My Trip to London, UK

I have been scanning my travel blog for my previous trips to the UK  and found some posts about my trip to London. It just brought a lot of fond memories.

When Air Asia launched its first flights to London, UK… I was one of the first to get the promo airfare.  That time, my husband had a meeting to attend in Bogota, Colombia. The flight was enroute UK. I was so excited at the thought, to be able to transit in the UK on the way to Colombia.

I checked my blog earnings and it was enough to buy my tickets from Kuala Lumpur to London via Air Asia and London to Colombia via Air France.

It was autumn in London and I was thrilled that finally, I could experience different seasons too. I live in a tropical country so I was ecstatic to know I could experience other seasons too.

• Top 10 Things to do in London:

Although there are literally thousands of things to do in London, a list of ten should get you started.

Read the rest of the  entry here: Top 10 Things to do in London.

• First Night: Culture Shock!

My family members had already “cautioned” us what to expect when we come to London. My brother-in-law used to fly a lot to London. He was in MAS International Flight before (now he’s in Malaysia Airlines regional flight as a steward) and my parents-in-law visited London last year for 2 months. SO they gave us all different kinds of stories about London.

But I was always fascinated with London from the books I read and from the movies I watched. So… coming here was really a treat for me, although I had to go through a lot just to get my UK Visa application approved.

Anyways, we booked our stay in one of the hostels in Bayswater, Central London. And it’s the cheapest one can find. When you’re in Bayswater, Westminster, you are actually in the hub of central London.

On first day in London, we decided to take a walk around Bayswater just to get the feel of our place. We wanted to see Hyde Park at daytime. So went inside the Park and it took us to the Kensington Gardens. It was truly beautiful. I’m glad we’re staying in Bayswater where every important places to see and do is just walking distance away.

Read the rest of the entry here: Kensington Gardens

Traveling around London is made easy by the tube, underground or overground. You can just hop in the tube to the major tourist sites and you can get there the moment you get off the tube. It was our first time in London but our friend Fiona was amazed that we could get around London without any friends going with us. But like I said, the Tube made it easier for us. One just need to buy an Oyster Card. Once you have an oyster card, you can go anywhere by bus and by tube.

Read the rest of the entry here:

London Free Tour Part 1

London Free Tour Part 2  here.

• London Tour on our own:

On our second day in London, we did a London Tour on our own, with just a map and an oyster card. I wanted to see the famous London Bridge. But I was informed that the famous bridge is actually called the Tower bridge. The tower bridge connects the city that is divided by the River Thames.

Read the rest of the entry here: London Tour on our Own.

• Travel Tip: How to Go To Heathrow Airport from Central London:

There are a few airports in London. Depending on which airlines or countries you fly, they have an airport specifically assigned for you to go. When we flew to London from Kuala Lumpur, we took Air Asia airline, so we landed at Stansted Airport. When we flew from London to Bogota, Colombia, we took Air France so we flew from Heathrow Airport. Heathrow is obviously better than Stansted.

Read the rest of the entry here: How to go to Heathrow Airport from Central London.

My trip to the UK was indeed amazing, seeing palaces, castles, meeting friends, eating some pub grubs with a dear friend, buying a pair of boots from a retro shop in Notting Hill and going to Bogota Colombia from there and back to tour some more. It was indeed a very fulfilling experience, totally satisfying my wanderlust.

Of course, it helped that before going to London, I read from Air Asia’s magazine about some budget places while in London. And so, we were able to stay in Central London and actually enjoyed the beautiful and historical places in a budget. (October 29, 2011)