September Sojourn: Part V

Soundtrack: Killing Me Softly

Sunday, 16 September 2018

I slept through my alarm and only woke up half an hour later. I hurriedly performed prayers then had a quick shower before heading out to Castel San Pietro. In contrast to the previous afternoon, there was no one there at all and I had the place all to myself. A man did show up shortly after but I didn’t see him again. I spent maybe 20 minutes up there before returning back to the apartment.

I left at 10:00 and made my way to Viale Girolamo Cardinale where the Flix bus stop is. Needless to say, I lost my way or missed a turn somewhere and ended up walking for 50 minutes! I didn’t have any Verona map with me and had to rely on Google map. I finally reached the bus stop huffing and puffing and panting from exhaustion and the heat. The bus arrived on time and after loading our bags, we were good to go.

We reached Mantova about 40 minutes later. I got down at the bus stop at via Legnago and slowly made my walk across the river Mincio to the city. It’s a beautiful walk because the city is sprawled in front of you across the river. I made my way to Palazzo Ducale and then to Piazza delle Erbe and sat soaking in the atmosphere. It’s a pretty compact city centre which was good because I had planned to depart by the 13:29 train for Modena. I stopped at a place selling sliced pizza and bought some. The owner didn’t speak English so I pointed and asked if any was vegetarian and telling her I wanted ‘piccolo’ size. After my light lunch, I continued to the station.

The ticket office was closed and I couldn’t understand how to operate the machine and after trying to get help from some locals, I went to the platform. I sighted a train conductor and bought my ticket from him. We reached Modena at 14:42, enough time for me to perform prayers in the train en route.

I asked for a map from a local and armed with the map, walked to the city centre. The Cathedral of Modena, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. There were a lot of people at Piazza Grande with a stage and a woman speaking into a microphone. People were sitting voluntarily to listen so it must be a political sermon or something.

I returned back to the station to wait for my 17:41 train to Milano Centrale (I had bought the ticket online a few weeks back). I was not amused when I checked to screen again to find the train ETD delayed by 55 minutes. I didn’t feel like walking into te city again so decided to just wait. After a while, I checked the screen again and this time, it showed my train was delayed by 100 minutes and a few other trains delayed as well. One was delayed by 245 minutes! I wanted to ask if I could change my ticket but the queue at the counter was perpetually long – probably because of the delays.

A regionale train pulled up and I hurried back to the platform. I approached a lady train conductor and asked if I could board the train. She said I could but it would be better to wait for my train as it would be faster. I told her I didn’t want to wait anymore as I had waited long enough and who knew when my train would eventually arrive. She repeated that while I could, my original train would still arrive at Milano Centrale first. Somehow I doubted her because the screen showed my train was still delayed. She also said there were many delays because there was a woman who was in the tracks (thrown? Suicide?) somewhere and it caused a chain reaction.

Being a regional train, it of course stopped at various stations and before, the seats were all occupied. I was so glad I boarded at Modena where there were still a few empty seats available. We finally arrived at Milan at almost 21:00 and I rushed to the Terravision bus stop for the bus to Milan Bergamo. I apologised for being late and explained that the train was delayed and the driver and conductor accepted my story. Alhamdulillah.

The bus left at 21:15 and we arrived at the airport about 50 minutes later. I immediately headed for the washroom to freshen up and perform ablutions. I ended up performing prayers at the nursery room (one lady was there charging her phone so it wasn’t as if I was stopping any nursing mothers). Just as I finished, a man came in and wanted to use the WC. Jeez. Then I walked around to find a seat. Sleep? Elusive as usual.

Monday, 17 September 2018

I got up from the uncomfortable seat and went to the RyanAir check-in area to have my boarding pass checked and stamped. Then I went to clear security. I was not happy to be asked to remove my jade bangle and other bracelets. WTF? It’s never easy to take off and put jade bangles. I refused and told the officer to take them off for me if he insisted on it. I was waved through after they ran a wand over me.

