16/7/2010
The plan for today was to go to Argos at Tottenham Court Road to purchase a car seat for our road trip the following day. We were informed by Amran that there was an interruption to the Jubilee Line service so we had to take an alternative route. It was a good experience as we get to go on the overground train. It was a windy day as we walked to the overground station. Meanwhile, the interruption turned out to be a blessing in disguise as well as we get to go to King’s Cross St. Pancras station. Why there? Because that’s where Platform 9 ¾ together with a trolley going half through the wall is. Being a Harry Potter fan, I simply have to be there. And we weren’t the only ones. There were a number of Potter fans there too. King’s Cross and St Pancras International Stations stand adjacent to one another and share the same Underground Station. Kings Cross stations main use is for services up the East Coast Line to Scotland via York and Newcastle. There are also some suburban commuter trains to just north of London from King’s Cross. St. Pancras International is most famous for being the Eurostar train terminal in London. Frequent services run to Paris and beyond. There are services to the East Midlands of England via Luton, towns like Nottingham and Sheffield.
Anyways, after taking photos, we took another tube to Holborn and proceeded to Tottenham Court Road. I don’t know what went wrong but we couldn’t find Argos, even after asking for directions twice. So we lost some time there. We stopped by a café for tea and scones before finally finding Argos. After that walked along Charring Cross Road, passing Licester Square (where we saw a Malaysia Kopitiam) and headed to Covent Garden Market. There has been some type of market on Covent Garden for more than 300 years but the name actually derives from the covent garden that occupied the area until Henry VIII’s Dissolution. At the centre of Covent Garden lies a cobblestone piazza and superb steel-and-glass market pavilions to house flower, fruit and vegetable stalls. The markets were moved to new quarters and in the early 1980s Covent Garden was refurbished into an area of restaurants, shops and cafes. After strolling through the markets at Covent Garden, we went to Hard Rock Café at Old Park Lane to purchase some memorabilias. Our next destination was Harrods at Knightsbridge but we first stopped by at CIMB to visit Alina at her office and perform our prayers. Our shopping list at Harrods are the lunch bags, fridge magnets and Lola Red Velvet Cupcakes, as recommended by Alina. Then we headed to Hyde Park for an evening stroll along Diana’s Princess of Wales Memorial Walk. Whilst Rafiq and Amran went to Argos to pick up our car seat, Faiq played at the Princess of Wales Memorial Playground. The playground consist of all things kids love ~ a huge ship with slides and rope, sand and water. Faiq played like there’s no tomorrow while Aira sat in her stroller and ate her biscuits. We had to leave as the playground closes at 7 p.m. but since near the playground there were a few carousel, I let Faiq go for a few rides.
After feasting on the cupcakes and taking some photos at Hyde Park, we headed to Khan’s Restaurant at Bayswater for dinner. Khan's has just entered its Thirty First year in the business, and is still one of Europe's largest and most popular Indian restaurants. Khan's was founded in 1977 by Mr. M Y Khan and is still to this day run by the same family. A few house specialities include Fish Curry, Methi Gosht, Chicken Tikka, Butter Chicken, Bombay Aloo and Mutter Paneer. Everything was yummy! Alina joined us halfway through our dinner. After dinner, we went into a souvenir shop and took the last train from Bayswater to Canada Waters at 11.30 p.m. People on the train must be thinking how we are such irresponsible parents, taking our children out late at night but hey, it’s not everyday that we get to go to London so we better make full use of the time. We probably arrived at home at almost midnight and all of us went directly to bed.
Anyways, after taking photos, we took another tube to Holborn and proceeded to Tottenham Court Road. I don’t know what went wrong but we couldn’t find Argos, even after asking for directions twice. So we lost some time there. We stopped by a café for tea and scones before finally finding Argos. After that walked along Charring Cross Road, passing Licester Square (where we saw a Malaysia Kopitiam) and headed to Covent Garden Market. There has been some type of market on Covent Garden for more than 300 years but the name actually derives from the covent garden that occupied the area until Henry VIII’s Dissolution. At the centre of Covent Garden lies a cobblestone piazza and superb steel-and-glass market pavilions to house flower, fruit and vegetable stalls. The markets were moved to new quarters and in the early 1980s Covent Garden was refurbished into an area of restaurants, shops and cafes. After strolling through the markets at Covent Garden, we went to Hard Rock Café at Old Park Lane to purchase some memorabilias. Our next destination was Harrods at Knightsbridge but we first stopped by at CIMB to visit Alina at her office and perform our prayers. Our shopping list at Harrods are the lunch bags, fridge magnets and Lola Red Velvet Cupcakes, as recommended by Alina. Then we headed to Hyde Park for an evening stroll along Diana’s Princess of Wales Memorial Walk. Whilst Rafiq and Amran went to Argos to pick up our car seat, Faiq played at the Princess of Wales Memorial Playground. The playground consist of all things kids love ~ a huge ship with slides and rope, sand and water. Faiq played like there’s no tomorrow while Aira sat in her stroller and ate her biscuits. We had to leave as the playground closes at 7 p.m. but since near the playground there were a few carousel, I let Faiq go for a few rides.
