Magic Wok

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Restaurants
Cuisine:	Chinese
Location:	Queensway, Bayswater, London

Yes I know, we ate Chinese the day before but it was so nice we wanted Chinese again ;-p

This restaurant is frequented by Chinese themselves and people that obviously have eaten here before and some tourists (that would be us ;-p).

The service here is very very fast (finish a plate and it's gone already), the food is quite delicious (the sweet and sour sauce is more traditonal Chinese, reminds me of the ones in Berlin), the prices are reasonable and you get fortune cookies and for some weird reason orange slices after your meal...

A bonus star is added because of the brilliant name. By the way there are several other Chinese restaurants in the area but this one gets very high marks: see http://www.london-eating.co.uk/2973.htm
So it seems we made the right choice in choosing for the nice name ;-)

St Paul's Cathedral, london (4-10-2005)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Here's a tip for all of you! If you ever want to visit St Paul's but do not want to pay the high fee of 8£ because you don't want to visit the crypt anyway, go to the church at 17h when they have a service (evensong): you can see most of the church for free and you get music as a bonus ;-D

Personally I think it's even better to visit this church during a service because it adds so much to the atmosphere of the building. It was built for this kind of worship right? You can just sit on a chair and enjoy the sights and sounds.
And the sight is impressive! Well, you can see that on the picture yourself ;-)

Next time we'll be on time so we can watch the whole service (I've never been to an Anglican service yet and we saw only the end this time and I'm interested in what happens before the last song) ;-D

Tate Modern, London (4-10-2005)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

We are ofcourse here for the special exhibition of Frida Kahlo (80 works! most from Mexico!!) and it was extremely brilliant but the the Tate Modern also has an impressive permanent collection of modern artworks.
The permanent collection is free (the special exhibit's quite expensive but if you live in London you can become a friend of the Tate for something like 55£ a year and see most of the exhibits for free!).
The view from the musuem and the museum itself (an old factory) are pretty impressive too!

So after seeing brilliant Frida Kahlo works for one hour we decide to go and have a look at the other artworks. Luckily we have a map because finding your way around isn't evident: elevators stop at every floor but there's a big escalator that misses one floor totally...

Highlights of the Tate Modern collection 2005:
- Joseph Beuys (some smaller and one big work => The Pack)
- Anselm Kiefer (woohoo three paintings I have not yet seen!)
- Christian Boltanski (dead swiss)
- hey they have a Marcel Broodthaers
- Andy Warhol
- Gilbert & George
- Bruce Nauman and many many more well known and interesting works ;-)

One of our favorites was a work by Mark Dion. He collected all the stuff on one of the banks of the Thames (near Tate Britain). Very interesting collection of trash ;-) (see pic)

In the gallery on the groundfloor and outside there was also an exhibit by a young Belgian artist called Jan De Cock. He makes installations from plywood that look like models for modern houses but... different, absurd.
Check the Tate site for his work ;-) => http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/

Natural History Museum, London (4-10-2005)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

What can I say? Natural History museums are a must-see in every city and country I visit!

This one in London is one of the best (Berlin is the best ;-p). The building looks like a perfect church of science and is by itself already worth a visit.
Oh and the best thing ofcourse: it's free!! (except for the special exhibit but that's about diamonds and we could care less)

What to see:
- dinosaur and other extinct animal skeletons (especially the Diplodocus who is here for 100 years this year!)
- the skeletons of the all the whales (sooooo big)
- the stuffed bats, pangolin, owls
- the living leaf-cutter-ants (they are soooo cute!)
- the extremely big room of gemstones and meteors and every other stone you can imagine (they can look so tasty!)
- the marine fossils (sea creatures are just weird!)
- the piece of a giant sequoia
- the shops: loads of books, toy animals and other fun stuff!

Well this will keep you busy for an hour or two so have fun ;-)
For more info (on current exhibitions for instance): http://www.nhm.ac.uk/

Miso Noodle Bar

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Restaurants
Cuisine:	Asian
Location:	30 hawley crescent / Camden Town

We went to Camden Town because it's well known for it's cheap(er) restaurants and shops and we stumbled upon this recently opened hip and Japanese looking restaurant quite near the metro station.

