Oyster card!

Somebody asked me about how did I move around in London. I guess many of those who had been there would know this. We moved around via the subway and you can use bus as well.

A few tips we discovered during the trip:

1. If you planning on boarding the train for many times on one day, of course I recommend you to buy the day travel card. However, the day travel card could only be purchased after the peak hour, i.e 9.30 am. Just go to the ticket counter and ask. Day travel card is not so simple as you think. The charge is different by zones. So, it is much advisable for you to plan your trip the night before.

2. Buy oyster. When we first arrived in St. Pancras King's Cross station, we asked many questions regarding oyster (told by our auntie). After much calculations, it's better for you to get oyster as you'll save a few bucks. We did not use much of oyster because most of the time, we use day travel card. Only at the last day we were told we can use the oyster as a day travel card. We tried, but it did not work. lol. Then you guys should try it! Oh, the good thing, you can return your oyster card and get the balance and the cost of oyster card back!

Helping you get the picture how oyster and day travel card looks like. Yang mastercard tu bukanla nk tunjuk kredit..itu sarung oyster. lol XP

Beza Paris and London?

I think for the transportation, Paris jauh murah lagi.lol XP 

I guess price of transportation might be one of the cons for London;)

London: It's all started in Stratford..

I'm sorry that I have to continue with another review -__-" It was a long journey and I'm afraid the excitement will be fully degraded if I postponed it further:/
Let's go to Stratford!

-__________-"

I know right..There are so many places in London I could go. Why Stratford??:| *lowered your eyebrow and drop your eyelid..then try to do the palmest of a facepalm ever!>,<*

If its me, I maybe never would even consider to put this place in my list >,< Can you guess where this picture was taken?

I give you far much easier clue. No taker? Still don't know where is this? #btw, please focus on my husband's face. How happy he was *_* 

The happy boy...-__-"

Here we are. The still-under-construction; 2012 Olympic Stadium T_____T even the tube station is still not fully assemble into something that looks like a train station!!
Oh well, to fulfill his interest...ikut jela. And wives, you are now married, don't forget to smile all the way too -__-" 

Tapi bagus juga la walaupun I had no idea how to 'love' that place. I had opportunity to ride the double decker bus (since the train station for the stadium itself is tak siap lagi kan..).

Another additional point to our (inaugural-for yours truly) trip to Stratford was, another shopping day for us.
Apparently Stratford station is one of internationals. So, it was huge, more modern-look and most importantly equipped with hehe...malls.
Well I have to say, dragging hubby into the mall was one of my 'regret' >,<

I was at first excited looking at a huge Primark store with less people!!So I was thinking, maybe I dislike it in Oxford Street because it was too congested?? Then hubby let me go around the two-level equally huge with the one in Oxford street for two times! And I still failed to like it. Then I was convinced and even more devastated:/
I couldn't find things to shop. So, I decided to go around try their sweets..:/

This has to be recorded!The best pretzel I ever tried in my entire life!!geez..Auntie Anne's is nothing compared to this:S

F21 yang sangat besar gedabak and tak ada orang. That's just make it two times larger:P

 You wanna know why I 'regret' bringing hubby here?:/
This is the first point he discovered ...gadgets are 'significantly' cheaper. Much cheaper than those in Japan \O.O/*still only applicable to those of western's made.'
Wives, this is an important point for you to be focus on..Once his attention is taken..there's no way you can have your honeymoon *lari-lari sambil tarik rambut*. So, no matter what you have to help him settle whatever it is that he needs before you can have your time. Just like what he always did for us, I guess:) Give and take. This was definitely one of the time...I had to give >,<

Story went like this. There was one electric shop named 'Curry' in London (I know right..I keep questioning hubby about why 'curry':/ and of course he never listens coz he's been busy dragging the reluctant wife around for lawatan ke kedai letrik -__-"). That time as you already known, was a sale season. At the same time, he was already looking for the currently most wanted head phone in the world which I think most people like me wouldn't care:P And the kedai offered him that thing he likes for a very good price. Let's put it like this, you will go, do anything to get those things in that good price no matter what it takes. Unfortunately, the one he had eye on was already, at that moment, out of stock!!>,<

