Had never thought of visiting the country of English people so soon due to the extreme high rate of the foreign currency ( exchange rate RM 1 = 4.3 - 5.0 sterling pounds ) Well, perhaps it was God's will, as one of my friends had successfully got a place in one of the universities there. Thus, it was considered a good timing to go visit the country where I could have a good companion. I bought the tickets a few months before the trip, hoping to be an early bird to catch delicious worms. But, the early bird never caught delicious worms this time. After making the payments for a round trip, three days later, I came across the promotion advertisement of the airlines in newspaper; where I realized I could have save up about RM760-800 if I didn't pay it so soon. See!
My departure date was on the 1 Dec 2010, it was in the morning. I packed my luggage at wee hours until dawn ( Was not able to pack it earlier due to my packed schedule ). My medium size luggage was looking terribly bulky, with all the Maggie instant noodles, whole wheat biscuits and coffee sachets inside it. The cab I had hired would be arriving at my aunty's place ( grandpa's sis ) at about 6.45-7am and I would have to arrive at her place punctually as I was going to leave my car there for one month due to security reason. Got a battery for my DSC-HX5V which was not in good condition, damn it! Was thinking how was I going to use my newly bought Sony DSC-HX5V as getting another battery at the foreign country would be seriously expensive!! But, since I was in a hurry to get my packing done so that I would not be late when the cab arrived, I just had to put the problem aside before I thought of another way to solve it.
Everything was going well when I arrived at the KLIA two hours before check in time, I needed to put one of my hand carry bagpack as 'check in luggage' due to the 250ml sized bottle, although it was with just less than 100ml of liquid in it. ( Note: Previously it was allowed as long as the liquid was not exceeding 100ml ) Hence, got two locks for my backpack as there were two compartments, which had costed me RM16 for both - expensive :-/
The check in counter staff of the airlines was very friendly and helpful really. She asked for my choice of the flight seat, and I chose the window seat. From the airport to the satellite building, everything was fine as I didn't really mind about having to take the shuttle instead of the Aerotrain. ( Note: The Aerotrain service was suspended until 15 March 2011 for upgrading purpose ) Before I entered the gate and boarded the flight, I managed to get a battery for my camera at one of the shops at the satellite building.
Picture above: Flying...
After boarding the flight, I got the seat I had asked for and waited patiently for the flight to fly. The washroom was very clean and was completed with lovely tiny bottles of shampoo, hand lotion, fragrance, cologne, tissues and good quality toilet rolls etc. A very pleasant one indeed. But it turned into a hell later where a few large paper rolls were gone, all the shampoos, fragrance, hand lotions and etc. were gone too. The toilet bowl was not flushed and everywhere was wet when I re-entered it before the flight landed. Well, I wonder who did that, the foreigners or the locals? It seemed to me that someone had just done his bathing there!
Except one of the Chinese stewardesses who was not so polite and serving with a touch of sarcastic scent ( Am sorry to tell that she had a very obvious different way of serving to people who were and were not from the English land, very uncomfortable... Started thinking to wear something 'branded' next time, just to blind someone's eyes, oh my, do I really have to do that? Sad! ); the rest were providing a very good service and serving professionally to everyone regardless of status, race and nationality. The food was not so good really compared to the time when I went to Beijing in 2002 with the same airlines too. The food was much nicer then. The choices were limited. Either beef or chicken for the first meal and either chicken or mutton for the second meal. The taste was so so. Anyhow, I did enjoy the cream cheese flan, despite of the fact that I hardly take cheese in my life. The taste of the cheesy flan was unexpectedly good this time.
Picture above: This was surprisingly good!
Picture above: The snow flakes formed a ring on the window which I named it 'Wreath of Ice' as Christmas was not too far away then.
