Tips for travellers

Last week I went to London for a holiday with my husband. Today I'm back in Malaysia and still recovering from post-holiday blues (the feeling right after you come back from a holiday is the worst feeling ever! It's like...you have nothing else to look forward to) so I decide to write a short blog entry on travelling.

Here are a few tips which (I hope) all other travellers out there might find useful for your future vacations:

Cropped jacket vs Long Coat
If you intend to travel light to a cold climate country, try to bring one jacket only. Preferably a cropped jacket instead of those long trench coats to save space. Oh, and if you're petite like me cropped jackets will suit you better. Long coats will just "drown" you and this will not look flattering in photos.

Small flexible tripod
It's good to have a small flexible tripod that you can mount anywhere (well, almost anywhere) to take photos. Then you don't have to rely on strangers to take your pictures and you'll take less self-potraits too. I love taking self-potraits but when I'm on holiday, I want to capture the scenery as well.
You don't have to buy expensive tripods. Daiso sells good and reliable small flexible tripodsfor RM5 only.

Foldable tote bags
I'm the kind of traveller who carries a backpack from home-airport-hotel and vice versa, and uses handbag while I'm shopping or sightseeing at my holiday destination. Usually I would pack a large bulky handbag in my luggage but recently I've developed a liking for Longchamp bags. Simple design, nice colours and most importantly, foldable.

Ensure all liquid bottles are less than or equal to 100ml
I always got my contact lens solution confiscated because I forgot each time that the 100ml rule is based on the bottle size, not the amount of liquid. If the amount of liquid is less than 100ml but the volume of the bottle is, say, 120ml, then the liquid will be confiscated by airport security.

Travel pillow
Last but not least, bring a travel pillow! I forgot to bring mine during the recent London trip and totally regretted it!

Roadtrip to Alor Setar

On 30 Jan 2012, Mr.Y and I went on a roadtrip to Alor Setar, Kedah for a friend's wedding.

This was my first roadtrip to Kedah. Usually, "roadtrips" for me means 4-hour drive to my kampong in JB. Kedah is even further away from KL as compared to JB so this recent roadtrip took us about 5 hours! Can't imagine people driving back to Kedah during festive seasons. Just an advice -- save up some money for a plane ticket. Haha.

So finally, after the long drive, we arrived in Alor Setar. The wedding was held at Ukir Mall. It's a handicraft mall + hall for weddings & special events. It was a nice wedding, the emcee was not bad. He could make people laugh and the next moment make people cry. The power of psychology :-)

Here's a photo of the bride & groom which I managed to capture. The groom, Suhail, was our classmate in Uniten. The best man, Hafzan, was also our classmate and the bridesmaid, Aisyah, was my housemate during second year :-)

After the wedding, we checked in to Hotel Grand Continental. We booked through booking.com. We trusted this website. We booked the hotel for our Stockholm trip through this site and the entire process was hassle-free and the hotel turned out to be amazing. No such luck this time. Yes, the price for Grand Continental was reasonable and the reviews seemed OK. But the actual state of the hotel was very much different compared to those photos posted on booking.com!

It was an old hotel. Really, really old. It's like one of those hotels you see in Pudu.

OK, the photos do not really reflect how old the hotel is. The last photo -- we prefered to keep the curtains closed at all time because this is the "breathtaking" view we got if we look outside:

 

The bathroom was similar to the one back at my hostel in Uniten:

Even though the toilet looked like a hostel toilet, the hot shower was working fine and I was so grateful for that!!!

Another bad thing about the hotel was that -- no joke -- there was no power socket to charge your gadgets! I had to move the cabinet a bit and unplug the refrigerator so that I could charge my phone:

On top of that, Celcom coverage in Alor Setar was reallyyy bad so I had no Internet access and got stuck watching Planet of the Apes on Fox Movies. By the way, Fox Movies was the only interesting channel available there.

For dinner, Mr.Y and I planned to find Mee Abu but Waze betrayed us and we couldn't find the place. We wanted to try the local food but there were only stalls, no proper restaurants so we ended up eating Domino's pizza.

The next day, we had breakfast at the hotel. On our way to the lift, there was an awful smell in the hotel corridor because a guest left a bunch of room-service food leftovers outside their room and none of the hotel staffs clean it up. Yuck.