That brought me to another place name Stepney Green; where another Curry store was located -__-"
Walking into Stepney Green, all I could say this place was one of suburb. What's obvious to me, this place is most probably filled with muslims as there were lines of halal restaurant all the way!
Of course the first place I was dragged into was the electric store -__-"
But pity hubby, they didn't have the stock as well.
Then bored me came out with the idea of asking the customer service to tell us the branch which still has the stock? And if they do, we requested it to be reserved.
Good news, there was one store still have it. Bad news, by the time I asked them it was 5 o'clock and they were then ready to close at the exact same time -__-" Kesian suami saya T_____T

At Stepney Green's Nando's. Even Nandos is halal there :') Lama betul tak makan Nandos :') bes sangat :') 

Baitul Huda in Stepney Green. Not very far from the train station, also the Curry's store. We managed to be the ma'mum for Maghrib prayer. Although a bit old, this place was well taken care of. For muslimah, the prayer space was located underground. For men, two levels are reserved for them. But according to hubby, although sounds spacious, it was already congested sampai a few has to solat diluar. Ramai muslim :')

Oh, I forgot to tell you, before we left the shop with my heart-broken husband, one of the staff told us about London's Akihabara:P It was located in Tottenham Court Road.
Ok, like I said..London's Akihabara..there goes my one day of honeymoon >,< *kidding bebeh*

You don't think we went there?
Of course we did >,<
I was determined to do whatever it takes for him to get this thing by end of the day!If not, I have to continue the search in many more kedai letrik >,< arghhhh!!!!:P

Now I got headache calling all the memories in Stratford. I have to lie down for a few hours before I can continue (lie down=continue buat kerja -__-").
Oh, did he finally got his hand on 'that thing'?
Sama-sama kita nantikan:P

Nonetheless, my day ends perfectly:) He tried.

Nearby Portobello Market. End our day with 2 cups of frozen yogurt;)

Oxford Street.

Now I noticed, we have some what lesser number of photos taken in London compared to Paris. 

You know why?Because in London we did less sightseeing and more shopping:p 

I had this plan to put a picture of pitch black blank square to tell the story of me in Oxford Street.

Of course, that's what a camera do in the meantime we are busy using the money :P 

I tried, but I don't know how to do that:/ 

When I told my friend that I am in London, most girls (all of them) suggest me to go to Primark. 

I don't know what to reply..terharu?or 'annoyed'? *kidding!!*

Of course that was one of my biggest agenda!!I've been listening of those people rambling about it over and over since..forever >,< Why do you think I wanna go London at the first place?:P *I hope you guys understand sarcasm :|*

So, as soon as we (he) finished visiting  A STADIUM, my feeling was like just woken up from a deep boring sleep!I walked so fast (like you bangun tidur lambat and have to run catch a plane!!), and all I could think of was Primark!

So, from Arsenal station to Marble Arch station (nearer to Primark) or Oxford street.

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Primark?

Well..for me just so-so. I don't know what to buy..There are undeniably cheap. 

Pretty?..just some.small portion of it, however they weren't of my likings. But it's a good place to get those basic attires where fashion is second that matters.

But seriously I didn't know what to buy. Nothing caught my eyes. I thought I was tired. 

We went there three times and I still failed getting anything for myself:/ Just some basic stuff that you still could get anywhere. Someone was however enjoying the scene (of me not be able to fill up the trolley like usual:/). 

So, I didn't caused much damage to his pocket. I'm glad anyway:)

But I was a little bit frustrated to see that the store I have been dying to go was not at like what I was hoping for. Well, part of the feeling was relieved. I don't have to envy those Londoners after this.hehe..

Then we go to Oxford Street! Marble Arch station pun memang located along the Oxford Street. So, the first Primark I went was one in Oxford Street. There will be a lot of people. Make sure your hubby is attached to you all the time. I lost him so many times inside the store T___T (for those with kids, rephrase the word 'husband' with 'kid'.) I've seen so many kids running around the store, crying, screaming for I assumed, their parents:|.

