25/95 travel blog

Sunday, August 13, 2006


Da Vinci Code - Credits 1st

Special thanks to the following people who altho are not in my team make it possible for me to go:

1) Kian Wee, Yvonne and Edwin Phua (especially to these two for being such great company till the Vitruvian Man separated us!), Mingxiong and Shujun, Joyce Tok and Manga (dunno her real name), Angie and Charles, Lao gong and partner for sharing information.
2) Joyce Tan for being my partner during the race and for being my companion to experience the daily mishaps in London

Then, I would like to thank all those whom I have bitched to after I came back due to the unbelievable daily mishaps that I have encountered for the first time abroad.

I have calmed down and rationalised that all these mishaps are probably due to my luck in the 7th month cos the mishaps did not end in London. Even my eyes are playing tricks on me now.

Considering that for this year, we will be experiencing 2 ghost months, I pray fervently that my luck will improve in time for PHUKET. WARNING: Yv, Kw and Mx better buy insurance this time.

Keke, above is an ugly pic of me in TODAY.

Let us recap some of the clues that we had to solve that day ...
a) Bravo! Trot down to this Station named after the most famous road in Singapore. Find the numner hidden on the Vitruvian man.
b) Correct! Now let's go to bed,ok! How many English vowels in total can you find in the lightbox 'A12'?

Come to think of it, the clues are pretty corny.

Da Vinci Code Trail - Day 1



Joyce reading the guidebook at the airport in one of my fav destination - Bangkok!

That's because we took Thai Airways. Am pretty impressed with Thai Airways, lotsa room space for the legs prob due to the lack of inflight entertainment and food is not too bad.












A pic of me in the tube! The good thing about taking tube in London is the provision of space for travellers like us to place the luggage. However, it is not pleasant to know that most stations actually do not have escalators or lifts. You are strongly encouraged to carry bag packs in Europe.








A pic of the tube. Looks old huh? I was more intrigued by the adverts though.













London Cab in London!! We ended up taking a cab cos we were too tired after an adventure in the morning to check in at Novotel Waterloo. Hmnn, it cost us about 5 pounds for a short distance from say Yv's place to Eunos MRT.











This is the standard design of all rooms in Novotel, be it at London Waterloo, Paris, London Heathrow and blah blah. It's the Novotel quality.
Room rate is about 129 pounds per nite. Of cos this is free, phew!











Bo liao rite? This is novelty to me. A tap at the side.

Most hotels in the Europen countries have one thing in common. The toilet bowl is in another toilet cubicle. Which means that the bathroom and toilet is separated. And in that cubicle, only the toilet bowl is there! It's extremely troublesome to pee or shit and then walk to the bathroom to wash one's hands.

Okie, the image in the mirror is not Sadako! It's me, JW. hahaha



That's Big Ben and the House of Parliament. And the river is none other than River Thames! We are now walking to go Harrod's followed by a ride on the London Eye.












History definitely plays a big part in shaping the people, culture and architecture. I can't tell you how grand Big Ben looks and neither can my camera capture its grandeur. Just compare our parliament house with theirs and it's heaven and earth!











Big Ben is actually the clock tower with a 14-ton bell inside the tower. It still chimes on the hour!















Looks like Fullerton right?















Look closely. It's Marriot. Its exterior is definitely posh compared to Novotel. Location is also fantastic. It's located at the Southbank, where London Eye is just a stone's throw away.











keke, talk about The Eye. Presenting to you The London Eye.




















Tickets cost about 14 pounds each. We will come back to it later cos we have to rush to Harrods to see see look look before they close at 6 pm.











Aha! Here we are. It was Sale Time. But, we only had time to browse at the Food Section and bought some souvenirs with the logo Harrods printed on it for colleagues. The end product was not that fantastic.











This is by far one of the oldest department store in London. Even the building looks old. Most of the building in London are about this height.













They are just expensive food products which are not that fantastic.














We had to rush back to take that eye before it closes at 9 p.m. Check out the escalator. Trust me. I gripped the handles at the side tightly!













We made it! Joyce in the EYE. Each capsule can fit about 15 people. So you can imagine the size of each capsule. Actually I miss the Ferris Wheel in Taipei. It is more shaky and provides more privacy haha!














Ahh...River Thames captured from the EYE.















I am not that crazy about Big Ben. Check the time! 8 p.m. and it is still bright. But we are tired cos we really had an eventful day in the morning.