That morning 10th June 2015, we woke up and pack our things, i packed most stuff that night. Sarah do speedy packing. Our bags are gettin heavier..haha. You can check out our last chapter in Amsterdam here!
We then check out of the hostel and head to Amsterdam Central. We took the train to Schipol Airport Amsterdam. It was around 4 Euros. We reached the airport quite early actually.
Schipol is not a really busy airport, so we dont feels like we are too rushin. We had our breakfast first at a cafe there. The lady asked us where are we from, maybe just to be friendly. We sat and enjoyed our breakfast first.
cafe in Schipol airport
After the Dutch immigration area, We board Easyjet plane around 8AM ++, its pretty much like Air Asia, lowcost carrier. TIPS: choose lowcost carrier flight to save budget around Europe, esp Easyjet.
http://www.easyjet.com/en/ - the web
Our flight ticket from Schipol to Luton, London cost around 26Euros. TIPS: choose Luton airport as it is cheaper. London have 4 airports tho, the main one is Heathrow. the other 3 is Gatwick, Luton and Stansted. So we chose Luton, cheapest from Schipol via EasyJet.
The flight took around 1 hour + . not so long. Its very Air Asia, lol.. most of the steward are fabulous. We arrived in Luton airport and saw the sign 'Entering UK Border' ...wow gave me goosebumps.. hehe. Welcome to your colonial masters land..lol..hahaha
The immigration officer with no smile analyze my passport and said 'how many days n where r u stayin' .. I answered, he stamped the passport and we were free to go. My stomach was rumbling, so i went to the toilet first, Again remember, bring wet tissue wherever u go, for Malaysian..;)
We search for the Easy bus booth, it was near the exit to the bus and taxi stop. i have the info about it in me. It was the same company that pick us up from CDG in Paris. But for London, we bought the ticket here at the terminal cos we afraid if the flight is delayed, then we need to buy again. it was Paid via card only btw, TIPS, The Easybus will take you from the Luton airport to the city centre with limited stops. You may find the schedule here (http://www.easybus.com/en/) .
Europe uses card mostly, so u better activate your credit card internationally.
The wait is quite long actually for the bus, we learned that they combined 2 bus into 1 big bus. hence, the wait. The wind started blowing and smoke started coming out from my mouth. U know when u saw the movies where they speak and smoke come out cos its cold. Yep, that happened. It was kinda cool and literally cold. hehe. The ticket collector even said 'yea i know its kinda cold today right, it wasn't supposed to be this cold' ..hihihi..we never even say anything, i guess our shivering said it all.
The bus finally arrived, the guy who put our bags, pulled Sarah's bag too hard till one of the string come off..haiyooo..Sarah was pissed. haish.. The bus moved and we enjoy the view outside the bus, Luton have farms and villages , quite nice, very countryside. Our stop is Baker Street. I asked the driver to let us know when we reach there and he did :).
We stopped at Baker Street, we cannot believe that we are actually in London at that time, London baby!...lol..too excited i know. First thing first, Tube station. They have 8 lines for Tube in London. TIPS: download their tube map first before coming, easier to study.
Baker Street station :)
We get into the station and bought the oyster card, its like a touch n go card. TIPS: You use this card to use the tube, but u have to top up. The card cost 20pound, u will get that back when u return the card. Its like a deposit. U can top up the card at any machine or counter in the tube station.
The staff at the counter is friendly esp female, so u can ask em if u need any info. We then took the Metropolitan line tube from Baker street station, and stop at King Pancras station, Switched to Piccadilly line and arrived at Holborn. the station that is near our hostel. Btw, the King Pancras station is where the station 9 3/4 in Harry Potter movie located, u know the one Harry goes into the wall. If u want u can find it and take a pic ! :)
We then find our way to our Hostel, Astor Inn in Montague Street. The good thing about London is each bus stand they provide you with Map board. So, u know where exactly u r. We follow the map and instruction, got lost a bit at 1 or 2 turn..lol But we manage to find The British Museum, so our hostels is in front of it :) ..
the map you will find at any bus or train station.