Oxford Street reminds me of...Shinjuku. Where you can see repetitive stores along the street. For instance, first you see one H&M store..and a few steps ahead you'll see the larger version of it and it gets larger as you step ahead. This is also the case of other boutiques. I love ZARA. But I found it very hard to get your size in here. Also, are they shorts of attires to sell? They are too little of everything :|

I think we made a mistake. By visiting Oxford street too soon. That caused a huge damage to your (husband's) pocket and also time >,<. We were there every night T___T But that wasn't entirely my fault:/ Get back to that later:/

Besides footballs clubs, hubby became suddenly interested in London after he discovered how this place would be such a 'heaven' for shopping. Guys, read this carefully; everything on sale are much much cheaper!!Or maybe we got there at the right time, the new year's sale ^_^

Me, however feels like been throwing with just the remnant of maybe from their boxing day. It was very hard for me to get one of my size:/ Cis!Then I slowly hate London a little:/ 

 On the way to the next stop:P Not many photos here guys..only who has photos during shopping?:P

I love London mostly because this city is Muslim friendly. Halal restaurant are everywhere and so does the mosque or they usually called it Islamic Centre.

Islamic Centre in Oxford Street. Masjid yang paling cantik I ever visited for this trip, I must say. Sangat cantik and bersih ^_^ after having discovered this, Oxford street is one place we never have to worried to go at any time:')

Now we know..Japan is not the right place for shopping :')

So bebeh, shall we go again next year? Better on Boxing Day?:p

Tukdin

Itu bukanlah nama panggilan pakcik saudara kami. Tapi itu adalah restoran feveret kami di London!yey!

We had so much fun sightseeing in London that we didn't realized we have walked for kilometers (from Buckingham Palace to Tower Hill). Too many things to feast for the eye we forgot to have lunch also we forgot that we were walking all the way! By the time we met with the Tower Bridge, the sun was ready to set and left us in rush to find place for solat. 

Oh, that day was also our special day. I bet most of you also has your own special day, right?
So, we decided to treat ourselves something extra to celebrate it. We had a very memorable day, why not ending it perfectly by doing things that we both like and remember?

While other people would choose Italians, westerns restaurants on their special day, I'm sure those who resides overseas understands why we chose instead a Malaysian restaurant. 

Besides halal, we chose it because...we are dying to eat Malaysian food for so long!>,< arghhh!!Especially yours truly yang every time my husband asked, "Nak makan apa?", I would immediately answered "Daging." 

Then I saw daging on their menu...mashaAllah..semua yang I suka and susah-buat and tak-kuasa-nak-susah-susah-buat-tapi-sorang-je-nak-makan ada semua tersenarai T___T

Maka, Tukdin memangla ichiban (the most) desired restaurant to feast in for that time being (and now still T__T). 

Before that, this is Paddington station. Enough for you to get the picture of how their station looks like? Cantikkan? 

Tukdin's front. Across our hotel je..hehe..

Tukdin, Flavors of Malaysia. Because of you we never sempat go to Malaysian Hall and tried their food court >,<

Browsing my new recipe book while waiting for our food ^_^ Oh, during this time, there were just two of us in the restaurant. So, we borak-borak with all the staffs there whom are mostly student there..
When we told them we came all the way from Japan, their faces changed and asked how do we save ourselves from tsunami last time *_*

Because I didn't stop nagging hubby for this; daging bakar cicah air asam :') and how do I know that this will be tersangat sedap T___T kan bagus kalau kurang sedap...tak perlula datang lagi T___T Tukdin represents the 5star of Malaysian dishes!

Pasembor :') Sedap T___T serious weh...sedap T___T 

Kari udang. Ini bukan saya order:| Tapi sedap ^_^

OMG..lapar la pulak cerita pasal Tukdin ni. I gotta go guys. Go home and dream of dining at Tukdin T__T

So, kami memang tersangkut kat restoran ni je keje...heh!
That's why, we are not the right person to ask about Londoners' food spot to go :P

It's quite a boring entry. I think.
Well, try again in the next entry ya.
See you!

London sightseeing: An Episode For Men *facepalm*

Do you really wanna know where were we on our first day in London? Yeah, I'm still talking about London.

Told you I was having a severe jet lag. Whenever I opened my eyes, he had already prepared with his own schedule. So 'not interested to go London' act, right?hmmm..

So, his first and foremost agenda...among many other places in London was, the Emirates stadium.

From Paddington station to Arsenal station.

The Emirates stadium.

 My elaboration: This is a football stadium..and huge.tu je kot:|

Meeting with his football idol. The Henry T.