I went to the washroom to ‘dry clean’ with body wipes and changed clothes before performing ablutions and prayers. I was not happy when I looked at the screen and found that my 06:30 flight was delayed to 11:30. Like seriously? By five bloody hours? Had I not cleared security, I could have gone over to Orio Centre for at least 90 minutes. Having no choice, I sat down to wait with other fellow passengers.

At 10 or so, there was an announcement for us to collect meal vouchers from a counter so we all trooped up to queue. We were each given two €5 vouchers for us to spend at a coffee shop. I asked what accounted for the delay but the two ladies at the counter couldn’t answer me, instead saying the flight was now at 12:00 @$&&#+!!&() I was thoroughly sick of croissants, buns, sandwiches and the like by then so only spent €5 on chocolates and water. Then I went to one of the two public power plugs available in the whole bloody terminal to charge my iPad (you have to pay at other power points, WTF).

I almost lost track of time and suddenly heard an announcement for my gate. I grabbed my things and hurried over downstairs, cleared immigration and rushed to my gate. The queue was long and slow and we only boarded the bus well after 12:00. I tried to doze off during the flight; after all I had a poor night.

We landed at Stansted about two hours later and had to take a train to the main building. The queue for non-EU citizens was short so I was able to clear passport control quickly. I went down to the bus station but the snotty woman there wouldn’t accept my ticket which I bought a few weeks back as I had already accepted the terms and conditions even though I explained I was held back by a five-hour delay. Damn you. So I had to fork out £12 for a new ticket.

I got down at the stop at Bishop’s Bridge Road near Paddington Station at 15:25 and walked ten minutes to my hotel. My mate was meeting me and I had managed to inform her that I would be delayed. Still, she was leaving for Nottingham that evening. We spent some time in the room before venturing out into the warm London evening. Dinner was had at Noodle Oodle, a halal Chinese restaurant. There was just enough time for us to return to the room where my mate performed Maghrib prayers before leaving for the tube station.

After she left, I went for a walk around before returning to my room. I rang home and was about to doze off when I had a sudden violent tummy upset. It returned again and all pharmacies were already closed, Boots Bayswater being the last to close at 12 midnight. I took some Smecta (only realised it had expired) and had some black tea. Still, I couldn’t help being thankful that I was in a hotel room and not in an airport, train or bus station; I was able to lie down and not having to move with my bags; and I had quick easy access to a clean bathroom.

Tuesday, 18 September 2018

I woke up for prayers and ended up staying awake trying to claim compensation for my delay. I showered and had breakfast (with ORS) before finally leaving after 10. It was late but I was afraid if I would be purging again. I took the tube to Bond Street where I wandered around (not fruitful) and then walked over to the Salvation Army shop before walking down to Selfridges. I was luckier at Selfridges and after paying for my purchases, went up to fourth floor to the Tax Refund. I decided to perform prayers while waiting (Selfridges has a prayer room, how cool is that?!) but my number was called when I was performing prayers. I went to ask for a new number and was advised to go to the machine and do it online as it would be faster than waiting as the queue had grown by then. I had help from a Malaysian-born Chinese man with my form.

I was relaxing in the lounge and browsing the WiFi when I had another sudden violent tummy upset and rushed to the washroom. I only left about ten minutes later, praying that would be the last time I needed to use the bathroom in a hurry. I walked to Marble Arch and rode the tube to Bank station. From the station, I walked to Sky Garden. It was a blustery day and I sat shivering as I waited to enter the building. At 15:20, I went to join the queue and we went inside to wait for the lift.

The lift whisked us up to level 35 (you could access levels 35 and 36) and the view was magnificent. The sun came out then so the city shone below. I walked around and up the stairs to level 36 before coming down the other set of stairs. I spent an hour there before going down.

I took the tube to Temple and walked to the library of the London School of Economics but was not able to enter. I walked on to Holborn and rode to the train back to Queensway. After buying dinner from Tesco, I returned to my room to rest.

