular kitchen. But the big question for me was how to use those amenities. I was just experimenting with every switch and somehow managed to get a couple of things working. Yet to know how to get the heater working for water.

I had a bath and went to the local DLR station (same as metro in india) nearby. I got a weekly pass of 23 pounds and 20 pence for 7 days from Canary WHARF. Canary Wharf has lods of shopping malls and huge buildings that of Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Citibank, HSBC, Barclay's etc. It has a local DLR station as well.

I got a pass for SOUTH QUAY to TOWER GATEWAY. I was relieved when i got it because without it i needed to spend more money to travel. With this pass you can go anywhere from Zone 1 to Zone 2 any number of time with any means of transport. That sounds good. Isn't it?It took me 1 long hour to clear immigration and i was worried about the luggage. When i managed to clear customs and immigration, i got my luggage in safe condition and i was delighted to see that. Next i was a little tensed as if i wont get my car for pick up since i was delayed in the proceedings by 1 hour and 30 minutes. But a Desi Indian bhai was waiting outside with a Mercedes Benz for me. He is in UK for last 35 years and i had a drive of 1 hour from Heathrow to Manilla street where i am putting up in Docklands.When i reached Regatta Point (my apartment , the guy gave me keys of apartment no 9 but i was supposed to be in 13, so again some confusions. He drove me to his office and handed over keys of 13. I was finally inside my apartment. What next?

The room is awesome and has all the amenities that we can think off from the heater, washing machine, music system, DVD player, TV, dishwasher to modular kitchen. But the big question for me was how to use those amenities. I was just experimenting with every switch and somehow managed to get a couple of things working. Yet to know how to get the heater working for water.

I had a bath and went to the local DLR station (same as metro in india) nearby. I got a weekly pass of 23 pounds and 20 pence for 7 days from Canary WHARF. Canary Wharf has lods of shopping malls and huge buildings that of Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Citibank, HSBC, Barclay's etc. It has a local DLR station as well.

I got a pass for SOUTH QUAY to TOWER GATEWAY. I was relieved when i got it because without it i needed to spend more money to travel. With this pass you can go anywhere from Zone 1 to Zone 2 any number of time with any means of transport. That sounds good. Isn't it?When i reached Regatta Point (my apartment , the guy gave me keys of apartment no 9 but i was supposed to be in 13, so again some confusions. He drove me to his office and handed over keys of 13. I was finally inside my apartment. What next?

The room is awesome and has all the amenities that we can think off from the heater, washing machine, music system, DVD player, TV, dishwasher to modular kitchen. But the big question for me was how to use those amenities. I was just experimenting with every switch and somehow managed to get a couple of things working. Yet to know how to get the heater working for water.

I had a bath and went to the local DLR station (same as metro in india) nearby. I got a weekly pass of 23 pounds and 20 pence for 7 days from Canary WHARF. Canary Wharf has lods of shopping malls and huge buildings that of Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Citibank, HSBC, Barclay's etc. It has a local DLR station as well.

I got a pass for SOUTH QUAY to TOWER GATEWAY. I was relieved when i got it because without it i needed to spend more money to travel. With this pass you can go anywhere from Zone 1 to Zone 2 any number of time with any means of transport. That sounds good. Isn't it?

The room is awesome and has all the amenities that we can think off from the heater, washing machine, music system, DVD player, TV, dishwasher to modular kitchen. But the big question for me was how to use those amenities. I was just experimenting with every switch and somehow managed to get a couple of things working. Yet to know how to get the heater working for water.

I had a bath and went to the local DLR station (same as metro in india) nearby. I got a weekly pass of 23 pounds and 20 pence for 7 days from Canary WHARF. Canary Wharf has lods of shopping malls and huge buildings that of Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Citibank, HSBC, Barclay's etc. It has a local DLR station as well.

I got a pass for SOUTH QUAY to TOWER GATEWAY. I was relieved when i got it because without it i needed to spend more money to travel. With this pass you can go anywhere from Zone 1 to Zone 2 any number of time with any means of transport. That sounds good. Isn't it?

I had a bath and went to the local DLR station (same as metro in india) nearby. I got a weekly pass of 23 pounds and 20 pence for 7 days from Canary WHARF. Canary Wharf has lods of shopping malls and huge buildings that of Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Citibank, HSBC, Barclay's etc. It has a local DLR station as well.

I got a pass for SOUTH QUAY to TOWER GATEWAY. I was relieved when i got it because without it i needed to spend more money to travel. With this pass you can go anywhere from Zone 1 to Zone 2 any number of time with any means of transport. That sounds good. Isn't it?

