*Back from UK (London)*

Hey .... I went to UK for 5 days... Had a great time there... went to places like Hyde Park, Buckingham palace (that's where the queen of England lives), London Bridge, the bustling, hectic streets of London... and of course... the what overly-crowded underground trains.... Hmm...


We went there by using MAS airlines... a 12 hour flight from KL to London... not to mention an additional 1.45 hour trip flight from Kuching to KL.... I managed to sleep through half the flight... Luckily... else would have probably gotten jet lag... (it means the body system not used to the timing difference of GMT)




First Day
We bought Oyster Cards... these are transportation cards that enabled us to travel either by bus or underground trains... which were more like KL's monorail or LRT... super damn fast... and also super damn crowded lol... We travelled between Zones 1 to 3.... Using the Central Line and the Picadilly Line....
Our hotel was called Lodge 51... Near Stratford... Where we went shopping there at the Stratford mall during the last few days of the journey... which unfortunately I got sick.... 


We went to Hyde Park... took some photos there of the park and the statue of Duke Wellington.... photos are either available in facebook or my stalkerholic blog....


Second Day
We met up with Aunt Dominique... my mum's pen pal for the last twenty over years... She hasn't seen me since I was a baby... lol... and she sent me almost the full set of Harry Potter story books by postage....
She seemed like a very nice lady.... hehe... (though I didn't really talk to her) She took us to Buckingham Palace... where the Queen of England lives... We were lucky enough to watch a parade... A parade of the Queen's Guards wearing red suits and high black topped hats... Then we took a stroll in the Green Park... where we could observe some wildlife - squirrels, ducks, geese and pigeons alike... while enjoying the breathtaking scenery of the park's vast, beautiful lake and also the large trees that gave everyone - tourists and locals alike a nice cool shade from the summer's blazing hot sun....


Third Day
We went to prowl the streets of London... taking photos of statues and monuments on the street... Including the statue of Queen Anne riding in a chariot.... And also St Paul's cathedral... A magnificent building with large sculptures and carvings on it... It seemed to host some important events like the death of the King (oops I forgot his name) and also the wedding of the late Lady Diana and her husband... Then we took a few photos of the giant clock tower of Big Ben... and also went for a stroll down London Bridge while enjoying the mesmerizing view of the harbor and also a beautiful large ferris wheel. We did go to other places too... another bridge (cracks my head but can't seem to recall the name of that particular bridge)
 We went to sit on the bus and dropped by Oxford Street and bought sunblock, some creams for the skin, a few books, and then my dad bought us lunch... a few sandwiches... Mine was a roll of duck meat... And my Dad insisted on offering Aunt Domi a treat of sandwich lest he feel guilty for the fries she treated us the previous day near the London Bridge... Haha....
Next we went to Harrods... which both my parents claim is the world's most expensive shopping complex ... or one of the most high class malls ... after all... The Queen goes shopping there... according to my Dad... Hmm... But there is definitely a different aura and also different feeling of class the minute I stepped into Harrods... Their staircase had this exotic Mummy design... I mean Egyptian design... with the Pharoah and stuff.... And on the ground floor there was some sort of dedication to Lady Diana and her husband... what with the candles and light and stuff... And the had somehow enclosed Lady Diana's marriage ring in a case... umm... how do u describe it... it was in a three dimensional pyramid case that had a magnifying glass to make the marriage ring viewable....


Fourth Day
Oh... Aunt Domi left us today to do her own stuff... Besides she had applied 2 days worth of leave just to be with us... We went shopping... and that's the day I struck ill... Fever, asthma, flu and sore throat.... However... We still managed to hang around at noon after my fever subsided... Buying stuff from Stratford like the well renowned Clark shoes ... which my dad claimed again.. was a must-buy English brand of shoes that cost a fortune if we bought it here back home ... Plus the fact I went on a book mania and bought lots of books before we went home... author is David Farland ... Series: The Runelords... (Erm I think actually I bought the 5th and 6th series on the third day, then the last book, the 7th book on this very day)


Fifth Day
I can't really recalled what really happened on this day... probably because I was quite ill by now :( But in short.. we did the last of our shopping in the Stratford mall... and dad managed to buy his frying pan from Argos.. He says he wanna fry lamb or pork... whatever :) Then we checked out of Lodge 51... said goodbye to the Pakistani tenant who had been very hospitable to us the last few days... Dad said thanks again.. cracked a few jokes... and then took a cab to the Stratford train station... where we had problems lugging the baggage due to the weight of the enormous luggage bags and also the hectic atmosphere of the busy Londoners making their way through the station and also up and down the escalators... all of them rushing for time ... and probably to go home as well... (We hit the PRIME time - 6 pm).. In the end we managed to heave the baggage down the 'dangerously fast' escalators and made our way to the airport at Terminal 4, where we need to change from Picadilly Line to the Central Line again ...
At the airport, I bought 2 more books... Yes.. 2 more :) by Dan Brown, The Deception Point and The Da Vinci Code... and my dad laughed at my mum's mistake of mistaking him with another person when my mum rushed to the counter when they announced the name of another passenger "Yau XX XX"... Get the reason why? Both my Dad and the other guy had the same surname ><"... hahahhaha ... Yau Chi Peng (stranger) vs Yau Beng Thok (Dad)


On the plane
My mum sat next to a Hong Kee .. a young fellow that refused to change seats with my dad for it was far too cramped... He gave mum some cheese that apparently he didn't have stomach for too... I forgot what I ate for dinner later lol... 


Well... over and all... My... this journal has transformed into an essay... I really enjoyed my trip to London... Thanks again to Aunt Dominique for her hospitality and also ferrying us around London (tourist guide :P Hehe)... I hope  we will be able to keep in touch... 


Thanks for reading guys... I will only upload the remaining photos that I have failed to upload into facebook into my stalkerholic blog after my exam on the 16th of June ... See ya!!