It is my third day in Cardiff today. ت
This post shall be a brave attempt to summarize the 4 days I spent in London from 22/6 to 25/6. It was a particularly exciting 4 days because I met up with the sister.
I arrived in London at about 7:30AM on 22/6, Saturday. No pictures from the plane because it was a 13 hours flight and Mama refused to pick a window seat in case we needed to use the washroom (which we did a couple of times throughout the journey so thank God Mama was practical).
The sister was at the airport waiting for us and we took the tube to Earl's Court where our hotel was located at. ت The tube is London's underground train system, similar to Singapore's MRT system.
It's way cheaper and faster to take the tube than a taxi, really. We were there in 20 minutes.
We stayed at City Continental Hotel and Earl's Court is somehow in central area so it was easy to travel around. What more, it was just outside the tube station. ت
Mama finally reunited with the sister! This is them (and me) waiting for our check-in at the hotel because we were too early.
There was a lovely view outside my hotel so I had to snap a shot.
For all the soldiers and who lost their lives in the war, I was really touched by the efforts and all these memorial statues.
Our second day ended like that! We walked into Pret A Manger on the way back and got some soup for dinner. ت
Third Day
Woke up later than usual but our first (intended) stop was Madame Tussaud's! We were blown away by the queue, it was waaaaay too long to be in line waiting to see some waxed figurines so we skipped the idea and headed to Sherlock Holmes' Museum instead!
It was a much shorter wait, and much cheaper too! ت
Anyway, the museum was the actual place Sherlock lived in when he was alive and they preserved the place. It was slightly creepy because they compiled and compressed all his solved cases (the famous ones, I presume) and conveyed them using waxed figurines.
Obligatory shot with the panel because we were excitedly waiting for our turn into the museum with the cold winds blowing. ت
Readers might know better about the thumb but I don't and I found it gross (still do) but it was a mandatory shot because I don't see things like this every day.
The mother with her prawn noodles.
The food wasn't too bad. They were generous with the portion. ت We had some fried chicken wings too. It was goooooooood. ت
And then! We walked and walked and reached the love of my life!
This post shall be a brave attempt to summarize the 4 days I spent in London from 22/6 to 25/6. It was a particularly exciting 4 days because I met up with the sister.
And off we go! We left the house at 9:30PM because our flight was at 1:10AM. ت
Waikit and Junbin came to send me off but I forgot to take photos with them.
Anyway, after checking in at about 11PM, Mama and I explored the insides of Terminal 3. We bought a book each to keep ourselves occupied. Above is a mandatory shot I took to send to the sister. ت
I arrived in London at about 7:30AM on 22/6, Saturday. No pictures from the plane because it was a 13 hours flight and Mama refused to pick a window seat in case we needed to use the washroom (which we did a couple of times throughout the journey so thank God Mama was practical).
The sister was at the airport waiting for us and we took the tube to Earl's Court where our hotel was located at. ت The tube is London's underground train system, similar to Singapore's MRT system.
It's way cheaper and faster to take the tube than a taxi, really. We were there in 20 minutes.
We stayed at City Continental Hotel and Earl's Court is somehow in central area so it was easy to travel around. What more, it was just outside the tube station. ت
Mama finally reunited with the sister! This is them (and me) waiting for our check-in at the hotel because we were too early.
There was a lovely view outside my hotel so I had to snap a shot.
And so, after offloading our luggages and chilling in the room for a while, we went out to find some food to eat. It was almost lunch time anyway. We walked and walked and eventually got lost but this nice middle-aged lady directed us to Pop's Cafe which served relatively okay food. (It was all English food anyway.)
While waiting for our sausages and bacon and eggs to arrive. ت
On the way back, we took a mandatory shot with their telephone booth!
After that, we headed to Oxford Street because Mama needed to get some proper shoes and we walked around as well.
We shopped around quite a bit because there were sales everywhere! We walked into Long Champ and Victoria's Secret before heading back to our hotel.
We walked in Marks & Spencer Simply Food every day because Mama loved that place and we explored Pret A Manger to check out their soup. Anyway, both shops were located right outside Earl's Court tube station. ت
Second Day
We woke up really early because our bodies weren't tuned to London's timing yet.
Explored Buckingham Palace and Oxford Street again!
The guards were about to change duties but we didn't stick around long enough to witness it happen because there were just too many people!
Anyway, we walked on. ت
We walked down the path in the park and I found this duck that was crippled yet it stood so proudly and elegantly. I was actually surprised (and shocked), wondering how it lost one foot. Poor thing but good for it that its still all up and brave. ت And definitely not missing out on the swan on the right. It just stood there and started cleaning itself! At one point, it even spread out its wings and let out a cry. I think it got annoyed at all the people trying to take a picture of it (including me).
