As it was still very bright (in summer, the sun sets only about 9.30 pm), we took a walk to the Imperial War Musuem. We saw some graduates having a dinner reception in the garden of the Musuem. We took photos posing beside a huge cannon and some of the lovely flowers grown in the gardens. In Britain, lovely flowers of all colors and designs bloom freely especially in parks and gardens.
We took a slow walk along the river Thames. We saw many big and small ships carrying tourists on board. Almost every major city in England is located near a river. For e.g. Newcastle upon Tyne is located on the Tyne river. Arundell is located on the river Avon. Llangollen is on the river Dee. London on the river Thames. Many centuries ago, the river Thames was a bustling commercial waterway on which many merchant ships sailed up and down loading and off-loading their wares. It was the Thames river that brought about London's economic prosperity. Life revolved around the rivers in every major cities in England!
We saw many cyclists and joggers along the banks of the river. The beautiful Westminster and the Houses of Parliament are located here along the river banks. Malaysia's parliamentary democracy is based on the Westminster model. To see the intricate and detailed building from afar with its golden hues practically shimmering in the setting sun was something special. It was simply stunning and truly an architectural marvel!
I bought the local mobile phone pack for GBP10 called Lycamobile at the convenience store opposite our hotel. It was really cost savings as I still had credit left even when I left England!
We ate at Meeting Point, a chinese restaurant that opened till past 11 pm near the hotel. For GBP15.90 we had spring rolls, soup and rice with chinese and pork dishes ladled onto our plate. It was a bargain by London standards as we were also given fresh fruits and a pot of chinese tea. Despite the heavy meal, I woke up at 1 am and could not sleep till 6 am....was it the jet lag or the chinese tea?
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Heathrow and the tubes
First time in Colombo and we could not see much of the city in the dark. The van took us past winding roads to a seaside hotel called Jetwing Star. Opposite the hotel we could see rows and rows of shops and restaurants very much like Tanjung Bungah in Penang. Although it was almost 11 pm, the shops and restaurants were still opened. The hotel is a 5 star hotel located near the ocean. The moment we stepped into the cool interior, we could hear the roar of the ocean. It felt like the ocean was just at our doorstep! We could smell and feel the salty tang of the sea. The friendly receptionist and waiter served us a glass of papaya juice each and it was delicious. I loved papaya but papaya juice.....? This was something unique.
We were led to our room. There was a big comfortable bed almost 10 inch thick. It was a marvel because the bed was placed on a cement platform! We marveled at the bathroom. With its brown marbled floor and our essential toiletries in little gunny sacks, we were thanking Air Lanka for this special treat! The room itself was really 5 star by any standards. Unique lampshade accentuated the white marbled floor and brown wooden walls. We were told that dinner was free. We took some photos at the poolside and had dinner at the restaurant facing the roaring sea. We had fruits and cauliflower soup....again something unique to Colombo.
We slept fitfully and had to wake up at about 2.30 pm to wait for the van to take us to the airport. To our surprise the van driver could speak good English. However when we gave him RM5, he asked for RM10 instead saying that he can change it for 50 rupees. We said no! This was something we did not quite like about Colombo. Even in the airport toilet, the cleaning lady waits upon us to hand out toilet tissue and then ask for money!
Will we make a trip to Colombo? After the experience of losing my neck pillow in the van (I was very sure that I lost it while getting down from it), I will not give it a priority that's for sure.
An 8-hour flight took us to Heathrow. Why is it that whatever my meal choice for breakfast and lunch could not be accomodated by the air stewardess? On both occasions I was given what I did not ask for. Some kind of cheesy seafood with rice and vegetarian vermicelli which tasted dry.
We reached Heathrow Terminal 4 (I don't know why there were so many terminals). We were really tired after the long flight. We had to take a red Avis bus to Avis office to confirm our car booking. Avis allowed us to take the car from their office near Waterloo station on the 1st of August as coming back to Heathrow would be really troublesome. From Avis, we took the bus provided to Hatton Cross station at Terminal 5 to Picadilly Circus. From Picadilly Circus, we then took the tube running on the Bakerloo line to Lambeth North.
This was to be our routine for the next one week in London, getting on tubes, changing tubes, checking out the different colored lines on the signboards to find out how to go from one place to another. The most convenient and cheapest way to travel around in London is by the tube or the underground stations. You could get from one town to another just by changing trains. Trains run on different lines for e.g. Bakerloo, Picadilly, Victoria, Central London. Waterloo, Kew, Lambeth North and others. They are denoted by different colors such as white, black, blue, green, yellow, red. You just need to check out the different lines on the many signboards all over the station and then disembark and embark on the stations where the train lines intersect.