It took about 13 hours before the flight finally landed punctually on the English land. When I was on my way to collect my luggage, there were so many people of different nationalities walking with me towards the department. There were Africans, Indians, Spaniards, French, Chinese, Bangladeshies, Japanese etc. The Heathrow Airport was quite huge and I was almost getting myself lost but fortunately the people there were very helpful and were 'very' willing to guide new visitors with very clear explanation and somewhat detailed information. Generally you will not have any problems in getting to your destination. Only that, you have to get to ask some of the locals or those foreigners who are already familiar with the place and not those who have white skin and blue eyes like the English but they could be of other nationality and some were not even good at speaking English let alone in giving the right directions to you. I arrived there in the evening and the sky was already dark. I needed to get a transport to go Canterbury. ( My friend would arrive 9 days later due to some problems which had to be solved before leaving for England ). I got a bus ticket from the National Express machine, paying £ 20.90 for double trips, one from the bus terminal in Heathrow Airport to the Victoria Coach Station and then, from there took another bus to Canterbury town. The time of arrival and departure was clearly printed on the ticket. I was expected to arrive at the Victoria Coach Station at about 8 pm from Heathrow but I happened to arrive there earlier than the time expected on the ticket and thus I had to wait for my 8.30pm bus. I saw the 8pm bus and there were quite a number of empty seats in the bus, I tried to negotiate with the driver to see whether was I able to alter the time of my ticket to enable me to take the 8pm bus. The driver's English was with a very strong accent and some effort was definitely needed to get him. He never really answered my question but just kept asking me to follow the schedule and wait at the waiting hall ( he seemed hesitating to give a hand ) and so did the lady who guided the passengers at the waiting hall who seemed to me, was very likely an immigrant worker from either Africa or Nigeria. I tried to search for a ticket counter or office myself to further my enquiry but there was none from my observation. While waiting for the 8.30pm bus, I got myself two sausage rolls for £ 2.50 and a cup of tea for £1.85 ( although regular but the cup was larger than the regular size cup in Malaysia ). I enjoyed biting the rolls and sipping the hot tea while watching the driver of the Canterbury bus cleaning up the snow on the wiper and screen and checking the vehicle carefully before letting in the passengers. Well, I was a bit anxious to get to my destination then as I needed a rest seriously after carrying the two heavy luggage; one bulky luggage and the other was a pretty huge bagpack all the way from department of arrival to the Heathrow train station to take the train to the Heathrow Bus Terminal and then walking from the Victoria Bus Arrival department to the waiting hall which was at the other side of the building, and although it was not so far; a few minute-walk but with all the heavy luggage, the walk could be quite suffering and clumsy, lolz :P
The 8.30 pm bus driver was much nicer than the driver I referred to earlier; there were two drivers in the bus where they would take turn to do the driving job. They were very careful and always reminded the passengers to fasten the seat belts. During the journey, I was so eager to catch some views that I used to see in the books, magazines and movies. I saw some beautiful classic old achitectures and some very glassy modern architectures in the metropolitan London town. I fell asleep in the bus very fast due to tiredness and when I was awoken later, I was already at Canterbury town. The moment I got down the bus, it was already about half to eleven, looking up, the snow started to fall from the dark sky. The tiny snow flakes fell upon my face delicately. The shops were all closed with rather bright lamp posts brightening up the streets around. A few youngsters idling and shouting with excitement. Some other passengers waited like me, outside a row of shops for a cab. I waited for about fifteen minutes, before I got a cab to send me to Meadow Way. I reached the place which my friend got for me at about 11pm. The driver dropped me at the roadside where I needed to walk on the thick snow for about 100 meter to the flat and the subletting landlady was already there expecting my arrival the moment I knocked at the door. The door opened quietly and there was she. The room was pleasant and very clean. My friend had agreed to pay her £410 per month without any advance booking payment or deposit. Before arriving there, my friend and I did discuss about the rather expensive rent compared to others ( the reason given was the heater and tumble dryer usage during winter ) and the limited usage of kitchen where we were only allowed to use it before 5pm and only for breakfast and some light meal preparation. After a further negotiation, she agreed to let us use the fridge. Before leaving Malaysia, since my flight departure date was just a few days away and we were still not able to decide which place to be taken, I had suggested this one to my friend as when I read the email the Portugese lady sent which was forwarded to me by my friend, it was seemingly rather honest. She explained everything in details with some photos of the room, bathroom and kitchen. The scent of 'honesty' in the email had made me to suggest that room.
