EuroTrip: London: Its All Coming Back To Me Now

WEnt out and this time im not taking the train! Waited for the bus. Another major headache. There's so many buses around but I dont know which one to take.. So just randomly pick one and pray for the best.

She told me to wait outside the Bond Street station. I hope I got the right exit. There's like 3-4 exits here.. hihihi.


While waiting there's so much drama going on. Someone's cigarette caused a minor headache to the firemen.

And while waiting I was apporached by many tourists asking for directions.. like hello! But for some, I just told them "its down the road luv!" kikikikiki..

Finally she arrived! It's been like what? 8 years? Since I last saw her. Wow, its been such a long time.. and she looks as great as ever.

Talking about Zoowra, back in the PPP, there's like 3 girls that I had high respect and considered as major competitions. Not, Sadina, and Zoowra. Of course there are others but those are the nerd types (sloppy dress, aesthetically challenge).. not a worthy competitions.. hihihihih

But of course after 2 years competing, I gave up.

So, anyway, here we are.. she was so excited to show me her new hometown.. Whereas, I think I was a little bit reserved, thanks to the bad experiences a day before. So we walked around, Camwhoring along the way.

Then we went to Selfridges. Ooooo… they’re having a Malaysian food’s fair. Some of the brand, I seriously never seen in Malaysia myself, like the instant noodles above and the Ayam A1 Kuah Kacang. Sardin ada lah.

Mak aii.. kicap pun 4 paun! 20 hinggit! Hilang akal. (Soy sauce is so darn expensive)

And of course, what’s the fair without live demonstration.
“Interesting! let’s watch closer..”
… then the chef was like “today we gonna cook sambal belachan”
I looked at her, she looked at me, and we looked down at our coats..
“Hell no! “ we ran to the exit… giggling all the way... (sambal belachan - shrimp paste gravy – nasty smell that will stick to you, people would thought you stepped on dog poop or something)

Then we had coffee, and talked about everything. Latest gossips, and FB stories, etc etc. She asked me what would I like to do next..

To be frank, that was the end of my trip already, and I was done with shopping and seeing building and museums.

So of course I gave a blank look.. “hmmm mana yeak?” hihihihi.

Ok lah, lets go to Harrods and the upmarket shopping street.

So we took the tube.

The tube is slightly taller and wider than the Berlin one, but it has weird angle. Poor ventilation too, I could imagine during summer, how suffocating one could be.

Harrods.. like damn it was nice. And huge!!! And not that expensive.

We could easily spend like the whole day here (1/2 day on the home & dining department).

By then it’s almost 3pm. Gosh, we haven’t even had lunch yet. I was not that hungry anyway. But we did stop at one restaurant for a snack.

Then we took the tube again towards the Big Ben. I was stuck at the gate, and she way already far in front.. hihihihi

I thought the card was faulty, turned out the balance was insufficient.
What? Already? I thought I put £20. Damn, top up for another £10 and hope it will eb enough till tomorrow.

After Big Ben - London eye, Westminster Abbey we walked towrds Trafalgar Sq. Passed by 10 Downing.. Hmm i thought you could visit the residence, but it was further down the gate. Cis.

-- Riders wearing Guy Fawkes masks

When we were at the Trafalgar, there were like a demo going on. But it was a brief one.. after like 30 minutes they left.

And then on the left I saw Malaysian flag. Its tourism office. Makes me wonder, the location is strategic enough, but the visitors from the UK still low. Some dont even know where Malaysia is.

-- St James Park entrance.

Then we left.. Taking the tube to her place.

Finally, my last delivery was sent. "Thanks Famil, in return, let me do the cooking." She offered.

WHile she was busy in the kitchen...

I was busy watching Countdown (I think). And seriously I was about to give up with the books. The plot was sooo stupid okay. For a genius, the Prof Bob couldnt even read backward.. like WTF!

My first rice dish in months! I love sardines as well.. SO delicious. Thanks Zoowra.

The was a little drama afterward, but Im not goona blog abt it.. Sorry Cesar, i had to ditch you for Zoowra. hihihihi

Then the next day, I had to meet Cesar, and before I knew it, I was already late. So, I went back to ehr place, bid farewell, rushed to the airport.. The gate was already closed.. damn!