Wednesday, 19 September 2018

I woke up at 04:45 today and performed prayers after a quick shower. I then had a light breakfast before finishing packing up. I left at 06:10 and walked to Queensway and rode the tube to Notting Hill where I changed lines and trains for the District line to Earl’s Court for the Piccadilly line. I wouldn’t normally have taken this route but this was what the travel planner on Transport for London suggested. I reached Heathrow 54 minutes later and went to drop off my bag. I also asked if I could change seats and as it was an A380 and a few empty seats were still available, my request was accommodated. Alhamdulillah! After dropping off my bag and getting the boarding passes, I went to the VAT office to submit my form. The queue was slow what with some people still trying to fill up their forms with their miles of receipts.

I returned to the departure level after submitting my VAT form and cleared security check. I then browsed the shops but was in no mood to shop. We were called to board at 08:30 and I was happy to find my seat was in the third row and very close to the cockpit.

I was sitting that close to the cockpit!

We landed at Abu Dhabi after 20:00 local time. We had to wait a while for the First and Business class passengers to get down and disembark before we could follow suit. This time, we didn’t have to take a bus to the terminal building. I just had time to freshen up and catch up on social media before making my way to Gate 6 for my flight back to KL.

We were served dinner and then I tried to sleep. I only managed a brief doze before I was wide awake again.

Thursday, 20 September 2018

We landed at 10:20 and I was home about four hours later. As usual, I set about tidying up the kitchen and dining areas, even dad’s clothes drawers before unpacking. I was done by 16:00 and had an afternoon nap.

And that was my trip to the Caucasus and Italy and a little bit of London.

Spring In My Step: Step V

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.

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Wishing everyone a blessed Ramadan Kareem. May our ibadah be accepted and continue on beyond Ramadan, insyaAllah.

Autumn In My Heart: Fifth Beat

Saturday, 19 September 2015

I wasn’t in a hurry this morning and only left the hotel at 1100. I walked to Oxfam at Westbourne Grove but nothing caught my fancy. I retraced my steps and from my hotel, walked to Mount Street. I had done some research the evening before and thanks to this article, turned a 180^◦ and decided to buy a Moynat Cabas tote instead of Goyard Saint Louis. So maybe it was a good thing I didn’t manage to get it in Paris after all, silver lining and all that.

I was welcomed very warmly at Moynat and asked to see the tote bags. I was told one of them was being discontinued. The store only had the Petit Model (PM or small size) and Grand Model (GM or large) sizes. The Moyen Model (MM or medium) had sold out back in early August and they still hadn’t received any new stock as the artisans in Paris were off on their summer holidays. So I decided to bite the bullet and go for the GM size (even though I find my Louis Vuitton Neverfull GM a bit large). The friendly sales assistant also explained that they could ship it to me at cost (minus 20% VAT) but I would be subject to possible import duty back home on top of the insurance and posting costs. Well, I managed to ride on The Connaught’s wifi and sent WA message to Yan who told me that there may not be an import duty on bags (I double checked this, no import duty on bags) but I would be subject to 6% GST on the value of the bag when the bag arrives home. What??!!! I sat down at some seats and contemplated: should I get the bag there or ask them to post? I could ask the Paris store to post too for that matter but would still be subject to that blasted GST. Finally I decided to just get the bag. So I went back to Moynat and swiped my plastic. Oh, in the interim, I did go to Goyard a few doors away but was told both times that the store was full. Well, that did it. Moynat for me then, thank you very much.

At Moynat

I walked to Oxford Street and continued on to Cancer Research shop at Marylebone High Street. I was in luck this time and bought some accessories. I also picked a couple more accessories at another charity shop on the walk back to my hotel.

Accessories that I bought

I went out again shortly after arriving at the hotel to get some food.

Sunday, 20 September 2015

I checked out at noon after a late breakfast and a light lunch. After storing my bags (yes, plural. They had since doubled!), I headed for Malaysia Hall to perform prayers. Then I walked to Whiteleys to browse before settling down with my book. I’d completed my shopping anyway.

I went back to the hotel after 5, collected my bags and walked to Bayswater Road to catch a bus to Shepherd’s Bush. The traffic was surprisingly heavy then; we heard a few ambulance and police car sirens as we waited. I finally got bus 148 but it was a slow ride before I finally alighted at Royal Crescent Gardens. From there, I walked the short distance to the bus stop. When I discovered that easyBus has started serving London Heathrow, I decided to take it as I didn’t want to struggle up and down the tube stairs and change stations. The online ticket was only £1 (+ £0.50 for credit card fee).

