Europe trip - Day 3

On the third day, which is 2nd June, Tuesday, it is the day that I planned for us to go into London city itself. I have been there and done all the touristy stuff. That means I've seen Westminster, Big Ben, Parliament House, London Eye, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, etc, etc, etc. But because it was the first time that WJ is in London, I had to bring her to see all these 'must-see' and 'must-do'. If I were alone, I would probably not make the trip into the city and thus saving the train fare.

Anyway, we took the 9.50am train into London city. Our first stop is the Palace on Westminster. From the guidebook and D's recommendation, we thought that there will be a changing of horse guards parade at 11.30, so we headed there, intending to see the parade. When we arrive there, we read from one of the boards that there is only a changing of guards instead of a changing of horse guard parade. The changing of guards parade took place at 11am and it was a very, very short one. Although we were there during the changing, we didn't realise that that was the only parade for that day, so we missed it. But we managed to take pictures with the guards and horses that were on duty there.

One of the horse and it's guard.

With one of the guards on duty

The palace where we saw the horse guards

After taking the necessary pictures, since we were already in the area, we walked over to the River Thames and took pictures of the Parliament House and Big Ben, London Eye and the River Thames itself. It was fun to show WJ all these famous things though I think she's not that overly interested in them also.

London Eye

Me and WJ with Parliament House and Big Ben as background

When we were done with all the photo taking, we headed over to Leicester Square to check out ticket prices for musical shows. London's West End is so famous so watching a musical is a 'must-do'. There were many choices, all falling within the budget that we set. WJ was very mindful of what A, my host mum, told us the night before and so decided to watch 'The Lion King'. According to A, the show has very good performance and props, so much so that K and B enjoyed the show thoroughly when they went to watch it, so we decided to take the safe route and watch it as well. It was time for lunch after buying the tickets, so we decided to look for a place to eat. I wanted WJ to try the Fish and Chips of UK but I've never actually ate it in London itself, so I'm not sure where to go for good F&C. The restaurants around Leicester Square serves them but they're quite upscale restaurants that we really can't afford them. We walked around a little, at the same time looking at souvenirs and after asking the owner of a souvenir shop, we headed down an alley and found a restaurant offering a 2-course meal for a reasonable price. It was not bad and a good deal, so we took the chance to have a good sit-down meal and also to rest our weary selves.

After that, we had intended to go for 'The London Experience' offered on the guidebook. It was supposed to be a tour where we were taken on London Bridge and to the London Dungeon where they claimed to be the 'scariest attraction' in London. When we got to the place where we had to get tickets for this, there were people dressed in their characters and the first person gave me a bad feeling and WJ didn't care for it either. So, we changed out minds and decided to head down to the Tower of London instead, although I did that before. I was very reluctant to pay to go in again but there was this 2-for-1 deal that comes with our train tickets so it makes it a little more affordable.

The walk from London Bridge station to the Tower of London brings us across the Tower Bridge and is some walking distance. It was the first time that I'm on Tower bridge itself, so it was quite cool but the walk really tires us out. Before we went to buy tickets for the Tower of London, we stopped to have a drink (the weather was surprisingly hot and sunny that day - not typical London weather) and have a look-see at the gift shop. By the time we went to buy the tickets, it was 3.40pm. I realised that the Tower (which is actually a castle) closed at 5pm and that the last tour given by the Yeoman guards was at 3.20pm, which we already missed. The Yeoman guards tell very good stories about the past of the castle, what happened in there and some sordid tales, so touring the Tower without the tour given by the guards really makes it very much less interesting, so we decided to not go into the Tower.

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

Since we have some time before the theatre show starts and before we need to have our dinner, I decided to bring WJ to Oxford Street to see the 'Orchard Road' of London. It was not as I remember it plus we had a long walk that day, so both of us were quite tired and not interested in shopping. We decided to have an early dinner and to give both of us plenty of time to enjoy our dinner, instead of rushing in the end. We consulted the guidebook that offers 2-for-1 meal deals and decided to go to one that doesn't look expensive and is near the theatre that we were going to watch the musical. It was a fantastic restaurant, with good food and great service. It was a nice meal and to end off the evening, 'The Lion King' is a very good show to watch. The opening was great and engaging. It kept the children (and adults alike) in the theatre occupied most of the time. We got back to my host family's place near to midnight.

