[Europe Trip] Day 1 - London (Heathrow Connect, Marylebone, The Golden Hind)

After 13 hours of flight, we touched down at London Heathrow Airport, 4pm London time, 25th July 2015 (Saturday).

We bought the London tube card at the airport and boarded the Heathrow Connect at Terminal 2&3.

Heathrow Connect

Heathrow Connect is much cheaper than Heathrow Express and there’s not much difference in travel time.  Look out for the sign for Heathrow Express, the platform is the same for Heathrow Connect and Express. Be prepared for a long walk to the platform. You may purchase the ticket when you are near the platform.

We stopped at the last stop – Paddington (travel fee: £10.10) and transferred to the London Tube via Bakerloo line (aka brown line) to Marylebone.

I.LOVE.MARYLEBONE.

Marylebone station is very pretty (as below).

  

Marylebone is an affluent inner city of London. It feels safe, and it is in the middle of many places, so it is very convenient if the tube breaks down. The apartment we stayed is now not available at Airbnb (it was on sale that time when we were there. So I guess it was sold).

We walked around the neighbourhood and enjoyed the English architecture.

We had our dinner at the famous restaurant “The Golden Hind”. The fish and chips were SUPERB. It was a real fish (you can choose what fish you want), and the meat was very tender and juicy. The restaurant owner came to chat with us. He was very surprised that we spoke good English. And after he found out we were from Singapore, he identified us as a Commonwealth country and stated that many of his customers were Singaporeans J

p.s. While we were queuing at The Golden Hind, we saw a long queue on the opposite street.

[Airline Review] SIA long-haul flight - Singapore to London

It was Saturday, 25 July 2015.

We were scheduled to take SQ308 at 09:05 SGT, and arrive at Heathrow Airport, T2, 15:40 GMT.

(welfie before take-off)

First thing the stewards and stewardesses gave us was the hot warm towels to settle us down. As it was a long flight, we got socks and toothbrush. The socks were great if you don't want to wear your shoes and still want to walk around the plane. Still, I find it yucky to wear just socks to the restroom... and it was pretty cold in the plane, shoes help to keep your feet warm.

Most important thing on plane.... is food. We were totally well-fed. In between meals, we got to snack (sandwiches/bars/nuts/chips/fruits) as much as we want to, just call for assistance.

The food was delicious.

i got myself poached eggs with Mornay sauce for breakfast

And braised lamb in red wine sauce for lunch.

And... There’s ice cream.

What's flight without some alcohol? That's Bloody Mary and Coke Vodka in the picture,

For long-haul flights, it helps if you get up once in a while and walk around. I spent at least an hour or two at the back of the plane.

There was a funny instance. When a few passengers were doing some serious stretching, a air steward passed by and commented: "Dear customers, please note that the next yoga class starts in 5 minutes time." All of us stopped and laughed.

Overall, the experience with SQ on long-haul flight from Singapore to London was quite good. SIA is well-known for their service, and our experience could attest to it.

However, what can be better done were the head-rest and leg-room:

The space was pretty small, and the difference was especially stark when compared to European planes. I took a low-cost airline (GermanWings) from London to Berlin, and I could stretch my legs like this:

SIA could also get some ideas from Germany's Bahn train regarding the headrest. Even though i sat in a 2nd class cabin in Bahn train, the headrest was so comfy that falling asleep was no issue. Falling asleep was a problem for me on plane. I was wide awake for the whole 13 hours.

Flying long-haul is generally not a pleasant experience, but SIA is probably one of the preferred choices by Singaporeans due to good service by the airline.

[Itinerary] Korea 2014 Summer Travel

Day 1 (night) - Seoul

Accommodation: Pigflyseoul

Activities: Hongdae, Ehwa Women Uni Street, Sinchon

Day 2 & 3 - Jeju

Accomodation: Worlang House

Activities: Sunrise Peak, Mazeland (has a very nice bibimbap restaurant next to it), cheonjiyeon waterfall, folk village, glass castle

Day 4 & 5 - Busan

Accomodation: (not recommended)

Activities: Spaland, Centum City, BokCheon Musuem, PIFF Square, Lotte departmental store, Jagalchi and Seomyoen stations underground shopping

Day 6, 7 - Seoul

Accommodation: Pigflyseoul

Activities: Changdeokgung, Unhyeongung (for hanbok experience), Express Bus Terminal underground shopping, Gangnam station underground shopping, Han river

Day 8 - Seoul

Activities: check out, shopping nearby (refer to Day 1 activities) and fly back

[Accommodation review] Budacco @ Pratunum, Bangkok, Thailand

Budacco @ Pratunum, Bangkok, Thailand

Website to book: Agoda (http://www.agoda.com/en-sg/budacco-hotel/hotel/bangkok-th.html) and many other hotel booking websites

Cost: deluxe with breakfast – around $55 per night

Location:  122/44-46 Ratchaprarop Rd, Thanon - Phayathai, Ratchathewi , Pratunam, Bangkok, Thailand 10400

Size of accommodation: A hotel room

Accommodates: 2

Location: 3.5/5. It is in Pratunum, near to Baiyoke Sky hotel. We spent nearly half an hour circling Pratunum to find the hotel. Turns out that we need to walk to the hotel as it’s in an alley. Taxi uncle only knows about Baiyoke Sky, it’s better that you just alight at Baiyoke Sky and walk over. There’s lots of shops in the vicinity, massage and vegetarian restaurant just few steps away (literally). It is a main road away from Platinum.

Cleanliness: 4/5.

Host(s): Friendly Thais!

Design: 3.5/5. Simple colored coded rooms. It can be awkward for friends as the bathroom door was half translucent.

