On the last day, I checked out early in the morning after breakfast but I parked my luggage at the hotel. The last place left uncovered in my itinerary was St. Paul Cathedral.

This church is famous because Princess D got married here and Her Majesty celebrated her 100th birthday. However as per all churches, funerals of well known people are also conducted here, for example Sir Winston Churchill.

After that, I had lunch at Pret a Manger.

Made one last stop at Harrods for presents shopping and then headed straight to Heathrow Airport.

This trip was truly memorable! Partly because this was the first time my company sent me so far (the furthest I've ever been was only Singapore previously) and secondly because I travelled alone throughout the whole trip.

I never would've thought that I could enjoy travelling alone. Ask me if I would before this, you will most likely get this look from me: "you-must-be-out-of-your-mind" cos back in KL, I wouldn't even eat alone anywhere! But ask me now... I would definitely consider!

It ain't easy but it was surely adventurous. I got to plan my own itinerary beforehand. Take my own sweet time in visiting. Eat only when I was hungry and stop to rest only when I was about to break my backbone... Absolutely no dependency on anyone else! It was all about me, me and me... where I wanna go, what I wanna do, what I felt like eating etc etc... A perfect time for soul searching too... I came back feeling refreshed, rejuvenated and relaxed but of course... poorer too!!! Then again, it was all worth it. I LOVE LONDON!!!

And oh... my new motto in life... Never ask, never know... :)

I had an appointment with my childhood friend; Jo at 11am. So after breakfast, I took the tube to Notting Hill Gate, where the Portobello Market is located.

After that, I went to Covent Garden.

Jo asked me what I wanted to see so I showed her the places that I've covered (she was kinda surprised that I managed to cover so many places within my tight schedule... hehehe...). So in the end, I told her I wanted to see Tower Bridge and she took me on a boat ride along Thames River which cost £6 per person.

The £6 turned out to be a good deal cos along the river, the view was great. Check out the clear blue skies.

In London, most of the buildings are old looking, but along Thames River, there were many newly built architecture.

More photos:

But of course, London would not be London without its famous old historical sites.

More old buildings that gave London the magical charm that made it so special:

Along the river, we also saw many other boats:


Initially, we intended to visit St. Paul after the boat ride. But the boat ride took longer than expected, so we decided to have dinner instead. Jo took me to her favourite restaurant in China Town and introduced me to one of her friends...

After dinner, she bought me a drink.

We only left cos it was getting too cold to sit outside. When I bade her farewell, I felt like crying. Honestly, I don't know when I'll ever see Jo again. I've known her for over 15 years! The last time I saw her was probably 5-6 years ago when she decided to work in London. Nevertheless, I was very happy to be able to see her after so many years. Afterall... we are all getting old... with different aims and objectives in life...

I got up early in the morning and made my way to the Eurostar Station to go to Paris!!!

Got off the train at Gare du Nord station (this is the station where they filmed Mr. Bean on Holiday). Honestly, it looked rather chaotic to me and all the signages were in weird sounding words (must be a direct translation of French). The transport system is terrible as compared to the ones in London! I had to buy carnets instead of a pass... and I had 10 of those carnets. But guess what? All the machines spit them out and thus after the trip, I still had 10 carnets left. Why ar? 1 to be used and 9 as back ups in case I lose them is it? Damn weird.

My first mission was of course to hunt for Louis Vuitton boutique at Champs Elysees.

When I was there, the entire boutique was FULL of people from nearly every parts of the world. Everyone bought bags as though they were in a flea market and ahem... I too bought 2. One for myself and one for my mom... :)

Next stop in my itinerary was Eiffel Tower (in Paris, Eiffel Tower is spelt as Tour Eiffel). I decided to take the cab after countless minutes of walking. Every single person I asked pointed me towards a different direction. Maybe cos I spoke English!!! Psychotic French! Cabs here charge a minimum of 6 Euro and the driver seat is located on the left!

When I finally reached Eiffel Tower, it was surprisingly GIGANTIC. Tho from pictures, the tower looked small, in real life, it is really huge! For an untrained eye, the base of the tower spans across an area of 9 Olympic size swimming pool! And the entire area is just full of tourists!