If you know English, you can never get lost in London as the signs are really really clear and are located everywhere in the stations. You only need a strong pair of legs and hands if you are carrying luggage as there are long flights of stairs to climb in order to change stations (not all the undergrounds have lifts or escalators).
At GBP7 a day, you can hop on hop off at different stations the whole day long and travel the length and breadth of London.
At Lambeth North, Tune hotel (our home for the next one week in London) was just a block away from the station. Facing the hotel was 2 chinese restaurants and a 24-hour convenience store. A very good location indeed!
For GBP 65 a night per room, Tune hotel is a bargain! TV is free for the first 24 hours, thereafter GBP 10 for the duration of our stay. Breakfast is GBP5 per day (we only paid for 3 days). New towels and toiletries will all be charged extra. London is expensive but Tune hotel is considered cheap compared with the other London hotels (some charged upto GBP 100 a day).
Our hotel room is windowless so we lost track of night and day. There was no wardrobe (we had to hang our clothes on racks above the mirror). The only was to keep our luggage and boxes was under our bed. However it was clean and the bed and pillows were super-comfortable. The toilet was very small but clean.
More coming up.....
We were led to our room. There was a big comfortable bed almost 10 inch thick. It was a marvel because the bed was placed on a cement platform! We marveled at the bathroom. With its brown marbled floor and our essential toiletries in little gunny sacks, we were thanking Air Lanka for this special treat! The room itself was really 5 star by any standards. Unique lampshade accentuated the white marbled floor and brown wooden walls. We were told that dinner was free. We took some photos at the poolside and had dinner at the restaurant facing the roaring sea. We had fruits and cauliflower soup....again something unique to Colombo.
We slept fitfully and had to wake up at about 2.30 pm to wait for the van to take us to the airport. To our surprise the van driver could speak good English. However when we gave him RM5, he asked for RM10 instead saying that he can change it for 50 rupees. We said no! This was something we did not quite like about Colombo. Even in the airport toilet, the cleaning lady waits upon us to hand out toilet tissue and then ask for money!
Will we make a trip to Colombo? After the experience of losing my neck pillow in the van (I was very sure that I lost it while getting down from it), I will not give it a priority that's for sure.
An 8-hour flight took us to Heathrow. Why is it that whatever my meal choice for breakfast and lunch could not be accomodated by the air stewardess? On both occasions I was given what I did not ask for. Some kind of cheesy seafood with rice and vegetarian vermicelli which tasted dry.
We reached Heathrow Terminal 4 (I don't know why there were so many terminals). We were really tired after the long flight. We had to take a red Avis bus to Avis office to confirm our car booking. Avis allowed us to take the car from their office near Waterloo station on the 1st of August as coming back to Heathrow would be really troublesome. From Avis, we took the bus provided to Hatton Cross station at Terminal 5 to Picadilly Circus. From Picadilly Circus, we then took the tube running on the Bakerloo line to Lambeth North.
This was to be our routine for the next one week in London, getting on tubes, changing tubes, checking out the different colored lines on the signboards to find out how to go from one place to another. The most convenient and cheapest way to travel around in London is by the tube or the underground stations. You could get from one town to another just by changing trains. Trains run on different lines for e.g. Bakerloo, Picadilly, Victoria, Central London. Waterloo, Kew, Lambeth North and others. They are denoted by different colors such as white, black, blue, green, yellow, red. You just need to check out the different lines on the many signboards all over the station and then disembark and embark on the stations where the train lines intersect.
If you know English, you can never get lost in London as the signs are really really clear and are located everywhere in the stations. You only need a strong pair of legs and hands if you are carrying luggage as there are long flights of stairs to climb in order to change stations (not all the undergrounds have lifts or escalators).
At GBP7 a day, you can hop on hop off at different stations the whole day long and travel the length and breadth of London.
At Lambeth North, Tune hotel (our home for the next one week in London) was just a block away from the station. Facing the hotel was 2 chinese restaurants and a 24-hour convenience store. A very good location indeed!
For GBP 65 a night per room, Tune hotel is a bargain! TV is free for the first 24 hours, thereafter GBP 10 for the duration of our stay. Breakfast is GBP5 per day (we only paid for 3 days). New towels and toiletries will all be charged extra. London is expensive but Tune hotel is considered cheap compared with the other London hotels (some charged upto GBP 100 a day).
Our hotel room is windowless so we lost track of night and day. There was no wardrobe (we had to hang our clothes on racks above the mirror). The only was to keep our luggage and boxes was under our bed. However it was clean and the bed and pillows were super-comfortable. The toilet was very small but clean.