The bus was late and I was already starting to panic and contemplating my options. It arrived at 1835, 15 minutes later than scheduled. It was the heavy traffic that caused the delay. I don’t know how easyBus broke even for that trip as I was the sole passenger. It didn’t take long to reach Heathrow from the stop at Shepherd’s Bush. We arrived at Heathrow Airport Central Bus Station at Terminal 2 at 1910 and I followed directions to Heathrow Express. For Heathrow Terminal 4, you actually need to take Heathrow Connect but just follow signs to Heathrow Express and it would lead you to Heathrow Connect. I managed to board the Heathrow Connect train with 10 seconds to spare. Phew! Had I missed that, I’d have to wait ten minutes for the next train. We arrived at Terminal 4 four minutes later and I immediately took the lift up to the departure level to check in. It wasn’t 8 p.m. yet and already there was a long queue. I had to wait a while to drop my bags because there were only two counters for bag drop.

I immediately went in after dropping my bags (they totalled less than 15 kg!) and went in. There was a long queue to clear security and another long one at Travellex for VAT refund (after getting my form stamped by the brusque, stern but efficient custom officer). It was almost 9 when I was done and I hurried to the multi-faith prayer to perform prayers. The announcement to board was made very soon after I finished so there wasn’t any time to browse the duty-free.

We took off pretty much on schedule. Sleep eluded me again. As usual.

Monday, 21 September 2015

We landed at KLIA at 1800. I had anticipated it would take a while to unload the plane so I went to perform prayers first. I only had to wait about 7 minutes after performing prayers before my bags came out. I had dinner in Cyberjaya and only reached home at 2110.

So that was my early autumn trip. I’m not sure if there will be another autumn trip to Europe and in any case, it’s getting ridiculously expensive to go to Europe or indeed anywhere with the weakening Ringgit.

The End

Autumn In My Heart: First Beat

I had planned to go on a tour in May but found out at the MATTA Fair in March this year that the tour would only take place in end-August/early September and cost way too much. So I changed my mind and bought a ticket to London instead for mid-September. This would be my first trip in early autumn (and probably my last as it completely slipped my mind that we now have our performance appraisal in September instead of October). This was also the lightest that I’ve packed so far. Back when I started returning to Blighty, I used to bring half of my wardrobe along with me. Then there was one time when I unwisely brought a wheel-less bag. Yes, imagine me hauling my bag up and down those stupid tube stairs and changing stations. I was going to fly RyanAir to Italy on this trip and as I refused to pay for check-in bag, I had to keep my cabin bag below 10 kg (I also had to purchase a new cabin bag that meets RyanAir’s specifications). On my previous trips flying RyanAir, I usually checked in my suitcase but made sure it was below 15 kg as I was only prepared to pay £15/€15 for the checked-in bag (a 20-kg checked in bag on RyanAir costs £25/€25) so this time I had to pack 1/3 less than what I normally packed.

Friday, 11 September 2015

CT picked and drove me to KLIA for my morning flight to London. I don’t know why I willingly put myself through 13.5 hours’ of flight every year but apparently I conveniently forget this every time I buy a ticket and only agonise over it just before taking off. My check-in bag weighed 9.7 kg and that was before I removed my powerbank (for some reason, I was told to carry it on board and not check it in). Not bad eh. We were supposed to take off at 0950 but the haze was so bad that there was a delay in taking off. We finally departed at 1030. I was so sleepy as I had a poor night the night before but apart from take-off and a brief spell after the first inflight movie that I watched, sleep eluded me. I watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and after many failed attempts at sleep, I watched True Story.

We landed at 1630 and finally disembarked at 1645. I rushed to the immigration and cleared it by 1658. There was a long wait for the bag though. Flying Airbus A380 means too many others passengers means an extra-long wait for bags. I then took the tube to Bayswater and arrived at the hotel at almost 1900. After checking in, I went out to get some food before resting.

