Museums await as I, armed with fresh batteries for my camera, headed down to Tottenham Court Road for the Cartoon Museum. As seasoned as I am travelling by Tube, I still managed to get on the wrong train heading down the wrong branch of the Northern Line and took a joy ride down the underground tunnels towards Old Street where I got off. Before I get dismissed as a doofus, let me redeem myself by saying that I did take the train from the correct platform. I just never expected alternate trains to branch off in two different directions. In the 2 weeks I spent in London last year, I count myself lucky that every train I hopped on was the correct one and so never gave thought to the possibility that even though I may take a train from the correct platform, it could head off onto another branch of the line. Sounds a wee bit complicated to explain so forgive the rambling. National Portrait Gallery View outside National Portrait Gallery - Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square St Martin's-in-the-Fields Church Krispy Kreme Glazed DonutsDay ThreeLocation: Holiday Inn, Camden Lock, 30 Jamestown RoadAnyway, I got off at Old Street and since I was in London to soak in the London-ness of the country, I decided it was no big and I could either look like a lost fool by crossing to the opposite platform and taking the train backwards, or I could walk to the next station since my Oyster card was on a one-week pass and I could soak in the sights along the way. I chose the latter and I walked from Old Street Tube Station to Angel Tube Station where I caught the train back towards Camden Town to try taking the correct train.Once set on the right track (no pun intended), I headed off down to Leicester Square to hit the National Portrait Gallery and decided to skip the Cartoon Museum altogether because I didn't feel particularly cartoon-ish. I guess I'll never be one for fine art appreciation because I got considerably bored after the third room of paintings and just simply glanced through each exhibited work of art with a polite but hasty appreciation. I clocked a total of about 2 hours in there and I thought it quite the achievement seeing how quickly I passed through room after room. The view outside is spectacular on the other hand. I guess I'm really not the stuffy art lover I thought I would be. One thing I wanted to bring up was this bunch of Asians [Koreans?] singing in the middle of all the bustle to raise funds and they were singing "Here I Am To Worship" and when I caught the all too familiar melody, I was catapulted back home where this song is often sang at church. Reminds me of the homogeneity of God. Though separated by distance, race, culture and language, people still sing the same songs of worship and praise to Him.
Walking towards Covent Garden from the gallery, I turned onto Neal Street hoping to garner a few good deals on shoes even though I wasn't planning to do much shopping and hence only brought out about £15, so there was nothing much I could buy or anything worth buying. After some shop-hopping, I found myself at Tesco to soothe my Krispy Kreme desire for this year. I love Krispy Kreme donuts. One point to note though, is that it's amazing how nothing has changed over one year. Everything looks the same as it did one year ago. Good in a way because I was able to find my way around easily, very much like a local *grin*.
Day Three shaped up to be a short day as I stopped by Camden Town's M&S [Marks & Spencer] for some grocery shopping around 3pm before walking back to the hotel. I met some weird Jamaican guy along the way who tried chatting me up, which scared me a little because I didn't know how to reject him and 'run' away without incurring his wrath in case he takes out a knife and stabs me in the middle of the road as a result of his inebriated state. Reminds me of a time at Vivocity where the same thing happened to me *shudder*.Once back in the relative safety of the hotel, I pretty much lazed around the room watching Nickelodeon shows, which really are entertaining for a big kid like me, and dinnered with Dad and his colleagues at some random Italian restaurant in the evening. That's Day Three in a nutshell.