UK 2016: The Other Side of The Abbey Road, London

To continue the fan-girling that I initiated in my previous post, let’s talk about the album cover of one of the greatest albums ever made.

Back in 2013, I only got to spend around 12 hours in London. It was impressive how much we’ve covered in those 12 hours. But boy, was it hectic! Given the limited amount of time, I didn’t get to visit a lot in London that are of, let’s say, low priority. Visiting the Queen at Buckingham Palace, riding the London Eye, seeing the Tower Bridge and walking towards the Big Ben; those are just some of the high priority that we got to meet three years ago. I even got to insert visiting King’s Cross Station for the famous Platform Nine and Three Quarters!

Anyhow, when I found out my UK trip this year will push through, I had to make sure that I’ll be able to stay in London with enough time to see the other sights I wanted to see. One of those sights is the Abbey Road. Dubbed as the most famous pedestrian lane in the world, it is a dream for any Beatles’ fan to cross this road.

I didn’t have any idea what the Abbey House is. I still took a picture with it because it has “Abbey” on it, LOL. Now that I have time to Google, it’s just flats, apparently. Well…

Abbey Road is the last album that all four of The Beatles worked on together. It is my favorite album by them but it seemed, as what I’ve read, that it wasn’t theirs. They were already becoming the toxic group which eventually led to their disbandment, and recording this album involved a lot of tension between the members. However, that didn’t stop them from making one of the greatest albums despite their lack of love for it.

Outside the gates of the Abbey Road Studios!

Abbey Road Studios is the birthplace to hundreds of records including 12 of The Beatles’ albums.

Expectedly, the album became a success and the cover has been imitated by several groups including Red Hot Chili Pepper, Sesame Street and The Simpsons. And now, Ron Does Things, as well. EXCEPT I DID IT FROM THE OTHER SIDE.

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I’ve always had difficulty with crossing roads, so the Abbey Road walk was a challenge for me and the boyfriend who was on the ready to take my photos. I knew and learned beforehand that the Abbey Road was already a zebra crossing, meaning, the cars would always stop for pedestrians. But even with that knowledge, knowing that a double-decker is about to drive through would automatically make me jump back to the sidewalk.

Look at that big grin and mid-blink!

These pictures were taken by the boyfriend as he shouted at me to cross quickly so he can take pictures because for ten seconds, the road was almost empty. In our hurry to get that rare shot, the perspective completely went out of my mind and I forgot that he should’ve taken the pictures from the other side to mimic The Beatles.

Welp, maybe next time we’d do it right! For now, that’s how the other side of the Abbey Road pedestrian crossing looks like!

UK 2016: The Grecian Pillars

Today, we leave our denim jackets and bask in the unusual warmth and rare British sunlight.

Believe me when I say, I didn’t repeat any outfit in this trip. Ha! I know. First outfit post and I’m already declaring the impossibles and the obnoxious. Except, most of my outfit during this entire trip are actually dresses and jumpsuits. So forgive me if I won’t blog about my individual outfits for the whole trip as it became very repetitive.

I think that’s the compromise fashion and travel get, that’s where they meet halfway: jumpsuits and dresses. You’re set for 1 day and it only takes 1 clothing space in your suitcase. Win-win, right? Well, win-win until you want to pee. These jumpsuits, man, they’re a pain in the bladder!

But I digress. It was unbelievably warm when we went to Liverpool, which is usually a surprise for the English folk because their weather is so erratic and gloomy days are the default. Coincidentally, I dressed up very summer-y that day with my deep orange palm prints and straw hat. Despite Liverpool being seaside, I was able to take off my jacket.

After our Magical Mystery Tour, we hung out for a bit in this magnificent architecture that is the St. George’s Hall. It is just across the train station, hence, a multitude of OOTD photos. These massive Grecian pillars are something I’ve always admired and it was a small dream come true to be standing in between them.

Ron wears…

H&M jumpsuit and bag; Primark hat; Mendrez crossover flats

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UK 2016: The Cavern Club’s Magical Mystery Tour in Liverpool

Roll up for the mystery tour!

A few days after I arrived in the UK, I visited, yet again, Liverpool. If you missed it a few years back, I wrote about my first Liverpool experience back in 2013 here.

You’d think, this time, it would be for another agenda, but no Sirree! I have not exhausted all of the Beatles related experiences in Liverpool, yet, so we decided to go on the Magical Mystery Tour as administered by The Cavern Club itself. The Cavern Club, is the nightclub where The Beatles have started and played for years.

The tour was led by two gentlemen, driver and storyteller, who were definitely Beatles fans, themselves. Good to know! He started with how The Beatles started, from John Lennon getting interested with skiffle and rock, to him starting up a band called The Quarrymen in 1956. John and his band were already playing at school dances and participating in skiffle band contests before they met Paul McCartney and let him join in 1957. The year after, George Harrison joined, despite John’s doubts as George was still 14 at that time. Ringo Starr joined by 1962.

The tour went on to discussing the early life of each of the Beatle. Passing by streets they’ve ran and schools they’ve attended.

10 Admiral Grove – This is Admiral Grove, the street where Ringo Starr lived for 20 years before the fame happened. Their house is in the middle, the pink one (although its overly bright and you can’t see it clearly), which is now owned by a fan, I believe.

This is the Starkey’s local pub which is also featured on Ringo Starr’s debut album cover. Ringo Starr’s real name is Richard Starkey. The Empress Café adjoins Admiral Grove.

Around the corner is Ringo Starr’s primary school, St. Silas Church of England Primary School.

Our tour guide and story-teller extraordinaire in blue, leads the group to the childhood home of George Harrison. This time, we had the chance to go down the bus and walk a few yards. We were asked to keep it as quiet and civil as possible because we were entering a residential area where real people live and not just pure Beatles fan. Even the house of George is now owned by somebody else. Imagine being visited by groups of people a few times everyday!

