London - Shopping in Oxford Street

Date: 18th April 2014

Silver bracelet that I purchased at Kensington's street as a memory of London

London, I mean Oxford Street was our last visited place in ending our 16 days of the 2nd leg earthbound train travel. I was lucky as Anne is simply agreeable to whatever changes that I proposed to her when it comes to our train rides project. For instance, having my 2 sisters in our 2nd leg was something that Anne agrees to though later we both shake hand that it would be the first and the last we squeeze other people to join in our adventure, our dreams. However, ending our long trip doing shopping, rest assured, all 4 of us went bonkers reaching this huge, narrow long lane Oxford Street. There's more than 300 shops are there on both sides of the street.

I have difficulties sharing photos for this entry as nobody bothers about taking photos as soon as we left Hyde Park. Everyone were too busy checking what more to shop for the love one back home, including myself. As for me, I bought 2 Fossils watches for the boys, 2 clerk shoes for me, lingerie in Mark & Spencer, lots of souvenirs etc etc. I also bought the most expensive bracelet from London, a pure silver with miniature of Tower Bridge, England's flag, Royal crown (see the first photo).

Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, Europe's busiest shopping street. The Street runs for approximately 2.5 kilometres from Marble Arch at the north east corner of Hyde Park, through Oxford Circus to St Giles Circus, at the junction with Charing Cross Road and Tottenham Court Road. The shops open all day except in Christmas, from Monday to Tuesday, 9am till 10pm, except on Sunday it open slightly late, at 11am. You may click the link that I'm sharing herewith, Oxfordstreet.co.uk, should you want to check the directions, shops that are operating along the street, where to get the foods so on and so forth.

Oxford Street offers an unrivalled shopping experience as it has an exciting mix of high-street fashion and international brands, accessories, childrenswear, technology and homewear. The 2.5km high street brands such as Topshop, Gap, River Island and endless iconic department stores including Selfridges, John Lewis, House of Fraser and Marks & Spencer, making Oxford Street as an ultimate shopping paradise. There’s variety of foods outlet (rest assured that Muslim’s food are plentiful to choose at) as there is always something to satisfy everyone.

Last but not least, we found the famous red London telephone booth and the red double decker bus to end my travelogue in London. 

London - Kensington Gardens & Hyde Park

Date: 18th April 2014

For some reason, we had included a visit to Hyde Park in our itinerary without checking how huge is the area, though we knew that our time in London is rather short for a visit to park. Secondly, we were too busy searching for an entrance signage with "Hyde Park" not knowing that Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park are actually attached with each other. Nevertheless, a walk in both Kensington Gardens seeing a friendly animals inside (pigeons, squirrel, ducks etc) relaxed our muscle, I mean with fresh air filling our nostrils, we had no complaints. The weather was extremely on our side, a good day for photo shoots.

Hyde park is divided in two by the Serpentine and the Long Water. The park is contiguous with Kensington Gardens; although often still assumed to be part of Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens has been technically separate since 1728, when Queen Caroline made a division between the two. Hyde Park covers 142 hectares (350 acres) and Kensington Gardens covers 111 hectares (275 acres) giving an overall area of 253 hectares (625 acres). The combined area of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens are larger than the Principality of Monaco of about 196 hectares or 480 acres, though about one third of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris (845 hectares, or 2090 acres), New York City's Central Park (341 hectares or 840 acres), and Dublin's Phoenix Park (707 hectares, or 1,750 acres). To the southeast, outside the park, is Hyde Park Corner. Although, during daylight, the two parks merge seamlessly into each other, Kensington Gardens closes at dusk but Hyde Park remains open throughout the year from 5 a.m. until midnight.

Kensington Gardens was once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, one of the Royal Parks of London, lying immediately to the west of Hyde Park. It is shared between the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, within western central London. The open spaces of Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park and St. James's Park together form an almost continuous "green lung" in the heart of London between Kensington and Westminster. The Gardens are generally regarded as being the western extent of the neighbouring Hyde Park from which they were originally taken, with West Carriage Drive (The Ring) and the Serpentine Bridge forming the boundary between them. The Gardens are fenced and more formal than Hyde Park, which open only during the hours of daylight, whereas Hyde Park is open from 5 am until midnight all year round, which includes many hours of darkness.

