London day 1-3

06 July 08
The first day of touching down was...ok I could say. My head was spinning badly and the taxe driver that breaks so hard every 20metres doesn't help my body either.

We got through the customs ok, as I was surprise that I didn't see what I was told. Hustle and bustle, rudness, etc. It felt the same a any customs you go through. We had to do a health check up, and that the lady at the counter was very nice. They scanned my body to check for things, and after we got to our luggages, it was out and waiting :)

The interesting thing was, it was like Malaysia. There were indeed nobody at the customs, and that we did not even fill an in-depth declaration form, we walked straight through the green lane. And it was a good thing we rung the cab before hand. Cheaper, and he was waiting for an hour (silly guy, we told the people to send him in an hour later). Total cost on a van cab was
£41.

We were greated greatly by Joyce, Jason, his bestfriend and gf. We had a scrumptious meal, plus also manage to capture the men's tennis finals game. 4 hours!! I zonked out almost immediately when I fell onto their couch bed.

Weather: Half rain, half cloudy, half windy

07 Jul 08

Felt like my head was still spinning and that my body wasn't fully adjusing to the time as yet. Jason took us out to learn the bus route. The first and most common bus was number 17. Similar to NZ, we use the oyster card and it gets topped up at the subways and when you go into a bus, its like a touch-n-go process. Each bus stops at certain alphabetical sign, as there were so many of them on the streets. And the route from the start to the end on one numbered bus costs 90p.

I think London is like Malaysia and NZ. You behave like a Malaysian on the streets, and like a New Zealander at work. I was beginning to love this place as I didn't feel neither here nor there.

We traveled to a HSBC to sort out our stuff, only to find that we can do it at any branch. And since London is a new country, there were so many things to see in the bus. Oh, all day buses were double deckers, and the night ones are like caterpillars hehe. We saw lotsa 'Pret a Manger' cafes which was similar to Hollywood Bakery, there were heaps and heaps of HSBC branches. Thank goodness we've got an account with them. Rested more today as I still didn't feel too well.

Weather: Half rain, half shine


08 July 08

Sun was out today!! So I dashed out saying goodbye to D who had to wait for the FEDEX box to come. I shot straight to take the same route. Head was feeling better than yesterday. And here comes the pictures.....

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General buildings (not much dirt as I thought, could be just this area only)


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Zee buses you see everywhere...nice red colour to liven the place up

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St. Paul's Cathedral, where Princess Diana and Prince Charles got married :)

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Tourist buses,heh might take one when I settle down :)

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Black taxi cabs (Expensive cabs, we were told to avoid them)

Almost every gap between each buildings, I stumble across small parks for people to read. London indeed do keep their greens well. And they fully maintain the plants and landscaping is really well done.

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I was almost amazed that lots of buildings are literally made out of bricks. Just like Malaysia, but these are not covered by cement. I guess that is how you differentiate the old and new buildings...anyway, this is alley to where I temporarily stay...
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More to come in the next post!

Bali

Am in the midst of updating my blog, only to think that I shall post my Bali photos up as a picture blog instead. Shall describe each of them as I post...

Click here to see it
:)

Promise that I will write something about my London photos...

First stop - KL

Was hungover the first time on Friday...gosh,never ever doing it again. It was a good thing I spewed and was able to eat the next day :P

Saturday, 21.06.08
We were up early at the airport...friends and family came by to say their goodbyes which was so sweet of them. I couldn't hold my tears when I hug my family...as I wouldn't know when I would see them again. Time felt short while everyone was at the airport, for we had to hurry in as we had to board in 20mins. After going through the long queues and trying to run and walk at the same time with our heads still in the air and hungover (we heard the announcement about 3 times) we were crazily on time, as we saw the last couple of people handing their tickets to the ladies at the counter.

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Thank you all for coming :)

Weather was not as bad as I thought when we headed back. D's friend picked us up and we head straight for supper (YUM).


Sunday, 22.06.08
Can't remember what happened here, think we went shopping at BU or something. D got me a lovely gift :*

Monday, 23.06.08
Did my birth cert at State (although I just remembered it's faster at Masalam, Shah Alam after processing). I was surprise as there were only one person at the counter and no one else o.O

Tues-Wed

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Headed to KL! Woohoo

It was a last minute decision that we stayed at the Renaissance Hotel (thanks to dad's membership, heh) as we wanted to do more shopping! Checked out the laptops at Digi Mall (apparently the electronics in this area has now equaled with Low-Yatt) and then headed of to KL.

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Our 'upgraded' room :P

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View from our room (Mmmm, pre-bali). If you notice, the tennis court is actually sunken (not the same level as the pool)

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What we sorely miss

First time, I headed to PAvillion!

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Would you like fries with that?

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Where's HooOoommee

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Famous Amos! Yuuuummm~~~

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Harvey Norman by the Palm

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Look at that!! My Initials printed on a whole series of kiddies clothes!! H.G!

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Old tv

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Gooo Endless Summerr~~

We had dins dins back at the hotel. Was buffet style after we had a mini dip in the pool

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Mini wonton soup!

We were knackered after having to visit 5 different shopping malls (Sungei Wang, BB, PAvillion, Lot 10 and Digi Mall). Our legs were extremly sore. Lunch was also at the hotel, some de Marche restaurant. Mediteranean food.

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Ceaser salad to begin with

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Mains

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Dessert

We had a frustrating moment to our next place - 'vanity stop'

I shall update more later =). Dad's home!

And the way we gooooooooo

Speak of the devil...

09/06-immigration rung and confirm
10/06-immigration sent documents
11/06-D got his
12/06-I got mine
13/06-we booked our tickets!

Leaving next Sat!

Last minute farewell on the weekend and the following Fri hopefully...

More waiting game....

As more farewells and birthdays pass by, we are still here in NZ stuck playing the waiting game. Our time forecasting to when we leave has lapse.

I so just want to book the first flight out of this country as soon as I get back my passport. As life is short, this is annoying the hell out of me.

Or maybe its some blessing in disguise. Yea right. I suppose I should start re-packing again to kill time and find out what my ideal job is. Or start painting.

Good luck to those who's got exams =). When we set the date, its gona be BOLD and BIG on my page and I will make sure each and everyone of you knows about it. OR, I'd just leave quietly since I wana get out of here. Then again, I must control this urge. I'm so not used to this nature of processing. I am well known for getting things done immediately at work. Why can't it be that way?

Stage 2 undergoing

Biometrics done.

Sent application off last Tuesday. After finding out what it meant by proving sufficient amount when arriving UK.

Window shopping!!! Finding out what to bring, what to leave, and what to sell. I am thinking of getting rid of my speakers (SOB), and find out what winter wear to buy to survive my one month. Am also wondering about what career to move towards to, which is my next life dilemma.

Stage 2

PAcking some stuff so that it can be shipped from Malaysia. Cheaper.

Awaiting for biometric fingerprint scan. Only then we are allowed to send our application to Wellington. That causes a slight delay to the trip. Sigh. Oh well. Some things just can't be helped.