The first time I met her in person ( had seen her face in the photo she emailed earlier ), she appeared to be rather friendly. She guided me to the room and showed me two maps she had prepared and gave some briefing on the room and the transportation to nearby places. The place was really as pleasant as shown in the photos she sent. Only that, later I found out that the heater was not supposed to be on for the whole day; the tumble dryer only could be used when it was available, and after 10.30am but before 5pm. But, my friend and I would normally be out from around 10.30am -12pm onwards and back at about 4-11pm. My friend washed less, knowing that I needed to wash my clothes every 4 to 7 days when we were staying there. I was thankful for my friend's considerate thought of this and was a bit guilty myself as I was the one insisted in the first place to take this room in spite of the limited usage which the subletting landlady had mentioned earlier.
The first thing I saw out the window the first morning was a rather heavy snow. My feeling was good. I took the instant noodles I had brought, cereal biscuits and a cup of black coffee for my breakfast. Actually I hardly went anyway alone until my friend arrived on the ninth day after my arrival except to the grocery store nearby. I liked to watch the squirrels and magpies lingering around the snowy ground from the kitchen.
Picture above: A squirrel outside the flat.
After a long wait, finally it was the ninth day, my friend arrived in the evening. The next morning, we went to visit the Kent University in Canterbury. The university was quite huge with rather adequate facilities. We saw many students from different countries; cycling, walking, strolling, rushing around the campus and many of them spent their leisure time at the cafe of the campus. Not really huge but pretty elegant. The drinks were expensive to me of course :P I remember that when my friend's professor invited us to the cafe and I just ordered a piece of mince pie which was just 30 pence ( 30p ). One of the reasons was that I was not really in the mood to take a cup of expensive coffee while my friend ordered it which seemed to be a good choice later. The first few days, we were busy exploring the university and then the town. To me, Canterbury was rather similar to Malacca state in Malaysia, in term of full of historical values. Many artefacts of Roman period were found in Canterbury. There are a few small museums in the town, and many tiny streets with very rich historical scent. Tesco, Mc. Donalds, Pizza Hut, Banks, Chinese restaurants, fragrance shops, bookstores, boutiques, old books store, stalls selling sausages, supermarkets etc. ; all can be found in the main town of Canterbury. The famous Canterbury Cathedral is located in Canterbury. Ever since the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170, the cathedral has attracted many pilgrims. It is one of the oldest and most famous structures in England which has been recognized as the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Picture above : A field of sheep.
Picture above: Canterbury ( took with my HX5V from the campus )
From my personal encounters and observation, I felt amazing with the way the local senior citizens guided me while I was asking for directions; very used to map, patient and good explanation. I encountered a few senior citizens when I was holding a map, looking for the right direction and I noticed that the way they helped you to read the map and showed you the direction, was fantastic. I felt that I was talking to a teacher and not a passer-by ( It was like how our teachers have used to explain things in details to us in school sometimes ) Perhaps, all the people I had encountered there were once a teacher, was that possible? As for the youngers who I had met, they were also wonderful, I met two university students separately, one was from Southampton, and the other was from London; the one from Southampton walked us from one end to the other's just to make sure we could find the right place in the campus, and the other one had a long walk to town, just to fetch us to see a room ( just imagine, a 30-40 minute-walk to town and back to her place which would take another 30-40 minutes in the terribly cold night ). Felt a bit guilty, but do believe me, I had no idea at all on how far she had to walk to come and fetch us when she suggested the idea in the first place ( as she was in a hurry to catch a train back to London ). But later, my guilt faded away a little when I saw her walked so fast, it probably took her less than 25 minutes for one way based on her walking speed. Just imagine one was about 160cm and another was about 168cm, ratio = 1 step : 2 steps. Anyhow, the effort she took to come and fetch us there was really somewhat moving... Perhaps, she was looking for someone to replace her place desperately ( to rent the room ) as she was leaving soon. Well, no matter how, the effort counts! After all, if I were her, I don't think I would do the same really...
