Anyway, many of you out there were excited for me as this trip included going on the brand new A380 by MAS. But that was only for the return journey home. Getting there, we had to endure the rather rundown 747. Hehe.
Upon touchdown at Heathrow, I then took the Heathrow Express to Paddington where I made a 10-minute walk to Park Place, Edgware Road. Thanks to an old friend's uncle, I got a good deal for accommodation here; a nice one-bedroom apartment with great location. And oh, hundreds of channels on SKY HD!
And if you're familiar with this area, you should know that Middle Easterners and Malaysians rule here! I mean, you'd be hard pressed to find a non-halal makan place here. Everything's here halal, including the grocery stores and pharmacies. The drawback? Well, walking here is more like walking the sidewalk at an Arab country rather than in London. That is of course, until you reach Marble Arch and Oxford Street.
And yes, I spent a whole lot of time there on the second day, but only after a short run at Hyde Park. Still on Malaysian time, I woke up around 3am on Saturday, before heading to the park at around 5.30am.
After that, it was time to hit the shopping trail (and also to pick up my race pack at Trafalgar Square). Decided not to take the tube that day and so, I walked all the way from Marble Arch to Oxford Street, to Regent Street, to Trafalgar Square, to Covent Garden, to Piccadilly Circus and back to Marble Arch and Edgware Road. Maunya tak penat! And I had my brand new Nike + Fuelband to tell me all about it. Hehe.
Sunday 8th July was event day and I was completely exhausted after it. Which meant packing my meal and staying in to watch the Wimbledon final. And oh, I still remember the buzz those couple of days. Everywhere it was all about Andy Murray, Andy Murray, Andy Murray... the first Brit in the final since like forever. Well, you should know by now that Roger Federer reigned supreme instead. Boo hoo.
The following day, it was a bit more shopping around Oxford Street and Harrods at Knightsbridge. Yup, just had to get some Laduree to bring back home and an extra special something for wifey : )
Then it was off to Belsize Park to meet up with my brother-in-law who also had some guests coming from Wales. We had dinner and lepak-ed for a bit before I went back to the apartment.
The whole of Tuesday was spent in Stratford City doing the Olympic tour and a bit more shopping at the brand new Westfield (with some fish n chips!).
I also did a live-crossover for MHI earlier that night.
And then it was time to go home on Wednesday... on the A380!
I must say that the A380 does look impressive from the outside and it's matched by the brand new interior. I was on the upperdeck and legroom was aplenty despite sitting right in the middle. The entertainment screens were bigger with lots of channels and it was just more comfortable all round as compared to the 747. But we were delayed by some two hours due to "problems with Polish airspace", so we spent a total of 14hours on the flight. A tad too long, if you ask me.
And that was it, peeps. London in 5 days. Will be back for a longer stay pretty soon though : )
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