Weekend of festivals

This weekend for me is one of the more productive ones. Even though I did not have two full days of activities, I was still able to visit two festivals, have a short river cruise, revisited the observatory, and do my week's groceries.

We decided to go back to see the Prime Meridian but this time we didn't take the train. We took the a short river cruise to Greenwich. It only took 30 minutes but there are many things you can see from the river. It is also this weekend that the mayor's Thames Festival is taking place around the south bank of the River Thames. The festival wasn't going to start until noon so we decided to go to our stuff in Greenwich then come bakc for the Thames Festival.

It was a good day in Greenwich. The air is noticably clearer although you can still hear a lot of the echoing traffic hum from the city...

After Greenwich, we took the second to the last boat back to Tower Hill. On the way back, the river festival has already started and is in full steam. One of the activities was a row boat race on the river and our boat passed many forms of rowing boats - from 4 man boats to full team dragon boats with drums. The festival is not only on water but it is spread out on the south bank of the river from Tower Hill to Westminster. It is here I witnessed the Tower Bridge raised for a passing boat. I'm sur eit happens all the time but as I am seldom by the river bank, it is a special site for me.

As with any festival I go to, I look out for food and there were plenty of food around. Unfortunately I couldn't try them all....if only a have 5 stomachs. Dusk approaches and we reached the half way point of the festival area where we noticed there is a river bank/beach party going on under the Millenium Bridge. So we decided to go down...it is not often yo are allowed to go down by the river bank I think so we took this chance.


There's the Millenium Bridge. When it was first opened to the public, an architectural flaw caused the bridge to sway uncontrollably and it was shut down for 2 months for repairs...


The river bank is full of shiny pieces of 'rocks' but upon closer look you will see glass and assorted river pebbles. The water is very murky. I was on a constant look out for bones as back in the medieval days, bodies were thrown into these waters...

The following day...i.e. Sunday...The plan was to go to the 24th Barrio Fiesta in London...The location is about 50 mitnues from central London and I wasn't even sure if it was happening. I first found out about it when I walked passed this 'Beauty Parlour' owned by a pinoy...I saw a bunch of pinoy community papers, very much like the ones we have in Auckland, and took some home. One of the ads is the fiesta but it didn't state a time...

So I decided to go in time for lunch...The fiesta is not much different from what we have in Auckland except you have more people, bigger place, and much more and better tasting food. Oscar Catoto's food is no match of course.

The place is called Lampton Park and is very close to the airport...

Lots of yummy food. At first I do not know what to get...there were just so many and I want to try them all...

In the end I opted for Dinuguan and Bopis...not enough rice though...The stall I visited was makuripot sa kanin.
I didn't try this but I thought El Nino would like this photo very much.

I also had a serving of Chicharon Bulaklak, incorrectly named Deep fried Pig's fat. Correct me if I'm wrong but chicharon bulaklak is deep fried pork intestine sinew. Yummy but a bit stale and not enough vinegar...

Next weekend is a whole new story...