Where do you expect to find a Cable Car? (Not in London of course) (Review)

Emirates Air Line Experience

 It isn’t often you get the chance to wing your way over the city, unless you are circling for 45 minutes waiting for a free runway at Heathrow.

I had this on my list of things to do and places to go when I was researching my trip earlier this year. It's amazing how conveniently this particular experience worked out, just by chance the day before this trip I spotted a poster at a stop on the Tube for a Star Wars exhibition in the O2, and ta da! Two things to do on the same day and in the same location. 
(The Star Wars Exhibition blog post is for another time) Patience! 

And if you're wondering why it's called Emirates AirLine - see here - Emirates sponsors Thames cable car. In October 2011 it was announced that the Dubai-based airline Emirates would provide £36 million in a 10-year sponsorship deal which included branding of the cable car service with the airline's name.

Timeout says "If you find yourself way out east near the Excel Centre on the north side of the river or the O2 Arena on the south, take advantage of the opportunity to ride the UK’s first urban cable car. With the ability to carry up to 2,500 people per hour in each direction (the equivalent of 30 buses) over the 1.1km street of river, the Emirates Air Line offers passengers fantastic views of the City, Canary Wharf, the Thames Barrier and the Olympic Park.
'Night Flights' are available during summer, which offer a longer journey time, audio/visual entertainment and some rather impressive views of London after-dark.

Oyster and contactless cards can be used on a pay-as-you-go basis – and are cheaper than the single fare cash tickets – although are not included in the Oyster daily capping."

 The cable car is based on monocable detachable gondola (MDG) technology, a system which uses a single cable for both propulsion and support, used also on the metrocable in Medellín, Colombia. The MDG system is reportedly cheaper and quicker to install than a more complex three-cable system which would allow larger-capacity cars.

Address: 27 Western Gateway, London, E16 4FA 

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 7am-8pm; Sat 8am-8pm; Sun 9am-8pm. Winter closing 9pm daily.
Transport: Tube: North Greenwich/Royal Victoria DLR
Price: Single cash fare: £4.50, £2.30 children. Oyster/contactless card: £3.50, £1.70 children. Under-fives free with a paying adult.

I can’t see this catching on as a key commuting route, even though it can carry up to 2,500 passengers every hour. It will, however, most probably make a great tourist attraction and a new way for Londoners to see the city. 

As part of the Star Wars Exhibition in the O2, we got other discounted deals 20% off Pizza Express which was a great lunch and the Emirates Airline Discovery Experience. This experience is simply a return journey all in one go. And from start to finish the entire thing lasts about 30 minutes, this includes time for a) queuing to buy the ticket and b) queuing to get onto the cable car. The actual journey is 10 minutes return, I think, I was too excited with just the feeling of being on a Cable car to even recognize how long it actually was. There is not actually that much to talk about to be honest, but it is a fabulous way to see London. Much better experience than the London Eye. Have a peek at the pictures below as seeing is believing sometimes.  

Here's a link to more information from their website on attractions in the vicinity of the Airline.  - http://www.emiratesairline.co.uk/local-attractions/

A wonderful video experience from Transport for London's YouTube Channel.

Yes, these are trainlines! I got so excited when I saw these :) :) :) :) :) 

Nitrous Icecream (I screamingly good) (Review)

While trawling the internet earlier this year for interesting things to do in London on my vacation in August, I came across something called Nitrous Ice-cream, and I clicked further cause I was intrigued. As soon as I discovered this novelty, I put it down on my list of things that I have to see. 

Time out says "Now a fixture of Camden Market, the innovative Chin Chin Labs – where ice-cream is frozen to order amid billowing clouds of liquid nitrogen-generated steam – may not seem as wacky as it once did, but there are always new tourists to surprise, and plenty of regulars happy to queue for the fabulous ice-cream. The menu is commendably short: chocolate, vanilla and two specials – one ice-cream, one dairy-free sorbet.

The latter always astounds with its fat-free creaminess and cool flavours, such as griddled peach, watermelon and dill, or beetroot choc chip. Haute cuisine references are frequent in flavours such as coffee and tobacco, or Guinness caramel with smoked salt. Experimental, yes, but the results are reliably superb. Pimp your tub with a veritable chemistry set of sprinkles and sauces (we liked the white chocolate-coated potato chips with our summery strawberry and hay ice-cream) – you too can be a molecular gastronomist."