In Canterbury, most of the time, we did lots of walking, we walked from our place to Asda ( a hypermarket like Tesco and things there were a bit cheaper than Tesco ). Only that, we needed to walk for about 40 minutes to 1 hour in order to reach there. As for Tesco, it is at the other side of the main town where the Canterbury Cathedral is located. To go to the Canterbury main town from our place, a 30 to 40 minute-walk will do as there is a short cut. So, most of time, my friend and I did that. We even broke the record where there was once we needed to walk for about 1 hour and a half to reach Warwick Road ( and another one and a half hours for walking back ) which was quite far away from the town to take a look at a room and I was so hungry :( While walking back to the town from Warwick Road, we passed by Londis Pharmacy ( No Guardian and Watsons in UK, I suppose ) and I bought some of the local instant noodles and Pringles Potato Chips. I was gobbling while my friend ate gentler.
Picture above: It was a long long road, but it was also our shortcut to the town ( about 30-40 minutes still needed, haha! )
There was once where my friend needed to go Ashford for personal matter, we bought a one day unlimited ride bus ticket which costed us £5 each. We moved from Canterbury to Ashford very early in the morning, seeing many primary students with their own attire queueing up at the bus terminal for their buses to school. We took about 45 minutes- 1 hour to reach Ashford, the weather was terribly cold, then later, we took the bus back to Canterbury. Since we had the unlimited ride ticket, the idea of visiting The Dover Castle came across my mind. We took another bus from Canterbury to Dover then. It was about more than 1 hour journey, further up from Ashford ( if we took the bus at Ashford earlier, it would probably save up time, just that the idea of visiting the castle came later when we were already back at Canterbury from Ashford ). Along the way, we saw a narrow road in front of us and meadows on the left and right. The weather there, most of the time, cloudy, raining when temperature was still above zero degree Celsius and snowing when it was at or below zero degree Celsius, anyhow, when we were there, there were some sunny days which brightened up our mood. When we got down the bus, went across the road, immediately we could see the proud castle standing on top of the hill, The Dover Castle. It is always rated 3 stars in the travel book, a must visit place. The only thing was, it started to rain. We pulled up our jacket shelter ( hood ) to cover our head and moved on until we reached the main entrance of the castle. The staff who was in charge of the ticket counter advised us to go another time as it was raining and we might get ourselves wet. After putting his words and how far we had been through to reach the castle on a balance scale, we decided to move on. My ticket was £13.90 while my friend's was the student price which was £2- £3 less. Cold and wet, this was the feeling when we were walking in the castle. The castle was very solid indeed. The strong and high walls around protecting a huge area was a fortress once to protect the land from being attacked by the outsiders. Looking out from the fortress, there was an ocean upon our eyes. It has been known as the 'Key to England' and the castle itself has more than 2,000 years of history. Most of the places in the castle were sheltered thus, we only got wet when we were walking around the open area of the castle and by the time we finished visiting most of the indoor area, went up the roof of the tower, the rain had already stopped. Up the tower, the wind was strong and cold, yet the view around it was amazing and another 'must see' I would say. Fortunately I insisted to walk up the tower when my friend thought the tower might be closed and had nothing to see. The experience in the tower has reminded me a saying, if we don't move on constantly and give up halfway just because it seems impossible, we will never know what will lie in front of us... Then, we went to visit one of the oldest cathedrals and the Roman Pharos within the fortress. My joyfulness of the moment I saw a rainbow after the rain during our exploration in the fort; was something couldn't be described by words here. The open area of the castle, was everything I saw in the old English movie or English fairy tales, the green field with some trees around and the soft rays of the sun with the thick wall and tall castle and solid buildings around, I told my friend, "This is how England should look like!"
