So I went to London for a few days again since my last trip in late Jan. This time I went to a few places that I didn't get to go the first time. Weather was a bit nicer, no rain and not as cold as late January.

Arrived on Thursday, stayed in Piccadilly Circus area again. Walked to TKTS (learned from last time not to go to the "side" ticket places) and this time got a very nice seat for Chicago for 22.50 pounds. National Gallery was just around the corner so I went in and looked at my favorite Impressionism paintings. Afterwards I was walking towards SoHo looking for a restaurant in the guidebook but didn't get there because a) I smelled the nice aroma coming from the Chinatown restaurant and b) I was starving. So unfortunately I went to Wong Kei, yet again. I said "unfortunately" beacause this time the food was bland, and the hot and sour soup (w/bbq pork and shrimp) was strange and not good at all (to me, of course, perhaps Londoners like this taste). The service was starting to get to me, they were trying to take my plate away whenever I put my fork down to rest. Really wanted me out, huh?! Anyways, I think I will not go back there.

Took a nap after lunch. Woke up in the evening and walked to see Chicago. Still had time so just had a sandwich in the Pret a Manger next door. The bread was hard and the chicken sald was heavy on mayo. Dessert was chocolate cheesecake, and it was not good as it tasted like mousse/pudding but with more consistency. Okay, there goes another place I'm blacklisting.

I thoroughly enjoyed Chicago and thought it was better than the movie. The odd thing is, the woman who played Roxie looked just like Catherine Zeta Jones with the dark short hair with bang, and the woman who played Velma (?) had blond curly hair (like Rene Zellwegger?). All the dancers were really great, except maybe this one male dancers who need to lose some weight because I could see his belly jiggle (he had a black see-through thing on) and it almost looked like Homer Simpson's...yeah, that's how good and up front my seat was! Hehe.

Tried my luck in the Hard Rock Casino (free membership required), which is quite small compared to the casinos in the States, it was smaller than the Indian casinos ten years ago. Let's just say my luck was not good...Tired of losing and all the smoke (and also just tired), I went back to the hostel and slept.

I had intended to sleep in, but always woke up in early 6-7am. Grabbed toasts and OJ, and surfed the net. Was tired again and went back to bed.

Was really surprised that I had slept in so much and woke up at just past 3pm. As in "Four Weddings and a Funeral", I said "f*** f*** f***", silently of course. I had booked the London Eye at 4pm and was told to get there 1/2 hour before, and was worried that I will not make it. Turned out that I had nothing to worry about, since the Eye is constantly loading and unloading, I just had to get in line and get on. Okay I did have something to worry about because I had booked online and didn't know that what I booked was a package that came with a river cruise, which had a last cruise at 4:45pm, so I had to get on the Eye at 4pm so I'd make it to the cruise. Thankfully the info guy helped me cut in line and I got on at 4pm.

It was a wonderful view on the Eye, and 1/2 hour went by really fast. I got on the river cruise just in time. At first I wanted to stay on the top open deck so I can take good pictures, but it was freezing cold so I went down. Then whenever a pi-taking-moment came, I'd go up. So if you were on a cruise and saw a girl rushing upstairs and downstairs with a digicam, that's me. Although I never intended to take a cruise, I'm glad I did. The operator told histories and stories of each place and building that the cruise went by, and it was good info to know.

The sun had set has the cruise tour ended, and Big Ben and the Parliament and other buidlings had lighted up, what a view! I was starving and almost stopped at the hot dog stand because it smelled just so delicious but I didn't want to eat in the cold wind. I was going to the Dali Universe so I figured and hoped that there'd be a coffee shop of some sort. Even better, I got into this jazz bar/restaurant right next to the Dali U. It's a small place, live jazz band, with a view of river Thames and Big Ben. I got myself a table and the friendly waiteress brought me a menu. All courses were under 10 pounds. I got a cappuccino and a special - seafood risotto. Since I was so hungry my view may be biased but the risotto was excellent! Lots of seafood - mussels, shrimps, salmon, and squid. The only thing is just that it's not as creamy as I thought it should be (like in the restaurants here), but still very tasty. The lighting was dim and the waiteress brought over a candle for each table, so romantic that the couple next table was displaying excess PDA. Sipping my cappuccino, enjoying the live jazz and the beautiful view, I didn't think any other moment in my trip would top the experience. Okay, that was my full stomach talking...

