The new and the old financial centre

London is the world's financial centre. Hence a visit to London would not be complete without seeing the financial centre itself. London has two financial district now. The square mile, also known as the City, is the traditional financial centre, while Canary Wharf, which was intensively developed in the last decade, is rivalling City's status. The 3 tallest building in UK are all located here - One Canada Square, HSBC Tower and Citigroup Centre.

I finally brought Johanna to visit these two areas yesterday evening. Actually it was also an adventure for me since I've never really visited the Canary Wharf area during my undergraduate days in London. We took Jubilee line to Canary Wharf from Waterloo, possibly the smoothest tube route in London. Upon exiting the tube station, we were greeted by blocks of modern skyscrappers around Canada Square. Johanna was really impressed. I was happy to know that since she has been disappointed with quite a number of things in London - stuffy tube, crowded and dirty areas and tedious procedures in opening bank accounts, renting house, etc.

We decided to be more adventurous - took Docklands Light Railway (DLR) train to Lewisham and then back to Canary Wharf again. We discovered that one DLR station is near the flat we are moving in in October. Hence we took another DLR train to Devons Road and find our way to the flat. Not bad. Only 10 minutes walk from the DLR station.

We took a DLR train to Bank after that. Yet again Johanna was impressed, this time with the City. I showed her the Bank of England, London Stock Exchange and of course Lloyds. She wasn't impressed with the controversial design of Lloyds.

We went back to Canary Wharf again today. This time around, I brought along my camera. Unfortunately, we have the typical London grey sky today, hence most of the photos look quite dull. In the end I've decided to desaturate some of them. To view more, please visit http://jihying.com/photos/canary_wharf/.

The most popular screensaver...

...in the States, according to some.

Don't click if you're a fan or supporter of George W Bush.

http://www.planetdan.net/pics/misc/georgie.htm

[ Failed to post this after numerous attempts. Is National Security watching me? ]

View from our room

This is the view from room 315 of William Goodenough House. Johanna and I will be staying here until 8 October. Thereafter we have two weeks to shift things from here to our new place in Bromley-by-Bow.

Canterbury and Whitstable Trip

Xian and Niki has invited us to join them on a trip to Canterbury and Whitstable, together with Xian's neighbour in Goodenough College, Hasreen last Saturday.

Canterbury was where Xian and Niki studied during their undergraduate days.

We set off at 9 in the morning and arrived in Canterbury slightly more than an hour later. I've been to Canterbury before hence was not too excited about it. We walked around the town while Hasreen toured the Canterbury Cathedral. We took a boat ride on a canal after that. Niki then went to pierce her belly button, ouch!

We set off for Whitstable after that. It was a 20 minute bus ride from Canterbury. Whitstable is a small fishing village located by the English Channel. The scenery that greeted us was great - yatchs, boats, seashells, blue sea and loads of people. The main objective of going there was of course fresh seafood, especially oysters for the ladies. We bought some fresh oysters and cups of mixed seafood and gobbled them up immediately, with exception of Hasreen, who was fasting, and Xian who doesn't take seafood. Then we proceed to the fish market to buy tuna and salmon for our dinner - grill tuna steak and sashimi. On our way to the train station, we bought 2 dozens of oysters.

We took a cab to Asford after that to do some shopping at a giant shopping mall selling goods at a steep discount compared to highstreets.

By the time we left Asford, it was already 7.30pm. Pity Hasreen who had to break fast with only a muffin.

We only reached Niki's place at Canada Water at 9-ish. Hasreen was already starving and weak by that time. Johanna and I did the grill tuna steak immediately while others prepared the sashimi and fried vegetable.

By the time we finished our meal of fresh fish, it was already near 11pm. Johanna and I had to rush back to Shazrul and Teratai's place as it was at the other end of London. We only reached their house at 1am. We felt really bad about that.

More photos at http://jihying.com/photos/canterbury_whitstable/.

#1. Canterbury Cathedral


#2. Outside the cathedral


#3. On a boat trip


#4. Lovely Johanna


#5. By the beach of Whitstable


#6. Oysters... yum!


#7. Fish market


#8. Tuna steaks and sashimi

Found a place at Bromley-by-Bow

After a tiring week of scouting for apartment, we've finally found a good one at Bromley-by-Bow. But in the process, we've came across quite a number of very dodgy ones. I wouldn't even stay in few of these even if I'm paid for it.

