During our year in Indonesia, there were many times when we noticed the lack of modern conveniences we took for granted back home, and we really developed an appreciation for how good, and quite frankly how easy life is in the US. With our move to London, we've been reunited with a lot of those modern conveniences, and oh how sweet it is!
Seriously. When you're used to crazy traffic, regular flooding, and a general lack of everything from home, it's such a relief to be back in a modern, Western society. But, we've noticed it was the simple things we missed the most. For example:
Sidewalks & Crosswalks
Oh sweet sidewalks. They're everywhere. Walking around a city has never been so easy. As detailed in our blog post here, walking in Jakarta was an adventure. Here in London, not so much. London is definitely a walking city, and we have been out & about taking advantage of it all. The only thing we really have to worry about here are the throngs of people who share in our love of said walking.
Not to be outdone by the sidewalks are the crosswalks. No longer do we play real life frogger when crossing the street. Oh no, we simply wait at the corner, and (allegedly) let out little shrieks of joy when we see this guy:
Not only that, London crosswalks go a step further to look out for your safety by idiot-proofing them:
Yep, the crosswalks actually tell you direction from which traffic will come. Brilliant!
Traffic Signals Being Obeyed
Driving in Jakarta typically looks something like this:
Any traffic signals or signs are generally ignored. Here in London, it's back to the rule of law. The few times when we are in a car (or more often a bus), things tend to flow in an organized way. Who knew those green light/red light things actually worked?!
(speaking of buses) Yaaay public transportation!
Buses, subways (The Tube!), overground, underground, oyster cards...so many options! So many ways to get home! All the things!
We love the public transportation system here. It's been perfect for us. We live a 2 minute walk from two tube stations and a couple bus stops. It's just so convenient. Here's Gloria's take on the tube: people like to moan about the tube but it's the most reliable form of transport I've ever experienced. I know exactly what time I need to leave my apt to get to work at any given time. If there are closures, I get an email about what's going to be shut down, and if a line is shut down there's an alternate bus route - which actually is a pain in the butt, but you're never without direction and the right place to go.
Plus, we've now experienced the Paris metro system and we can say with direct experience that Tube is much friendlier. With frequent reminders to "mind the gap", wifi at the stations, and the fact that the doors on the tube trains don't close with a force intended to chop off a limb (I may or may not have been caught in a closing door in Paris), the London tube is vastly superior to the Paris metro. Also, the Tube doesn't smell like pee...(ah hem, mon cher Paris)
So there you go. London public transportation FTW!
Queues (lines for those of you in the US)
I don't think I ever thought I'd say I was happy to wait in line. But after experiencing "queues" in SE Asia (which are really just crowds of people all trying to push through a door at once), it's refreshing to wait in line without having little old Asian women pushing in front of us.
Food & Groceries
Seriously. When you're used to crazy traffic, regular flooding, and a general lack of everything from home, it's such a relief to be back in a modern, Western society. But, we've noticed it was the simple things we missed the most. For example:
Sidewalks & Crosswalks
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| A typical day strolling though London |
Yep, the crosswalks actually tell you direction from which traffic will come. Brilliant!
Traffic Signals Being Obeyed
Driving in Jakarta typically looks something like this:
 |
| Red light? Nah, that's just a suggestion. |
(speaking of buses) Yaaay public transportation!
Buses, subways (The Tube!), overground, underground, oyster cards...so many options! So many ways to get home! All the things!
We love the public transportation system here. It's been perfect for us. We live a 2 minute walk from two tube stations and a couple bus stops. It's just so convenient. Here's Gloria's take on the tube: people like to moan about the tube but it's the most reliable form of transport I've ever experienced. I know exactly what time I need to leave my apt to get to work at any given time. If there are closures, I get an email about what's going to be shut down, and if a line is shut down there's an alternate bus route - which actually is a pain in the butt, but you're never without direction and the right place to go.
Plus, we've now experienced the Paris metro system and we can say with direct experience that Tube is much friendlier. With frequent reminders to "mind the gap", wifi at the stations, and the fact that the doors on the tube trains don't close with a force intended to chop off a limb (I may or may not have been caught in a closing door in Paris), the London tube is vastly superior to the Paris metro. Also, the Tube doesn't smell like pee...(ah hem, mon cher Paris)
So there you go. London public transportation FTW!
Queues (lines for those of you in the US)
I don't think I ever thought I'd say I was happy to wait in line. But after experiencing "queues" in SE Asia (which are really just crowds of people all trying to push through a door at once), it's refreshing to wait in line without having little old Asian women pushing in front of us.
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| Ok everyone, time to crowd around in a mass frenzy! Good job. |
Much like in the US, if there is a type of food we want, we can find it here. Our local supermarket even has an "American" aisle.
It's amazing. We're even able to get all our Thanksgiving goodies. In the past few days I've bought a turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie....all for only 3x the price back home. That's the one downside of London. Everything is mad expensive. But, that comes with the territory. Besides, look at all this food! It's here! RIGHT HERE! Every day I can have good coffee, breakfast cereals, pastries, AND crappy American snacks. Living the dream!
The one notable exception to the crazy prices is alcohol. It's sooooo nice to have a wide selection of booze at it's ACTUAL price - not quadruple like we're used to paying in Indonesia & Singapore. Seriously. We can get bottles of wine for less than $30 again.
Also, PORK Products! ALL OVER THE TOWN - with apologies to our halal or kosher friends, pork is awesome. And now we have it again! Roasted ham, sausages, ribs, bacon...wait, scratch that last one. British bacon is some kind of freaky, thin sliced pan fried pork abomination. We'll delve into that another time, but for now, I'll just say this:
And for those who require a little more info:
So there you have it. Despite the obvious bacon SNAFU, we love it here in London. We're extremely happy to be reunited with the conveniences of modern life, and after only a couple months, London already feels like home.
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| Pop Tarts, Lucky Charms, Jif...bringing American obesity to Europe one step at a time! |
The one notable exception to the crazy prices is alcohol. It's sooooo nice to have a wide selection of booze at it's ACTUAL price - not quadruple like we're used to paying in Indonesia & Singapore. Seriously. We can get bottles of wine for less than $30 again.
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| £5 wine - It's so good when it hits your lips! |
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| Bacon |
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| Not Bacon |
So there you have it. Despite the obvious bacon SNAFU, we love it here in London. We're extremely happy to be reunited with the conveniences of modern life, and after only a couple months, London already feels like home.
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| The London night bus - just like the Shooters bus in Durham |
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