An Adhoc Trip to UK

**warning.. long post ahead**


Monday (28/05/12) 
08:30am
Me : Boss, we have got this** that** issue.. Customer needs immediate action.
Boss : Oh, looks like you need to get to the supplier in UK to solve it.
Me : But we need immediate action.
Boss : OK, let me check with UK, confirm with you in a while.

12:00pm
Me : Boss, any news?
Boss : No, can't get hold of them yet.

03:30pm
Boss : Jess, book your flight please. Looks like your trip is confirmed.
Me : When?
Boss : Can you go.. tomorrow?
Me : O_o

So... out of sudden I had to travel to UK, to solve some issues with the project I'm handling. I had approximately 3 hours to call travel agent, book my flight and accommodation. Not to forget check on the ways to travel to supplier's site. By 6.30pm, I have my flight itinerary and hotel booking. Got home and immediately pack for a week away from home. Before going to bed, I checked in the flight online and selected window seats. I've always prefer window seats in flight.

Tuesday (29/05/12)

By 9am I arrived at KLIA to board the 10:30am flight to Doha, transit there and shall arrive London Heathrow airport at 10pm (UK time). The whole journey on the plane, I have no idea when was morning and when was night, seems like day time but watch showing night. Body clock got really confused. Eat, sleep, transit, eat, sleep, drink, toilet. I chosen Qatar airlines for this trip, reason being it had got the best deal compared to MAS and SQ.

- Arriving at Doha, all sandy airport for transit, waited 2 hours here -

- Upon arrival at London, took the cutie taxi to nearby hotel to spend the night -

- A crappy hotel (Easy Hotel) 3-4 miles from the airport, for 40 pounds, what you pay, what you get -

Wednesday (30/5/12)

I woke up as early as 5am, in fact I couldn't really sleep. It was 12pm back in Malaysia at that time. How could I possibly adapt to the new time zone that quickly? So I got ready and arranged a taxi to send me to train terminal to board a train to Stourbridge, a town about 100 miles from London. I travelled probably about 3 hours to get the Stourbridge Junction Terminal, where the supplier picked me up from there.

- Me on the train to Stourbridge, extremely puffy eyes due to jet lag -

Upon my arrival at the supplier site, immediately got into working position. Pour out all the issues and negotiated to solve them. By lunch, they brought me to a nice restaurant for the famous Fish n' Chip. Well, the only speciality bout the dish is that they added vinegar to it. But, no chilli sauce is served! That's really downside of the FnC. I probably enjoy our local FnC much much more.

- Fish & Chip: The Most English Dish? - 

- Lunch at Himley Hill Restaurant, lovely place -

By 5pm sharp, they leave work, typical. So I was sent to Copthorne Hotel at Merry Hill, 10mins drive away from the site. It was a pleasant hotel, with Merry Hill Shopping Complex opposite. The supplier does know what's best. Lauren, one of the supplier decided to take me around the neighbourhood. 

 - At the hotel, resting and trying to believe that I'm actually at UK -

- The Merry Hill Shopping Complex, a-very-great-shopping-place -

My boots were torn due to too much walking? So I took the opportunity to get myself a pair of flats at the complex. 9.99 pound. After a little shopping, Lauren drove me back to hotel and I crashed to bed after a long hot shower.

Thursday (31/05/12)

Basically this day I was totally into the work/project I was tasked to deal with. Meetings, teleconference, discussion.. all day long. By lunch, I simply mentioned that I like Pizza, the suppliers brought me to this Pizza Express for lunch. I ate a whole pizza, yea I did.

- Vegetarian pizza for me -

After lunch, I felt really dizzy, I'm not sure if it's the heavy lunch or simply because I still have jet lag. I asked them to send me back to hotel by 4pm. Totally knocked off and took 2 hours power nap. As I woke up, It's half past six (British likes to mention time like this!) and I just walked over to the Merry Hill Complex to get a simple sandwich for dinner. The pizza lunch was still processing in my stomach. I walked around myself, buying some stuff colleagues asked to and I got myself a nice piece of windbreaker. I then enjoyed the evening stroll around, snapping photo before heading back to hotel.

- A passenger boat at the canal near my hotel, it was said that canals were used to transport raw material during industrial era around here. Psst.. can you believe this was actually 8.30pm in the picture? -

- I was imagining these trees with a layer of snow on it, hmmm -

Friday (01/06/12)

It supposed to be the last day of work here at the supplier's site, I got more agitated to get things done. Basically I had to sit next to the engineers (aged range from 48 to 65) to help on the engineering drawings they are producing so they can finish on time. By noon, one of the engineer, Neil asked, "Jess would you like to join us for a beer lunch in a very traditional English pub?" I agreed, just to see how a traditional English pub looks like. I ordered a cider drink, about 2% alcohol only and it tasted like apple cider vinegar -.-''

- The Unicorn, a traditional English pub that serves no food, just beer - 

- The engineers, "senior" engineers -

After the quick "lunch", we got back to work. I was lucky the drawings finally got completed and I could be at peace to enjoy my remaining 1 day in UK for leisure. By 4pm, they shut off work completely. How nice! We Asians never ever have this practice, why o' why?

That evening, I made a final visit to the mall to buy dinner and some final shopping. I bought McDonalds to try on, to my surprise.. their McD tasted so much better than ours. The fries were crunchy and light yellowish and the burger tasted so fresh and juicy. Eating McD back home will never be the same again.

Saturday (02/06/12)

Since Lauren was kind enough to guide me through the "must-see" in London and drafted out a route for me to follow, I simply blissfully travel to London myself, without a problem. That weekend was actually the England Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebration, marked the 60 years of the Queen's reign. With the public holidays on, London was much more packed than usual. 

- Some routes were cancelled due to the Jubilee celebration, I took alternative that ended here in a deserted station for change to London town -

- I left my luggage and laptop bag here for 17 pound before heading to town -

- Underground tube station, Paddington Station, get a 7 pound day pass and all free to roam around Zone 1 & 2 in London town -

- First thing I wanted to see is the BIG Ben -

- And the London eye from far, I was just too lazy to walk across -

- Westminster Abbey just a walk away from the Big Ben, huge crowd here -

- Royal Park near Buckingham Palace, due to the celebration rehearsal, the Palace was not accessible-

- Tower Bridge, NOT London Bridge -

- The entrance to Borough's Market, near the London Bridge Tube Station -

- Borough Market is a tourist attraction, crowd and business are really good -

- My last stop, for souvenirs and some serious shopping -

After the shopping I head back to Paddington to get my luggage and headed to Heathrow airport. I was  early arriving at the airport, about 2 hours before departure. Therefore I had time to look around. To my amazement, the airport actually had many nice stuff to buy at cheap prices! But too bad my back was already killing me with too much of walking, so I simply did not have the energy to shop more. Plus I realised, after currency conversion, stuff are actually expensive.

Of course, the journey back was again dark/bright/day/night confusion. But I was actually really excited to come home so I felt OK.

Sunday (03/06/12)

This whole day I'm on the plane, from London to Doha to Kuala Lumpur. Finally at 9pm, Malaysia time I arrived in KLIA, so glad to be home to see my loved ones, to see my fiance :)

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Well.. there goes my adhoc trip to UK. I totally didn't expect my first trip to UK will be in such a hurry. I will definitely be back, perhaps with my fiance and visit our beloved Man Utd's stadium, the Old Trafford Stadium.

London... I'll be back~!