woke up way too early … 5:20 AM

after the breakfast I went out to the streets and randomly jumped into a double decker bus, hoping that the bus will take me somewhere  to the downtown London …

as it turned out, my instinct on navigation route was correct. The bus took me right into the heart of the London city. This street is called “Regent street”, long stretch of shopping stores… where I came across the National Geographic store (will be on the next post)

I got on to a subway and ended up near the northern bound of London Bridge, I started walking and came across this interesting alley. I could not resist exploring this place, so I went for it .

Yes! This was what I was looking for from the mighty town of London. Old, brick, steel and rusty nostalgic atmosphere.

I walked through the little alley and passed a farmers market and found this coffee place. “Monmouth”, sounds too English isn’t it?

I am not much of a coffee drinker but I am a sucker for a wooden floor and a brick wall coffee place.

argghhh… I was drooling like a Homer Simpson. Doooughnuts…..oh wait English pastry arggghhhh

my latte, the flavor was rich and strong … can not compete with starbucks or other crap

the old fashioned clock matches the place very well

I had to take shot of my camera, because … just look at it, it goes perfect with the surrounding : )

I knew I was in London when I saw this lovely older couple…

Thames River, Westminster Bridge and Big Ben.

London Eye … I didn’t go on that thing, not my cup of tea.

SW and I walked into a random restaurant for dinner, turned out to be a classy & cozy place.

That menu was not very user friendly …

I ordered a sirloin steak with potato wedges. The meat was blah” but the potato wedges were good.

SW ordered grilled steak tartine with caramelized onions.

ps: btw, canon S90 is amazing … !

Well I arrived in London safely yesterday (Tuesday) at 11:00 AM. I had a little reunion at the airport with my friend Sang in 10 years. He hasn’t changed much, just a bigger version of himself compared to 10 years ago. Right now it’s Wednesday 5:40 AM. I had a major headache last night and wasn’t able to sleep well. I will post more pictures from day 1 later on today. Today is the day 2 in London and I will be sightseeing around the town. see you soon.

what I want to do when I comeback hehe .

“Saul Leiter (born 1923) is an American photographer and painter whose early work in the 1940s and 1950s was an important contribution to what came to be recognized as The New York School”

Okay I am packing my bag right now and this is what I have so far for my photo related equipments.

Filson brief case

Macbook pro

Apple mouse

iPhone

Leica M6 w/ voigtlander 35mm

Manfrotto 785SHB tripod (thanks to Jesse)

Fuji Astia film x5

Fuji Velvia film x5

100 Tmax film x5

400 TriX film x 2

Neopan 1600 film x 4

Neopan 400 film x 4

Rollei iso 25 film x 2

Gorillapod tripod

ND 3 stop filter

Shutter release cable

TSA approved locks

Mini LED light

pealess whistle

two axis double bubble spirit level

Moleskin note books

Parker stainless steel pen

Billykirk card wallet

Eagle rock leg stash

Extra battery for Leica

Rick Steve’s Best of Europe

Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian wood

good beer with Mr. Frank

tasty burger at the Father’s Office

spotting a nice custom Jeep

watching Button vs Hamilton vs Schumacher racing in the rain … Priceless !

we love anything from Apple & Ducati

my favorite cafe

drilling metal pipes for some projects & another way to use a motorcycle gloves

stretching my arms after riding for six hours (thanks to Jesse for the pic)