London Zoo

LONDON ZOO

November 12, 2012

It was on 22^nd September, 2012. After having a heavy breakfast at 8 a.m., we got ready and headed towards the train station. Reached Hounslow at 11:30 a.m., got our one-day travel card worth 8.50 pounds and proceeded for London Waterloo.

While on the train, we changed the plan and got off at Vauxhall. Took a bus to Camden town and popped into M&S to grab some snacks on getting off. After walking for about 20 minutes, we reached London zoo (ZSL).

Right behind the main door stood a photographer who clicked every visitor’s picture on the way to queue.  It could be later collected after our zoo observation had finished. We three clicked ourselves together thinking it was just a formality.

As expected, the queue was quite long on a warm sunny Saturday (6/7 rows of around 10 people/row). However, we reached the front after around 5-10 minutes. Traveling through Southwest trains made us pay 46 pounds (buy 1 get 1 free) in discount.

Excited as we were, gorilla was the first thing to look at. Reptiles were the next. There was information that Harry Potter film scene while Harry talked to the snakes was shot in that place. There were scary vipers, pythons, boa etc.

We walked around and took snacks. I found the London zoo quite similar to the zoo in Nepal in terms of the way animals were kept. It is just that the former has covered a big area of space and is clean and well managed.

Moving towards the penguin beach area, we found more crowd and children there. Perhaps because of the blessing warm sunlight on the very day. We clicked pictures of the man-made blue sea. Some penguins stood on land; some were swimming and some were being fed by the zoo staffs. The distance between the glass bars and visitors was close enough to make the birds and humans feel each other and feel nature. It looked lovely. We were reminded of Happy Feet and The March of Penguins movies and were chatting about how they leave impact upon us. We relaxed and watched penguins swim, from the wide staircase beside the pool. Felt blessed.

It was time to watch other animals. Lioness and her babies were sleeping and resting on the rock. On the way, we passed through the tiger area. There also was an insect’s area which was a bit suffocating place and could not watch much. However, the exhibition of big red ants eating leaves and breaking them into tiny pieces was worth watching.

Walking our way, we reached to kids’ area made by kids. There were meerkats on this section. They looked awesome, especially when one of them stood on the top of the rock (believed to guard their community from danger). Monkeys’ area had notices to remain extra cautious as there were no cages and seemed a natural habitat. They were walking on the way and swinging on the trees. Some were even climbing on us. But they were small.

We came across an area which looked like hills. There were ostrich-like birds and other small animals. Some were seen at the top of the hill. Right where we were standing was a closed restaurant mentioning it was used for ceremonies.

Then we moved towards giraffe section. They looked awesome. We never had a close-up view of them. There were three of them. One was being fed the tree branches. We were excited to see it eat. In fact, the crowd was excited too. Everyone wanted to click themselves with it. We found its eyes lovely (looked like big black kajal eyes). Going past the few reindeers, we then walked through the rainforest. 

African rainforest felt dark, damp, high in humidity and dense. Monkeys and other animals along with big trees were seen. We appreciated the creation of effect (felt a moment of being in African forests). Interestingly, there was an animal which hung itself on the iron rod of the walls and crawled around. However, it became scary when it came below us. I was certain of its attack but, to my relief, it seemed cool and continued its way. We moved out.

Next thing was to walk through the woodland. It was meant to resemble African forest once more. The way was covered with tiny wood pieces. On the way was meerkat again and seal-like animals. The latter grabbed attention of many people because they were in a group and made unique sounds. Heaping over each other, they kept falling down which looked so innocent. It was as if they were having a group photo and all wanted being clicked. We clicked them.

The last section to observe was aquarium. We browsed through the place as we were running out of time. We hurriedly finished our lunch and exited the observation. Since we began our journey around the midday, we could not watch birds’ area. On the way to the exit door, we could see the crowd looking at their pictures taken earlier. We searched ours too. Found it came in a pack. How tempting!!! We paid 20 pounds for our pictures with background of varieties of animals. Had a happy day.

AN EVENING ON KAARTIK NAACH

September 2009

After having a few conflicts on whether or not to be in the crowd, I decided for it at the last hour. Four of us walked at around 7:30 p.m. from Balkumari and reached Mangal bazaar by 8 p.m. Headed straight towards Ruku’s home and the very first thing we did was playing cards. I was the loser.

I had a Tuesday fasting. Although had enough boiled potatoes for lunch, drank a nice cup of tea made by Ruku’s mom. The others enjoyed dal, bhat, paun of lapsi and gundruk. I missed them.

