[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 8 September 2016]
2 December 2015, Wednesday
It’s our second day in London and today, we decided to explore the city on wheels. During my previous two visits, I had taken to the public bicycle sharing system and I highly recommend it for anyone who can cycle. It is a cheap and convenient way to enjoy the city’s sights without burning a hole in your pocket.
The scheme was renamed Santander Cycles in April 2015 after the British bank Santander UK took over the sponsorship; it used to be called Barclays Cycle Hire from its inception in 2010 to March 2015, when Barclays Bank was the main sponsor. They are popularly known as “Boris Bikes” because Boris Johnson was the Mayor of London when the scheme was launched.
The system is available 24/7 for 365 days a year and there are 11,000 bicycles and over 750 docking stations scattered all over London. In fact, it is not uncommon to find two docking stations within 50m of each other. Do note that at some of the more popular areas, there could be times when the docking station is left empty as all the bicycles are being hired. However, you can always consult the location map at the docking station to find the next nearest one, and it is usually just around the corner or across the street. So it is quite rare that you are unable to find a bicycle when you need one.
To hire a bicycle, you will need a credit card. It works for foreign cards too. Just follow the instructions on the screen; it’s really easy. Regarding the fees, you’ll be charged £2 to obtain access for 24 hours. Upon hiring a bicycle each time, the first 30 minutes is free. If you exceed 30 minutes, you’ll be charged £2 for every 30 minutes or part thereof. For example, if you only ride for 20 minutes and dock it, you don’t have to pay any additional amount. But if you ride for 31 minutes and dock it, you will be charged an additional £2.
The key is to keep track of your journey time and dock the bicycle before the 30 minutes is up. Each time you hire a bicycle, you will be issued a receipt stating the exact time of hire, so that will help you keep track. It also helps if you familiarise yourself with the route and the location of docking stations near your destination, so that you won’t be in a panic if the intended docking station at your destination is full (meaning, there are no empty slots for you to return your bicycle). You can download the official Santander Cycles app (available on iOS and Android platforms) to check which docking stations have bicycles and spaces available, and even book a bike via the app.
Lastly, you can hire a bicycle as many times as you wish within the 24-hour period, but if I remember correctly, there is a short “time out” period where you can only hire a new bike 10 minutes after you have just returned one.
At about 10:30am, the three of us got our bikes from the docking station just across the street from our YHA hostel and began our cycling quest. We followed the route similar to the one we traversed yesterday, with our first destination being the Houses of Parliament and the Elizabeth Tower (aka Big Ben). We had seen the nighttime view yesterday, so we were back here again to see the daytime view. It was a cloudy day but there were pockets of blue skies. It was a fine day to be out.
We then crossed the Westminster Bridge over to the South Bank and continued cycling along the River Thames. Indeed, the best location to photograph the London Eye is at the small park at Jubilee Gardens, located just beside it, where you can capture the entire wheel in your shot. Onward along the bank we went. We stopped at Tate Modern museum, where we had a plate of hot pasta at one of the stalls at the small Christmas market there. We also paused at Tower Bridge for the mandatory photos before crossing the bridge and finally ending our cycling journey at the Tower of London. From there, we continued on foot along the bank of River Thames, where we encountered the Millennium Bridge and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
At about 2:20pm, after viewing St. Paul’s Cathedral, it was time for lunch as our stomachs were growling steadily. After satisfying myself with a bowl of hot noodle soup, we decided that we would not cycle anymore as we were tired from all the cycling and walking. I then bought an Oyster card and we took the Tube back to our hostel for a short break. I figured it is much cheaper to purchase an Oyster card because a trip in Zone 1 (where most of the sights are located) costs only £2.40 using the Oyster card (same price for Peak or Off-Peak travel), whereas a Single Journey Ticket costs £4.90, double the price!
In London, the Tube fare is charged according to the Zone bracket, not the number of stops travelled, so it is the same price if you travel just one stop or 10 stops within the same Zone bracket. Note that if you are travelling out of Zone 1, there is a different price for Peak and Off-Peak travel. There is also a daily cap if you travel by the Tube at least 3 times in a day (capped at £6.50 for Zones 1 & 2). If all this sounds confusing, head over to this website for a detailed explanation on how the Oyster card works.
In the evening, I took the Tube to North Greenwich station and eagerly made my way to the O2 Arena for Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour concert. This would be my second time watching a concert at the O2. The first was in 2009 when I caught Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown Tour (great concert!). It was by a stroke of luck that Madonna was performing in London the same time that I was here, and I managed to buy a ticket for the show. It cost me a bomb though – at £185.50 (including VAT) / S$402, it was the most I have paid for any concert ever. And it wasn’t even the top tier seat.
