0 Happening day at Kensington & Hyde Park

Can't believe exams are just ~2 weeks away and here am I, still galavanting around London like there's no tomorrow. Well, soon enough, this statement will indeed come true. To reward myself for NOT going out yesterday, I spent the whole day out today. Here's today in pictures!

First stop: Natural History Museum. Although I'm quite sick of visiting museums, a cumulative effect from the past few months of sightseeing, London's Natural History Museum is pretty famous and it would be a blasphemy so stay in London for 3 months without making a visit here. I was up bright and early and arrived here shortly past 10 am (my trip took longer than expected due to weekend tube closures) and there was already a queue snaking its way onto Cromwell Road. Good choice that I came early!

Natural History Museum basking in what's left of November's sun - beautiful weather today!

This place is catered for family & kids, and family & kids descended galore to this place. The dinosaur gallery could be mistaken for a kindergarten learning centre; the sheer amount of kids and parents trying to teach their kids was inescapable. "Say tie-ran-o-soar-rus," a mother would say. Apart from the crowd, the displays were not of fantastic quality but they were clear and simple - and abundant.

Dino gallery that was infiltrated with kids.

Baleen from the blue whale. Say eeeee...

Charles Darwin gets a prominent spot in the museum. He overlooks the entire center space.

After about 2 hours at the museum, I went to another museum - the V&A which is dedicated to art & design. You might think I'm crazy, but the two museums were just next to each other, and even though I was getting hungry, it would be a waste to skip the V&A. I didn't do a thorough comb of all the galleries; walking through them would be a more accurate description. I liked the photography, stained glass, postmodern furniture design and jewelry and silver section. I skipped the paintings and Europe/Asia stuff because I never know how to appreciate those things. At least now I can say I've been to the V&A :)

I was excited about my planned lunch at Ottolenghi, an eatery by the eponymous chef famous for cooking stunning vegetarian food that is a feast for both the eyes and stomach. I made my way down to the Holland Street outlet, devoured my eyes on the selection of cakes, pastries, and salads - and walked out empty handed. I just couldn't justify paying £2.60/100g of salad. The main factor was the lack the seating. It was a take-away kiosk. Just opposite the road, however, I spied this:

Menoo Eclectic Foods. Nice bow there, eh? I didn't realize it when I took the picture.

Not long after, this arrived at my table:

Leek quiche!

Although they also had a decent selection of salads at the display, I threw health to the wind and ordered a leek quiche (£3.50). To think of it, I can actually count with one hand the number of times I ate out in London. If I can make my own salads, why should I order them? Besides I haven't had a quiche in such a long time. Leek quiche it was. A side note: the staff weren't familiar with the food at all. When I asked about what was in the different types of quiche, he was squinting at the ingredients and mumbling something I couldn't catch. He tried to be helpful though.

Another picture, leaking with leeks :P

The quiche was bursting with leeks, literally, as they were spilling out over the crust. It wasn't too eggy, cheesy or oily (I think I'm starting to like cheese in small amounts now?). It was very sloppy and wet though, which I don't think a quiche should be. Whatever, as long it was tasty, and it was.

Refuelled, it was time to hit Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland!

There was crazy number of people there

The Wonderland was larger than I had expected. There were roller coasters, games, food stalls and the Christmas market. And it was PACKED.

Ready....

... and screeeeeam!

What a day! Back to work!
P.S. got Saf Kale & Spirulina crackers @ Whole Foods!

0 Lights, music ... BOOM

I enjoyed myself thoroughly last night despite a mounting load of work to complete.

First: my first construct-your-own-salad from Whole Foods salad bar!

You choose either a small, medium or large box, and then fill stuff it to the brim with the tantalizing array of salads - from grains to beans to proteins to veg. I got a little crazy and took a little of almost everything, including (but not limited to, as I can't recall all of them):
- pearled barley risotto
- quinoa
- red rice
- mango salsa
- broccoli w sun-dried tomatoes and garlic
- curried cauliflower
- scrambled tofu (!)
- sicilian tuna
- crab cakes
- giant couscous (fregola)
- butternut squash
- grilled aubergine
- grilled zucchini
- "meat" loaf (made from tofu, something like a nut rissole)
- slice of something made from tofu

Wow! As I type I'm amazed how many items I managed to stuff into that small box, like Hermione's magic purse. I hadn't had time to eat much (and probably couldnt finish it anyway), so now I have lots of leftovers to last me another one or two meals!

Then I scooted off to the Royal Albert Hall for Classical Spectacular. The highlight and everyone's favorite was clearly Land of Hope and Glory, apparently a British patriotic song. That's why there were not only red, blue and white laser lights (forming the Union Jack), but also people were madly waving their mini British flags to the beat of the music. Looking around the great hall with people singing in unison was a sight to behold.

The (pre)finale was Tchaikovsky's 1812. I first learnt about it through the film V for Vendetta and was addicted to the song. I wished they had accelerated the tempo a bit more, but the fireworks and real pistols and cannons made amazing effects. I was nearly falling asleep during the slow part (can't blame me, I was tired from running about earlier in the day) and when the first shot fired, I almost jolted out from my seat. I paid only 13.50 for the tics (and a little more for booking fee) and it was more than worth it!