London Trip, 2011 - Part 5

We sign up for a full day tour. We bought the tour package from AirAsia (aparently mcm lagi murah dari site lain), while we were in KL. We will be visiting Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Oxford. The gathering point is at a bus station. We went out bright and early fearing that we will be left out again. Haha lucky we were early, because somehow we managed to get off at the wrong tube station and had to walk a good 15 minutes before finding the bus station.

Right, the tour counter is still closed. So we went to buy some snacks at the convenient shop. Snack apa nya. It's a spinach and cheese samosa, and lamb samosa. Pagi buta belasah makan merepek meraban. Tapi sedapnya, tak boleh nak cakap.

Here comes the bus. It was packed, but we managed to grab the seats up front. Bukan la nak dengar sgt apa tour guide tu cakap, just that supaya boleh turun naik cepat sket. Hmm, what was the tour guide's name. Was it Mike? Why do I think he was Paul? Ok let's just call him Mike. It takes about 45 minutes to get to Windsor, so apa lagi.... zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle ni rupanya dekat dengan Eton. Agaknya dulu bila bosan2 weekend, Wills and Harry dapat la fly kejap.. balik rumah Tok depa. The bus parked far away, so we had to walk a bit. Huffing and puffing, akhirnya sampai. When we got off the bus we were right in front of the pack, tapi bila sampai kat entrance of the castle, as usual jadi yang last sekali. Even nenek2 tua dalam group tu pun dah sampai dulu. Damn, we are so not fit!

At Windsor, we get to round the ground a bit and then get into the State Apartment and also take a quick look at the Queen Mary's Doll House collection. The Doll House was eerie yet fascinating. It's an actual working house siap electricity and plumbing, besar gila! All the artwork in the house (though a miniture) are actual art work contributed by real artist. Buku pun dijadikan miniture. Since we're not able to take any photos, check out here for more info.

Next the State Apartments. It consists of rooms and rooms of many splendour items. Some of the rooms are still used for official functions to this day. There's lot of paintings and deco and furniture for you to get your self lost into. Thru out the walkabout, you are given an audio guide. So you can have everything explained to you at your own pace. Tapinya.. kitaorang ni jalan laju aje. Audio tu baru explain item no 13, kitaorg dah sampai 15. Apakah.

Windsor aslo has Changing of the Guard ceremony. Dang! Kalau tahu, tak payah bersusah payah nak tengok kat Buckingham Palace. There's also St George Chapel that we can visit, tapi macam malas nak masuk. We were stucked watching the guards again, when we itching to get into the giftshops.

I just wish that we had more time to berangan inside the Castle. Unfortunately, the tour is on tight schedule. Tour guide tu sangat garang ok. Their main concern is that if we are late and get stuck in traffic, the driver might have to work longer that he should (a concept that is totally lost on a Malaysian). So we had to rush off.

If you have a day to spare when you are in London, do not miss visiting it!

Stonehenge

Burial ground? Worship ground? Alien Landing Area? It's fascinating because no one knew who brought these kick ass stone and arranged it in a circular pattern in the middle of flat, Salisbury Plain. No one knew why either.

When we arrived there, my first thot was, enghh ni aje? Tak besar pun. My second thought was, Tipah Tertipu. We paid 10 pounds? 6 pounds? To enter the gated area where the stones are. Believe me it looks the same near or far. If you can, give this place a miss. Or if it's part of the tour, just hang around the giftshop. I know this is one of the World Heritage Sites, but really.. it's just a set of old looking stone. I was more intrigued with the hundreds of sheeps grazing the grass nearby.

Oxford

Off to Oxford City. Where the Oxford University is. Where everyone cycle to class?
The city (which look like a town to me) is made of hundreds of colleges. It also has a lot of intersting architectural building including the Radcliffe Camera (picture below). Which is actually a library, a circular library. Didn't get the chance to go in though.





There was a lot of restoration work on going. Even the cobbled street is being repaired. Kinda of lost it's rustic musty feel I must say. I didn't get much from the tour in Oxford, but you do get the wee bit feel of student life there.. I And yes, I bought the t-shirt as well! Hahahaha.

We arrived back in London sometime after 6pm. The tour dropped us off near Paddington Station. Jalan kaki je la balik hotel. But not before tapau something for dinner. We discovered that there's this halal Turkish shop nearby that sells lamb chop and kebab and what not for just 3.99 pounds. Whaaa.... kalau tau, hari2 aku mencekik kat sini.