Picture above: Very fairytale but real.
Picture above: The rainbow!
After the mid of the month, we took the National Express to London. We got a clean room at Norwick Hotel which was at good location, Paddington. I booked the room online during promotion period and thus the room rate was slashed half. At the same time, the National Rail and National Express were having the 2 for 1 offer. We used the 2 for 1 offer coupons for visiting Madame Tussauds, London Sea Life and London Eye. We visited Madame Tussauds on the first day, as it was near to our hotel, about 15-20 minute walk. It was good. The next day, we took the train to O2 at North Greenwich for the Titanic exhibition. Frankly, it was very good and really a worthgoing one. All the genuine artefacts were being exhibited under the dim light, no photography was allowed. It was exactly like the exhibition the old Rose went in the movie of Titanic where she saw the mirror, comb and hair accessories in a glass case. In this exhibition, of course, we saw more than that. From this exhibition, I started to believe that the drawing of Rose portrait in the movie of Titanic could last most than a century ( The hypothesis has been accepted, lolz ) as there were some exhibited written papers I saw which really had survived. James Cameron did really do his homework before making the movie. After finished visiting the exhibition, we wrote our comments on the comment book, I wrote, "This is the second time I am speechless since the last time I watched the film." My friend wrote a very long comment, I think it was more than half a page but I was not allowed to read it :( :/ :S ??!!!
Picture above : The Titanic Exhibition
Picture above: Admission ticket
Picture above: I was given a boarding pass ( Every visitor will be given a boarding pass with the name of different passenger who was on the ship in 1912 printed on it )
Picture above: This was the information printed behind the boarding pass that I got. ( Elizabeth Gladys Millvina Dean was the last survivor of the sinking Titanic, she died in 2009 at the age of 97 Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millvina_Dean )
Our next destination after the Titanic exhibition was the Prime Meridian at Greenwich: The Royal Observatory. We took another bus to go there, not too far from O2. The bus dropped us at the roadside, where we could see the Prime Meridian building on top of the hill, it seemed quite far away from the place we were standing at. But, the passenger who I had asked for direction earlier, pointing his finger at the building and kept guiding us the way and telling us that not to worry about the distance, it was not so far away and at the same time kept reminding us that to visit the museum which was free admission and full of information. What he told was true, it wasn't too far away, although a certain distance of walking was still needed. After some walking, finally we arrived at the place where the east meets the west. By the time when we were coming down the hill after the visit, it was already dark, we caught a bus back to O2 and then took the train to London Eye but it was closed due to no electricity. Then we headed back to our hotel in Paddington. ( We did buy the Oyster Card but we also bought the one-day unlimited ride National Rail ticket in order to enjoy the 2 for 1 offer for London Eye which was not in the National Express 2 for 1 offer list of destinations. I returned my Oyster Card on my last day in London to get the 100% refund ).
Picture above: Walking to the Prime Meridian building ( Do you see a building on top of the hill in the picture? )
Early in the morning of the third day which was my last day in London, we checked out, got the permission for leaving our luggage at the hotel office and left for British Museum, one of the most comprehensive museums in the world. It is a museum of human history and culture. In the museum, we explored the arts, cultures and antiques from most of the countries in the world such as Europe, Egypt, China, Iran, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia etc. The museum is admission free to all visitors.
We headed to London Eye again in the evening. The ride enabled me to snap nice pictures of London views. The classic beauty of London was kept permanently in my heart through the short 30-minute ride.
Picture above: The classic beauty of London captured by my HX5V during the 30 minute-short ride at London Eye.
