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Also, I have created a new video of my Sony Rolly, dancing to Justin Timberlake’s Sexy Back:

It was nice to go through some of the pics taken during the trip and managed to find some that were rather decent, but missed the first time through.

Related posts:

1. Home sweet home
2. PARIS! Part 1
3. London to Cardiff

A collection from the trip overall, including Tokyo, Wales, England and Paris can be found here:

2009 – Japan + UK Trip

A small selection of photos from the 2009 F1 in Schools World Championships, including pictures of a few of the team booths, can be found here:

F1 in Schools – 2009

The complete collection of my photography so far can also be found here:

Flickr – Kincuri

Related posts:

1. PARIS! Part 1
2. British Museum, London Eye and Time Team!
3. A picture update

Paris is definitely a city with character. The people, the buildings and the culture are absolutely unique to the Paris. However, this isn’t necessarily a good thing.

As a tourist, it was easy to discover that there are a limited number of points of interest. We visited the Louvre, the Champ Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower. Besides these main attractions, there are little other draws to Paris. At least nothing you wouldn’t be able to find an equivalent version of in London. Why make that comparison with London? We’ll it comes down to the different experiences I had of each city.

London works, its clean, its easy to traverse (the buses and Tube are exceptional) and there are numerous landmarks that it takes more than 2 weeks to ensure you’ve seen all of them. I saw Paris in the space of 4 days and was done, I was ready to go home.

Paris is crowded, mainly due to the fact that there are so little attractions. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, which was a 30 minute wait to go up and a 45 minute wait to go back down again. There were so many people up there, you didn’t get a chance to enjoy the moment because you hardly got a chance to stop. The Arc de Triomphe was equally as busy and the Louvre was worse! I saw the Mona Lisa, but I didn’t get a chance to take it in and enjoy the Mona Lisa because there was an effective press scrum of tourists trying to get a look and take photos, it was hot and crowded and is a poor museum when compared to the British Museum.

The times I did enjoy in Paris was when we were eating. There is almost an over supply of good restaurants, so it was easy to find a quiet place to have a good meal. In that aspect, it was better than London, but it may be the only concession I can give Paris.

Paris was also the only place I felt worried for my personal safety and that of my belongings. I felt compelled to continually check that I still had my wallet, camera, iPhone and passport as the scores of apparently Bosnian Gypsy beggars and shady tourist targeting street venders was a little unnerving. Continually being asked “do you speak English?” followed by a request for money by the beggars was a little weird, especially as they were everywhere! Train stations and tourist attractions. If you are able to coordinate yourselves across a city like Paris in such large numbers, you shouldn’t be begging! The street venders offering cheap Eiffel Tower models (1 Euro!) were a little confronting. With half a dozen on each street corner, you are continually being hassled! If I said no to the first, why would I say yes to the any of the next 5?

With graffiti on the INSIDE of train tunnels and dog poo on the street, Paris is a city that has become worn. Where London and Tokyo have managed to re-invent themselves whilst holding on to the most important parts of their history, Paris has seemingly been left behind as a world capital, desperately holding on to the times of Napoleon and the times were they were once competitive with London as a world capital.

Paris is definitely a place you have to visit at least once in your life, but once is definitely enough.

Related posts:

1. PARIS! Part 1
2. The end of a journey

I’ll dedicate this first post to the pics of Paris I took.

The city of Paris from the Top of the Arc de Triomphe

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The Eiffel tower, during the day and at night.

Notre Dame Cathedral

The Louvre

The Rose Line aka the Paris Meridian

and… the Arc de Triomphe itself!

Related posts:

1. PARIS! Part 2
2. The end of a journey
3. British Museum, London Eye and Time Team!

I was lucky enough to make it to three London musicals, namely The Lion King, Billy Elliot and Oliver! Each of which was fantastic, whilst showing three unique styles of theatre.

The first show we saw, The Lion King, was the one we had purposely picked out as the one we had to see if by chance we were only able to make it to one. Whilst I don’t think I ever watched the Lion King film completely from start to finish, the play almost followed the film script and soundtrack verbatim in parts. The costumes were very innovative, with the performers integrated into the animals they were portraying almost seamlessly.

The style of dance in Billy Elliot was much similar to that in the Lion King, very precise, more concerned with getting even the littlest of movements right. The acting was what you would expect from a drama, matching the original film performance. It was much more intense than either the Lion King or Oliver, particularly towards the close of the first Act when riot police took the stage. It was very powerful.

