DIY London: Oyster, Please!

We've always believed that you can't really experience a place unless you do what the locals do. This means walking the streets like the locals do, taking the subway, eating what they eat, & going to the places that they go to.

And this is why we really get a kick out of planning for our own DIY holiday trips everytime. We've done it before with Tokyo, Kyoto, Hakone, Kota Kinabalu, Perth, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Macau, & now, London & Paris. It does take a lot of time & effort to plan & research on our part, but in the end it's all worth the while.

Going at it on our own means going back to our hotel & waking up the next morning whenever we feel like it the next day, instead of getting a wake up call at 6am so that you don't miss the tour bus. It also means that we can pick the places that we want to go to, instead of being brought to the mandatory Chinese restaurants, souvenir shops & shopping malls.

Of course, a DIY trip would always come with it's adventures. We had a classic killer horror movie experience with one of the ryokans in Japan, got lost in Kyoto while lugging our luggage like crazy & walked till our backs broke, almost didn't have a place to stay for the night in Hong Kong, & then also in London, got on a wrong train to a scary & almost deserted God-knows-where train station in the suburbs of France. But we know that when we look back, it will always be something worth remembering.

The simple principle here is to really be able to navigate & survive ourselves if we're thrown back to those places again.

When we were in London, it was so easy to travel. If you are there for consecutive days, you can get what they call a Travelcard of one, three or seven days with unlimited travel in certain zones. We opted for the Oyster card because in between our London stays, we travelled to Paris & then back again.

The Oyster allows travel on DLR, overground, underground tubes trams and buses. In the tube, you swipe when you get in and out of the station and the prepaid Oyster cards will charged accordingly. For example, Fare for Zone 1 is £1.5 per trip. Peak hours are from 7 am to 7pm.

And the wonderful thing about Oyster is that there is a capping fee which means you will not spend more than a certain amount in a day. For Zone 1-2 travel, daily capping is £6.30 for peak and £4.80 for off peak, which is actually cheaper than a daily travelcard.

And with Oyster, all bus rides costs 90pence, no matter where & how far you're going. You swipe when you board the bus. Bus ride fees will also contribute towards the daily capping fee. But if you use buses only, the daily capping is at £3.

The Transport For London website is at http://tfl.gov.uk/

London Day 2: King's Cross Station

After our failed trip to Smithfield, we took a bus back to King's Cross Station. This is one of the most central & busiest stations in London. From the map, it looks like most tubes and buses will pass through this station, making it one of the main station in London. Of course the British National Rail also stops for travellers to other part of England.

In fact, the place was so packed with so many people that it fulfilled every single requirement for a terrorist bomb attack in 2005.

We knew about the bombing on 7th July 2005 but we were of course not aware of the fact that this THE Station and the bomber started at King Cross towards the Russell Square station, until Nee's cousin Sophia informed us later on, with a straight face. Then we saw the memorial.

It was just yesterday 8th July 2008 that we took the tube from Heathrow straight down to King's Cross. Little did we know that the day before that was the anniversary of the attack. By right, this realisation should have sent shivers down our spines. But we just thought, 'cool'.

It was a bit like stepping on dog poo. When you've accidentally done it, it's done. There's no point being afraid anymore. Anyway, we were sort of lackadaisal about it cos we knew our entire cell group back in Malaysia was praying for our safe trip heheheh. Thank you guys. Great Job! We are back in two pieces.

As with most British historical buildings, this place exudes a sense of wonder about it - about how old the place is, how long it has been there, & the whole history that it came with.


Marks & Spencer is as British as it is going to get. This is one of it's smaller sized-down outlets, much like a 7-Eleven concept.

Imagine if Parkson Grand, Choice or Ta Khiong did something similar like this.

Oh, this is about the cheapest breakfast that you'll be able to find in the whole of London. NEE: I am still salivating looking at the baguettes and sandwiches and thinking of the bread.

We read that Harry Potter was filmed at King's Cross station at Platform 9 3/4 for the scene when he had to run INTO the platform to get to Hogswarth.

Well, we couldn't get to Platform 9 cos we were keeping a close watch on time, but this was close.

We found that staying near King's Cross was very convenient. Some people say that it's not a very good area, but I suppose that's to the immediate east of the station. Anyway, it's always best to avoid any tube stations when it get's empty late into the night.

We found Argyle Square (a road opposite to the Station) to be a very clean & safe neighbourhood, surrounded by reputable B&B hotels.

London Day 2: The Smithfield Market

We woke up really early in the morning like 6 am London time due to the time difference and with time to kill before our ride to Paris, we visited Smithfield Market. Now, we thought that the best place to see the local people & their culture would be at the wet market. Well, we thought right, but it was on a wrong day.

