. deLuxique .: My Europe Travelogue - Part I

It was supposed to be a great 3 weeks but it ended abruptly because my wallet was stolen in Paris, just after 2 days in the City. Guess I still fared fairly well, given that I travelled solo this time - to last in Europe for 2 over weeks not losing anything is indeed a great achievement for the blur me.

I still recall the last time I was in France, I lost one phone each in Paris and Provence.

Despite the loss, I still consider my Europe trip as an excellent one, because it is not my conventional trip because it's my first time traveling alone in Europe, I made new friends and most importantly, it wasn't only shopping and sightseeing that I experienced. I felt I was lucky that I was picked-pocket only during my last destination rather than the first one. Imagine I had to cut short my entire trip just barely 2 days in Europe!

Up in the air was scary for me shortly on board. I'm glad I had my Xanax with me!

I had my first "conversation with the stranger" on flight to London on 2 July. He is an Australian who was traveling to London to meet his family there. It wasn't was boring as I thought speaking to a stranger, because it was an opportunity to learn more about other things besides what I know. I was impressed with the Amazon Kindle he was holding (well, I always had the impression that it looked like a smaller version iPad but I was wrong) and he shared how convenient it was to have one.

We parted ways at Heathrow where I got on to the cab Emily had arranged for me and what happened the rest of the week was wonderful.

3 July 2011

Weather in London is so cold. It seemed like there is never Summer.

Vera has grown up really well. Her strong British accent worries her parents as they fear she might forget Mandarin eventually. When we met, she was apprehensive about my existence and was resistant towards me. My gift for her (a palace for a Princess!) was a good wooer and she was bought over very quickly.

The rest of the day was spent at a Farm where we picked Strawberries, Cherries and vegetables. It was my first time seeing strawberries and cherries on shrubs and the cherries were heavenly as they were really fresh and aplenty. I need not have to search for them at all! Plus, they were so much more cheaper than what is available in Singapore.

Great lunch at a neighboring restaurant and dinner was prepared by Sen. And my, I got a pleasant surprise when I saw my Birthday cake!

4 July 2011

Emily and I were supposed to only meet in the afternoon after my sightseeing. The line to the City was affected due to some problems and Emily called in to office to take the entire day off, with a morning shopping for herself while waiting for my sightseeing.

I was glad I booked the London Eye ticket online which meant I saved time queuing. The view from the Eye was a tad disappointing too, and experience was sort of affected by a huge family of noisy Indians but in the end they were the most helpful as they helped took a picture of me in the cabin. Afternoon was spent at Ridley's Believe Or Not, where my first panic attack came when I stepped into their Mirror Maze. I turned back quickly without completing and the attendant was concerned when he saw how grey my face was!

Well, shopping is indeed a great medicine. I returned back to normality at Harrods. It's Summer Sales! Many Middle Eastern tourists are sighted. I enjoyed my shopping and Emily joined me shortly after.

Evening was spent at the Theatre's watching Love Never Dies - Phantom of the Opera Part II. Ending was disappointing, the plot was also not as good as I expected.

5 July 2011

Another great day! I spent a superb day shopping (like crazy) in their Outlet Village - Biceister Village. A bus ticket from the Victoria Station is all you need to get there on a 90 minutes bus ride. The day was a little affected when the bus that was supposed to take me back to London City left earlier than the stipulated time. One good thing though was besides me, there were 3 other Chinese who were also missed out and one of them was aggressive enough to insist that a private taxi to be hired to bring us back to City.

6 - 7 July 2011

Supposed to have been to Bath for 1 night. I had wanted to visit Stonehenge and Bath but a sudden fear loomed over me as I prepared my trip in the morning. I ended up doing some light shopping and went home earlier to cook for the Huang Family for my second free day after visiting a special Cafe a friend highly recommended me to go.

Afternoon was afternoon tea at Marks and Spencer but the scone was dry which I didn't like.