Rest of the Days: Liverpool, Windemere, and the End.

Aloha guests, as usual I'll start this post with an apology for not writing more often. I usually write only when I really feel like writing. Some may see this as laziness and yes it is, but it is also to ensure you will not get half-assed posts about minute details about my daily life. Such as did or did I not wax my legs, paint my nails and gel my hair today. That sort of stuff can be found all over in many many other blogs.

So yeah, just to get this London trip out of the way, I'm gonna briefly wrap up the remainder of the trip. This is so I can get back to my regular blogging about nonsense and also because the rest of the trip was void of any hot girls in close proximity bar 1 or 2 random ones.

So, I'll pick up from after the Paris day-trip. Well the day after the trip we did nothing much. Stayed in London and went to Chinatown to pick up a few souvenirs and just basically do nothing much. Visited Lilywhites though, which was awesome.

The day after that, was actually the day I was pretty much looking forward to the most coming on this trip. The day we would leave London for Liverpool. Took the train from our Gloucester station to the central point, which I cannot remember the name. And from there boarded the train to Liverpool Lime Street. I think the ride took 2 hours but it was smooth and comfortable all the way.

Forgive me but I can't remember exact details at the moment due to the long time I have taken to write up this trip. Anyway, in Liverpool I stayed at the Travel Lodge. Which is a chain of some sort around England I think. It's a very modern place for tourists, clean and sterile.

We walked around the area near to where we stayed, which was actually really close to Liverpool One, which is their central shopping area. Very chic and clean. Ate lunch at the docks, which is surrounded by shops, upmarket pubs and restaurants. Ate at a pub-cum-nightclub. Nice cosy place. I also visited the Beatles museum which was pretty nice. They recreated the Cavern inside there which I thought was brilliant. It's structured really nicely and the only gripe was I wished I had more time inside.

I had to rush or I would've missed the Anfield tour. Took a cab to Anfield from there and it was a pretty short ride. Cabs in England are pretty cool. They're old looking cars but fully modified to be nothing but a cab. Here, cabs are just cars which are painted differently and driven by cheating gangsters. Over there, cabs look nothing like a normal car. Their backseat fits 4, all facing each other Limo style. The driver sits alone in front and is shielded from the passengers by a plexiglass window. Even if you want to, you can not sit next to the driver as there is no seat there.

Reaching Anfield, I just had to marvel at actually standing there. Went in to sort out a few details about our tour and then we went into the museum which holds all the throphies and just cool stuff, including the European Cup won for the 5th time, meaning they were able to keep the real thing, the same one Manchester United won in 1999, being kept safely in the Anfield Museum.

Went on the tour of Anfield then, and among us there was one Arsenal fan and a Man United one, obviously being the main targets for the rest of the tour. Went into the interview areas, player changing rooms, refree changing rooms, and finally walked down into the ground itself, touching the legendary This Is Anfield sign on the way of course. One cool thing was when we were walking down the tunnel, they played a recorded clip of what the players hear when they walk out, thunderous cheering and singing from the fans.

In the ground itself, got to sit where the players sit, where Alex Ferguson sits and just basically absorb the whole experience in. Also of course got to stand on the Kop End, from which the Arsenal fan was shown the exact spot Ryan Babel went down in the penalty box. I'm sure you all know which one.

The tour concluded and we went to Liverpool One to do some shopping. Ate at their McDonalds which is totally different to our shit one in Malaysia. They actually have edible stuff there. Their Burger King is more similar to ours, but their breakfast is the bomb. Some sausagey thing which tasted pretty damn good. Also had lunch at Nando's there, which is also almost exactly the same as the Malaysian one. In there though there were these 2 race models, I think they were race models anyway. Dressed in the skimpiest skirts you will ever see with makeup to look like Roxanne. Needless to say every single guy was staring at them every opportunity they got and every girl was giving them dirty looks for even being alive. Oh yeah, in the Liverpool One store, the sweetest girl attended to me. They had a few mistakes done on my jersey so she got me sorted out and was just really helpful in general. Of course the Liverpool accent did no harm to how adorable she looked. I love European accents, English and Irish ones in particular.

Left Liverpool and headed for Windemere after that. In Windemere, I stayed in a bed and breakfast place. It is basically just a house, which the owners rent out the rooms. Beautiful place, very charming. There we went on a tour of 10 lakes, in which a old man took us around the Lake District giving us commentary in the process and I will not even bother explaining it in words because I simply cant. The view, the beauty and just the serenity of the place is beyond words. The green and slow pace of life there is just really so appealing and you can sit on a moutaintop and stare at a lake for days and even then you might still not get over how beautiful it is.