Facilities: wifi at lobby. Breakfast buffet.

Security: There’s security guards, they will help us flag taxi and take down the taxi plate number. He will also tell the taxi uncle that we were his guests, and he was watching over us. Although the hotel is in alley, but don’t worry, the alley was not deep.

Additional comments:

• Breakfast was good but same everyday
• It’s a hotel frequented by Singaporeans. On our last day (Sunday), then entire breakfast area was filled by Singaporeans.

Disclaimer: this post is not sponsored. The above is entirely my personal opinion.

[Accommodation review] Condominium @ Penang Times Square, Georgetown, Penang

Condominium @ Penang Times Square, Georgetown, Penang 

Website to book: Airbnb (https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/3918092)

Cost: around $120 SGD per night

Location:  Times Square Penang, Georgetown, Penang

Size of accommodation: A condominium

Accommodates: 4

Location: 5/5. Easy to locate as it’s just above Penang Times Square. It is also near the Komtar bus interchange (5-10mins walk) and heritage site. If it’s raining and you do not wish to go out, no worries, there’s some food outlets in the shopping mall.

Cleanliness: 3.5/5. We found some things the previous tenants left behind on the living room’s sofa. Floor is not squeaky clean. The quantities of things like tissues are little. Bedrooms are very clean though. But hey, no service fee!

Host(s): A very presentable lady. She speaks good English and chatted with us. She was also very helpful to find out things for us.

Design: 3.5/5. A minimalistic design.

Facilities: wifi, full kitchen facilities, air-con, tv..etc. Some DVDS are also provided. The tv does not have cable channels. Buy your own breakfast.

Security: You will have the key to the apartment. There’s security post and 2 doors that you need to tap your card to access the condo.

Additional comments:

• Try the food near the location (opposite Penang Times Square there’s a small road that lead to a number of hawker centres). The hawker foods are better than the raved ones at the heritage site!!!
• Apparently the condo is one of the high value apartments in Georgetown. Taxi uncles exclaimed how expensive it was when we told them where we stayed.
• There’s a minimart facing the security post outside the condo. The things are of normal price. You can buy snacks or toiletries there.
• Many of the residents are expats.

Disclaimer: this post is not sponsored. The above is entirely my personal opinion.

[Accommodation review] Worlang Guest House @ Jeju, Korea

Worlang Guest House @ Jeju, Korea

Website to book: Airbnb (https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/783988)

Cost: around $85 SGD per night

Location:  Wollang-ro 6-gil, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South Korea

Size of accommodation: A room. We had the one at the attic. The common areas and bathrooms were shared.

Accommodates: 2.

Location: It was not easy to find. Good point is that it’s near airport (especially when you have an early flight), supermart and food outlets. Since we were driven around in Jeju most of the time, I can't give the rating for this.

Cleanliness: 5/5. Superbly squeaky clean floor in my room. Even the common bathroom was very clean!

Host(s): Basic English. The manager (?) was not around when we arrived. So we were a a lost, standing in the common room. One of the tenants (he was a university student at Jeju who was renting the room on a long term basis) helped us call him. The host helpfully explained things to us despite a little language barrier.

Design: 4.5/5. See picture. It was representative of what I saw.

Facilities: wifi, full kitchen facilities, air-con, tv..etc. There’s cereal and milk for breakfast in the common refrigerator.

Security: You have a key to your own room. They will leave clean towel at your door if it’s locked.

Additional comments:

• Near a supermart which was great. You can try their local fruits and stuff.
• Staircase to the attic room is very narrow.
• You can encounter different travellers in this house. Once, while we were chatting at the common area, an American couple just opened their door and greeted us :)
• There’s a 24 hours self-service coin laundry just below the guesthouse
• We didn't realize the check-out time was at 11am and stayed for a bit more. The host did not chase us away and allowed us to have our food in peace

Disclaimer: this post is not sponsored. The above is entirely my personal opinion.

[Accommodation review] PigFlySeoul @ Seoul, Korea

PigFlySeoul @ Seoul, Korea

Website to book: http://www.pigflyseoul.com/

Cost: 110,000KRW per night for twins room. Pay by cash when you arrive.

Location: 121-816, Magellan 21 Building #608 Donggyo-Dong, Mapo-Gu, Seoul, Korea

Size of accommodation: Whole apartment.

Accommodates: 2.

Location: 5/5. Walking distance to Hongik University station. The location of the station is very centralized (to Gimpo airport, Express Bus terminal which is a must-go…etc.). However, taking the lift up to the admin office and apartment was a little inconvenient. One lift only serves the odd floors; another only serves the even floors.

Cleanliness: 4/5. Sofa was a little dirty. Bed and kitchen utensils are clean.

Host(s): Very friendly and speaks English. They will email you after you booked on your approximate arrival time. You can take the opportunity to enquire things that you are not sure.

Design: 4/5 (sofa was too hard)

Facilities: wifi, full kitchen facilities, air-con, tv, air-dryer..etc. No breakfast.

Security: Door lock is digital number lock which you set your own password. But of course they have the master key.

Additional comments:

• You can hear the traffic at night (i.e. motorcycle sped past at times). However, it is still manageable with an ear plug for light-sleeper (like me).
• You can leave your luggage at their admin office if you are going to somewhere else (i.e. Jeju) and will return to stay, or just go out for a last minute shopping after you check out. This, in my opinion, is a very good service.
• Seems to be cheaper when you book at their website. And you can pay when you arrive.
• Their dog was very cute and seemed to have separation anxiety from its owner.

Disclaimer: this post is not sponsored. The above is entirely my personal opinion.