More coming up.....
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Ayu Buyon
Well, I am back!
After a 2 week sorjourn in London, which was quite an experience for me and Tim, I felt happy to be home. Sleeping on my thick comfortable bed and eating my usual meals (chinese dim sum, fishballs, yong tau foo, fried koay teow, rice with dishes) and drinking teh tarik from porcelain cups made me glad that I was not a permanent resident of Britain!
Unlike my sister who has been there for the past 30 years, this was my second trip. Each time after flying into England, I will be suffering from homesickness. Homesick for teh tarik and chinese food!
Our journey started on 25th July in the afternoon. We chose Air Lanka as it was the cheapest. At RM3k per person round trip from KL to Heathrow, it was a real steal. The only snag was the short transit at Singapore. We had to disembark at Changi and let the authorities rummage through our bags. Singapore was so much stricter than KLIA. Tim lost his favorite scissors key chain. They made him threw it away at the security check. From Singapore we flew for 3 hours to Colombo. Air Lanka is not too bad if you don't mind the food. Sometimes the food you want may not be available thus you would have to eat whatever is available. In my case it was some kind of cheesy pasta that neither looked nor tasted appealing.
It was about 9 pm Colombo time when we touched down. Bandaranaike airport was very sparse. Small black chairs lined the arrival and departure halls. Looking at the chairs, I was just thinking 'how could we possibly lie down on those uncomfortable chairs'. They look like office chairs with their low backs and small seats. Yet I could see many transit travellers having a shut eye on them.
The immigration officers who stamped our passports did not seem too friendly. One guy even asked us why we were in Colombo until his colleague told him that we were in transit! There was only one restaurant but many small stalls selling handicrafts. There was one duty free shop and a shop selling electrical items.
However we were delighted when Air Lanka told us that we were to be given accomodation at the Jetwing Star due to the long wait till 6 am for our connecting flight. God is good! We met a Pakistani family travelling back to Karachi who was also given accomodation in Colombo while waiting for thier connecting flight. I told him 'Wasn't Pakistan the place where Osama was killed?' The friendly father told us that Pakistan is really safe and a nice place to visit. They told us not to believe everything we read in the papers about Pakistan!
Thank God for Air Lanka! We will certainly consider flying her the next time although we may have to endure the food on board.
AYU BUYON (Singhalese for Welcome)!
After a 2 week sorjourn in London, which was quite an experience for me and Tim, I felt happy to be home. Sleeping on my thick comfortable bed and eating my usual meals (chinese dim sum, fishballs, yong tau foo, fried koay teow, rice with dishes) and drinking teh tarik from porcelain cups made me glad that I was not a permanent resident of Britain!
Unlike my sister who has been there for the past 30 years, this was my second trip. Each time after flying into England, I will be suffering from homesickness. Homesick for teh tarik and chinese food!
Our journey started on 25th July in the afternoon. We chose Air Lanka as it was the cheapest. At RM3k per person round trip from KL to Heathrow, it was a real steal. The only snag was the short transit at Singapore. We had to disembark at Changi and let the authorities rummage through our bags. Singapore was so much stricter than KLIA. Tim lost his favorite scissors key chain. They made him threw it away at the security check. From Singapore we flew for 3 hours to Colombo. Air Lanka is not too bad if you don't mind the food. Sometimes the food you want may not be available thus you would have to eat whatever is available. In my case it was some kind of cheesy pasta that neither looked nor tasted appealing.
It was about 9 pm Colombo time when we touched down. Bandaranaike airport was very sparse. Small black chairs lined the arrival and departure halls. Looking at the chairs, I was just thinking 'how could we possibly lie down on those uncomfortable chairs'. They look like office chairs with their low backs and small seats. Yet I could see many transit travellers having a shut eye on them.
The immigration officers who stamped our passports did not seem too friendly. One guy even asked us why we were in Colombo until his colleague told him that we were in transit! There was only one restaurant but many small stalls selling handicrafts. There was one duty free shop and a shop selling electrical items.
However we were delighted when Air Lanka told us that we were to be given accomodation at the Jetwing Star due to the long wait till 6 am for our connecting flight. God is good! We met a Pakistani family travelling back to Karachi who was also given accomodation in Colombo while waiting for thier connecting flight. I told him 'Wasn't Pakistan the place where Osama was killed?' The friendly father told us that Pakistan is really safe and a nice place to visit. They told us not to believe everything we read in the papers about Pakistan!
Thank God for Air Lanka! We will certainly consider flying her the next time although we may have to endure the food on board.
AYU BUYON (Singhalese for Welcome)!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)