Interestingly, and this is a good thing, I was so busy I wasn't able to make it to Chin Chin labs until hours before I had to leave England, Friday @3:45 p.m., and my flight was 1:00 p.m. the next day. 

Now, this is a hard combination to top, but the dish I chose (together with my sister) who was along for the expedition, (and conveniently since she's a local she had a data plan on her phone, so she was the navigator) was a Brown-Wich on their menu, a thrilling combination of Grilled White Chocolate Chunks, Brownie cookies, their signature dark chocolate logo chip and Basil Mint Chocolate Chip. Yes, you read that right, Basil. 

The grilled white chocolate was heavenly, the brownie cookie divine and the ice-cream, well, the ice-cream smelled slightly strange (if you're not used to Basil), but the ice-cream tasted divine. 

It's a brilliant place for tourists to visit and the locals rather love it as well, since the ice-cream is always freshly frozen (with the nitrous), it always tastes that much better than regular bought ice-cream.

Couple things to Note - 
a) It's a cash only place (don't know if that'll change in the future). No cards accepted
b) Prepare yourself for a wait, because it always has a line and the seats (which are not many) are always full.

Important details from their website

Chin Chin Labs -Camden 
Open everyday 12-7pm -   
49-50 Camden Lock Place, 
NW1 8AF, London

As you can see from the map below, it's walking distance (less than ten minutes) from Camden Tube station. 

Dessert Bar - 
Open every Fri/Sat 5-11pm - 
Hawker House, Canada Street, 
SE16 2XU, London

Chin Chin Club Soho -  
Open everyday Mon- Thurs 1-9pm  - Fri/Sat 1-10pm & Sunday 1-8pm -
 54 Greek Street, W1D 3DS, London

This week’s flavours:
Classics:
Tonka Bean
Valrhona CHOCOLATE
Burnt Butter CARAMEL 
Brownie Cookie Sandwich 
Sticky Toffee Pudding Sundae Soho &  Hawker House

Specials:
Chai Latte- Vegan - Camden  
Banana Melt Sundae - Camden & Hawker House
Pumpkin 5-Spice- Soho & Camden
Tiramisu Sundae - Soho  
Avocado  - Soho
Vietnamese Coffee - Soho 
Coconut Sticky Rice - Soho
Blackberry & Coriander Seed -Vegan- Soho  
The Avo Taco - Soho 
The Choux Bun Sandwich - Soho 
Cinnamon S’mores Sandwich – Hawker House

With just under 50k loyal fans, this unusual phenomenon is here to stay as part of London's entertainment landscape. 
Their Facebook page has 13.4k likes, Instagram - 31.4k and Twitter 4.6k, the most going to Instagram, which shows how much of a visual treat this ice-cream is, as well. 
Each of their dishes, are instantly Instagram worthy, and as you can clearly see why from the photos below and their different social media.

Finally a five star review from Rachel Brown on their Facebook page (who has clearly experienced much more than my one time and all three locations as well)
A brilliant ice cream option in London - tasty ice cream and fun toppings. The gluten free and vegan options (grilled peach/ raspberry and lychee) are particularly good. Whichever branch you visit you will struggle to decide what to order - it all sounds so delicious! Each branch has a very different feel. Personally I like the Soho branch and regularly pop in for a cheeky ice cream sundae - it's a quirky space, staff are friendly and it has a relaxed atmosphere. The dessert bar at Hawker House is great for more substantial desserts (i.e. Pre chosen ice cream, cake and toppings combinations ) and a more lively/street food feel. The original at Camden is bare cool as well.

The Resilience In The Face Of Terror (The London Markets)

Food, yummy :)

On Monday 31st July, 2017, I did something some may call brave, some may call foolishness, some may just simply call it resilience in the face of terror. 

In an effort not to re-hash an already extremely well publicized event, here's a link to a summary of the 3 June, 2017 events that took place in London.  This was following the 22 March 2017 Westminister attack, the Manchester Arena Bombing and subsequently the 19 June Finsbury Park incident.

So, to be clear, just by being in the Borough Market of London made me uneasy, so uneasy I only took one photo of pastries (see below), as I walked through marveling at the resilience of the Londoners to not give in, in the face of terror. 

