Friday, May 26, 2017

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.