YeinJee's Travel Journal

I had been wandering on foot in London for more than 6 hours; travelling on foot in London is not a bad option, that is if you have a strong pair of legs.

It was getting dark, time to end my London foot tour. I boarded on the Underground with one last thing in mind… I dropped by the station near Big Ben to have a glimpse of the night view of the clock tower and House of Parliament before heading back to Chiswick.

Big Ben and House of Parliament at night

I have wonderful memories of the night view of Big Ben and House of Parliament during my visit in 2002… it didn’t disappoint me this time again. The buildings were splendid at night, a recommended visit for all.

Shopping at Sainsbury

My sister lived in a convenient location; supermarkets like Mark & Spencer, Sainsbury and Tesco were all nearby. Later at night my sister brought me for some grocery shopping at Sainsbury which doesn’t have any outlets in Malaysia. We bought lots of ‘fast food’ like ham, sausage, cheese and fruit juice.

The Clock Tower, famously known as Big Ben, is the name of the tower at Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. Big Ben is actually the nickname of the clock’s main bell; and the official name of the main bell should be the Grand Bell instead.

Regardless, everyone is calling the clock tower as Big Ben these days.

Photo of Big Ben

‘Culture Shock’ at Big Ben

I encountered some annoying people around Big Ben… they were handling ribbons and little paper-souvenirs and then asked for money saying that it was for charity.

‘Handling’ is actually an understatement… they basically forced those stuffs into my palm and pocket, and demanded money for it…

I spent a few pounds just to get out of trouble; I was not sure if the money would be channeled into charities… regardless, I felt like daylight robbery honestly; or perhaps I should call it a culture shock instead.

(Later at night my sister told me that it’s pretty common stuff in London; what I could do was to hand back the thing to them… let’s just hope that my money was getting into the right hands at the end of the day)

Btw, Big Ben wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for the fire in 1834 that destroyed most of the Parliament building. A commission was set up to choose a new building design, and Charles Barry’s plan (with the clock tower obviously), was the eventual winner. The clock swung into action in July 1859.