If someone came up to me and said Malaysia was going to sink in 2 days and I would have to Windemere to stay, lets just say, I wouldn't think twice about it. The town is next to a lake and walking there at night is really beautiful. Really calm and homey. Well I guess all small towns are like that, where everyone knows everyone. Just a really really nice place to stay. Ah, it may seem as if I don't have much to write about Windemere but because I didn't really do anything much there. You have to be there to understand and just soak it in. You don't even have to plan anything. Just stay in a B&B, take long walks everyday and thats basically it. The beauty of a simple life.

The next couple of days were spent back in London. Did some more shopping and then went to see a play. Stomp. If you don't know what this is, just look up Stomp Out Loud, the DVD. It is a percussion unit where they use everyday objects to make beats and music. From trash can covers, broomsticks, plastic bags, lighters and even sinks. I've seen many plays in my time but I have to say this was the best experience of them all. The auditorium was small, which amplifies the closeness and sound of the performers and you can see their facial expressions and intensity. No sound is wasted due to the size of the place.

We also visited the National Museum in which there were many interesting things, including, the Rosetta Stone, which I find extremely fascinating. Look it up on Wikipedia.

Well, that's about it. After that, the next day I flew back to home sweet home, Malaysia. Funnily though, after every trip, even the good ones, Japan, Thailand, Bangkok, when on the way home and when I come back, I always think, well that was really nice, but it's nice to be home. Y'know, being home-sick on the way home. But after this trip, I was sorta sorry to be back. Almost as if I would rather have lived there much longer. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to appreciate that I had the chance to go there and hopefully return there one day to live or work maybe?


Reasons to stay in Europe:






P.S. All the pictures, whether in Sepia or in full colour can be found on my facebook photos.

Sepia:http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55584&l=26e77&id=563730916
Colour:http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60921&l=32939&id=563730916

What doesn't kill you,
Only makes you stronger.

Day 4: Baguettes, Pyramids and a certain Eiffel.

Allo there people. Really sorry for the long delay between posts. I just don't have to time or patience to sit down and write at the moment. No idea why, but it's just like that. So, back to the London trip then. Day 4, one of the more interesting days.

Day 4 of the trip began with me waking up at 4 or 5am if I remember correctly. It was some ungodly hour where the sky is still dark and lazy Londoners are still enjoying their sleeps. Being in London and on a trip though, waking up at times like this is actually acceptable. You walk out into the cool morning air, sniffing in the oxygen in London, which is slowly starting to become familiar and very pleasant.

Well.... we get into a van which is like the local handler for the tour company in which we decided to take for this day trip. Anyway it's like 4 or 5 in the morning, I'm cheerful but still half asleep. We pull up at Holiday Inn I think and whoa, out comes 2 pretty hot ladies. One of which looks like a thinner version of Angelina Jolie. They were really friendly too, exchanging Hi's and what not as soon as they boarded the van. Turns out they were Canadians who were also on a trip of London, and also on this tour to Paris. By the way, if you 2 are reading this, I tried my best not staring at you the whole time, and believe me I did not.

So joined by another slightly older couple from the US of A, we were dropped off at the train station to board the Eurostar. Armed with a panini, which were starting to become my favourite form of food, we boarded the Eurostar, preparing for a 2 hour train ride under the sea into Paris. Oh and yes, I was sitting next to the Canadians. (What's with Canadians and trips with me? First girl guides and now Angelina Jolie?)

When we reached Paris, the Paris du Nord I think, is their "main" train station. Joined up with other people from London as well I think, including a young American girl in her 20s. No I am not a pervert reporting on every girl I see, it's just that, it's really surprising to see a young person travelling on their own. Well maybe New Yorkers are braver than the rest of the world?

Started off right outside the train station with a very very cheerful and helpful tour guide which reminded me slightly of a young David Hasselhoff maybe? We were all led onto a double decker bus with the top floor open-air. Lovely way to be brought around really. So the bus just got going and our guide told us what was going on as the bus moved, like any other tour. Saw the ballet theater which used to be a theater for plays if I'm not mistaken. Very grand place built by some king or something. Thing about France is, most of their buildings have these small details on the exterior which just adds that grandeur to it, making even the most normal buildings look solid and artistic in certain ways.