After the dinner, we went to Mangal bazaar Dabali with our team and Ruku’s brother at about 9 p.m. The quiet streets with many people heading to our destination seemed too safe, too familiar, in the pole lights. By the time we reached there, we could see no empty spaces for us to watch and see the Naach. With great effort, we reached near the front rows and watched for some time.

The fire and smokes were seen on the stage and Hiranyakashyapa, demon, in his beautiful attire and ornaments began to dance. Prahlada and Sukracharya appeared on the stage. God Narasimha appeared and danced as well. Other characters followed later.

The pillar broke open and Narasimha was seen in it, proving the existence of God everywhere. Then the fight between the demon and God began. Traditional musical instruments accompanied the dance on the stage. The fight went on for a good amount of time arousing curiosity in the audience every now and then. After a while, the demon fainted on the stroke of God and was taken to an open space behind the temple to bring him to consciousness.

On the stage, Narasimha was raging and shaking sitting on his throne. After some time, he calmed and started dancing. Then he was taken to the Patan museum surrounded by bodyguards. Fairies were dancing on the stage. The Kaartik Naach ended at about 12 p.m.

We enjoyed the event and returned in the midnight with Ruku’s father.  Had boiled sakharkhandas at her place and a nice sleep.

Although we had a horrible time watching the drama in the crowd due to poor management, it was indeed a great first experience. Being not able to watch the striking part was an unhappy thing. But I hope to see this traditional Nepali drama again in the coming years. 

EASTBOURNE SEA SIDE

20th September, 2012

Travelling is always a fun. Looking forward to enjoying on the sea side on a sunny day seemed a pleasure. Moreover, when there are close friends to give company, what more could one ask for. So, we decided to head towards Eastbourne beach on a bright warm day.

 

It was on 31^st August 2012. We carried koseli for friends and left home after breakfast at 8:20 a.m. Koseli contained fresh green spinach. Catching the 8:47 a.m. train from Hounslow towards Clapham Junction, we reached there at 9:15 a.m. Got on the Southern train heading Eastbourne at 9:53 a.m. in one of the front 4 coaches (since the other coaches separated later on) but were puzzled not to find any seat number. The train staff later told we could stay on any of the seats.

 

Three of us were in a good mood until we came across the breaking news of foreign students in one university banned from being admitted any more. Most of our conversation was on this topic which also made the other passenger next to us join us. She was friendly and, after a while, got off few stops before us.

 

Enjoying the landscapes, we were approaching Eastbourne. Scenery was similar to the UK trips I had made so far-the green grasslands, uniform wheat fields, packed straw and grazing cattle. As soon as we got off at Eastbourne train station at 11:30 a.m., we felt a bit chilly. The cool sea breeze shivered us but we were soon with our friends.

 

Eastbourne city looked quiet and clean and with less foreign people and more elderly people. This seemed to be due to warm climate of the place compared to other UK locations.

 

We reached our friend’s place and unloaded the stuffs.  Had tea and biscuits followed by a heavy breakfast- chiura, masu, tarkari and achar. After a while, we hired a taxi and headed to Sovereign Tower. Fish and chips smelt everywhere near the bank. Watery mouth and resisting the smell, we headed for a 30-minute Harbour boat trip and got into a boat enough to load around 15 people. It was exciting and pleasant. Lighthouses and boats were visible in the distant. We received from the boatman information about cosy and well-to-do holiday houses along the bank. We soon knew that their sale price was in millions. We also got general information about other boats and the surroundings. Getting off seemed peaceful after a half-an-hour tour. Soon after, we reached home in a taxi.

 

After packing picnic lunchboxes, we walked towards the Eastbourne beach and reached within 5 minutes. Blue-coloured sea and the pebbled beach looked wonderful on a sunny day. Excited as we were, clicked enormous amount of pictures with the sea, went into the seawater, felt the scary waves, wet myself and enjoyed heaven. After that, we returned to the seashore and had a picnic with coke, snacks, roti, masu and tarkari. We could see the seawater diminish as time passed by and we could walk farther into the sea than we did before. The wave left the seashore muddy and algae and stones were all over the shore. According to the locals, water level reaches back to the same land level in the morning. This seemed to be the sea schedule. After our lunch, we played Frisbee for a while, walked barefoot on the pebbles and felt nature.

 

A bit tired, we headed towards the Wish Tower which looked awesome from the beach. Clicked ourselves and headed down and walked towards Eastbourne Pier. Gift shops and game shops occupied the Pier centre and we walked all the way to the end through its left. We did not forget to capture the pictures of mind-blowing sea-blue background. Bought a memory postcard of Eastbourne and reached the road through its right.