Kensington Gardens were long regarded as smarter than Hyde Park because of its more private character around Kensington Palace. However, in the late 1800s, Hyde Park was considered the more "fashionable" of the two because of its location nearer to Park Lane (Mayfair) and Knightsbridge, adjoining the entrance to central London opposite Wellington Arch and was therefore more crowded. The Gardens was originally the western section of Hyde Park, which had been created by Henry VIII in 1536 to use as a hunting ground. It was separated from the remainder of Hyde Park in 1728 at the request of Queen Caroline and designed by Henry Wise and Charles Bridgeman in order to form a landscape garden, with fashionable features including the Round Pond, formal avenues and a sunken Dutch garden.

Charles Bridgeman has also created the Serpentine between 1726 and 1731 by damming the eastern outflow of the River Westbourne from Hyde Park. The part of the Serpentine that lies within Kensington Gardens is known as "The Long Water". At its north-western end (originally the inflow of the River Westbourne) in an area known as "The Italian Garden", there are four fountains and a number of classical sculptures. At the foot of the Italian Gardens is a parish boundary marker, delineating the boundary between Paddington and St George Hanover Square parishes, on the exact centre of the Westbourne river.

The land surrounding Kensington Gardens was predominantly rural and remained largely undeveloped until the Great Exhibition in 1851. Many of the original features survive along with the Palace, and now there are other public buildings such as the Albert Memorial (at the south-east corner of Kensington Gardens, opposite the Royal Albert Hall), the Serpentine Gallery, and Speke's monument.

The park also contains the Elfin Oak, an elaborately carved 900-year-old tree stump. It is also the setting of J.M. Barrie's book Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, a prelude to the character's famous adventures in Neverland. The fairies of the gardens are first described in Thomas Tickell's 1722 poem Kensington Gardens. Both the book and the character are honoured with the Peter Pan statue by George Frampton located in the park. Rodrigo Fresán's novel Kensington Gardens concerns in part the life of J.M. Barrie and of his creation Peter Pan, and their relationship with the park, as well as the narrator's own. The Infocom interactive fiction game Trinity begins in the Kensington Gardens. The player can walk around many sections of the gardens, which are described in moderate detail. The park is a prominent aspect of the short horror novel The Beast, Ashley McClung, due to the events of the opening and closing chapters occurring at this location.

The Tower of London

Date: 18th April 2014

Looking back, it was equally great that we managed to tour outside the Tower of London by chance when we spotted it while having a good coffee break at Starbucks. After the coffee, we walked bypassing the tower palace in search for the next metro line heading towards the famous London parks (for clarification, it is famous according to Malaysian who loves to visit the park whenever they are in London). It was an exchange visit to the 2 places, Buckingham Palace and the Eye of London which we did not managed to find till the end. We are very positive to return in the near future so that we can visit all those places in the next visit. In the meantime, I would like to share the history of the Tower of London as narrated by Wikipedia for my personal reference.

The Tower of London is actually Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. Rest assured that those Tower Hill has long gone, flattened by a vast development of London’s city. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, resented a symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. The castle was used as a prison from 1100 until 1952, although that was not its primary purpose. It was originally intended as a grand palace early in its history, served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within 2 concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.

Having had her wedding photo at the Tower

The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history. It was besieged several times and has been controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public records office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II, a procession would be led from the Tower to Westminster Abbey on the coronation of a monarch. In the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower is in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period. In the late 15th century the castle was the prison of the Princes in the Tower. Under the Tudor dynasty (1485-1603), the Tower became used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle its defences lagged behind developments to deal with artillery.