The tour continued with us going into the heart of France, passing their fashion street which boasts the biggest names in fashion, including the headquarters and flagship store of Louis Vuitton. Ah yes, another thing about France, or the French rather is that, everyone is dressed sharply. Unlike England or Malaysia where you see people loafing around coffeeshops or whatever in simple comfort clothes, the French are dressed very well whereever they go. Probably is what helps you tell the locals from the foreigners. They all look sleek in their trenchcoats, designer sunglasses, boots and what-have-you.

So then, gawking at all the nice cars along the way, we made it to that famous French arc that you see usually in French shows or promos. The name eludes me but the detail on this thing is simply amazing. Even from the bus, I could see that the amount of detail on the arch itself, the designs on the nooks and crannies, the expressions of each and every soldier statue. Simply magnificent. Continued into the center of Paris, which has an Obelisk given to them by the Egyptians if I'm not mistaken. It's a sharp spear-like statue with the tip made of gold or something.

After that we made our way to the Eiffel Tower. I know we see it all the time in commercials and movies but when you're there, looking at it in person, it's simply breathtaking. Built so long ago, it's so symmetrical, just a wonder of joined steel. The gigantic size of it really just causes you to stand and stare it it, slack jawed. When we finished taking some pics from below, we took an elavator to the middle level. Which is adorned with the Euro stars because France is the leader for UN or something this term. The view from up there really is amazing. You have a panoramic view of Paris and I swear I felt the tower sway more than once due to the strong winds. Enjoying the view from above and taking some truly spectacular pictures, we decided to go down. Took the steps by the way, all 700 of them. Oh and we were one of the many tour-members who decided to forgo the lunch on the Eiffel. France's best chef was cooking that day and it cost up to RM300 per person to dine several hundred meters in the air.

When we were done, we proceeded onto a nice boat for a cruise on the river. There, we just took in the sights of beautiful Paris and listened to the translator on some phone-like thing. Very very beautiful with quaint little stories for certain sites. They have some sort of Beach, which is like sand poured onto one of the concrete river-banks. And there really are people just lying around there on deck chairs.

After the cruise, we went to the Louvre, the famous museum that holds super artworks such as the Mona Lisa and made even more famous by The Da Vinci code. Unfortunately the Louvre closes on the day we were there, so we just walked around it, and even then like I said, the detail on the exterior of the Louvre is simply crazy. Every arch, every single bend or whatever is just filled with detail, carvings and everything. Then of course, we saw the world-famous Pyramid and the inverted one as well, which in the Da Vinci code is claimed where Mary Magdalene is.

Refreshed by seeing the Louvre, our next destination was a Church. Once again I'm sorry but the name just escapes me. Our guide, being an excellent one, decides to forgo the bus ride and take us on a walk, from the Louvre to the Church. I don't know if he does this all the time but the fact that he was willing to take us through back-alleys and walk all the way, showing us the way of life in Paris from the groundlevel was really good. Our Angelina Jolie was wearing this fierce high-heeled boots and as soon as he suggested walking, everyone sort of looked at her. She of course, replied that she had shopped 6 hours straight in boots so it was a small matter to her.

So off we went, walking, we saw the house of some famous painter, once again I do not remember but I will when I see the picture. Just enjoying the small roads of Paris, the lesser known side-walk cafes and just their ongoings in general. You just get the feeling that they enjoy life a whole lot more than we do. They take time out to just sit down at a cafe, chat, have an espresso, smoke, you know, just relax and enjoy the moment for hours. If I get the opportunity, which I might, I would definitely not balk at choosing to live there, whether temporarily or for longer. The way of life is just so laid-back.

Reached the church and like the one in England, this one was enourmous. I think it was a gothic-styled church, so very high up, very strong, very menacing almost. It was pretty dark inside as well. Done with the church, we headed to La Fayettes, hope I got the spelling right. It's their equivalent of Harrods. Well, everything is nice to see but will cost you an arm, a leg and maybe more to buy.

After that, we bid our tour-guide adieu and headed back to London via the Eurostar again. Yet again, yes, I was sitting next to our "friend". I missed something though, when I was sleeping. Apparently there was an emergency on board the train and they paged for a doctor. Our sultry friend, responded to the call!!! And she managed to cure whoever was having difficulties because they then presented her with a bottle of Champagne!!! WOW! This is like when you see a proverb book and there is "Don't judge a book by it's cover". They should have her picture there next to the example!!! Who ever knew doctors dressed like French models?! Maybe Canadian ones?

As we reached London, we sorta just collapsed into bed and that was that. End of day 4!

