Random Topic Generator: My Day out in London (Saturday 25th March 2017)

I would like to change things up a bit a replace the Film of the Week with what I did in London on Saturday. I would have done the usual film review, but it was because I caught a bug during my day out that it had desynched ever so slightly.

I won’t be going into extensive detail, such as what time I woke up or what time I got the train, or even how much the carpark cost – although I was surprised that it was only £2.40 for the entire day, especially considering it was an NCP carpark, which are widely known to be one of the most expensive carparks in the country. Anyway, without contradicting myself anymore, let’s get to the day out itself.

I went to four stores and took part in one event in the evening. The Japan Centre, The M&M Store, The Lego Store, and the Hard Rock Café, and in the evening my mum and dad and I went on a ghost tour around London, which included brief and detailed descriptions of certain places that have had reported paranormal activity.

The Japan Centre can be located at…

Inside, you can find a variety of food, manga, and a few ornaments that’s traditional to Japan. Due to nearly all the products being imported, the prices are reasonable, except, of course the KitKats which were a tad on expensive side, but is worth it if you would like something different. I was actually more rather shocked to see that the products in the M&M World were far more expensive than those in the Japan Centre. Both places do include imported products, but I thought it would have been the other way round and be more expensive in the Japan Centre, especially when most of the stuff in M&M World are just the sweets and stuff you can buy down your local newsagents. If you have a choice between the two, I would recommend the Japan Centre over the M&M World.

The M&M World can be located at...

The Hard Rock Café can be located at…

And it was quite an experience. Rather loud music, so you do have to half-shout to be heard by anybody, but the food was divine. Hench burgers that certainly live up to the money you spend. I was hoping for a desert, but the burger was so massive and filling that I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish the desert, and I didn’t want to waste anything, so I resisted temptation, paid for the dinner, but before heading back to the Lego Store, we ventured down into the vault where a lot of genuine memorabilia from famous music artists over the years. I took plenty of pictures, which I will release over the next few weeks on my 1,000 Words segment tomorrow and subsequent Thursdays.  

The Lego Store, which can be located at...

At first I thought that the queue would have put people off because they can’t simple enter, only allowing a few people in at a time does prevent overcrowding. we joined the queue and although it was long, the security guards remained efficient and the three of us were entering the shop in less than fifteen minutes. Once you’re in, though, you can browse and take pictures and take part in the activities for as long as you want to make your experience as enjoyable as possible.

There were a few activities to get stuck into, including: Build your own mini-figure, pick-&-mix on a wide selection of bricks, the mosaic maker which takes a picture of you, scans your face and then give you a box full of bricks that you can then put together and create a portrait of your face out of Lego bricks. It’s an ingenious invention, but it does cost. £100 per person. I was interested in taking part, but unfortunately the machine had been completely booked for that day.

The build your own mini-figure allows you to pick up to three per box for £4.99. The pictures of which I will unveil tomorrow in my 1,000 Words segment. I also purchased a few models, and Iron Man, and one of the new Bugatti Chiron. Both models were easy to build and did what Lego does best and that’s include a lot of detail. They were reasonably priced. Upon browsing the store, there was a wide range of models from Batman, to MARVEL, to cars, to Pirates of the Caribbean, and so much more. I might be 22 years old, but I was certainly like a kid in a sweet shop throughout the entire shop. All the staff were incredible helpful, especially when I asked a few questions. They didn’t have to find out something, they knew everything already, which made the entire experience that much more easier and therefore enjoyable.

After we had explored the shops we wanted to, we headed to Westminster where we spent the next two hours exploring the area. We saw The Houses of Parliament, The London Eye, and The Westminster Abbey. The ghost tour started at 7.30 and was incredibly interesting. Whether you believe in the stories or not, you do find out a lot of information about the surrounding areas. Although I wasn’t expecting the hijinks, it was an entertaining experience that was both funny and knowledgeable. The tour guide certainly knew his stuff.

You do have to book a place on the tour before attending, and the of boarding can vary at times. We caught the bus outside the Grand Hotel near Trafalgar Square, which can be located at...

If you are wanting to take a trip out to London one day, I do highly recommend all of the places I’ve talked about above. Even if you go to just one of the places, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed, but please to take into account the prices, especially in the M&M store. It just had to end with me catching some stomach bug which rendered me bedridden for two days. I knew I shouldn’t have gone to that public toilet in Waterstones – it really was disgusting in there, although I cannot say for sure if that’s the cause, but it probably didn’t help.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)