Saturday,
6 May 2017
We
had to get down to clear the French immigration then got on the bus and get
down again after a few minutes to clear the British immigration. The British
immigration was very strict; all officers were questioning those at their
respective counters thoroughly. I remember once I had to show the football
match ticket to the silly immigration lady who asked if I was going to watch
Arsenal play in the Champions League. Anyway, this time I cleared within a
couple of minutes then returned back to the bus.
As
it was already Suboh, I decided to perform prayers first before attempting to
sleep.
When
I next woke up, we were already in England. The few trips I had before on
overnight coaches from continental Europe to London, we had to drive up to the
ferry and after the coach had been parked in the parking bay, passengers had to
disembark and go up to the ferry decks before returning to the coach just
before we arrived in England. This time, we just stayed in the bus throughout. I
must have managed to doze off because I had no recollection of the ferry
crossing at all. In fact, I was even wondering if we had even crossed the
Strait of Dover until I looked out and saw we were on the left side of the road
again. Before long, we were driving in Greater London as I could discern from
the bus stop signs.
We
pulled into London Victoria Coach Station at 04:45, 15 minutes earlier than
scheduled. It was cold and I decided I would stay in the station until about
06:30 before leaving. Sleep was elusive so I decided to finish my book.
I
left at 06:25 and walked to Victoria Station and took the tube to Marylebone
station. I had earlier bought train ticket to Bicester Village for £5.50 each
way (to my surprise, a return ticket would cost me more) and I managed to
arrive and board the train by 06:55 (despite having to change tubes). The train
left on time at 07:05 and I reached Bicester Village at 07:56. Yes, pretty
early considering the shops are only open from 09:00 but I had planned to
freshen up first. The bathroom was a dream and after freshening up, I went out
and asked a man cleaning the car park directions to Bicester Village. He
answered me in Indonesian; turned out he’s from Timur Leste and has holds both
Timur Leste and Portuguese passports. We chatted for quite a while until the
Visitor Centre opened and I left my bags there (complimentary! What a relief
not to have to haul my bags along!) before walking to the Village. It was
barely 09:00 and the shops were not opened yet although a few opened a few
short minutes later. There were already quite a few other shoppers who had the
same idea of me of arriving early and some came with huge oversize suitcases
too!
Daffodils in May (!) at Bicester Village. I love the landscape there
I
walked around and went into a few stores. After a while, I went to find Tesco.
There were some roadworks and the Village was also undergoing an expansion
(more shops were being built) so I had to cross the road and follow the
temporary pedestrian route. I was surprised to find a Tesco Superstore this
time and a bit further than before (it wasn’t Tesco Superstore that I went to
before which was so much nearer). Turned out that the Tesco I went to earlier
(and indeed quite near to the Village) had been demolished to make way for the
Village expansion and the Superstore was built as replacement. I bought a set
of meal deal (salad, a bottle of juice and a small pack of crisps) then
returned to the Village.
I
walked around the Village again but nothing much caught my fancy (I did see a
Swarovski bracelet but it looked far too big for my wrist). There was a long
queue outside Pandora (and a crowd in the store – I’m not into Pandora so I
didn’t join in) and inside Cath Kidston. The Saturday crowd began to build and
I even sighted and overheard some Malays (someone was commenting on if LV went
on sale as she passed by me but I didn’t listen to the rest of her sentence).
I
left empty-handed and returned to the Visitor Centre at noon and charged my
devices. At 12:45, I went to get my left bags from the reception then went to
the bathroom before going to the platform. We reached Marylebone at 13:50 and
then I had to navigate the tube and stupid stairs to Goldhawk Road. This is one
reason why I dislike taking the tube: the stairs. Sure, there are escalators
but there are areas where there are only stairs. I finally reached Goldhawk
Road station at 14:30 I think. This was my first time in Shepherd’s Bush. I
dropped by Shepherd’s Bush Market before continuing on to Saint Stephen’s
Avenue to the Airbnb room which I had paid for the next two nights.