As expected, breakfast at the hotel's coffeehouse was disappointing. The only thing I could swallow was baked beans. The fried rice, fried noodles and other food were horrible.

After breakfast, we immediately drove back to KL. Once we arrived, we had ayam penyet for lunch. Goooooood foooooood....

Note: Parking at the hotel was very limited. I wonder how they can cater for guest parking during peak season...

5 major things that happened in 2012

2012 is coming to an end :-( I have mixed feelings about the coming year. Excited about what 2013 may bring and at the same time, worried about what's in store for me.

Here are 5 major things that happened in my life in 2012:

1) I got married

2) Moved into our own house

It's a double-storey terrace house. Considered huge because it's just the two of us staying there.

3) Added 2 new countries to my travel map

This year is the first time I went to Qatar and Thailand -- both for duty travel purposes.

4) Visited Stockholm again

Went to Stockholm for the first time in 2006 and never thought I would come back again but I did! For our honeymoon in June 2012. It's the best time to visit Sweden! 

5) 2012 is the year when I've taken the most number of international trips

Went to Doha, Qatar for 3 times in February (training), May (orientation) and October (meeting)... Stockholm, Sweden in June (honeymoon)... and Bangkok, Thailand in July (training).

In summary, 2012 is the year of learning and development for me. Praying for greater things to happen in 2013! :-)

My last FOC: Trip to London - Day 3

So sad…it’s my last day in my favourite city. This trip was fun but it was too short. I wish I had more to time to go sightseeing and shopping.

Anyway, on our last day, we packed our bags early in the morning and checked out of Langham Hotel.And I noticed something on the hotel dressing table…


I love the quotation and I think it’s lovely how the hotel update the guest about the weather using this piece of card. I took this card…it will make an awesome bookmark :-)

After we checked out Langham, we posed around the hotel area.


After posing around the hotel, we walked down Oxford Street again for some last minute shopping. That’s when I went crazy. Bought a few dresses at Next, H&M and this shop which I’ve been to for the first time, it’s called Miss London.

At around 5pm, we went back to the hotel (we left our luggage there), repacked and went to the airport by tube. I felt really sad about going back and I wished I didn’t have to.

We arrived at Heathrow Terminal 4 around 6pm, and checked-in. The Malaysia Airlines counter was handled Alitalia and the check-in staff was a total idiot. For this London trip, my parents and I were booked separately (2 different PNRs). Mine got confirmed first, then later my parents. The check-in staff asked my dad, “You and your wife same PNR, your daughter different PNR. Are you two booked separately?”

DUH!

Then my dad requested that we are seated three in a row. It didn’t matter where the seats are, as long as there is a three-in-a-row seat, then we requested to be seated there. The lady looked confused. She turned her computer screen towards my dad. We noticed that there were A LOT of empty three-in-a-row seats. She said, “You and your wife sit here. Your daughter at the back.”

OMG, it’s just a matter of cancelling my old seat assignment and assigning a new seat to me! I guess she didn’t know the entry to do that. Then she did another blunder – she sent us to the standby counter even though our PNRs clearly showed that we’re CONFIRMED passengers. Gosh, she didn’t even know how to read status codes! Her supervisor got really mad at her and finally the blur lady checked us in (separated seats, of course, because she didn’t know how to assign seats).

I hope Alitalia will send her to basic reservations training.

Anyway, then we went through the security check and…more shopping at the departure hall. Hehe. My parents bought MORE chocolates and I bought the Longchamp backpack in lavender. After we’re done with shopping, we went to the Golden Lounge. I showered and ate my dinner.

Then it’s time to board the aircraft :-(


It makes me sad that this was my last FOC with MAS. I remember my last trip to London in 2009, I was so grumpy when we were boarding the plane back to KUL because I thought that was my last FOC ticket with MAS since after that I would probably be graduating and working so I was no longer entitled. I was determined to work with the airline so that I can still get my FOC. Well, I did and after 1 year plus of working, I resigned. So (I think) this is my FINAL FOC ticket, and after this, if I want to travel to London again, I will have to stopover at Doha ;-)

My Last FOC:Trip to London - Day 2

On the second day in London, we went to Trafalgar Square.