A well written piece by the BBC scribes, effectively tells the story of the defiance. Published on 4 July, 2017, days before I set foot in the place. 
London's defiant market - One month on from the London Bridge attack

Needless to say, I was impressed, I ended up quite enjoying the feeling of just being there. 

The present market, located on Southwark Street and Borough High Street just south of Southwark Cathedral on the southern end of London Bridge. 

"The market is rich with history, but it remains as relevant now as it has ever been. As London’s oldest food market, it has been serving the people of Southwark for 1,000 years, and that extraordinary heritage is an important part of its appeal.
But this is not a museum piece—it is a dynamic, ever-changing institution; a participant in the wider debates around what we eat and where it comes from; a place where food is talked about almost as enthusiastically as it is consumed.
First and foremost, though, it is a source of genuinely exceptional produce. Many of the Market’s stallholders are themselves producers: the farmer who reared the animal, the fisherman who caught the fish, the baker who baked the bread. Other traders have built their reputations on seeking out small-scale artisan producers and bringing their wares to Borough. Together, the Market’s stalls, shops and restaurants reflect London’s status as a truly global city, with traditional British produce sitting alongside regional specialties from around the world.

Borough Market is a riot of colours, smells and human engagement. The traders—a vast repository of culinary knowledge—are only too happy to share their expertise with shoppers, or else just pass the time of day. Their voices are added to by the chefs, food writers, campaigners and teachers who help make the Market’s cookery demonstrations, publications, public debates and educational programmes so highly regarded."

Regardless of what has happened, I highly recommend the market for an experience of London's culture. Visitor Information to Borough Market

Here's also a look at the day in the life of Borough Market.

Onto Camden Market! 
"BELIEVE IT OR NOT, IT ALL STARTED WITH JUST 16 STALLS...
Today Camden Market is one of London’s busiest retail destinations so it’s quite difficult to imagine that just a few decades ago the market didn’t even exist. The trading history of Camden can be traced back to the early 70s, and more specifically, to the 30th March 1974 when a brand new Saturday market was opened in Camden Town. The newly-born market housed a total of 16 traders, selling antiques, jewellery and arts and craft. Now Camden Market is a home to hundreds of small businesses bringing to the area the multicultural diversity that we’ve all come to love."

In the truly immense listing of shops where you can get lunch from, it's hard for a hungry boy from  Trinidad and Tobago to make up his mind. Check this listing out of the food places there - Foooooood But, sigh, a pretty face caught my eye on the way into the market and I ended up going back by her to see what she was selling, and 

I ENJOYED THE CHICKEN IN THE MIDDLE TANDOORI! OH MY GOD, it was DELICIOUS! Maybe the hunger helped as well, but it was marvelous. 
Chicken marinated in traditional tandoori spices with a subtle spicy barbeque flavour. 
The great thing about England is that 99.9% of the places take international credit cards, so I don't have to walk around with great wads of cash just to have a great time. 

From Camden's website - "In a nutshell: distinct and delicious Pakistani street food. Healthy, locally sourced ingredients are used to create these moreish filled naans, which are all assembled on the spot, to order. The tempting aroma of Roti House’s chicken masala, made to their detail-orientated house recipe, is a thing of excellence. What’s more, eating a flavour-punch curry from the soft pocket of a freshly baked naan is an experience you’ll want to repeat over and over. Do it, with gusto. " The picture at the start of the blog is also from Camden's website. 

To visit this wonderful place - 
CAMDEN LOCK PLACE
LONDON NW1 8AF
OPEN EVERY DAY: 10AM-LATE - including bank holidays

TRAIN
CAMDEN TOWN: 5 MINS
CHALK FARM: 10 MINS
CAMDEN ROAD: 8 MINS

BUSES
KING'S CROSS: 214
VICTORIA: 24
WEST END: 274
EAST LONDON: 393

Borough Market By Josep Renalias - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3541278

Different gorgeously yummy in my tummy pastries, we bought a cheese and olive bread to munch on while strolling around London. (Borough Market)

Churros for dessert!!! Yay. Thanks to my niece for buying it.