After
getting my keys (my host had provided me detailed instruction), I had a shower
and hand laundered my clothes. I left after performing prayers and walked to
Shepherd’s Bush station, stopping along the way to browse Argos catalogue (sis
had asked me to find a cooler bag for her). I then took the train to Island
Gardens, changing trains at Bank station, and took the underground tunnel
across to Greenwich. The day was overcast but it wasn’t that cold.
I
walked up to Greenwich Park and then back down (I even saw a fox! But was too
slow to take my camera out to take a photo before it ran away) and then walked
along the river before crossing the underground tunnel and taking the trains
back to Shepherd’s Bush. I bought fish and chips from a restaurant and had it
back at the flat.
London skyline from Greenwich Park
Sunday,
7 May 2017
I
woke for morning prayers and went back to bed and woke up again at 08:45! I
hurriedly showered and had breakfast and then left to take a bus. It was so
convenient there: walk out to Goldhawk Road a few metres away and bus 94 will
take you all the way to Piccadilly Circus. The journey took about 45 minutes
but I wasn’t in any real hurry. I had forgotten that the shops opened late on
Sunday so my waking up late wasn’t a problem; even if I had left earlier, the
shops were closed anyway. From Piccadilly Circus, I walked to nearby Chinatown
then back to Oxford Street. I had wanted to find some books at any charity shop
and decided to walk to Knightsbridge but the charity shop there didn’t have any
books so instead I stopped and Harrods for a while before returning to Oxford
Street via Mayfair. I took bus 94 back to the flat (and sneaked a peek over a
gentleman’s shoulder to find out the footie status). Back at the flat, I
repacked my purchases and stuff. Having walked at least 32.1 km today, I stayed
in for the rest of the evening. Having finished all the books I brought along
for the trip, I was feeling bored with nothing to read – my host or her
housemate are not readers at all.
The Spirit of Soho mural
Monday,
8 May 2017
I
woke up for prayers and again at 08:00. I left the flat and walked to W12
Shopping Centre to find chocolates and books. Brrr! It felt like 8 February
instead of 8 May today, it was sooo cold. I returned after an hour and packed
again.
I
left the flat after a light meal and walked down to Hammersmith station. It’s
the nearest tube station on the Piccadilly line and more importantly, it has
step-free access. I’d rather walk than take the stairs with my bags, thank you
very much. It took me 20 minutes of struggling but I reached the station and
got the lift to the platform just as a train was approaching. Alhamudillah! It
took 30 minutes to reach Terminal 4 of Heathrow.
After
dropping off my bags, I went to VAT claim office at Level 1 (I was tempted to
ask the women ahead of me what their jobs were because their receipts were so
long!) and after having had my forms checked, I returned to Level 5 and went
through security. There was no immigration check though. I then went to find
the prayer room (near to Gate 3).
Our
flight was delayed slightly due to the late arrival of the airplane. It was an
A380 and it was empty so a few of us changed places and went in front to
stretch out). I watched La La Land (I must be one of the minority few who didn’t
think much of the movie, I even fast-forwarded it a few times).
Tuesday,
9 May 2017
We
landed late in Doha of course (because of the late departure; good thing I had
performed prayers) but this time we didn’t have to take the bus to the terminal
or undergo the transfer process. We took off on time and I tried to catch some
kip.
We
landed at KLIA at 15:15 and my bags only appeared at 16:15 and 16:20. I took
the 16:40 train to KL Sentral then LRT to Ampang Park and then the bus back to
Ampang Point, arriving into the thunderstorm and torrential downpour in Ampang.
So
that was my trip. I managed to finish 4 books (should have been more but I ran
out of books) and covered eight new UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Alhamdulillah
for the rezeki.
~~~~~~~~
Wishing everyone a blessed Ramadan Kareem. May our ibadah be accepted and continue on beyond Ramadan, insyaAllah.
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