Upcoming trips

So just an FYI, I'll be traveling to Barcelona and Rome in the next two weeks. Stay tuned for pics of my travels in the coming days.

This past Friday, there was another concert going on in the middle of the city. The main headliner was a Belgian vocal trance band, so kind of techno/electropop, called Milk Inc. Supposedly they're pretty popular, but I've heard of them in the states.


The main stage is set up smack dab in the middle of the city, in a square enclosed by bars. Extra security was present throughout the square since it was so packed for this event. I was told that the maximum capacity for the square was about 12,000 people, and I have no doubt it was that crowded. The band had fireworks going off and flames sprouting out of the ground randomly throughout their set. The crowd really got into the music and it definitely made it much for fun.

Music festivals galore

So today kicks off Leuven's weekly music festival. Every Friday there's a music theme and there are 5 or 6 stages dispersed throughout the city. These are free concerts for anyone who wants to come and there's an eclectic mix of music. For example, today's theme was jazz. I ended up visiting 3 different stages throughout the city and each had their own little genre of music going on. I got a little bit of jazz, some cuban/salsa music, and indie rock. I really enjoyed the indie rock band. They called themselves Bad Cirkuz and claim to be a blues/jazz band, however there's not a single brass or horned instrument among them. They reminded me of paramore and flyleaf, although they weren't as hardcore.


Their set was probably a little bit more than half an hour. I really enjoyed their music, enough so that I think I'll try to find their cd.

So I haven't really been traveling a whole lot....

So sorry to anyone that's expecting new pictures of my travels. I've mostly been relaxing in Leuven during the weekends and then heading over to IMEC to do some work.

The weather has been relatively warm around Belgium. It's typically been around the mid-80s during the day and then cooling down to the high 60s at night.

I've sort of been debating if I should start my Master's thesis pretty soon. I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but I graduated from Hopkins with my B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering this past May. I'm sticking around Hopkins for one more semester to finish my Master's, so by December of this year I'll have my Master's in the same field. Since I've been doing research with the Gracias lab for the past three years, I have enough material to write a thesis, hence why I only plan on staying at Hopkins one more semester as opposed to one more year.

Anyway, I've started working on an outline and so far I've got a couple pages worth of material. Only 60+ more to go! It's a good thing that the ChemBE senior lab forced us to write so many long reports because 60 pages really doesn't seem that bad considering I still have four months to write it.

Research update

At IMEC this week, I've mostly been running some simulations. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we shipped some samples to IMEC from Hopkins. We're using spectroscopy tools to determine the spectral response of our nanostructures. I've been making and running some simulations on an assortment of designs and then doing the subsequent analysis. I can't really go into too much depth, so I'll just be leaving it at that.

I've also been doing some work in the clean room, fabricating some of our samples. I mentioned this last year, but the clean room here at IMEC is amazing. In the Gracias lab at JHU, we have a 14 m^2 clean room with a mask aligner, a spinner, a couple hot plates, and a wet bench. The clean rooms at IMEC are separated based on the compatibility with different wafer standards, ranging from 50 mm to 300 mm. In total, there's 5000 m^2 of clean room space, however, the 300 mm facility has been expanding, so I'm not quite sure how much additional space there is.

In terms of what type of work I'm doing, it's fairly similar to last year. The processes I'm running are nearly identical, however, the materials in which we use to fabricate our structures have changed.

Anyway, just wanted to give a quick update about what I've been up to. I definitely won't be doing any traveling during the weekdays, so it'll mostly just be updates about IMEC during the week.

A quick note. So the population of Leuven is about 90,000 and a little bit more than a third of that are students at the Catholic University of Leuven, which pretty much encompasses the entire city. Their finals have ended recently and I've slowly started to notice that the city is starting to empty a little bit. In a week or two it's suppose to be pretty empty once everyone finishes their end of the semester celebration and goes back home/on vacation.

Revisting Bruges

This past weekend, I went to revisit the medieval city of Bruges.



