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.

LONDON is a very cramped city but this can work to a foreign vacationer’s advantage when he or she intends to buy a home here and settle for good. After all, there are lots of people out there who have retired at the age of 40 and for the rest of their lives, they want to spend it attractively with no boss nosing around. London is one such ideal place if you love the urban life. Parties here last up to sunrise and they do party even on weekdays. Parties are more pronounced at this time when 2007 is about the end and London’s Big Ben is ticking the seconds closer to 2008. There’s booze everywhere that even the London Metropolitan Police has instituted a booze bus to bring tipsy and intoxicated partygoers right at their doorstep.

London being a dense city, prices of homes here have steadily dropped since 2002. London is actually a melting pot that is why there are lots of expatriates here. And pop music artists come here all year round to perform. In fact, London’s O2 has just hosted the homecoming concert of the Spice Girls whose individual members have already enjoyed fulfilling private lives both in and out of spotlight. Close to 16,000 people attended the concert at a stadium reserved only for football fans.

Another thing to watch out for in London this Christmas is the shopping. There are lots of items on the shelves which may possibly last out that retailers and malls in London have issued so-called rain checks, promising them of the items by January 2008. Some of the items which easily last out are game consoles such as Wii, Apple’s famous 2007 craze iPhone and various brands of HD and Blu-ray compatible accessories. There are also yearend sales everywhere and not just in malls but in street markets and garage sales up in the suburbs. Of course, salesladies and salesmen are dressed in Santas to help you out.

And just in time for Christmas, a rail service has recently debuted its London to Wearside route and vice versa. It will be a four-hour trip for each journey and the company that made this possible was Grand Central. There will be three trips every day. Another train company, Wrexham & Shropshire, will also debut the London route by 2007. Meanwhile, one pastime that is slowly gaining ground in London nowadays is horse racing and other forms of equestrian sports. Equestrian will become a major event in the 2012 Olympic Games and this early, horse riders from all over the United Kingdom are practicing for the huge activity.

As more and more people are scrambling to be health-conscious, so too are the Londoners. Aside from equestrian activities, people in London have also took a liking in running races. In fact, celebrities often lead these races, exhorting London folk to join them. One of these celebrities is eccentric British rocker Pete Doherty.

I have just been granted a two-week exchange study-cum-holiday in London. I am a college senior from Cagayan de Oro City in the Philippines taking up a degree in international studies. That is why I am now looking forward for a very merry Christmas in London. I have long been enchanted with the London Eye. I first saw it in the movie The Rise of the Silver Surfer. To promote the movie, a huge Silver Surfer was erected at the center of the London Eye. Now I can’t wait how it looks during Christmas. Probably it will be donned with hundreds of small yet powerful lights. My whole body is excited just by the thought of that one. Next, I am also looking forward for the fireworks over River Thames during Christmas Eve and the fireworks in Big Ben during New Year’s Eve. I am also looking forward seeing the back-to-back concert of emo bands Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Paramore and My Chemical Romance at the Hyde Park during the holiday period. Apartments at this area surely have high rates so it’s much better to go to London during Christmas time in a three-star hotel because room rates there do not fluctuate, holiday or not. Anyway, that will not be a problem because I’ll be staying at the dormitory of the University of London. Other structures that I’m looking forward seeing include the Westminster Palace, the Buckingham Palace and No. 10 Downing Street where Prime Minister Gordon Brown resides although I have heard that is too far from the main highway and the whole street is restricted because the whole street is government-owned.

Most of the residents in London are Anglicans and so Christmas here is kind of different as compared to Christmas in Italy, France, Spain or Germany. Despite that, London is a melting pot even though it is not located in the European mainland and it is somewhat isolated at the Island of Great Britain. So there are lots of non-Christians here in London like Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Sikhs. And so for them, commercial establishments here in London have resorted to other gimmicks and are sensitive enough not to promote the religious part of Christmas. Anyway, Muslims and Jews both have major celebrations this holiday season this Christmas. It is exactly that reason why Londoners greet you “happy holiday” instead of “merry Christmas”.

For the Muslims, they will be celebrating Eid ul-Adha this coming December 20. This is a day of sacrifice as this is a commemoration of the prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only son Isaac. On the other hand, the Jews have just celebrated Hannukah which is the festival of lights. It is a commemoration of the win of the Maccabees from the reign of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. It is for this reason that non-Anglicans in London have banded together to form a lobby group and pressure the government to remain secular. That I will see during my vacation.