Saturday, 12 September 2015

I had no specific plans today and although there was an Arsenal home match against the Orcs of all teams, the expensive £ deterred me from purchasing a ticket (I did check for a ticket on Thursday but they were all sold out unless I tried Ticket Exchange). So I checked out at noon and after performing prayers at Malaysia Hall, set out for Knightsbridge. It was a fine early autumn day with beautiful skies and fluffy non-threatening clouds and the temperature was still mild enough. After checking out Octavia at Brompton Road and a brief stop at Harrods, I walked to Mayfair and from there Oxford Street before walking back to the hotel.

I had a light dinner while checking football results before making my way to the easyBus stop near Baker Street to catch the bus to Stansted.

I arrived at the bus stop at 2030 and waited for the bus. easyBus had rescheduled the time to 2100 but 2100 came and no bus came. By then, there were a few National Express coaches had already come and gone. I did ask and was told they charged £12 for the fare. Finally at 2130, one National Express coach pulled up and the driver asked if there were anyone on easyBus as he was willing to take us. It was like he knew we were stranded there. Well, we accepted his offer gratefully and boarded the almost empty coach.

Ahh Stansted. Most RyanAir flights departing from Stansted depart in early morning which means you have to travel very early to get there or overnight at the airport before. A lot of travellers choose to do the latter but the airport is not designed to accommodate us who are willing to overnight there. I would prefer anything but overnighting there but I reckoned I’d rather be there at the airport than risk a broken down vehicle or arriving late at the airport. I sought shelter in the prayer room but of course sleep was elusive.

To be continued

The Best Laid Scheme Of Mice And Men (Or Rather, Me): Part V

Friday, 9 May 2014

I woke up feeling a little under the weather. Guess it was from being rained on since Wednesday. I looked out the window and groaned when I saw it was raining. Oh no! I had a late breakfast and checked out at 11. I was more or less done with exploring downtown and wasn’t in a hurry and besides, it was raining anyway.

I was walking leisurely when I saw bus no. 2 bound for the airport so I went to check a few bus stops to see its route. This would mean I needn’t go all the way to the bus station and go through the train station which was under renovation (plus carry my bag down the stairs into the station). I could instead catch the bus from a bus stop near to my pension. Great!

I spent about 90 minutes wandering around before returning to the pension. It rained again just as I was leaving for the bus stop. The bus came after 10 minutes and we reached the airport half an hour later.

I was told to remove my scarf at the security check but told the woman that I was a Muslim. She consulted her colleague and they both showed me to a room and I removed my scarf for them to check. Yeah, because of course I looked like I could strap kilograms of dynamite on myself and blow things up.

We landed at Stansted Airport on time and I was the first to clear immigration (one advantage of not being a British or from any EU countries). I went to perform prayers before making my way to the bus terminal. My shuttle arrived early and left before the scheduled time. We reached Baker Street at 8 pm and I crossed Marylebone Road to get the bus to my hotel. I was there for all of two minutes when an elderly Pakistani came over to talk to me. He said he was a doctor and for lack of a better reply, I responded, ‘Oh, good for you.’ He asked where I was staying, if I had plans that evening and look, hey, he happened to be free that evening so would I like to have dinner with him? I just about managed to stop my jaw from dropping at this. Wow, what a confident man. I can never summon up the courage to chat up a stranger let alone invite him for a meal a couple of minutes into the conversation! And then I wondered why I attracted all these strange men. I thanked him as politely as I could and thank God my bus arrived shortly after.

After checking into my hotel, I went out to get groceries and dinner. I’d stayed at the hotel a few times and this was the first time that I had WiFi connection, not to mention a big room (the biggest room I’d stayed in in the hotel). The WiFi connection was quite slow though but hey better that than nothing, I guess.