If you take the elevator, you'll have to line up. If you take the stairs, you'll also need to line up. Plus every level you go to is charged differently if you take the elevator. Level 1 - 57m at 4.50 Euro. Level 2 - 115m at 7.80 Euro. Level 3 the top level - 324m at 11.50 Euro. And if you decide to take the stairs, you're charged too... 4.00 Euro. Absolute madness. Everything is chargeable and the amount of people there is enough to fill a stadium!

I was due to return to London the same day, so the last stop was Place de la Concorde.

From Place de la Concorde, I walked back to Champs Elysees cos the Metro Station is just right opposite LV. Champs Elysees is really a shopping street with many branded shops. Other than that, just lots of people walking up and down that street. Weather is also way hotter than London. I was practically perspiring like a pig.

Then it was time to go back to London.

One of London's most visible attraction was the British Airways London Eye.

Soaring at 135m (443ft) above the South Bank of the Thames - it is supposedly the world's largest observation wheel which offers spectacular views of the city.

Here are some of the photos I took from the capsule. Beautiful unobstructed view of the city. :)

By the time we finished the ride, it was time for dinner. This time, we had dinner somewhere near Covent Garden. The Italian restaurant was called Bindi (if I'm not mistaken).

I got up at 6am on the morning of 20 Sep 07 cos I had to attend the conference at Landmark Hotel, Marylebone. Breakfast will only be served at 7.30am... so I decided to eat out. Saw a little deli on my way to the Paddington Station so I decided to try their English breakfast set.

The conference lasted the entire day. By the time, they finished that day's session, it was time for dinner. I hooked up with one of the delegates from Philippines and together, we headed to SOHO and China Town.

We had to walk past SOHO first before reaching China Town. Honestly, nothing much in SOHO lor... but there was this status called Statue of Eros. It must have been something significant cos many other tourists were seen "lepak-ing" there... :P

After walking past SOHO, we were greeted by this entrance arch with Chinese wordings... which meant that we've reached... China Town! Here, Asians were seen everywhere! From China, Korea, Japan, Thailand and of course... Malaysia.

We had dinner at one of the many Chinese restaurants. And so happened... the manager who brought out our bill was from Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia!

After dinner, we decided to walk around and like other tourists, we went back to Trafalgar Square to rest at the steps outside National Gallery. It was a tiring day with the conference and all, but I was very happy that I found Rochelle :).

The Trafalgar Square was reputed to be both a landmark and a stage for cultural, educational, artistic and sporting events, ceremonies and festivals. So much so that the square was used for rallies, public gatherings and demonstrations before.

The minute I got out of the station, I saw the square with lots of people chilling out. There was even this Lomo exhibition in the middle of the square. The giant pillar here is called Nelson's Column and it was a pillar guarded by 4 lions...

At the end of the square, sits the National Gallery.

Here the entrance fee was supposedly 'free' but visitors are 'encouraged' to provide a donation of £3.50! Anyway, I was asked to provide my passport as deposit in case I run off with their audio guide! But since my passport is sooooo important (I will have to swim back to Malaysia if they lose it), I gave them my IC instead. Hehe.

Here, a lot of paintings were displayed and the audio guide provided a guide as to how the paintings should be viewed... in terms of colours, lighting, positioning, texture and etc etc... A bit too deep for me obviously... But anyway, ok la... cos there were sofas within each hall that visitors could sit on to "marvel" at the paintings... For me... I was able to rest my feet and back... so no complaints... :)

I had lunch at one of the delis at the station. In London, there are many small delis selling a variety of pastries, cakes, sandwiches and coffees. I had a cup of cappuccino and a carrot cake which cost me £5.


After lunch, I continued my way to the Westminster Abbey which was located in the heart of London - next to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

Immediately after I got out of Westminster Station, I was greeted by this magnificent site of Big Ben, part of the Houses of Parliament. For many, this is one of the more recognizable symbol of London. It's a high tower with a huge clear clock face.

Right opposite Big Ben, there's this magnificent British Airways London Eye! But that's a post for another day cos I went back for a ride!

I finally found Westminster Abbey. The brochures I got quoted this about the church: Westminster Abbey is the House of Kings, where the coronation of Kings and Queens has taken place since 1066, and where many of the Kings and Queens of England and of the United Kingdom are buried. Principal among them is St Edward the Confessor, King of England from 1042 to 1066, whose shrine is at the heart of the Abbey Church. Beside and around them are buried or memorialised many of the great men and women from almost every century of these islands’ history: statesmen and politicians, lawyers, warriors, clerics, writers, artists, musicians.

