Jamie Oliver and Chris Bianco’s Union Jacks at Covent Garden

After visiting Stanfords the map-seller (see earlier post) on Long Acre in Covent Garden, we wandered into the covered market looking for a brunch place. When I was living in London many years ago, I would not have coming to such a touristy location for a meal.

But somehow, this time as a visitor, we were happy to give this fresh-looking place a try. Part of the reason was that the market had not yet gotten crowded and the whole place was bathed in cheery sunlight. The glass perimeter around the restaurant really worked well.

We know of Jamie Oliver but not Chris Biano (he is apparently a well-regarded Pizza chef from the US, Zagat gave his pizzeria in Phoenix, Arizona a score of 29/30). Also, little did we know that this Union Jacks restaurant – apparently is Jamie’s fourth in a chain – and it started only in July.

We circled the place before it opened. The staff was having their brunch and a briefing. Shortly thereafter, the whole place was buzzing with activity as it was getting ready to open.

What really sold us wasn’t the ambiance of the covered market but the menu which is online here at Jamie Oliver’s web site.

The menu emphasizes “Proud British Flavours”. We ordered a bunch of these so-called British Tapas – “By-catch Fish Fingers & Tartare sauce” above, and “Garlic Mushroom & Mayonaise” below – both very tasty.

“Roasted baby beets, Westcombe curd and smoked seeds” – Sue’s fav.

“Heritage tomatoes, shallot, tarragon & apple balsamic dressing” – rather ordinary tasting.

This is my (Chris) favourite – “Bloody Mary Welsh mussels”

A bit of British humor awaiting the nosy customer – “Stop looking at my bottom” – we do not normally look but I cannot remember what caused us to flip the plate over.

Potatoes with thyme – not on the menu but we saw them making it – so we ordered a plate.

Wood-grilled Pizza “Red Ox” which contains oxtail & brisket, slow braised in Worcestershire sauce, Sparkenhoe Red Leicester, watercress & fresh horseradish – and no tomato sauce ! Sue did not like it but I thought it was a novel and tasty idea.

The place must be really chilly in winter for them to install this heating system – it is definitely much better than heat lamps.

Overall, we thought every thing was flavorful without being salty. Some dishes worked better than others. It was perfect for what we were looking for on that day.

When we left the restaurant, there was a short line of people waiting for a table. A busker got a crowd going nearby – so we stopped for a bit of street entertainment before setting off in search of a cafe.

Stanfords, the London mapseller

Stanfords on Long Acre, Covent Garden is one of my (Chris) favourite shops in London.

The shop has been at that same location when I was a student in London in the 80’s. It seems to have expanded as it now has a coffee shop.

I like this shop because 1) completeness in geographic coverage and 2) the range of travel-related merchandise offered. Apparently, they can sell freshly-printed maps.  Stanford sells also online !

Before Google Earth, I used to ask my globe-trotting friends to bring me a local map from far-flung locations. With this shop, I can just order it.

Maps of African countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe. South Africa has its own section.

Maps of Middle East and Central Asia, from Azerbaijan to Yemen.

Maps of Eastern Europe.

Maps of South Asia featuring detailed maps for exploring the Himalayas, including specialist maps for Annapurna paragliding, the Tibetan monastery circuit trail, and the Karakoram Highway!

Maps of the Americas – from the Andes to Yucatan. Canada and US have their own sections.

Ordnance survey (Britain’s national mapping agency) maps of Britain at various scales.

Sailing maps for the seas around the UK, the Meditterranean and the Carribean – from the Thames estuary to Antigua.

Cycling maps – a must for the Tour de France ?

A to Z is a popular brand of British city street maps – I had the London A to Z from way back – apparently they cover other parts of the UK too. London has its own section.

Of course, they sell globes of all sizes too.

French maps including city plans.

The shop uses several gigantic maps as floor covering.  This map covers the area around Greenwich of London, presumably chosen for its location being at the prime meridian,  zero longitude.

This one on another floor shows the Himalayas but I cannot find Mt. Everest or any landmark that I have heard of.

Not only do they sell maps, they carry a small number of travel-related books, not just guide books but travelogues as well as cookbooks. They also have a large collection of European literature classics.

They also sell flags.

These are old maps but they are sold as gift wrapping paper.

Another one of my favourite shops in London is Waterstone’s flagship academic bookstore at Gower Street near my old school.  It is still there and I managed to stop by; but it is just a book store.