I went on a brewery tour of the De Halve Maan Brewery, which is the only remaining family brewery in the city of Bruges that is still active. Their beers are world famous and have won numerous awards. The award winning beers include Brugse Zot Blonde and Brugse Zot double.


This was my first brewery tour ever, but I think it's the typical tour you can get at any type of brewery. They show you their malting and fermentation facilities along with all the tools they use to brew the beer. Since this is a small brewery situated right in the congested city of Bruges, their facilities were confined to maybe a large building, definitely not warehouse style. On the roof of the brewery we got a nice view of the the Beguinage.


Afterwards, I made my way back to the city center to get another look at the Belfry. I didn't go up again this time, because I didn't feel like paying again to see the same view that I saw last year.


As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got a new camera so I wanted to retake pictures of important sites. My old point and shoot camera wouldn't have been able to capture this entire building due to its limited focal length and therefore wide-angle capabilities.

After walking around the Markt, I went on a canal tour around the city. For about 7 euros, you could go on a half hour tour along the canals that span 5 km around and through the city.




The tour really didn't take me anywhere that I couldn't have gotten by foot, however, it did give me a different perspective of viewing the city (in the middle of a canal versus the sidewalk).

Even though I've been to Bruges probably 4 times now, I still enjoy walking along the cobbled streets while admiring the architecture. It's just so radically different from anything you see in the states, it's difficult not to just sit back and appreciate the strong history of the city. That's one thing I dislike about the states. We have no history relative to Europe. Most of our architecture is relatively new, so we don't ever see anything truly original.

If anyone was wondering, all my pictures were shot with a Nikon D90 and the kit 18-105 mm vibration reduction lens. All the photos were taken in Manual mode or Shutter priority.

First week back at IMEC

The research I'm working on is based partly on the work that we do in the Gracias lab at Johns Hopkins University. Recently, we developed a method to develop self-assembled patterned nanoparticles (as seen in a recent paper by Cho. et al. in "Self-assembly of lithographically patterned nanoarticles," Nanoletters 9, 12, 4049-4052 (2009)). In the Gracias lab, we specialize in the self-assembly of 3-dimensional structures on the micro and, as evidenced in the aforementioned paper, nano scale. Back at Hopkins, we have little access to any means to spectroscopically characterize our structures. The group I'm working with at IMEC specializes in a field called plasmonics and they have access to numerous instruments capable of characterizing the optical properties of nanostructures. Essentially, we're characterizing structures we've fabricated in the Gracias lab (and also here at IMEC) with IMEC's equipment.

This past week has been fairly busy actually, considering it was the first full week I was back. A month ago, I shipped over some samples we made at JHU to IMEC. A member of the group over here took some preliminary measurements and for much of this week, he aided me in continuing to take measurements of the samples. I ended up working a couple 12-13 hour days to work on the measurements.

Anyway, quick update on what my blog will be focusing on for much of the summer. I'm probably not going to be traveling as much this time, so I won't be adding a lot of pictures of what foods I've been eating. Instead, I'll probably just be posting pictures of whatever buildings I find interesting. I recently got a DSLR, so hopefully I can try and improve my nonexistent photography skills.

If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to post in the comments!

First couple days back in Belgium

Well, I just flew into Belgium last Thursday, June 3rd. I flew from Houston to Newark and then from Newark to Brussels. It was the identical flight that I took last year. Overall I think that the total time it took me to get from the ground in Houston to Brussels took about 15 hours. The flights weren't that bad. Airplane food is still not that great, but it's definitely better than it was a decade ago.

I arrived in Brussels around 8 am on Thursday. After checking into my hostel and dropping off my luggage, the first thing I did was head over to the bike rental shop to pick up a set of wheels. Like I mentioned before, a bicycle is essential in a city like Leuven where the greatest distance between any two points in the city is probably 3 or 4 miles.