The menu looked delicious and reasonable so we went in. And we were perfectly right!
My deepfried chicken with sweet and sour sauce was very delicious. I have eaten this dish in every country I've visited so I'm an expert on it's taste ;-) The sauce was a bit lighter and a bit more sour than usual, the chicken was perfect.
Mark's Curry Chicken looked very tasty too and he enjoyed it very much ;-)

In short: reasonable, hip, tasty and their chopsticks are easy to eat with (for me at least ;-p)

Info: www.misonoodlebar.co.uk

Highgate Cemetery, London (3-10-2005)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

The best known cemetery in London!

The western cemetery was openend in 1838 and the eastern extension added in 1854. This is a private cemetery (Kensal Green is a public one!). The western part hasn't been used for burials since 1975.
Highgate is famous among every-one interested in the Victorian age and (neo)-Gothicism and even has it's own vampire-myth! The famous Pre-Raphaelite model Elizabeth Siddal, wife of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, is buried in the western cemetery.

The western part is now sadly only open in weekends so as it's monday we have to settle for just visiting the eastern cemetery. You have to pay to get in and extra for a guide. Buy the guide because you will need it! It's not always easy to find your way here and with the guide you at least have a clue ;-)

Marx is buried in the eastern cemetery so we set out to visit him. He is near the back so we stroll along the winding paths ending up in what looks and smells like a forest. Except gravestones grow here...
According to the site there are a lot of animals living here too including foxes! And there's lots of interesting flowers and trees too.

It's a really exciting and eerie place to be! There's ivy and brambles and tree roots growing everywhere under and over graves. One grave is covered in mushrooms. Angels and crosses appear behind bushes and trees. Finally we end up near the gates so we now know where we are and can find the bigger lane towards Marx grave.

After making a pic of Marx extremely big head (on his grave) and trying to remember the words to "The Internationale" (see http://home.planet.nl/~elder180/internationale/) we set out to get back to the entrance because it's almost closing time and we choose to not be locked in here today (not enough food ;-p).
We make it out in time and sit some more in the nearby Waterlow Park, watching the big black crows that forage here.

Next time we'll surely visit the other part! For more info on Highgate Cemetery: http://www.highgate-cemetery.org/

Kensal Green Cemetery, London (3-10-2005)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

This great London cemetery was established in the second quarter of the 19th century and was the first one outside the city limits. It was founded by the barrister George Frederick Carden after he saw Père-Lachaise in Paris. Kensal Green is London's oldest public burial ground.
The cemetery is a perfect representation of Victorian values, tastes, ideals and beliefs. It was a highly fashionable burialground, especially after two of George the IIIrd's children were buried here. And it was also fashionable to visit this cemetery in that age and walk it's beautiful lanes.


So totally in accordance to Victorian fashion we walk the lanes and see the superb collection of monuments varying from neo-Greek to neo-Gothic to modern 21st century graves.
Yes, this grand place is still in use today! Between half sunken Victorian stones and angels are modern graves with little colored glass stones on them (green, blue, purplish even!), there are memorial benches, football flags and even a grave with birthday balloons!

Eventhough it's still being used the cemetery is a tranquil and eerie place. Behind trees sepulchres loom which you cannot reach. The ground is covered with ivy on some places and feels soft. Several parts look as if at any moment zombies or vampires may appear. And it's a sunny day today!

Not many of the names on the graves will ring a bell so it's recommendable to buy a guide. In this guide you can read about the notable monuments here and their inhabitants. Not many of them are very famous but there's Byron's first wife Anne Isabella Milbanke, a famous tightrope walker called Blondin who crossed the Niagara Falls in 1860 on a rope and several other interesting but not very well known nowadays people.

If you are in London you must certainly visit this cemetery because it's a perfect place to have a nice and quiet stroll. It's very easy to reach too: just take the Bakerloo line to Kensal Green and you are already there! For more info: http://www.kensalgreen.co.uk/

See you there next time! -makes suave bow-