It was the wrong day not because it was rainy, cold & wet. It wasn't also because we walked something like half a mile before we realised that we'll never get there (Like Japanese maps, British maps are unreliable according to actual distance), & we took a bus in the end. Nee's Hush Puppies got so wet that they started opening a hole at the front of her shoe. No, despite all these, they were not the reason for the wrong day.

We could have endured all of the above. It was the wrong day to go to the market because it wasn't opened! Someone told us that the market might not be open that day, but that defied our logic (what market only opens during the weekend????), so we thought we were smarter. Well, hello, obviously we were not locals.

There were not much activity there at the market. It was slow. In fact, it was slower than slow. This is what you say when something is slower than slow.

That's right. Dead slow.

Nothing was open, except for the meat market, which was ..... closing. And as we just picked the closest market in the map to our hotel, this is actually a Wholesale market. So on normal days, we would not be able to do much too.

So in the end, we only had a history lesson as a consolation.

The wonderful thing about London is that almost every building & place had a history of it own.

And the history of these places are much way way way older than the nations of Malaysia, Australia, Canadia or the US. It really makes you think again the significance of their history in relation to ours.


Imagine back in those days, people openly carry out executions in public places for all to see, including young children. In today's ratings, that'd be SG18 (Exreme Violence).

And the selling of one's wife at the market would deserve an SX18.

London Day 2: The First English Breakfast

Oh, I forgot to post a picture of the hotel that we were staying in London on our first night. This is how it looked like from the outside, on Argyle Square on a wet morning.

The hotels here are quite peculiar. Most of them used to be residential homes, with their own entrances & backyards, with a limited number of rooms, & limited rooms with bathrooms ensuite. So a hotel here means that it consists of several units of these individual homes. When we registered at the main entrance, we took the key, & had to walk out out past a couple of these units before we reach the unit where our room was.

Our room overlooked a beautiful quiet garden, where we took our fish and chips the night before. By the way, it was summer in London and temperature is between 12 to 21 deg cel. A cardigan or jacket would be nice to bring along.

The good thing about The European Hotel was that it was inclusive of breakfast. And that morning, we got a seat by the window, facing the backyard.

And when the English bread & butter came, we knew our holiday had officially started.

The English bread is one of the best that we've ever tasted. They were compact, silky fine, & yet with the right balance of chewiness. And their butter is the most excellent - light, creamy & soft. The feeling is like finally finding the most perfect pillow after a long search.

English eggs have very healthy & attractive orange coloured yolks. Even though the sausage was a bit bland (the taste couldn't really come out but English sausages are freshly made and most of us are so used to American hotdogs that eating these sausages is sort of like any acquired taste), & the bacon was a tact bit salty, we were still extremely happy with it. On the street though, a full English breakfast would cost anything between £3 to £8 (RM 20 to RM55).

This was our very first authentic English breakfast in London, & our Happy-O-Meter is bursting with excitement.

London: The Arrival of the Malaysian Bloggers

We almost didn't make it to London.

Our plane couldn't land in KLIA from Kuching as there was a thunderstorm, & we were low on fuel. So MAS rerouted south to Johor Bahru.

When we landed at KLIA, the ground crew brought us quickly to the connecting flight to London. We got onto the plane at 10am. It flew at 10.

The flight took about 13 hours, 4 movies, 2 meals, 2 glasses of wine to make us sleep, peanuts & a snack meal. We touched down at Heathrow at about 3.35pm London time.

As soon as we did that, we bought a topup pay-as-you-go tube card. It's called an Oyster card. In Hong Kong, they have a similar one called the Octopus card. Beats me why they like naming them after seafood.

Anyway, the tube ride took the both of us, 1 luggage, 1 duffle bag & 1 carry-on about an hour to reach King's Cross Station at Bloomsburry, Central London.

You see, Central London is divided into a few neighbourhoods.

So once you know what's there in those area worth seeing, you kinda know how to plan your stay there. The neighbourhoods which were worthwhile for us were very much the touristy areas like The West End (musicals, shopping, restaurants), Southbank (The London Eye, London Bridge), Westminister (Buckingham Palace & the royal family) & finally, the last but not Nee's least, Knightsbridge (Harrod's, Burburry).

Oh, aside from almost missing our plane, we also almost didn't have a place to stay on our first night. There was a big glitch in my internet booking & we had to rope in Nee's cousin in London to help find a place, which she did. And all that was done the night before we flew. WHEW, Thank you Sophia!

And we were glad that she did, cos she got us a really nice place just a stone's throw away from King's Cross Station. It's called The European Hotel. £68 per night with breakfast.

You might want to jot this down cos we realised that Argyle St. & Argyle Square had a lot of similar B&B hotels, and all of them were not in our travel guide.

