Tag Archives: London

Up and About

5 Nov

Our hotel room is small but sufficient. The beds are comfortable, and that first night, tiredness kicked in after a simple souvlaki dinner. We were all knocked out!

Greek beer and souvlaki for dinner

Refreshed after a good night’s sleep, we were ready to explore the next day. It was eight degrees Celsius when we stepped out of the building. In moments like this, the face masks were handy to keep our nose and cheeks warm!

The day started with a pastry and coffee breakfast. The cinnamon pretzel choice was the biggest we have seen. As big as the face, the pretzel alone could feed us all! We sat outside on the walkway of the pastry shop, and that was nice. The fat pigeon was watching us the whole time!

We took the Tube to the Bank of England to exchange some old currency notes, no longer accepted as legal tender, for new ones. It would be wise to do this unless you want to keep them as souvenirs.

But the line was very long, and the Security Officer suggested we do this at the Post Office around the corner if our amount was not in abundance. It was good advice, for we got this done in less than ten minutes instead of waiting an hour and a half.

After settling this, we headed to King’s Cross to see the iconic Platform 9 3/4. And what a crowd there was for the famous Harry Potter scene! We decided to skip the queue and still managed to snap a decent picture from the side.

The platform and queue, and the gift shop

It was a sunny day, so we kept our activities outdoors. The next stop was Coal Drops Yard before meeting an old friend for lunch. So good to see him after all these years!

We parted ways after the pleasant meal, and we continued with our adventure. At our friend’s suggestion, we thought getting on a Hop On Hop Off open-topped double-decker bus was excellent to take in all the sights. But it was already 2.00pm, and there may not be enough time. The sun sets around 4.30pm!

We decided to go indoors instead and headed over to The British Museum. We spent time in the museum until the closing hour, oohing and aahing over relics and artifacts. But if given a choice, I’d rather ooh and aah over paintings than headless and armless stone figurines and stone relics missing noses and head gears, you know?

The British Museum

London Bound

4 Nov

I woke up at 3.44am, a minute before the alarm rang. The body knows when the situation calls for it. Our pick-up arrived on time, and the journey to the airport was long enough to nap a little for the loss of sleep.

Every step of the way, it was pleasant to start the trip well! And before we knew it, we were boarding! That’s when the hiccups started. Instead of departing as scheduled at 9.05am, the plane pushed off at 9.38am and took off only at 9.55am. A good solid 50 minutes late! Hmm.

Happy travelers!

I was so glad the first meal was served an hour after take-off because I was ravenous! The Airbus A350-900 seating configuration was a three-three-three in the economy section and comfortable enough for us small-sized people. But the comfort level may not be so for a larger built or bigger-sized passenger.

Breakfast on board

Anyway, I watched two movies and slept whenever I could; likewise, hubby and the girls too to pass the time. I lost track of time, and suddenly, the aircraft was descending! Oh yay! We are almost there.

We touched down at 3.22pm local time despite departing 50 minutes late. That’s good. Immigration clearance was smooth, but baggage claim took a little longer. So yay, here we are in London!

Let the Food Trail Begin!

20 Dec

Last night M1, our firstborn came back from the US for the Christmas and New Year holidays. The flight was delayed two hours and it felt forever before she came out from the arrival hall at KLIA.

It’s a wonderful reunion again after visiting her in June for her graduation. Unfortunately, M2 opted not to return and instead has flown off to London for her Christmas holiday.

Nevertheless, a family get together is always about food besides the bonding time. Thus we will embark on a food trail to attempt to check off all the ‘must eats’ on her list. There goes the 16/8 diet! Oh well, it’s not always she returns, so we will indulge as well with her.

Thosai rawa

Roti bom

From Near and Far

28 Apr

It’s always nice to have a warm fuzzy feeling when receiving birthday greetings from family and friends, even strangers from near and far.

The first few birthday wishes came from the games I play (no, it’s not from the Candy Crush team but rather Monster Busters), strangers in other words. But I thought it was sweet and thoughtful. Gifted with a week’s worth of free play and 10,000 play coins, I think these game developers are very connected to their loyal gamers. Thank you.

And of course on the actual day, phone calls, emails, wishes on Facebook, WhatsApp and SMS/Messenger came from friends, family members as well as my bank, my credit cards, my loyalty program cards and even the local area politician, strangers in other words!

The world has become smaller—from the US, Bermuda and London to Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur—with the use of social media and technology to connect us on a daily basis and on special occasions. 

I’d like to thank everyone for your thoughtfulness and well wishes. Made the day more meaningful. To a better year ahead!

  

One Track Mind

11 May

It was a quirky conversation after dinner. The night before we left for Tawau, Sabah, M2 sounded envious that we were going away again.

Out of the blue, she declared, “Let’s go to Your-rope!”

“Your-rope?” I raised my eyebrow, “you mean Europe.” I was emphasizing the “you” instead of “your” in the pronunciation.

“No, Your-rope,” she reiterated.

I was intrigued, “Why? Don’t you want to go to USA instead to visit your sister?”

“I’ve never been to Your-rope.” Ahh. I’ve been enlightened.

“I know,” I replied her. But before I could go on, she blurted out, “London! But you’ve been there.”

I nodded.

“Paris! Hmm… You’ve been there too. Rome? Been there! See? I am replying for you to me! You’ve been to all these places and I have not,” she said.

“Well, you’ve been to the good places starting with the letter ‘S’,” I pointed out to her, “Singapore, San Francisco and Sydney but Sydney doesn’t quite count cos I was four months pregnant with you.”

Silence.

“Let’s go to Your-rope!”

“When you are older, ok?”

Separation Anxiety, Part 2

21 Jul

This has been a busy month for us, traveling again in a spate of two weeks. I think both M1 and M2 are used to it already by now, being older and having more activities to keep them occupied.

Tonight as we prepare to fly off for another six-days of separation, I sincerely think separation anxiety should not be happening. After all, since our first trip away from them (to Hong Kong), over the years we’ve done more than a week for each of our trips to the far and the exotic, they did not seem to mind our absence.

They are much older now and with our lived-in maid taking care of them (and Grandma not troubled), they also have the pets to keep them company and school work to keep them busy, six days will fly by very soon. Anyway, there’s always Skype, iMessage and Facetime if we have to see or hear them…

Wish us a great holiday!