At different parts of the church, there were special "rooms" with statues lying on raised altars (apparently, their bodies also lie beneath those statues... scary!). Each of these statues also have a distinct effigy or a death mask. A death mask is a plaster or wax cast made of a person's face following death. Nearly all the statues were positioned lying down with their palms clasped together on their chest (as tho' in prayer) facing the sky.

Tho the church was full of tourists, it was somewhat serene and peaceful. But for me... it was a funny feeling that I couldn't pinpoint exactly... I felt peaceful the minute I stepped into the church but at times, I felt uncomfortable and even a little bit afraid... Nevertheless... it was truly an eye opener to be able to visit Westminster Abbey.

I got up at 6am and watched TV for awhile. Nothing much to watch tho' cos there were only like 6 channels available... When it was time for breakfast, I went down to the basement...

Prior to the trip, I've planned my own itinerary on the places that I wanted to visit. So after breakfast, I went out armed with my tube map, Oyster Pass and my London map...

First stop was Buckingham Palace - the official London residence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. At the entrance, we were given an audio guide consisting of an audio player and a headset. The player was pretty cool. At every section, there was a short intro so that blur case visitors like me can at least know what we're looking at. Hehe.

We were introduced to the magnificent grandeur of royalties home comprising mostly of intricate gold carvings, giant paintings, beautiful furniture and some incredibly expensive decorative items (esp clocks!). There were many beautifully decorated rooms within the Palace.

As part of the visit to the State Rooms, a special exhibition celebrates the Diamond Wedding Anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. It includes Princess Elizabeth's magnificent wedding dress, jewellery worn by the Princess that day and a selection of pieces presented to her on her marriage are on display - including the beautiful diamond tiara that secured her veil and the diamond bracelet given to her by The Duke of Edinburgh.

It was also here that I met a Korean lady traveling on her own. We parted ways after we took turns snapping many pictures for one another.

That concludes first half of the day. Next would be Westminster Abbey.

The last update on this blog was bout me traveling alone to London and since I've been back for over 2 weeks now... thought I'd just document the memorable trip here as part of my travel journal.

I took the night flight on 17 Sep 07 from KLIA and flew for 13 hours straight to Heathrow Airport, London. I reached London on 18 Sep 07 at about 6-ish in the morning (London is about 7 hours behind KL). First thing that I did was to look for a "smoking room".

The Information Counter at the airport was pretty informative… I was given a mini leaflet with the underground map. Paid 3 Pounds to hop onto the Picadilly line that took me from Heathrow Airport to Earl’s Court. From Earl’s Court, I walked to the other side of the station to take the District line. But I had to pay another 4 Pounds to Paddington station. Here, I got myself an Oyster pass. (FYI: Taxi from Heathrow Airport to Central London cost 50 Pounds!!!)

My hotel was supposedly located near the Paddington station. But I didn't know which direction it was located and the first few people I asked didn't know where Sussex Gardens was… (Later I found out it was cos "Sussex" is pronounced as "Sossex" not "Suuuussex"). So I found myself walking aimlessly with a map in hand.

Since I took a right turn instead of a left one... I couldn't find the hotel... So I had to turn back and drag my luggage to the other end of the road... Gresham was located at the end of the road...


The hotel reception turned out smaller than I expected... And when I asked if I could leave my luggage at the concierge, I was told to leave it under the stairs... O_o.

After leaving my luggage at the hotel, I began exploring the surrounding areas. I walked till my back and feet ache before I decided to have a cup of latte at Star Bucks. A tall latte cost 1.95 Pounds (about RM13.95)... The first meal I had was Krispy Kreme! I was so excited cos I've heard so much about it and till now, we don't have it in Malaysia. Was I disappointed? Of course NOT... the first bite was absolutely... HEAVENLY!!!

Then I continued wandering around. I must have hopped on and off the tube for more than 7 times in a day... I also briefly visited Marks and Spencer, High Street Kensington and Harrods.


By 6pm... I was already dead tired... I had been walking the entire day that my whole body ached. So much so that the idea of suddenly collapsing into a coma there and then sounded like a good idea... But I told myself I would try to maximize this trip... so I continued walking. Before going back to the hotel... I had fish and chips at a deli. Honestly... it was nothing great but it cost a bomb - 7.25 Pounds (~ RM50)!!!

That concludes my first day in London. I was so exhausted that I slept at 7pm that day...