B&B hotel rates in London range between £66-105 from the ones with/without sinks, toilets, or shower, & to the ones with everything. So if you're particular about having your very own private shower AND bathroom AND sink, get the ones with ENSUITE. Otherwise you might have to pee out the window & bath in the sink. Sorry, I'm still a bit imbalanced from the jet lag.

So, when you know which ones to book, everything will turn out quite beautifully. The shower & sink were there, albeit basic.

The toilet was ensuite alright, but somehow the toilet seat wasn't.

By the time we were checked in, we were dead tired. But the Fish & Chips were calling out to us, & we succumbed.

This was London after all.


If you don't try the Fish & Chips, then you'd better stay at home, in Malaysia.


It was about 15-16 hours after we left our homeland.


And now we're feeling very British, having British Fish & Chips on British soil.

More Jacky Cheung: The Juicy Details

We've been getting a lot of Jacky Cheung fans here so we thought of sharing the whole story of how we met Jacky (We call him Jacky now) in super microscopic detail.

Nee & I were at the London Eye on the 2nd last day of our stay in London.

You're probably not interested in this photo but we've got a story to tell.

And you're probably also not interested in this next piece of information, but for the benefit of the Jacky Cheung groupie-stalkers, the date was July 16, on a Wednesday, late morning, to be exact.
This is the exact spot where I first noticed Jacky. He was standing somewhere directly beneath the black lamp post.

Sorry I didn't take a picture of the ground where he was standing on. I could have sold that to the tabloids & make lots of money.

I didn't really know it was him in the first place. I just thought that he looked familiarly like an architect or some kind of a professional artist (not of the singing & acting kind) as he spoke excellent English to a Caucasian next to him (of whom I suspect to be his friend). His two daughters were there with a nanny. The wife appeared later.

As I analysed his features, he stole a few glances at me. I wasn't sure what his glance meant, & after discussing it with Nee much later on, we thought that he was probably thinking:
1) You kinda look familiar too. Do I know you?
2) Does this Ah Beng actually know who I am? Has my superstar popularity reached as far as London?
3) Oh Sh*t. This guy got camera. Paparazzi!

We concluded that it couldn't be No. 1 cos I wasn't famous. And we had to rule No. 3 out cos my camera was peanuts. His was huge-r. So that left us with the possible No. 2.


Anyway, back to the story, so I went over to Nee.
Greg: Hey, look at that guy there. Don't you think he looks like Jacky Cheung?
Nee: Ya, I think so. Look at his nose. It's huge.
Greg: Maybe I should ask him or something but there is a limitation to the thickness of my skin.

At that moment, his wife appeared & they walked up the ramp to the river boat cruise to buy tickets. We were still debating on his identity. Nee was still assessing his nose. Then as quick as he appeared, he disappeared into the boat cruise stand. And at that point we really thought our luck ran out. It was like striking Jackpot Toto & then losing your tickets.

But heaven was with us that fateful day, cos the Heavenly King came back out, & confirming that it was him, I walked up to him in full stride & confidence.

Greg: Excuse me, I may be mistaken, but are you Jacky Cheung?
Jacky: Uhhh.......Yes, I AM!
Greg: Very nice to meet you. Can I take a picture with you?
Jacky: Uhhh........But I'm very busy, with my family.
Greg: Oh, I see. I'm sorry, but my wife's a big fan. She's there.
Jacky: Uhhh.........Okay. It's alright.
At this point, Nee was running, I mean almost flying, towards him.
Nee: We were at your concert in KL last year. I'm a big fan. We're sorry to bother you.
Jacky: It's ok.

Nee was ecstatic when I took her photo with him.

The only time that she can be so ecstatic-al is if she's in a superb European bakery shop, or if she's learning baking in Paris, or if she's just completed a major masterpiece in the kitchen.

Our conclusion was that Jacky was an excellent gentleman. He was very obliging & friendly although we have intruded into his private family outing. That was the reason why we did not push for ten more pictures with him. We apologised profusely, but he took it very calmly & politely with a smile all the time.

Thinking back, we were glad that we acted in a civil manner, and did not unleash our sua koo-ness (mountain auntie). We gave him the respect that he deserved, & we hope that he will see us as respectful Malaysian fans.

There, that's as detailed as we can get. Any more detailed & you'll fall into a deep coma.

NEE: Well since I was the STAR in that really ugly photo, I thought I should share some of my thoughts. And I was still thinking today how could I possibly look so aunty ~ unkempt and downright country bumpkin. Am still beating myself up about it. Not that I expect Jacky would find me attractive or anything remotely along that line, but to only have one photo of this starry encounter and probably will never have it again, how could I ever show my future grandkids and not expecting them to wonder why grandma ever looked so bad. But on the good side, Jacky's fans are probably so jealous that if I actually look good, I will be torn to pieces.

