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Published: September 8th 2011
England!
I had the best time while in England! It was such a wonderful mini Singapore reunion. I wish it didn't go by so fast and that everyone could have been there. Nonetheless, it was amazing.
I flew to England via IcelandExpress Airlines. They were a very cheap option, costing only $395 to get to England from Newark, NJ. To get to Newark, NJ from Buffalo, NY I took a Southwest Airline flight that had a layover in Baltimore. I have a few friends who live in the D.C area so I tried to get a later flight so that my layover would be longer and I could have to possibility to see them. Unfortunately, Southwest doesn't work that way but I had one friend, Betty Tam, who made the effort to drive from DC to Baltimore Airport to have coffee with me for a mere 45 minutes. It was the sweetest thing for her to do! Betty and I also met while studying abroad in Singapore. It was a wonderful start to my mini Singaporean reunion in England. To be able to meet up with her, I had to exit the terminal and then afterwards go back through
Betty and I at BWI
Betty made it all the way to the BWI airport just to spend 40 minutes with me! So sweet! I haven't seen her since China Town, Singapore!security so it was a bit of a time crunch between my two flights. I wish that we would have had more time but I loved every second.
Once I arrived in Newark, NJ I had a 10 hour layover. Wish that could have been in Baltimore but you can't have everything. Surprisingly, the 10 hour layover went by pretty quickly (as you saw at the end of my last post). Once I passed through security and arrived to my gate the reality of my situation finally hit me. Realization that that was the last moment that I would be on American soil for a while sank in. It was a strange feeling, one with excitement, anxiety, hope, and a bit of sadness. The thoughts of what if or should have done popped in my mind but at the end of the day I was so excited for the adventure I was about to begin that it kicked all the insecure thoughts out. I know that I could have stayed in America or moved to Germany and found a great career but when would I ever have the chance to do something like this again? I have nothing holding
me back, no bills, no debt, so why not?! I am on my path of discovery and things will come. I know what I am capable of and I don't have time to doubt the future but rather live in the present working towards my future. I want to thank everyone who has been there for me, encouraging me to make this huge step in my life. Your support is what gives me courage to go on. Thank you. <3
The Iceland Express plane was a snug fit and an uncomfortable one. I probably should have put my bag in the overhead bin to have more foot room but never got around to it. The flight was also a very bumpy one. There was a very big dip randomly, and I had to laugh because the expressions of the people coming out of the restroom were priceless. I'd hate to have that happen! You are doing your personal business and dip, shake, and bump. You have no clue what's going on. Even with the bumpy ride, I was able to sleep most of the way. I really didn't want to have bad jetlag while in England for only a
week. The flight was only 5 hours and there was no food be had or drinks other than water. I really didn't much mind, you get what you pay for. I had a layover in Iceland and then a three hour flight to Gatwick Airport in London. I feel asleep on that one too! I've never slept this much on a plane before! It really helped though, I didn't have any jet lag at all!
I was so excited to arrive in London. Ever since I can remember I have wanted to see England. Mostly due to the Spice Girls phase but nonetheless! I was excited to see all the sights, hear the accents, and hug my friends again. The only thing holding me back was the passport control woman. She literally asked me a million questions and for a second there I felt as if she was going to send me to a back room to be questioned and then eventually sent back to the U.S. The questions went from normal to bad to really bad.
Passport Lady: Why are you coming to England?
Me: To visit friends
Passport Lady: How long are you staying?
Me: a week
Passport Lady: How do you know these friends?
Me: We studied abroad together in Singapore
Passport Lady: Why did you study abroad in Singapore?
Me: um… because it was a program through my school…
Passport Lady: How much money have you brought with you? (I HATE THIS QUESTION!)
Me: um… about $300 cash
Passport Lady: (looks at me like I'm crazy) You only brought $300 with you? That won't last you a week here in England. How are you financially supporting yourself on the endeavor?
Me: (annoyed with the very personal financial question portion) well I was stating how much cash I have not what I have in total
Passport Lady: Then, how much do you have
Me: (lean in and whisper… I'm really not comfortable with this question b/c I never know what is too little or too much to say)
Passport Lady: Alright, and where do you plan on staying with such a low budget?
Me: well, I'm visiting friends and can stay with them for free
Passport Lady: Where do your friends live?
Me: Well, one is in Colchester, another in London, and another in Liverpool…
Passport Lady: (eyebrows raised) Alright… Well when are you going back
Pub in London
They look so nice to the U.S?
