England (Stonehenge, Bath) - February 2015

Week 8 - This is another exciting weekend planned for a visit to one of the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World – the Stonehenge; nonetheless surprises came just a day before the trip where we get to realized that our purchased for the tour tickets were duplicated thus paying an addition of £31.00 in total. Failing to contact the sales office at such odd hour, nonetheless both of us positively take this as a lesson learnt from a miscommunication and did not really want this incident to spoils any bit our mood for this trip. With the common way of our meet-up having no mobile phone connections, we agreed to meet each other in the front 3 coaches on a specific train service towards Salisbury at a specific time. Again we are fated to bounce into each other effortlessly and here begins our exciting weekend.

Arriving at the Salisbury station on time at 9.42am, we managed to catch the 10.00am bus and coincidently, the driver clearly divided those with e-ticket and those without into different lines hence enable us to easily sell off our additional ticket to those who are without a reservation. Unexpectedly a lady from US instantly agrees to buy over the ticket without any question and she even trusted us with the calculation of change since she is not familiar in recognizing the currencies in UK.

The bus took about 30 minutes to arrive at our first stop - the Stonehenge. We have our brunch in one of the restaurant having the delicious pasty in the hope that this simple meal could help us withstand somehow the cold weather out there. We have always the opinion that winter is not a good time to travel hence did not expect the site to be crowded but this proof us wrong. We decided to leave the monument as soon due to the cold winds that numb our senses but the delayed bus service continues to afflict us by more than 15 minutes having us standing in the cold wilderness.

Our next stopover is the Old Sarum - the mighty Iron Age hill fort where the first cathedral of Salisbury once stood and the Romans, Normans and Saxons have all left their mark. We can only see the slight remains of both the castle and the second cathedral in the plain. Subsequent to the visit, we were so fortunate to jump onto the bus that is passing by exactly on time when we arrived at the station. Passing through the city centre, the local market caught our attention and we get to buy some berries and tried a real damn spicy pork scratchings before moving on to visit the magnificent Salisbury Cathedral.

Another hour’s journey to Bath Spa, all we have in mind was nothing but our dinner! Since this is exactly the time of Chinese New Year, we intentionally search for a Chinese restaurant in Bath to be able to feel the season in this foreign land. Unfortunately the shark-fin soup (imitation) was not available on that day. (Meal of the day: Chinese Tea £3.60, 白饭 £2.95, 烧鸭 £9.95, 酸辣汤 £2.95, 叉烧 £8.95, 蚝油时菜 £7.95)

This was the very first time for me to stay in a shared dorm of six with a shared bathroom, and the experience was incredibly horrible and this gonna be my first and my last try. The hostel has had the water saving control where the water in the shower will only last for a few seconds where you will need to repress on the button before the water turned-off automatically. The temperature was not adjustable and I am almost scalded under the hot water. Knowing that it was a shared bathroom, some guys just didn’t know the function of the door and couldn't be more considerate to shut the door when they are on their business. We weren't able to rest until late night due to the noises from the street and early the next morning, we were both awakened by loud sounds as our roommates are preparing themselves for the day. Well acknowledging that we were both spoilt by the current luxury lifestyles we had, we no longer been able to tolerate the harsh condition of the stay. Guess age is also a main factor for backpacking and this is certainly no longer something for us at this stage of life. But I am still glad that at least l has tried and gets to experienced something new in my life before growing too old for all these.

Since we were both awakened before the pre-set time, we as well wash up and get ready for the day. We first attended the church service at 9.30am witnessing the spectacular internal architecture of the cathedral, where we were warmly welcomed by the church attendances. Dismissing ourselves earlier from then congregation at 10.00am, we continue to walk around the square and having our coffee while waiting for the walking tour to start at 10.30am. We have had a great guide (on his birthday) who leaded us to every important spots in the city accompanied by his detailed illustration of the past. It started to rain heavily half way during the tour but all of us continued with the journey and a kind lady even offered her umbrella to the guide. Luckily the simple complimentary breakfast in the hostel was sufficient to hold us until the end of the walking tour despite that the tour ran overtime.

