Wingardium Leviosa to Warner Bros Studio (The Making of Harry Potter), London

Blows off dust from my blog...wow it's been ages since I have updated, the last entry was in early Jan 2016 and now it's half a year gone from 2016. Truth is I do not have that blogging mood anymore and plus I don't really like to post about personal stuff here anymore or anywhere else, so yea, only travelling and photography related will be able to make an appearance here.

I have been travelling to Europe or specifically Norway, Finland, Estonia and UK the last 3 weeks or so. It's a break I have been longing for a very long time and take some time off to not think about stuff. For me the highlight of the trip gotta be the visit to Warner Bros studio tour, the making of Harry Potter. I was a Harry Potter fan, having read all the books and watch all the movies, so this tour of the studio for the making of the movie really sets the expectation. I have been to the studio making of LOTR, so I half expected something like that and full of tourists.

We actually booked the tickets in advance but only managed to get the 1.30pm slot, probably due to bank holiday. We stopped at Watford Junction station via train and since we were 2 hours early, we decided to stop by for some early lunch/late breakfast at one of the pub. Bad decision as our food only came after almost 45 mins wait and we gobbled down the food in 5 minutes in order to catch the 12.20pm bus. The bus ride is about 15 mins and cost about 2.5 pound both ways. It was the fastest breakfast/brunch I ever had!

The bus itself was decorated with the Harry Potter related stuff on the outside and once we reached the entrance of the studio, we were blown away. It felt like we were brought into the movie itself. Giant posters of the actors and actresses decorate the main hallway upon entrance and the queue was long. We had to line up for half and hour before getting in. Once we were in the waiting room, the staff brief us on the movie production and we were shown some footage of the production. It really brought back good memories of why I love the books and the movies in the first place.

The shuttle bus from Watford station to the studio

Entrance to the studio, we were so excited!

Right before the entrance. Seeing the photos of the actors brought back a lot of memories

Once we enter the main hall, we were so excited with the props and keep reenacting the scene in the main hall with all the floating candles and the famous sorting hat in the middle of the hallway. The studio for the making of Harry Potter comprise of studio J and K with a backlot in the middle of the two studio. Studio J is more like props and location used for the filming while studio K is more the makeup, drawing board and conceptual art.

Sorting Hat at the Main Hall

Gryffindor common room

Scene from the headmaster room when Dolores Umbridge is the headmaster

After the main hall, we headed to the main studio J and this is where all the location such as the Weasley's home at the Burrows, Potion room, Gryffindor common room and the boy's dorm, the goblet of fire, the snake door from the Chamber of Secrets and not forgetting Dumbledore's headmaster room. The highlight will be the trying out the flying broom via green screen. It was fun looking as yourself at the tv and trying all funny sorts of expressions and motions. Although we did not purchase the video and photo, the experience itself was really fun. The next best part was trying to get the letters from Hogwarts which was spit out from a door every 10 minutes. And then off to the Platform 9 3/4 and the real Hogwarts train.

Hogwarts choo choo train

Going through Platform 9 3/4

We took a break at a cafe at the backlot and had some butterbeer drink, ice cream and cupcakes. Privet drive was opened for visit only for that week and we had a chance to peek inside of the living hall when letters from Hogwarts was flying in from the chimney. The letter are practically floating in the air!

Remember this scene from the first movie?

Butterbeer drink, ice cream and cupcakes (though it looks more muffin to me)

Another impressive stuff in studio K will be the Hogwarts model which is not miniature at all. It's so surreal to see the details and effort being put in to construct such props. And not forgetting the impression drawings and the makeup and hair!! saw Luna's hair/wig being display.

Check out the drawing board, literally every single prop up to Dumbledore's chair are drawn to detail!

At Diagon Alley

Model of Hogwarts

Another view of Hogwarts. The model really blew us away

We finished touring the place in 5 hours as we took our own sweet time reading and appreciating each of the details. This is definitely the best studio I ever had and highly recommended for Harry Potter's fan. Take your time to see each and every detail and try out all the simulation especially the green screen. It was really fun and interactive and able to take photos and videos made it well worth the 35 pound spend. If possible, go early in the morning as the crowd will be less compared to afternoon.