After feasting on the cupcakes and taking some photos at Hyde Park, we headed to Khan’s Restaurant at Bayswater for dinner. Khan's has just entered its Thirty First year in the business, and is still one of Europe's largest and most popular Indian restaurants. Khan's was founded in 1977 by Mr. M Y Khan and is still to this day run by the same family. A few house specialities include Fish Curry, Methi Gosht, Chicken Tikka, Butter Chicken, Bombay Aloo and Mutter Paneer. Everything was yummy! Alina joined us halfway through our dinner. After dinner, we went into a souvenir shop and took the last train from Bayswater to Canada Waters at 11.30 p.m. People on the train must be thinking how we are such irresponsible parents, taking our children out late at night but hey, it’s not everyday that we get to go to London so we better make full use of the time. We probably arrived at home at almost midnight and all of us went directly to bed.
17/7/2010
By this time the kids have already adjusted to UK time so they didn’t get up as early as 5 a.m. I woke up and made breakfast. At about 9 a.m., Rafiq and Amran went to Barking to pick up our rented car. While waiting for them to get back, Alina walked me to Tesco before going to the gym. I bought some food for our journey to Bicester Village. It’s not easy managing two kids alone, that’s for sure. Rafiq and Amran arrived back with our rented car at 12 and by 12.30 noon, we made our way to Bicester Village. Aira refused to sit in the car seat so I had to hold her. We prayed that we will not bumped into any police, if not we will surely be fined. We arrived at Bicester at about 2 p.m.
Just one hour from London, Bicester Village is a dream destination for designer outlet shopping and the super smart shopper seeking luxury at desirable prices. Supreme luxury, innovative style and beautiful craftsmanship are the hallmarks of Bicester Village’s 130 exclusive designer brands, available at reductions of up to 60% all year round. For a die-hard shopper, they probably need the whole day to shop there. I’ve more or less identified the places that I want to shop. Furthermore, if the place that I want to shop at is full of people, I will try to get out of there as fast as possible sebab rimas. I think we managed to go in most of the shops in 5 ½ hours. Asalkan dapat tengok barang and compare harga sket ok lar. Ikutkan hati memang la nak beli semua tapi kena ikut kata wallet juga..hehe. While Rafiq went and look for his stuffs, I let Faiq play at the playground.
On the way back, we stopped by at Ealing Common to visit Sujack. Met his wife and kids for the first time. We even get to meet Sakinah’s mom and grandmother who were also there. Faiq and Aira enjoyed themselves as there were so many toys around. We had a spaghetti and pizza dinner. That was when Faiq started jumping and Jemi’s camera rolled off the sofa. We knew that it was beyond repair when the lense wouldn’t shut and out came a funny sound. Bengang yang amat coz we were planning to take all the scenic pictures with Jemi’s camera. Nak buat cemana kan? Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Mana ler tahu sekali bawak, then tertinggal ke hapa..lagi terkilan. We left Sujack’s house at about 10 p.m. On the way back, we gotta see a night version of tourists spots which were beautifully lit like Tower Bridge and St. Paul’s Cathedral. We arrived at Brunswick Quay at 11.30 p.m. We finalized the packing for our road trip and slept soundly.
~To Be Continued~
On the way back, we stopped by at Ealing Common to visit Sujack. Met his wife and kids for the first time. We even get to meet Sakinah’s mom and grandmother who were also there. Faiq and Aira enjoyed themselves as there were so many toys around. We had a spaghetti and pizza dinner. That was when Faiq started jumping and Jemi’s camera rolled off the sofa. We knew that it was beyond repair when the lense wouldn’t shut and out came a funny sound. Bengang yang amat coz we were planning to take all the scenic pictures with Jemi’s camera. Nak buat cemana kan? Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Mana ler tahu sekali bawak, then tertinggal ke hapa..lagi terkilan. We left Sujack’s house at about 10 p.m. On the way back, we gotta see a night version of tourists spots which were beautifully lit like Tower Bridge and St. Paul’s Cathedral. We arrived at Brunswick Quay at 11.30 p.m. We finalized the packing for our road trip and slept soundly.
~To Be Continued~
2 comments:
i miss london...huhuhu mahal sgt daa... belum ada rezki.
Me too Ja! La nih dah murah belaka..kumpul duit pelan-pelan..
Post a Comment