The good thing was that by the time I got to it the Dali U was closed. The bad thing was that I went back the next day. I should've take it as a sign that it was closed for my benefit. Nooooo, I had to come back on Saturday!

Anyway, so I went to Tate Modern as planned, since it closes late at 10pm on Friday. It's just me, but I must say I enjoyed TM more than any other museums and gallaries I've been, I stayed for 2 and 1/2 hours. Of course, I got to see the very famous Rodin's The Kiss sculpture and learned more about it. But I must ask: is it just me or does anyone else not think much about the exterior of TM? TM closed and I left - back to bed.

Woke up early again, and went back to sleep until 10am checkout. I was meeting my cousin and would stay with her for one night. Was going to grab breakfast at a corner coffee shop, but no one serviced me and the price was not ideal so I left. Got some fresh hot soymilk and a bbq pork bun (2.10 pounds) at a cafe in Chinatown. Tubed to Dali Universe. That was not a good use of 8.50 pounds, but I suppose considering all the free museums and galleries I've been to, 8.50 pounds for all was good. I only liked a few of Dali's pieces, and the rest of his art were, well, too surreal for me. So unless you're a hardcore surrealist and Dalinian, this is one place to skip.

Took a ride on the buses until I was hungry. Now get this, I went to Chinatown again (surprise!). I went back to the Garden restaurant near the Leicester Station, the first restaurant I set foot in in London. This time, the service was not good, whereas tea was free before (as in most if not all Chinese restaurants), I was charged this time. I was about to drink my tea when I noticed a hair in it, eeewwww. The waitress never came around again for me to tell her to replace the tea. So I had my small curry chicken and wonton soup, wrote on the napkin pointing out the hair in the tea and walked up to the counter to pay. I didn't know I was to be charged for tea and when I found out I told the cashier I didn't drink the tea because of the hair, and he took it off my bill. Glad I had wrote it on the napkin or they might have thought that I was finding excuses not to pay 50 pences! Well, another restaurant on my blacklist.

Met up with my cousin in her quaint hotel in South Kensington. The room was nice but so tiny that there was barely room to walk with a bed, a desk, and a small TV/stand in it. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The concierge brought me and my bag to my cousin's room, and refused my tip (is 1 pound too little?!). I took a nice bath as my cousin took a little nap. We then went to Piccadilly Circus area and went to a nice Japanese restaurant named Itsu. Itsu has rotating sushi plates and we just grabbed whatever we want. There was a service button, so no one bothered us until we pressed it. Their miso soup was the BEST I've ever had, and I eat Japanese food all the time! Atmosphere was great, sushi rolls and sashimi were not great but good. The waitress then informed us they had a deal of any 4 plates, a miso soup, and rice for 10 pounds, which was a great deal and so we took it. Then we had an extra plate of creme brulee and it was a little liquid but good flavor. Great meal!

Back to the hotel and took a nap before our night out. We had decided to go clubbing, and I'd chose Club Fantastic because I had a flyer and also Fabric based on the recommendation from others and TimeOut magazine. CF was in Piccadilly Circus, so we went back there again near midnight. They were supposed to play music of the decades (70s-present), but I didn't know many of the songs and there were lots of 70s and Michael Jackson music. We tried to just enjoy ourselves and danced. To our dismay() there were no cute guys, in our opinions. We decided maybe a few drinks would help us, hehe, and so we got some. So some guys came and danced with us, and they were either old enough to be our parents younger brothers, or too young, or too geeky, or too slimy. We tried to enjoy ourselves, and we did somewhat regardless, but no drinks would improve and we only enjoyed a few minutes of the music played, so we decided to leave and go to Fabric. It was 2am but really so very windy and chilly. I was an idiot for totalling forgetting the Tube closed at around midnight and that was the way I knew how to get to Fabric. Tried to see if any bus goes there, but to no avail. Okay, no fear, there's always taxi, right? There were taxis lining up, but no in service, why why why? We walked around trying to get a cab, and I'm not kidding there were none in Piccadilly Circus at past 2am?! We walked to other streets hoping maybe there were, some cabs already had customers, some people got to some before we did, and lots of cabs just told us they were not in service. Our feet hurt and we were cold, so got we got some food and hot chocolate. We decided to call it a night and hope to get a taxi to get back to the hotel. Nope, still nothing. Finally got on a bus and we were back to the hotel past 4am. My cousin was so cranky (jetlagged perhaps) and pissed off at the london cabs she started cussing -- it would've been hilarious to see her reaction if I were not freezing to death and my feet were not hurting like hell.