Me: (answer truthfully, stupidly) Well, I'm not too sure as of now, I'm going to Thailand to teach English
Passport Lady: (flips through my passport) I don't see a work visa for this
Me: I haven't gotten it yet… Going to get that while in Germany
Passport Lady: oh, Germany now? Why are you going to Germany?
Me: (have had enough of this! Just wanted to go out and see Becky) I have family there that I will be visiting
Passport Lady: Ok.. Well here you go (stamp)
Me: Thank you very much! (sigh of relief! And of frustration!)
Never had I been more glad to get out of an airport! Just as I exited through the doors I saw Becky there waiting for me. It was so nice to have her there to welcome me!! She didn't need to travel all the way to the Gatwick Airport to get me, but she did. All my frustration from the passport lady passed and I was filled with excitement for the week to come. I had a feeling it was going to be epic! Becky and I had some coffee before we started the train trek back
to her home in Colchester. Personally, I am so glad that Becky was there! I would have been able to figure it out but it was nice not to think and just go with the flow. Thanks Becky! First, we took a train into London and from there took a train to Colchester. As we were on the trains I got to get a good look at the country side and it reminded me a lot of Germany, beautiful country sides with lots of various fields growing a variety of crop. This is the part of the trip where I realized I still may have packed too much! I was so glad Becky was there to help me carry my heavy pink bag. I'm hoping that this bag will weigh significantly less once I give Lukas and Jonas their presents.. But it probably won't make a huge difference at the end of the day. The second we left the airport I noticed my accent. It was so strange to be the one different from everyone else. I hated how plain and ugly my accent sounded to all the proper English I was surrounded by.
We arrived to Colchester and
Becky's sister picked us up from the station. I hadn't thought until just then that they drive on the other side of the road! No matter how much I had experience with the left side while being in Asia it was strange each time I rode in a car in England. Just takes a while I guess. I loved looking out the window and seeing all the houses and how the neighborhood looked. It's very different from what I'm used to in Texas. There are more duplex houses than anything else. I just loved the style. As dorky as this will sound, I felt like I was in Harry Potter! Haha. I just needed everyone to carry wands and break out a spell here and there. I loved Becky's house. I had seen it once before on Google Maps but it's always better in person. I absolutely loved her family. They were so kind and helpful with everything.
The next day, Becky and I walked around the town of Colchester. It even has it's own castle! We walked around a lot. Walked from her house to town, to the castle, around the castle grounds, and then around town some
more. Everything was so English and green. Stereotypically, it was a rainy day. I didn't mind though! It has been so long since I've experienced rain with the drought in Texas. There on the castle grounds, Becky and I enjoyed some scones and cream tea. My first official English meal. It was so delicious! Then when we returned to Becky's house for dinner we had Shepard's Pie and bread and butter pudding for dessert. Another great English meal. Shepard's pie is not actually a pie with shepherds in it, but rather baked mashed potatoes with minced meat in the middle. I'm a mashed potato lover and therefore I loved this meal. That evening, four of us went out to enjoy Colchester nightlife. I was actually very surprised with how lively this country town was at night. There are a few clubs and many pubs to visit. We tried the Purple Dog pub but sadly they were closed by 11. I just loved all the quirky names the pubs have in England. We ended our night at a pub and that's really where my accent came into play. I opened my mouth to say something and it's "oh my! You are
not from here! You are a foreigner! Where are you from?" I'm not used to such attention over my accent! Now I understand how the Brits feel when they come to the U.S. It's really fun to speak the same language yet be so different! At times, I just could not understand a word that was said to me! So funny.
We saved London for the 2nd official day I was there to make sure that I wasn't really jet lagged. Luckily so! It was beautiful weather in the afternoon, sunny and warm. We enjoyed another typical English meal before we began our free walking tour around London. We shared a plate of Bangers and Mash and a plate of Steak and Ale Pie. Both very delicious! After filling up on a hearty lunch we headed over to find the tour. I am a big fan of the Sandemans New Europe Tours. They are lead by 20-somethings who have fun personalities and provide an overall wonderful tour. The tour itself is a free walking tour and the company provides many sorts of tours within each city they are in. I highly recommend this to any budget traveller. You get
to walk around the town and really get a feel for the city as you view all the sights. They only ask for a tip at the end of the tour and you can give however much you feel the tour was worth to you. The tour Becky and I took in London was a 2.5 hour walking tour that covered these sights:
• Hyde Park Corner
• Buckingham Palace
• The Changing of the Guard, depending on the day
• Churchill’s War Cabinet Bunker
• The Houses of Parliament
• St. Martin-in-the-Fields
• Westminster Abbey
• Trafalgar Square
• Nelson’s Column
• Wellington Arch
• St. James’s Park
• 10 Downing St.
