February – March 2013
Finally got a time to post my once-in-a-lifetime trip after a year (and a half?)! I will try to enumerate everything I have done during the trip in detail as what my brain (wanderlust) cells could take me.
So to begin with, I was able to get this journey from a company I used to work with. They need to send some people over their client in UK to discuss remaining issues and future potential developents on the web application that we were building for them. I was most certainly sure that I won’t be qualified to go since it has been known that they only send people in the company who are already tenured and well experienced not only in development but also in client communication as well. So I was very confident at that time (since I really am not comfortable talking to people about work). I have a “dont-talk-to-me-whilst-I-work” attitude that somehow I’ve come to be bothered of.
So, one normal day at work, I was summoned by our Project Manager. She needed to talk to me that time so I followed her to the conference room, then she told me the first question that made me popped my ears out (and heart too)
“Jem, are you willing to travel?”
I had a slight hint of what we were about to discuss in the room. Of course, I did say yes even if I had to get out of my comfort zone if I travel and do business with other people (not just other people, but people with a different race and culture)
So as I confirmed her I was willing, she discussed what work will I exactly do if I get there. Honestly, all she said were became blurry for me because I had a mixed feeling of wanting and not wanting to go because we also have a planned vacation in HongKong with the family and i surely don’t wanna miss out on it. So at that time I really got confused but luckily, my endorsement papers were mailed late so I had the chance to go both trips! I went to HK with the family and shortly 2 days after, I flew to Europe for the business trip
* kinda tiring but if you have a traveller soul, you won’t get weary 😉
It was a sickly 16 – hour trip with a stopover in Dubai in between. I felt numbness in my legs during the trip. My airline was Emirates they have great assistance, great food and on top of that, great music + great movies on their entertainment app on board. (See photos below)
Took me 8 hrs to fly to DBX then stopped and wait for 4 hours and flew again from DBX to Gatwick. I felt sick during the trip and I had trouble sleeping because I was sitted the whole time, i’m not fond of long sitting. (think no one does too)
* checkout what I did on the 4-hour stopover in Dubai
NOTHING!
I just stayed put near the gate where I’m about to bound the next flight and scavenged some charging spots near the place since i don’t want to be lured by the things I can buy at the airport and lose track of time. Lots of Filipinos here at the DBX Airport. Felt like home. :3
Fast forwarding now to the time I landed successfully at Gatwick Airport, I headed immediately to the Menzies Chequers, the hotel I was about to stay. Then I saw my Project Manager and other colleague getting ready to go to the office. They told me to take the day off for a rest since I’m really tired of the journey. The place was really nice and has great architecture (duh, it’s Europe, what would you expect?).
Pictures from: https://www.gatwickreservations.com
So I went to my hotel room and took a view on the window. Go see for yourselves how creepy the vibe. I think the added filter made it more creepy but really, it’s creepy even without the filter. I almost thought Sadako was my neighbor . But I got the hang of it as the days went by. (lol)
I wanted to take a nap because I was really tired but I really want to be prepared the next day when I report to the client’s office so I Skyped my colleagues back in PH to review all of the things that were needed to be addressed to the client and right after I was done with work, I called my family and Manu back at home. They were so worried I got lost because it’s the first time I was travelling alone and outside the country. (lol) I told them not to worry a thing cause as small as I seemed, I got bigger guts than what they can imagine.
I’ll skip the part how my work week went since that’s not really relevant to this post and it went really okay but just going to tell you the parts of my weekend trip around town. 😉
So to make the long story short, I only had four weekend days to make the most out of my trip since my stay will only last for two weeks. Here is a summary of my trip on photos:
* picture with the world-renowned Big Ben! (apparently, my face looked bigger than Big Ben. Heehee! ^___^ )
* London Eye, y’all
* Another famous eye candy in Europe – The Red Phonebooth As you can see, it’s really a regular phone booth, nothing fancy inside but really purrty outside 😉
(if I had been able to watch Doctor Who earlier, I would have looked for a TARDIS Blue Police Box instead)
The first pic above is my favorite hotel food at Chequers. The famous English Breakfast never fails. English sausage + Baked beans + French toast = Nomnomnom. And never a Euro trip without cider or any wine — Magners! :3* One of my favorite moments in the trip – THE FOOD! I was able to snatch some good noodles at our favorite to-go noodle house. It has “toge” with it and was very delicious.
I failed to document the really enormous Fish and Chips I ate. It was really good with some wine. ;))
I’m not done yet with the food so here’s the Mercato Central of United Kingdom – Borough Market! So many good food here from corn, sandwiches, fish and chips, sweets, bread, wine and a whole lot more! Name your pick. As for me I bought a shawarma-like sandwich which has meat and barbecue ranch sauce.. it’s so good. I even ordered my favorite lemonade to go with it. I thought it wouldn’t last a day and i have to eat again at some time but i was wrong it was heavy on the stomach. Yummers. 🙂
(Photos grabed from the interwebzz, credit to their rightful owners)
Going back to the favorite spots on le trip, here are some I was able to discover during the tiring walk.
Cielo, Portobello!
My favorite amongst all spots I’ve been in Europe. The mini houses were too cute and colorful. I just had to take a picture of them. The weather tho it seemed gloomy cannot ruin the prettiness of this mini town.
They also have bazaars right outside their homes which really caught my attention since I love bazaars! There was this one Indian guy which sells customized watches. Of course, I got one myself!
I thought this watch would last for half month but apparently £15 was really worth it since I still use this watch to date! (after being washed with my jeans and got the strap torn)
Westminister Abbey – nothing much to say here since I really can’t remember the information I was told about it but as you can see, it has a cathedral with again, the pretty architecture. 😉
Btw, here’s a picture with my Project Manager, Miss Ghia, which was my companion in the whole trip. 🙂
With Ash, Miss Ghia’s friend who was based in Woolwich Arsenal, cared to tour us around town! Look at the matchy Longchamps. hihi!
Buckingham Palace
The very place where Prince William and Dutchess Kate Middleton kissed right after their wedding. So many co-tourists taking pictures of the palace too. I managed to sneak in beside the gate. The perks of being tiny. hihi. 🙂
…and of course……. and finally, the Greenwich Royal Observatory
So that’s basically what my trip looked like. Really enjoyed this one and I realized that being deployed here was one of the best things that ever happened to me. 😉
Kissed by Fire 