Dublin

After studying part time for 18 months, my hard work has finally paid off.... 

N here I am in Dublin for my graduation. 

Reach Dublin around 8pm. So much colder than London. Had a stew to warm my tummy. 

Next morning, hop on to a taxi to UCD for my graduation! Yep, main objective of my Virgin Europe trip. 

A lake in the middle of UCD

Kaplan Singapore campus mates

after the graduation ceremony, it's time to your around Ireland. And what is a must drink in Dublin? Guiness stout!!!! Went for the tour. My student ID is so useful. Manage to get £5 discount not only for myself but for Richard too. 

Went for a day tour on my 3rd day in Dublin. Booked the tour the night before and as usual I get a £5 discount using my student ID. The tour cost me £45. 

Hop on the bus at 6.30am. Freaking cold and sleepy. 

The nice scenery along the way make everything worthwhile. Visited Clare county, limerick, Killarney and... Can't remember all the name.how I wish it is not so cold. Then I'll be able to do a bike tour and slowly enjoy the wonderful scenery. 

London Day 4- Emirates stadium

Went to Emirates stadium because the boy is Arsenal fan. Took the tube to Arsenal and walked to the stadium. Somehow it's super windy there... Very very cold! 

Paid for the tickets and off we go for the self-guided tour! Some part were quite interesting... N I love the hot seat! 

Visited the players shower. There's even a heated pool with healing property at the home team shower. Away team, sorry... U got no pool... Boo!

We ended our tour at the merchandise store. Bought some t-shirt n collected our certificate and it's time to head back to town! 

London day 4

Started day 4 with a big breakfast! 

Then off we go to arsenal! 

It was really cold! Colder than elsewhere. I dunno why. Paid for the ticket and took a self-guided tour. The stadium is pretty big and we did entertain ourselves a lot as we tour the grounds. We are handed our certificate after our tour! 

Went to Camden market after the stadium tour. It started raining so I did not spend much time there. I have to hop from shop to shop due to the rain and of course to get some warmth from the shops heater :p

How can a London trip be complete without a trip to Harrods?

 

Shop abit. But everything is just too expensive. So decided to go to the oyster bar for some oysters. 

I must say that I was pretty disappointed with the service i received. I placed my bag on the stool next to me to take off my jacket. The servers told me rudely I can hang my bag on the hook underneath the bar counter. Next they asked nonchalantly 'can I get you some drinks first?' Then, a Caucasian couple came and sat a few stools away. They were greeted with a smile  a good afternoon, How is your day? Can I get you something to drink?' Very very different from what I get. Anyway, I won't let that spoil my day. 

And I had dessert to end the day!

London day 3

Today i did the 'according to my boss- it's a must do ---> hop on hop off bus. 

Regret not buying the ticket online(coz it will be cheaper!) bought the ticket plus entrance to St. Paul's church. There is 2 operators of hop on hop off tour in London. More or less the same. 

Me at the top of St. Paul. 

Panting all the way up. With my knees hurting more n more. Nice view though. I spend quite some time in the church. Going through the histories and stuff. 

My friend who is staying in UK commented ; very brave, sit on the upper deck during the winter. Yes, it's super duper cold and only the Asians are sitting on the upper deck. I suaku ma...

We hop on and off to various tourist spots. Missed Birmingham guard exchange though :(

   London bridge

Walked to Chinatown after dinner. And the so-called buffet in the Chinese restaurant there is our economic rice. 

    M&m world. Happy place the the things here are too expensive so I bought none. 

How not to be happy?

London day 2

 Woke up, and it's time to shower. The apartment has 3 rooms and each and every room is occupied with different tenant from different part of the world. I didn't meet any of them. Probably they are out of the house before I am awake. Bathroom is clean at all times. Airbnb not that bad after all. Best part is it helps me to save loads of money. I paid $140 plus per night for a room in zone 2. Real worth it- according to a friend. 

Walked to a neighborhood cafe for breakfast. 

Lotsa French fries! Ehhh...  Really jiak kantang!

Bought train ticket to bicester village! Bought the transfer from the station to bicester village to save the hassle. The train ride took 1 hour plus. 

It's shopping time. 

Tips: try to avoid weekend. Look at the queue!!!!

Superdry is really cheap here. A t-shirt is about £11-20. 

After buying my stuffs, went to the tax refund counter. Got everything done, took the bus back to the train station. The train back is really crowded due to Christmas shopping. 

Went to burger and lobster for dinner. The menu is either the burger or lobster. £20 each. We had to wait for awhile before we are ushered to our table. Lobster is yummy. Burger... Eh quite alright... Me not really a big fan of burger. £20 for a burger is really expensive. 

A trip to London- day 1

Visited London last year before flying to Dublin for my graduation. 

London, expensive place. Hence, I tried Airbnb for the very first time. Save offline map before my trip (very very useful) and I used it to guide me to the apartment. 

Hard work, hard work! Have to lug my luggage, climb up the stairs, go down the stairs! Phew! 

Got abit lost at the stations too. Bought Oyster card (similar to ezlink) to make traveling easier. The transportation fare is capped at £7 per day. So one can top up the Oyster card accordingly. 

After a few mins walk, finally found the apartment that we will be staying. And once again, have to lug our luggage up the apartment coz there is no lift! Duh... 

Settles down, rest abit and off we go to portobello market. Met up with Elin n David for dinner.  Persian food. Yummy!

After dinner we walk around Hyde park .