The entrance to the Roman Bath was just in front of the Bath Abbey where we were actually sitting on a bench at that plaza for some relaxing talks the night before without realising it! The entrance fee of £14.00 allows us to visit the Terrace, Temple Pediment, Heated Room & Plunge Pools, the Great Bath and etc. Savouring the spa water which contains 43 minerals at one of the fountain was a great experience as the taste of it was so special but certainly not pleasant.

 

Exploring the city on our own is nothing but to stroll around the streets stopping at few of the shops. As there isn't much left for us to explore in this tiny town of Bath hence we were glad we booked the 5.40pm train and proceeded back to our respective area.

This mark another meaningful and wonderful weekend for me to spent with a great friend :)

England (Oxford) - February 2015

On this annually loving day of Valentines, I have a date as well to visit the city of Oxford in the county of Oxfordshire. I would not have visited this interesting historical township if it wasn’t because of the attendance of Ms. Ow planning and initiating the whole itinerary.

Once again, since both of us were not able to contact each other by mobile phone, we merely agreed on a meet-up in front of the biggest rail map at the Oxford station. This is both our first time arriving at the Oxford Station, but providentially we managed to find each other effortlessly despite that the common big rail map wasn’t there as it should be.

We bought the sightseeing bus ticket at £13.00 then only come to realized that the city was rather small and almost all of the attractions were within walking distance. And again...I lost one of my gloves even though I constantly and cautiously reminded myself a few times that morning. Nonetheless I am glad that what I’ve lost was just my gloves while my mobile phones are still in my pocket. Guess the plan to buy a dozen of gloves should really come into action after this third instance.

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History is definitely worth a visit due to the vast collections of interesting items and we both enjoyed the Pitt Rivers Museum the most featuring the Anthropology and World Archaeology. We even find Rumah Minangkabau in there but that would be too common for Malaysians perhaps.

While wandering at the food market hunting for food, we spontaneously spotted this cake house selling small and delicately designed cakes. We were both attracted by the colourful decorations and decided to get ourselves a valentine cake risking the fact that people would have perceived us mistakenly as the same sex couple…lol

While enjoying our cake in the open resting area after our lunch at Pieminister (have had Moo & Blue pie at £4.50), we were being attacked by pigeons trying to get a portion of deal from us and they even flew to our shoulder fiercely. The outward appearance of the cake definitely looks impressive but the content was absolutely disappointing. Guess the £7.50 was spent purely for the atmosphere of valentine and photographing purposes.

Few steps away from the High Street was this legendary Oxford Castle which is deemed to be haunted due to the long standing history dating back to the Norman Conquest more than a thousand years ago. With a fee of £9.25, we enter the castle with a guided tour where “Elizabeth Boswell” led us to explore few of the creepy places explaining to us the past cruelties that happened right in this castle. Before the tour ended, each of us has our photos taken in individual groups and the random outcome of the photo illustrates our convicted crime: “Mugging” and the punishment: “Public Whipping”…lol

It was 4.40pm when we left the castle insisting that we must at least hop-on the tour bus and enjoy one full round of the city tour before the last service at 5.00pm. We managed to get onto one tour bus just immediately after we came out of the castle, and decided to enjoy the breeze on the upper open-air deck despite the rain and wet seats. We no longer regret paying the full-day fare even though we only took a very short ride since the view and the weather was marvellous and thus has worth it all.

Again it is that time of the day to think about dinner and after walking few rounds on the street, we concluded that we have had enough of breads or other western cuisine and hence a Thai restaurant – Angrid Thai Canteen would be a great choice after all. The Khow Ka moo (£6.95) and Suki Yaki (£7.20) dish was excellent but the Tom Yam Kung (£4.50) was expectedly not spicy at all. We even tried looking for Chinese Restaurant in the hope of finding YuShang but this was kinda challenging and we failed to locate any.

Walking round the city after a heavy meal allows us to have great conversations and exchanging of positive ideas which ends our day perfectly. Glad to have spent this weekend with a great friend and together we get to explore somewhere new.