It just so happened that on the same day I arrived, a Ph.D. student from IMEC was giving his public Ph.D. defense. After checking into IMEC for a couple hours and revisiting some friends, we all left to attend his presentation at the university. Unfortunately for me, his presentation was in Dutch. Somehow I managed to stay awake for the entirety of his talk, despite not being able to sleep on the plane. I can't really attest to my understanding of his defense since I didn't understand a word, but at the end everyone was clapping, including the judging committee, so I'm assuming he did well.

After the reception, we headed out to the city center for drinks and then met up with everyone else for dinner. Almost everyone ended up getting some type of spare ribs, since that seemed to be the restaurant's specialty. I didn't take pictures of my food this time, mostly because of the fact that I was too tired to bother with it.

On Saturday, I met up with Kayla, a Hopkins grad who's also spending some time this summer working at IMEC. We went on a bike tour around Leuven in order for Kayla to get familiar with this small city and also to refresh my own memory. We biked around the city to the town hall, a local botanical garden, IMEC, and the city center.

A spent the first couple nights in a hostel, but after 4 days I found somewhere else to live. I'm actually staying at the same flat that I stayed at last year. There were very few openings throughout the city, so I resorted to a place I already knew.

This coming weekend I'll get a chance to post an update of what I've been up to this past week.

Until later!

IMEC: Round 2

First off, I should probably apologize for abandoning my blog at the end of my trip last year. I kind of left it just hanging.

Anyway, this is just a quick update to notify whoever reads this that I'll be heading back over to IMEC again this summer. So keep checking back for updates/pictures as I continue to update this blog starting in June.

Quick Update 8/25/09

It's been almost two weeks since I last posted on here. Although I haven't been traveling anywhere, I've been incredibly busy with work. Since my last post, my father had actually come back to Belgium on a business trip. After work all of last week, we went out to some restaurants and as a result, I didn't get back to my flat until pretty late at night. At that point, I didn't have time to update my blog.

I'm still in Belgium wrapping things up. Tomorrow is my last day here at IMEC. I actually need to start making a presentation for tomorrow, so I'll end this post here. To whoever reads this blog, no worries, I'm still alive!

Post-London

After visiting London, I spent the next two weekends just relaxing around Belgium and visiting some nearby cities. Both weekends I ended up going back to IMEC to work on a couple things. Even though I'm over here in Belgium, I'm still able to work on some things for my research back at Hopkins like editing figures and drafts for papers we're in the process of submitting and publishing.

My time here at IMEC is winding down far too quickly. Even with an entire summer over here, it's not enough time complete a project. No matter what type of facilities you have, finishing a project in 3 months is incredibly difficult. Originally, INBT's IRES program was slated to last between 8-10 weeks for undergrads. I can't imagine being limited to such a short time span. It took me at least 3-4 weeks just to get situated and trained on the basic instruments. I waited 2 weeks just to get trained for general clean room use.

I think I forgot to mention the differences between university research and industrial research. Transitioning into university research is significantly more fast paced than in industry. At the university setting, your research groups are generally small and it's much more personal. You can use almost any instrument as long as you receive training. Training itself is generally easy to obtain. Simply ask someone to show you how to use the instrument. At large companies, there's always paperwork involved and training sessions to be scheduled weeks in advance. This is all for liability purposes. If you make a mistake, there is a lot on the line for the company, including its reputation and your own personal safety. As a result, in order to limit liability, companies have formalities that must be followed to the dot.

My last internship at ExxonMobil was exactly the same. In order to use certain solvents, I had to file paperwork and then wait for it to be processed. Specifically, I wasn't allowed to use chloroform until I had the correct paperwork filed. It's an annoying inconvenience, but for large corporations it's a necessity. IMEC, however, isn't as strict as ExxonMobil. I've used HF without ever having to sign a document beforehand.

I've already mentioned before that technicians operate a lot of the instruments here, including thermal evaporators, select sputter systems, select plasma etchers, e-beams, and a large majority of the expensive instruments. Before being allowed to use some of the instruments, I had to verify my fabrication process with some of the technicians. I had to discuss with them the composition of my samples and why I needed to use certain instruments. It took me almost 3 weeks to get approval to use a plasma etcher. At one point, I almost wasn't allowed to use the etcher at all because the technician feared that my sample might ruin the instrument. After some convincing, I was luckily allowed access to the instrument. My point here is that in industry, your research goes by much slower than in a university setting. Sometimes I'll wait 3 days to run my samples through a single process. If I was back at Hopkins, I could have it done in less than half an hour.

