London 2009, a recap.

 I just realized that I've never really properly blogged about my London trip. Been jetsetting like mad at that time of the year. Within one year itself, I went to Hong Kong, Melbourne, London, Medan, Perhentian and Egypt to end the year. I missed a few weeks of school but it was all good. People even thought I was already out of school, traveling like a nomad haha. Anyways, here's a recap of London, 2009.

Reason for going to London, 3 days after I came back from Melbourne was to bring my grandmother who was staying with my uncle for the previous three months back to Malaysia, cause we doubt she can go on a flight alone at that age. So why not make it a merriment affair and bring the whole family unit there, shop, eat, see things and at the same time, have some family time? right? no? .... errr mmkay (maybe we're so good at finding excuses to just go on a holiday, see)  =P

Left Kuala Lumpur at about dawn, and departed on Malaysia Airlines straight to Heathrow, London. 13 hours of flight usually is a torture for me, since I can't sleep on the airplane, or anything that requires me to sleep upright for that matter  -_-"  
Not to mention that economy class seats are pure pain for long-haul flights T_T

Next time, I should just take pills and knock out. Or maybe find a sponsor for business class tickets  =)

They serve good food on MAS, at least much better than the rest that I've been on. Trust me, the food on MAS is beyond edible for in-flight food. Don't count Air Asia's Maggi Cup lah! Those are forever nice.

I had the best view anyone could ask for. Best part? I managed to photograph it nicely. You know how sometimes you try to take photos from the plane and everything is just over exposed and super ultra super bright? I guess I was lucky cause the sky was just mega blue from the density of winter. 

But oh, I've to warn you, the screens aren't touch screen  -_-"

Bring your iPads and dump good movies in it, just in case the movie of the month was (in my case at that time):

A. High School Musical 3

B. Something something perfect snogging..

major snoozefest  -_-"

 Apparently somewhere above Afghan

This meal, was my favourite. Probably just cause I'm a meat and potatoes kind of person hmmm  =I

You know you've reached London when you see the clouds super low and thick

 Arrived at about 3 in the evening and it was getting dark so we just stayed home, rest, unpack and had some catching up time with my uncle's family who's currently residing in Central London.

 But wait, only THREE P.M?!?!? Scratch the stay-at-home idea and caught the tube to Oxford St for some quick shopping he he

Managed to score some quickie stuff from Topshop and a shoe store for a pair of Doc Martens and a Marc B. tote...saved the other portion of the spending cash to another day  =D

 

We were super fast that we even managed to actually go back to my uncle's place, see the kids who just got back from school and snag the boy for a short trip to Emirates Stadium.

Took the tube again to Highbury. Thing is about the tube, doesn't take you forever to get from one place to another, which I love. And I don't see why people say it's darn complicated. Public transportation, other than in Third World countries are like super efficient and organized, shouldn't be a problem if you'd like to travel cheap. 

 Unfortunately, it was almost 7p.m. when we reached the stadium so we couldn't go in nor buy anything from the gift store as they closed right before we arrived. Shucks!


What else is there to do but to camwhore AROUND the stadium...


kesian...

Came back home to a gift from grandma... Didn't know she produced perfumes now...

The jet lag caught up to me, and I dozed off on Skype to only wake up to the cutest thing that kept going in and out of my room, checking whether my sister and I were awake or not.

 Woke up to yet another gloomy morning in London. Oh, and that was the view from my uncle's old apartment (he moved out not too long after we were back in Malaysia).

Weekend calls for a family roadtripto the outskirts, and if you've been following, you know how my family prioritize our trips to see Wonders of the World, tak kisah la the top seven ke or the top 20, janji dapat tengok and what would be more perfect than to drop by at Stonehenge, one of UNESCO's World Heritage sites. For more World Heritage list, please click here.

Well, I'll summarize a little bit about Stonehenge history or facts, for those who have heard but don't know what it is.

Stonehenge is located in the middle of nowhere, in the UK hahah no really, it's like stones, in the middle of nowhere. Ok, fine, it's at Salisbury Plains, Wiltshire. About 137km Southwest off London. They built a road to pass it, and people just stop and park and buy tickets to enter. If not, you can always just take pictures from outside the gated fence cause it is definitely not cheap (converted to our currency) to enter all these paid sites.