London 2012: Olympics Track Cycling

The velodrome, located in the western edge of the Olympics Park, is a simple but beautiful piece of architecture. With a curved and sloping facade of natural wood, the outside mimics the inside. We went on Day 10 of the games to see track cycling (would have loved to see BMX cycling which started after we had left).

When we arrived, the races had already begun. But we managed to find seats near the starting/finishing line.

We saw a series of men short distance sprint races. This type of one-on-one race required just three circuits around the track.

A lot of strategy is involved in this type of cat-and-mouse race – until one decides to start sprinting. If one is at the edge on top the slope,  extra speed is gained when coming down.  The leader has to constantly looking back to see where the opponent is. Sorry about my shaky hands holding the camera.

Jason Kenny of Team GB won the gold medal, beating the French.

In the middle of the track (the pit) was where all the preparations for the races were done.

The next event was the elimination race of the women’s Omnium. We had no idea of the structure or rules of the event until it started. But it was a lot of fun to watch. The match started with 18 riders and every two laps, the slowest rider was eliminated.

The omnium consists of 6 events, according to the 2012 web site:

– Flying lap: this is a race against the clock. 
– Points race (30km for men, 20km for women): riders score points for sprints which occur every 10 laps during the race, and for lapping the field.
– Elimination race: a bunch race with an intermediate sprint every two laps; the last rider each time is eliminated.
– Individual pursuit: (4,000m for men, 3,000m for women): two riders start at opposite sides of the track and race against the clock.
– Scratch race: This is a straightforward race over 16km for men and 10km for women. The first rider to cross the line wins.
– Time trial (1km for men, 500m for women): Each competitor rides the course aiming for the fastest time.

In an elimination race, in the back of the pack, the riders are all trying not to be the last, while those in the front wants to ride at an even pace to conserve energy.

Towards the end of the elimination race, when there are only two or three riders left, the strategy resembles those used in a sprint race.

It was a really very exciting event to watch!

Laura Trott of Team GB won the elimination race, and won the gold medal for the Omnium event on the following day.

London 2012: International Broadcast Center tour

While we were at the Olympics, we had a chance to visit the International Broadcast Center (IBC) and Main Press Center (MPC).

This is the home of the Olympics Broadcast Services (OBS). We had to get a guest pass in order to enter this area. The security checks, stricter than those at airports, were administered by the UK armed forces. Cameramen and photographers with all their equipment and bags were checked every time they come back to the IBC after an assignment. OBS also provided a bus service to take the media to venues outside the Olympic Park. Each bus was checked for bombs planted underneath or brought on board when it return to the IBC.

According to London 2012’s website on venues, the IBC/MPC Complex (52,000 square metres of studio space and 8,000 sq m of offices) is a 24-hour media hub for around 20,000 broadcasters, photographers and journalists who will bring the Games to an estimated four billion people worldwide.

According to the venue website, the Complex also has a temporary catering village with an 800-capacity press conference room, a 4,000-seat restaurant (photo below) and a 200m-long High Street running between the MPC and IBC with outlets such as banks, newsagents, travel agents and a post office.

Actually, there was a McDonald (in addition to the canteen shown above), a beauty/massage parlour, a stage where local bands perform nightly to entertain, and a store that sells Olympics memorabilia, including some T shirts and pins with exclusive media center design. The collectible pins are particularly rare as they are not sold anywhere.

Inside the IBC are studios that are occupied by the world’s TV broadcasters – NBC apparently got the largest studios – BBC seemed to have less floor space in the IBC but they have a live broadcasting stage located high up on a stack of containers in the Olympic park. This building contained banks of equipment just outside the entrances to many of the studios and miles of cables running on an elevated bed (see photo below).

We were also very lucky to be given a tour of the heart of the IBC – the OBS Tech suites.

This is where the video signals come in from the hundreds of TV cameras from all the venues, get sorted for transmission and then archived. Just imagine if something went wrong in here – it would be an international incident!

Each of the technical functions is designated an area as indicated on the glass wall.

Audio services have their own sound-proof rooms, separate from but located next to Commentary and Switching.

A large news room which feeds a news channel is located next to the tech suites.

Outside the IBC are several so-called “satellite farms” – the one shown below is just a small one.

It was truly a unique opportunity to see where and how all the Olympics events are made viewable around the world.

London 2012: Olympics Badminton

The Olympics Badminton event was held at the Wembley Arena next to the Stadium (where some of the Olympics football matches were played). Wembley is located in the Northwest corner of London and is well knwon to any Brits, football fans or rock concert-goers.