Belgium - February 2015

Never did I expect that I would decide to go for an immediate vacation and here comes my first trial where flight tickets were purchased on Wednesday night while I am flying to Brussels on Friday morning.

5th February 2015 was indeed a taxing day for me having to fulfil a training task in Birmingham which took me a minimum of 3 hours for a single train journey while needed to rush back on the same day to catch the last train service in order to overnight at the Gatwick Airport. On my way back to South West London, I get to chat with this awesome gentleman where we tease and laugh together throughout the journey until we took our separate path at Waterloo and he was indeed a good traveling companion and has made my day.

Based on the past experience I had in London City Airport, I presumptuously assumed that the night would rather be warm and bearable. Nonetheless it turns out to be freezing cold in the Gatwick Airport but providentially one of the café is opened 24 hours hence I am able to grab myself a cup of hot chocolate and panini to spent my hours on this sleepless night.

After a slight delay on the flight schedule, I touched down safely at Brussel-Zaventem at 9.50am and started looking for my way to the gathering point at Bruxelles-Midi. As one of us is without an active phone service, all we’ve got is only a picture designating the gathering spot. But surprisingly without any difficulties, we managed to find each other and all three of us were glad to be able to meet up again after the last parting in London and decided that this gonna be a great trip ahead for the long weekend.

A key picture that holds our destiny in this trip...lol

6th February 2015 - Friday
* Bruges

This is another special day where 3 ladies from different residing countries gather together (US, Belgium and UK). A 1.5 hours’ drive to the north fully demonstrated to us the complicated traffics in the country.

We arrived in Bruges at 1.00pm and needed to decide what we should have for our lunch. After strolling for some time along the streets, we finally decided to pick a Thai Restaurant to satiate our hunger. The fried noodle and fried rice was disappointingly below average, but the hot coconut dessert was surprisingly tasty (Total at €33.00).

The walking tour starting at Bauhaus Hostel was led by a humorous dude and we get to taste the famous waffles, fries, chocolates and beers in town. During the break while sheltering ourselves from the cold, we fell in love with the local fruity beer - Rodenbach Rosso in red.

 

My last trip to Paris was stuffed with escargots, and this trip was with mussels! 3 of us enjoyed 2 full pots of mussels for dinner (Mossel Wijin - €23.00 & Mossel Brugs - €23.00) at Central Bruge Restaurant and yet we are still craving for more…what a high cholesterol lifestyle we have!

7th February 2015 - Saturday

* Brussels

Waking up with breakfast readily on a plate is such a wonderful moment, thanks to the girls empathizing my hardship having sleepless night at the airport thus preparing these mouth-watering mushroom toasts. This also posts a new idea in my recipe log that I could try it the next time on my own.

Again we joined another walking tour at Grand Place under the lead of a young solicitor - Berber who actively presented to us almost every important point of the city and making each session as interesting and lively as possible. We learned about the past, the present, the why, how and when about Belgium and I am now becoming more interested in their history.

After the tour, we walked around the city freely and other than the famous Manneken-Pis, we tried looking for Jeanneke Pis as well in an alley at the south of the Grand Place. Passing by Rue de Bouchers, there were even guys that shouted “Hey wait a minute…can I kiss you?”, but my typical answer was “of course…NOT”!

I thought I would never like macaroon due to my last taste of it in Zurich, however Laduree changes my mind and I am now in love with this circular cake at €1.90 per piece. To satisfy our craving for mussels, we took our dinner at Café Leffe and ordered the stewed beef (Carbonnades à la Leffe Brun) - €18.80 and Moule Piquantes (Spicy Mussels) - €25.00. Instead of being spicy, the taste was rather unique and delicious and therefore we gluttonously ordered another pot of Moules Crème D’ail (Garlic Mussels in Cream) - €25.00 before heading back to the central square.

8th February 2015 - Sunday
* Brussels & Leuven

Visiting the local market place is definitely a great choice to engaged oneself deeply into the local culture. And we found a food that is similar to “Roti Canai” and the taste was rather good. But again, I lost a pair of my gloves and thus having to spend €7.00 on a new one and considering if I should be attaching strings to it the next time or I will have to stock-up a dozen at home.