The most noticeable difference between research at the university and in industry is the pace at which it progresses. Although it may not be desirable, you just have to acclimate to the change in pace.

London Part 3

I still have quite a bit to discuss about London. Picking up from where I left off, on my last day in London I first stopped by Westminster Abbey.



I was a little surprised about how pricey admission into the cathedral was. There were no student discounts, so the full fare was 15 British pounds (~$25). Although an audio listening device was provided at no additional cost, it was still rather expensive.

Inside the abbey is a coronation chair where all English and British monarchs sit when they're being crowned. It's been used at every coronation since 1308. I couldn't take pictures inside, so I won't be able to show images.

The Abbey is also the location of many burial sites. On the ground inside the Abbey, there are slabs the size of coffins that acknowledge the body of the person lying below. Several historical figures that are buried here include Charles Dickens, Jane Austin, Sir Isaac Newton, and Charles Darwin.

London's Tomb of the Unknown Solider is also located in Westminster Abbey.

After visiting the Abbey, I made my way to the British Museum.


This museum is essentially a miniaturized version of the Louvre in Paris. It contains a hodgepodge of antiquities ranging from ancient Egypt, Greece, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The most spectacular piece in their collection is the Rosetta Stone.


The crowd gathered around the Rosetta Stone reminded me of the crowd around the Mona Lisa in Paris. An arc of people surround the perimeter and all were trying to take snapshots. I think part of the reason for the large crowd stems from the fact that the Rosetta Stone is placed in the first room you run into after gaining admission into the museum. It is the museum's highlight, so I guess it makes sense for it to be at the forefront.


In the Egyptian exhibit there's a huge bust of Ramses II. There were also the obligatory mummies on display as well.


In the Greece exhibit, remnants of the Parthenon were on display.



After wandering into the Asian antiquities section I found this little guy.


For some reason, this guy reminds me of the Power Rangers. I feel like this monkey just morphed into his combat costume or something. Either that or he's a well-fashioned zord (most likely belonging to the yellow ranger). However, I think the Sabre-Toothed Tiger is more intimidating than this little guy. Unibrows are not intimidating. Okay, enough of the Power Rangers flashback. Onwards we go.

After leaving the the Asian antiquities exhibit, I kind of got lost and I randomly starting walking around the museum. Somehow I ended up in an exhibit featuring the oldest known chess set. It was discovered in 1831 and is carved out of walrus teeth.


I also found this violin-like instrument on display.


It supposedly dates back to 1300. The side view of this instrument I found to be much more interesting.


The British Museum had plenty more exhibits and antiquities, however, I'm only mentioning here the main highlights.

After walking around the museum for a couple hours, I decided to find somewhere to go for dinner. I stumbled into a restaurant called the Criterion. I found it from my guidebook, but it didn't mention that the place was classy. I came in horribly under dressed, wearing jeans and birkenstocks. They didn't refuse at the door though, so I just sat down and decided to have my dinner there.


For my appetizer, I got king scallops with shrimp.


Unfortunately, the scallops weren't very king size.

And for my main course I got ostrich fillets! It was the oddest thing that I saw on the menu, so I obviously just had to try it. Not even Asians eat ostrich, so I guess English cuisine is pretty daring, or probably just more sophisticated. Yeah, I'll go with more classy/sophisticated.


After I ordered the ostrich, the waitress asked me how I would like it cooked. Maybe I'm gullible, but I just glaringly stared at her, confused for a little bit, because I didn't know what my options were. Apparently it's just like ordering steak, so I ordered medium. The taste of the meat was a mix between lamb and beef. In addition, the color of the meat was very dark. By looking at it, I could barely tell it was medium. I was only able to notice after taking a bite and noticing the texture. Overall it was an interesting experience. I enjoyed the taste and if given the chance to order it again, I think I would.

