London, the way I see - Part 1

With all the loneliness around my single travel to London, I have started being more absent minded.
Money comes secondary when it comes to mental happiness and a long way behind family and friends.

Now that my family has applied for visa, my mind is slowly falling in place. There are few interesting things that I have noticed and thought of putting it down in here. This is not a travelers guide by any means and should not be mistaken as  it. I have met many interesting people who are Indians and never been to India as you could expect. That doesn't surprise me as I am tuned by the movies of Bollywood herself.

London has in many ways tried to preserve its classic architecture and surroundings. Modern world seems to have had a good say in standard of living but not on thought process as I observe. The best part of London is the connectivity. There are tubes(underground trains) and overground rails along with the well known face of a bus. There are in-numerous taxi cars roaming around with always a commuter in there. They have their own trick of fooling customers as different roads take different charges and timings have a good say on their fares too. The sad part is the cost of daily commuting in London. The city itself is divided into zones. I live in zone 3 and work in zone 1. The cost of travel and stay and all miscellaneous expenses depends on these zones. The more you are near to zone 1, it would cost you more.

Zone 1 is mostly business district, the shops in and around closes early around 5 p.m. and doesn't open until 7 a.m. I have found it difficult at times to digest this as I thought business district should have shops round the clock. But to remind me, the fool that I am, nobody works here round the clock as what we see in IT or other related culture back. I have not spent enough time to judge people with their work habits but I noticed that most people rush home around 4:30 p.m. During work hours most people carry lot of food and keep next to them. This could range from packed goods to fruits to much more. The most favorite and common thing found is mints, gums, breakfast cereals and apple. Yes, you can find chocolates and coke at my desk sometimes. We get all kind of food that are packed and ready to eat. The easily perishable ones of sandwiches, pastas, salads and fellow brings can be found in volumes waiting to be picked up.

There is a large cultural mix found in London and can be termed as highly cosmopolitan. The people are very easy going once you know them. The main entertainment seems to be going on vacations and experiencing different cultures, food, life etc. I have met few people who has lived in other countries for few years for work and then returned. It is not like the normal onsite projects but these ones are job hunters who hunts to get job in the country of their choice. There seems to be lot of family value and care which I didn't expect to this extend. People are very family oriented based on what I could observe.

As I am in IT industry, I am not yet fortunate enough to experience the work culture here. I am forced to stick to the same global IT work culture in my case. Office buildings are good with nice facilities. Recently we were warned by our client not to take biscuits and coffee from their cafe which was really a funny incident as we hardly took stuff from there. Most offices has a kitchen area where people can hear their food, prepare coffee, tea, other drinks etc. all the ingredients are supplied and its up to us to mix it correctly. The common shops that lets you grab quick eats include, Sainsbury's, Pret Manger, Eat, Tesco and Subway.

Mobile keeps people busy wherever they are. Everybody you could find would be looking at the mobile screens. All has something or other to do. Apple iPhone is a common accessory found in every hand. It is so common that people do not know about most other phones and they exists itself. It is interesting to note that the price is iPhone could be termed as 75% less than the average salary here whereas in India, it maybe 50% more than average salary. People could easily afford an iPhone whatever their work nature or social status is in London which is not the case in India.

I noticed that there are lot of leisure activities that are available to be done here. People can book and play any sport they wants and which is mostly expensive. The same people might refrain from booking courts in India and play even though the prices are cheaper. I think this could be because the freedom to play anywhere and the luxury to have your own land enough for a sport is not common here due to the high land prices. An average football ground on AstroTurf would cost you around £50/hr. The badminton courts per hour would be around £10. As it happens in most countries when you work abroad, you have a very small set of people who knows and try to stick together mostly for which these sports are really good. This could help to refresh your mind and cool your head off at times.

The banking experience had been good and could start an account without much hassles. The incidents while renting a place would be worth noting. Even though there are lot of other ways of getting a house, we might end up approaching an agent to get a good house. I made a query to an agency found online with my requirements and need. In few hours I was contacted with details about a house.

In a days time, the whole deal was closed and moved in on same week. After move in, I found that many of the superstores were near to me and it was fun to live here. It took me some time and help from friends to figure out how to operate the main boiler, room heaters and other such London living items. Some of the interesting things that I noticed is having a washing machine/dryer under you kitchen dish sink, people also have a dishwasher in there in the same area. The kitchen would be a small area but everything would be in your hands just by a turn. The toilets are also worth noting. The bath tubs are a common thing here and it is the must have as standing or lying down, all your bathing and water related activities should happen in the bath tub as there is no water draining holes in the toilet and wash basin area. Remember not to spill water if at all you use water in non bath tub area. If you spill, you are forced to mop it as there is not way it will get drained or dry in this dark room. The exhaust fan works automatically as and when you switch on your lights or open the door. You cannot operate my bath/toilet without light.

This was written some time back but could not publish it as I had been working most weekends, late weekdays and finding less time. Now my family is here with me at home in London and they are learning lot more than I do as I often end up living in office. I found that there is a big book reading community here and already bought six books by now even though I am just reading the first one now for long time. Similar as my Singapore days, I use the travel time to read, sleep when I am tired, think, type notes in my mobile & much more. I am planning to do a write-up on all the different activities that I found that people does in the train. 

Thursday evenings seem to be a happening time as most people leave work early and catch-up with friends, colleagues and family for a drink. The football craze is something you won't miss when you are here. It suits my football crazy mind but sadly affording a ticket would leave you in two minds. It is not only expensive but extremely difficult to get too. I would definitely do a stadium tour of my favorite Gunners. Most newspapers are filled with football news and London is crazy about it. There are certain newspapers which even runs a nude model photo everyday which is interesting thing as I come from a place where nudity is a taboo. 

The internet connection at home is something which I wish would go back to Bangalore with me. It is a 40MBPS fibre line which is amazing fast. As usual I didn't yet go for a TV connection as we three hardly watch TV. Cooking using electric stove had been difficult but now we have learned how to time it and use it effectively and getting better everyday. My only visit out to English Museum was extremely impressive & would say you could easily spend a week in there if you really want to go through most of your interests. There are lots and lots of museums for each category available in London which most friends had recommended and I wish to cover before I return.

One thing that I learned in such a short span of time is that, whatever who become, wherever you go, whatever pocket shows, if your family is not with you, if you can't see the smiling face of your children, nothing else matters! Life is what you make it & what we are making are not just software but a loving heart & caring family...

all pictures: thanks to my old 3GS