After our graduation ceremony (blog post here), Aliaa and I headed to London for a few days. Our plan was to stay in London before leaving for Italy on Sunday (21 July) for our honeymoon.
To get the most value from our London trip, I had to ensure we did something new in the city, apart from the usual hotspots. The wifey is very excited about shopping at Oxford Street and Harrods, so to balance that out, I added in a few cultural and historical places to visit.
One thing that I would like to point out is the weather. This month is the peak of summer and it is seriously hot and humid. Temperatures in Europe vary between 25 to 33 degrees. The weather drops to around 22 occasionally in London, which was a relief. UK weather tends to be a bit more inconsistent compared to the rest of Europe. More on the Italian summer heat in another post.
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
On our first day in the city, Aliaa took me to Top Hat, a musical show in the famous West End of London. Aliaa bought the tickets online prior to arriving in the UK. The ticket was GBP32.5 per person.
I’ve been to a few West End shows previously, and this is definitely one of the better ones. For more information, refer to their official website here: http://www.tophatonstage.com
Thursday, 18 July 2013
On our second day, we went to Westminster Abbey. I have attempted to go into Westminster Abbey back in August 2008, but the lines were too long so I gave up. Given that it is summer, I was under the impression that the queues were going to be super long. Turns out I was wrong. The queues weren’t long at all! They were 2 entrances based on cash or credit card payments. I took the credit card entrance, and had to wait around 5 minutes before reaching the counter.
Founded in 960, the structure was rebuilt on top of an existing abbey in 1042 by King Edward the Confessor. Later during the Norman invasion, the 1st Norman King, William the Conqueror was crowned as King of England in the abbey in 1066. Now it is used as a church, a place of coronation, and a burial place for notable British individuals.
There were no photos allowed in the abbey, but I was able to snap this (photo above) on my way out. In the middle of the photo, there is a gold tomb. The left tomb with the globe is Isaac Newton‘s memorial. Isaac Newton died in 1727, and the memorial was built in 1731. The monument is located in the nave, near the choir screen. His actual grave is located near the memorial.
After Westminster Abbey, we headed back to Oxford Circus. We were looking for a place to have lunch when we spotted Leon on Regent Street.
Leon is an interesting restaurant. Branding itself as a “natural fast food” joint, it offers a wide range of tasty healthy stuff (salads, wraps, low carb pots etc). Highly recommended. Give it a try if you happen to be in London. I just wish we have more of these healthy food options back in Kuala Lumpur! Visit their website here: http://www.leonrestaurants.co.uk
Related posts: London Part 1, Part 2
Imran Jaafar 
the lunch set looks really good!!