The peak period of the castle's use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries, when many figures who had fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, were held here. This use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower". Despite its enduring reputation as a place of torture and death, popularised by 16th-century religious propagandists and 19th-century writers, only seven people were executed within the Tower before the World Wars of the 20th century. Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle, with 112 occurring there over a 400-year period. In the latter half of the 19th century, institutions such as the Royal Mint moved out of the castle to other locations, leaving many buildings empty. Anthony Salvin and John Taylor took the opportunity to restore the Tower to what was felt to be its medieval appearance, clearing out many of the vacant post-medieval structures. In the First and Second World Wars, the Tower was again used as a prison, and witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz was repaired and the castle reopened to the public. Today the Tower of London is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, it is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site.

The Tower was oriented with its strongest and most impressive defences overlooking Saxon London, which archaeologist Alan Vince suggests was deliberate. It would have visually dominated the surrounding area and stood out to traffic on the River Thames. The castle is made up of three "wards", or enclosures. The innermost ward contains the White Tower and is the earliest phase of the castle. Encircling it to the north, east, and west is the inner ward, built during the reign of Richard the Lionheart (1189–1199). Finally, there is the outer ward which encompasses the castle and was built under Edward I. Although there were several phases of expansion after William the Conqueror founded the Tower of London, the general layout has remained the same since Edward I completed his rebuild in 1285. The castle encloses an area of almost 12 acres with a further 6 acres around the Tower of London constituting the Tower Liberties, land under the direct influence of the castle and cleared for military reasons. The precursor of the Liberties was laid out in the 13th century when Henry III ordered that a strip of land adjacent to the castle be kept clear. Despite popular fiction, the Tower of London never had a permanent torture chamber, although the basement of the White Tower housed a rack in later periods. Tower Wharf was built on the bank of the Thames under Edward I and was expanded to its current size during the reign of Richard II (1377–1399).

The Tower of London has become established as one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country. It has been a tourist attraction since at least the Elizabethan period, when it was one of the sights of London that foreign visitors wrote about. Its most popular attractions were the Royal Menagerie and displays of armour. The Crown Jewels also garner much interest, and have been on public display since 1669. The Tower steadily gained popularity with tourists through the 19th century, despite the opposition of the Duke of Wellington to visitors. Numbers became so high that by 1851 a purpose-built ticket office was erected. By the end of the century, over 500,000 were visiting the castle every year.

Ticket's booth seated across the Tower

Over the 18th and 19th centuries, the palatial buildings were slowly adapted for other uses and demolished. Only the Wakefield and St Thomas' Towers survive. The 18th century marked an increasing interest in England's medieval past. One of the effects was the emergence of Gothic Revival architecture. In the Tower's architecture, this was manifest when the New Horse Armoury was built in 1825 against the south face of the White Tower. It featured elements of Gothic Revival architecture such as battlements. Other buildings were remodelled to match the style and the Waterloo Barracks were described as "castellated Gothic of the 15th century". Between 1845 and 1885 institutions such as the Mint which had inhabited the castle for centuries moved to other sites; many of the post-medieval structures left vacant were demolished. In 1855 the War Office took over responsibility for manufacture and storage of weapons from the Ordnance Office, which was gradually phased out of the castle. At the same time, there was greater interest in the history of the Tower of London.

Tower Bridge of London & London Bridge

Date: 18th April 2014

Still remember what I wrote about Chain Bridge in Budapest? In a different perspective, Tower Bridge in London and Chain Bridge are both designed by British designer. Chain Bridge was designed by Willian Tierney Clark in 1839, opened 10 years later in 1849. 45 years after, Tower Bridge, designed by Sir Horace Jones was open to public in London. Important to note that a smaller scale of chain bridge was also designed by the Willian Tierney Clark in Thames River, called Marlow Bridge which connecting the town of Marlow, Buckinghamshire and the village of Bisham in Berkshire. It was built between 1829 and 1832. Tower Bridge and Chain Bridge, both are grandeur and unique in it's own that brought so much happiness just by looking at these 2 bridges. 