Anyway, this dinner concluded my trip to London. Right after this I had to go back to the hostel to retrieve my things and then head back home to Leuven.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this magnificent city. Even after 4 days, I didn't get close to seeing as much as I had hoped. Perhaps there will be a next time...

IMEC Update 8/10/09

As my time here is winding down, I'm scrambling to get in as much work as I possibly can. From today, I have a little more than 2 weeks left here in Belgium. All good things must come to an end, there are no exceptions.

So what have I been up to at IMEC? Almost all the work that I do is inside the clean room. All day I go in and out, changing into the clean room suits probably more than 5 times a day. Every instrument involved in lithographic fabrication is inside one of the many sections of the clean room here, including thermal evaporators, sputter systems, ion-milling systems, electron beam evaporators, profilometers and ellipsometers, solvent/acid wet benches, plasma etchers, dicing tools, optical microscopes, spin-coaters, mask aligners (3 in a single room capable of handling 8" wafers. They have more than 3 mask aligners here. These 3 are just the ones that I have access to.) and numerous other instruments used for functions that I'm not aware of.

As I've mentioned months earlier, the most annoying part about research here at IMEC is still the fact that technicians operate most the instruments. Yes, I'm thankful that it's less work for me since I don't have to run the instrument, however, sometimes I'll wait a day or 2 for my sample to be processed. Although I have enough work to do to keep me busy in the mean time, sometimes the samples that I need processed are the ones that I desperately need the most. The worst offending instrument is the e-beam (electron beam instrument used for lithography).

There are multiple different forms of lithography. Two such types include photolithography and electron beam lithography. The advantage of e-beam lithography over photolithography is the resolution that you're able to achieve. Electron beam lithography is used to pattern nanoscale structures while photolithography is conventionally used to pattern microscale structures. In an earlier post I tried to describe the basics of lithography. First you start with a bare silicon wafer, spin coat a resist material onto the wafer, and then pattern something into the resist using, in these cases, photolithography or e-beam lithography. In photolithography, UV light is exposed to certain areas of the wafer using a mask to block the UV light from penetrating other areas of the wafer. If a positive resist is spin-coated onto the wafer, then once it's placed in a developing solution, those areas exposed to UV light will be etched away. With a negative resist, the opposite occurs such that areas NOT exposed to UV become etched.

Here at IMEC, I'm using electron beam lithography. Instead of using UV light to pattern my samples, an electron beam scans across the areas defined in my mask. . This is probably the most important step in the process because it creates your pattern. Without any patterns you don't have any structures. After being exposed to the e-beam, the patterns are developed similarly to photolithography, however a different solution is used as the developer.

The e-beam is the bottleneck that's holding back my research. It's a very delicate and expensive instrument, so a technician operates it. There are numerous research teams here at IMEC and a lot of people require the use of the instrument. As a result, each group is technically only allowed to use the instrument once every seven days. For my structures, I require two steps of e-beam lithography, so that already sets me back 2 weeks to process one batch of samples. For the past couple weeks, the technician has been on vacation and will continue to be on vacation until after I leave Belgium. Two people in the group I work in are trained on the instrument, however their use of it is limited. They've also been taking vacations on and off, so it's tough to catch them, let alone ask them to do extra work for you. Everyone here is very friendly though, so they're always willing to do the work for you. You just may have to wait a couple extra days when they're not on vacation or busy with their own projects.

Currently, I'm still in the fabrication stage of my structures. I'm in and out of the clean room fabricating them and then occasionally taking images with a scanning electron microscope. In the next couple days I'll be changing my routine as I begin to take optical measurements of my samples. I think I said that in my last post, but I'm hoping that if I keep saying it then it'll actually happen.

I'll end with a couple more random observations:

-With reference to the cost of something, in the number system Europeans use a comma to separate the equivalent of dollars and cents. I'm actually not quite sure what they call the equivalent of the American cent. If I go to the store and buy something for 5,50, the cashier says that it cost five euro fifty.