I tried to pack so I don't have to do too much in a few hours before I go to the airport. Slept for 4 hours tops.

Woked up at 8:30 because my flight was at 11am and I allowed 1 hour for the Tube ride to LHR. My cousin asked me to request a wake up call for her so I went to the front desk. There was a well-dressed man checking out so I waited next to him. He said "morning" and I greeted him back. Then I did a double take - hey! It's the british actor in Home Alone 2 (the greedy concierge)! I didn't want to say anything or ask for autograph or ask to take a picture -- okay I wanted to but then I figured actors are humans too and he might want some privacy. Also, a) I didn't remember his name at the time, and b) I had only remember him in one movie and perhaps he might take offense! LOL. So we (he and I with the front desk girl) chatted and I guess he was leaving to visit the countryside. Talked about something about cold weather coming in, and I said I'm glad I won't see it...he asked me where I'm going and I said California...to which he replied that was his home too but he'll leave later in a few days...etc. etc. He looked just like he did in movies (can't say that for other actors/actresses I've met in person), was dressed nicely, and always smiling and cracking jokes and being funny. Nice man, I thought in the few minutes we've chatted. He signed off his *huge* stack of hotel bills and started walking away, as the front desk girl tried to ask him whether he wanted anything else...coffee or tea...blah blah. Hey...where was my coffee or tea?! Anyway, I didn't have time for them since I gotta Tube to the airport. But it was a nice surprise to bump into the actor. I mean, growing up in L.A., it was easy to bump into lots of celebrities, but I never expected it in London, and in a hotel I never would've stayed if not for my cousin.

So I went to the airport and that was my short trip.

Pardon my grammar (past/present tenses)...I just woke up and couldn't wait to tell y'all 'bout me trip!

Nice report. It sounds like you had a fun and invigorating time in London. Those cheap airfares sure have made it an easy trip to rationalize (so I booked a pair of trips, too -- and I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one!) The weather over Valentine's weekend was very decent -- especially as I look out my window at two feet of snow right now. As for the half price tickets, I was surprised to see much LONGER lines at some of the "side" places than at the official half price ticket booth in Leicester Square. What's THAT about?!

Singlegalzz, what was the actors name? Too bad about the cab situation. So the clubbing was not so hot ;-)? Good trip report. That Chinese rest. sounds horrible, a hair in the tea? Yeccchh. We are going to London Wed. Would like to see Chicago...maybe we will???? Judy

Judyrem -

Well, I didn't mention any names to preserve the actor's privacy. However, there aren't too many English actor playing a greedy concierge in Home Alone 2, if you know what I mean?!

As for clubbing, it was only 1 club and we should've gone to Fabric first, oh well, next time.

I went to TKTS pretty early, just past 10am and the line was not too long. My seat was in the stalls - F31, which was close to the left side but very up front. They (TKTS) put up the Chicago sign just as it was almost my turn to buy the ticket, so I lucked out. Go early if you planned to buy half-priced tickets.

Have fun!

Flyboy -

I know what you mean about the ticket lines. I think it's because 1) people got excited at the prospect of "half-priced" tickets and totally forgotten about TKTS, and 2) the "side" ticket sellers have tickets that TKTS don't sell (such as Phantom and the Lion King) - even though they're not even "half-priced" as I've learned the hard way.

The actor's name is Tim Curry.

Someone my age would have recognized Tim Curry more for his role as the cross-dressing alien mad scientist from Rocky Horror Picture Show than as a butler from Home Alone