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Tag: UK

  • 18 Hours Ride From Prague To London By Bus and Sunrise At French Border

    18 Hours Ride From Prague To London By Bus and Sunrise At French Border

    18 Hours Ride From Prague To London By Bus and Sunrise At French Border – My Eastern Europe Winter Trip blog post series is coming to an end right now with this last post that shows me travelling back to London from Prague in a superlong 18-hours bus ride! It would take just about 2 hours to fly from Prague to London, but we opted for the long way because flying back 3 days before New Year costs like £100 and the bus we took was like about £55 and it’s the cheapest way!

    It’s surely a long ride and we didn’t know how we could survive it but yeah, we managed to reach London, happily with a little smile on the face and tiredness. The long-distance bus started from Prague, calling at a few stops – Plzen, Nurnberg, Heidelbern, Dover and finally London! We packed a fried rice for each of us from a nearby Chinese restaurant for dinner and armed our tablet with movies and music to pass the time. Surprisingly, most of my time was spent sleeping!

    The only part that was not so happy was waiting at the French border for like 2 hours, it’s like a massive traffic jam at the immigration but the unhappy moment was counter by a good welcome of sunrise! Immigration was quick at the French side but the immigration officer questioned me a lot at the English side and tried to use a magnifying glass to look close at my English Student VISA as if it’s fake. WTF, but never mind, I knew about this early already.

    Astonished that the bus went into a train and then the trained travelled in the sea through the English Channel in Channel Tunnel. I thought it was gonna be the ferry that took us across, but luckily it was the train as it’s faster, else have to spend another 2 hours on the bus. Reached London at 11am and yeah, we survived the long bus ride.

    18 Hours Ride From Prague To London By Bus and Sunrise At French Border

    At Prague’s bus station – Praha Florenc.

    18 Hours Ride From Prague To London By Bus and Sunrise At French Border

    18 Hours Ride From Prague To London By Bus and Sunrise At French Border

    Long long queue at the French side.

    Bus into train, through Channel Tunnel, into England! Amazed!

  • Jogging To The West By River Tyne During Sunset

    Jogging To The West By River Tyne During Sunset

    Jogging To The West By River Tyne During Sunset – All the while, it was just running on the treadmills at the gym here in Newcastle as the weather was quite cold previously, but as it’s getting warmer and my assignment is over right now, I can head out for a run. It was a late evening on Sunday that I went for a run by the River Tyne from Quayside. Windy, but quite fun, I ran in a direction to the west of the river, trying to chase the sunset. 4.5km down by the river side and I was at no where, very quiet on a sunday evening and only came across one of two individuals fishing by the river.

    It’s really peaceful out there like suddenly I was like so far away from the city, just like being in a ‘kampung’ (village)! Newcastle is really a kampung in my opinion. HAHA. The boardwalk by the river is like never-ending and I only stop at a place when I was exhausted. Not decided to run back, it took me an hour walk back to my place! But it was fun one, as the sun was still up at 8pm and I got to see a bit of the sunset skyline by the nature.

     

     

     

     

     

    Sunset, rocks!

  • Just Finished My Major Project, Exhausted & Recovering

    Just Finished My Major Project, Exhausted & Recovering

    Just Finished My Major Project, Exhausted & Recovering – It’d been a while since I’ve write something personally, nor I’ve updated my blog. No I am not shutting off this blog, or abandoning it. This is a place a where I crap and keep whatever good happens in my life. A place to scream and show off! Now, I seriously can scream, ‘IT’S OVER NOW!!!!’. No more assignment, I’ve just completed everything yesterday, except there will be a presentation on this coming Thursday, but there’s nothing much to worry about as the hardwork is over right now.

    I do like interior design, but then the process of acquiring a certificate for this skill was really tiring. It was a two months long of tiring days and nights, lacking sleep and entertainment where my mind was just fully focusing on the work. I don’t really know how to juggle well between work and play yet as it’s all work and super less play for me for the past month! Perhaps the mind was just thinking, ‘Faster finish this and do something else!’.