Tower Bridge, London

As I am still in the dramaland mood, just want to share some shots I took long ago on the Tower Bridge, London which also debuted in the first episode in Triumph of Skies 2 where Fala Chen first appear. And I guess many would have mistaken this as the famous London bridge as in the bridge in the "London bridge is falling down" song.

To get to the Tower bridge, you can get down at Tower hill tube station but I would always choose to get down at London Bridge station and walk along the Thames river to get to the Tower bridge. There is also a good view to photograph the bridge from the city hall side. Unfortunately, I have yet to photograph the night view of the brige and perhaps one day I shall return and fulfill this dream.

London Most Famous

the famous London Underground

Gonna be a short entry on some of the sights and sounds when I was in London recently visiting a friend after my business trip in New York. I have been to London numerous times but seeing London again from the eye of a tourist indeed bring out some surprises. But my all time favourite of London landmark would be the Tower Bridge since I love bridges! That will be in another dedicated entry.

Picaddily Square which reminds me of Trevi fountain in Rome


the famous red bus (L) and St Paul cathedral (R)

Bath, England (14 Nov 2008)

Bath is a town located about 100 miles from London and 15 miles from Bristol. From London, take a train from the Paddington station and stopped at Bath Spa. The journey will be approximately 1 1/2 hours. However we took a flight from Edinburgh to Bristol for a weekend which we planned to cover Bath, Oxford and the Stonehenge. It was mid of autumn and the whole countryside was in golden colours of red, orange and yellow. It was a lovely sight just to stroll along the river and immersed in the Roman Bath history.

We stayed at hostel nearby to the train station which is considered cheap by UK standards..about 13 quid. Besides the Roman Bath, other attractions are the Royal Crescent which according to my friend, it was the filming location for Sense and Sensibility. The Georgian house can be overwhelming for those who have not seen them. Later on, we loitered around the town and head back to the Bath Abbey for a night shot on the landmark before heading back to our hostel.

view from the upper level in Roman Bath







view from the lower level


one of the few 'pool'


the exterior


the town


On the way to Royal Crescent. The lovely fall colours


Royal Crescent


See the crescent..my camera cant take a wide angle of the view




More Georgian house


Pulteney Bridge


Autumn leaves


view of the river

How to get there:

Take a train from the Paddington station from London and stopped at Bath Spa

Train ride is approximately 1 1/1 hours

The town is accessible on foot

CFA competition @ London (24 March 2009)

Ok..besides only full time travelling when I was in UK for studies, I signed up for some competition due to the fact that I could go to London for free. The competition was organised by CFA and my team managed to get into the top three. We get to travel down to London and did a presentation at Thomson Reuters. The preliminary round was the competing teams needed to prepare a proposal whether to buy or sell or hold the stock of a particular company. Each team had a mentor assigned to them. My team was selected based on the voluntary participation from my class and as usual, me being the super kiasu Malaysian (with free travel thrown in), I volunteered not knowing what I signed up for. Since there were too many volunteers and only 5 were needed, the chosen ones were those with the highest marks based on our first semester results.. ( I was second highest in class based on first semester results, which even I myself could not believe). Somehow our team managed to get into the top three and we got to travel to London to present to the panel of judges. The other two teams were from Stirling and Warwick. We were third. Somehow, I think we wanted at least a second so that it wouldnt be that embarassing but still, it's a good experience and it's free travel to London.

Photos courtesy of a professional hired for the competition (taken with a Nikon D3).

my team with our super genius team leader on the left

while competing..all of us were really nervous


judges firing questions to my team



never knew I look good in OL suits


deciding on the winner. the winner get to represent UK for the Euro zone competition


after the presentation





third place.happy nonetheless

The following photos were captured using my old point and shoot Canon.

all hitting on Jared


my prize