More ducks! Really, the wild animals were so brave and friendly. (One squirrel ran up to a person who reached her hand out to it!) I was fascinated by the different kinds of ducks and they were just lined up one after another, taking turns to come on shore to clean itself. ت
I initially thought it was a crow but its actually a raven! I was really, honestly surprised because I never imagined crows to be that big. I told Waikit they're the size of a kampong chicken! So many ravens and they're beautiful creatures, really.
Beautiful scene, isn't it? Wish I could have taken a shot in it but we didn't get a chance because it started drizzling and we were rushing to find shelter.
Not forgetting to take photos with the lovely background filled with fresh flowers. ت
So we walked on (we walked a long time) and happened to pass through this place which resembled a castle. I wasn't sure what the guard was guarding but anyway, it was my first time seeing one so I had to take a picture of him. ت
And the horse constable! Everyone was amazed at how calm the horses were (there was one on the other side)! I didn't dare take a picture with it since the horse might get all temperamental and kick me unexpectedly so I took preventive measures. ت
Continued walking and we had lunch at Pizza Express! The food there is really different. You don't get Asian food readily but they have an abundance of pizzas and pastas! And not just your normal/regular pizzas and pastas but entirely different flavoured ones!
Mama and sister had the same but I ambitiously tried a pizza (and finished it with the help of the sister)! ت It was a fulfilling lunch after so much walking!
Oh! We happened to see this chapel while on search for a toilet before entering Buckingham Palace in the morning. It was such a grand and peaceful place to be in/at. The inside was lovely and quiet. Everyone said some prayers or just soaked in the silence and I felt some sort of warmth and security being in there.
Along the way, we actually saw many memorials.
Our second day ended like that! We walked into Pret A Manger on the way back and got some soup for dinner. ت
Third Day
Woke up later than usual but our first (intended) stop was Madame Tussaud's! We were blown away by the queue, it was waaaaay too long to be in line waiting to see some waxed figurines so we skipped the idea and headed to Sherlock Holmes' Museum instead!
It was a much shorter wait, and much cheaper too! ت
Anyway, the museum was the actual place Sherlock lived in when he was alive and they preserved the place. It was slightly creepy because they compiled and compressed all his solved cases (the famous ones, I presume) and conveyed them using waxed figurines.
Obligatory shot with the panel because we were excitedly waiting for our turn into the museum with the cold winds blowing. ت
Entered the souvenir shop first to get our tickets and the sister and I decided to laze around on it. ت
Really excited as you can tell. تتت
And we entered! ت
Below are part and parcel of what is part of Sherlock's current home. Some of them are truly fascinating I cannot even. I'm impressed beyond words even though I've never read/watched Sherlock Holmes. (Am I supposed to be ashamed?)
If I'm not wrong, that's his mother.
And his handwriting.
It was some three floors we covered and it was a quick one actually.
We left for some Chinese food at the Chinatown of London! (I can't remember where exactly) Anyway, we had lunch at this Singapore-Malaysia food place called Rasa Saya. There are a whole lot of food at Chinatown and I'm talking about Asian food so we managed to satisfy our withdrawal symptoms. ت
The sister with her chay kway teow.
Me and my Hong Kong noodles.
The mother with her prawn noodles.
The food wasn't too bad. They were generous with the portion. ت We had some fried chicken wings too. It was goooooooood. ت
And then! We walked and walked and reached the love of my life!
M&M World! Oh my, I don't regret entering at all. ت
The 'MIX LAB' is where they do the coloring for the different M&Ms. Its really cool. ت
Hehe, took such a dorky photo with the M&Ms. ت Oh and guess what? The camera ran out of space after that.
Happy shots with the handsome M&M. ت
We headed to town again! (Oxford Street, really.) Entered Primark, where I bought 2 pairs of shoes and some argon oil, and Topshop where I bought a pair of high-cuts. ت I'm totally in love with shoes.
I really don't recommend Primark for people who love classy shopping. It was really messy inside, almost like a market place. And the supervisor of the lingerie section claimed we were making a mess when it was originally messy so Mama lodged a complaint anyway. ت
We retired for the night soon after!
Fourth Day
Our last day in London was a really short one. Mama and I got up early and went around exploring the places nearby for nice food. ت
But our intended plan to have some nice dim sum before departing to Paddington Station (to take the train to Cardiff Central) didn't come through because we realized Mama didn't bring the credit card she used to purchase our advance tickets and so we rushed to Paddington instead to see if there was anything else we could do to claim our tickets but no, we had to buy new tickets.
It works like this - you purchase a ticket online using a credit card and you've to bring this credit card along with you to the station where you slot it into some machine and it prints your ticket for you. We couldn't do that because we didn't have the credit card.
Anyway, it was tearful (temporary) separation with the sister.
Just couldn't bear to leave her behind and she started crying even before anything!
There, you see her swollen eyes but I'll be seeing her again in 5 days!
Anyway! We ended up in Cardiff at about 1:30PM and Aunty Shyam came to fetch us. ت
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