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Published: August 7th 2007
I was lucky to be chosen by my cousin to be his daughter's godfather! Having said that, I was excited to book my flight to Newcastle, a month ago and make sure to get a lower fare from easyJet. At first, it was really difficult to finalise my booking due to my deadlines with my university research. This time of the year is quite crucial but fortunately, I was able to visit the eastern side/coast area of Newcastle Upon Tyne - Sunderland.
The weather is always unpredictable and due to the bad weather my flight from Belfast International airport was cancelled for almost 1 hour. I took it positively and I was able to walk around the airport, bought some gifts/souvenirs for my cousin, and did a review of it for my other consumer site posting.
Anyway, I arrived at the Newcastle airport at 30 minutes before midnight, and unluckily my cousin advised me to take a taxi going to Sunderland. Well, he paid for the fare amounting to £41 for almost 30 minutes travel time from the airport at the late night hour (without traffic). There is no option since the last train trip ends at 1130pm which
I could only pay at £3.50 one way!
It was an enjoyable visit and the baptism rite of my cousin's baby went well at the St Anne's Church. The reception was held at the hall of the church and priest is very kind enough to offer the place for the christening celebration attended by more than 100 guests, mostly Filipinos. Prior to the party, I also helped my cousin prepare the decoration of the hall (arrangement of tables and chairs, table covers) which I also enjoyed as well.
There is no other option but to stay inside the house for two days due to continuous rain. But on my last day, after attending the Sunday mass, my cousin together with his friends, decided to have a joy ride within the city centre, a stroll at the seaside of Sunderland and nearby park, including one-hour walk along the beach of Southshields - a place called the "Grotto" (a few minutes drive from Sunderland). This will be featured in a separate journal (Part 2) to have a better appreciation of the coastline of the area. The other amazing structure found here is the restaurant called 'Smuggler Jack' fish bar!
Finally, before my departure flight back to Belfast, we had a quick window shopping at the biggest shopping mall in Europe, The Metro Centre with more than 300 shops could be found.
There is so much to explore in Newcastle which I want to do in my next visit. In particular, I want to have a closer look of the Penshaw Monument (the black towering structure at the hill); the Angel of the North statue at Gateshead which is built of 200 tonnes of steel; and other historical attractions of this part of England.
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