[Edit: Having watched the film  version of Billy Elliot on the plane from London to Tokyo, I am lead to conclude that the play was much better, in terms of delivering the plot and the power of the performances from the actors and dancers, Billy Elliot the stage musical is much an improvement on the film. Un-needed side-plots were ignored and the side stories that had a real emotional effect, such as Billy’s visions of his mother were emphasised].

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Both Billy Elliot and the Lion King worked well with the space they had on the stage, whilst I think they both had a lot of area to work with, it always felt like they were close to the audience. However, that is where Oliver differed. Oliver had a huge, deep stage, which they filled with a huge number of actors and dancers. Where Billy Elliot and the Lion King may have had a maximum of 20 or so actors/dancers on stage at any one time, Oliver would have had what seemed like 50+ at some points, on a stage setup like a massive streetscape.

All three of the plays used an amazing variety of sets and settings, the choreography of the set changes was almost impressive as the actors themselves.

I can’t see how anyone could ever be bored in London, regardless of all the touristy sights around the city, there are so many high quality theatrical shows, I think it would be impossible not to find something entertaining to do on any given night.

Related posts:

1. British Museum, London Eye and Time Team!
2. Tate Modern + Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
3. London 2.0

Today started in Paris, up at 6 am (Paris time) to walk down to the train station to see of my Dad and my Brother onto a train to Zurich, where they will spend about a week before heading home themselves. After that I headed to my own train, a Eurostar trip back to London. From there, I made my way on the Tube to Heathrow, arriving about 12.30 pm for my 4.30 pm flight.

Night passed during the flight, however I didn’t get much sleep due to the couple sitting next to me. I was lucky enough to get a seat behind the emergency exit, which gifts you the privilege of as much leg room as you would need, in return for being personally responsible for the safe evacuation of our section of the plane. A responsibility worth bearing. But with a British couple with no sense of respect for the cabin crew or the personal space of others, it was hard to rest during the flight. Throughout I constantly poked, prodded and bumped during the flight by the bloke sitting next to me, who had decided that his own seat didn’t provide enough room in itself, that he needed to spread himself into the seats next to him. Worst of all was their willingness to just throw their used food trays and rubbish onto the floor for the flight staff to pick up, but the same staff were whinged about privately when their English wasn’t sufficient (we were on Japan Airlines so I think they really should have given the flight crew a break …).

I’ve been upgraded to Premium Economy for the flight to Sydney, just through asking. Despite complaints about passengers, which can’t be held against them, I have really enjoyed flying with Japan Airlines. Service on par with Qantas at no where near the price.

It’s now about 5.30pm in Tokyo (Tokyo time, about 9 hours ahead), with my flight leaving around 8.30pm. I’m so desperate for sleep, but am hesitant to do it in the terminal out of fear of missing my flight. I’ve been in the airport since 12.30 and am bitterly disappointed that I wasn’t able to find a PS3 slim in the duty free shops (Wii’s and DS’s are in supply funnily enough…).

You may be able to tell that I’m just a little bit grumpy, but at least I’ll be home soon, to kick off another day by landing in Canberra at 9.30 am. Hopefully I’ll get decent sleep between Tokyo and Sydney. I feel like I’m doing a rewind of a month long trip, crammed into a period of 36 hours, with all the fun parts taken out.

I’ll eventually update on my time in Paris when I get the pics sorted out.

Related posts:

1. PARIS! Part 2
2. Pictures
3. Harajuku

My brother in one of the red phone boxes that are scattered around London. I don’t quite understand the tourist fascination with these. As far as I’m aware, there’s only one last TARDIS, but these are everywhere!

A sneaked shot from within Australia House, home of the Australian Consulate, where the Australian F1 in Schools teams were invited for breakfast. This hall, of course, was used as the set for Gringotts bank in Harry Potter. Apparently shooting for the Potter film took six weeks, for a scene that lasted just a few minutes.

Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard. I was a little under whelmed by the changing of the guard, with so many people turning out to watch, with the police having to close off the street during the ceremony, there wasn’t much to it. The guards with band march in and enter the palace grounds. Music is played for about 20 minutes whilst the actual changing takes place, and then they march out again. It really was hard to see what was going on as the ceremony is effectively shielded by the palace gates. Unless you are standing right up against the gates, you really can’t see much.