I got a pass for SOUTH QUAY to TOWER GATEWAY. I was relieved when i got it because without it i needed to spend more money to travel. With this pass you can go anywhere from Zone 1 to Zone 2 any number of time with any means of transport. That sounds good. Isn't it?

I got a couple of snaps in and then returned home since it was really cold here and had a hailstorm as well. It rains any point in time here with no indication whatsoever. The worst thing is the wind which blows like anything. After returning home, i tried to connect to the internet but my connection wasn't working since i didn't have the driver CD in my apartment  I got it from my neighbor who is also from Sapient and in fact was with me in my last project, quite a senior guy. I installed broadband on my laptop but somehow username and password was incorrect so i wasn't able to access it. I have requested NEST( 3rd party responsible for arranging accommodation for my company) to give me a fresh username and password.

I had home cooked dinner at around 9 and then slept at 9:30 as was damn tired. For a change i woke up at 5:45 in the morning and thought of going for a jog as i can see good babes around but then it was drizzling so i skipped the idea. I got ready for the office and before leaving prepared my breakfast and tea. Guess what i had in breakfast?? I had UPMA and tea. I enjoyed it a lot. I caught DLR from South Quay station and got down at Shadwell to change another DLR for Tower Gateway.

My office is close to TOWER GATEWAY. So got in the office though no one knows Beaufort house here where my office is. But we Indians can find anything anywhere, so i am in office finally. Waiting for my PM in London. So that's all from my first day.

One thing is for sure, i miss home and every friend of mine with whom i keep in touch. It is not as easy to live outside as we think. I will keep posting as the days goes on and i get to know more about people here and London in general.

I got a couple of snaps in and then returned home since it was really cold here and had a hailstorm as well. It rains any point in time here with no indication whatsoever. The worst thing is the wind which blows like anything. After returning home, i tried to connect to the internet but my connection wasn't working since i didn't have the driver CD in my apartment  I got it from my neighbor who is also from Sapient and in fact was with me in my last project, quite a senior guy. I installed broadband on my laptop but somehow username and password was incorrect so i wasn't able to access it. I have requested NEST( 3rd party responsible for arranging accommodation for my company) to give me a fresh username and password.

I had home cooked dinner at around 9 and then slept at 9:30 as was damn tired. For a change i woke up at 5:45 in the morning and thought of going for a jog as i can see good babes around but then it was drizzling so i skipped the idea. I got ready for the office and before leaving prepared my breakfast and tea. Guess what i had in breakfast?? I had UPMA and tea. I enjoyed it a lot. I caught DLR from South Quay station and got down at Shadwell to change another DLR for Tower Gateway.

My office is close to TOWER GATEWAY. So got in the office though no one knows Beaufort house here where my office is. But we Indians can find anything anywhere, so i am in office finally. Waiting for my PM in London. So that's all from my first day.

One thing is for sure, i miss home and every friend of mine with whom i keep in touch. It is not as easy to live outside as we think. I will keep posting as the days goes on and i get to know more about people here and London in general.

I had home cooked dinner at around 9 and then slept at 9:30 as was damn tired. For a change i woke up at 5:45 in the morning and thought of going for a jog as i can see good babes around but then it was drizzling so i skipped the idea. I got ready for the office and before leaving prepared my breakfast and tea. Guess what i had in breakfast?? I had UPMA and tea. I enjoyed it a lot. I caught DLR from South Quay station and got down at Shadwell to change another DLR for Tower Gateway.

My office is close to TOWER GATEWAY. So got in the office though no one knows Beaufort house here where my office is. But we Indians can find anything anywhere, so i am in office finally. Waiting for my PM in London. So that's all from my first day.

One thing is for sure, i miss home and every friend of mine with whom i keep in touch. It is not as easy to live outside as we think. I will keep posting as the days goes on and i get to know more about people here and London in general.

My office is close to TOWER GATEWAY. So got in the office though no one knows Beaufort house here where my office is. But we Indians can find anything anywhere, so i am in office finally. Waiting for my PM in London. So that's all from my first day.

One thing is for sure, i miss home and every friend of mine with whom i keep in touch. It is not as easy to live outside as we think. I will keep posting as the days goes on and i get to know more about people here and London in general.

One thing is for sure, i miss home and every friend of mine with whom i keep in touch. It is not as easy to live outside as we think. I will keep posting as the days goes on and i get to know more about people here and London in general.

Note: London is divided into zones.