London! Day 0/5
What a blast!! So many adventures!! Way too many to squeeze into 1 post! So this will be a 6 part series, 1 for each day, plus this prequel! Tune in regularly for more swashbuckling adventures!
London: such rich political and religious history - you'll never run out of things to see!!! Just like what Samuel Johnson says: "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." Indeed!
Day 0:
On Friday (7th Apr), Abel, Siong Yang, Yuanheng, Grace and I excitedly made our way to Copenhagen Airport for yet another tour. We were not students but tourists once again! So many things to see and do! And of course, my camera was ready for all the action!
Our flight to London's Stanstead Airport was at 930pm and we checked-in at 730pm. We took the budget carrier EasyJet and it cost about 100 euros (S$200) for a return flight there and back. That's fair enough, compared to the minimum S$1200 you would need to fork out at home! Copenhagen airport was facing disruptions that day and we had to wait for our departure gate to be announced. But finally, our flight departed at 1015.
The flight was only 1.5hrs long. But still, I was prepared! I had printed a whole lot of research papers - tourist material to be precise - to read during the flight. But everything looked so interesting! How am I going to cover them all???
We reached Stanstead Airport and adjusted our watches back 1hr (London is 1hr earlier than Denmark and Singapore is 7hrs faster than London). At the immigration checkpoint, we were promptly interrogated by the immigration officiers. "What are you here for? Have you been here before? What are you studying? How long will you be studying?" I think we just about stopped when we reached the point when I had told him my life plans after retirement.
Here's everyone at the airport! From left: Abel, Siong Yang, me, Anqi, Christine, Yuanheng, Lin Chang and Grace! At the airport, we linked up with Lin Chang, Anqi and Christine. Anqi and Christine are fellow Singaporean exchange students from CBS (Copenhagen Business School). We had met at one of the CBS p arties and as they were also planning to travel to London, we decided to go together! Lin Chang had Anqi and Christine to himself for 1 whole day! While I had - Siong Yang!! Some people are just so lucky...
The Singapore Alliance was to be split into several groups. Abel, Yuanshuo and I were going for the King Arthur and Stonehenge tour. Daren and Grace were going for the regular Stonehenge tour. While Lin Chang, Siong Yang, Yuanheng, Anqi and Christine would be driving to Manchester to visit Old Trafford. But frankly, only my group can be transported into a wonderous land of magic and mystery, chilvary and romance, where the hero slays the villian and the damsel is saved, and they live happily ever after! Try beating that, Manchester United fans!
But Yuanshuo had booked the wrong flight and would be joining us later. So for now, there was just me and Abel. But no matter! We both want to cover as much as we can! And 2 wild photographers together! We'll make a great team! Watch out! We'll conquer London!
And it was Siong Yang's birthday that day! Lin Chang and the girls bought a small cake for Siong Yang. We sang him happy birthday right there at the airport and although Siong Yang tried to hide it with his usual round of jokes, I could see he was terribly touched and was on the verge of crying on my shoulder. awwww. It felt wierd parting ways. To think we were all one big family but would not be travelling togeher. After a round of hugs, we reluctantly split.
But first things first, I had to get a handy dandy guidebook! Just like the one I got for Amsterdam! I found the perfect one in a WHSmith round the corner. It was a bit bulkier than the Amsterdam one, but it had a nice map of the city and plan of the tube (which is the notoriouly complex London train system!). And I liked the way it planned day tours by grouping nearby attractions together. Alright! Now we're set!
It was quite a distance from Stanstead Airport to the City. Abel and I found a coach service to drive us there - Terravision. It cost 6 pounds (S$18) for the ride. And to think we thought the 3 euros (S$6) from Amsterdam's Schipol Airport to the city was expensive! The ride took 2hrs. And you know what that means don't you? Time for a snooze!
We reached Victoria Train Station (in the picture) and navigated our way (with my new guidebook!) to our accomodation - St. Christopher's Orient Expresso. It was about 4km away. And it was already 1am. But it was really interesting observing the buildings in the night and along the way. We quickly checked-in to our 8-bed mixed room and tried not to disturb our roommates as we washed up and went to sleep.
