London / U.K.

London Miscellany

Mitsugi Sonoda/ Marubeni Europe plc

The office that I commute to is in the “City,” right next to the Moorgate Tube station. To get there, I take the train to London Bridge Station, which is located on the south bank of the Thames River, and from there I make my way to the office on foot. When I cross London Bridge, I can enjoy splendid view, including famous tourist attractions such as Tower Bridge and London Tower in downstream, and St. Paul's Cathedral in upstream.

The place where I live is in a town in southwest London called Epsom. Despite the fact that it is only 30 kilometers from the City, there is quite a lot of greenery, so that one gets the feeling of being deep in the suburbs. It is also home to a wide variety of animals, including deer, foxes, rabbits, squirrels and porcupines. Foxes, squirrels and porcupines sometimes appear in my garden as well, and give us a calming influence.

Epsom is also the site of the horse race track where the renowned Derby is held. The Derby is a race named after the Earl of Derby in 1779. Every year in June, when the Derby Festival is held, the normally peaceful and quiet field is covered with spectators, and becomes a scene of great bustle and activity, complete with stalls and a traveling amusement park. People come to enjoy the event in a variety of ways: while Rolls-Royces and Jaguars arrive in the parking lot near the grandstand and the people of the upper classes picnic nearby, another area looks like special seats designed to entertain business clients.

I do not go out in the city very much, but there is one place that I am particularly fond of—a jazz club located on a street corner in Soho (famous for being the home of London’s Chinatown) called “Ronnie Scott's.” Ronnie Scott was a young English sax player who, enthralled by the sound of real American jazz, opened the club in 1959. Since then, a wide variety of prominent jazz musicians have come to play here. Even now, for 15 pounds, you can enjoy drinking alcohol in a relaxed atmosphere while listening to the sounds of top-flight musicians. It may not be a major London tourist attraction, but to jazz fans, it is a paradise. Please visit this jazz club and you won’t regret it.

The area near my home swan mother and her chicks St. Paul's Cathedral The Tower Bridge and the cruiser, HMS Belfast Ronnie Scott's