This will be quick update on our 2nd day in London. For me, it’s nice to be back in London after a couple of years. For both of us, it’s our first trip to Europe together

We started our little exploration of Westminster city on that cold and wet Sunday at around 9.30am. It was a quiet early morning. Shops were still closed. Not many cars on the road. We decided to skip the tube from Leicester Square to Oxford Circus and opt for the ~15-20 mins walk. Gone are the days of paper maps! Navigating with iPod is the order of the day. Works almost like GPS but using wi-fi and Apple’s “Maps location based service”. Too bad KL is yet to enjoy this.

On the way to Oxford street, we passed by the infamous Soho, an entertainment area that had its reputation for sex shops, night life for gays and lesbians as well for the film industry.

We took a quick round at Soho Square, where 20th Century Fox Film and the Footbal Association are located.

Approximately 50 yards away from Soho Square is Oxford Street, dubbed Europe’s busiest and most dense shopping street. When we arrived there at around 10am, most of the shops were still closed. On Sundays, most businesses start from 11.30am onwards and close between 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

Amongst the earliest ones to open for business are the souvenir shops. If you’re planning to get one or two souvenirs or to do last minute grab, it’s alright to buy from these shops. However, if you plan to bring back a lot of souvenirs, I would recommend that you take a tube ride to Bayswater for cheaper bargains. As a comparison, famous London t-shirts like “Mind The Gap”, “My … bla bla bla … bought this lousy t-shirt” and many other catchy design would cost from £10 to £15 at Oxford Street but they are selling at £4.99 to £6 at Bayswater. And yes, they are same quality and from the same t-shirt manufacturer.

We walked further up towards Oxford Circus undergound and made a turn to Regent Street. By 10.30am, the crowd started coming.

Coincidentally, the Regent Street Festival was ongoing. There were many activities planned including live band performance.

After watching the entertainment for a short while, we went to Carnaby Street, which consists of twelve pedestrianised streets of fashion and lifestyle brand names.

At around noon time, Oxford Circus and its surrounding area suddenly turned into bustling streets packed with tourists and Londoners, minding their own business.

We had lunch somewhere nearby the Cavendish Square.

We concluded the day around and about Oxford, Regent, Carnaby and Soho until we got sore feet.