Hello, welcome to London!

On the bus this morning, and we got to Elephant junction. Bus pulls up just after a stop, and I hear the driver's door open and he calls out, "Which way do I turn here, is it left?" A moment of quiet, and then several people say that yes, that's the right way. The driver says "Sorry, it's my first day on this route. Thanks everyone!"

It was actually very wholesome, and I'm glad he thought to ask rather than just ploughing on and hoping for the best.

Save our seas

had my card skimmed at st pauls tube station last night. was topping up my oyster card when it wouldnt accept contactless from my bank card, so i put in my card and used the PIN there was a long pause until i got a payment declined or something message. checked with my bank and there had been an ATM withdrawal near by at the same time for £500.

i never noticed anything dodgy with the machine, be careful topping up. almost got stuck on central london with an empty oyster card and blocked bank card.

to add reported to BTP and TFL, bank refunded me almost straight away after talking with the fraud department.

Hey fellow Redditers and Londoners.

I love abit of jazz, especially live jazz! But like many mid 30 year olds, all of my friends are married and have kids, they don't really leave the house. As such I've gotten used to doing things alone (get the violins out right?!) Anyway, I really want to go Ronnie Scotts at some point but was wondering if anyones gone alone before and if it was awkward. I can imagine it to be a romantic type of establishment... So makes me feel maybe like a weirdo

34-35 Maiden Lane in Covent Garden has been home to Rules since 1798 and has seen high profile visitors from Charles Dickens, to Charlie Chaplin as well as Edward VII.

The National trust said the £11 million freehold gift would secure the future of the building.

Ooh time outs and telling offs, that'll teach em. All feels very primary school.

Hopefully their chocolate milk isnt cold too.

1. i think it's nice when it's super silent in the bus and someone gets off and they shout THANK YOU and the bus driver does a little nod or a mellowed out you're welcome or even a nod. a nod means a lot here, it means go ahead, no worries, thank you, sorry, okay i mean it's endless
2. letting older people go first in line, on the bus, on the train, escalator and sit down - just commute etiquette is a lost art sometimes but i'm hopeful most of the time like i like that we agree stick to one side and give people space
3. everyone walks fast like they are running away from a falling building at all times. the union of wanting to get home is cool
4. someone said sorry to me because they dropped their umbrella around me and wasn't even really near but they apologised to everyone for really no reason at all

i hope these aren't all transport related i'm realising....

1. seeing everyone huddle around pubs way way into roads and somehow half the customers are in the alleyway

2. i also like how there are a fair share of really nice parks and every summer everyone bolts there. it's like a fair mix or somewhat mix of country and city i guess. especially cause different areas in london have different vibes, it's a nice change if you want to go to a quieter place or something.

3. the option of having stuff to do on the weekend whether that's a football match or even just playing football, going to see a movie in a super old picture house or watch a play at the theatre, the free museums make my life a whole lot easier. there's always places to see, eat, take your friends and meet people

4. i also think it's nice when people cross the road and put their hand up to thank the driver for letting them go past even though they def should have waited

5. multicultural. i think it's nice to go on the tube and see a bunch of different people, you don't get as much as imposter syndrome. also, multicultural means more food options which is nice. i also like the fact we say order an indian or a chinese. i'm aware this isn't just a london thing but it's cool.

6. overall, just feels alive. i like when everyone pulls out a really nice trench coat in the winter but refuses to buy a jacket with a hood. honourable mention to the nhs. i also like when tourists come and take pictures of the british library makes you appreciate it better. new year's eve is always great, i could go on tbh.

Yesterday I topped up my Oyster card by £50 at a machine in the Canary Wharf Elizabeth line station. The £50 is in my Oyster card and I am making journeys just fine. However, I checked my Amex statement and I see a transaction of £50 from “Brentwood Spice”. A quick google search says this is an Indian restaurant in Essex. I haven’t been to any restaurants at all recently, nor have I ever been to Brentwood. I don’t see any other £50 transactions or anything from TfL.

Seems quite strange, no? Could it be a case of money laundering?

All offices around the broad street are evacuated and have been told not to SMOKE!!

Spotted this around noon today. They unrolled the whole thing and it was really long. Has anyone seen it? Seems to be something to do with Pret.

If you could choose one thing to change in London - what would it be ?

Always heard this happens a lot but first time witnessing one. I would say it's around 2130, two African-Caribbean teenagers (not adults, apparently) quickly ride through Kennington Lane under the bridge, with a poor Asian woman shouting and chasing after them (no payoff, of course), really terrifying.

Was sitting in Thameslink and a man got on while on speakerphone. I gave him the benefit of doubt and hoped he would finish soon. In the next 10min the entire section of the train knew that he banked with Halifax, he had read out his bank acc number and sort code twice and his wife/friend on the other end had repeated it back and they were still on the phone. Other people around him had changed their seats as it was so annoying.

I got up and asked him: “excuse me sir, would you mind taking your call off speakerphone?”
He: “no its a facetime call miss”
Me: or maybe you can put on your headphones?
He: i don’t have any
Me: it’s just quite noisy
He just shrugs his shoulders and I sit back down

He proceeds to get up, points the phone at me while speaking to his friend/partner and tells her: “this lady just told me to be quiet on the train.” He proceeds to walk down away from me down the train and tells the person on the phone: “i am so sick sick of these f* asians. This is the second time in the last few days that some random asian has told me to be quiet on PUBLIC transport”.
He emphasises the word public and continues his tirade how he has had it from asians for a couple of minutes and gets off a few stops after.

I wanted to pipe up when he brought race into it (he seemed of carribean descent) but decided against taking the risk.

And then on his spot a guy gets on watching loud tiktok videos in which AI voice is narrating this video. I tell this guy to please turn down the volume and thankfully he does.

I know there is regular posts about the lack of consideration on public transport but I genuinely believe we need to start telling people (politely!) to take off the backpack, turn down the volume or take their litter with them.

I am so sick of just giving in to people who don’t know how to behave in public.

Edit: just an embarrassing amount of typos 😅

Feeling under the weather so can't make it. Can transfer through app