The Old Pit Stop in England ….. Visiting an old Friend & Family

It’s always an excitement and also a dread meeting with family. They know all the knicks and knacks of your life, the good, the bad and the ugly. The few little secrets you have left with you, they will try to pry out slowly or at lease pry out someone else’s secret from you. It’s part of a family thing. The need to know you to the soul for skin deep is not enough. Knowing can also be insufficient at times and a partial hold on your soul would be much seek after. Still we all miss family. It’s a special bond.

For that reason England will always be on my list whenever I pass by Europe. For George whom I may not see again one day and for the innocent’s young ones which are still un-corrupted of the world.

This time it was a really short stop by not lingering more than I really have to I guess. 4th time being here in England and the novelty wears off as a tourist. Instead I now think of England or rather Yorkshire as a genuine pit stop while travelling the world, so much that a few months before arriving I was already planning what kinda supply and errands I would need to get when I arrive. In this case, it was a pair of Jeans to replace my really warned out Jeans that was patch and repatch with sewing kit repeatedly all the while thinking, it will make it to England and finally a good pair of Clarks walking shoes. Never underestimate a good sturdy pair of shoes while on the road. Last but not lease, a visit to Malaysia Airlines to change the One World Flight itinerary.  

Day 2, I took the train in the morning to see George and it was as if time had stop the first time I visited him so long ago (13 years ago). I got off the train and he was there standing and waiting, the same picture as I remember so long ago with his standard shift and Tie and a cap twitching in his hands.

I showed some of my pictures on the road to George, told some stories and he told some back to me, had lunch with the nostalgic Fish & Chips and a short walk at the Dam Park. 13 years since the first time I set foot in England. He was a strong man then at 77 walking for hours in the fields with me puffing behind. If the only thing I notice that change, it was his walking pace has slowed down to my pace now.

Time flies and soon it was time to go. George sent me to the train station just in time to catch the last train and waved me off …. I wonder if I will ever see him again ….. till then, he would be the only person to enjoy the post cards from around the world from a dear friend.

Lil Ones …

Off to Cambrige to visit Cuz Jon and his family and meet the kids for the first time. Jon and little Sam was in the Car waiting for me near the train station. Little Sam eyeball me a while quietly but soon become friendly. I kind miss the times when he was shy of me I guess … he now wants to play all the time. The boundless energy of the younger ones. Good thing Jon and Liz had them trained to sleep early at 6 in the evening …. Peace for a few hours a day. Emily was a cute button. Took a while for her to warm up to me but after that was a lovely little girl that just tickle the inner soul and bring out that sunshine smile in you always.

Cambridge to London-Staines to visit Wei. Baby Bella was so cute … I spend much time giving away anything I had on me to become her toy including my tablet, phone and anything she laid her eyes on. Took it all back later of course when she slept .... she wont remember it anyway ...

Few days of baby playing and soul was refresh again for the road.

The Quint Town of Cambridge - England

Spending Chinese New Year Alone in London

It has been almost four months now and I guess I have gotten used to traveling around Europe and being a nomad. I have yet to meet anyone from where I knew them before I started my trip apart from family. 

I was a little but sad but then again I planned it that way… was curious how being alone on a festive day would be (especially one that you celebrate with family for your whole life).

London was limbo … since I have been there before a long long time ago it felt familiar … yet so much places I had not ventured such as the Natural History Museum or the British Museum. 

My cousin words hunted me from a few years back …. According to him … ( I cant remember the exact words but it sounded like so ....

“The British Museum is the best museum in the world …. Because its where England looted the whole world and display all the trophy there”

Hence a trip down the British Museum and the Natural History museum to see dinosaur bones. Of all the museums I had been to this one was definitely worth the visit … plus it was free.

A Taste of Home - Melau Restaurant

Melau Restaurant in London 

Dinner time was when I was wondering around Chinatown in London on the first day of CNY 2012. I was curious how it was like to celebrated overseas but I guess it was more tourist than ever. 

Restaurants were fully packed and price was sky rocketed as when back home. Turning around the corner off the main street of Chinatown I found a small shop selling Malaysian cuisine.

As I walked in the shop which was empty a nice old lady seated me and pass me the menu. An English menu which stated all the dishes in Malay with translation at the bottom and filled with description of the food.

It went something like this :

Nasi Lemak ( Coconut Rice )
Fragrant Rice cooked with coconut oil, served with stew chicken in special sauce (rendang) accompany with fried egg, cucumber, fried peanuts and anchovies.
Comes with special home made chilli ( Sambal )

I had walked into a Baba & Nonya shop which cooked almost everything authentically Malaysian. As I placed my order for food there was nothing to do but wait. 

