Houses of Parliament ; a walk in the rain (to b updated with more details)

1) Discovered in the London Planner for August 2010 that Houses of Parliament is having summer opening (and actually since a few months back it's been opened to public on saturdays). Walked past that place and Big Ben several time and was only able to take picture, wishing that I can enter as well, today the wish came true ;)

I've been thinking of going during one of these days but didnt due to rain or laziness. This morning, seeing that my available time is coming to an end before weekend arrives (which i dont wish to go as usually there will be lotsa ppl and alot of engineering work going on for the underground). So I woke up and made myself go to the site and bought the ticket online (well, since i'm not sure from the site if i can get it on the spot). The ticket is 9 pounds for student. My plan was to wait for lib to open to print the ticket and set off. But a few heart attack incidents happened:
- my clock is 15 min late (first time since i bought it >.<) so i was 15 min behind my plan
- in the midst of printing then only i realised that the tic should be printed no later than 24 hours before the event, oh well, that time i was at most 30-40 min before? but dun care, try my luck again
- i waited for the tube for so long to come >.< (well, perhaps just 10 min but since i'm late oredi) and the tic mentioned that i should be there 20 mins before, crap
So, at that point, I've already prepared for the worst, I'll go there and visit that place no matter what, even if I had to buy another tic, so I set off.....

Eventually when I reached, I was already 9 minutes late (according to my pass time) but they let me in without any difficulty when I told them i'm late, thank God (perhaps it's still early in the morning and not many ppl there yet)...and after all the security check, i was able to join the english tour without waiting for long, and there are only 15 of us, considered small, guess thats the benefit of being early and avoid peak hour

So here're a few not so tour-related things i would like to jot down:
- everything turned out to be so easy and smooth despite the heart attack before i reached there
- the met police and those in charge of visitors are friendly and helpful :)
- my guide sounded like the older lady in the movie julie and julia, the tone and the accent and even the look, hoho
- when she checked the tickets of a few ppl before me she asked them where they are from (a couple from italy and a lady from netherland and a few locals i suppose) but when she reached me and get the tic from me, she paused and just said thank you.. well im the only asian there and hmm isit because she's not sure if im a tourist or a bbc (hehe, syok sendiri) or isit because she's racist (erm, dun reli think so given that shes a guide)?
- i still dun understand british joke, there are a few occasions when the guide said sth, some of the british laughed or the british said something and the guide laughed while i didnt catch anything, blurred
- generally, the guide is clear and the history of the palace of westminster is interesting, gv me an urge to research on britains history, well, i hope i'll really do that
- i guess coming from a commonwealth country like malaysia helps me to understand abit easily of the parliament system here
- and i felt abit regret for not voting during the british election last year but then again, i dun reli know who to vote for in the first place 
- i need a better camera for indoor (well not that i'm allowed to take a lot of pictures inside but this is not the first time this thought cross my mind)
- i'm glad that i know who andrew llyod webber is and actually a big fan of some of his products, heheh
- too bad that i didnt get the chance to visit the houses of parliament in my own country

that's it for now for those random thoughts above, now abit more on the visit:
- admission 14 pounds (but for student 9 pounds)
- tour takes about 75 minutes
- need to go through security as in airport (no liquids)
- not allowed to wear hat in as it is a palace
- a picture will be taken during the security and will be worn as entrance pass
- (im too lazy atm to talk more about my experience and what i learnt from the tour, so next time la i'll update)


2) after 2 weeks of receiving a bike from F, i finally got the semangat to go ride it, before that either it's because it rained alot (like almost everyday) or i'm plain lazy...then when i was at the front door i didnt manage to get the bike through the first door (due to the unique double door system of my hall), urgh, so i put it back.. tmr i shall try another way, this time i shall try putting the back in first... it definitely can go through without opening 2 doors as ive seen F doing it before, urggghhh

since i couldnt do what i planned to do i still went out to survey areas that are suitable for my to practise cycling (since i hvnt cycle in ages and im a beginner who can hardly cycle in a straight line from what i rmb and who need a big space to turn corner >.<).. but im determined to learn and improve, otherwise it will be a regret to not cycle at all while im in london, a place that is much suitable for cycling and a time when cycling has become more popular, even the barclay cycle scheme has been implemented now; and i know if i dun do it now, next time i go back i wont be able to cycle in my life anymore..

after surveying i ended up jogging in a park, 2 rounds and it started to rain.. but i took my own sweet time and walked home since i cant run all the way home and will get wet anyway.. and it's actually nice to run in the rain xDD just dun like it when my glasses got wet