We finally checked in to Astor Inn, yeay!, the moment we stepped we feel this welcoming vibe from the hostel. Because it was still early, so we cant go into our room yet, we paid and leave our bags at the storage room down there. The funny thing is i paid 20Euros, mistakenly...and the hostel staff said 'mm this is Euros' ..hihi, mamai.. payment must be made in Pound cos we are in Britain now!, lol. The hostel cost us 43 pound for 2 nights. We drop our bags, return the alligator key (yup that key has an aligator attached to it and if we didn't return it the staff said the alligator will chase us).. hihihihi..
Astor Inn, the blue door
We then walked around the area to hav something to drink, esp coffee. We walked around the building and end up at Russel Square station, the tube. TIPS: dont use the term metro in London cos they call it Tube. I read in the website that the Hostel nearest Tube station is Holborn. But actually, Russel Square is also very near and easier to find, dark red color.
Russel Square station!
We stopped at Pret A Manger, a coffee shop, quite big, self service. Lots of sandwiches.. i bought the Salmon sandwich and a latte. We sat near the window to look at the Brits life while eating the cold sandwich, hahaha.over tau!
The Pret! Pret A Manger
The sandwich are serve cold, its their style. I need ketchup to help me swallow.. everything is so fuckin expensive in London, like seriously. TIPS: Do not convert it to our currency or u'll cry!
After we had our sandwiches, we go and take a walk at the Russel Square garden. I like it here, u can see people having their picnic, students doing their study group, kids having fun ..so refreshing. We also sit there on grass and enjoyed the park. They also have fountains:) . There's cafe in there too, but u know the price gonna kill u..kikiki , But seriously, visit this park take a stroll and relax. Be a londoners..gituu.
fefeeling londoners
We are supposed to visit the British Museum, but we got so tired. So, we walked back to our hostel to check our room. As usual Sarah is my GPS..hihihik..
on our way, union jack all the way :P
we get into our room, at that time there was no one in the room. We booked 8 beds room btw. So i take the bottom bed n Sarah the top. There's a drawer on the bottom of the bed, so its easier if u wanna keep stuff.
the room
We rest and freshen up, changed and get ready to go out to central London :). Our first destination is the Piccadily Circus. We walked to the Holborn tube station, take the train piccadilly line and stop at Piccadilly Circus.
I love Piccadilly Circus, there were street performers, souvenir shops, people hanging out.. such a nice place to spend the afternoon. lots of ppl gather at the football tricks show,, u know where they try to hold the ball with their head n stuff. U know ur in London where football got the most attention, :D
Piccadilly!
We saw the doubledecker bus, travelling to London is not complete without a pic of the double D! ;) . We walked into Cool Brittania, before this we only hear the word right, its a souvenir store that sells everything with union jack, The UK flag on it. from sweater, to mug, to fridge magnet. There is also the word 'Mind the Gap' on some, the word always appear on the tube line, Means to be careful of the gap between the train and platform.
The London Tourist bus, u can take the tour if u prefer :)
Sarah bought sweater for her sibling and some stuff for her. I just bought fridge magnet. This store is not that cheap btw, so if u wanna buy souvenir, i don't really recommend here cos its pricey.
Cool Brittania
Afterwards, we get on the tube again 'Mind the Gap'..hihi.. and stop at Charring Cross. Whats here? the Trafalgar Square, lots of the famous iconic buildings of London, England is here. There is the National Gallery, the tower (Nelson's Column), Admiralty Arch. etc. At that time, there were preparing for some event, so the central area is closed, in front of National Gallery.
Trafalgar Square
The tower
Us @ Trafalgar Square
Sarah wear the boots, at this time her feet starting to feel sore. hmm, exactly like what i fel in Champs Elysees before. We walk to Whitehall after that, the roundabout got so many interchange its becoming confusing, hihi. TIPS: Whitehall is the exit beside the Admiralty Arch, u can see the map here..i snap it from the map board.
The Admiralty Arch
see that. Whitehall
We were walking and the we saw lots of ppl gathered outside the horse guards palace. The royal army at that time were practicing a show, which also include some dance. It was one of the most memorable moment! . I only saw em in Mr. Bean series, huhu.. but now i see them live at that time. This is the video of it. :)
The royal guards of the Horse Palace
The Whitehall
We continue walking to the end of the road and there it is, The Big Ben, that landmark of London! , Of course you will be taking lots of pics here. Big Ben is stunning. Be very careful crossing the street, u cant just cross anywhere u want cos this is not malaysia. lol. Sarah was alerted by a guy in a bike 'this is not a crossing road ya!' .. mmhmm, u can only cross at the zebra crossing. Its good really, u have to adhere to the rules. it teaches u discipline :) .
