TOPAZ HORIZON

Honeymoons involve dicks, right?

Yes, they do, but I was only expecting to encounter just one specimen not dozens upon dozens!

In the British Museum, I got a real kick out of this particular carving. It’s called Lovers, and it’s the oldest known sculpture of a couple making love. Very apt for my honeymoon, right? Anyway, what’s really clever with this statue is whichever way you look at it, it’s very sexual (observe below). From the side, mukha siyang penis!

Later on that day, I saw more penises. Real ones, in all shapes and sizes and colors! I saw lots of breasts, too. In Oxford Street, after a tiring afternoon shopping away, we climbed on top of a double-decker bus and eto ang tumambad sa amin ni Vince!

For more than 5 minutes, nude upon nude biked and skated and rollerbladed their way past us. These are people who willingly went naked on a really cold day to raise awareness on the environment. They were asking people to stop being dependent on oil and curb car culture. Well, they got our attention!

I’m glad to report that Vince and I no longer use our car every day. We now live even closer to our work (we used to live just 10 minutes away but now the office has moved across the street!) and I’ve always been a big user of the MRT/LRT and buses. We walk to the grocery, and everywhere we need to go is very near. Because of this practice, we only used to gas up every 6 or 7 weeks. Now that we live across work, we don’t know when we’ll gas up next. Every little thing helps our planet!

*continue reading… Contest ahead!

The parks are gigantic but cold on a bright, sunny day

So this is the famous Hyde Park where opinionated people get up on a box and spout their thoughts on everyone willing to listen, among other things. It's a huge park. Immense. Gigantic. Humongous. Vince and I went crazy going around it. We were going, "Where does this frikkin' park end???"

And that's just one park of many in this city. I guess that's why London, despite it being so cosmopolitan and busy, the city smells so fresh. The trees and the parks are just everywhere. And Londoners love it. At the first sign of sun, they strip to their skivvies and lie down on the grass, basking in the rare rays.

Vince and I also rejoiced in the sun but grabe, ang lamig pa rin. Kakatawa nga kasi I wanted to have my picture taken beside a sunbather who was in a bikini while I was in my jacket, scarf, gloves and skull cap. Ganun siya kalamig! But we kinda lost our nerve kasi baka magalit yung babae (she was nearly naked, right) and you don't want to get on the nerves of these people!

Oh! This is a funny, er, what is it? A statue? A memorial? A marker? Anyway, whatever it is, it's near the huge Serpentine Lake. That lake is so nice--people were rowing boats on it. Anyway, back to the stone. On it, these words proudly announce:

"This boulder was brought here from Norway where it was worn and shaped for thousands of years by forces of nature: frost, running water, rock, sand and ice until it obtained its present shape."

See that dark area that Vince is pointing at? Someone cheekily wrote, "MADE IN CHINA!" Hahahaha!

Anyway, we eventually found what I was looking for: The Diana Memorial Fountain. Hmmm. Para siyang malaking rubber band na tinapon mo sa grass at nagkaroon siya ng tubig. Hehe. Kaya siya mahirap hanapin haha. Seriously though, I get it. After the initial disappointment, I sat down and observed it. People were having a picnic, kids were frolicking in the fountain--it was made for people, like Diana who lived for her subjects. And when I went around the fountain, some parts were serene, other parts were turbulent, other parts had the water sparkling cheerfully in the sun—just like Diana's life, I guess.

Now, eto ang memorial. This is the Prince Albert Memorial. Unlike Diana's, Albert's is gigantic so it wasn't hard to find. Vince and I are actually very far away from it in this pic, but it looms majestically in the background. Prince Albert, by the way, is the husband of Queen Victoria, who is the longest reigning monarch of the UK (so far... Elizabeth II sits on that throne still). She was also the queen when the UK became an industrial power and a world empire. Ok, history lesson over!

Big Ben sure is big

And so is my forehead! Harhar!

We really liked walking around this area. About 10-15 minutes away, we got to the South Bank where our real destination, The London Eye, lords it over the River Thames. That's a cool area, by the way. There's an aquarium museum for the kids (sharks!!!), a movie museum (looked unimpressive haha), and Dali Universe. That guy is out of this world. Here are some of what his artwork looked like.

Crazeeee! But great, right?

*Continue reading... Contest ahead!

Up in the biggest ferris wheel in the world!

Vince and I fell in love while riding a ferris wheel. Yep. We were at the UP National Writers Workshop in Baguio nine years ago. We were exhausted from all the criticism the panelists threw at us so some fellow writers got it into their heads to visit a perya to just let loose. It was a cheap perya with cheap rides. Vince and I didn't really know each other and I don't think we really liked each other at that point. However, we found ourselves sharing the little squeaky dangerous-looking pod and for a few minutes we were scared for our lives. Maybe that vulnerable moment did it, or the stars in the clear mountain sky, or the chill of the Baguio breeze, or the most incredible conversation in our life--whatever it was, by the time we got down shakily from that contraption, we were inseparable.

So obviously when we visited the city with the largest, highest, biggest ferris wheel in the world, why, what else should we do??? Catch a flight on The London Eye naturally!

The London Eye from our boat when we took the river cruise.

Underneath the giant wheel

Behind and below: Westminster, Big Ben, River Thames

Behind and beyond: the sky!

Needless to say, we found it very romantic.

*Continue reading... Contest ahead!

Sights that made me sigh

I love two dead royals: Anne Boleyn, queen consort of the infamous Henry VIII, and Diana, Princess of Wales.

They lived such tragic lives but at the same time, these two women brought so much change to their country. Anne was the mother of the English Reformation and Diana modernized royalty.

So when we passed by the Tower of London, I can’t help but sigh. In this fortress, Anne was imprisoned as her husband romanced his new queen-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. Anne was quickly beheaded yet her last words still spoke of her love and respect for the king.

Then when we passed by St. Paul's Cathedral where Diana and Charles were wed, I let out another big sigh. I could still see her walking down those steps in that ridiculously pouffy wedding dress, young and glowing and looking shyly but happily at her prince. I think she still can't believe that she was now the star of every little girl's bedtime story. Well, we all know how that fairy tale ended.

Such sad wives. And on your honeymoon, that kinda jars you, ya know?

*continue reading… Contest ahead!