These people were drawing all the flags of the countries in the world using colourful chalks.

Oh, and there's a giant clock to countdown to London Olympics 2012.

Full view of the giant digital clock.

Then, we took the tube to St.James Park.

St.James Park was very near to Buckingham Palace but my shoes were killing me (despite changing from a 3-inch heels to a 1-inch pump shoes) so I had to forget about taking photos at the palace.

And I drank more Innocent smoothies…

My last FOC: Trip to London - Day 1

Those of you who have read my previous entry would know that I have already resigned from MAS. My official last day was on 3 Nov but since I had annual leave balances, my actual last day was on 24 Oct. On 27 Oct, I went to London for a 3D2N trip to utilize my annual privilege travel. Yeah, a very short trip due to budget and my dad’s leave constraints.

We took MH002 to LHR and got complimentary passes to the Golden Lounge at KLIA.

On the flight, I had fish & potatoes for supper (not that nice) and then slept until 2 hours before landing when they would serve breakfast. Haha. Had omelet for breakfast and I hate to say this but the taste of the omelet had worsened since my last trip to London.

Arrived in LHR at around 5.45am local time. To avoid the peak hour traffic on the London Underground, we hang out at the airport first. Sat in front of WH Smith and my first purchase in London:

Innocent smoothie.

I LOVE Innocent smoothies and whenever I’m in London, this is all I drink. Guess that explains why my skin looks better when I’m in London.

After wasting our time hanging out at the airport, we decided to take the tube to hotel, drop our bags, maybe freshen up a bit and then walk down Oxford Street. We stopped at Oxford Circus station and the hotel was supposed to be a 5-minute walk from the station. My mum wanted to ask for directions but my dad said it’s OK, we can find the hotel on our own. Guess what? We walked for more than 5 minutes and could not find the hotel. My heels were killing me so I told my parents to ask for directions. Turned out that we were heading towards the opposite direction and had to walk a looong way to the hotel.

Finally, we arrived at The Langham Hotel and the hotel staff allowed us to refresh ourselves at the hotel gym’s changing room while they got our room ready. So I showered, washed my face and reapplied my makeup, and then I was all set to go!

We walked down Oxford Street and here are some of my ‘interesting’ purchases:

PINK Casio scientific calculator! I’ve been wanting this since my schooldays! Of course, this is not yet available in Malaysia.

Kate ring which I bought at Claire’s.

When our room was ready, we went back to the hotel and passed out on the bed.

The very welcoming king-sized bed.

501 Must-Visit Cities

Today I went to Sunway Pyramid with Mr.Y and I bought this travel book -- 501 Must-Visit Cities. Since I got home from the date in the evening until now (night) I can't put down this book. It's really interesting, with the amazing photos and nicely written text describing each of the cities.

Quoting from the inside leaf of the book, it is "an invaluable source of inspiration for those seeking to explore the great cities of the world, either in reality or from the comfort of an armchair!" Well said.

I went through the list of cities in the index page and found that I've only been to 0.16% of the 501 Must-Visit Cities. How sad.

Here's a list of the must-visit places that I've been through:

1. Amsterdam, Netherlands

I was about 8 years old when I visited Amsterdam and I still can recall how excited I was to discover the Double Decker Keropok Udang in one of the shops there!

2. Auckland, New Zealand

I can't believe Auckland made it to this list. I think it's a boring city. When I was there all I did was go to the same souvenir shops over and over again. If you are a shopaholic like me, don't go to Auckland! The city doesn't offer much in terms of shopping. But I have to admit one thing good about this city -- this is where you can find the best fish & chips in the world! I had dinner at one of the restaurants at the famous Sky Tower and I ordered a delicious fish & chip. The portion of the fish & chips is so large, it can feed 5 people.

3. Brussels, Belgium

I was a small kid when I visited Brussels, can't remember anything about the place :-(

4. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I live here...duh.

5. Kuching, Malaysia

Been here once, and it's not really my favourite place.

6. Liverpool, England

Went to Liverpool when I was 13 and I visited the Beatles museum, and I walked by the Merseyside Maritime Museum...err...that's all I remember.