Among the things I enjoyed doing *grin* Going to Arsenal stadium was like him throwing lemon to me,. But I managed to make lemonades (plural, notice?) as long as there's shop around :D

Well, other things I enjoyed doing here was when he being opened up and spoke about his childhood memories he had during period living in London. I considered that was my joy visiting this place :')

Although we have been together for 11 years, there's so much more to discover right?:')

I have many pictures around Arsenal stadium. I think he managed to cover every inches of the stadium and times two:| But it's not my position to post it here mainly because..I.don't.know. what to share. Lol XD.

We spent half the day here. Hubby was reluctant to leave anyways. Lol XD. 

Then he gave me time to do what I like, that is..shopping!!

To Oxford street we go!weeee!!Can you picture his emotion graph going down to the earth crust?:P

See you in Oxford street. Before that, we'll go to Primark!

Jya matta!

London sightseeing: Episode 1

This is how I have my break. Updating blog. It's like talking to friends over tea time. You guys are my friend too anyway:)

Well, we are still in London right? 

I called our London trip as 'his trip'. Despite of being the one who strongly opposed the idea of short trip to London, hubby was the one who benefited the most from this trip. 

London was supposed to be about me because I was the one who came out with the idea T___T 

*Kidding..I was happy he had his time after hard work working in Japan:)*

We spent only 1 day out of 5, for sightseeing in London. Enough to finish all those popular landmarks.

One thing if you are in London, you are discouraged to start your journey before 930am because unlimited day pass could only be purchased after that time. 

Honestly, I didn't know where to start. So, I just let instinct led the way and it has brought us to first; the Buckingham Palace.

From Paddington Station to Victoria station.

As you walked out of the station, breath-taking view awaits you:) So, I'll just walking along this pathway following other people's footsteps whom, we presumed sharing the same destination.

This is it. The Buckingham Palace. I remember that day was a bit cloudy. So, I've to wait for my tag along photographer (beliau juga memegang jawatan sebagai sponsorer and my husband:p) for him to finish taking I assumed, 100 photos:D Too many things to catch >,< 

Honestly, I didn't know what to see. Everything was so out of reach >,< Tapi puas la dapat berada at the front of this famous palace kan?( ye..Istana negara pun tak pernah nak pergi ambil gambar T__T). 

Finished with the palace, we saw many people leaving by this sidewalk. Oh...look! It's The Memorial walk for the Diana.

Not far from the Buckingham Palace, we like the others, were fascinated by a very beautiful, green park, namely St. James Park. We didn't think much and decided to walk through the park sharing pathways with pigeons and other colorful birds (which I don't know their names). Smell of very tempting waffle had however lengthen our visit to the park besides scenery of beyond the word 'beautiful' could explain, that we couldn't just let it passed by *grin*.

I was raised with 'kartun orang putih'. In my memory I have bambi, the chipmunks, princesses. Here I saw the chipmunks' home just like the cartoons!!It surprised me that they are apparently very friendly to people. They make eye contacts, like talking to us! Adorable!

One of the scene I love from St. James Park.

As we reach at the other end of the park, we were greeted by many other stunning landmarks..

Tapi yang famous, one of it was..the Big Ben.

The Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster. 

As you passed the Big Ben, the Eye of London will instantly caught your eyes next!

 When you see this, just go at that direction. There are more awaits you at the other side of the river where the Eye of London is located.

Passing Eye of London, we were stuck there. The cheap book sales:D I got my Jamie Oliver's from here :D

This is Tate Modern. One of the main attractions of you google. You will see many more attractions as you walk along the river. I can't compile everything here. I think Londoners have made everything very easy for us:) Without you noticed, you have passed most of their main attractions.

In the quest for Tower Bridge, we found ourselves stuck in a market called Borough market. It wasn't at all in our plan to visit one of the largest food market in London. It was indeed huge and...full of food!!Yang penting murah >,< We tried their brownie and pastries :P Bread lambak-lambak je T___T Baklava pun lambak...T_T

Tower Bridge, London.

To finally arrived here, requires you to walk a bit. But worth it. There was nothing along the way that was less valued by us. Everything was new and fascinating to us. Alhamdulillah..

What can I say..tower bridge memang breath taking. We enjoyed spending our evening walking around here ^_^  oh, also, on top of the bridge. We can't afford to waste even an inch ;P hehe..

