Honeymoon 02 - June 8, Off To Visit The Queen

two days after the wedding, darwin and i boarded the plane to singapore where we'd be staying for a day before high-tailing it off to europe. we have so much things from manila to unpack, mostly wedding stuffs and some provisions we bought from rustan's to use up the gift certificate we got from our ninang. then we have to pack the clothes we need for our honeymoon trip - cold wears for england, germany and france, summer clothes for italy and all the things in between.


we had so much trouble with the manila immigration officers mostly because of excess baggage and i threw a fuming fit with the guard who wouldn't let us hand-carry the wedding portrait despite the plastic frame. but all's well that ends well. we finally arrived in singapore with the wedding portrait in hand and took a cab to bayshore, our second home.


after a quick instant dinner, darwin and i hurriedly unpacked our bags from manila then packed a smaller set for our honeymoon. it was almost morning when we finished but thinking that we'd have fourteen hours to spare while on air, i didn't worry too much about getting rest (i couldn't sleep from too much excitement anyway). i did a last check on our hotel bookings and printed out emails from family and friends waiting for us there. i was still too tired from all the runnings we did before the wedding and although i wished to have a few more days before we start the honeymoon tour, i didn't think i could put off seeing europe again for much longer.


with that thought, i snuggled close to my sleeping husband (husband!) and tried to sleep. but the alarm went off as soon as i did and it was time to shower, pack the toiletries and leave for the airport again. our flight leaves singapore at ten in the morning, with a quick stopover in kuala lumpur, then off to london's heathrow airport.


after checking that we have all the required travel documents (passports with visa, our singapore employment pass, tickets and eurail pass), we took a cab to changi airport and checked into our flights with so much ease that i was momentarily grateful we are again back in singapore's comfortable arms.


while waiting for our boarding call, we had a light breakfast at the coffee bean stall and called papang, darwin's dad. it was his birthday and we felt guilty when he apologized profusely for being such a pain during the wedding day. the apologies were of course unnecessary. he was forgiven even before he apologized but just the same, it was great hearing both darwin and papang back to their old jovial selves. tiya eve, my maternal aunt who's now living in london with her family, also called and instructed us on where we'd meet.


we then exchanged our singapore dollars for some british pounds and euros and felt a tinge of sadness when we saw the numbers reduce to more than half.


all our families back home wished us a pleasant honeymoon journey and off to london we went. the malaysian airline's plane was better than expected, considering that darwin only got our return flights for 800 SGD each (excluding the taxes). it could give the award-winning singapore airlines a run for its trophy. we have our own individual tv sets, in-flight phones and never-ending food servings.


no one in the plane seemed to show any interest in sleeping, perhaps because of the anticipation of the fun that awaits us all. so darwin and i finished all the movies in the queue, browsed through the wedding pictures in my iBook and reminisced about the wedding day.


i did a quick review of our europe research notes. i was a little nervous while browsing through the tagged lonely planet book. so much of this trip depends on what i can remember from my europe trip four years ago and from what darwin and i have researched in-between wedding activities.


but funny how fourteen hours seem to just slip by when you're having fun. soon the pilot announced that we are soon to land in heathrow airport and we realized we haven't slept a wink! from the small plane window, we can see a crisscross of streets and houses, of rivers and meadows. i couldn't believe we are already in london! the honeymoon officially starts!


heathrow airport is a humdrum of activities, a big change from the subdued changi airport. we got our first taste of the british twang when the immigration officer did a short interview and announced loudly to his colleagues that this young couple is on a honeymoon! blushing, we waved goodbye and waltzed to the luggage belt.


tiya eve is meeting us at london-victoria station so we asked a couple of beatles-lookalike backpackers on how to get to the station but both didn't know how. a passing giant policeman pointed us to the national express office where we got our bus ticket for 10 pounds each (feels good to say pounds!). it was a direct trip from the airport to the city center.


if the immigration officer was nice, the driver of this bus was extremely rude! he was motioning for something which i thought was my luggage (he was standing near the open trunk, for crying out loud!) so i gave it to him and got a brisk "your tickets!" instead. he was understandably pissed as he has been assisting a group of old ladies unload their heavy bags a while ago, but hey don't take it out on me!


but rude drivers not minding, we marveled at the old brick houses we saw while on our way to the city. rows upon rows of identical brick houses. some houses looked like centuries old, their chimneys almost falling apart but the facades well-painted. after an hour or so, the city center came to view. the distant streets were jam-packed with cars and busses and we came to a halt. it was exactly like the pictures of london i see in travel books! it has a certain antique feel to it. old victorian buildings are interlaced with modern establishments.


it was already 7pm in london but the sun was still up. we alighted across the london-victoria bus station and walked towards the train station to meet tiya eve. we lost a few minutes because we couldn't figure out the right entrance and exit.


we immediately saw tiya eve and my little cousin ayn at the w.h. smith bookshop and we excitedly hugged each other. it has been so long since i last saw them and tiya eve looked happier and younger than i remember. the london lifestyle certainly agrees with her.


i did the necessary introductions and after chatting for a little while, we left our heavy luggage at the station's baggage center. our bags were scanned thoroughly and a big security notice was posted on the entrance apologizing for the strict measure. we boarded the train to worthing which was almost two hours travel from the london center. both darwin and me were horrified at the thought of the lost time! we only have one full day to spend in london (though we're going back at the end of the europe trip) so we wanted to have an early start tomorrow. had we known it's too far from london, we would have booked a hotel room at the city center instead. and the fare was also eleven pounds each from our pockets (that was the kicker, actually)!


but the train ride was an experience. the train cars were not the modern cars i see in singapore but open-air reliable worn-out cars. upon leaving the station we passed through several big warehouse-looking buildings then it opened up to wide meadows with the sun slowly sinking on the horizon. the sky turned from yellow to indigo then purple to black.


we alighted at the worthing station and took a car ride to tiya eve's house in her pink mini car. home is a cozy three-bedroom house with untended front garden and we were met with excited screams from my little cousin jappy and a warm hello from tito arman, tiya eve's husband. they all looked so happy together and i suddenly felt grateful that we didn't know how far worthing was because if we did, we would surely book a hotel in london and miss this warmth.

after dinner, we browsed through the wedding pictures in my iBook, played with jappy for a little while then went upstairs to freshen up and sleep. it was really cold outside and i was glad of the warmth inside the house.

tomorrow, we are going to explore london by foot and although i was so excited i immediately fell asleep.

yes, we're finally here! europe, baby!

~

our london pictures are posted here.

coming up next ...
Honeymoon 03 - June 9, An English Birthday

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