7. London, England

My favourite city of all time!!! Lost count of how many times I've been here.

8. Los Angeles, USA

Transit at the LAX airport when I was a baby, does that count???

9. Madrid, Spain

Only 1 thing I remember about Madrid: my family lost a baggage at the airport.

10. Manchester, England

A fond memory of Manchester: there was an MU match happening which causes a really bad traffic jam. I was on my way to the Trafford Centre shopping mall and got stuck in the jam for hours that it makes me nauseous. When I arrived at Trafford Centre, I immediately went straight to the toilet and puke my guts out.

11. Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Went to the Holy City to perform umrah twice (aged 10 and 12).

12. Medina, Saudi Arabia

Went to Medina when performing umrah.

13. Melbourne, Australia

Just before my Melbourne trip, I went to the hairdresser and she accidently cut my fringe supershort. I would've had a great time there if it's not because of this mishap.

14. New York City, USA

Been here 3 times: when I was a baby, when I was 8 years old and 11 years old. I don't like New York. Stayed at my aunt's place in Brooklyn and it took 45 minutes to go to Manhattan by train.

15. Newcastle upon Tyne, England

I love Newcastle because of a) the shops and b) the transportation system. It's almost like London. Whatever shops there are in London, you can find it in Newcastle. The places in the city are efficiently connected by train system.

16. Paris, France

Can't remember much about Paris. I went to EuroDisney and I didn't have a great time because I was too chicken to go on the rides. Went up the Eiffel Tower. Visit the churches. That's it.

17. Rome, Italy

Another of my least favourite city. Pickpockets and thieves were EVERYWHERE. Scary. My parents and I had to walk a looong way from the train station to find the hotel and we got lost. It wasn't our choice to stay in Rome. It was only a transit because we were offloaded from the plane or something pathetic like that.

18. Singapore

Err...actually I've never seen the city. I've only transit at Changi Airport :-P

19. Stockholm, Sweden

Went to Stockholm when I've just started dating Mr.Y. I remember he was into geology at that time so I bought him some crystals and gem stones while I was there :-) Stockholm is a beautiful city. They are ahead in terms of environmental protection. Everyday is a no-plastic-bag-day and a lot of people there cycle.

20. Zurich, Switzerland

Went there in the summer but I did manage to play with the snow! Went up the alps (was so excited in the cable car).

London trip-Day 5

Last day :,-(

Checked out of Hyde Park Towers, left our bags there and went out for some last minute shopping in Bayswater.

Bought this brown H&M bag that I had been lusting for ever since I arrived in London, some toiletries at Boots which include Burt's Bees lip balm (Burt's Bees products aren't available in Malaysia right?).

Went to Malaysia Hall for lunch, but it was closed because of Raya Haji. So we ate at this horrible kebab place (all the food are very salty!). After lunch, we took some photos at the hotel and then went to the airport.

At the airport, it took us forever to check in, the counter staffs were slow and lousy. I hate Heathrow terminal 4. Then we hang out at the Golden Lounge again. It's nice, but the one in Malaysia has more variety of food. Didn't take any photos coz I was in a bad mood at that time (don't ask!).

That's all for my holiday stories.

I miss London already :,-(

London trip-Day 4

The fourth day of the trip was interesting. I went to Madame Tussauds! For the first time! Yup, that's right. I've been to London many times but never visited Madame Tussauds before. I went to the museum on a Wednesday so I thought it wouldn't be packed. I was wrong. The museum was ful of tourists and it's hard to take pictures with the wax figures.

Next, I went to Covent Garden coz my mum wanted to look for some cheap paintings. There were none. The paintings there were not worth buying, and that place was so boring. I never like markets.

There were a lot of other intesting sights at Covent Garden, like a guy posing as a knight statue. At first I thought it was a real statue! But then I realized that it was a human painting his face and body with metallic paint and wearing knight costume. And there's another guy posing as a robot, wearing all these recycled plastic bottles on his body. So creative! Didn't take pictures of them though, coz you have to pay. 

London trip-Day 3

The third day marked the end of our stay at Malaysia Hall. Malaysia Hall only allows guests to stay for 2 nights, and if there's any vacancy, you can extend your stay. But my mum doesn't wanna stay for another 2 nights there.