Anyway, like Greg says, I am glad to find that the person I listened to since my teenage years is actually a gentlemen ~courteous and obliging. None of those prima donna air or artic air coldness or rude abruptness. Based on the circumstances of our encounter, we would totally understand if he refused a picture. Many of us would not like work (entertaining fans would be be work for him) to be interfering with our holidays. I mean I would get really irritated if my workplace starts calling me up during my trip. Under such circumstances, he was warm albeit looking a little careful about the whole thing. Not wary but definitely careful as he has his family with him. Let's just say, he handled it really well. Hats off to him!

Another wonderful thing is I am really happy to see my 'idol' as a family man who would put them first. And I believe many Jacky's fans would love to know that. As we do respect the guy and his family, we would not want to describe his family or anything else besides the encounter itself here, and we did not take any secret paparazzi shots at any of them. So that photo is the one and only that we have and would be purely for a memorable keepsake.

Finally thanks to my dear hubby for having the guts to go up to him and ask. In fact, I actually told him not to bother. Thoughts of two university lecturers who tells students to be professional and calm in all circumstances acting like silly star-strucked fans is just so totally uncool. What would my students think! But I am glad Greg did it. Being almost a banana (Chinese who can't speak mandarin) like him (he has never listened to canto pop) and I am glad after the Jacky's concert last year (which i have to bribe, persuade, beg whatever you call it for him to go), he actually said after the concert in these exact words "I finally understand what canto-pop is now. It is Jacky Cheung." And I am glad-er that Jacky gave him an even better impression in person!

Thank you!

Jacky Cheung in London

We paid quite a lot of money just to be able to sit a few hundred feet away from Jacky Cheung during his concert in KL last year.

This was as close as we could get to him then.

He came, he sang, Nee screamed, & then it was over. This was all we could see.

But we would never have imagined, or even dared to dream, that 10 months later, in a place as faraway as London, we'd be meeting up with him again. This time, it was close up & live in person.

It is very rare for Nee to look like this. She only shows her silly bunny smile only when she's acting silly, or when she's star strucked silly. And unfortunately, this is the only photo we took with Jacky Cheung.

Greg & Nee Back in Kuching!

Ladies & Gentlemen, Monsieur & Mademoiselle,

We have finally reached home ground after spending a total of 14 hours in the sky. Our flight arrived via KLIA at a very opportune time on a Friday afternoon when the custom officers were away for prayers. Therefore we managed to walk out scotch free with English Tea & LV bags MUAHAHAHAHA.

Of course we did the obligatory tourist spots in London like Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Tower of London, the disappointing London Bridge, the magnificent Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the Parliment House, 10 Downing St, Wetminster Abbey, had tea at Fortnum & Mason's (Her Majesty's officially appointed grocer), visited the Diana memorial at Harrod's, had the English breakfast, pub Fish & Chips, English Sausages Toad in the Hole, English Pies & English Roast, met up with Nee's cousins & friend & bumped into a celebrity (a real live one, not at Madame Tussaud's).


In Paris, we did the Lourve, saw the Mona Lisa, climbed the Notra Dame, walked on Champs de Elysees, Rue St Martins, St Germaine Boulevard, strolled along the romantic Seine River like in one of the Elizabeth Taylor movies, went up the Eiffel Tower, visited the Pompidou Contemporary Art Gallery, the Gardens at Tuilleries, savoured French cuisines at the street cafes, braserries, pattiserries, boulangeries & restaurants.


London is a very historical city. Paris is also one, but done with 10 times the grandeur. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip, the sightseeing, & the food, but we are glad to be back home. Our feet & backs are aching, we are sun burnt, jet lagged, & need sleep & recuperation, & our stomachs are constipated.


Oh, thanks for dropping by frequently in our absence. We really appreciate that!

Greg and Nee on the Go In London

We are currently at an internet cafe near King's Cross Station at Bloomsbury, Central London. Yup, you heard that right. Greg & Nee is currently on the Go in the land of the London Bridge, Red Double Decker buses, Prince William & Mr. Bean. We haven't seen either one of that yet, but we've done the double decker, & had the fish & chips with bangers, and feeling very British, with pomp & circumstance.

Our trip was very eventful right from the very beginning. We did not have a hotel booking for the first night until the very last minute, & we almost missed our flight in KL as Malaysia Airlines had to turn back all the way to Johor Bahru as it couldn't land at KLIA due to the weather.

But now we're safe & sound, & on the go again after a good night's rest. We had a proper English breakfast this morning.

Oh, by the way, internet charges here are £1.30 per hour, & it's valid for 30 days. So we'll try to update here from time to time, minus the photos, just in case you miss us!

As the English would say, Toodle-loo!