Day 142 - Docking at the east

Aim today: cover the east side of London, especially the Docklands area. Those who have heard of London would have heard East End, being a place that is poorer. Those who have done A'level geog would have studied about the Docklands.

Stop 1: East End for some East End food

If you have heard about East End, you would have heard about Jellied Eels, a dish that is unique to London's East End. Found out about Tubby Isaacs from an episode of Al Jazeera's "Street Food", apparently it is the establishment to go to for jellied eels.

But the problem is that Tubby Issacs is a stand, not a shop. Doesn't help that I can't find much from the net about its location. But a kind old man in Peticoat Lane Market directed met to Tubby Issacs.

"Why are you heading to Tubby Issacs?" the old man asked
"Oh, to try Jellied Eels."
"You like Jellied Eels?"
"No I'm just going to try."
"Tubby Issacs has really good Jellied eels. You should go for it!"

And the old man beamed. Ways to connect to a person - their language and their food.

finally found the place!

My Jellied Eels - £2.50. It is basically eels boiled with some spices. As the eels cook, it will sweat out gelatin that will form this jelly. Verdict? Has a slight fishy taste, but very much refreshing in this hot weather. It is cold by the way.

Cockles and other seafood, qutisensially East End.

The owner of the stand. "You either love or hate Jellied Eels". I agree.

I laughed at this ad so hard.

Stop 2: Docklands fieldtrip

Part of the East Ends. Called Docklands, as they were a cluster shipping docks in the past. As ships grew bigger, and load grew heavier, the Thames lost its status as a shipping port, and the Docklands lost its business in the 1960s onwards, making the area very deprived. In the 1980s, the area was rejuvenated with much controversy. Hence a classic case study for urban rejuvenation and gentrification.

Occupants of Docklands today - atas business district at Canary Wharf.

The DLR - Docklands Light Rail - to link up the whole Docklands business district area.

A relic of its shipping docks past.

Dockland museum. Free for students!

I took so many photos of all the panels on its urban rejuvenation for lesson purposes.

You might think you're at Shenton Way, don't you? This aren't a river. It's a former dock.

Stop 3: Greenwich

Greenwich(pronounced Green-niche) is the place where the Prime Meridian lies.

Greenwich Observatory on top of the hill in the park. That's where the Prime Meridan pass through.

The red ball on top of the observatory. It would be raised at 12.55 pm and drop to this position at 13.00pm.

View from the observatory - the Docklands business district

Many tourists took photo with this.

So popular right. It's 6pm already by the way.

Singapore!

The Prime Meridian.

Some standards to follow......

Length.

and Time.

Another part of Docklands. On the bus to my next stop. My timing so wonderful right. Most of the DLR is closed for engineering works today. So I have to take rail replacement buses to be jammed with peak hour traffic.

Stop 4: Thames Barrier Park

Located near Poole Docks DLR station, the Thames Barrier was built to protect London from floods. In the 1950s, there was a devastating flood that hit London. As a result, the Thames Barrier was planned and built to defend London from any floods. Studied this in A'level Geog too.

The barrier stations. They will lift up the barrier should there be any impending floods or storm surge, so that the water level of the Thames River in the rest of London would stabilise.

I suspect these were docks. Now landscaped with "waves"

Stop 5: Stratford - Site of the London 2012 Olympics Games

According to the London's pitch, they want to locate the Olympic Village in Stratford to rejuvenate a deprived area. So what are some of the changes it has done to Stratford?

The Stadium for the games.

Barrier. Everyone's London 2012?

A new transport interchange. Very swanky, unlike the buildings in this area.

I didn't like the vibe of the people around this area. It's like they are giving you menacing stares. Anyway, most of the village is blocked by the barrier, so there isn't much to see.

And so I went back to rest and pack. It was already near 8.30pm when I left Stratford, but it felt like 6pm. Summer days are just so long.

Boat party for Langton Close Residents. Drink and drink somemore? Sorry not my kind of party