A Day In London

A Day In London

A ding! announced the Captain's pre-landing speech as we approached Heathrow airport. He solemnly informed us, as only an airplane pilot can, that the temperature in London was 6 degrees Celcius. The slight shiver that ran down my spine was scarcely tempered by his hasty addition that it was expected to get warmer later in the day.

Next up was the immigration mess. The surge of passengers was complicated by signs pointing to "visa/indefinate stay" lines and "Other passport" lines when there was in fact no difference. It was quite amusing to see the travellers get confused between the two lines and moving back and forth between then. At least we didn't run into any trouble at the immigration counter, which hopefully will remain the case in Latvia and Russia. A Tube ride later, we were greeted by Luke's family friend, Aunty Swee Keat. She drove us back to her house where we had a nuch needed reprive from travelling. She fed us with toast, butter, sugar, and sausages. =) However, she wasn't finished! We grabbed our jackets as proof against the cold and we bussed off to the Four Seasons restaurant at Queen's Way for some char siew duck rice! The rice
was a little cold but the char siew was excellent. I carefully savored the food, knowing that that it would be a while before I would catch a whiff of it again.

With a spoonful of rice halfway to my mouth, my meal was interrupted by the ringing of my phone, which prompty stopped when I reached for it. My initial puzzlement quickly turned to gladness when I heard some mischevious giggling from the direction of the door. It was Doen Xian and Doen En arriving at Four Seasons to meet me for lunch, claiming they could not recognize me since I was "shrivelled" and "shrunken". I hadn't met my dear friends Xian and En (sisters) since last summer when I went back to Malaysia. Xian was studying in London while En was visiting. I especially wanted to meet Xian since it was likely that we would not be able to meet up once I finally got back to Malaysia (27th July!! So long more...). The conversation with 6 of us at the table became rather awkward with varying degrees of familiarity with each other, but we survived. =)

After we had finished lunch, Aunty Swee Keat went back home so that we could go "gallivanting". And so with Xian as our guide to London, we set off to discover its wonders. After settling some business with travellers cheques and getting online at a cybercafe, we set off towards Chinatown. All the while, we were enjoying London's highly fickle weather, with sunny, cloudy and rainy conditions interchanging like tiles on a Mahjong table. Eventually, the weather decided to settle on slightly overcast and we had a tea of egg tarts and soya bean milk at Kowloon in Chinatown. Despite being terrifically overpriced (I won't list the prices here in order to maintain the privacy of my fellow travellers), the egg tarts were pretty good nonetheless.

After a quick visit to Trafalgar Square for the prerequiste touristy photos and pigeon chasing, it was time to part ways. After a tearful farewell (kind of... I was crying inside, OK!?), Andrew, Luke and myself returned to Aunty Swee Keat's place. Thank you so much, Xian and En for taking us around and just having fun. =)

On the bus back, the three of us were completely exhausted and kept falling asleep despite fears of missing our stop. Valiant efforts to fight off snoozing were rewarded by us getting off the at correct stop. A spot of supplies shopping at a supermarket later, we trooped off. Back at Aunty Swee Keat's place, we had a treat waiting for us : a wonderfully home-cooked meal of chicken curry (with potatoes) and lots of rice and veggies! It was truly yummy and we ate as much as we could take. After the amazing dinner we washed up and rested, but all too soon, it was time to go. Aunty Swee Keat drove us to Victoria Station, where we would take a bus to Stansted Airport, and said goodbye. Thank you so much Aunty Swee Keat! Even though I've only met you for a day, it was really fun hanging out with you and your hospitality was greatly apprieciated! I hope to meet you again soon!

Once we were at the airport, we broke out the sleeping bags and settled down in front of a closed tie shop (The Tie Rack...) for we had several hours till our flight at 6:05am to Riga, Latvia. So, for the first time ever, I slept (surprisingly well) on the floor of an airport. A few hours later, it was time to check-in and we were off!

We had a few scares in London, like when I ran off without properly telling Andrew and Luke that I was going to check out the immigration lines or to visit the bathroom, but all was well in the end, with a lesson learned. Our first stop was quite successful and despite it only being a stopover in a highly developed English speaking country, I think it bodes well for our journey.

Next Stop : Riga, Latvia.

-kinyan