The afternoon was spent visiting the most popular touristic attraction and the symbol of Belgium - The Atomium, which is originally constructed for Expo 58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. We intended to visit as well the chocolate fair but were backed-off due to the long queue and crowd at the entrance. The next touristic destination was supposed to be the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart – Koekelberg but we missed the entrance and had parked distanced away from it but nonetheless we still get to enjoy our walk in the Elisabeth Park.

 

Never will I missed any chance of having my favourite ice-cream even during winter, and I enjoyed the 3 scopes cone (melon, strawberry and vanilla) with a waffle for a tea-break at Cinquantenaire. Even so, I am still able to devour another full Chipolata set (Mashed potatoes and Sausage) - €7.99 at Lunch Garden Restaurant for an early dinner before we drive Ms. Ow to the train station. After sending her off at Bruxelles-Midi, we continued our night in Leuvan. Touring around the township of universities reminds me of all the good times I’ve had during my student life. Gazing at the magnificent architectures featuring the gothic designs, I am stunned with the beauty of the buildings and was again appreciating this trip.

 

9th February 2015 - Monday

* Brussels to London

Thanks to Ms. Ooi who hosted us during our trip and we had enjoyed so much together touring around the cities of Belgium. And thanks for the ride to the airport early Monday morning and I do look forward to our next meet-up together which will probably be years after.

I have always the misperception that Belgium would be one of the wealthy countries in Europe; nonetheless this trip shows me the real state of this nation and again I get to rectify my interpretation and have again learned something new. Life is all about seeing, appreciating and learning...as always :)

A Dream Beyond the Reach of the Stars...

Fontana di Trevi, if I come to you sincerely, will you grant me three wishes and make my dreams come true?

How Bad Could A Day Possibly Be? (Stressful Week 3)

13th January is a long day to wake up early for work and to arrive home very late while facing most of the shit throughout the day:

• The Northwick Park Station is 8 minutes walking distance away from the Kenton Station; however I have taken a much longer time before I could locate it because the signboard was only showing half-way and the Google map was unable to display the exact location. 
• Missed the scheduled train due to the longer time taken to find the station. 
• The ticket which I bought in Chertsey should bring me all the way to my destination, however I was not able to get through at Northwick Park and hence was forced to purchase another ticket but forgotten to ask for the receipt thus unable to claim for the reimbursement from the company and having had this to my own expense. 
• Google map is showing 1.2miles walking distance to the office from the Croxley Station, but upon arrival the actual distance was rather 4.8miles. 
• Taxi is not available everywhere at any time and an advance booking is usually needed (waited 25 minutes+ under the cold weather) 
• Supposed to have a discussion with one of the business manager but the sales meeting ran overtime until 5.00pm hence no discussion took place whereby I needed to leave as it takes at least 2 hours to get back to Chertsey. 
• The mobile phone reception was not too good and after several attempts of calling the taxi company, I finally get to book a cab but needed to wait 40-50 minutes. 
• The train stations and office area was rather remote and without any convenience shops around thus I can only have my late dinner while passing-by the Waterloo Station. 
• The National Rail service was delayed due to some obstructions. 
• When almost arriving back home, I was suffering from gastric due to the irregular meal hours. 

After arriving home at 9.00pm+, I rushed for a shower and went to bed as I still have to visit another London office early the next day.

Within the same week, the light bulb in my room was suddenly burned out and the washing machine was not functioning half way and I have had a tough time drying my jeans under this damp weather. In addition to all these unlucky events, my laptop was infected by a circulated virus in the office hence having a hard time to solve some of the work due to the delayed IT solution. 

This beginning of 2015 was not at all good to me, but hopefully things would eventually turn out to be better soon (though I doubted so with my current situation…) Hmmp...

On the other hand, at least I get to meet a very kind hearted lady at the Northwick Park Station who directs me all the way to the Croxley station, and I have being replaced with a new company laptop having the IT guys helping to resolve most of the issues.