We were told to check out by 12am, so in the morning we couldn't go anywhere far, we just walked around the Bayswater area (where we were staying).

What a beautiful day. I love this kind of weather. Sunny but cold.

Whiteleys shopping mall. I love this mall. There's H&M, La Senza, Marks & Spencer, Gap, HMV, Book etc, Accessorize, Tie Rack, Starbucks, Zara...

After we checked out of Malaysia Hall and checked into Hyde Park Towers hote, we went to High Street Kensington for some window shopping.

I just love this place!

Took some pictures at Kensington Gardens. Not many pictures though. It was freezing cold I couldn't even hold the camera!

Kensington Palace...oh that's my parents.

This duck sure knows how to pose. When I pointed my camera at it, it stopped in its tracks and posed for the camera.

It was very windy that day. The wind was...urm...abnormal. I've never experienced this kind of wind before in Malaysia. The London wind blew me off my feet...literally.

London trip-Day 2

I woke up on my second day in London and went for breakfast at the Malaysia Hall canteen. Then I went back to my room and Skyped with my boyfriend. He told me that the exam result's out! And he got dean's list for the first time. His GPA was 3.69! That's the highest GPA I could get and he beat me! And that was his last semester! He already graduated! Getting Dean's list for the first and the last time, that's the sweetest thing that could happen to someone!

Before I went to London, I had warned my bf not to look at my results if it came out. But that morning I couldn't stand it anymore. How could I enjoy my holiday if thoughts of failing Foundation Engineering came running through my mind? So I told him to check. Guess what? I passed that killer subject with a C+. And my GPA is 3.60. Yeah, Dean's list. But still lower than my bf's GPA! You guys won't understand how I feel! I'm a perfectionist. I HAVE TO BE BETTER THAN EVERYONE!

But still, 3.60 is still considered as a good result, so that day I went shopping with a happy heart. I decided to "reward" all my hard work by splurging on some clothes at H&M.

Oh I just love Christmas deco...

The Selfridges

London trip-Day 1

This is my 9th trip to London. I went there for the first time when I was a baby, couldn't remember much. It was during my second trip that I fell in love with that place (I was 13 years old). I just love everything about London, no one will understand that.

This trip is special. We got to use the Golden Lounge. I've been to Golden Lounge before, but only for domestic trips. The Golden Lounge for international flights is oh-so-nice.

I had tomato rice, some chocolates...that's it! Had to watch my weight! I didn't want to appear chubby in my holiday photos.

The flight took 13 hours, but Malaysia Airlines had a good variety of inflight entertainment. I watched The Time Traveller's Wife and P.S.I Love You.

Arrived at the new Heathrow terminal 4 at 5am. The airport was boring, not many shops there. I could only check into Malaysia Hall at 2pm, so I had to wait at the airport for 8 hours!

Fortunately, my dad discovered YOTEL. It's a small hotel located in the terminal building itself. Very convenient if you have to transit at the airport for long hours or if you have an early flight and do not want to go to the airport very early in the morning.

The rooms have a pinkish hue to it...very nice!

The rooms are extremely small, you can't move around much in it. This bed is foldable.

Everything is "folded" neatly into the wall to minimize space. Cool!

The bathroom.

There's a hole under the bed for you to store your luggage.

The Monsoon shower.

The controls for lights, TV, bed etc.

Finally at 2pm we checked out of YOTEL and took the tube to Bayswater station. Malaysia Hall is about 15 minutes walk from the station.

My room in Malaysia Hall which I had to share with my mum.

London trip

DAY 1

Arrived in London at the Heathrow terminal 3. Took a tube to the bed & breakfast, Whiteleaf Hotel in Hyde Park. The journey to the hotel was full of obstacles. Took a train from the airport, but we had to stop at Earl’s Court station to go on another train. But it was 6am on a Sunday, and the Tube starts operating at 7am on weekends. It was raining and extremely cold. We had to wait in the cold for almost an hour.

Finally, we arrived at Bayswater train station. According to the information on the Internet, Whiteleaf Hotel is only 5 minutes walk from Bayswater station. But it’s our first time, so we had a hard time finding the hotel. We had to brace the cold weather, walking...brrr.