Unfortunately, I have a lack of pics from Paris as my phone died midway thru. When I get pics from my digital cam though, I will post 'em up. Till then, hang in there and cheers.

The full album is available at http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55535&l=05eb2&id=563730916 It's all from my mobile and all taken in Sepia.

Don't argue with an idiot,
The Spectators can't tell the difference.

Day 3: Churches, Buses, and 17 Girl Guides.

Gah, I'm gonna start this one off by saying or rather, admitting that I don't have the time or will to continue this day to day. Because of this, I'm gonna sum up the most interesting parts of the trip in the next few posts. This is also due to the fact that I have some stuff built up, not related to the trip, that I want to post up.

Anyways, day 3 is one of the highlights of the trip so... here, we, go.

Day 3 was a day that we had booked a day trip of London, where this tour company would bring us around the nicest places for the day on a bus and leave us at the London Eye for more than half the day.

So, started the day off by getting into the bus at Holiday Inn, which was just down the road. This bus took us to a bus terminal someplace. From there we would board the real bus which would take us around. Imagine my surprise, and maybe delight at learning that, when we reached there, we would be sharing the tour and bus with not 1, not 2, but 17 Canadian Girl Guides!! If any of you are reading this blog, then no, I was not looking or staring or thinking about any of you through-out the tour.

Well, in the first place they were about 15 so that would be kinda wrong for me. But the way they talk sounds just like an episode of The O.C., One Tree Hill and what have you. School girls bitching about everything. They would be on tour to London, Paris and finally Switzerland. Huh, I bet our Malaysian equivalent have only been as far as Taman Negara.

So enough about them, the tour was really interesting. Well interesting to me anyway, churches and historical sites are not really everyone's cup of tea. We had a really charming tour guide, older guy but witty and very knowledgeable. Visited various churches from the outside, but the best one was St. Paul's. I can't describe this place in words or pictures because it wouldn't do it justice, and no cameras allowed inside anyway. When you walk into the place, you are just overwhelmed by the sheer size and intricate design on the arches and walls.

According to the guide, they built it initally to instill, fear or rather awe, into church-goers to make them god-fearing people. The queen though, if I'm not mistaken, ordered in sculptures and beautiful window-paintings etc to transform the church. So people would be more god-loving and stuff, rather than fearing. The place is MASSIVE, you look up and you could just sit there and look up into the dome for hours just for your brain to comprehend how huge this place is and how long ago it was built.

Soon after, we had lunch and then headed around, but another highlight was going into the Tower of London or something like that, I hope it's right. Well it's actually a few towers, but it's become a museum of sorts now. We got in to see their torture chambers, house-arrest rooms and, wait for it, the crown jewels. It was pretty cool, standing inside a vault-like place looking at various unnecessary diamond-filled encrusted fully gold sticks and hats. No disrespect meant of course.

It began to drizzle slightly now but we went on a cruise of the River Thames, seeing the London bridge amongst many other bridges. Interesting stuff. The tour finally concluded with us going on the London Eye which is so bloody huge, it takes about 30 mins just to go one round. It's a massively oversized ferris-wheel btw. The view from above is breath-taking though. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, that we visited the Buckingham Palace, didn't go in of course but yea, we just went there.

Saying a silent goodbye in my head to the Canadians, day 3 was over. Headed back, in preparation for our Paris tour, which would begin the next morning.

Sometimes in Life,
The Journey is more important than the End.

Day 2: Circuses, Celebrities, and lots of Wax.

Day 2. 17/8/2008

The day started off with a decision that we would shift to a nicer and proper hotel. And it's what we did. Moved 3 or 4 lots down and there was Park International Hotel. Left our stuff there and got away for the day, where my mom's friend, who lives in London would take us around.

As usual, we took the underground train, or subway. Queued up for about an hour and were finally into celebrity haven. Saw well known faces like Johnny Depp, Cameron Diaz, David Beckham, Tiger Woods, Jose Mourinho, Lance Armstrong, and the Beatles. Even managed to come into touching distance with them and snap a few photos. This then continued into a Dungeon where there were serial murderers and crazy people running around, scaring the bejesus out of people. Oh, and I'm talking about wax models of course. This is all in Madame Tussauds. Sorry to burst your bubble if you thought you would be reading about someone who got near celebrities. The dungeon part was live actors though.

Soon after, we went to Picadilly Circus, with it's colourful neon signs, bumbling with life. Nice place really, shops everywhere around a center, a pedestrian filled area around a fountain. We walked from there to Leicester Square, which is basically a park and where tickets to shows and plays are sold. Weirdly, the place has more Italian food than English. I believe London has 15 Bella Italia's. Then again, this is probably how it is around the world, Italian food is the favourite anywhere. Had lunch at an Italian Ristorante which was good, but expensive like food everywhere for tourists.