One final word on the Food In The Middle, go show some love to their Facebook page - Food In The Middle and here's their website for further information - https://www.kerbfood.com/traders/roti-house/
With a five star rating after 61 reviews, they must be doing something good I think :)

Drippingly Gorgeous! (Magnum Pleasure Store Review)

A Day Without Pleasure Is A Day Lost

So, there I was on vacation in London and I was idly walking with my sister through Covent Garden one fine day, we stumbled across an Ice-cream shop, which was unusual in itself, so we went in to explore. Now, as a rule, ice-cream is meant for dessert, traditionally after lunch/ dinner, or a mid-evening snack or whatever. We thought about it for a minute or two because the time was around 11:15 and we had not had lunch as yet, what made us give in to the sweet lovely sinful temptation was that this particular shop was not easily accessible from a bus/ train or tube stop. It was some distance away and would mean a ten minute walk back to the shop since we had somewhere else to go as well as we needed to get lunch. 

Promotional Summary of the Magnum Pleasure Store (which I found online)

"Magnum ice cream, the brand synonymous with luxury and pleasure, has today opened the gates to a haven of chocolate and ice cream indulgence, with the opening of the 5th Magnum Pleasure Store in London’s stylish Seven Dials. The store has been designed by and launched by fashion guru Jeremy Scott, Creative Director of Moschino and is adorned with his MagnumX Moschino bag collection. Jeremy invites pleasure seekers to Dare to go Double with double-dipped, personalised Magnums with two layers of deliciously decadent chocolate, a luxurious layer of sauce and a selection of over 20 tempting toppings available exclusively in the heart of London’s shopping district.
The Magnum Pleasure Store will serve bespoke ice creams to visitors throughout the summer including one curated by Jeremy himself. Customers at the hotly anticipated summer pop up can enjoy a pleasure-packed experience at the dipping bar as well as at various events that will take place throughout the summer. Whether choosing a double or single dipped Magnum, customers will then be able to choose their own selection of tempting toppings, such as Black Lava Sea Salt and Blackberry Crunch, to sprinkle over the setting chocolate. Each individual creation will be perfected with a drizzle of chocolate and the finishing touch; a classic M coin decoration with prices starting from £5.50.
The Magnum Pleasure Store is decorated in bold Magnum X Moschino style. Magnum X Moshino is collaboration with Moschino Creative Director Jeremy Scott. They have teamed up with Magnum for the ‘Release the Beast’ campaign to celebrate Magnum Double, encouraging pleasure seekers to embrace and show off their wild side and live the Magnum ‘Dare to go Double’ attitude, just as visitors to the Magnum Pleasure Store will be invited to do.

When - 29th June - 10th September 2017
Sunday: 10am – 6pm
Monday/Tuesday/Wed: 10am – 7pm
Thursday: 10am – 10pm
Friday: 10am – 9pm
Saturday: 10am – 10pm

Where - 21-23 Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London, WC2H 9LL"

So as you can see we was very lucky to experience the wonderful (slightly expensive) sensation of creating my own ice-cream. Since this shop was only around for 74 days in the heights of the English Summer, it was a fortunate unexpected gorgeous experience. 

Stupidly and I've been kicking myself ever since, is that I totally forgot to take a video of the Magnum staff making the wonderful creation below. The naked magnum was dipped in a dark chocolate coating, then a combination of the following toppings chocolate fudge brownie, chocolate flakes and shaved dark chocolate, then drizzled with white chocolate with a chocolate Magnum coin as the final touch. I still cannot figure out how the coating managed to become so crunchy just a couple minutes after dipping. 

It was a foodie gastronomic delight! 

Not to mention the very first time in my life that I had dessert before my lunch! It was worth it though :)

Luckily there is always someone online with incredible videos which display the whole process. Have a look below. 

Tourism in London (England) and Tourism in Trinidad & Tobago (A Comparison)

As the country I live in, Trinidad and Tobago waits with bated breath for the 2017 budget to be presented on Monday 2nd October, 2017, I thought it would be an opportune time to compare the Tourism in Trinidad and Tobago and the Tourism in England where I went on vacation this year. Austerity measures and serious ones at that are expected, see news article - Tough Love Budget. 

It is the fault of previous governments of Trinidad and Tobago to not diversify away from the reliance on oil, but hey, when you're getting billions of US dollars from oil, you tend to be blinded by the truckloads of money coming in the door. 

