Now for the trip (Part 1, London)

I've finally settled down properly and have decided to post an almost detailed entry about my trip. Tons of pictures were taken but I won't just fill up my post with the tons of pictures. I'll just put up the relevant ones and the rest would be up in my multiply photo albums.

I'll start off with my London trip first.
*takes deep breath*
So here we go...

7th June 2008

My flight was scheduled at 1245 at Changi Airport Terminal 3, SQ318. So reported early at about 1030 at row 10 and checked in the luggage and gathered the boarding pass. After doing all the necessary stuff, it was just left to wait til 1130 to get into the departure hall.


Dearest GF came over to send me. AAAWWWWW~ I feel so loved. Other relatives also came and seriously, I did not expect that many of my cousins, aunts and uncles to come to send me off. I mean it was 1030 in the morning, who would bother right? Well anyway, my family was the biggest among the rest of the other people who were going on the study trip as well so I was abit paisei la of course.

See what I mean

It was finally time to depart and said the goodbyes and hugged mama and papa. And off the group went to the departure area to look around at the shops and went to gate B3 where our flight was. I was down with a real bad flu and I sounded so horrible. Nonetheless, my spirits were still up and I was still damn excited to see Europe.

Time to board the plane and then the 13 hour flight journey begins. It was a first having to stay more than 6 hours on the plane and yes I felt super restless. It was a 747 carrier and it was so cramped. Thank god they had good entertainment on board. Had the latest movies and I was having one hell of movie marathon on board. From Step Up 2 to 27 dresses to "I-can't-remember-what". Meals on board were kinda good, surprisingly and also had ice cream for dessert. Yummy!

After a sleepless and dreadful 13 hour journey(throughout the whole journey, it was total daylight so imagine how jet lagged I was after touchdown), it was finally touchdown. Reached London at 1910 London time, and that is 0210 hrs Sg time (London is 7 hours behind Singapore time). Super shagged and jet lagged and all with no sleep at all for the past 13 hours or so and I had to go on for another 5 more hours before we actually got sleep. After touchdown, boarded the coach and was introduced to the tour guide, Mr Graham. Gave a short tour around London before reaching Ashley Hotel to put our luggage and then went out for dinner around the area.


Food was okay but because I had a totally bad flu and I was seeing the world swaying from side to side, I didn't really enjoyed it and all I wanted was to get some real good sleep. After dinner, it was finally sleep later than midnight.

And one thing about London, the sunrise is at 0200 and sunset is at 2130. So you can imagine how long the day was.

8th June 2007


After a long first day, had a lil bit of breakfast and enjoyed the morning air which was so fresh and cooling. I LOVE LOVE THE WEATHER!

The next day was a good tour around London city. Was amazed at the architecture around the area. The domes, the churches, the greenery.. everything. So wonderful. And of course the London Bridge, Big Ben, Thames and Tower Bridge. London Bridge is too plain. It's the Tower Bridge that holds the beauty.

Here are some pictures....

Wonderful architecture

Statues that marked significant soldiers and people that helped with London's survival of some sort. Historic value and remembrance.

The famous Big Ben

After about a few hours rounding around London on the coach, we went over to some palace and were lucky to be able to witness the exchange of guards of the palace. A real big crowd gathered (like Singapore NDP lorh) and the show was nice. Saw the guards with the super tall bear fur helmet and red suit. Real nice.

The guards ceremony thingy. See the crowd. Damn huge right?

Big Ben from across the Thames River

So after a few hours of tour, had the chance to get on the amazing London Eye. (Well you might say you've gotten on the Singapore Flyer. Well now I ask you this, have you gotten on the London Eye? :P)

London Eye from across the Thames River

The view from London Eye, simply BREATHTAKING. I could see almost everything in London. Real nice and the ride we only paid for 7 pounds, that's s$21 (the Singapore flyer costs $30). So it was all worth it.

View from the top

After the wonderful ride, it was time for dinner. Had dinner of supposedly pumpkin soup which smelled like curry and tasted like tomato and the "famous" dish, Fish and Chips. Well, pumpkin soup was real good but the fish and chips were normal so not a biggie there. After dinner it was free and easy and so me and my group decided to go over to Tower bridge to catch real good night shots of the bridge and the city landscape.

The night sky. 10.30pm London time and still so bright.

The night scenery was wonderful. It looked like Clarke Quay but this is way better. It was just so calm and peaceful, everyone is just dealing with their own business, having fun, chatting the time away.... wonderful. The cool night breeze had to top off everything and I just enjoyed the time there, thinking about my life, letting the breeze pass through my hair.........
I MISS IT SO MUCH!!! :(

Well, it was then time to get back to the hotel and get some well deserved rest.

9th June 2008


So today had an excursion to the University College London and the Bank of England and we had to wear smart casual. Well, it's just my course that's going through the fuss of having to wear smart, to leave a good impression.

The day was ookaayy. My flu was still as bad and I had a splitting headache. To make it worse, we took the public transport and there was no coach. Boooo~


But an eye opener to London's train railway system. It was soooo complicated. There were so many lines and if you went down the wrong staircase to the wrong line, you're dead meat and chances of you being reported as lost and found are high. For that, thank god I'm a Singaporean and I only have to live with only 3 MRT lines.


So went public around London. Was damn tiring because of all the walking and the shoes and all. After a real tiring day, we headed to do some shopping at London's "Metro/Isetan/Robinsons/John Little" which was named as Primark. Trust me, the stuffs there are super damn cheap. The range is between 1 pound to 12 pounds and you can find anything that has got to do with fashion, apparels and accessories in one building. Total heaven so I shopped til I literally dropped.

After shopping had dinner and then we called it a day.

Basically that sums up my days in London. It was a real good experience. An eye opener to a totally different society. Eventhough people do go to work, there aren't any rush hours or anything. I mean there's still the usual peak hour crowds and of course the traffice jams but it just felt more relaxed compared to Singapore. People are so relaxed and of course I had my dose of hot guys with blazers and aviator shades. WOOOHOOOO! :P

Next up will be an update about Paris. Bonjour~