-The cost to use the facilities at the laundromat are significantly more expensive than Hopkins. One load of laundry (in a washing machine half the size of what you see at the campus facilities) costs a whopping 3.80 euros. I forgot what I paid to use the dryer. The cost is per every 8 minutes and I don't remember how long I used it. I just keep refeeding the hungry meter until my clothes are dry.

-When I was in Paris, I checked out a McDonalds to see what the menu looked like. A medium fries cost 2.20 euros (~$3.12)!!! I haven't been to a McDonald's in the states in probably 2 years now, but I recall it being on the dollar menu. You can also buy beer at McDonalds.

-Speaking of beer, you can usually buy it in vending machines as well (at least here in Belgium). It's the cheap kind though, so it's the equivalent of Natty Boh or Keystone Light in the states.

-Still speaking of beer, it's not illegal to walk around with an open alcoholic beverage in public.

London again

On Sunday, I devoted most of my time to just walking around the markets and shopping areas. Early in the morning I ventured over to Covent Garden Market.


This outside area is devoted to street performers. Early in the morning it wasn't very crowded at all. The weather wasn't very cooperative either, so that may have influenced the absence of entertainers. Inside the building on the left are stalls where local businesses sell their goods, ranging from glassware, ceramics, jewelry, hats, clothes, and random knickknacks. It's essentially a glorified farmer's market, some things were rather expensive (as in >100 euros).



Eventually I made my way to two of the most popular shopping streets in all of London. The picture above is on Regent street. This street is filled with fancy shops and upscale department stores. It also had the biggest Apple store I've ever seen. I forgot to take a picture of it unfortunately, but it was two stories with about 80% of the store empty with only small tables along the perimeter. Fairly typical of any other Apple store, lots of wasted space.

The picture below was taken on Oxford street. It's a road practically 1 mile long filled with stores and department stores on either side. Unlike Regent street, the stores along this area were much more affordable.


I honestly spent almost the entire day just shopping around and I don't have very many pictures chronicling my shopping spree.

Fast forward a couple hours, I went back to the south eastern part of London and made a stop at the Globe Theater.


Shakespeare's original Globe Theater was destroyed in 1642. In 1997, a replica was built 750 ft. away from the original theater. Every summer plays are held in the building. I wanted to go inside or at least get close to check it out, but the entire theater was surrounded by gates. There was a line outside the entrance, but I don't know if it was a line for a play or a line for a tour. Instead of waiting to find out, I continued walking around until I found St. Paul's Cathedral.


This is where Prince Charles married Lady Diana in 1981. Anyway, that concluded my day. After a lot of shopping and walking around, I was exhausted and looking forward to just calling it a night.

You sound like you're from LON-DON!

In the event the title of this post may seem familiar, it's from the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, when Paul Rudd's forgetful character approaches an injured Londoner calling for help.

Anyway, Friday, July 17 I left for London. There are direct trains to London leaving from Brussels, the only requirement is that you have to check into the train station a half hour before the train is scheduled to depart. Once the train gets to the coast, it passes through a chunnel to get to the UK. Unlike all the other countries I've visited so far, I had to through customs in order to get to the UK. This process was essentially the same thing you see on international flights, you go through a passport check and then declare any goods that you bought.

The train ride from Brussels to London only took about 2 hours. A high-speed train rides this route and there are very few stops, so this contributes to the short commute between the cities. I arrived in London fairly late in the evening. As a result, I didn't have much time to explore. I first made my way to my hostel so that I could drop off my duffel bag. I forgot to mention that in order to get to the hostel, I had to use the metro, which they apparently call the 'tube.' Similar to what I mentioned about the metro in Paris, the 'tube' here in London works just like any other major city (not surprisingly). You can buy individual one-way tickets or you can purchase a card and deposit money onto it as you go. I opted to purchase the card since that also gives me a nice souvenir to take home.