Walking lazily, we reached friend’s place and had tea followed by dinner- dal, bhat and tarkari at 8:30 p.m.  Hurrying ourselves, we left the place to grab the train departing at 9:31 p.m. towards Clapham junction. Took a Reading train, got off at Twickenham and caught a H22 bus towards Heath Road. Reached home at 11:30 p.m., checked pictures and rested. Enjoyed a lot!!!

Stratford-upon-Avon

7th September, 2012

 Having come in the United Kingdom in the late twenties after learning the English world back home, I finally was lucky to visit the Shakespeare land. On the very day, I had an unusual feeling of visiting my great grandfather in village. It must have been due to the Shakespearean popularity.

On 24^th August, 2012, we started from home at 5:15 a.m. Lucky enough to catch the Piccadilly line- underground train at around 5:40 a.m, we reached Marylebone station at 6:30 a.m. and had tea and doughnut in AMT cafe. Then we directly headed towards Stratford-upon-Avon at 7:08 am. Enjoyed the landscape and clicked pictures.

We reached Stratford-upon-Avon at 9:30 a.m. Excited as we were, did not miss to click pictures in front of the train station. Walking along the road, we came across town centre, charity shops and other shops -M&S, New Look, Edinburgh woollen mill from where we brought a picnic mat worth £6. Old, small, comfy houses, small bridges, a small town; yet a big place. The old town looked very clean and also had few foreigners.

Searching for the tourist information centre, we reached beautiful River Avon and its surroundings. Took some pictures and had ice-cream. Bought tickets from the centre worth £60 for city sightseeing bus together with visiting 3 Shakespearean houses. Those houses included Shakespeare’s birthplace, Anne’s Hathaway’s cottage and Nash’s house and new place. We got into the ‘hop on hop off’ sightseeing bus.

 

Bus tour gave us information about the oldest pub, the oldest house in Stratford and Shakespeare’s school (believed to be). We got off at Anne’s cottage which seemed to have gained more public attention than the rest of the houses. More people got off there along with us.

It was a beautiful huge cottage with garden. Took some photo clips in a big woven high-heeled shoe and rabbit. Sweet pea varieties were blooming in the supportive wood on the sideways of the path and ripening apples covered the trees. We then visited the cottage.

The inner ambience reminded me of my great grandfather’s village home- a very small house with narrow passages. Her living room had a kettle hanging over the furnace. Other items such as furniture, desk, and chair looked ancient. Then a bed in her bedroom was a bit short compared to that of today’s beds. There was another room with a bed and a kitchen. An exhibition room had some portraits and a big notice board contained small pieces of paper where people wrote how they found their love of life.

Moving again outside, we took a lunch break in the chairs and tables provided in the garden. After the break, we listened to recorded Shakespearean sonnets inside the Willow cabin near the garden. Passing through Lavender maze, orchard garden, we walked towards a bigger maze. The first-time maze experience was exciting and a bit scaring. Reached to its centre safely and found the way out. At that moment, it drizzled a bit but stopped in a while leaving us dry. Then we went to the gift shop, got a postcard of 15p and left the cottage.

After waiting for some time, the hop on- hop off bus arrived and we reached the birth place of Shakespeare. Here, first of all, we were to watch some videos about Shakespeare’s life in a dark room and soon the door would open. Same process continued and then we were in the garden. Through the garden, we reached Shakespeare’s house. It was similar to Anne’s home- living room with kettle hanging over the furnace and old items in the room upstairs. On the garden, people were watching a drama performed by a couple. They were delivering dialogues from different Shakespearean plays. We clicked some pictures in front of the house and then exited through the gift shop.

We took a bus again and got off at Nash’s place. Here, Shakespeare had spent his last days and died. Reaching there, we could see the destroyed house and mud and leftovers. In the middle of the place remained an ancient well. People were seen to be working in the construction site. Another house stayed by its side where not much of interest was seen. It looked more of a museum than a proper house. Old bits and pieces like glass pieces, stones, and broken cutleries were preserved in glass boxes. There was a lovely garden beside the house. We left.

 

On the way, there was a school where Shakespeare was believed to have studied. It still runs but is not open for public. Not far from it stays a Windmill Inn claiming itself one of the oldest pubs in Stratford-upon-Avon. Too hungry, we went in and had tea and chips. This place was old but was maintained by some modern pillars too. We took a snap and headed to the town centre.  Went to the M&S store and got a red slipper on sale worth £15 and walked towards the river Avon. Royal Shakespeare Theatre was quite nearby. However, since it was around 5:30 p.m. and our train was to arrive at 7:20 p.m., we could not go for theatre. So went to the top floor restaurant. Considering the long queue, our hunger, less time and a vegetarian day, we caught a glimpse of the town view and headed downstairs.