However, Madonna has been on my concert bucket list for a long time, and it was not likely that she was going to perform in Singapore anytime soon (though I would be proven wrong when she eventually performed at the Singapore Sports Hub in February 2015, but the show was only announced in January 2015), so I just bit the bullet and went ahead. Naturally, my expectations were sky high because of the exorbitant ticket price.
I arrived at the O2 at about 7pm, well early of the stipulated 8pm start time. Throngs of fans were already there, all carrying the same sense of feverish anticipation. Upon entering the arena, I made a beeline to the merchandise booth to check out what goodies they had. However, I was put off by the prices (£25 for a T-shirt, and it wasn’t even nice) and I didn’t wish to spend any more than I had already done, so I walked away empty-handed and went to take my seat (I did however, buy the concert programme after the show). Most of the fans were still outside getting a bite and buying beer so it was still relatively empty. My seat wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t as near as I had hoped. There was a long catwalk in the shape of a cross and a heart at the end of it. As I was alone, I just whiled the time away by logging on to the free Wi-Fi provided by O2 Arena.
Finally, 8pm came and the opening act DJ came on. No one was paying him any attention. It wasn’t until 9:10pm that Madonna finally took the stage, like a true diva. She descended from the ceiling in a cage and launched into Iconic, taken from her latest album. As expected, the stage design was impressive, the dancers were togged in elaborate costumes and the props were plentiful. A Madonna concert is about spectacle and it sure didn’t disappoint on this account. As usual, Madonna whipped out her guitar in an effort to establish her rock credentials, though I must say it was quite unnecessary as her guitar playing skills were elementary at best.
For all her tour stops, Madonna would bring a celebrity from that particular city on stage to be her “Unapologetic Bitch”, accompanying her as she performed the song. For this particular show, it was Stella McCartney, fashion designer and daughter of former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney. In truth, Stella McCartney looked embarrassed and looked like she wanted to get off the stage as soon as possible. It was quite awkward as she tried her best to jiggle and live up to the title of “Unapologetic Bitch”, and she refused to drink the Banana juice that Madonna offered her. Finally, Madonna spared her and she trooped off the stage gratefully.
In all, Madonna performed 22 songs, nine of which were from the Rebel Heart album. The supposed highlight of the evening was when she performed an acoustic version of Drowned World/Substitute For Love, because it was the first time she had performed the song live since 2006. However, I would have preferred if she had performed Take A Bow instead, like how she did in Taipei, which was actually the first time she EVER performed the song live on tour.
By the time the concert ended at 11:20pm, everyone was rushing out of the venue in order to catch the last Tube train. I left the O2 Arena feeling a little empty. To me, the concert did not fulfil all the hype and anticipation I had after all the years of wanting to catch Madonna live in concert. I think the main problem was because she performed too many songs from the Rebel Heartalbum, which is one of her weakest albums in recent years. On the other hand, it is understandable because she is on tour to promote the album, so naturally, she will perform her new material.
Secondly, Madonna likes to remix her old tunes and give them a fresh spin so that each tour is different from her previous tours. Even the best song from the Rebel Heart album, Living For Love, was not spared from the remix treatment as she chose to perform the Offer Nissim Drama Mix version instead. The problem with the remix versions is that so much of what we love from the original versions is lost. Most of the time, we are only left with the melody of the song while the music is totally stripped away. It robs the audience of the chance of getting high with the original version of the song. Which is a pity because Like A Virgin, Material Girl and Music would easily have been my favourites but the resulting versions performed were almost totally unrecognisable.
For the encore, Madonna performed Holiday, which was a decent choice. I was disappointed that she totally omitted Like A Prayer, which she did perform the night before (on 1 December 2015) in lieu of Drowned World/Substitute For Love. Like A Prayer was the song that I was most looking forward to hear so I was crushed when she didn’t perform it.
To sum it up, I was disappointed with the concert and I didn’t get the sense of “high” that I usually get when I watch my favourite artists perform. Maybe the years of anticipation caused my expectations to be unrealistic and unattainable, but I do believe that I would have enjoyed her earlier tours better – 2001’s Drowned World Tour and 2006’s Confessions Tour, which of course corresponded with the better albums that she was touring in support of. Nevertheless, it’s another concert struck off my bucket list!