    Initially, before coming to the UK, I thought it would be easy for final year as I’ve done a similar thing in Malaysia during the diploma time, but then I was quite wrong. It’s doing the same thing over again, except with extra bit of upgrade in your work and I can say it’s lack of the fresh new thing to learn about. Well, at least I learned the way of interior design here, and some new skill, and also experience the UK education. To be honest with you, I find that one would acquire more skill in Malaysia than in the UK. In UK, you might learn the creative process and the independent, but in Malaysia it’s more about the skill to survive and work. So, education in Malaysia is quite good in my opinion.

    Nevertheless, cutting off the crap, my assignment is now over. It’s time to plan for the next stage of life and also to plan for the coming free days left in the UK! What do you suggest I should do during my free days?

    The art of a mess in the room! There’s time that I’ve been in the flat for a week and never step out of the building, but I was OK with that as long as there’s food and Internet. =D

  • 301213: London Meet

    301213: London Meet

    301213: London Meet – Few years back in high school, we were just friends talking nonsense, kap siao about this and that and we went apart after high school, each headed to different college. Never expected what future lies ahead of us, we embarked on our own journey. Not going to write about any sensation thing here, yet I just find it quite amazing that the recent place that me and some of the high school friends that I usually mixed with was in London. Not Abu Mamak, not Pik Nik, not Penang, not Chung Ling High School Canteen, not somebody’s house, not someone’s car, not Kuala Lumpur, not Gurney Plaza, but London. Weird, eh.

    Salam 1Malaysia, by the way.

  • My Hostel Room In Newcastle @ Lovaine Flats

    My Hostel Room In Newcastle @ Lovaine Flats

    My Hostel Room In Newcastle @ Lovaine Flats – In Malaysia, flat is like low-cost flat where you it’s a place to stay with a small living room and perhaps 1/2 room. Sounds, low cost, but in the UK, flat actually means apartment and the hostel I am living right now is call the Lovaine Flats. Yeah. Guess what, it’s actually the cheapest hostel in Northumbria University at £85/week and I don’t get my own bathroom.
    Befre. Empty room, with no bedding.
    Room is quite OK, location-wise is very good too which is very near to the city, the library and the gym, what’s not OK is there’s only one shower, and one WC! Oh my god, there’s 5-7 rooms in a flat and imagine you are having a stomachache and he/she is having a stomachache at the same time. Die lo.
    Kitchen for 5.
    OK, that’s me, in a room with stuff now.
    My workstation in the UK. I miss my big monitor screen and an awesome sound system back home.
    I don’t mind the room being small, because it’s bigger than the one I stayed in Taylor’s University, I don’t mind the room is not beautifully decorated because I have my own way to make it comfortable. Kitchen is OK, just lack of a good common area. Well, the dining chairs and table are definitely the place for me and the rest of the flatmate to chill. I’ve seen nicer one here but they are way more than mine at over £100/week. So I was thinking, since it’s just a place to sleep, why not save the extra pounds for something else, travel, perhaps?
  • BUPA Great North Run Is A Fun Marathon!

    BUPA Great North Run Is A Fun Marathon!

    BUPA Great North Run Is A Fun Marathon! – Happened on the first weekend I arrived in Newcastle, I’ve got a chance to witness the Great North Run just right at the middle of Northumbria University campus. I actually knew about this quite some times already and initially thought of taking part too! But later then I thought of saving up the money and no one wanted to come with me, so ended being a spectator instead of the fun runners
    It was a chilly and wet Sunday morning and there’s a huge swamp of colourful runners running along the freeway at about 12 degree celcius temperature. The atmosphere was so happenings and you can hear cheers and laughters floating the air. The dull and cloudy Sunday morning became cheerful again. I was at the 1 miles point where the runner passed by the bridge at Northumbria University.
    The running trail was very long as tenth of thousands of runner passing by. I didn’t get a glimpse of the frontline, nor the end of the line because it’s just too long. Imaging 40k people passing through.
    The fun thing was the whole freeway was flooded with colourful and funny attire! Runners were having fun; Mickey Mouse, man in suit, Minions, Superman, Spiderman, cow, monkey suits were all around, making it a happy run!
    I was thinking, if there’s a group of people initiated this fun thing in the Penang Bridge International Marathon, I am pretty sure it’s gonna be happy and fun one and later turned into a human parade. LOL.
    I didn’t get to the finish line which is about 13 miles (20.9km) away at South Shields, but it was a good one being at one part of the marathon route, cheering for the runners!
  • Newcastle’s Chinatown Without The Feel Of Chinatown