Most of the shops were closed at 5 p.m. And we remained hungry. Luckily, we found an Indian and Bengali restaurant at around 6:15 p.m. and ordered and ate as fast as we could. The food was good for me and not spicy, but tasty. We enjoyed and ran for the train bidding a good bye to Stratford-upon-Avon, the land of William Shakespeare. The day is one of the important days of my life. 

TOWARDS ROSE THEATRE, KINGSTON

10^th March, 2012

 

Watching a stage drama in the UK for the very first time was a memorable experience, which happened to be yesterday. The show was to begin from 7:30 pm. “The Lady from the Sea”, a play written by Henrik Ibsen, was directed by Stephen Unwin. The most interesting thing was carrying cushions from the home for paying less as £8/person for pit cushions seats. After checking the train schedule, we (sister-in-law and me) decided to catch a train at 5:18 pm from Hounslow Station and left home at 5:00 pm with 4 cushions in bags.

At 5:26 pm, we reached Twickenham and caught 5:34 pm train to Kingston. Weather looked gloomy from the window. Just the third seat behind us, there seemed to be a man lying above the seat unconsciously. A train staff came with his cordless and informed the authority of the scenario. He was saying “The person is not talking to me…might be an addict….” Every passenger that passed through that seat looked concerned about the man. However, the scene was not invisible from our seats. Some passengers were suggesting the staff but he said that the man will have to go through ambulance and police in Kingston. Throughout the train travelling, the fainted person carried our drama thoughts away. When the train was beginning to slow down in the last station Kingston, we could hear the ambulance siren. Excited about the quick UK system, we left the train and roamed around through the shops.

We had bought a pink and blue frock for Mikenda (aunt’s granddaughter)’s birthday few days ago. Now, we were looking for some accessories to go with it. Since it was 6 pm, most of the shops had already closed; some were hurrying to do so. We bought a blue sunglass in M&S and went to the Rose Theatre where our friends were waiting. It was neat and tidy (English way) and looked like a proper British place. The cafe inside the theatre was classic and targeted at British customers.

I was having an orange juice while skimming through a newspaper article review of the drama placed on the table. Moving my eyes around inside the theatre, I doubted if there was anyone else from the Oriental world. The theatre hall gate opened at 7:00 pm (half an hour early). After keeping our bags and jackets in the cloak room, we went inside. The stage looked wonderful.

Few volunteers and two audiences were inside and we were observing the hall from the entrance gate. To reserve our places, we kept our cushions right in front of the chairs and below the stage. It looked really awkward with few people in the hall and few cushions below the stage. The volunteer said there were 25 pit cushions in total and, in a way, relieved us. Also, he was kind enough to explain us about the theatre.

He said it is the only theatre in the UK built after 2000 AD and was built 4 years ago. It replicates Shakespearean Rose Theatre although few changes were felt required for modern audience. It has a capacity of 900 people; however, has remained houseful only a few times. He mentioned that he just received a phone call about a wheelchair-bound audience and needed to make a seat ready for the person immediately. We could see 3 levels in the hall apart from the pit cushions section. Light management was visible in many places. However, no microphones were seen. The backdrop was that of sea, and the floor was made from wooden beams. These extended diagonally throughout the stage resembling sea waves. Door, main gate and chairs in the stage were decorated with garlands (looked like Laxmi puja in Deepawali although they were different flowers and not marigold). We reserved our seats, went outside and came back again.

More people could be seen now inside the theatre and pit cushions area. We remained in our cushions and waited for the play. The stage was a bit high from the floor level. So, we felt slightly uncomfortable in the beginning but all went well later. Once the volunteers made sure everything was okay at the scheduled time, the audience area went dark, stage lights were on and the play began. Having visited Gurukul Theatre in Nepal, I was expecting similar process. But it did not happen. No information on drama was given. Nobody appeared. The play started abruptly.

Women appeared in long light- coloured gowns resembling the Victorian age. Two daughters, a father, a lady and three men were the main characters. Language used was English and speech was easily understood. Drama went on smoothly. Stage went dark followed by applause. This was a 20-minute break. The play began again once the hall was occupied. It began abruptly as before. Actors were great. Few mistakes were seen but   remained overshadowed by their performance. The play ended happily. Applause followed. Actors appeared in the stage hand in hand and bowed, went backstage. As applause continued, they reappeared and re-bowed and left the stage. Thanking the actors and the people involved to create a beautiful drama, we moved out of the stage with cheerful faces.

