Paris To London -
After breakfast, we checked out from the hotel in Paris
and Martin drove us to Paris North Station for our train trip to London. We
bade our farewells to Martin and checked into the train station. The process of
boarding the Eurostar to London was similar to boarding a flight. After having
our baggage and passports checked, we waited at the lounge until boarding time.
The trip by Eurostar train from Paris to London took 2 hours.
We arrived at St Pancras Station, London and were greeted
by our coach drivers Michael and George. We boarded the coach for our ride to
our hotel which was near Bayswater Road. Along the way to the hotel, we passed
by Bakers Street, which brought to mind of two things. One, the song titled
“Bakers Street” by Gerry Rafferty and two, Sherlock Holmes. We also passed by
Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. In about forty minutes, we arrived at our
hotel at Leinster Gardens by 1.45 PM. Since our rooms were not yet ready, we
waited for a while at the lounge until we got our room keys.
After we had checked into our room, we had lunch of “nasi
himpit”, bread with rendang (sister Eliza seemed to have loads of “nasi
himpit”). After lunch, Emil and I decided to explore London, mainly the main
shopping street, the Oxford Street. We walked passed Malaysia Hall along the
way to Queens Way Underground Station. Emil greeted some Malaysian students
there to enquire about the way to Liverpool which he planned to go on Saturday
afternoon. At Queens Way station, there was already a crowd of people being Friday
evening after work.
We exited Marble Station to make our way to Oxford
Street. The afternoon sun was shining bright but the air temperature was around
10C tops. I did not have any gloves, so, I tucked my hands in my jacket
pockets. Emil and I walked almost the whole length of Oxford Street. We stepped
into several shops that have sports attires or souvenirs. My son, Zharif, had
asked for a Chelsea FC jersey, I had to get one for him. While we were walking
towards Marble Arch station, we passed by several kiosk that sells T-shirts and
souvenirs. One vendor seemed to recognize the two of us as Malaysians and
greeted “Mari beli. Murah. Murah”. We just smiled and continued to walk until
the next kiosk, a girl hailed “Mari beli. Murah. Satu Malaysia”. Really, are we
that obvious as Malaysians? She showed us a RM10 note with a “One Malaysia” pin
displayed prominently. A man (her brother, I assumed), came over and greeted
“Welcome, brother. Choose which one you like, I give you good price”, gesturing
at the collection of t-shirts and souvenirs. Then, I noticed my sister Eliza
and her friend were also at this kiosk.
I was short of English currency (I had only GBP100 with
me earlier. GBP50 already paid for Stonehenge/Bath tour, GBP20 already spent on
Zharif’s jersey). I noticed an HSBC Visa ATM nearby. I tried to make a
withdrawal but was denied due to “link not available”. I made a call to Maybank
Helpline and was informed that it was 12.15 AM Malaysia time. Due to batch
processing, the link will be available in another one and half hour time. I
decided to return to the hotel and would check for again tomorrow.
London Day 2(Saturday 27 April 2013)
We had our breakfast at 8.00 AM to get ready for our city
tour of London. Since I was unable to access an ATM that morning, my sister
loaned my GBP50. We boarded the coach for our half-day tour. Our female guide,
an elderly woman named Kate, reminded me of Miss Courtney of the old “Mind Your
Language” TV series. The tour covered the famous landmarks of the city – London
Bridge, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, the Tower of London and Saint Paul’s
Cathedral. The highlight of the tour was the Changing of Guards at Buckingham
Palace. There was a very big crowd of people (with reminder from the guide
“Beware of pick-pockets”). I managed to get pictures of the marching troops, by
holding the camera with my hands out-stretched high above my head.
After the Changing of Guards, we re-boarded the coach to
be taken to the Parliament Square, where we could take pictures near Westminster
Abbey and the Big Ben in the background. I could not remember at which point
but I did took a picture of a place called The Sherlock Holmes Restaurant. Kate
mentioned the author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, usually had his meals there. She
also remarked that, there is a room upstairs of the restaurant that exhibits
some of Sherlock Holmes memorabilia. There was a loose crowd at the front of
Westminster Abbey, all busy posing and taking pictures, especially with the Big
Ben in the background. Thus ended our half-day tour of London and we bade
farewell to Kate.
We were taken to a Malaysian owned restaurant called
“Melor Restaurant” for lunch. After lunch, we had to decide where to go for the
rest of the afternoon. The options were either to Madame Tussaud’s or Harrod’s.