    Newcastle’s Chinatown Without The Feel Of Chinatown

    Newcastle’s Chinatown Without The Feel Of Chinatown – There’s like approximately 300,000 population in Newcastle Upon Tyne and there’s 7.6% of Asian living in the city according to Wikipedia, I don’t know does it includes International student like me or not. Interestingly, there’s a Chinatown in the city. I was pretty excited cause I thought it would be like New York or San Francisco’s Chinatown where it really has a blend of East & West with Cantonese language flooding the air of Chinatown.
    This way to Chinatown!
    Here’s me and Alvin!
    Found a cemetery nearby, found it interesting and I took a photo of it. LOL.
    St James Park Stadium at background, home of Newcastle FC.
    Surprisingly, met a Chung Ling High School friend here – Matthias.
    He’s Wayne.
    Just love the post box.
    LOL. Bangkok’s Ladyboys comes to Newcastle!
    Well, it’s not what you think it is. Chinatown in Newcastle is small with mainly Chinese restaurants, 2 Asian grocery supermarkets and that’s all. The only Chinese-looking thing is the Chinese-style arch entrance near St James Stadium. Bahhh. You don’t really see many people here, people come here just for food, or just to buy Asian food.
    Siu Mei! 烧腊！
    Do you feel Chinatown? NO.
    A plate of saltish Chinese dish.
    Asian of the day, I would say, Malaysian. Kay, Eunice, Ling Er, Wayne, LC, me and Alvin.
    I went to tried out a Chinese buffet (Lau’s Buffet) here, which costs £6.75 per person and I thought it gonna be filled with good food. Oh no, it’s a place that I’m not coming back again, they are salty. Somehow, I saw a lot of local British came for their food, bring their kids and family here, maybe they like it the way it is and 70% of the dishes are chicken, fried chicken, Si Chuan chicken, sweet and sour chicken, kong pow chicken and more chicken. In short, Chinese buffet is just like mixed rice in Malaysia but it’s eat-all-you-can. Ang mo likes it, but not me.
    A1 Bak Kut Teh herbal pack. =)
    Oh MILO and it costs a bomb. Guess Cadbury Chocolate is a better choice here.
    Wing Hong Supermarket.
    After checking out the Chinese supermarket here (Wing Hong & Hiyou), I can tell you that you can find almost anything here. It’s like Cold Storage or B.I.G. (Big Independent Grocers) where you can find many imported food, just that they are imported from Asia. Spices, Asian’s vegetable, sauces, instant noodles and more are all available. It’s just that they are in £. If you happens to come to UK for study, don’t bother to bring food stuff if you have a limited luggage., you can find them all here.
  • Exciting First Day In Newcastle & Northumbria University

    Exciting First Day In Newcastle & Northumbria University

    Exciting First Day In Newcastle & Northumbria University – Being in a first world country is so much different, it’s cleaner, air is fresher and it just feels good, maybe it’s my first time heading to a better place. It doesn’t mean that my home is not good, just that it’s a different kind of experience and I like it. No more jet lag after a long sleep from the day before, and I believed that my body suits the British time zone very well.
    Crossing the bridge to City Campus East. What a lovely morning.
    My current university – Northumbria University. I’m liking it.
    It’s not as cold as I thought, weather was pretty fine, clear blue sky to welcome my first day in university and a new city. Although it’s not a metropolitan city, yet this little city of Newcastle Upon Tyne does give me a friendly feeling.
    International Students!
    Two ladies bring us around for campus tour.
    My companion and it’s my first time navigating on foot with GPS!
    First day in Newcastle was to attend a series of talks, campus tour, free bus tours and meeting new friends from all over the world as it was an induction day for International student.
    Monument Square.
    This makes me feel home! Penang has this.
    The dinner of the night, £1 burger from Poundland. LOL
    Did a lot of shopping and Tesco, Wilkinsons, Poundland and TJ Hughes were the favourite ones. Still didn’t have time to explore the city as there’s many to buy for my hostel. Mind became so active suddenly that the mind keep multiplying all the price tag by 5. Haha. Poundland is interesting as everything is in £1 and I’ll just call it Daiso of UK. Unfortunately, Daiso has better choices in my opinion.
    Alvin, Han, Beizy, Eunice, Esther, Sharon & Me!
    Say hi to all Penang-lang, and a Johor-lang and an Indonesian!
    First night was pretty interesting as well as it was not just spending time in the room sleeping again. A night out to the pub was fun as it was like 50% off all wine & champagne during the happy hour at Tiger Tiger. Well, Newcastle is famous for its nightlife, so pubs and clubs are something that must not be missed in this city. It was a good night as I met a bunch of friends from Penang surprisingly, it just made me not to miss home. HAHA. After all, yeah, first day was good and fun.
  • Hello UK: Kuala Lumpur – London – Newcastle Upon Tyne