Like I said in previous entry, Tower Bridge is often mistaken for London Bridge, which is seated not far from each other, i.e. on the next bridge upstream. Although the bridge is an undoubted a London landmark, professional commentators in the early 20th century were critical of its aesthetics. H.H. Statham wrote "It represents the vice of tawdriness and pretentiousness, and of falsification of the actual facts of the structure", while Frank Brangwyn stated that "A more absurd structure than the Tower Bridge was never thrown across a strategic river". It was nothing wrong to my eyes except that the surrounding areas are blooming with modern buildings which makes the Tower Bridge look a little bit out of place, in my opinion. Similarly to the Tower Palace located next to it. However, architectural historian Dan Cruickshank selected the bridge as one of his 4 choices for the 2002 BBC television documentary series Britain's Best Buildings.

Tower Bridge is built from 1886 till 1894, took 8 years, 2 years less than the construction of Chain Bridge in Budapest. It is a combined drawbridge (bascule) and suspension bridge in London which crosses the River Thames. It seated close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name, and has become an iconic symbol of London. The bridge consists of 2 towers tied together at the upper level by means of 2 horizontal walkways, designed to withstand the horizontal forces exerted by the suspended sections of the bridge on the landward sides of the towers. The vertical component of the forces in the suspended sections and the vertical reactions of the 2 walkways are carried by the 2 robust towers. The bascule pivots and operating machinery are housed in the base of each tower. The bridge's present colour scheme dates from 1977, when it was painted red, white and blue for Queen Elizabeth II's silver jubilee. Originally it was painted a mid greenish-blue colour.

View from London's Bridge

The nearest London Underground tube stations are Tower Hill on the Circle and District line, London Bridge and Bermondsey, and the nearest Docklands Light Railway station is Tower Gateway. We took a different route of the tube to reach the London Bridge and thereafter pleasantly walk to the Tower Bridge as it is not that far. London Bridge was built an increased commercial development in the East End of London in the second half of the 19th century. A traditional fixed bridge could not be built because it would cut off access by tall-masted ships to the port facilities in the Pool of London, between London Bridge and the Tower of London.

Historically, a Special Bridge or Subway Committee was formed in 1877, chaired by Sir Albert Joseph Altman, to find a solution to the river crossing problem. It opened the design of the crossing to public competition. Over 50 designs were submitted, including one from civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette. The evaluation of the designs was surrounded by controversy, and it was not until 1884 that a design submitted by Sir Horace Jones, the City Architect (who was also one of the judges), was approved.

Jones' engineer, Sir John Wolfe Barry, revised the idea of a bascule bridge with 2 towers built on piers. The central span was split into 2 equal bascules or leaves, which could be raised to allow river traffic to pass. The 2 side-spans were suspension bridges, with the suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge's upper walkways. The bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by King Edward VII, the Prince of Wales and his wife, the Princess of Wales, Alexandra of Denmark.

The bridge connected an Iron Gate, on the north bank of the river, with Horselydown Lane, on the south, now known as Tower Bridge Approach and Tower Bridge Road, respectively. Until the bridge was opened, the Tower Subway, 400 m to the west was the shortest way to cross the river from Tower Hill to Tooley Street in Southwark. Opened in 1870, Tower Subway was among the world's earliest underground ('tube') railway, but closed after just 3 months and was re-opened as a pedestrian foot tunnel. Once Tower Bridge was open, the majority of foot traffic transferred to using the bridge, there being no toll to pay to use it. Having lost most of its income, the tunnel was closed in 1898.

Tower Bridge is one of 5 London bridges now owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, a charitable trust overseen by the City of London Corporation. It is the only one of the Trust's bridges not to connect the City of London to the Southwark bank, the northern landfall being in Tower Hamlets. Construction started in 1887 and took 8 years with 5 major contractors, Sir John Jackson who built the foundations, Baron Armstrong responsible for the hydraulics, William Webster, Sir H.H. Bartlett, and Sir William Arrol & Co. has employed 432 construction workers. 