I actually wanted to go to Oxford Street again but decided to go to Madame
Tussaud’s first. So, the ten of us were dropped off at Madame Tussaud’s while
the remaining eight proceeded to Harrod’s. There was a very long queue at the
front of the museum but fortunately for us, we could register as group. For the
group tickets, the row was shorter but the ticket price was still GBP30. Our
time in Madame Tussaud’s was 1.5 hours. There were many people and the popular
exhibits would have a big crowd around them. I was able to get a pose by three
exhibits. A fee of GBP10 would enable you to get a picture with the Royal
Family exhibits, taken by a staff photographer. The picture would be handed to
you in a calendar package format. There was a long queue for this, so, I
passed.
As I reached at the level of the 4D exhibit, I felt
difficult to breath because of the crowd. I asked the staff there for the way
out. I walked quickly to get out of there. As I exited the museum, I really
felt a great relief to breathe fresh air. Our time of 1.5 hours was almost up
anyway and slowly, the rest of the group came out to join me. We waited for our
coach which arrived 15 minutes later. We
were all to be taken to Harrod’s but I asked Michael (the coach driver), to let
me off near Oxford Street. When I got there, I went to the Visa ATM to make a
cash withdrawal. Again, it was declined due to something like “contact your
bank”. So, I called Maybank Helpline and was informed that I need to activate
the option for overseas withdrawal first. Fortunately, this could be done
immediately upon verification of my personal details.
After successfully withdrawing some cash, I was able to
make my intended purchase of some t-shirts and souvenirs. Then, I walked to the
Marble Arch station for the trip to Queens Way station, the nearest stop to my
hotel. When I reached the hotel room, my nephew was preparing his bag for his
trip to Liverpool that evening. Sis Eliza passed to me more “nasi impit” for my
dinner. After shower, I went to bed early since we need to rise early the next
day for our optional tours.
London Day 3 – Optional tours. Most of our group had
opted for Bicester Village while my sister and I chose to go to Stonehenge and
Bath. After early breakfast, we were picked up by a shuttle to be taken to
Victoria Bus Terminal. There, we boarded the tour coach designated for our
optional tour for the day.
Our tour guide was a funny, elderly gentleman named Paul.
He began his introduction by asking us to forgive his accent because he was
Irish. The journey of two hours to Stonehenge was made lively with Paul’s funny
stories or remarks about a certain building or location. As we arrived at
Stonehenge, the air was breezy and cold. Since it was a popular tourist site,
there were many people. Our time there was an hour and we were limited to the
designated path for visitors, which went around the perimeter of the site.
We re-boarded the coach for our next destination, the
city of Bath. The journey to Bath passed through the Salisbury Plains. Paul
narrated that the plains was a regular training ground for the British Army and
pointed out to us the signs of tanks crossing. As we approached Bath, he
narrated the Roman history of Bath and it’s later Georgian history. Our time
allotted for the tour of city was three hours. From the bus stop, we were
guided to the Roman Bath museum. The visit of the old Roman Bath gave visitors
the insights of how the Romans lived there many centuries ago.
After exiting from the museum, sis Eliza and I walked to
Parade Gardens by the river Avon for a picnic lunch. After lunch, we walked
around the garden to take some pictures with the famed Pulteney Bridge in the
background. We were joined by young woman who asked me to help to take some
pictures of her. After some introductions, I found out that she was from
Malaysia and works near where I am at Bukit Jalil. Ah! What a small world.
Since we had about 40 minutes to our departure time, we bade farewell and
walked back to the bus pick-up point. We had a cup of coffee in one of the
shops near there while waiting for our coach to arrive.
The return journey to London took about three hours.
Along the way, Paul introduced to us the history of the origin of the name of
“Pennsylvania” state in the USA. The name had originated from a very small town
of the same name in that area, about 20 minutes drive from Bath. As we entered
the expressway, Paul excused himself to be quiet to allow us to nap during the
journey to London. As we arrived near London, Paul woke us up to inform us of
the various Underground station stops that he would make to allow some of the
passengers to find our own way back to our hotels. Sis Eliza and I were let off
at Queensway Station which was walking distance to our hotel. We stopped by at an Arab restaurant to
purchase our dinner.
After dinner and shower, I packed my bags to prepare for
the journey home to KL. My nephew Emil, arrived at our room from Liverpool by
10.30 PM.
Day 4 London. After breakfast, it was Free and Easy for
the morning until our departure from the hotel at 1.00 PM. I did not have any
idea where to go, so I stayed at the hotel. At the designated time, our coach
arrived to take us to Heathrow Airport.
Of the four cities covered in this tour, London was my
favorite. Furthermore, there was the beautiful English country side and the
short time was not enough to cover all the splendours of Britain. I will
definitely visit Britain again.