It was purely by chance that I encountered the picture taken on Oxford street (see below), because the only way you would notice banners that high up, is if you're riding on one of London's double decker buses. I never actually originally planned or had any inclination to go on a bus around that area, but that led me to researching what the hashtag #London is Open meant, which led me to this. 

London Is Open

#LondonIsOpen is a major campaign – launched by the Mayor, Sadiq Khan – to show that London is united and open for business, and to the world, following the EU referendum.

It shows the world that London remains entrepreneurial, international and full of creativity and possibility. It reassures the more than one million foreign nationals who live in London that they will always be welcome, and that any form of discrimination will not be tolerated.

London is the best city in the world. We're entrepreneurial, international and outward looking. The key ingredient of our city’s success has been the flow of brilliant ideas and talent from across the globe. Our city is comfortable in its diversity, proud of its history and optimistic about its future. London is open.

Sadiq is urging all Londoners, organisations and businesses to show their support for the #LondonIsOpen message via social media and other creative ways.

We don’t simply tolerate each other’s differences, we celebrate them. Many people from all over the globe live and work here, contributing to every aspect of life in our city. We now need to make sure that people across London, and the globe, hear that #LondonIsOpen. I urge everyone to get involved with this simple but powerful campaign to send a positive message to the world. 
Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London)

As this website so handily indicates for the year of 2016 - Visitor Numbers , the top 10 visited attractions in England took in 42 MILLION visitors. Think about that for a minute. 42 million tourists, imagine what that does for any economy. Compare that to Trinidad and Tobago which has just 1.4 million residents.  Note - these figures may not be truly representative of the top tourist destinations in London. 

Rank	Site	Total visits
1	British Museum	6,420,395
2	National Gallery	6,262,839
3	Tate Modern	5,839,197
4	Natural History Museum (South Kensington)	4,624,113
5	Southbank Centre	3,909,376
6	Somerset House	3,443,220
7	Science Museum	3,245,750
8	Victoria and Albert Museum (South Kensington)	3,022,086
9	Tower of London	2,741,126
10	Royal Museums Greenwich	2,451,023

There is such an amazing plethora of information for tourists traveling to London it's hard to pick out the definitive one but these do very well
1) Visit London
2) Time Out London

Either of these websites have huge events calendars that you get overwhelmed with the choices of what can one do with their day in London. I should point out that these are totally relevant and updated with all the information one can need to visit each location.

Conversely, for Trinidad and Tobago, the official website of the Ministry of Tourism has 6 attractions and no events calendar. Likewise the Discover Trinidad and Tobago website has an impressive calendar of events but absolutely no further information on 99% of the events. Yes, the website is splashy and showcases Trinidad and Tobago Culture and places, but it is not associated with the official Tourism policy of Trinidad and Tobago. 

Someone told me earlier this year, that if one was a visitor from any other country in the world and they had say - 1,000 US dollars to spend, and they came to Trinidad and Tobago, what does one spend that money on? Because there is no coherence between any of the Tourism operators or any festivals etc. Essentially, what should've been our biggest selling point, just about gets by with government spending on Tourism which is barely made back by actual tourists spending money. 

It further does not help that the last 15 years that the crime rate has risen unbelievably - 5249 murders as per this website's count - TT Crime, and for 2017 the country is well on it's way to having the highest murder total in it's short history. Littered in between the dead are foreigners as well, so, as a result of this, travel advisories have been issued by foreign governments warning tourists about the safety of their potential stay and could very well scare away thousands of potential tourists.

As a fairly damning indication that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago does nothing for Tourists to Trinidad and Tobago, let me give you an example of what happened on a Caribbean Airlines flight that I was on from Barbados to Trinidad. Note that flight path - Barbados to Trinidad. 

During the flight of just under 1 hour, a couple videos were shown, one of which was a tourism video promoting Antigua attractions, excellent production value as well as ministers from the Antigua Government giving their perspectives of Antigua culture. That to me was both appalling and laughable at the same time because Caribbean Airlines is the state-owned airline and flag carrier of Trinidad and Tobago. 

Disclaimer - This post was not meant to provide solutions to the current lack of a coherent tourist strategy in Trinidad and Tobago, it was meant as a comparison between what a first world country has (England) and what a still wannabe first world country (clearly third world) has (Trinidad and Tobago) still to do close the massive gap.