This is the hostel I stayed at. I forgot to take a picture for myself, so I grabbed this off of google images. This hostel was advertised as a "party hostel," partly due to the fact that a bar is directly attached to the hostel and there's a back door (without a bouncer) into the bar. Another reason is because you probably won't be getting a good night's sleep unless you're intoxicated. As such, I didn't get much sleep here. The environment was fun though, receptionists were friendly, fellow hostelers were nice and easy to get along with. I met people from Canada, Australia, France, Denmark and the UK.

Since I got into London late on the first night, I decided to just walk around the area. Within close proximity of the hostel were the Tower of London Bridge and the Tower of London.


On the right of this photograph, you can see a conical-like building. I was just reading an article the other day about the world's 18 strangest buildings and that cone building claims a spot on that list. It's called the Gherken and is the second tallest building in London.

After walking around the area I decided to call it a night. I dedicated the following day entirely to sight-seeing. My first stop was Big Ben and the Parliament houses.


As expected, the neo-gothic building is much more majestic in person. The 150th anniversary of the bell tower was celebrated just this past May. On the right is Westminster Bridge.



Along the River Thames and next to Westminster Bridge, there's the London Eye and an aquarium. The London Eye is 443 ft high and is the tallest Ferris wheel in all of Europe. As opposed to the ferris wheels you find at local carnivals, this ferris wheel has 32 pods that are shaped sort of like jelly beans and are completely sealed and air conditioned.

After walking around a little bit more, I made my way to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. First of all, the crowd outside the palace was fantastically enormous.


Tour buses lined the perimeter of the palace and every direction I looked I could see a tour guide holding up some sort of object (umbrella or sign usually) and a large group (usually consisting of Asians wearing headphones) marching behind them.


I got to Buckingham Palace early enough to catch the Changing of the Guard ceremony. My tour book made statements about how it's overrated, but I wanted to see it anyway. After an hour of waiting outside the gates, two bands marched into the palace coming from two different directions. They then took turns playing songs. I didn't even notice that the guards in front of the palace even switched out since too much focus was centered around the bands.

Here are some random pictures I took while walking around the city looking for a place to have lunch.



For a late lunch, I stopped at a place called Porter's where I got a meat pie.


While I was in the UK, I figured I would try the traditional food. Anyway, the meat pie was filled with steak and mushrooms and doused in a salty sauce made from Guinness beer.


Eventually I finished it, but it did take almost 45 minutes. The meat pie wasn't what I was expecting. When I first saw it, I thought that the crust would be doughy, however that was definitely not the case. Instead, it was flaky, like a croissant. At first I wasn't too excited about having a pie for lunch, especially one filled with meat. Like most people I associate pie with dessert, so my mind was stuck at a crossroad trying to figure out what to expect. It was delicious though and I finished the entree fully satiated.

For dessert, I got a spotted dick.


It's a spongy and sweet cake topped with custard and stuffed with dried fruit. For those who frequent Asian dim sums for brunch, the texture and taste of the spotted dick reminded me of ma lai gao, the spongy yellow cake that you'll usually find on the dessert cart at dim sum. For those who don't have experience with dim sum, ma lai gao is a traditional Chinese steamed cake. It's spongy, yellow, and has a light sweet taste.


After filling my stomach, I then found my way into Trafalgar Square, the most recognized square in the UK, and some argue, the world. The building on the left is the National Gallery, which houses a vast assortment of artists. Here they have Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Van Gogh's Chair, Two Crabs, and A Wheatfield with Cypresses. It also houses works from Michelangelo, Rubens, Titian, and da Vinci. Sorry for the lack of photos, once again photography was adamantly prohibited. Museum workers were stationed in every room and chased down anyone taking pictures.

By the time I left the museum, evening had already begun to set in. I hung out outside Trafalgar Square for a little bit, just adsorbing the opportunity and coming to the realization that I'm in London! Eventually I made my way back to the area where my hostel was located. I wandered around a little bit and walked around the Tower of London.


Several noticeable figures of history that were imprisoned here include Ann Boleyn and Sir Walter Raleigh. For the rest of the night I went back to the hostel and chatted with some of the other guests.