    Hello UK: Kuala Lumpur – London – Newcastle Upon Tyne

    Hello UK: Kuala Lumpur – London – Newcastle Upon Tyne – Ladies and gentlemen, Nick Chan is now in the United Kingdom! I’ve been here for about 3 weeks and no, I am not here for travel, I am here to further my studies! It’s just a one year program for me to get a Bachelor Degree, like some sort of an advance entry into the final year program.

    Farewell Penang!
    Rainy night, I almost late for my connecting flight in KLIA, damn the delay,
    Farewell Kuala Lumpur from sky. I miss KL actually.
    London, here I come!
    It was my first time taking such a long flight trip from Kuala Lumpur direct to London Heathrow Airport. I was excited at first, you know, flying on A380, and travelling backwards in the timezone, but it’s not as fun as I thought. Trying hard to sleep in a 12 hours flight is a very difficult thing for me and A380 is just like no other flight when you are in economy zone. However, food was pretty good, nasi lemak and something chicken, mash potato thingy.

    My travel buddy – Alvin!
    Welcome to London Heathrow Airport!
    All the Penang-Lang at LHR!
    Oyster Card is a must for travelling in London.
    Tired face after 11 hours of flight.
    So, yeah, London, after 12 hours of direct flight from Kuala Lumpur, but I didn’t feel London actually because once arrived in London, I was stuck in the airport for about an hour to get through the immigration as there’s a bunch of international students like us. Then, I took the London Underground Tube to King’s Cross Station, I didn’t see Big Ben, nor the Tower Bridge, nor the city. The only London that I saw was King’s Cross Station and that’s it, and perhaps the surrounding. It’s just a transit for me to Newcastle Upon Tyne, the real current location of mine right now.

    First thing to do upon reaching King’s Cross Station is head to the ground and breath the London’s air. Oooo, just like this.
    King’s Cross Station! Modern shell on a classical terminal.
    Londeners, hello!
    Flying to Hogwarts at Platform 9 3/4.
    Bye London, time to head North to Newcastle!
    King’s Cross Station is not as huge as I thought, it’s just a train terminal connecting everywhere in the UK and the Harry Potter’s Platfrom 9 3/4 is just a fake prop at the station. First English breakfast in UK was quite pleasant, thinking of 5 times the currency rate, yet enjoyed the meal.

    The train ride was pretty smooth and fast; passed through vast green grasslands and farms and many horse and sheep, there’s nothing much to see out of the window actually and 3 hours later, I am in Newcastle. Wet, colder than London and still feeling energetic despite the long hour of journey.

    Newcastle Central Station. Checked!
    Welcome to Newcastle!
    Hailed for a cab, initially thought of Blue Line Taxi (a company), but I couldn’t find it so just simply hopped into one and it took us to my hostel. Checked in, and the rest and relax part haven’t started yet. I have to sort out the bedding thing as I have to sleep at night. Went for a small shopping at Primark (wow, everything is so cheap!), got back to hostel, no idea about what to eat for dinner, made an instant noodle, felt dizzy and floating, then fell into the bed of Newcastle and slept till the next day. Hello UK!
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