Saturday, 10 May 2014

It rained early this morning and the morning started of grey and gloomy. Today was to be a leisurely day, no rush whatsoever. I’d planned to walk quite a bit today and after breakfast, I walked to Knightsbridge via Hyde Park. It was a pleasant stroll and there were quite a few people in Hyde Park, walking their babies, walking their dogs, playing catch with their dogs, playing football, even practising walking on a rope tied between two trees. I went into Harrods and even went up to the Pradasphere exhibition. After Harrods, I walked out to Piccadilly Circus, up to Leicester Square, Chinatown then Oxford Street. The weather started going crazy and it started raining heavily when I was at Oxford Street. Sought refuge in The Plaza and had a baked potato while waiting out the rain. After that, I walked up and down the street, going in and out of stores, diverting into Bond Street and out again (I even went into the LV flagship store but didn’t enter Chanel). But nothing, nothing caught my fancy at all. I walked all the way down to Primark and if anything, the frenzied shoppers in there put me off even more.

It started to pour again so we crowded back into Primark for shelter. I saw a bus which would pass Bayswater so I ran after it. Was finally back in the room after 6 pm. That was 8 hours of walking done today.

Sunday, 11 May 2014

Had a leisurely start to the day. I wanted to leave early but got a message for a mate back in KL whom I helped to buy her Neverfull so ended up leaving the hotel at 12:30. I took the tube to Finsbury Park as I wanted to check out the Arsenal store there (the Armoury was closed for refurbishment) but I left disappointed. There are many halal restaurants within the vicinity of the tube station so I had lunch at a chicken shop – the owner is a Gooner and had the club flag draped over his TV. After lunch, I walked to the stadium. The (box?) office was opened and I renewed my membership (it cost £39 now, an increase of £3). Popped into The Arsenal Store Highbury House but found it similarly disappointing so I left empty-handed. I walked around the stadium before making my way to the Royal Oak entrance for the screening of the Norwich City-Arsenal match. We didn’t play well in the first half, almost complacent in fact (because we had secured fourth place). I even overheard someone behind me moan that even Spuds were scoring. So we were so happy when Rambo scored and the minutes later, Jenks scored his first goal for the club.

I returned back to the hotel and stayed in.

Monday, 12 May 2014

I checked out after 10 this morning and took a bus to Oxford Street. Last-minute shopping and all because I couldn’t find anything from either Arsenal stores! I returned back to Bayswater and sat in Whiteley’s for a while. It rained just as I was returning to the hotel to get my bags and didn’t stop raining when I left at 18:30 for Heathrow. I was lucky there was no hardly any queue at Heathrow (maybe everyone else had dropped off their bags much earlier).

We took off on time and I stayed up until after supper was served. It got cold after a while, despite me turning off the vent above me. The lady next to me even took her hoodie and gloves (!) from her cabin bag.

Tuesday, 13 May 2014

We landed at KLIA at 17:35. KLIA2 had opened while I was away so there were a lot of people in the KLIA Express train. I got home two hours after touching down and set out to unpack after sorting out the kitchen.

Will there be another trip to the Grove next year? I’m reluctant to leave dad alone but I know I need a long break from the office.

The Best Laid Scheme Of Mice And Men (Or Rather, Me): Part III

Saturday, 3 May 2014

I left 25 minutes after midnight and walked to Hotel Campanile where the coach was already waiting. I quickly made my way in and selected a seat towards the rear of the bus. There were fewer people there hence more quiet. I tried to sleep before we had to get off at Calais border control. We got down and went through the French and British immigrations. The British lady who served me asked what I was planning to do in London. Duh, I thought, not to see the Queen that’s for sure. ‘I’m going to watch football,’ I replied.

She: Oh, are you? Which team?

Me: Arsenal.

She: Is it the European match?

Me: (No, silly, Arsenal are out and besides there’s no European match on weekends. Idiot!). No, it’s the last home match of the season.

She: And have you got ticket to see the match?

Me: (Yes, of course you silly fool). Yes.

She: Can I have a look at it?

I actually rolled my eyes at this, it was an instant reaction and I couldn’t undo it. Unlocked my backpack and searched for the ticket before handing it to her.

She: (reading aloud) Oh Arsenal vs West Bromwich Albion. Sunday, 4 May. Right. You come to watch football match often?

Me: Not really. But I support them all the same, all the way from Malaysia.

She: So after London, where will you be?

Me: I’ll be flying out to the Czech Republic before going to Austria and flying back to London for a few nights before flying home.

She: And when are you going home?