WJ and her meal

Me and my meal

Lyceum Theatre, where 'The Lion King' is staged

Europe trip - Day 2

WJ and I slept for nearly 12 hrs for the first night in London. The next day, we actually didn't plan for any programs as I thought of spending some time with host family, namely the girls, and also to get over any jet lag we may have.

We had a big breakfast that D made in the morning. It was kind of awkward in the kitchen as I know my way around the kitchen but at the same time, I'm no longer living with them, so I didn't want to appear to be too imposing by just opening cupboards and rummaging for food in the fridge. D asked if we would like to have omelette since he's clearing up things in the kitchen, so we agreed. It was kind of embarrassing that we just sat and waited around for him to make our breakfast and serve us.

Anyway, after breakfast, I brought WJ to walk around the town of Beaconsfield, just to see what shops there are. We also want to check out how far it is to walk to the bus-stop that we have to go to when we want to take the bus to Heathrow airport as we're taking the bus ourselves to the airport on Sat. It was just window shopping and to see what things there are to buy in the local clothes store, shoes store, etc. It was also to see the way of life of suburb London.

WJ took a nap in the afternoon and while I was feeling tired too, I couldn't sleep in the afternoon. When the girls came home from school, I went to talk to them a little. They had a short rest and had to go to church for their bible class. The girls requested that I bring them to church, which is only a 5 mins walk away, so I agreed. After that, I went to bring them home again an hour later. A came home earlier for us and we had dinner. D knew that I love the baked salmon he made so he prepared it especially for me, together with his home-made mash potatoes. It's true that I like the baked salmon he made. In fact, I think it's the only salmon that I will eat as I don't eat raw salmon and normally won't order fish when eating outside. WJ was very impressed with the mash potatoes D made. She thought it's made from the powder kind and was very surprised when I told her D made it from scratch with real potatoes as the mash potatoes are very smooth. So, she now knows how good D is in cooking. Haha!

We didn't go anywhere for this second day, so there's no pictures taken. I will show some pictures of the house of my host family in London.

View of front of the house from third level guest room

View of the back of the house. The swings, slides and play-house came with the rented house

Guest room WJ stayed in

Guest room I stayed in

Europe trip - Day 1

Ok, I've been procrastinating for a week now to do my photos for the Europe trip. I shall try from today to sort the photos out and also blog about the trip so I can remember about it in future. In order that I don't a very, very long post (it's a two weeks trip), I'm going to blog about it day by day, so check out my blog till I'm done with all two weeks of it. However, I may not be updating it everyday. Too many pictures to sort out, from my camera, as well as WJ's, so it's double the time. Be patient with me.

I'll start with day one of our trip. We flew off on 31st May (Sunday) morning and reached London at 3.30pm (UK time). A brought K and C to the airport to fetch us. D and B were at a birthday party of B's friend. It was wonderful to see my host family after so long. K was not shy with me at all. She recognised me immediately at the airport and ran to hug me. C was very shy but curious too.

We took a bit of a longer time to get back to the house as A said there was a traffic jam on the expressway that we're supposed to take to get back so we have to go by another way. However, she's not very good with directions and in the end the trip back home became a road trip to see a little of London's suburbs.

When we got to the house, B came to the front door to meet us. She recognised me (thanks to Skype) but was a little hesitant to run to me. She came eventually and I was so happy and surprised by how much she has grown! Later, when I asked her, I realised that B doesn't really remember much about what we did in Fairfield, USA when I was with the family. She was too young then, I guess. K was still able to remember me and some of the neighbours and friends she had there.

After a dinner of BBQ chicken that D cooked, they gave me a surprise birthday celebration. Actually, I knew that they're going to celebrate for me because they told me on my actual birthday. D made a cake for me and the children were very excited to get to eat cake for desserts.

My birthday cake made by D. My favourite chocolate flavour!

Presents! For me! And cards made by K and B.

Me with the three children. B and C are holding my presents.

B, me and K

Dutch - the best doggy in the world