After collecting our stuffs from the cloak room, we departed from the Rose Theatre with a promise to come back next time for the play “The Cherry Orchard”. Hungry as we were (since it was 10 pm), we stopped in Wagamama and had a heavy and delicious dinner. At 11 pm, we moved out (as it was closed) towards Kingston bus station. Caught the bus number 281 and headed towards Whitton Admiral Nelson. All 4 of us dozed off on the seats as it took us nearly 30 minutes to reach there. After waiting for about 10 minutes, headed in H22 bus towards Heath Road. Reached home at 12:30. Had a wonderful day.

BEACH CLEANING

Sunday 26^th February, 2012

Today was a day off due to construction works in train station. It is the last week for construction. From next Sunday, I will be working in Richmond Station as usual. So this week became a lucky one for me. And the day was wonderful. Warm sunny Sunday in February. Unusual. I woke up at 5:30 am and finished my daily schedule. Had a banana and tea made by vauju (sister-in-law). She had kept the battery of camera charged in her room for half an hour. I grabbed it along with the colourful rainy boots, maps, ploughman sandwich, water bottle, fleece jacket, shawl and left home at 7:25 am. I was meant to catch bus number 222 at 7:38 am; if not, at 7:58 from Hounslow Station. Thinking it would be quicker, I headed Hounslow Treaty Center. On the way, I called my elder sister in Nepal and finished my international free minutes. However, the bus arrived at 7:55 am at Treaty Center, confusing me about the bus schedule. It could not have taken more than 5 minutes from the Hounslow Station.

It took nearly 45 minutes to reach Belmont Road Bus stop in Uxbridge. Roads were quiet as anything. I withdrew £10 cash from Barclays cash point at Belmont Road and followed the map enjoying the fresh morning scenario. Got puzzled when I saw the road end there but soon realized the office was just left to the way. I reached 45 minutes early and was unsure whether or not to knock the door. Thought to roam around a bit and look at the surroundings. Right ahead was a pond (muddy though) with ducks swimming. I clicked a few pictures and went to the main road behind it and also the Willow village (a small park) about 5 minutes’ walk from the office. Called vauju and got the best wishes for the day. When I was enjoying the fresh air, the office called my mobile to know about my whereabouts. I was honest and said I will be back in a few minutes. So headed to the office and was welcomed by Mike and Maria. CEO of the office welcomed me too and offered a breakfast. Maria made porridge ready for me.  I went through a few magazines, making me wonder if it was the right place to publish serious wildlife articles. Looking around the house was enjoyable. Wildlife seemed to have occupied all the spaces- the garden outside, room inside, decorations and almost everything.

After sometime, there were other people joining us. They were 3 British and 3 Filipinos. The CEO introduced us all and 9 of us left in 3 cars with stuffs loaded (lunch, first aid box and beach cleaning equipments) towards Rottingdean (near Brighton) at 10:30 am. I was in the CEO’s car in the front seat and sandwiches and my bag in the backseat. I felt too long a distance towards Rottingdean. Talked with him on the way about this and that. Country landscapes and green grasslands reminded me of my Cardiff days when I used to travel with Maithili and Pushpa to Bath, Slimbridge and many other places. The uphill near Rottingdean windmill looking to the grasslands below was a majestic moment. Felt heaven. We reached Rottingdean around 12:15 pm. Parked the cars and had a cup of coffee in the White Horse Hotel. Filipino friends were in a group and went shopping getting off from the car. I was with others trying to enjoy. English conversation consisted of English world, English people, latest IT tools, and (not to forget) with English accent. So the situation is imaginable. 

I wanted to start beach cleaning immediately. It happened after some time which I enjoyed a lot. I clicked few pictures of the sea and in the sea. After all, it was the first time I saw the sea. Felt heaven again. With the bin bags in a container, gloves, litter pickers and a list of notes and a pen, we moved towards the far end of the pebbled beach. As the CEO had said, the beach looked clean from far but once we started searching for rubbish, we found it full of garbage. Ignoring the crowd on a sunny Sunday beach, we picked up rubbish and found things such as plastics, fish net, fish line, plastic strapping band and dog poo. Also, we collected dried egg covers of various sea animals, mostly dogfish. We then weighed the rubbish and left them near the rubbish bin. Felt a bit hungry and had sandwiches, crisps and water.

After spending about 3 hours in the beach, we headed back to Uxbridge bidding a goodbye to Rottingdean. We returned the way we had reached there. At 5:15 pm, we reached the office. Filipino dinner was ready although some friends had already left us. Noodles, spring rolls, roasted chicken and wine. Delicious! Thanks to Maria. We all had dinner and the English conversation followed. I enjoyed and left the place at 6:00 pm apologizing for the early leave. Overall, the day had been a fruitful one to save the environment. Thanks to the charity team.