London Part II on Film

Hey Film Friends! It’s my 24th birthday today and it really puts into perspective the whole concept of time. I was 22 when I visited Europe. So two years have passed just like that. Honestly, I feel the same now as I feel back then. Alright, enough with that. Back to the traveling. This is the last post to end the whole month long Europe trip. The last three days in London.

Sze Min was in the UK on an exchange program and we decided to meet because, why not? On the morning that we decided to meet, I happened to wake up a little earlier than usual and so I decided to walk around Elysia’s neighbourhood and I stumbled upon Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate. It was where Eggsy from Kingsman lived. I loved the brutalist architecture and was very happy when a lady in a rich vibrant blue dress walked by and added the pop of colour I needed for a photo. After about 30 minutes, I met Sze Min and we grabbed some breakfast at The Breakfast Club. No photos because we were so hungry, we immediately devoured the food when it arrived.

After breakfast, we decided to be cultured people (or at least pretend to be) by visiting the Natural History Museum. One of the best things about London is that most of their museums and galleries have free entry, unlike in other parts of Europe. I did not really visit the other museums but I should have. The National Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum and Tate Modern are just some of museums and galleries on my list. We went on a Wednesday and was not expecting a line snaking all the way to the metro exit. Still, we queued and there was even a busker entertaining us. Pretty soon, we were at the entrance and prepared for an afternoon of cool exhibits and learning.

After the museum, we caught the afternoon matinee show of Les Misérables and boy was it the best live theatre show I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. Everything was perfect. Scene changes were seamless. The music and singing was on point, I felt like I was in France in the 1800s. I guess this is what you get when you watch the longest running musical.

Street busker playing on a guitar made of a tin can.

Whale skeleton in the middle of the Natural History Museum.

That night, I arranged for Ms Chew, Elysia, Sze Min and I to have dinner at Dishoom and it was one of the best Indian food I’ve ever tasted. I still dream about their lamb chop sometimes.

The next day, I went to meet Tanya in her school, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in the University of London. I always love visiting friends in their schools because it sort of allows me to see their everyday life.

While we were there, there was a market going on and we grabbed some grub from there. It was fun to see all local produce and food being sold there. Sort of like a mini gallery. That’s what I like about markets.

Photos up till now were shot on the Contax T2 with Agfa Vista 400. Developed and scanned by Photocity Lab in Bangkok, Thailand.

Don’t know what happened, random light leak in the middle of the roll. But I like it.

After we parted ways when Tanya had to leave for class, I took awhile just walking around the campus, pretending I was a student. One of the coolest parts of the school is that they have a church in the middle of the school. It was very quaint and reminded me of a small English town. And I love the fact that it rained so the floors were a little wet.

Nice little coffee truck. Would love to have Milo truck in this size.

I had some time to kill before my next appointment so I decided to work towards that general direction. London’s weather made it very nice to walk around and it allowed me to see so much more the city.

Only tree in the park with Autumn colours. I think Autumn forgot Europe while I was there.

I wanted to try CouchSurfing at least once. So that night, I actually decided to stay with someone I met on the platform. His name was Vudi and he was a photography student studying in South London. He had some lessons before I met him so met him near his school before taking a short walk to his place.

The walk was very scenic as it was along the River Thames and we saw the London Bridge as well as Tower Bridge. I was honestly shocked when Vudi told me that the bridge with two towers was not London Bridge. Bridge with two towers? Tower bridge? It was so obvious. I guess it has something to do with the imagery we see when we sang “London Bridge is Falling Down” back in kindergarten. So the bridge everyone knows as “London” Bridge is actually Tower Bridge.

When we arrived at Vudi‘s apartment, it was already pretty late. So he made some snacks, baguette with eggs, and we went to bed. It was honestly very nice because he just had an air mattress delivered to his place in the morning so I had a proper bed to sleep on.

The next morning, Vudi had to go off and shoot for a school assignment so we didn’t have much time to hang. I guess the only bad part of my CouchSurfing experience was that we didn’t have enough time to hang out in the day. But I guess that’s all part of CouchSurfing.

After thanking him for his hospitality and saying our goodbyes, I wandered around his neighbourhood taking photos. It wasn’t everyday you get to explore a residential area in London. The light was hitting really nicely as well so that helped.

The good thing about Vudi’s place was that it was really near Borough Market. So I did a light morning strong along the River Thames. It was interesting to see how Londoners start their day. There were joggers, people dropping their kids off at school and even a mobile coffeeshop (Coffee machine fitted into the trunk of a small car).

Photos up till now were shot on the Contax T2 with Agfa Vista 400. Developed and scanned by Photocity Lab in Bangkok, Thailand.

Cool Aston Martin just hanging out by the river banks.

Upon arriving at Borough Market, the smells of food immediately whetted my appetite. I was famished. Luckily I did some research on the best food to have at the market and I ended up with some grilled cheese sandwich from Kappacasein. The market was filled with artisanal produces, think cheeses that takes a few years to produce, wines made from specially grown grapes and organic foods.

It was interesting as the market is a feast for the senses. A multi-sensory experience for your eyes, ears, mouth, nose and skin. I love watching the locals interacting with the market vendors. Sometimes cheeky banter can be heard if you listen hard enough. There is also some sampling available. so don’t buy too much food!

Love the reds and greens of Borough Market.

Next on my itinerary after a morning in Borough Market, was a day of exploring with Nicholas, my trumpet senior from music school. He was studying in the UK and happened to be in London while I was visiting so we planned to meet up. We decided to check out Camden Town as it was a cool little area with a lot of vintage stores selling second hand stuff like records and film cameras. A Joel’s paradise basically.

Perhaps I was experiencing photographer’s fatigue by then. But I did not take as many photos even though the neighbourhoods surrounding Camden Town was very photogenic. Especially Primrose Hill with its pastel houses. I guess while I was with Nicholas, we were mostly just catching up and enjoying the view. We had a very typical English tea break of tea and scones at Whittard. Speaking of which, Elysia was the one who introduced me to this tea shop and I loved the tea from there so much I brought home 3 boxes of tea!

After tea, we parted ways and I met Elysia for our last dinner together in London at Flat Iron Steak, one of the must eats of London for its super affordable price point. £10 and you get a juicy steak!

I really love the brick aesthetic of London.

Photos up till now were shot on the Contax T2 with Agfa Vista 400. Developed and scanned by Photocity Lab in Bangkok, Thailand.

Doesn’t this look like a Singaporean economic rice stall?

Photos up till now were shot on the Contax T2 with Agfa Vista 400. Developed and scanned by Photocity Lab in Bangkok, Thailand.

After dinner, Elysia and I watched a movie at home and I had to start on the dreadful task of packing my luggage. I kept procrastinating because I didn’t want to go back to Singapore. The next day, I made my way to the airport alone and had to say goodbye to the travelling life for awhile. At that point of time, I didn’t know when I was going to travel again. But I knew that I really wanted to go to India. So, I made it happen and visited India last May. The next blog post will be about India so stay tuned for that.

With that, I want to take everyone who has taken the time to look at my travel blog and enjoy the photos and stories that I’ve shared. Anyway, I’ve been playing with the idea of creating postcards and/or zines of my travels. What do you guys think? Would that be cool? Let me know!

Once again, thanks for reading and till the next blog post, keep shooting film friends!