Then, we visited the London Sea Life since it was just a few steps away from London Eye. Well, nothing much to see there really. It was a bit like our KLCC Aquarium Sea Life. When comes to the ticket price, KLCC Aquarium Sea Life would be more worth-visiting. ( The ticket price for London Sea Life is £ 18 while KLCC Aquarium Sea Life is just about RM30 if I am not mistaken ) That evening, we took the 8.30pm bus from Victoria back to Canterbury and arrived there at about 10 something. Both of us were so hungry but all the restaurants were closed :( We walked back to the flat in the extremely cold night. And, we had to walk faster than usual to fight the coldness and to stop the shivering.
Then came the Christmas Day, which was being celebrated so humbly and simpler in the Canterbury town. When the clock struck 12am, the people of Canterbury gathered at town after their eve dinner with family, relatives and friends; they stood in front of the M&S building singing carols, sharing wishes, praying for peace etc then everyone donated money for charity before leaving the street, everyone threw a few pounds into the deep curve of cloth stretched and held by a number of policewomen and policemen. Everyone was walking back home, some were even wearing sleeping attire; the silent dead street of the wee hours had suddenly become so alive, the trees seemed so brilliant with their eyes like the stars in the sky. I saw a man singing and playing guitar at the roadside, I recorded the scene and when I turned my head back to the street, I didn't see my friend. It seemed that my friend had been swallowed by the sea of people. Damn it! I had to walk back alone to the flat with my heart kept beating and tried to walk as fast as I could. I had to walk all the way alone and my heart beat 'terribly' faster when there was no one accompanying me after leaving the main town into another street. Thanked God I was able to reach my place safely. 15-20 minutes later, my friend arrived after me.
Picture: Brilliant
The Christmas Day Holiday and the Boxing Day Holiday fell on Saturday and Sunday respectively, the National Express office was closed from Saturday till Tuesday. Thus, I would have to go there on Wednesday to alter the date of my ticket. I planned to go London one day earlier, worrying about the possibility of service suspension if there was a heavy snow. I booked a budget room in London on 31 Dec which was located at Hammersmith as many good economical rooms in Victoria and Paddington were already being taken due to 1st Jan, the New Year Day. Since that was the only budget room I could find through the internet, and Hammersmith was still a convenient spot to me in the aspect of public transport, I picked the room.
The night before I left for London, my friend treated me to a Thai restaurant, at first was thinking to go to a Chinese one but it was closed. We ordered a tomyam and two plates of Thai fried rice. The bill was about £ 19 plus ( about RM80 ). The food was pleasant and the restaurant was somewhat cosy with some Thai decorations. The next morning, both of us walked to the bus terminal and waited for the bus to arrive. After saying goodbye to my friend, I boarded the bus and started to feel the tears in my eyes.
Arrived at London at about 11am, pulling the luggage to the Victoria underground to take the tube from Victoria to Hammersmith. It took about half an hour. When arrived at Hammersmith, I tried to get to the Hammersmith Budget Hotel and it was very near to the station. I just needed to walk across the street and furthered up a little and then turned left and walked straight. The hotel was just at the end of the street. The staff of the hotel was nice and gave me a room at the ground floor. Only that, the cleaner was a little clumsy and rather simply in doing the cleaning task. I requested them to change the bedsheet. Since I wished to use the time optimally, I left my luggage at the storeroom before my own room was 'really' ready. There were two storerooms, one was outside and the other one was inside. When I opened the storeroom ( the one outside ), something dropped on my wrist, I looked closer. Oh my! Leech!! I complained to the staff, and he suggested me to put my luggage in another storeroom which was near the office, inside the hotel building, and the floor in this room was quite dry. Perfect!
I took the underground tube to London as I wanted desperately to go to the Albert and Victoria Museum ( A &V Museum ). It was a very convenient and hassle free short journey with the tube. In A&V Museum, I saw many very valuable collections from China. Although there were collections from Korea, Japan and others but due to limited time I had, I just wanted to focus on the Chinese collections from the old time China. ( Many genuine masterpieces from the Forbidden City such as paintings, robes, fine china etc. are displayed in the British Museum and A &V Museum in London. ) I came across the jewellery gallery in A&V accidentally, the very fine elegant designs and glitters of the jewelleries inside could really blind one's eyes and heart.