What adventures will we encounter the next day? Tune in next time to find out!
London: such rich political and religious history - you'll never run out of things to see!!! Just like what Samuel Johnson says: "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." Indeed!
Day 0:
On Friday (7th Apr), Abel, Siong Yang, Yuanheng, Grace and I excitedly made our way to Copenhagen Airport for yet another tour. We were not students but tourists once again! So many things to see and do! And of course, my camera was ready for all the action!
Our flight to London's Stanstead Airport was at 930pm and we checked-in at 730pm. We took the budget carrier EasyJet and it cost about 100 euros (S$200) for a return flight there and back. That's fair enough, compared to the minimum S$1200 you would need to fork out at home! Copenhagen airport was facing disruptions that day and we had to wait for our departure gate to be announced. But finally, our flight departed at 1015.
The flight was only 1.5hrs long. But still, I was prepared! I had printed a whole lot of research papers - tourist material to be precise - to read during the flight. But everything looked so interesting! How am I going to cover them all???
We reached Stanstead Airport and adjusted our watches back 1hr (London is 1hr earlier than Denmark and Singapore is 7hrs faster than London). At the immigration checkpoint, we were promptly interrogated by the immigration officiers. "What are you here for? Have you been here before? What are you studying? How long will you be studying?" I think we just about stopped when we reached the point when I had told him my life plans after retirement.
The Singapore Alliance was to be split into several groups. Abel, Yuanshuo and I were going for the King Arthur and Stonehenge tour. Daren and Grace were going for the regular Stonehenge tour. While Lin Chang, Siong Yang, Yuanheng, Anqi and Christine would be driving to Manchester to visit Old Trafford. But frankly, only my group can be transported into a wonderous land of magic and mystery, chilvary and romance, where the hero slays the villian and the damsel is saved, and they live happily ever after! Try beating that, Manchester United fans!
But Yuanshuo had booked the wrong flight and would be joining us later. So for now, there was just me and Abel. But no matter! We both want to cover as much as we can! And 2 wild photographers together! We'll make a great team! Watch out! We'll conquer London!
And it was Siong Yang's birthday that day! Lin Chang and the girls bought a small cake for Siong Yang. We sang him happy birthday right there at the airport and although Siong Yang tried to hide it with his usual round of jokes, I could see he was terribly touched and was on the verge of crying on my shoulder. awwww. It felt wierd parting ways. To think we were all one big family but would not be travelling togeher. After a round of hugs, we reluctantly split.
But first things first, I had to get a handy dandy guidebook! Just like the one I got for Amsterdam! I found the perfect one in a WHSmith round the corner. It was a bit bulkier than the Amsterdam one, but it had a nice map of the city and plan of the tube (which is the notoriouly complex London train system!). And I liked the way it planned day tours by grouping nearby attractions together. Alright! Now we're set!
It was quite a distance from Stanstead Airport to the City. Abel and I found a coach service to drive us there - Terravision. It cost 6 pounds (S$18) for the ride. And to think we thought the 3 euros (S$6) from Amsterdam's Schipol Airport to the city was expensive! The ride took 2hrs. And you know what that means don't you? Time for a snooze! 
We reached Victoria Train Station (in the picture) and navigated our way (with my new guidebook!) to our accomodation - St. Christopher's Orient Expresso. It was about 4km away. And it was already 1am. But it was really interesting observing the buildings in the night and along the way. We quickly checked-in to our 8-bed mixed room and tried not to disturb our roommates as we washed up and went to sleep.What adventures will we encounter the next day? Tune in next time to find out!
posted by Andrew Teo at 9:31 PM
2 Comments:
can't wait to find out more! btw, ur tagboard disappeared.. i said i got ur postcard alr. tks!! :D
hey Mel!
no worries! hope you like it!! i'm gng to Dublin this weekend! then i'll be able to tell you whether they really sing the Irish Drinking Song when they're drunk! ohhh~ dye di dye di dye di dye di dye di dye di DYE!!!
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