Exchange: London Trip!
***Before I start of my post, I would like to thank Gerald my Jc buddy who was kind enough to let me stay at his apartment in London! If it wasn't for him, I would have spent much much more due to accommodation and I'm ever so thankful for that! So that's him right there below with his lion mane!***
Alright so, my experience in London was great despite it having its ups and downs. Before my first official day in London has even started, i was already fatigued out by a really long period of travelling from Sweden to London. Furthermore, I was almost a victim of a scam case within minutes of reaching Victoria Station. It was Certainly not the best way to start my time in London but it was somewhat a prelude to what is to come for the rest of the trip.
The first day was filled with lots of walking and travelling amongst the main attractions within Central London. That included places like Hyde park, Buckingham palace, Trafalgar Square and Westminster. I was mainly preoccupied within Hyde park snapping pictures and taking in the beauty of the environment. Apart from that, my eyes were glued to the British architecture that were in abundance in Central London.
I made several friends, including a Brazilian and some Singaporeans, whom I spent some time with shopping(amazingly) and having dessert together! Her nickname is Smally and we even added each other on Facebook! How I got to know her and her group of friends was through a friendly request to help me take a photo at Westminster since I can't snap a picture of myself.
We ended up snap chatting(honestly only Singaporeans do that!) and before I knew it, I was at Oxford street shopping at Primark with her. It is always nice to find fellow Singaporeans abroad and even better still, spending time with that person and interacting with them! Here are some pictures of the memorable moments of my first day in London!
First Breakfast at London
Imperial College
Albert's Memorial in Hyde Park
Sights at Hyde Park
District Line
Brazilian Friend I made near Buckingham Palace!
Statue at Buckingham Palace
Westminster Area
Winston Churchill Statue
But amidst the highs of making new friends, there were also negative experiences like how I got harassed by a lady at Westminster bridge. This lady deserves a persistence award in pestering me to pay for something I did not want! She simply stuffed a flower into my coat the moment I turned to leave Westminster and that took me by surprise. Before I knew it, she kept exclaiming, " FOR THE HOSPITAL!" as she pointed towards the St. Thomas hospital building which was in clear sight at Westminster bridge. I was confused as to what was happening then but it soon dawned on me that her main purpose was to get me to pay for the flower without me even wanting to purchase it! IT'S PLAIN RIDICULOUS!!! URGHH!! I wanted to Walk away but she kept pulling me back! I wanted to push her away but couldn't be rough towards her at the same time because she's a lady after all!
Thankfully, the area was crowded and someone pulled her away from me. Needless to say, I left the area immediately amidst people asking me if I was ok. It really took me some time to recover from that before I could fully enjoy my trip again.
Terrible.
It's annoying how these cases can still happen in a crowded area and it makes me all the more aware to be alert and adaptable at all times. How that can actually happen to me still bewilders because I was just spending some time at Westminster taking in the sights and I didn't even show my valuables AT ALL. I can't believe at that time that I was almost scammed and had this nonsense happening to me within a day of being in London. If you want money, earn it and not harass others ohgawd.
***Sorry for the rant but I just had to because this really soured my London experience.***
My second and third day was not as eventful as the first. The second day was all about the tour in Leicester and Oxfords official Harry Potter filming set. The third day was spent shopping and touring Chinatown with my uni friends Evelyn and Kim who erm..missed a bus and got delayed by anti-trump demonstrations. Great experience shopping with them in the kids section LOL.
So here are more photos of my second and third day in London!
Leicester sights
London Bridge area
The fourth day was the most memorable day in my London tour. Being the lazy me, I decided to sign up for premium tours. The tour I signed up for had an intensive itinerary that included 4 main venues, Windsor castle, stonehenge, lacock and the Roman baths. It turned out to be fully worth the money and time because of how much knowledge the guide had and the perfect allocation of time in the distinctive sights.
Lacock was brief but the rest of the itinerary provided real highlights and a great conclusion to my trip! Stonehenge was a real eye opener while Windsor castle(1 of 3 official residences of the queen in U.K.) and the Roman baths provided a great mix of western and Italian culture. More pictures are to follow!
Windsor Station
Windsor sights
Salisbury area in Stonehenge
Quaint Lacock
Roman baths
After the tours, there was still time for me to almost have my phone stolen(this was really my fault). The story was like this: I chanced upon a laundry shop with a plug so I decided to stay there to charge my phone. I sat near my phone but there was still some distance from it. A few minutes later a lady came in with no laundry but hobo-Ed there just like me. Then a suspicious looking old man(alpha) came in and stood right at the corner where I placed my phone. I asked him if he wanted a seat but he was oblivious. Then another man came in and started a chat with him together with the lady. They stopped talking and the man(Charlie) sat down with the lady. But the suspicious old man still stayed at his spot, seemingly waiting for the right Chance to take my phone and flee.
How did I know he was eyeing my phone? For one, many others noticed this odd group and was keeping a lookout(really thankful for that) and secondly, after they decided to call off their mission and left the place, Charlie came back and I caught him staring at me keeping my phone before he left too. It was a close shave but I still didn't want to leave the shop until some time later because I was so afraid of getting mugged. It's unfortunate that I had to suffer from all these occurrences albeit some self inflicted but i shall look at the bright side of all these things happening and learn from them.
Late that day, I even managed to catch up with Jun, a section mate during BMT times in the army and it was great catching up with him(4 years since I last saw him!) I camped at Luton airport the entire morning thereafter and I barely slept throughout. It didn't help that my flight was delayed by an hour and I had a seminar straight after I touched down.
Jun and I
I felt sad leaving London because I met so many familiar faces there. It seemed like a home away from home in which I had great comfort in.
But for now I'm back in Sweden and I'm in for a good long rest! Do stay tuned for more peanut adventures!
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