Malam operasi pack barang yang patutnya masuk kontena rather than suitcase. Tomorrow, we are off to Paris! Yipeee.

London Trip, 2011 - Part 4

Hari ni nothing but shopping till you drop in the agenda. We book ourselves a seat on the Shopping Express to Bicester Village. Outlet shops in the town or village of Bicester.

There was a pick up from a hotel a few doors from us. So we waited at the lobby of Styotel in Sussex Garden for the pick up. The pick up was slightly late, but all is good. We arrived were briefed that once we arrived at the tour office we were suppose to join the queue for the tour that we are on. When we reached there, that's what we did. I saw the black bus parked on the road side but think nothing of it. I suppose they want to check our booking first before they let us board the bus. There was a another Malaysian family with us in the queue.

The bus was suppose to depart at 8.30. We were there around 8.15. Come 8.30, we are still standing there macam stupid fools. Guess what? The bus left us. No one ever came to fetch us from the queue. WHAATTTT. We went to ask the office and they were asking where were we? We were here damn it. No one told us to board the bus straight. The guy told us to go to the queue. Bloody hell!

Arghhh... argue argue argue.. the guy at the counter suggest that we take a cab and catch the bus at it's last stop (one of the hotels) before it left London. We said no and opt for refund instead. The other family said that they will try to catch the bus.

So what now? We said heck with it, we will try to catch the train to get to Bicester. The Chiltern Railways operates from London Marylebone station. So back to the tube off to Marylebone. Sigghhh... this is time wasted already. For the name of adventure (and shopping), why not? Once reached the station, we went to the information counter to check which stop to take to go to the outlet shops. Hahahahahah. We get a lot of confused look. Here's why, Bicester is pronounced 'Byster' and not 'By-ches-ter'. Leicester is 'Lester' and not 'Laicester'.
So people next time, if you want to ask for direction, just write the address down and show it.

Right all that sorted out. Yikes. The train cost a bomb. More expensive that the Express Bus that we ditch. Tak kisah la. Marah punya pasal. Hehehehe. The train ride takes about 1 hour or so, so there's time to relax and enjoy the scenic view. Good thing about the train is that the ticket for the shuttle to take you to Bicester Village is included as well.

Finally we're there! Let the shopping begin. So where to first? We went into Burberry sebab berangan nak beli coat macam Emma Watson. Hahahha. Nasib takde size. Kalau tak.... My sister bought a wallet there. Then, masuk Tods plak. Oh no... the wallet that I want takde plak. Tapi beli jugak wallet kat situ. Then we went to Clarks. Macam orang gila beli kasut! Never trust yourself in a store that provide shopping basket as soon as you enter it. After that bosan dah. The rest of the shops macam tak menarik sangat. There's a lot of branded shops there tapi barangnya tak best sangat. Pun begitu berguni jugak la nak pikul lepas tu.

Kitaorang jumpa balik Malaysian yang nasib sama tertinggal bas dengan kitaorg pagi tadi. Gelak2 je kitaorg. Nasib kitaorg naik train. Boleh la balik sesuka hati. It is more expensive if you take the bus, but you will need to wait till 4pm to get back. So if dah takde barang nak beli, nganga la situ sampai ptg. Plus, I don't think there's halal food there. So better prepare a light lunch if you are planning to go there. Kitaorang as usual, bila dah shopping memang tak ingat makan! Hahahah.

Reached London and went back to the hotel to ditch all of our stuff. Lepas tu keluar lagi. Shopping lagi. This time at Primark Oxford Street. This place is like Mydin. Ok la.. maybe slightly better than Mydin. But the clothes are cheap. CHEAP! I bought a pant suit for only 30 pound. Tah nak pakai kat mana. Tapi sebab cantik and murah punya pasal. The place is packed to the brim. Nak try baju? Forget it. Just know your size and hope for the best. Orang punya ramai, aku sampai berpeluh! Padahal kat luar sejuk. By the time we got out dah gelap! Hahahah tapi puas hati!

That night we had curry for dinner. Went to the small restaurant nearby. Ada sticker London Curry Club. Should be good. Punya la penuh tempat tu, meja rapat2. Nak duduk, kena tarik meja sebab there's no space to move around. At first, we were seated on the first floor, then waiter yang gila tu, ask us to eat downstairs pulak, near the kitchen. Whatever la asal dapat makan. Finally the food is here. SEDAP GILA! Enough said. I don't think I even had time to snap any pictures sebab dah kebuluran sangat.