Listening to the workers in the restaurant passing time chatting in 4 different language at the same time mixing them up as they speak, I knew they were definitely from Malaysia and a small smile formed as it reminded me of home.

A new customer came in ( British Guy and Girl ) and the guy said , this is where you get the good authentic stuff. Not the watered down version for the white guy. I was grinning when I heard that and by the time the food came it was hugely satisfying.

Small Town Staines and a Hop to Windsor for THE LONG WALK - England

Windsor Castle 

I had mixed feeling for Staines. My cousin and her husband picked me up at the Heathrow airport since that’s was where the bus from Salisbury stopped. 

Staines was a small town thou still quite chirpy with a mix of locals getting by. A town within an hour train ride of central London yet far enough to feel like a suburb. Pit stop was a short one night before I head off to my next destination London.

Time was running fast … it felt somehow like the coming of an end to the adventure yet it also feels like the calm before the storm. 

I was about to leave for the next big leg … AMERICA … flight from London to New York … a whole new chapter in the travels … I was a tad bit nervous.

I skip hopped on the train for a short ride to Windsor. Windsor is a another small town just outside of London. The beauty of Windsor is the humongous castle in the middle which rose totally out of place. 

The royal line of England come from the House of Winsor apparently thou most tourist would only see the Buckingham Palace and not know of it.

Next to the castle was a park with the sign … THE LONG WALK … it was long alright and looked like one of those 1800 movies where people go for horse back rides or parades. The start of the walk comes from the castle and go on forever … I couldn’t see the end of the trail even till the horizon. 

Long indeed. Pheasant like me would enter from the side gate during normal days but you could just imagine during a royal walk, that the side gates would be closed and only the Royals would enjoy the peace and quite walk.

The Long Walk - Windsor 

Journey to Salisbury and a Visit to Mystical Stonehenge

I have not had a traveling adventure in such a long time. It was a small adventure alright getting from Bath to Salisbury. It all started by me deciding not to book anything for Salisbury and try to wing it since it was so long ago since I did anything without some safety net. After all I was in England how bad could it go.

Hostel in Salisbury 

Planned to take the train where they told me it was about 5 pound but when I was about to buy the ticket it became 17 pound. WTH. 

Apparently I needed to buy in advance for that price. So I change towards the bus instead. The bus interchange attendant had no idea which bus goes to Salisbury and sold me the wrong ticket for 7 pound. 

Worst yet he was suppose to tell me when it was my stop to get down … ( I sat in front) but guess what … when I saw the bus journeying back down the same road where I passed before apparently he was already going back to Bath. 

He forgot to let me off in the small town where I had to catch another bus at War-minster. I was dropped off in the middle of nowhere … I only saw fields of green and a long road and a bus stop across the road …

Luckily the next bus came fairly quick and I manage to catch the connecting bus to Salisbury. Remember he sold me the wrong ticket ??? Yep I had to buy another for the connecting bus and it cost me 4 pound … Total of 11 pound with a 6 hours journey when I should have just paid the extra fee for a 1 hour journey … oh well

There was only one hostel in Salisbury which was pretty easy to find and I settle down for the night before heading for a day trip to Stonehenge the next day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY :) 20 Jan 2012

Me at Stonehenge

So it was my birthday which was rewarded with a self planned trip to Stonehenge. It was definitely not as disappointing as I thought It would be. I remember most people whom I spoke to which had actually seen it before had comments like “Its just a Stone Formation or something along that line. 

It was actually quite fascinating to me thou it was hard to put it in words. Blue Stone sell like a fortune down there …. Since Stonehenge is made of blue stone but the only souvenir shop that sells it was darn expensive. Hype of the place I guess.

Taking a Bath in Bath

The City of Bath - World Heritage Site 

When I found out there was a town named Bath in England and that there was a natural hot spring there was no way I was going to miss that. How I determined my stops in the trips are not entirely random. 

First plot a route … point A to point B … in this case was Bristol to Stonehenge ….. If the journey takes forever … look for tiny pitstops to visit. Look at map and find towns along the way … that was how I discovered Bath.

I had my suspicion when I saw Bath on the Google maps and decided to check out the place a bit more. About an hour local bus ride from Bristol the journey was pleasing. Bath was definitely worth the detour even if just for the hot springs only.

There was a walking tour in Bath as is popular with all cities in Europe and I decided to join one just for cheep trills. This one was a good walking tour … Bath is beautiful with its Georgian Architecture, which the tour guide give detailed elaborate explanation of what a Georgian Architecture would look like. 