We went on Day 7 of the games and there were three matches in our session in the afternoon. The first two were semifinal men’s single matches. Don’t miss the videos towards the end of this post.

In the first match, one player was the World no. 1 ranked player (I think) from Malaysia – Chong Wei Lee (in grey shirt). The other was Long Chen –  from China in red.

The Malaysian was clearly the better player and won the match without much difficulty (21-14 in the second set). The Malaysian supporters were very vocal and even louder than the Chinese.

The second match was between China’s Dan Lin and South Korea’s Hyun Il Lee – another semifinal. A Chinese fan sitting not far from me was yelling “Zhongguodue jiayao” which means literally “Chinese team – Add oil” a cheer that is commonly heard around the games.

Dan Lin won this match to advance to the final and met Chong Wei Lee. Dan Lin later beat Chong Wei Lee and won the gold medal on Day 9.

The last match was played between two Chinese teams – Nan Zhang and Yunlei Zhao versus Chen Xu and Jin Ma. It was the mixed doubles final.

This is a clip of one of the many fast-paced rallies I managed to capture from a distance. I think badminton doubles are much more fun to watch than singles, just the opposite of tennis. In this match, the average rally lasted 9 seconds with 8 strokes played and for the earlier Dan Lin v Hyun Il Lee match, the average was 10 seconds with 8 strokes – actual statistics proving that the pace in a doubles game is more frantic. Watch it in full screen.

In the end, the Chinese team in yellow (Zhang and Zhao) won the gold medal (17-21 in the second set). I think the red team’s female player was the weakest player as her returns often resulted in a punishing smash from the other side.

The victory ceremony followed 5-10 minutes after the final match was concluded. The bronze medalist was the Danish team.

London 2012: Olympics games snapshots

Just watched the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games. What a blast!

We came back from London after spending 8 days there to watch the games. Below are some snapshots of the games we saw. Later posts will go into more details including some videos.

This is the first time we traveled to see the Olympics games. Initially, we only had tickets to see two Olympics events: Badminton and Volleyball. In the end, we managed to see a few more events.

Badminton, mixed doubles, China v China, final.

Volleyball women, Serbia v Turkey.

Table tennis, men, team, Austria v Germany.

Boxing, women, Brazil v China.

Weightlifting, women, Russia (she broke the world record here).

Handball, women, Spain v Croatia.

Track cycling, men, 250m sprint.

Usain Bolt’s 100 m sprint, after his victory lap.

Hockey, men, India v Belgium.

Diving, women, 3m springboard, final.

We thought the games were very successfully run and had a very memorable time in London, albeit rather exhausting after running from one venue to another.

Wiener Riesenrad at Prater, Vienna

Wiener Riesenrad – “Viennese giant wheel” is a very popular tourist attraction in Vienna.

This piece of working antique is located in Prater, an amusement park just across the river from the old city.

It is one of the oldest Ferris wheel in existence – the wheel was built in 1897 and survived World War II. The picture below is a picture of its construction on display in the ticketing area.

Unlike any amusement park ride that we have gone to, there was no line. To have a gondola to ourselves, we wanted to wait for the next one.  But the operator would not let us.  It turned out that some of the gondolas are reserved for private cocktail parties or a romantic candlelit dinner.  We saw a gondola with only a dining table and two chairs (No.28) and another with several small tables (No. 30).

Compared to the modern versions which are mostly constructed as a plastic bubble, the gondola certainly exudes a certain old world charm. The official statistics says it is 65m at the top and one revolution takes about 20 minutes (it felt shorter however).

Part of its attractiveness is that the wheel afforded the riders a panoramic view of Vienna.  The center of the city has very few high rises to provide or block such a view. Looking southeast across Prater, the old city center (Innere Stadt) is on the right – where Stephansdom (earlier post) is just visible.

I (Chris) liked the movie “Before Sunrise” and I read that the characters –  Jesse and Céline shared a kiss at the top of the Riesenrad at sunset. Now I need to view that DVD again and find the scene. The movie also shot some scenes in Cafe Sperl (earlier post) on our street.

Looking east at the cranes in Donaustadt.

Looking northeast – the modern-ish building to the left is the Praterstern train station.

This ride which rises and spins the tiny seats around until they are tilted looks like a lot of fun.

The white structure is the Ernst-Happel stadium (the biggest in Austria) where the final match of UEFA Euro 2008 was hosted.

The amusement park was not very busy since we were there at a weekday afternoon.

But it opens till midnight in the summer, and I suspect it could get a lot livelier later. But we had to leave and find a place for dinner.