• Big Ben
We figured it would be better to take this walking tour because they would most efficiently cover the sights I was interested in seeing plus some. My favorites were Buckingham Palace, The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. I learned that Big Ben is not the tower like most people think it is… but rather it is the bell inside the tower. We learned the story of Guy Fawkes and how he tried to blow up The Houses of Parliament to
overthrow the king. I learned this pretty weird annual holiday from Beth a long time ago. The English celebrate this guys death on November 5th by making an effigy of him and then burning him in bonfires. They also have fireworks that are to display what would have happened if the plan to blow up The Houses of Parliament would have worked. Little did I know that he wasn't the leader but rather just the mastermind behind the explosives. Poor guy… I do think it's a pretty weird way to celebrate the avoidance of such a horrible event, but to each their own! At least there are fireworks! We also learned how to tell if the Queen was at home. They have the "Royal Standard" flag flying. Unfortunately, she wasn't in when we saw the palace. I got a kick out of seeing the famous balcony where Kate and William had their first official public kiss. Also neat to note, now that Kate is a royal, her proper name is now Catherine! Kate isn't formal enough! We were at Buckingham Palace on a day that they did not change the guards and I was also disappointed to see that they
have moved the guards within the gates so that tourists couldn't torment them any longer. I really wanted to give it a try! Haha, just kidding! They did stand oddly still the entire time though! What a job to have! Then Westminster Abbey is where most of all the royal weddings and funerals occur, including our newlyweds Kate and William. It cost way to much to try and go in but you could go in and participate during a service for free. If I had more time in London I would have. The same goes for St. Peter's Cathedral.
After this tour ended, Becky and I spent some time on the bridge that is right in front of The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge. From the bridge, you can see the London Eye (very similar to the Singapore Flyer), The Houses of Parliament, The Big Ben Tower, The London Bridge, and down the River Thames that runs through central London. I knew instantly that I wanted to come back later to see everything lite up at night. This was where we were going to meet up with Steven, another friend I studied abroad with in Singapore. He lives in
London and was able to meet up with us for the afternoon. I was very excited to see him. Even though Becky and Steven live one hour away from another they had yet to have seen another since Singapore! I even got to see Steven when he studied abroad in America for the Spring semester. With Steven in tow, we went on to see more sights. Most significant to mention was the Globe Theater. I was so excited to see the Globe but unfortunately we arrived too late and the gates were already closed. It's situated right along the River Thames and was actually bigger than I expected. The entire day, I tried imagining how London was like back in the day. It's amazing what things survive the years. Then after being "tourists" which I actually was we had a great dinner at a local favorite, Nandos. Nandos is a very delicious Portuguese restaurant. Another "English" meal achieved! 😊 It was fun getting to catch up with Steven before we split up again. We would see him on Saturday when we all met up to go to Tom's up north. Becky and I headed back to Westminster Bridge so that
I could get the night view. I could have stood there all night. It was so beautiful. We wandered back to St. Peter's Cathedral to see that at night as well before we eventually got back onto a train back to Colchester. For spending only one day in London, I feel like I got a good taste for the city. I am excited to go back one day and really be able to savor what the city has to offer.