Continued to Trafalgar Square, which had an enormous Screen up, to show the Olympics. Every Brit channel was showing the success of Team GB over and over again but the place was great, buzzing with people watching the screen or just hanging out. 2 huge fountains flanked the screen. We continued on in search of Covent Garden which we wouldn't find on that day. In our search though, I came across a group of Chelski fans coming back from their 4-0 opening day win. About 50 of them all in blue coming out of the subway, mostly bald, and mostly with beer bellies. The typical English middle-age guy.

Weary and slightly confused by the signs that pointed us to Covent Garden, we kinda gave up and went back, stopping by HMV, which is one of the things that I would really really love to have in Malaysia. It's a huge record store btw, sells games, clothes, CDs, DVDs and stuff like that. If I lived there, I would probably visit it every week and would probably manage to buy something out of there on every visit. On this trip, managed to get 2 awesome t-shirts, and 3 cds which have proved impossible to find in Malaysia, because our local retailers just believe in bringing in shit-pop like Dick 5, Rihanna, Jon-ass Brothers and more homosexuals like that. Money-spinning bullshit.

With that done, went back to Park International and that was it for Day 2.

Once again, the full album is available at http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55535&l=05eb2&id=563730916 It's all from my mobile and all taken in Sepia.

The only way to win an argument,
is to avoid one.

Day 1: 12 Hour Flights, Fish and Chips and the Beginning.

Hiya folks, how you guys been holding up for the past 12 days or so? Well I hope, must've been hard without any updates eh? Anyways, for those not in the know, I was in London for the past 10 or so days. I believe I had mentioned this in one of my posts.

Well, I'm back now and with stories to share to will everyone please gather around the campfire, turn off your mobiles, get a drink and enjoy.

Day 1. 16/08/08
Couldn't really sleep the previous night, and I awoke early in anticipation of the impending trip. We left at 7.30 or 8 I think, my flight being at 10 if I'm not mistaken. And luckily I left early because as soon as I reached KLIA, I noticed something that probably will only happen in a airport as nice as ours. I think they had only 1 or 2 counters open for London, the line was longer than that you would normally get standing in a bus stop. So much for being one of the best airports in the world.

After awhile, and with the help of an Enrich card, I was checked in and ready to go. I had never been on a flight as long as 12 hours. 12 bleeding hours. Basically a whole day, cooped up, seat-belted down into a metal tube, 30000 or so feet in the air, eyes glued to a screen about the size of a big guys palm. Well that's exactly what it was, I watched some Ashton Kutcher show that helped pass time. What stays in Vegas etc... Something I learned while on-board. I'm no racist and this isn't meant to be racist but I've noticed that the most irritating people on planes are usually the middle easterns. Their children are extremely whiney, they run around everywhere, the father dosn't give a shit, and the mother is bullied by her kids constantly. Add that to a young baby that had to share a seat with her mother and perfect, non-stop irritation for 12 hours. I swear the Australian dude sitting next to me was on the verge of getting up and throwing them out.

Touched down at Heathrow International Airport at about 3pm London Time. Wasn't as grand as I expected it to be, but extremely big, and extremely busy. Heathrow has 5 terminals by the way. Waited quite awhile at immigration but I was finally there. Stepping into UK and into London. Much like KLIA, you can take a subway straight from inside the airport. Exactly what I did, taking a train straight to Gloucester Road, where my hotel would be located. As you will see, hotel is quite an exaggeration on my part.

Ah, the Cromwell Crown Hotel. With your typical non-responsive Indian receptionist who hates her job. Room was basically 2 foldable beds of sorts and a double bunk bed. Toilet was comparable to that of the airplanes. With everything sorted, and stowed away. Time for dinner. The area I lived in appeared to be quite middle to upper middle class. Holiday Inn was nearby and within the first hour or so I was there, I had seen at least 6 Porsche's, a Lamborghini and various BMWs around. So we walked around abit and settled on fish and chips. What else?! Typical english food, except, served by some guy who looked and spoke more french than english. Nevertheless, it was good. A good way to end my first day in the great city of London.

That wraps up day 1. I'll report on day 2 tomorrow. Cheers.

By the way, if any of you tossers wants to check out the full album of Sepia photos that I took, feel free to browse through them on facebook here.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.