Live, Laugh, London (Part 2): London's Treasures and Bridges

- June 23, 2026, Monday.

- London is a big city and the most strategic way to navigate it is to do it by area. On this day, I focused on the eastern side of London. This is where the Tower of London is located, as well as other major bridges that were built above the River Thames.

- I had a brief stopover at the 17th-century St. Paul's Cathedral (St. Paul's tube station) to have a photo with the red phone booth behind the cathedral. Unfortunately, I did not have an opportunity to enter the cathedral at that moment, or at any time during my whole trip (maybe next time!)

St. Paul.

This is a popular photo spot it has its own entry on Google Maps haha.

Cathedral from a different angle.

- I later passed by London Bridge to behold the full glory of the River Thames. London Bridge, by the way, appears simpler compared to other bridges. The bridge's current incarnation was only built during the 1970s. 

On London Bridge.

View from London Bridge. That ornate bridge is called Tower Bridge - that is NOT London Bridge, contrary to what many people think.

With Tower Bridge, and The Shard behind me.

See, this bridge says London Bridge. It's not too far from Tower Bridge.

- The Tower Bridge was constructed in the late 1800s, and is recognizable for having the ability to open up to let bigger ships pass through the river. Both cars and pedestrians can pass through the bridge.

Tower Bridge from the pedestrian area.

I had enough time to take an infinite number of photos before the Tower of London opened for the morning.

- Near the bridge is the Tower of London, first built in the 11th century as a castle and citadel. It is known for housing the crown jewels (no photography inside this area, unfortunately) including the Koh-i-noor; this was one of the largest diamonds owned by Indian rules before being taken by the British and further cut to be part of the crown jewels. (Best to book tickets beforehand as tickets can get sold out.)

Tower of London.

Entrance to the crown jewels (no entry, unfortunately.)

With the Yeoman Warders (commonly called "Beefeaters"). They're obliged to take care of the crown jewels.

Ravens. Yes, they're real. And yes, they're larger than I expected!!

A reaaaaally long canon!

The main tower/castle.

Royal armor.

Castle chapel.

Royal sabers.

DRAGON!

Palace guard and many canons.

I love this shot so much! So much depth.

Throne.

- I also decided to visit the Tower Bridge since I was in the area anyway. Fortunately it was easy to book tickets on the spot! Not only do visitors get to see the towers' interiors, but visitors can also cross the bridge with a glass floor! The ticket also gave access to the early hydraulic systems that were used to open up the bridge.

Inside Tower Bridge.

Glass floor!!

Boilers to burn coal.

Machines inside the tower to make the bridge open.

- I rode an Uber to Borough Market because I didn't think I could walk too much that noon (near London Bridge tube/train station). I planned to have lunch there but as usual, the crowd was too much and there wasn't enough proper space to eat. So I found a nearby restaurant to try my first full English breakfast in the UK!

Borough Market.

I like the open look of the market, but not sure if it was the crowd or the hot sun, but I really just couldn't stand being there at that time. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat comfortably.

Passed by Shakespeare's Globe. Though built in 1997, it is a reconstruction of the 16th-century Globe Theatre - where Shakespeare's plays were staged!

English breakfast....for lunch haha.

- The early afternoon was devoted to Tate Modern. Located inside a former power station that was converted to a museum in the year 2000, this museum focuses more on contemporary art. In contrast, Tate Britain showcases British art throughout history. 

Turbine hall. This often has some massive artwork that takes up the main space. I guess they didn't have anything this time.

Museum interior.

Andy Warhol!

Works by Filipina artist, Pacita Abad.

Mondrian! (I should have worn my Mondrian shirt for my trip to the museum!!)

Salvador Dali!

Museum facade.

Cross the Millennium Footbridge, located just outside Tate Modern. The church at the end is St. Paul's Cathedral! (Yes, the church you see at the beginning of this post.)

- My trip to London had to take a pause after my visit to Tate Modern. I'm coming back to London towards the end of my British adventures. For now, I had to rush back to my hostel as I had to catch the train to my next British country: Wales!

Spring in Tokyo (Part 2): The Japanese Royalty and Samurai

- March 26, 2024, Tuesday.