Two massive piers, containing over 70,000 tons of concrete, were sunk into the riverbed to support the construction. Over 11,000 tons of steel provided the framework for the towers and walkways. This was then clad in Cornish granite and Portland stone, both to protect the underlying steelwork and to give the bridge a nicer appearance. The original brick facade with the more ornate Victorian Gothic style, which makes the bridge a distinctive landmark, and was intended to harmonise the bridge with the nearby Tower of London. The total cost of construction was £1.184 million, equivalent to £118 million in 2014.

The bridge is 44 m in length with 2 towers each 65 m high, built on piers. The central span of 61 m between the towers is split into 2 equal bascules or leaves, which can be raised to an angle of 86 degrees to allow river traffic to pass. The bascules, weighing over 1,000 tons each, are counterbalanced to minimise the force required and allow raising in five minutes. The 2 side-spans are suspension bridges, 82 m long each, with the suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge's upper walkways. The pedestrian walkways are 44 m above the river at high tide.

IJM is building a luxury residential living Royal Mint Gardens, just behind the Tower London, within walking distance from Starbucks cafe that we stopped that day. During the launch, IJM has invited all staff for early booking. At that time, I had book a unit at Altitude 236, Bukit Mandarina Enclave. Should I know earlier of IJM's Land intention to launch the property, I would not hesitate to book in Royal Mint Gardens as I believed it's worth the investment due to it's strategic location and neighborhood's tourist attractions. 

Source of reference: Wikipedia

London - Glance through visited places

Day visit on 18th April 2014

The first thing we did on arrival at London St Pancras train station was to change our Euros to Pound. After that, we joined a long queue to purchase a metro passes. Nothing much to worry about those things as everyone is speaking English and you would have no troubles communicating with everybody on all matters you wish for; i.e. getting direction. I would discourage for those who has limited time in London to buy London daily passes as it will be waste. The fact is nothing much can be done or visited in a short hours. Well, we have initially listed few places to visit before shopping times. However, our group became bonkers when we found Clark's, Marks & Spencer boutiques etc along the street and started shopping henceforth. 

Following a metro map, we chose to stop at London's Bridge station not knowing that it was not the nearest station to reach London's Tower Bridge. Please take note that London's Bridge is not London's Tower Bridge, make sure you add "Tower"when searching for it. Lucky that the Tower Bridge seated not far from London bridge, hence, nobody complained when we had to walk a bit to reach the place. In addition, the views around the Thames river are worth to see though it was surrounded with modern building. 

After enough photo shots as London Tower Bridge, we had coffee at Starbucks hoping to enjoy their free wifi. Unfortunately, the crowds and poor Internet connection forced us to sit Starbucks outside foyer with a view of Thames river and Tower London, a royal palace. The ladies were only thinking to shop, so, no one would want to enter the huge palace surrounded with modern buildings. We passes visit from the internal side, rather appreciating the historical story of the palace from the outside look.

From there on, we took a tube to reach Hyde Park not knowing that the station we stopped leading us to Kensington Park. Maybe at that time all of us were not concentrated well on the map, as our minds were calculating what to buy at the Oxford Street later on. Kensington Park has equivalent facilities as in Hyde Park, where we decided to stop for prayer and lunch. 

Incidentally we found Royal Albert Hall while searching for Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park which were in our original itinerary. By this time, our group mutually agreed to stop searching in the dark (especially when our heart were no longer wish to visit, but shopping) to drop the 2 places. Instead we went ahead to Oxford Street. 

We finally arrived at Hyde Park entrance (see below photo), but the girls quickly assured me that they do not wish to walk anymore. The view and the environment would be the same with Kensington Park, thus no point to enter, they said. I nodded my agreement. We then, took a bus to Oxford street.There's a Malaysian lady who happened heading towards the same direction, in the bus that we took. She was in London visiting her son, who studied in local university. She bought a fortnightly bus/metro passes at a very good rate.

I've been searching for our shopping photos but we could not find any. Apparently, everyone was too busy shopping along Oxford Street to bother about photos. We were monitoring the time left to spend before ending the trip and headed back to London St Pancras for our train back to Paris.

That was how we spent our time in less than 8 hours in London city.