Police Presence

After two bombings and a man shot in the tube station, they are finally responding to the "heightened security" and have police patrolling train stations!

At least they are trying to calm the general public. When I went to work this morning, I saw police already at the station armed with automatic machine guns... mmm.. is that supposed to make me feel safe, or to make me feel like I'm in a war zone?

Thank You, London

That's just a picture I took at the tube station near my work. It says "Thank You, London"... meant for the 2012 Olympics campaign. Now it takes on a whole new meaning... Thanks to London, now I feel that I cannot go on the tube or the bus or any public transport without thinking whether I should write a will. Thank you London for making all my friends worried about me, and furthermore, defer any trips they have to visit. Thank you London for giving me another reason to leave...

On the brighter side, thanks to those of you who worried about my wellbeing and called to see if I were blown to pieces. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your view of me), I'm still alive and well. It's evident that a little more security precaution is taken near my work area, being the new finance centre in London and all. Had been evacuated from the building twice on bomb scares, locked in the building a few times because of suspicious vehicles outside... small inconveniences in exchange for my life!

Bi-Weekly Event?!

I just realised that the second bombing coincided with exactly two weeks after the first one. Is this going to become a bi-weekly event in London?

Surely hope not.

Complacency

Why must we humans in general be so complacent?... I mean, you really didn't think that was the only time that it would happen, right?

Another attack in London - this time much less severe, but still an attack. Furthermore, these people were carrying backpacks and sports bags around. I mean, we see these people around all the time! How are we supposed to know when to avoid those carriages when we board the tube?

From now on, when I see anybody carrying a huge backpack, I'll walk over to the next carriage just to be on the safe side...

Yeah, I feel really safe now...

It's only been a little over a week after the recent bombing incidents in London, and I honestly believe that a lot of people have forgotten about it already. After all, it only killed approximately 100 people and injured some more, right? Surely, the day after the incident and the following few afterwards, I definitely saw increased police presence. In tube stations, on train station platforms, on the streets - you could easily see that there were more police patrolling.

Now, it is back to the "where am I ever going to find a police officer" era of London. I suppose the Mets (as they are called here) figured that a few days of heightened security must have scared away ANY terrorists planning another attack! Why waste the money on operations that you've already accomplished, right??

I'll just need to be more vigilant..

Central London = Ghost Town?!

Despite the apparent "danger" that I face by taking the tube or bus, I felt that I would probably go crazy if I stayed home the entire weekend. Also, I had put off buying a television long enough. It must have been February or March when I first said I wanted to get a television (gasp!).. given that I haven't had a TV for the past 5 years while at university, it seems to be a bold move on my part.

The truth is, my flat is getting a bit too quiet and I need a bit of lively noise when I go home. Besides, it's about time that I reward myself for staying TV-less for over five years, missing all those shows everybody talks about. The downside is that I actually won't spend as much time watching TV.. thanks to my work schedule.

In any case, I've decided to plunge and get a TV. When I got to central London, what I saw was literally a ghost town! It was a Saturday afternoon, and the usually busy Oxford Street seemed empty, and stores were virtually void without any customers. Made my life a lot easier checking prices between different retailers. It was surreal though, seeing London so empty like that.

On the other hand, I have faith that Londoners will pick up the pieces and move on. After all, humans tend to forget things very, very quickly...

Spelling Lesson

Something wrong with this picture? Look closely and see how they spell "Hospitality"...

Oh and this is the sign for the Live8 concert in London, and they use the same map all over the place. Imagine how embarrassing it must be!

Aftermath

Now that the dust has settled and I think everybody knows clearly what had happened. London was under attack by terrorists, and the various bombings around the city were orchestrated to go off at the same time. Although this pales in comparison to WTC a few years back, in terms of fatalities and scale of damage, it's still alarming that they could cause such a disruption in a metropolis.

I ended up walking home last night, through the foot tunnel across the Thames. It took me a little bit over an hour, and it was frightening. Seeing people on the street in a panic trying to get home, and those living in the suburbs.. I heard stories where cabs started charging twice or three times the amount, and other horror stories of my colleagues trying to get home. Somethings don't change - I heard of the same thing two years ago when there was the blackout of 2003 summer in Toronto. Some people in this society just tries to take advantage at situations like this, and it makes me sick.

Public transport is shutting down here. I don't know how I'm going to get home tonight.. In other news, a few groups have claimed responsibility for this attack. Blair made a statement accusing of terrorism, the G-8 leaders have issued a joint statement renouncing the attack in London.. So far 33 people have died from these attacks, and a large number of casualties are being treated.. not to mention they still haven't accounted for the fatalities on the blown-up bus.