I remember there was a tag showing this, " Jewellery is the symbol of status ". Well, I wonder how far can one's status being symbolized by certain jewellery?
The next destination after A&V was the Museum of London. It was another good museum that I had visited. More on the social history of London. With one unlimited ride card, it was really hassle free to go from one museum to the other.
In the evening, my stomach was thundering, I took the tube to Lancester and found a good Chinese noodle shop. It was fully occupied. Instead of waiting there, I told the lady I would be back later. I was looking for Tesco to buy unpasteurized pure orange juice produced by Tesco and for 'Family Ties' written by Daniel Steel. The book was so much cheaper at an offer price given by Tesco ( half of the price in Malaysia ). Yet, I didn't see any as most of the Tesco I went were Tesco Express. The only Tesco Extra I went was in Canterbury, but there wasn't any. I had tried to find for it at the biggest bookstore in Canterbury but I think the book was sold out as I only saw Legacy by Danielle Steel. At the end of the day, I just had to give up looking for the book. Hoping Popular, Border and MPH in Malaysia will be giving great discounts for the novel in near future ( Really no idea when the day will come, the price is still RM69.90 at present; will wait for paperback if the price never goes down. RM69.90 for a piece of 'Steel' romance; somewhat expensive ! )
So, after buying the orange juice, I strolled back to the noodle shop which was just opposite the tube station. I ordered a bowl of sour spicy noodles, nice! Then, I saw many people start gathering around Lancester and the policemen were preparing for the road block for the New Year celebration. From 11pm till 4am, the tube was free of charge and opened to the public ( sponsored by the Natwest Bank ) It was very crowded in the train where everybody was looking forward to celebrate the annual big day. Everyone dressed up handsomely for the celebration. Some were pretty fancy. Some even brought a bottle of champagne and dressed up like going to a masquerade ball, cheering and clinking glasses of wine in the tube. While some lovely couples were holding a bottle of champagne wrapped beautifully, waiting to enjoy it while watching the fireworks I supposed. It was somewhat sad when I thought of my friend who was alone in Canterbury :(
Picture above: The sour and spicy noodles
The fireworks were pretty, lots of immigrants besides locals, dancing around, singing and shouting. Lots of rubbish... I walked with the crowd from one tube to another tube as every tube's entrance seemed to be fully occupied by people, I couldn't believe myself that I had walked for about 3 hours to finally reach a tube station where I was able to enter and get the tube back to Hammersmith. It was quite an experience by walking that way, along the way, there were stalls selling sausages, sausages with onions being fried on the hot pan, nice aroma! The first few stalls I saw selling each sausage for 4 pounds while the few I saw later selling them each for 3 pounds. I didn't buy it as it was late and I was going to bed soon once I was back to my hotel.
Once I was at my hotel room, the bedsheet was ok, the floor was with stains ( couldn't be removed I supposed ). Earlier I had opened the window to let the air in. The fridge in the room was not functioning :( But, with the price I paid, I knew that I shouldn't complain much. Generally, the room was ok. After all, I just needed it for one night sleep.
