Liverpool Tour

Went to liverpool today. Still haven't recovered from yesterday's state of "highness".. So I slept in the bus the whole journey there. The bus driver lost his way while going there, so we had something like a joy ride for a few minutes.. which meant less time for us to tour around the city. Anyway, this was organised by the Study Abroad Office in Leeds. What a lousy deal.. 11.50 pounds just for a bus ride there and back. I thought they would bring us around the city as well. Anyway, we were all in 3 different buses. And Jiayi, Elaine, Mingding and Qiuchan were in the 3rd bus, which was delayed for an hour.. what i heard happened was that the bus broke down or something, and they had to change bus halfway, and to make things worse, there was a traffic jam, which the rest of us didn't encounter on the way to liverpool.

Our first stop was Albert Dock. A very cold place Liverpool is. Anyway the weather is getting colder day by day. I'm totally freezing and sometimes dread to get out of the house.



Our first stop was Anfield Stadium. For those of you who don't know, it's the official stadium of Liverpool. Yes, the soccer team which is one of the tops in the English Premier League. We wanted to go for the tour, but was told that the tours could only be booked in advanced. Wasted, didn't get to see the field. Took some photos there to prove my presence there..






Next stop, Chinatown. This place is quite dead. The most happening thing that was going on was this group of senior citizens trying to perform some taiji stunts which wasn't happening by any standards. The Chinatown there was like only one street worth. Thought I would expect much more.. But didn't get what I wanted.




One of the dustbins in Liverpool:



One of the Parking Machines in Liverpool:



Then our group split. Me Elaine Jiayi Belinda went to the Liverpool cathedral while the rest went their own way shopping. Now the cathedral is really authentic kind. The structure within the cathedral was really magnificient. There was a service going on also but didn't attend.





There was this structure of candles which we could light. So I lit one candle and made a small donation of the recommended 40 pence. Apparently it's for people to make prayer. Well, so I just tried it.




Paid 2.50 pounds for an elevator ride and 108 steps up to the top of the cathedral. The man at the counter claimed the view at the top is magnificient.. yeah it was.. but we were blocked by so many walls.. could see only limited stuff. Anyway everytime I looked, it was so cold that I only manage to look for a few seconds because the wind is so chilly.





Jiayi wanted to take some "thinking" shots.. Also time to try out my camera on sepia mode..



I tried it too but not so successful I think..



Elaine couldn't resist the temptation of taking a "thinking" shot too..



Then we went on in search of Empire Theater. We ended up at University of Liverpool and Metropolitan Cathedral..




It was almost time. On the way back to Albert Dock, we passed by the city centre.



This signboard I found in Liverpool was really funny.. Check it out:



Came across Everton official fan club too.. Took some photos just for the record:




We still had a bit of time so we went to the Liverpool Life Museum. Apparently it showed the life of Liverpool. However, upon reaching there, we were told that they were closing and didn't allow anymore visitors. They close so early! At 5pm! So we just went to the Tate Gallery, which showcased some works of some artists. Not sure if they allowed us to take photos inside the gallery, but I just took anyway.




On the way back from Liverpool to Leeds, I slept all the way. We decided to go to Mingding's place for dinner after that. Took a walk through Hyde Park. It was already late at night.. around 7pm so it was real dark. Hyde Park didn't have any street lamps so it's really dark at night. Walking through Hyde Park at night alone is really scary, but we were in a group so guess it was ok. Heard a number of horror stories, so was a little apprehensive. After this, I don't think I'll dare to walk in Hyde Park alone. Had our "reunion dinner" and played a bit of Jenga.



It was already quite late at night, so we decided to call for cab. Didn't know that the cabs we called were those for private hire ones. The private hire ones are different such that they don't display the price in the car, and they run entire based on the mileage they clock. Problem is, I couldn't tell where the mileage meter was. Search as inconspicuous as I could, I just couldn't tell where it was. Qiuxiang, Belinda, Qiuchan and I shared a cab cos ours were the closest. Jiayi and Elaine were in the other taxi. Cost us $6.80 divided by 4.. Quite reasonable I think.