Oh, and there were rumours that the police shot a suicide bomber outside my work place. They seem to be aiming for financial places (the places where explosions occurred were in the City, where the financial hub is).. and Canary Wharf is the new investment banking centre, so I'm not surprised that they will set their targets here also.

Deja vu.. this feels like 4 years ago when I was working at Open Text..

A train was between King's Cross and Edgware Road when the explosion occurred.. so the train got stuck and people had to be rescued from the tunnels. Maybe I should be glad that I don't get to travel much for my job..

So it looks like it might be a terrorist attack - so far four tube stations have reported explosion and closure, and a bus exploded in central London. Sounds like a revisit to 9/11.

How ironic, as London won the Olympics yesterday. Perhaps somebody was a *bit* too upset about losing..

Incident in London

Just got news that an 'incident' happened at Liverpool station.. stay tune for further updates.

London for 2012 Olympics!

Congratulations to London for hosting the Olympics in 2012! It was an exciting day at work, watching as the result was announced. Personally I'm indifferent about which city is hosting the Olympics (I can travel to either if I really wanted to), but I wanted London to win because of Chirac's comments about Britain.

He said, "The only thing they have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow."

Not to mention this: "We can't trust people who have such bad food. After Finland it is the country with the worst food."

Well, UK has bad food, and also the Olympics. That's more than what you can say, Mr. Chirac!

Here's an article from the New York Press.. I laughed out loud when I read some of the items on the list.

New York press - Olympics Go Home

Sick.. Yet again!

I don't think I can ever get rid of this chronic sickness - in fact, I don't think I ever got better. This is getting really annoying, because a lot of my colleagues are now making comments regarding the number of days I've been off work. It's not that I really want to be off (trust me, being at home for the whole day is very very boring). I personally think it's a combination of stress and living habits that prevents me from enduring the job. So for the whole day, I held on as I fought the massive headache to avoid any more smart comments from my co-workers..

Had dinner with a fellow graduate after work to celebrate his birthday. We went to this Chinese restaurant near work, which served surprisingly good Chinese food. (nothing compared to Toronto, but hey, c'est la vie) The best part was when they brought out this "fruit plate" that was arranged to look like a cake, and sang happy birthday to my friend. Definitely a classic moment - in a Chinese restaurant no less!

Private Lessons Available, Enquire Within :D

Okay I was joking with the title.. but this made me laugh.

Hong Kongers don't know what to do between the sheets: report

(AFP) July 4, 2005 - Hong Kongers usually rank near-bottom of the international list of lovers and a social worker may have discovered why: they don't know what to do between the sheets.

Grace Wong of the southern Chinese territory's Family Planning Association said the number of inquiries at her agency rocketed 50 percent last year, with many clients claiming to have no idea how to have sex.

"Some married couples are not familiar with their body parts," Wong was quoted as telling the Sunday Morning Post. "They don't know where their sex organs are.

"They don't know the physical changes associated with sexual response, like males getting an erection," she added.

Regular international surveys by condom manufacturers have found the city is less than amorous. Durex's last poll found Hong Kongers get it together 79 times a year, while the French manage it the most, at 137 times.

Another poll even suggested Hong Kong men prefer to go to work rather than have sex.

The frenetic work ethic in the former British colony is usually blamed for interfering with the course of nature.

But the paper said sociologists believe Chinese sensibilities, which deem discussion of sex even in school as taboo, are responsible.

Here is an example of how headline statistics don't really convey the true meaning of the research finding..

Happy Canada Day

This is the first time I have spent Canada Day outside of Canada since high school started. Unfortunately, that also means today is not a holiday and I went into work for a full day. Not to mention that my boss is away, so I've been covering for him and this "hot seat" is not an easy one to be in. A great way to start the day is by losing a bit of money..

As soon as I covered everything I needed to do at work, I dashed out the door and went home to get changed. By the time I got to Maiden Lane (where the famous Maple Leaf Pub was in London - they serve Canadian beer!), it was already packed with people. How crazy is this, in a foreign land, with so many Canadians celebrating the national holiday!

By the time I got there, the few Canadians from work were already there and queued up for beer already.. Now what would a Canadian celebration be without Canadian beer..

The festivities continued until the wee hours in the morning.. by that time, I wasn't exactly myself (some would argue that I am actually MORE of my true self at this stage, but we'll save this debate for a later date).. but as you can see, the street was just as packed at 12:30am..

After many six-packs, a bunch of us wandered (literally) to BK for a bit of midnight snack before trekking home on the infamous London night bus..