Behind the palace is Hyde Park and Hyde Park corner where the Australian War memorial in London is. The memorial consists of a wall with every town and city from which people who have served for the Australian defence forces has come from (Australian towns or otherwise). Canberra, Tuggeranong and Nimmitabel all make appearances! Nimmitabel was a little hard to find, after about 30 minutes of searching, we discovered that it was in fact around the back of the wall where two panels had been hidden.

Harrods! Same feeling in Harrods as you get when visiting a museum. Everything is beautiful to look at, but you know its all too valuable to take home. The prices are just as much a spectacle as the items themselves (examples being 35 Pounds for a dozen oysters and a 95,000 Pound chandelier!)

Related posts:

1. Westminster and TARDIS – Part 2
2. Forgive and Forget…
3. London 2.0

The British Museum has an amazing collection of important historical artefacts, serving not as a museum for British history, but more as an example of world history, with exhibitions dedicated to ancient Egypt, Africa, Asia and the Americas (disappointingly, Australia seems to be missing, but I suppose modern Australian history is relatively young, plus its not why I went to the museum in the first place, but it would have been nice to see us included).

A trip on the London eye was a fantastic experience, just like St. Pauls Cathedral, it provides a fantastic perspective of the city. The ever changing view allows you to take in different parts of the city and towards the end, provides probably the greatest views of the Westminster area, with the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the Abbey, from anywhere in the city.

With what must be an amazing coincidence of timing, for the last few days, there has been excavation working occurring on the grounds of Westminster Abbey. It was a little hidden at first, as the whole strip from Victoria station, to Westminster and up to Trafalgar Square is undergoing maintenance works (in anticipation for the 2012 Olympics, I think). Walking past we discovered that it is a excavation for the show Time Team! They are digging up the early foundations of the Abbey for an episode of the show to air early next year. All of the shows ‘stars’ were also on site!

I simply cannot believe the amount of luck that I have had during this trip. Things that would be notable sights on any given day, I’ve discovered out of chance by just walking around where ever I am. Be it Time Team at the Abbey or the Buddhist Temple in Tokyo, the number of things I have discovered without prior planning has been amazing.

Related posts:

1. A flurry of updates
2. Westminster and TARDIS – Part 1
3. Westminster and TARDIS – Part 2

The competition as drawn 31 teams, representing 17 countries (many more are represented by individual students), with each team bringing a unique approach to the competition, their displays and the designs of their cars. The make up of the teams were equally diverse, with teams representing each continent, some teams consisted of hybrid, collaboration teams, such as partnerships between Australia and Canada, and combinations of Scotland, China, the United States, Germany and South Africa.

At the end of the first complete day of racing, Redline Racing were well placed. Originally running in second the team were elevated into first place after the previous leader was penalised for having a car that did not meet weight requirements. Each of the teams are assessed on the speed of their car, as well as verbal presentations and the quality of their display booths, with approximately equal weighting. With the fastest car on the track, the team refocused on the presentation of their team and design with a welcomed confidence boost.

The competition continues for the following three days, with the conclusion on Thursday 17 September corresponding with a visit from current Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton!

Related posts:

1. F1 in Schools 2009
2. F1 in Schools 2009: Ireland victorious, Australia sweeps multiple awards
3. A flurry of updates

Whilst the current version of the cathedral is at least its fifth major iteration of the building (with the last destroyed in the Great Fire), the building itself, both as an example of architecture and of engineering is inspiring.

The modern version of St. Paul’s is rather unique for Britain, being one of the few dome topped cathedrals. The design allows for the fantastic experience of being able to climb to the top of the dome, giving amazing views of the city of London. It makes a pleasant change, as travelling around the city you begin to feel closed in by the buildings. Evidenced by the numerous occasions when I have passed close by to prominent sights without even knowing they were there (such as passing close to Buckingham Palace almost daily whilst going through Victoria Station without realising how close it really was). The views from St. Paul’s allow you the chance to put the city into perspective.

The view from the top of the dome, looking down into the Cathedral.

The unusual, unsupported staircase from one of the Cathedral spires, which apparently is another site used as a Harry Potter set.

The dome top allows you to walk completely around its peak, giving a literal 180 degree view of London.

Related posts:

1. British Museum, London Eye and Time Team!
2. Westminster and TARDIS – Part 2
3. London Theatre