- Tokyo has been interesting so far, and my first 1.5 days barely scratched the surface of what's there to see and do in the world's largest city. My first agenda was to visit the Imperial Palace (Otemachi Station or Tokyo Station). 

- The Imperial Palace ("Kojo") has been the official palace of Japan since 1868 when the Meiji Restoration took place. Much of the palace is off limits to tourists, so most people just go around the palace grounds. The most popular spot is the Nijubashi (also called "Meganebashi" which means "Eyeglass Bridge" due to its shape) as it is one of the most distinct views of the palace from the outside. Sometimes guided tours can be done but the heavy rain was just making it too difficult to do that. I was, however, able to see a glimpse of the palace inside as I walked through Inui Street. Inui Street is a seasonally-opened area of the palace, often during spring, as it is the place to see the fully-bloomed cherry blossom flowers. Since this year's spring was a bit cold, and it was raining that morning, I barely got to see any sakura at all.

With the Nijubashi/Meganebashi.

Inui Street (without sakura.)

Well, some maybe.

It was a bit underwhelming since I didn't see much sakura. Had it been a slightly warmer spring, there would be lots in bloom!

- Close to the Imperial Palace is the Yasukuni Shrine, built in 1869. The shrine has a reputation of being controversial due to it being the resting place of many war heroes since the Meiji Era until the present. This includes "war heroes" who were instrumental in carrying out plans related to World War II. The shrine's museum, the Yushukan, was impressive yet perplexing as the way Japan presents World War II is quite different from how the rest of the world narrates the events of the war. (World War II is even named as "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity War").

This was one of the BIGGEST torii gates I've seen in my life.

Temple attendant, and temple visitors.

The main shrine.

Yushukan.

WWII Japanese fighter plane.

Stuff used during WWII.

- From the Yasukuni Shrine, I rode the train, drenched in rain, all the way to Tokyo Tower (Akabanebashi Station). This brightly-colored tower, which appears to look like the Eiffel Tower, is a communication and observation tower built in 1958. Visitors can go inside and go to the observation deck, though I chose not to anymore since I've been inside in the past (and I'm not really much of a tower fan.) 

Tokyo Tower in the rain.

- Across the tower is the Zojoji Temple. For the regular tourist, it might be known as the temple that serves as a perfect photo spot for Tokyo Tower, with the perfect shot being the temple's main hall with the tower behind. However, I also wanted to visit the temple, built in 1393, as it is the resting place of 6 Tokugawa shoguns. The tombs were closed when I went, but just standing outside the gate where those six shoguns were was just surreal. 

Zojoji Temple with the Tokyo Tower behind.

Tokugawa mausoleum.

- I had a brief visit to Harajuku (Harajuku Station) later that afternoon, trying my best to find thrifted kimonos, but the ones I found were a bit expensive, so I found my way back to Shinjuku (Shinjuku Station / Shinjuku Sanchome Station) and bought from my favorite kimono store (new and second-hand), Fuku Fuku.

Rainy Harajuku.

Went back to Shibuya instead for this.

- From Fuku Fuku I went straight to Kanda Station to meet my friends Lennie and Franco for dinner. As rainy as the day was, having hot ramen and dessert at Tokyo Station with Lennie and Franco made my day a lot warmer and cozier. Our meet up was also very last minute as this Tokyo trip was honestly one of my least planned ones.

With Lennie and Franco.

Bought so many fruit sandwiches at Tokyo Station. (I shared them to my family back at the hotel.)

 - I was relieved that I was still able to make the most of my day even though it was difficult to go around because of the weather. I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to do much because of the wind and rain (and I would've done more without the rain). Thankfully Tokyo being a nice city, and having friends in Tokyo made things a lot better. I also looked forward to the other non-rainy days so I could do more sightseeing!   

** Please check out my other blogs in this series:

Part 1: Shinjuku, Shibuya, Super Sentai Restaurant (click here)

Part 3: Kawagoe and Tokyo Tower again (click here)

Part 4: Sensoji, Ueno, Ameyoko, Cat Cafe (click here)

Part 5: Odaiba and Gundam, Tsukiji Outer Markets, Tsukiji Honganji, Ginza (click here)