Luckily its BA, so I took the next flight with no additional cost. :p

Back to Amsterdam - Leiden. Packing my stuff, throw away lots of Maps, pamphlets, cheap tshirts I bought at H&M, umbrella, some souvenirs.. hhiihih. I had 25KG bag allowances but hell no way Im gonna carry loads that heavy. In the end my bag weighted about 8kg (the backpack) and 6kg (the cabin bag).

I am all ready. Went out for a drink with all my friends in Amsterdam. Will meet two of them in KL soon.

EuroTrip: London: Unplanned Pit Stop

Seriously dont feel like leaving Leiden. I was this close to cancel the trip, but hey, I made a promise to deliver raya cookies to someone!

To be frank, two of the countries that never caught my fancy to visit are France and the UK. I dont know why, but I just dont like them...

But hey, being this close, and knowing some friends might not be there forever, I decided to give it a chance. The plane was cheap as well - €80 for returned ticket with British Airways from Schipol to Gatwick.

So, in the morning, unenthusiastically, i dragged myself to the airport.

Maybe not as unenthusiastic as this guy. He even got his shoes wrong.

The plane ride was uneventful. Reached there by noon. Brief immigration's procedure. I did declared the cookies I had.. It was a relieved to finally see/hear English everywhere.

Took the Gatwick express. Like damn expensive. £30 for returned ticket.

Victoria station. Okay, im freakishly early and my friend was at work and he will only be free after 5. And I already planned to meet Zoowra the next day! % hrs and Im not dragging my suitcase around like a freaking terrorist. Left baggage it is! Gasp another £8. Dang I only changed about £200 and 1/4 of them already gone, another £5 for sandwiches and £20 to top up the Oyster card.

Grrrr.. London is expensive! Now I know why I hated it so much.

Took the underground map.. Seriously, i never been here and I didnt even look up for place of interest.. serve me right.. hihi. At the baggage locker I did grab fro the British Museum pamphlet. So, BM it is! And not that far by the tube. Oxford Circus.

-- Windy London...

Boy I thought Berlin underground was claustrophobic, London tube stations are even more maze like. Emerged from the underground.. and into the city. If I got it right, I was supposed to head east.. There was a street sign heading that way.. So I just follow my instinct.

After like 15 minutes of walking I started to doubt myself. Okay, all the building looks the same now.. and there's no street sign.. Luckily there's a posh hotel nearby.. So I just walk to the concierge and ask for directions!

It was like right behind the building in front of the hotel. Better yet, the nice chap at the counter gave me a map! With him marking several tourist spots around, that I could visit after the museum. Woo hoo..

The museum is free. and its huge. I dont think 3 days would be enough to visit every room, let alone 3 hours I had.

Impressive collections of rare books. I could easily spend the whole day here, looking for anything from the Malacca period.

The only drawback is that, there's so many visitors around. Maybe because its free, I felt like I was in zoo more than I was in a museum.

The mummy collections. As usual there's like tonne of brainless visitors making stupid/rude remarks about those mummies. I just wish the mummy would woke up and choked them.

Okay, I had enough. Sore feet, uncomfortable body from the long journey, and this place is a zoo. Headed outside for some fresh air. Saw souvenir shop across the road.. woo hoo.. postcards time!

Wrote a postcards, and by then I received an sms from Cesar, asking me to meet him at Camden. Like I know where...

"Oh take the double-decker towards yadda yadda in front of the museum... "

"Sir, I dont even know which direction I should take!"

Half an hour plus many explicit sms arguments later, i did arrived in Camden.

"He was like this is the hip area for shopping.... bla bla"

and I was like are you serious? More like Chatuchak market (bangkok) to me, with two differences: Cold weather + halal food.

Unimpressed, we kept on walking, looking at the stalls. I dont know why, but the building in London looks dirty and the rood looks chaotic.. and there's a lot of Asians around.. I felt like im in Singapore.

--toilet for babies

Maybe I was tired, sure London couldnt be this crappy!.

So off we were back to Victoria, collect my suitcase, and off to his place. Dont ask me where but its far! If not because of the postcode (SE15 1xx), i could have swear Im no longer in London :p

Had a nice hot shower.. Cesar wanted to know all the story about my trip, but I was to knackered by then. I think I fell asleep at 8-9pm that night.

And woke up pretty late. Had to postpone the meting with Zoowra from 10 to later that afternoon.

Prepared breakfast.. and getting ready..

I lost so much weight.. Im a walking skeleton

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No wonder I was in a hiatus for so long :p