So we arrived at the hotel at around 7.30am. I thought that I could finally wash up and rest on a comfortable bed. NOPE! The previous occupant hadn’t checked out yet. The room won’t be available til 11am! We had to wait for 4 hours!

Fortunately, the hotel staff let us have breakfast. My mum asked whether the food served is halal or not. Apparently, the reception staff was a Pakistani, and his boss was a Pakistani too, and they’re muslims. “It’s a Muslim hotel,” he said. “We serve a simple continental breakfast. All halal. No cooking.”

My parents were grateful that they don’t cook there. According to my dad, if we’re travelling abroard, we can’t eat even the scramble eggs that the hotel serve, coz they might cook it using the same utensils which they used to cook bacon.

So then me and my parents went for breakfast. The guy at the reception counter REALLY mean it when he said “simple breakfast.” They only served toast, jams, butter, Cornflakes,milk and orange juice. And the toast tasted HORRIBLE. Later, I found out that they were using cheap Tesco bread. Seriously I never thought bread could taste that bad. Through my whole live, I’ve never came across a bread that taste awlful. All bread taste good.

Finally, it was 11am, and our room was ready. Just when I was about to shower, I realized that I forgot to bring my toothbrush! I forgot to bring something important like toothbrush, but I brought unneccessary things like my student ID and my car keys! LOL.


View from my hotel balcony

Since we already bought the Tube ticket for all zone, we decided to go somewhere far. So we went to Ealing Broadway. I almost went crazy seeing all the stores there. In Ealing Broadway, Benefit Cosmetics is a STORE, not a counter in a shopping mall!

I bought a travel iron at M&S. So cute!

I've bought this one in white, later I discovered that they have it in pink as well!

And M&S Hair Removal Mitts. For hair-free legs without shaving, waxing or using messy creams. The superfine surface exfoliates your skin gently while smoothing away hairs. If used regularly hair re-growth appears slower and less noticeable. Woohoo! I have an epilator back home, but this thing can remove hair faster!

And err I also bought my toothbrush at a 1pound shop.

10 toothbrushes for only 1 pound only! So cheap!

DAY 2

Went to Kensington, hoping to take some good photos at Kensington Gardens. Unfortunately, all my pics turned out to be ugly. So I deleted quite a number of them.

This swan is a natural camwhore, I tell you! I point my camera at it, and it came neared to me and posed!

Kensington Palace up close

Went to Boots pharmacy. I lurrrve Boots. 10 times better than Watsons . But then, everything in a foreign country is always better than things in your country right? Haha. I bought some Clinique stuffs. Clinique products here are way much cheaper than in Malaysia.

I bought Anti-Blemish Solutions concealer, Anti-Blemish Solutions Post Blemish Formula and Super City Block SPF40 (UK price=RM60ish, Malaysia price=RM100).

Oh, the black tube is the MAX FACTOR 2000 CALORIE MASCARA. I was at this bookstore in Oxford St and I browsed through a book that recommends the best beauty products. I didn’t buy the book, it was expensive, but I memorized some of the items. And this mascara was one of it. I tried the mascara. No kidding, it’s excellent! It gives my lash a dramatic look, love it!

Had lunch at this kebab restaurant near our hotel. I ordered this:

Rice with salad and grilled chicken. Yummy!

They served this appetizer. I don’t know what it is. Some kind of preserved fruit. Didn’t eat it. Afraid that I’ll get stomach upset.

But it’s so colourful!Hehe.

After lunch we went back to our hotel, and my mum was moody coz she’s having fever. The heater in the room didn’t work, so it was very very cold. The thing about bed & breakfasts is that, they always look perfect in pictures, but when you see for yourself, it’s a dissappointment. Things that didn’t work:

-The hairdryer. It can only last for 30 seconds. And then it switched off by itself!

-The hot shower in the toilet. It’s winter and we had to shower with icy cold water!

And many more! Can’t remember.

The hotel. Looks nice. But everytime you book a B&B, always lower your expectations by 50%.
Then went to M&S in Oxford Street, the famous shopping district in London. My mum was looking for lingerie and my dad was looking for new trousers. We shopped around til night and in the end they didn’t even buy anything! It was my turn to be moody. I was so tired.