The next day was another travel day. Becky and I headed to Nottingham via the national express bus. The bus had to take us down to London first and then from London back up to Nottingham. This was a chance to be able to see all the sights of London again via bus. Nottingham is where Becky goes to university. We arrived late afternoon and enjoyed a quiet night. We went for a tour around her campus (which is beautiful!) and then headed to a pub for dinner and quiz night. We were absolutely horribly at the quiz and even managed to come in about 5th place with using Becky's smart phone. Let's just say there are a lot
of cheaters at quiz nite! The next day, Friday, we were able to finally have a "lie in" (other words known as sleeping in). That day was pretty rainy as well so we spend a good portion enjoying the shops that Nottingham has to offer, like Primark. The weather in England was not what I was expecting for the end of August and I bought myself a sweater, scarf, leggings, and tights all for only 14 pounds! I love Primark!!! Nottingham is known as the home of Robin Hood. Oh and apparently, baked potatoes are called jacket potatoes. Nottingham is also home to England's oldest pub, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem. We took a gander inside and it was pretty neat. Again, I love the rich history! Nottingham also has caves and Becky told me that every once and a while university students will somehow get down there and have cave parties. Fun! That night we went over to Becky's boyfriends house, Philip, and had Indian food for dinner (another English favorite). After that we went to a club called Oceana, where they have Europe's largest disco floor! Becky was a great tour guide and told me all the important
facts, like how her university has the longest corridor in Europe and that Colchester is England's oldest recorded town with the widest castle staircase. So many neat facts!
Saturday finally came and we were again on the road again. We took a national express bus again to Manchester where we would meet up with Steven and then take a train to where Tom lives. The country side changed dramatically as we drove up to Manchester. We passed what is known as the Peak District. Apparently there is a week long trek you can do through the Peak District. If I ever come back to England that is a must do on my list. I absolutely fell in love with the scenery. When we arrived Manchester, Becky and I had to find our way to the train station. Becky and I both had huge travel bags but we managed. Manchester was having a Gay Pride Parade and we got to see glimpses of it as we walked to the station. Would have been neat if we could have gone a little more into the parade area but with our bags that wasn't plausible. We easily found Steven at the station
and we all enjoyed a Subway lunch together. Subway takes us back to Singapore, where we had it a bit too much! We then boarded our very small train to Tom's town. Unbeknownst to us, his grandmother was on the very same train as us! When we arrived at the train station, Tom's mother was there to meet us. Tom had to go get Maurice, another friend from Singapore who is from Holland, from the Liverpool Airport. We got settled in at Tom's house as we waited for Tom and Maurice to arrive. Tom's house is absolutely stunning. There is a beautiful view of the country from his backyard. He's mother and father are pretty awesome as well!
The whole reason bringing us together was the event of a surprise birthday that Tom cancelled. Luckily, we were still able to come and have a small celebration with him. That night Tom showed us two local pubs and we all had a great time catching up with one another. It felt like old times but we had a few people missing. We'd like to have a real Singapore Reunion with everyone one day but we will see if that is
even plausible. The next day we ventured into Liverpool after having a delicious full English Breakfast. I found a new sauce to love! HP sauce, otherwise known as House of Parliament Sauce. Another little fact, the Queen herself gives a stamp of approval on foods that she has had. HP sauce and our own American Heinz Ketchup made the cut!
The Matthew Street Festival was going on that weekend in Liverpool and there was a lot going on. Thousands of people were out and about enjoying all the cover, original, and new bands and day long drinking activities. According to Tom, Liverpool was voted the center of culture in 2008. There has been a ton of music that originated in Liverpool and they are damn proud, as they should be. We spent the afternoon/early evening walking around and taking it all in. We visited a few pubs and went to an All-American Diner for dinner. I gave it my American stamp of approval 😊 Liverpool did remind me a lot of Austin with all the live music that was going on. Even the pubs had live performances going on. We took the train back to Tom's and then just
hung out for the rest of the night. At about 3 am we skyped Ruchi in Alabama to try and get her in on the reunion. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to anyone else because we were so tired and out of it. I'm sure Ruchi enjoyed our chat though 😊
The next day we all parted ways. Steven headed out first and then Becky and I caught our train to Manchester. It was weird saying bye to everyone because after this little reunion it really is hard to imagine when the next meet up could possibly be. All in all, we all had a wonderful time and I can't wait for the next time. I had my flight out of Manchester to Munich, Germany. All week I had been praying that baby Jonas would hold out till I arrived in Germany and I got my wish! My brother in law was able to pick me up from the airport and everything went smoothly. I arrived in my little village of Reinwarzhofen at about 10:30 pm and got to huge my very pregnant sister goodnight. Life is good. Now all I had to do was get to know my
nephew who is about to turn three and wait for baby Jonas to come. I hadn't seen Lukas since he was 8 months old and I was very excited to see his personality. I'm determined to teach him a little bit of English, we'll see how that goes!
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DAD AND MOM
non-member comment
We enjoyed reading your Blog since you left America. Very exciting , So hope you are getting closer to go to Thailand. Have you bought your ticket yet. Love Dad and Mom