Properties in London are definitely very expensive. A small studio apartment in Zone 3 will cost around £160 - £180 a week. We saw a few in Ealing. Decent but very small. One bedroom flat will cost from £180 to £250 in Zone 2 and 3. Of course not for areas such as South Kensington. One of these one bedroom flats in Elephant and Castle looked quite decent on the website. But upon our visit to the place, we were really shocked. The place was dark and dirty. We had to go up a metal staircase by the side of the 3-storey building right beside a row of small shops. Another place in Fulham was even worse. It's located at a very quiet and rundown part of Fulham. We were greeted by heaps of leaflets strewn on the floor at the entrance, torn and dirty carpets, soiled beds and creaking staircase. It looks like a house in a ghetto.

Anyway, we contacted Base Properties last Tuesday and managed to view two of the one bedroom flats in a place called Wealdon House right next to Bromley-by-Bow tube station. The place is only one-year old and looks really new. The interior is of modern design which is rare in London, unless you are willing to pay a lot more. The ground floor unit was going for £195 a week while the 4th floor one was £210 a week. A student called Thomas was viewing with us and showed immediate interest in the ground floor one. Johanna and I also indicated our interest in the same unit. Our agent Kristjan told us that he'll had to let the landlord decide. In the afternoon, he called and informed us that the landlord had favoured Thomas over us as one person is likely to cause less wear and tear. Hence we have no choice but to settle for the 4th floor unit. Kristjan managed to get it for us at £205 a week, which works out to £888.33 a month. The only complication is we can only move in on 9 October which is few weeks away.

We have been putting up with Johanna's cousin Jonathan for the past few days. Since he's putting his house for sale we've decided to put up with Shazrul while looking for temporary accomodation before moving in to the new place. We've finally settled down at Goodenough College yesterday, subletting from a member there for one month. We only need the place for two weeks though. But this is the best deal we could find. If you've read the previous post, we're suppose to move into Goodenough on 19 October as we've been offered a place here. But upon our visit the the college, we found the apartment big but old. We're also not impressed with the hostel style of accomodation. Being married, I think we should get a place with more privacy. This place is also a long walk from the tube at night as we could not use the short cut due to security reasons. Our new place is just next to the tube. So that'll save us a lot of time walking. But of course there are also downside to it, which is probably why we could get such a new place for such a bargain. To get to Bromley-by-Bow which is at the end of Zone 2, we have to go through areas such as Mile End, Aldgate and Bethnal Green, which are not the best areas in town. Our place is also located right next to the motorway leading to Blackwell Tunnel. There are no shops around except for a giant Tesco.

It's such a huge relief to have found a place. But of course in terms of getting to work and study, it'll be different experience for both of us. I'll only need to take City and Hammersmith line direct to Moorgate, which is 7 stops away, while Johanna will need to take the District line to Fulham Broadway, which is around 20 stops away! Furthermore she'll need to take bus 391 from Fulham Broadway to Laura Ashley's office at Bagley's Lane. Since the properties on the Western part of London is significantly more expensive than the Eastern part, we had no choice.

Anyway below are some photos of a similar unit of the flat that we are moving in soon.

Exam and accomodation blues

If not for exams and the uncertainty over accomodation, I would be on cloud nine right now. London is just one week away, and yet I have yet to feel the euphoria of flying over.

I've just completed one Institute of Actuaries exam on Tuesday. Since it is a communication paper, it's hard to gauge how well I've done. The next paper is Life Contingencies this coming Tuesday. With my busy schedule planning for London, clearing work, etc., I hardly have time and concentration for the preparation. Nevertheless, I'll try my best and see how it goes.

But the biggest problem now is accomodation. Since Johanna will be working somewhere in Fulham (west of Central London) while my university is on the East side of Central London, we are in a dilemma over where to stay. West is certainly expensive as that's where Chelsea is. Furthermore, without being physically there, it's impossible to look for private accomodation. I've finally heard from Goodenough College on my application for accomodation. The bad news is it will only be available on 19 October. If I accept the offer, I will need to find temporary accomodation in between. And I'm only given until today to make the decision on this offer. So for the past few days, Johanna and I have been surfing the internet looking for temporary accomodation. Once again, without being physically there, it's impossible to make any decision, especially when it involves huge sum of money. Accomodation is so expensive in London.

We will probably put up with Johanna's cousin, Jonathan for 3 days before moving into a temporary accomodation. Hopefully we could find a good one at a reasonable price within that 3 days. Some kind and thoughtful friends have offered us their place for temporary stay. But we've decided not to trouble them unless we really run out of choice.

This accomdation thingy is really affecting my concentration to study. Anyway hope everything will turn out alright in the end.