The Big Ben, Panoramic view!
The Tera Ben :P
The Sarah & Tera Ben :P
Opposite the Big Ben is the Westminster Abbey, not downtown Abbey, tetiber. it was closed tho when we were there. but worth spending time walking around it. Its a gothic Abbey church, u can also find the Palace of Westminster here. TIPS: all of this is just within walking distance, so study your map!
The Westminster Abbey
Riang Ria Abbey ;)
welcome yall!
Our next stop is Buckingham Palace, u know it...we took the tube there actually from Westminster station. well u can walk if you want, but its far and easier to use the modern facilities, hahahahahah! .
We stop at Green park station and walk to the palace. It was closed as well as it will only open to Public on August if i'm not mistaken. But still, there were lots of people here.. narcissistic us, take pics of ourselves obviously :P.
The Queen Sarah :P
we're at Buckingham Palace yall!
In front of the Buckingham palace gate is the Victoria memorial. We met with a few guys here, old guy who freakin love Sarah. Turkish guy who claimed he was very famous. me and Sarah looked at each other and like 'yeah right' . He got friends as well. He said he will hv an event in London and want us to come. We said yes but obviously that means NO.
Victoria Memorial
Finally he left as he need to get ready bla bla bla.. watever. So we left the Palace, we made our way to the Bus station. This is where it gets tricky, we need to walk to Bus No 14 at stop E Constitution Hill towards Knightsbridge or Victoria and stop at Knightsbride Station Harrods (stop KC). There's lots of stops here, we need to find bus stop E, its very systematic here unlike in Malaysia where its scattered everywhere.
We managed to find bus stop E, the double decker bus came, but not no 14. The next bus came and it was 14, so we hop on, i asked the bus driver whether this bus stop near Harrods, politely he said 'yea ur on the right bus, ill let u know when i stopped there' ... Very polite and helpful which i really love about the public transportation here.
I need to tap the oyster card as usual but idk where to tap it..haha the driver saw me confused and said 'jus tap there mam, trust me nothing will happen with a smile' .. kikiki, i felt stupid..lol . TIPS: so remember if u r from Buckingham palace and wanna go to Harrods 'bus stop E, bus no 14 stop at Knightsbridge' .
We finally arrived at Knightsbridge stop, and from there actually u can already see the top of Harrods. So walk towards it :) . Harrods from outside is so like buildings in a Harry Potter movies, hiks, But the inside is modern, lots of expensive boutiques and perfume outlets.
Knigthsbridge
We walk around it, it will be close around an hour or so. we saw this Arab couple scolding the salesgirls at a boutique...eww rude! even in Malaysia, some of em behave like that cos they have the money. shame on em,,no manners.
We stopped at the perfume outlets, in the center. Sarah wanna buy the perfume that no longer available in Asia. We choose the one with the cute salesman..hihi. well to be honest, he is most probably gay, cos most of em here are #equalrights !, but nonetheless he is cute! small like Frodo, tetiber :P.
He was wearin the nametag 'Sofiyya' . I was like, is that ur name?. He said 'no, i am new so no tag yet...hmm, its a girl name right?' .. hahah yepp..
He just finished school i guess, a boy..so Sarah bought the perfume with him being slow cos he is new at that time..hehe, so cute seeing him clueless on how to use the machine :P . love teasin him..kikiki. gediks.
Harrods
We then walked out of Harrods. Took the tube at Knightsbridge and stop at Russel Square, instead of holborn. We went to the Pret to buy sandwiches for dinner. again, I felt like me myself is a sandwich already..hmm. We made our way back to hostel then to rest. From Russel Square its not far, with Sarah as my gps :P .
We met our roomates that night, some are french. They were better than Amsterdam's roomates. at least we can talk with em. We take a sneak peek around the common room near the kitchen , lots of ppl hang out and chat. This hostel is wayyyy much better than Amsterdam, for sure :).
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