We ended our second day of sightseeing (sigh..yep..our landmarks' sightseeing only began on the 3rd day) crossing the Tower Bridge to the nearest train station, Tower Hill station. Even on the way to the station, there so many fascinating view to catch. Nothing bored hubby and me. So, we went back to the hotel to pray and to celebrate the 11th year of our 'special friendship' :)

See you in the next episode ^_^

The Brunel Hotel, Paddington, London

Light snow falling of the sky greeted my morning:) Although chilling, the view does warm my heart:) oh well, I am wearing a piece from Primark. Albeit synthetic, it works well to keep me physically warm too :D

Let's move on with another review.

We didn't have much time to do survey and fight over it. ehe..The few hours we got was mainly being wasted on surveying hotel in Paris. For London stay, we didn't have much problem because most of the hotels that were within our budget are mostly at par with our requirement. 

We search for hotel based on:

1. Location: it has to be in Paddington. This was based on our auntie's recommendation. I have to say, it was a good choice. i could not imagined any better than this place. Hotel also must be within walking distance from the underground station.

2. Wi-fi service: Very important to search for information, keeping in touch with family members (cheapest way!), and preparing for tomorrow's trip plan:D Also, for those who's having jetlag, anda boleh tweet dengan orang Malaysia and Japan (Yours truly la tu :/). Brunel Hotel provided us with free, no password wifi in our room! (unlike Hipotel, besides requires an IMF level password, we also had to access internet in their 'lobby' only. Tapi oklah free daripada tak ada langsung..)

3. Food: MashaAllah...risau sangat pasal makanan...Paddington awesome!Besides rows of souvenir shops along the road, there are plenty of Halal restaurant. Tak tesempat nak cuba semua >,<Yang pagi bestnya, halal restaurant ni include the KFC (big deal for those of muslim residing in Japan, k), Subway (again, big deal), and others of Londoners' :'). 

4. Near to Malaysian Hall: We didn't go despite of sangat dekat. Tak sempat la :/ We heard there's a FOOD COURT of MALAYSIAN DISHES!!!Tapi still, stuck dekat Tukdin:/ 

From King's Cross St. Pancras to Paddington. Dekat sangat :') Paddington pun station yang besar. Connecting many other lines. So, senang for you to travel around London:') and nak catch intercity train later pun no need rushing:') hence Paddington is strongly recommended for stay:)

As we came out of the huge Paddington station:) It's nice to savor your eyes with totally different view from other places you had visited :) 

The room. Not very spacious like the one in Paris. Tapi enough je:) Bed and ambience yang sangat comfortable. Alhamdulillah we made a great choice:)

Other facility. All basic everyday needs provided and well functional. I believed, I was one of those who knows the current news like the back of my hand. I kept watching news in rotation due to jet lag:/

The clean toilet and all sabuns provided (again, unlike Hipotel despite on the same rate:P). Brunel and Hipotel both are three stars hotel tapi layanan and the service sangatla different. Brunel hotel sangat neat, clean and cantikla hotelnya, unlike Hipotel :P

The shower. Very important to show as some hotel do not provide private shower >,< Oh, that's the case of Paris:/

Lagi penting, depan hotel ada restoran Malaysia. Lol XD. Kami melabur di restoran ni berapa GBP sudah..

In front of the hotel. Nampak curlassss kan? memang..all awesome!^_^

One of a kind taxi yang boleh jumpa di London aje :D 

Inside the 'Tube'; the name of their public train. That was early in the morning, that why I was immersed in their free newspapers yang bersepah-sepah >,< 

Oh, yang membuatkan I lagi suka hotel ni sebab....bawah hotel ni ada supermarket 'Nisa Local' open 24hours :D So, whenever I feel hungry (apparently, not just my eyes je yang jet lag, perut pun T____T), I will ask (nag) hubby to buy me cookies, buns and milk (tapi tak lapar pun nak sebab cookies and susu kedai ni sedap sangat T__________T). I know how can milk sedap and tak sedap..I can't explain, you have to go sana and minumla kalau tak caye sangat >,<
Semua di sini sangat mudah!
I strongly recommend you to find hotel in Paddington! Better Brunel hotel. Murah and best!ehe..
We stayed for 5 days, and tak cukup. Jangan buat silap seperti kami. Sila stay lebih lama :D

Write to you more, later:)
Have a nice day!

