Things to do in London in one single day...

OK, ok China is in London now and therefore many events and exhibitions from, around and about China are available to the public at the moment and most are for free, which is great for us students here.
We started our day by going to The Three Emperors exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. It is a really great exhibition and I remembered most of the stuff from my classes at the University of Cologne and reading Jonathan D. Spence "The Search for Modern China", gosh I loved that book! Anyway after room three of 157 we were all a little bit exhausted and overwhelmed by all the information given on details regarding the palace culture and so forth. On the following pictures you see us after we saw the whole lot of it in front of the Royal Academy of Arts. It was the three of us Kuki, Max and me. (Please keep scrolling and reading...)
After the Royal Academy of Arts we were really hungry and actually we sort of got lost on our way to The Red Mansion Foundation. Suddenly we were and Hanover Square and discovered this health conscious Japanese fast food restaurant, targeting most of the busy office crowd in that area. Food is good and the prices are reasonable.



While searching The Red Mansion, where they were supposed to have some Chinese pop art on display we crossed the Burberry Passage and took a look at the Liberty department store, which is said to be nicer than Harrods...hard to believe since it looks like these half-timbered constructions in the South of Germany.
Liberty is just across the Apple store on Regent street. We went there as well since we were in the neighbourhood. I wanted to check out the new Intel inside Mac laptops, but they only had them on photographs...

























































At this point we did some serious walking and were all grumpy and exhausted. But suddenly we reached Selfriges department store.They were also taking part in that China in London theme so they had some of their shop windows decorated by Chinese artists. Pretty colourful.
At Selfriges we got some Italian ice cream, which was pretty delicious for London and very common in Germany or Italy itself. We passed a beautiful building, which contains according to the sign The Wallace Collection (supposed to be the largest private art collection of some region...maybe the whole world?)


















Unfortunately we could not really appreciate what was on display there...too much pomp and kitsch.
All three of us where happy to see the "OUT" sign soon after entering and we were still trying to find The Red Mansion Foundation, we are just way too much of Londoners so that we would never ask for directions or take a look at our A to Z guides.

Still on our way we entered St. James Church at the Spanish Place and got a quick impression of Roman Catholicism in London.
Finally we arrived at The Red Mansion Foundation and we saw some paintings by Feng Zhengjie. Below you may see a sample of one of his squinting women. The other sample is a photograph taken by Cui Xiuwen. Originally we wanted to go to the British Museum as well, there was supposed to be something called Dog and Dragon some artsy fartsy stuff about Chinese zodiac signs... It was too late for that, but we had a chance to see the beautiful Chinese lights around Oxford Circus.

Happy Birthday to me...suddenly brunch

Waking up is hard to do...this is how Paul and me look in the morning after an eventful weekend. We are getting started for my Birthday brunch with the Young German Society London.


Thanks to Paul, Alex, Kuki, Kaya and some of Santa's little helpers, we were able to create some dishes from scratch just in time before the packs got here. I am so happy that you came and I am so grateful for all the help! Guys, you are great!






So much good food!
















Here you see my friends. I guess everyone was happy that it was all about eating and food and eating and food, well and eating...and food!!!



















And me unwrapping some gifts. Got some really good stuff!!! But I don't share my goodies.



It was an extremely long brunch. The last hardcore people only left because some of us went to see a movie around 8 pm.


I had a blast, thanks for coming!

Paul in London Day Three Morning Session

After a night out we had the perfect hangover breakfast at Carluccio's in Angel... Posting all these pictures I realise that a lot is about food hmmmmm yumm yumm! And then I realise that I am a chain eater, meaning I go to all these places that have more than one outlet in the UK. Yes, all my eco-biological friends I eat in chains: Wagamama, Pizza Express, The Slug and Lettuce, Carluccio's, Busaba EatThai and so on...



Here's some food for thought: Having one outlet doesn't mean you are in danger regarding the big players who might kill the small businesses, but rather that small businesses which can expand must be running a successful concept, right? Class just started again this week, so I guess my brain is drifting back into all these business ideas bla, bla, bla.





Anyway, the food at Carluccio's is excellent. The service is outstanding for London and you are willing to pay for this brilliant Saturday morning package.

Paul in London Day Two Evening Session

After some shopping (shoes for everyone) we went to have dinner at some Indian Hut around Piccadilly. Food was expensive and that's all I want say about it. Whenever I have a craving for this rich food again I want to go somewhere better! Any suggestions where to find good Indian food in London?

After dinner we took some tourist attraction pictures at Piccadilly Circus. That's us, Paul and me before I went back home and he went to see his colleagues one more time for another tradition: after work pub-crawl. I was getting ready for the night meaning meeting our friends and later Paul joined us clubbing. That was kind of my birthday warm-up thing I figured later...

Paul in London Day Two Morning Session

Waking up at 7:00 am is not my favourite thing to do, but playing a perfect game of golf with Pauls former colleagues Pete and Andy was worth forcing myself out of bed, splashing boiling hot coffee into my face and wrapping myself up into my sporty outdoor outfit. The traditional breakfast afterwards was great too! Note to myself: Next time wear gloves!!! Freakin' freezin' cold! But fun, fun, fun!!!!!!!





I actually managed to get my balls into every bunker on the court: Now that is talent, huh? Oh btw I am talking GOLFballs.

Paul in London Day One

Day One was dinner in Covent Garden, some window shopping and a lot of pre-musical drinks in two bars in Soho and the Theatre Bar as well. We saw The Woman in White - scary!!! Great voices, but the Cinema 2000 stage set-up and the booze made me feel pretty dizzy and nasty...


























Thanks to my basic Photoshop skills, I don't look like Pocahontas or anything near the Asian Fever :)

























Next time it will be Guys and Dolls then... London is great! Everything is right here, come and check it out!