Me: (just about managed to stop rolling my eyes again) 12 May. (Frowned). Yes, 12 May.

And before she could ask any further, I searched my backpack and showed her my return ticket.

She: 13 May

Me: (No, you fool. 13 May is when I get home. 12 May is when I fly out. But I’m not going to spell it out for you)

She: OK then.

What. A. Dummy.

We re-boarded the coach and drove on to the port. Boarded the ferry and had to disembark the coach again during the ferry crossing. It took 90 minutes and of course I couldn’t sleep. Re-boarded the coach again just before docking at Dover and we settled in for the remainder of the journey to London.

We pulled into London Victoria coach station at 0650 and I slowly made my way to the tube station. Changed tubes at St Pancras for the Metropolitan line for West Harrow. Arrived at West Harrow station around 8 and Ken arrived within 5 minutes to fetch me. I was studying the map but his road wasn’t shown as it was a new development.

It was a beautiful gorgeous day after the miserable Dutch and Belgian weather and I didn’t want to stay indoors. But I was overcame by sleepiness and succumbed to it. Finally went out to explore the town of Harrow after 1530. I opted to walk there instead of taking the tube; it was, after all, only one station away.

You could tell the demography of a place by its stores and Harrow showed itself as a low-to-middle working class level. I’m not complaining, just an observation.

I met up with Ken at 1930 and we had dinner at a Turkish restaurant. I decided not to have kebab and opted for a vegetarian dish. It was good and made up for the average lahmacun we had for starters.

I persuaded Ken to walk back instead so we strolled back to his pad. He continued assembling his table with parasol and chairs that evening and finished it. We watched Gravity that evening before retiring just after midnight.

Sunday, 4 May 2014

Now, I had already bought ticket to watch Arsenal-West Brom match a month before the match and subsequently bought flight ticket out on Saturday evening. Then of course the schedule was changed to Sunday lunchtime and in anger, I emailed the club asking for a refund. Having thought further about it, I decided I’d stick to the match - after all it was the last home match and I already to give the match against Newcastle a miss because they rescheduled it to Monday evening - and change my flight instead which I did the very next morning. So imagine my horror when I found that the club actually did read my email and had taken steps to refund me for the ticket. Checked the club website but the match was sold out. Sold out. Bloody hell. I emailed the club and was advised to check Ticket Exchange. Thankfully, after being in the queue, losing my position in the queue when Google Chrome crashed and having to start again in Internet Explorer (I went through all this when I purchased the ticket in early April too), I managed to find one empty seat. Phew phew phew. Syukur alhamdulillah.

Woke up late today after getting up earlier for morning prayers. Had cereal for breakfast and then chee cheong fun. Left at 12:10 and went to the station. Missed the train as I reached the station and had to wait for the next train. The train was bound for Baker Street so at Baker Street, I had to get a train that went to St Pancras before I could change for the Piccadilly Line to Arsenal. As a result, I only got to my seat 5 minutes before kick-off. In fact, I didn’t even hear the whistle and only realised the match had started after I saw the two sides running after the ball. Too bad Olly scored at the other end and not in front of me (I was at the East Bank). The match was pretty much barely memorable to be honest but the atmosphere and just being there was enough for me. I was somewhat gutted though that Rambo wasn’t in the line-up. Oh, and guess what? The stadium wasn’t even full! So much for the match being sold out!

I stayed on to see the lap of appreciation and left an hour after the match had ended. Wanted to check out Highbury House but there were too many people queuing ahead of me so I left after 5 minutes.

Made my way back to West Harrow and after prayers, had an early dinner. Went to shower after that and left after 8. Made my way back to Baker Street and walked to Gloucester Place for the 21:00 easyBus to Stansted. I had an early morning flight and would have to overnight at the airport.

We reached Stansted at 2210 and there appeared to be some renovation works at the airport. It further reduced the waiting area for passengers and even the prayer room had been relocated and was much smaller. I tried to get some sleep from a seat but some idiots were intent on keeping everyone else awake so I left and went to the prayer room. Tried to get some kip there but it didn’t work either as the occasional person would come in for prayers.

To be continued