The First Trip to London:

Hi Everyone.

Before I hit the bed for a good night's sleep I'll document my first trip to the capital. I caught the train into London at about 8:45am and stayed there until 5:30pm. Roaming around with my cousin.

I must say one day doesn't do it justice, honestly this city is incredible you catch a train on the underground for 15-20 minutes from one district of London to another and it has JUST as many shops JUST as many suits JUST as many cafes', pubs and hustle and bustle. Three - four streets in Perth just doesn't come close, in fact its laughable. Not that I don't love Perth, but my God, the culture is never ending here.

We attempted to cover as much of the British Museum as possible, but again like the rest of London it is an epic ambition that deserves a few days of concentrated attention. Saw the introduction to ancient cultures exhibition; Egypt, Greco-Romans and China. The most interesting exhibition had to be "Enlightenment" which was a floor dedicated to the first collections of the museum when it first opened in 1573 and was aimed at reflecting the goals of the very first collectors and curators.

I was given the opportunity to handle genuine artefacts from the period of Hadrian's Wall in England. An advisor had a display table full of items amongst them an aged arrow head, a working man's bowl and some coins, dedicated to Hadrian himself, his wife and various deities. You held each item with two hands and over the protected covered table (specifically) and the advisor explained the story and derivation of each item.

The experience continued to include and I'll brush through things, because it takes too long to address every activity: Comicana a British comic book store (Deadpool issue #1 was incredible!), lunch at Harrods 6 quid for a pint of beer!!, street performer who was parkour and acrobatic based ... I could have done better, getting well and truly lost on the tube. And most importantly a trip through Covent Gardens.

Shiners! This is where you get jealous! The scope of theatre over here is absolutely incredible, everything is showing. With money at your disposal "Avenue Q", "We Will Rock You", "Wicked", "Billy Elliott, The Musical", "Mama Mia", "Buddy", "Stomp", "Oliver", "The Lion King", and SO many more it is all here. I picked up all the leaflets I will see as much as I can and report on each one! I also spoke to one of the front of house staff for a long while about employment at theatre's doing front of house. Due to the fact that they mainly hire actors they are always looking for people because actors get called away so often. I'm applying.

Say what you will about London, and for a moment we can look at negatives 26 youths stabbed to death since the beginning of the year, rubbish in the streets and the poor evident. But, keep an eye on your surroundings and take things with a grain of salt and the city is absolutely stunning. Each building tells a different story no matter how large or how small it is, each period of England represented, The Knights Templar, Tudor England, every King, every Queen. The city is alive, this country is alive, and the people are nice and friendly. In fact I have to be honest and say I felt just as safe as I would have in Perth but surrounded by so much more. For someone unfamiliar it is unfathomable.

Until next time.

Iskandar.