On the bright morning of 1 Jan 2011, I checked out right after my somewhat 'terrible' breakfast. The marinated potatoes which I had bought from Tesco in Canterbury; after giving some share to my friend before leaving the town, I still had a few left with me in a plastic bag; had a very nice aroma but I had never expected the taste was somewhat 'strange' to me after they were cooked in the microwave ( Merit** : Everything in the kitchen of the budget hotel was fine and clean. I told counter staff that I didn't have any plate, spoon and fork. And, the guy was kind enough to find me a clean plate, a spoon, a fork and... a washing sponge as well. I was thankful to him really in spite of the fact that the budget room was really not up to my 'pre - personal basic expectation'- look, just a 'pre- basic expectation', k...Of course, I know with the price I paid, I can't complain much ). At the end of the day, I just had to throw the potatoes into the bin :( God, please forgive me for not able to finish them... After checking out, the counter staff allowed me to keep my luggage in the storeroom. My departure time was at 10.00 pm, so it seemed that I still had plenty of time to spend my day. I took the tube to Lancester again for the noodles. When I went in, the restaurant was already crowded with people. A white man ordered noodles with pork intestines ( a good choice in my mind ). I ordered noodles with wanton; the wantons were truly fantastic!! 6 pounds per bowl = big portion = expensive if to be compared to the food in Malaysia but it is much cheaper when compares it to most of the western restaurant there; not to mention the sausages from the street, k...
Picture above: The wanton noodles
Picture above: Good...
After finished a wonderful breakfast, I did a little walking to Trafalgar Square and visited the National Portrait Gallery at St. Martin's Place. Spent a few hours there but there were still lots to see. Since needed to go back to Hammersmith to get my luggage and then to Victoria to board the bus to Hearthrow, I left the National Portrait Gallery, leaving behind those masterpieces that I hadn't had a chance to lay my eyes on...
Picture above: Rubbish everywhere outside the National Gallery, at Trafalgar Square after the New Year Celebration ( Rare scene )
Rushed back to Hammersmith, the budget hotel, to fetch my luggage and a few-step walk to the Hammersmith tube to Victoria then another short distance-walk to the Victoria Coach Station for the Heathrow bus. It was a 4.30pm bus, so I waited there at the same time watching the Canterbury bus which was going to move soon. Was thinking how was my friend in Canterbury?
When the time came to board the Heathrow bus, the scene that when I first arrived at the same place to get the bus to Canterbury appeared on my mind; making me wanna to jump onto the Canterbury bus and just another two hours plus, I would see the Canterbury town again. Well, a thought remained a thought. The bus left the coach station punctually and I arrived at Heathrow at 5 something in the evening. Again, the collision of the scene when I first arrived Heathrow with the thought that I was going to leave soon; was killing me silently in my mind. Everything was in good order; from checking in to boarding. While boarding, got a Star newspaper for free, the feeling was like seeing an old relative; somewhat 'reviving'. Got the window seat again as I asked for it, next to me was a British teen and his father. The father seemed to be very familiar with Malaysia culture while the son seemingly a first time visitor. I slept most of the time on the flight. I remembered there was a meal where there were two choices; nasi lemak with shrimp or grilled chicken with potatoes. At first, grilled chicken with potatoes was my choice but then the father of the teen said to his son that he would take 'nasi lemak with shrimp', in my mind I immediately saw a large shrimp with delicious sambal gravy ( How stupid was I to think of a 'large shrimp' . How large can the largest shrimp be? And, when thought of the delicious prawn sambal that we've used to have in Malaysia food stalls; my choice was immediately being swayed. How easily I was being swayed, see! So, I said so proudly to the stewardess that I wished to have nasi lemak with shrimp. While she was passing the nasi lemak to me, the father of the teen cleverly asked her permission to take a look at the nasi lemak, and she allowed. When we saw the 'seriously' tiny shrimp on the rice, within a fraction of seconds; I regretted but was embarrased to say a 'no'. And, the father was so happy that he ordered grilled chicken with potatoes instead; and kept saying, "It's really delicious...". As for my nasi lemak, to tell the truth, it was the worst nasi lemak that I had ever tried. The rice hadn't nice aroma and hardly any onions in the sambal, only those 'seriously' tiny shrimps. I never finished it instead just took a few mouthfuls and put it aside. I was mouth-watering when seeing others enjoyed chewing the juicy grilled chicken and kept commenting positively, "This is really good! It is really delicious..." Why can't they provide better nasi lemak I wonder ?!
Picture above: The nasi lemak I got :(