From Paris to London

I hope my reviews will help you all, dear readers to get the pictures for your visit later:)

Now I'm done with my ultimate aim to visit Paris, the Eiffel tower.
So, we moved to London on the 3rd day.
A night before our departure to Paris, we purchased the Eurostar ticket, the express train connecting Paris to London.
Somehow, we didn't get the confirmation e-mail from the agent. Could it because we bought it in a very last minute?
When we arrived in Paris, the first thing we did was..settling the ticket. Apparently, that's common problem they are facing. The Eurostar tu pun annoyed by the online agent (the counter girl told us).
So, for you guys, do no worry, you can buy ticket at the counter je pun boleh..Well, except if its peak season. We finally bought the ticket from the counter since our initial purchase could not be traced.

From Voltaire (our first stay in Paris) to the Gare Du Nord (the biggest station I assume).
Here's a tip; when you arrive to the airport, first station you have to head to (if you macam clueless la)..is Gare Du Nord. Usually people will get their connecting train from here. Please be very careful of your belongings. It is a very huge station with suspicious looking people everywhere:/

Inside the Gare Du Nord. Classic sangat. Tapi in yours truly eyes, it was a gloomy, dodgy and dirty?:/

Checking out from Hipotel Voltaire.

In front of Gare Du Nord. 

 Please take note that, London and Paris located in different country ya..so, there will be immigration procedure that you have to passed before you can board the train. So, it's like checking in for airplane, this intercity train also requires you to check in latest by 30 minutes before departure. I advice you to come earlier la sebab bukan ko sorang je kot yang nak ride..Ramai gila >,<

Inside Eurostar. Okla, comfortable. Shinkansen is of course way more comfortable.

Hubby is studying while his wife 'pengsan'. Seriously..I suffered the most of jet lag. Beliau tak affected langsung. Nasib baik..he is my protector after all..:) I couldn't open my eyes at all..T__T
Oh, forgot to mention, our supposedly 2 hours journey was extended to another 50 minutes due to technical problem. We were given discount for next ride. cehh..tapi tiket return dah beli :/

Sampai King's Cross St. Pancras station. Lihat mata yours truly still bengkak :/ oh, and lihat!!!London is so much 'terang' and clean!!can you see the difference??Welcome to the 2012 Olympic City :)

Undeniably cantik gila kot station derang. and not to forget..clean!The people also tak adala garang-garang semacam je :/

Our stay located in Paddington. Just 15 minutes from King's Cross :D and Paddington is also one of the biggest:) yey! That's yours truly at the Paddington station. HUGE.

Lega dah sampai London coz finally we didn't anymore berteka teki looking for direction.

Now I can communicate with..people and understand what they said! hahaha..English everywhere..aduh senangnya..semua bende tanya walaupun tahu dah. haha..

Our hotel pun alahai dekat sangat dengan Paddington station. 

Malaysia Hall juga located in Paddington:) I heard there are food court in Malaysia Hall. But we tak sempat nak pergi coz this one Malaysian restaurant IN FRONT OF our hotel was sooo irresistable!!

After bag drop, and rehat kejap, we decided to hunt for food.

For muslim, Paddington would be one easy place. KFC, Subway halal. And there are so many other halal restaurant around. Basically, yang halal lagi banyak daripada tak halal..hehe..

So, baru setapak jalan, kami nampak perkataan "Tukdin, flavor of Malaysia." 

kami tanpa berlengah..terus je masuk.haha..

Our first dinner in London, makanan Malaysia. bahaha..Masak lemak cili padi daging salai..tell me how on earth could you resist that. Especially when you came from Japan yang memang makan daging 6 bulan sekali. Inikan pulak daging salai masak lomak T___T

Kami suami isteri memang suka makan nasi minyak. And there was one of the best nasi minyak we ever tasted :') Oh, itu terung bercili. Sedap T____T memang patutla restaurant ni ramai orang and banyak table! 

I'll review about the hotel we stayed in the next entry. Among all stays, this one in London is so far our favourite. Nothing minus point I could give to this hotel:)

Till then, see you in the next entry:)