Intricate but at the same time should be of Harmony. Just slightly outside the city was the half moon crescent housing and many beautiful design township … but alas I was not paying attention to the talk but was just admiring the view ….I did understand that if viewed from the sky it would have looked like the Cross and the Moon symbolizing some sort of religion …

Bath - Heritage Building Hot Spring 

The Hot Spring was still active till today but no one actually Bath at the old building anymore. It was turned into a sort of museum / heritage area. They did give small amount of the hot spring water for people to drink or taste it and it was really rich with minerals giving the mouth a lingering after taste.

No entrepreneur would had left the hot spring to waste fortunately and had piped the water to a nearby building offering Thermal Spa. For 13 Pounds I got in thou I spend a bit more buying a swim pants for 15 pounds and renting a towel for 3 pounds. 

Two hours was the allocated time and you could go to the open pool rooftop , the indoor pool with bubbles or the steam room (it was not open at the time so the ticket was discounted to 13pounds)

Two hours … to cure my flu with hot spring :)

How to Get Into England Without a Passport - Bristol

Poseidon in Bristol 

Never would I have ever thought of crossing from one country to another without even taking out my passport, especially if the country uses different currency. 

I went to the Dublin airport early as I am always paranoid when it come to moving between two far far away places and whenever it involved flights .. ( I hate missing flights ) … I sat there waiting for the time to board the plane.

I got my boarding pass pretty easy from the counter and that was the last time I shown my passport … no stamps of exit …. Just proof of ID so I could get my boarding pass.

Walk walk walk …. I am now sitting in the plane ….. Something was not right but I couldn’t put a finger on it.

An hour or so later I touchdown in a small airport in England , Bristol. Got down the plane took my luggage from the conveyor belt which was fortunately in one piece …. I always worry it will go missing … my entire belonging for the trip … it was like basically my house that bag …

Walk walk walk … I am outside the airport … Wait …. WHAT ???

There was no immigration of any kind , not even a counter of sorts … I think I just found a loophole into smuggling people into England and if you have read a few post back you would have realized how easy it was to get into Ireland …. They were almost begging me to stay longer . ( Tourist are good money I guess ) …

So I’ll keep this in a mental note … to my fellow Asian friends who wants to jump plane and become a illegal worker in England … buy a ticket to Ireland … and a domestic budget airline flight to Bristol … from there trains are all good :)

Municipal Office in Bristol 

The best pit stop - Visiting family relative while extended traveling

Nowadays the world has became a smaller place. I used to hear that a lot when I was growing up and the phrase “It’s a small world” seem like a true fact with airplanes and especially cheap flights. 

Not only that, its so easy now to connect with halfway across the world with the internet as long as you have a reception. Still when you plan a long extended trip and have no idea where to go, suddenly the list of place you could explore never seam to end. 

6 months seam too short and even a year or two could not seam to fit all the places I wanted to visit.

York Minster

Family seam to be all over the world too nowadays with people migrating, working and studying abroad. I was one of the fortunate ones to have quite a few relative of sorts and one of them was in England, Yorkshire.

Family does wonders when traveling. They are your first ties that you keep in touch, support and keep you going after your dream, as long as you get past that initial homesick withdrawal. 

Its like a sense of security as well knowing that if any emergency happens you have a phone call away that you know no matter the cost they would drop everything they are doing and fly to wherever you are to get you back to home.

Of course knowing someone is watching your back does sometimes have its bad side effects such as going the more dangerous route and taking more risk.

Extended families such as uncles and aunt or cuz for that matter that are in another country makes wonderful pit stops where you could loose that sense of uptight from traveling alone so long. 

No longer having to worry if some stranger you just met is going to pinch something off your backpack while you are sleeping or thinking what to do for dinner makes a very different long awaited rest. 

Don’t get me wrong … I tend to sleep in a lot during the travels and was always over rested but the rest of the mind was another thing altogether

The other best part I loved for the pit stop was the familiarity. No longer needing to go through the introductions. They know you, your good part and also your bad habits. 

Complains was also a welcome such as naggings since you seldom get those from newly made stranger friends or at lease if it does happen you just don’t talk to them. 

Conversation changes to a deeper meaning when old families or friends that are not afraid to pinch a sore wound just to disturb you.

Well I pit stopped two weeks over Christmas to New Years in 2011/2012 …. Got feed well and was ready for my next big leg to America …. But not until a short ride up Ireland first and a few more towns I have never been before in England