Summer Holiday in London and Paris

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Summer Holiday in London and Paris

Day 1

We started our first European holiday by boarding the morning Airasia direct flight from Sibu to Kuala Lumpur. Being there too early for the mid-night flight to London, we tried our luck for the Golden Lounge of Malaysian Airlines. I have about 21,000 Enrich points and 3 of us would need 8,000pts x 3 to enter. To our delight, the staff was kind enough to let my 14 yr Michelle in as accompanying child. What a privilege it was as an Enrich member. The Golden Lounge was more relaxing than checking into the Airside Hotel in the KLIA Satellite building which I have made a reservation earlier without confirmation. Eat and drink all you can with bathroom facilities. Michelle had a great time going online msn with her friends at the terminals made available inside the lounge. We had the whole sofa set occupied exclusively for the whole 12 hours on transit.

MH002 departed at midnight and the 13 hour non-stop flight was not at all a comfortable experience. A dinner and breakfast with a small supper pack was all that differentiates from Airasia. Not forgetting of course the in-flight entertainment and the landing at Heathrow, the busiest airport in the world.

We touched down at Terminal 3 of Heathrow at 5.30am London time which was about 1.30pm back home. We headed for the Dot-To-Dot Transport Counter which I booked earlier at the Golden Lounge of KLIA.. It costed us £49 for which we had little choice as we were so unlucky to bump into the 2 days strike put up by the Tube workers union in London. I had heard of it much earlier through its website www.tfl.gov.uk And it was confirmed after talks between the government and the union failed. The service was excellent with a big couch and door to door transport. We checked into European Hotel at Argyle Street, King's Cross costing £90 per night for a triple en-suite room. It was operated by an Italian family. We were told to leave our bags with them and return for checkin around 2 pm. We did it obligingly though we were worried at the sign which read 'Guests leave luggage at their own risk'.

The gloomy feeling over the much internet forecasted rainy weather in London was cleared upon our arrival and in fact, it remained sunny for all 3 days we were in London.

We took breakfast at the McDonalds right at the entrance of Crestfield Street. The meal made us feel the pinge of the high conversion forex rate of British Pound. We paid RM5.85 for a Pound at KLIA.

After the meal, we went across the road to the St Pancras Internattional Station for our tickets to Paris by Eurostar 3 days later. I have pre-booked the tickets but need to collect the tickets from the e-ticketing machines thereat. The retrieval of our tickets was hassle-free with the help of the customer service officers at the machines.

With some more time to kill, we headed for the British Museum at Great Russell Street not far from the hotel on foot bearing in mind that the Tube workers were on their second day’s strike (lucky for us as it only affected our first day of holidays). The museum offers free admission from 1000 till 1700 daily. We were particularly impressed with the mummies displayed at the museum and took plenty of pictures. We were just wondering why museums back home forbids photo-taking by visitors. After an hour and half, we left the museum and started to stroll around the area heading back to the hotel. We took some pictures of the classic red phone booth and post boxes on London streets and passed by the Main Campus of University of London. We had a brief stop at the Russell Square, one of the large garden square in London. Michelle was awed by the magnificent lawn in the square where many students sit and lie for leisure or reading. The centre fountain was the focus where water jets shot directly from the pavement with many pigeons ‘playing’ with the water. Michelle had a very close encounter with a squirrel which practically ignored anyone’s close presence by focusing on the ice-cream drooped by someone on the pavement. We strolled back to the hotel before checking in around 2pm. Being too tired, we took a nap after showers and unpacking. It was around 6p.m. when we woke up. We went to a Chinese restaurant and had a dinner before retiring early.

Day 2

Time zone difference was affecting our sleep and we would be awake with eyes wide open before 4 a.m. local time (11 a.m. in Malaysia). Michelle would still enjoy wandering in her dreams but definitely not us. Early sunrise was another factor causing the problem. It was broad daylight by 4 a.m.! The breakfast room of the hotel opened only at 7 a.m. Practically, we had ample time to get ready for the day well before that. I went alone to the Kings Cross Underground Station to be first in the queue to get our daily TravelCard. If you plan to go round London on your own and to a few different locations across the city, it would be more cost effective to get the £16 daily TravelCrad which would be valid for the whole day (A single trip on the tube would cost £4). The striking thing is that one could travel on different mode of transport such as the underground, bus, trains and so on using the same card. I was the first in the queue and I could easily buy our tickets with a Malaysian HSBC Credit Card!

I returned to the hotel and being still early for breakfast, we strolled down the streets to Carlton Hotel - a sister hotel of European Hotel where we enjoyed half an hour of free wifi access at its lobby before we return to European Hotel for our first English breakfast in London. The breakfast was moderate with bacon, baked bean, toast, coffee, fruit juice and fried eggs. One can have as much as you need. By 7.30 a.m. we were all set to begin another day out on London streets. We headed straight to the Westminster Station by Tube and exited towards the Westminster Bridge for a good view of the Big Ben and the Parliament building by the Thames. It was only 8 a.m. The morning sun casted a magnificent view of the buildings by the Thames. London Eye was on the other side of the bridge and we decided to go for it later. We walked to the Westminster Abbey nearby and took a good shot of the building before heading on foot to the famous Buckingham Palace. The Changing of the Guard only occurs at 11 a.m. and being there early, we took some pictures at the Victoria’s Memorial in front of the Palace before taking a walk into the Constitution Hill inside the Green Park towards the Statute of the Duke of Wellington. Hyde Park is just across the street from the statue. We strolled around the Serpentine Lake and had some fun with the ducks and swans alongside the lake.