Arnold Grove. We were told a whole anecdote regarding what unadopted means but I can barely remember the story now, the bottomline is that the local council is not responsible for the street and private homeowners are the ones responsible for the upkeep.

I am not adopted, as well. 

12 Arnold Grove – George Harrison’s childhood house (door, mostly, heh).

Strawberry Fields forever and ever and ever.

We passed by the church, St Peter’s Church, where John and Paul met on July 6, 1957. As well as, the cemetery where Eleanor Rigby lies.

We were then brought to the famous Strawberry Fields, which is definitely not a field. Now, it’s more like a forest. Anyhow, this used to be a garden of the Salvation Army’s home where John Lennon used to play.

As an answer to John Lennon’s Strawberry Fields, Paul McCartney wrote Penny Lane where he and John used to meet to go to the city centre when they were still young. Both songs about nostalgia and have psychedelic themes!

251 Menlove Avenue – Just around the corner of Strawberry Fields is John Lennon’s childhood home where he grew up with his Aunt Mimi. It is now considered an English Heritage. This is also on the same street where John’s mum, Julia, was struck by a drunk off-duty policeman and instantly died. That started John’s dislike for the men in power. The tour will also give you a brief view of the cemetery where Julia lies.

A little anecdote about the policeman who killed Julia. He was acquitted from all charges which definitely caused anger to Julia’s family. However, he was later sent to jail for another and unrelated event but freed after some years and became a postman. Destiny as it seems, he then spent the rest of his years delivering thousands and thousands of fan mail to the McCartney home.

20 Forthlin Road – Last, but definitely not the least, is my favorite Beatle’s childhood home. It is now owned by the National Trust as this is not only where Paul lived but where most of the Beatles songs were written.

Paul McCartney’s childhood home was the last stop that is anything related to The Beatles. The tour driver drove us back to the city centre whilst pointing out a few interesting sights whilst listening to, of course, The Beatles songs.

One of the many noteworthy places he pointed out is the Hope Street. It is a very unique street as it is home to two churches, one of the country’s biggest Roman Catholic cathedrals, Roman Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King and the Anglican Cathedral. It was also voted the best street in the UK and the Ireland.

The tour ended in high spirits, fans and non-fans alike will surely enjoy the history and the music that is shared within 2 hours. Liverpool is a great and beautiful city beyond being the hometown of The Beatles, so even the city alone is already a gem itself.

If you are interested on going aboard the Magical Mystery Tour Bus, you may find the details here.

After the tour, we visited again a few Beatles stops. I had a chat with John, had beer at the Cavern Club and spotted Adele who is now on the wall of the Cavern Pub across the club, hung out on the steps of the grand St. George’s Hall and finally, took a train back to Halifax with a heart filled with Beatles love.

My Favorite Sunrise

If you’ve seen my recent posts for the past month, you’d know that I went to the United Kingdom. On my way there, I wrote a personal note on my phone and thought it’s time to share it with you. From here on out, I will be writing about my most recent adventure in the UK. So here’s me from the past:

I am writing this on my phone without WiFi, 30 000 ft above Istanbul. But by the time you read this, I would’ve landed in Manchester, already. (Uhm, present Ron here, I’m actually in Cebu now, lol.) Yes, this is my secret project that I wanted to shout to the worlds but couldn’t out of, well, fear of jinxes. Anyhow, that’s besides my point.

I haven’t written something personal in a while and this is probably a pointless one to you… but I’m ecstatic! You see, I’ve only witnessed this twice in my life, so far. And yet, this has been one of my favorite views, ever.

I remember, back in 2013, on my 12-hour flight to London, I woke up to a sea of orange. I was gobsmacked when I realized that I was looking at the sun rise from 30 000 ft above the planet. I had to get my camera and document it. I remember, extending my arms across the lady who stole my window seat, cheering me on to take more pictures. Bless her.

Today, I woke up from what felt like hours of sleep, but actually just an hour, to the same phenomena, only, darker. I am currently at awe, spending my time looking at it whilst I type this. 

Have you seen a child perked on a windowsill of a toy or candy store, nose pressed, breath fogging up the glass? Well, I’m that child and this is my candy store.

Sure, sunrises have always been beautiful wherever you are. It’s quite symbolic, something that reminds us of new hope. But watching the sunrise and the planet at the same time, watching how the sun’s rays are slowly hugging our Earth, well, it is blowing my mind.

I feel lucky that I get to experience this moment, this realization that we are just small speck of dusts in this universe we are floating in. I’m not dying nor am I high, but I can see the planet that billions of people are living in. How weird is that? And how awesome that it is possible? Someone’s just waking up, someone just got home. Someone just died and someone just gave birth. Somewhere out there, two humans found true love in each other. Somewhere out there, someone’s having a bad day.

Basically, I’m having an existential crisis. But the happy version of it. Like, hey, we are tiny, tiny creatures compared to this gigantic ball of flames and this ball of fire is giving me the most beautiful sunrise that everyone should be able to experience and appreciate. We are, again, speck of dusts and there are wonders, small or big, waiting to be seen, heard and felt. I hope I remember this the next time I make a big deal out of a spilled milk.

I’d love to create a time-lapse out of this but it’s gonna take so much memory and I don’t have that luxury. It’s also going to be slow as the plane is actually flying away from the sunrise. The sun will eventually catch us, but that’ll probably be 3 hours later.

I should be sleeping but it’s already 10 in the morning back home. Also, I’d lose sleep for this, anytime.

That is all.

I am looking down on Earth and somewhere, out there, he is waiting for me.