I, obviously paid, cause dad wanted to  -_-"

Well, it is said that the Stonehenge was built during the 3100 – 1100 BCE and according to researchers, were for astronomical observation and ritual functions for annual cycles - solstice, equinoxes, and other holistic festivals or ceremonies. Some say, it was a sacrificial altar for the Pagans and some say, the Neolithic people killed themselves in some sacrificial ritual  -_-"

The origin of the people have not been confirmed as they left no trace or marks on the site.

OKAY, moving on from the Twilight Zone, Dad and uncle convoyed to Bath, a world heritage city that offers a variety of activities for tourists such as theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues. Bath became the leading centre of fashionable life in England during the 18th century and being a city based on arts, The city holds the Bath International Music Festival and Mozartfest every year. Other festivals include the annual Bath Film Festival, Bath Literature Festival (and its counterpart for children), the Bath Fringe Festival and the Bath Beer Festival, and the Bach Festivals which occur at two and a half year intervals. An annual competition for the Bard of Bath aims to find Bath's best poet, singer or storyteller. The Bard uses the title to develop artistic projects in the area and leads evening bardic walks around the city.

Have a walk around the city and you'll hear jazz music crooning from a corner, or stop at the streets to watch street performers of all ages play all kinds of music and instrument.

Bath have awesome Victorian inspired buildings and backgrounds for photo enthusiast and at every corner, there WILL be something to shoot  =)

Now, if only I had a long chilli red dress with an epic train and a production team  =P

Spent about three to four hours before heading back to London city to brace the weekend traffic jam. Had a bite at a Malaysian restaurant and headed home.

Night time view of the London Eye and Big Ben

Next day was a Sunday so we headed out early after a hearty Roti Canai (frozen ones, of course) brekkie towards Bicester. Bicester Village is the place to go to if you're looking for a designer factory outlet. Tons of designer stuff such as D&G, Gucci etc end of season stuff. Unfortunately, nothing caught my eye at that place. More towards basic stuff I guess...but we bought chocolates!  =P

Penguingirl being playful, running around in her pea coat.

We then drove to Bath, another university town known for their artsy culture. It was hauntingly beautiful, with old buildings and street performers (and an amazing number of cute boys!). I really enjoyed taking pictures here, running around with the two penguins still latched to my hands -_-"

And I had the largest piece of cookie ever! and no, I didn't try to fit them all into my mouth -_-"

We even stopped by at Windsor castle by sunset for photo opps, before heading back to London town for dinner.

We had the next few weekdays to run around London city since my uncle had work and can't bring us around so I ended up at Oxford street almost....everyday? Not to mention Primark and Topshop. It practically looked like it was my second home already -_-"

And little penguingirl was always excited to scour through our buys and trying them on, hence the hat photo hahaha

We took the hop-on hop-off bus through the whole town and nearly missed it at the end of the day as we  got a little caught up going through the museums halfway across town. But the bus is one of the best options for you (other than the tube/underground train) to go from one tourist spot to another although you gotta really plan your route and time well or you would end up like us -_-  #fail

And yes, the London tour wouldn't be complete without visiting the Buckingham Palace! Since the royal wedding happened recently, it was nice to see familiar places that you've been to before (although I didn't really watch it hahaha sorry -_- )

And it would also not be complete if we didn't go for Madame Tussaud's (although I know there are plenty around the world already pfft) and I honestly had a ball!

And during that day out, guess what we did?

A one hour ferry trip to Greenwich, the exact centre of the earth (well, sorta but yeah haha)! Well if you learned you geography well (ahem! unlike me), our world timing is based on GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) or maybe you can read about it here. I was sitting on top to take photos, in the freezing cold temperature, complete with hazardous wind! Excuse me lah but I'm really not a fan of the cold and it was during winter, and I live in the Tropical climate so hey, sorry lah I hate cold temps. I'm more of a beach person!

But since it was considered as two different timelines, where Greenwich is at a 0° longitude, I can now say that I've split my body half into two different time zones. Meaning I was standing half and half at two different longitudes je heheh =P

My sister, with the sunset as her backdrop. Lovin the colours!

Oh and Trafalgar Square! wajib! Although that it's nothing to be awed at, except if you like people watching since it is THE place for gathering during joyous celebrations like New Years Eve etc

Ended up Bayswater for some halal Nando's or so they said hahaha and met these two again by dinnertime.

will continue soon!

xx