We returned to the east front of Buckingham Palace before 11 a.m. for the Changing of the Guards. The crowd was just too large to have a closer look at the ceremonial attractions. We went to another McDonalds for lunch on our way back to the London Eye. We crossed the Westminster Bridge and headed for the queue for tickets(£17 for adults and £8.50 for child). It was not too bad with about half an hour’s wait before our turn into one of the capsules on the World’s tallest Ferris wheel. A flight on the wheel took 30 minutes to a height of 135m. A single capsule could take a maximum of 25 adults. The view was magnificent and we were at lost of words enjoying the aerial view of London City. We bought a £10 photoshot taken from one of the external cameras of our capsule. It was almost 5 p.m. local time when we decided to head for the last stop of the day - the Trafalgar Square via Charring Cross Station.

Trafalgar Square, at the heart of London, is one of the city’s most vibrant open spaces. Home to Nelson’s Column, the square is rich in history and provides a platform for new artistic performances and events. We returned to Kings Cross for a Chinese dinner before retiring for the day.

Day 3

After an early breakfast, we headed for St. Paul’s Cathedral via St Paul’s Station. We left St Paul’s Catedral and headed for the infamous Millennium Bridge. On our way, we stopped by the London Visitor’s Booth and also the London Fire Brigade Statue along the Sermon Lane. This statue is dedicated to the brave firefighters and crews who worked in the City during the Second World War. The sculpture, by John W Mills, shows a group of three firefighters, two of whom are operating a hose and a third standing figure of a sub-officer, pointing towards the fire and seemingly calling for reinforcements.

The London Millennium Footbridge is a pedestrian-only steel suspension bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England, linking Bankside with the City. Linking the two major tourist attractions of St Paul's Cathedral and the fabulous Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge is a worthy addition to London's riverside and well worth a visit.

Next, we headed for Tower Bridge via Tower Hill Station. We past the Tower of London on our way. One should really make it a point to visit the Tower Bridge Exhibition to experience the stunning panoramic views from the walkways high above the Thames. See the original Victorian steam engines used to raise the bridge and have fun with the interactive exhibits to learn more about the world's most famous bridge!

As we walked along the Southbank of the Thames, we came by the London City Hall. The building has an unusual bulbous shape, intended to reduce its surface area and thus improve energy efficiency.

We had lunch at one of the restaurants along the Queen’s Walk along the promenade of Southbank. We tried the famous English Sausages and Fish and Chips.

We headed for the famous Piccadilly Circus. The name 'Piccadilly' originates from a 17th century frilled collar, Roger Baker, the tailor who became rich making piccadils lived in the area. The word 'Circus' refers to the roundabout around which the traffic circulated.Piccadilly Circus is a busy plaza in the heart of London at the junction of five major streets: Regent street, Shaftesbury Avenue, Piccadilly and Covent Street. The plaza used to be surrounded by billboards, creating London's version of Times Square, but currently only one building still carries large (mostly electronic) displays. At the center of the Circus stands the Shaftesbury memorial fountain. It was built in 1893 to commemorate Lord Shaftesbury, a philanthropist known for his support of the poor. We spent an hour inside the LillyWhite Sports attire Departmental Store. We got a new pair of sports shoes each at a pretty reasonable price after 30% discount.

It was about 7.40 p.m. and we had another unfulfilled mission - We headed for Harrods, the World’s most luxurious department store at Knightsbridge. As soon as we enter, we were requested by the security not to carry my back-pack on my back and told that I have to carry it with my hand! What’s that? A visit to the website later made me realsied that it is to prevent damage to displays and ornaments. Um….that sounds more convincing as we noticed that even a small foldable umbrella costs £75. One should stop by the toilets which are impressive with full time attendants handing you a towel after washing hands. We bought a Teddy bear with Harrods signature for Michelle for souvenir at £17 (since we can’t afford other luxuries). The store closed at 8 p.m. and we took a short walk down the road and were attracted by an Italian restaurant.

We were shocked when we walked back to the Knightsbridge Station - it was closed! All gates down!. Before stopping an expensive London Cab, we tried to look for the London buses. Yeah, it was so convenient with the info maps at each bus stop telling which bus stops one should be waiting for a bus heading for a particular destination. In fact, we regretted for not being on a red London bus earlier as it really gave us an opportunity to have a nice view of London streets and buildings. Though the journey took much longer than the tube, we arrived at Kings Cross around 10 p.m. when the sun had just gone down. I believe summer is just the right time to travel to London as one gets much longer hours to tour around the city compared to winter.

Day 4 & 5 in Paris...to be continued

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