ONE of the London-based idols that I love is that fictional character created by Eidos, Lara Croft. And one of the most memorable scenes in a Lara Croft movie that I love in the movie is the gliding that Lara Croft did in Hong Kong with her love interest in the film. Here in London where I am staying all the way through Valentines weekend with my lovely Chinese-Spanish wife Leizl, there are no opportunities for gliding here but there is one close to that – bungee jumping. There’s actually an exclusive members only club here for bungee jumpers – the aptly-named UK Bungee Club but on occasions such as Valentines and New Year’s, the UK Bungee Club is offering its doors to tourists, especially foreign ones. And certainly I am a tourist since my wife and I came all the way from Salamanca.

I can hardly wait to be bungee jumping here in London during Valentines. It’s good already at 99 pounds per couple and that’s already inclusive of a bottle of champagne. Of course, you don’t litter the champagne over the air in London; you wait till both of you settle back to the ground. But if bungee jumping is not enough for you, then there is also a skydiving event here in London by February 14 or Valentines Day but this event is mostly for single ladies only who don’t have romantic partners yet. The skydiving event is held in Swindon just outside London and your tandem instructor is a very handsome hunk just like the knights of old in King Arthur’s round table. So ladies, if you don’t have a date yet, skydiving with a guy as handsome as Orlando Bloom even for just less than five minutes is a superb experience already. Rate is as good as 200 pounds per person.

Then by February 15, my wife and I will be attending the London premiere of The Eye starring Jessica Alba. I have always been rooting for Jessica Alba since she was still 14 in the Hollywood television series Flipper. I was in my sophomore year in college at Universidad de Madrid then, taking up a degree in journalism. I have already seen Jessica Alba live and in person at the London Eye during the premiere of Rise of the Silver Surfer in 2006 but this time, I want to see her again on how she looks when she’s pregnant. I have heard that she looked great in a maternity gown during the Technical Oscars’ night held an evening before the Grammy Awards. Besides, my wife Leizl loves horror movies and this is like hitting two birds in one stone.

Also on February 15, Jennifer Love Hewitt (the star of The Ghost Whisperer) will have a semi-radio concert-cum-interview at BBC Radio 3 and because my cousin Guillermo is a technician at BBC Radio 3, he has already arranged of seats for us inside the radio station so we can watch Jennifer Love Hewitt singing. Jeez, this Valentines will really be a memorable one for my wife Leizl and I even though we don’t have any kids yet.

WHILE Chinese celebrations of the Year of the Earth Rat are in full swing, it may be cool to visit London’s Chinatown and contemplate there while you are here on a holiday in London. London has lots of things to offer and we can see parts of London based from movies released in January. In the movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets, we saw that the thugs in the movie played by Ed Harris retrieved an artifact dumped into River Thames by Nicolas Cage. Then in Eastern Promises, a Russian thug drops a dead body into the same river. Years back, I could recall London being in an authoritarian state in V for Vendetta. Of course, this is certainly not true in the real London life as there has been no body dumped there in recent memory unless you count the Jack the Ripper case in the 19th century which was a very long time ago. Of course, Jack the Ripper’s story was sort of immortalized in the Johnny Depp-headlined film From Hell. The real River Thames which extends far out onto suburbian London features rowing and other water sports.

But right now, since it is Chinese New Year, I will tour you into one of the exotic parts of London – its own Chinatown. 2008 is certainly a lucky year because three of the digits are round; meaning luck is infinite. And the number “8” even feature double zeros. Sadly, this has not been the fate portrayed upon British Chinese as far as Hollywood movies are concerned. We in Britain must erase that concept portrayed by Hollywood. British Chinese are portrayed there as human smugglers where Chinese just wash up on our beaches here in England. That certainly is not true, right? In fact, when you visit Chinatown in Soho, you can see that the Chinese are very industrious. That is one of the Oriental legacies that we inherit from them – they can live well even through the worst of times.

The influence of the Chinese in London culture is so much alive that even Mayor Ken Livingstone himself graced the 2008 Chinese New Year celebrations here yesterday. The parade cruised the major thoroughfares of the whole Soho district, including Shaftesbury Avenue, Charing Cross Road and the Strand. In Trafalgar Square, there was a concert featuring British Chinese artists throughout the night which rocked the whole area even until dawn.

There is one connection between China and London in this year’s celebration. Beijing, which is the capital of China, is the host of the 2008 Summer Olympics which will be undergone later this year. The next host of the Olympics by 2012 will be London of course. There will be a Chinese film festival featuring movies by filmmakers from Beijing, Hong Kong and Taipei. There will be visiting acrobats and music artists from Beijing who will be holding concerts not just during New Year’s Day itself but throughout February and on to the summer while Olympics is going on in Beijing.

THE year 2008 is definitely good for London as far as publicity is concerned. We open the year with a very laughable Hollywood movie scene starring none other than star Nicolas Cage who tries to open the left side door of a car in London in a getaway chase only to find out that the driver’s side is to the right. All in all, the peculiarity of driving in London is highlighted in the movie. And this is what made the city so attractive to tourists all over the world.

Another interesting update about London this year is their preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games. Even though the 2008 Olympic Games is yet to unfold this summer in Beijing, Londoners are already excited that their city is host of the Olympics next to the 2008 one in Beijing, China. In fact, the mayor of London confined at his very fine quarters which is one of the most unique architectural pieces in the world, the London City Hall, is now spearheading a massive campaign to help finance the 2012 Olympic Games such as advertising exchange deals of major consumer and IT products. Even holding of daily lotteries from now up to 2012 just to raise funds is being contemplated already. Another preparation that they have is choosing Aldershot as the major venue for the games. Aldershot, a British Royal Army base, has all the sports facilities with Olympic standards such as the swimming pool, a running track and a hockey pitch. But the reason to choose Aldershot is more of a psychological one. Coaches of Team Great Britain want to instill their athletes that their discipline and dedication to their respective sport is comparable with soldiers from the British Royal Army.

But let’s go back to basics first. After settling in your hotel room, what does a typical foreign tourist in London need? It is food of course. And there is no such thing as London cuisine. Everything is generically Western. So you can have restaurants of choice. But the trend right now in London restaurants is to have the Mediterranean diet. If North America has the South Beach diet and Atkins diet, then London has the Mediterranean diet. Of course, London is nowhere close to the Mediterranean, it is not even a coastal city, and the only body of water you can see from London is River Thames. However, Mediterranean diet simply consists of anything that is sautéed in olive oil (olive is a product of the Mediterranean region) and they mostly consist of seafood as well as fruits and vegetables.

Now let’s go now on updates in the metallurgical business. Rio Tinto is aggressively pushing for profits this year due largely from earnings in its overseas operations. Rio Tinto’s ore production mainly comes from China and Australia. From these facts alone, we can deduce that London is a very nice place to visit in 2008.