After that, we took a bus to High Street Kensington . I bought my first eco bag! No, it’s not Anya Hindmarch’s I’m Not A Plastic Bag. It’s a cheap M&S bag.

DAY 3

I told my dad that I couldn’t live in London. My skin was extremely dehydrated. My lips were chapped. My dad said I need to stay longer to get used to the weather.
Went to M&S Oxford Street again. Bought some socks coz my feet were freezing when I sleep at night.

Had lunch at Malaysia Hall. This was what I had:

Rice with asam pedas and salad. I didn’t even want the salad! But the guy was deaf I think, he misheard my order. Can you believe this cost 6pounds??? Crazy! My parents’ meal cost 3pounds only.

DAY 4

Had nasi lemak for breakfast at Malaysia Hall. Coz we’re sick of eating disgusting toast and Cornflakes and diluted orange juice. Gross!

Doesn’t taste that good. The gravy tasted a bit bitter. I think whoever appointed those mamats and makciks who cook at Malaysia Hall had a really bad taste in food. But I guess it doesn’t matter coz the Malaysians there in London, they get hungry all the time, especially during winter, so the best stop for Malaysian food is here.

Went to Oxford Street. Bought some books at Waterstone. Half-price. I’ve already calculated, and I couldn’t get this price in Malaysia. So I bought these.

By that time, I couldn’t wait to go home to Malaysia already as I couldn’t stand my snoring parents. Haha. My mum was getting more and more annoying. She’s still sick, and she complained that her ears hurt. She said, “Pakai tudung pun kuman boleh masuk.” I was like, duh! Viruses fall under the category of MICROorganism.

Since Mum was sick, me and my dad went to High Street Kensington again. I bought some accessories at Claires, lip balm at Superdrug and Dr.Stuart’s teas at Tesco. The teas are so cheap here! Malaysia price=RM20, UK price=RM10!

DAY 5

Last day in London. Mum getting grumpier than ever. She complained that our luggages were too small to fit in all our purchases. I would ask her questions, and then she won’t answer. Whatever.

I bought a Botanics Face Balm at Boots in Bayswater, near the hotel.

Hmm...in London everywhere you go, you smell coffee. I don’t drink coffee, but the it smells good!

Went to Whiteleys, this shopping mall near the hotel. I bought a Little Miss Sunshine keychain, and a headband and bangles at Accessorize. I hinted at my mum that I want this gorgeous butterfly Accessorize bag (I wanted her to sign her Citibank!) but she told me that the bag is ugly (which means that she refused to use her card). So I sulked like a 4-year-old.

And then I spotted this bag at Tie Rack which I really really like. My mum tried to console me by offering to pay for the bag, but I said I don’t want it and pulled a sour face. But after I walked out of Tie Rack, my heart was not at peace, it’s yearning for the bag. I only had 10pounds left, so I decided to refund my Accessorize bangles and headband.

That’s another great thing about UK. If you change your mind, you can return your purchases. In Malaysia, jangan haraplah. “Good s sold are not refundable.” Bummer!

So I returned back the bangles and headband and got my 10 pounds back! I went to Tie Rack happily, and then just when I was about to pay, my mum insisted on using her credit card. So finally I relented and let her pay. Hehe I was so happy I got the Tie Rack bag!

Since my mum paid for the bag, I bought back the Accessorize bangle.Hehe. Didn’t buy the headband back though. I tried it on and it looked like a giant leech on my head.

Accessorize pink Indian bangles

MY PURCHASES DURING MY LONDON TRIP:

Mini size Palmer’s Cocoa Butter. I got the washbag free with a magazine.

M&S stuffs...cute cat socks, Lavender 3-in-1 Body,Room and Linen Spray (I looked for this in Malaysia but it’s not available), and the smallest umbrella ever!!

Little Miss & Mr.Men stuffs. In Malaysia everyone’s wearing Little Miss t-shirts and I want one but I couldn’t find it. I’m glad I went to UK coz I found better things...notebooks, pencilcase and keychain. I grew up with Little Miss & Mr.Men! I read their stories.

Botanics Face Balm & The Blue Tin (you can laugh now Mr.Y)

I'm already looking forward to my next London trip!!!