08 June 2008

UK Holiday- Part 2

We're home on Thursday night. Coping with jetlag is tougher when travelling east! And who says unpacking is easy?
So, back to the itinerary.... On the way to Aberdeen, we stopped over at Crathes Castle. Beautiful gardens, only that it rained!
We then visited Ayah's ex-school, RGU, must've been so nostalgic that Ayah smiled the whole day.... The following day, we continued our journey to Edinburgh. Very nice of Joe to serve us lunch there! Thanks Joe! Edinburgh is a beautiful and vibrant city. Though we only manage to have a short visit, it was a splendid experience.
By 7pm we moved on to Newcastle Upon Tyne, via the highlands roads, with spectacular views! Arriving rather late, Yazid still served us dinner! Thank you Yazid!
The next day, Friday 30th May, we dropped by Fashie's place in Newcastle before visiting our dear friends Abg Mill & Kak Fida in Nottingham. It was nice of them to offer us a room at their place, though our original plan was to drive back to my sis's place in Birmingham that night.
Saturday we travelled to Oxford, the place where i used to stay while studying at Brookes. So it was my turn to smile as we passed by the nostalgic path of series of houses that i've lived in! we visited the school, but since it was a weekend, nobody was around, obviously.... The city centre is still the same as it was 14 years ago! Only that some roads were converted to one-way streets.

Sunday 1st June we went to London, dropping by Atok's house in Reading for breakfast of yummy nasi lemak. Thanks Atok.
Lunch was at Mara House and me & hubby did some souvenir shopping at Harrods and in Bayswater while mok & abah attended the kids at Hyde Park. The rest of the day was spent touring London in the car (taking advantage of no congestion charges on Sunday!). Monday, we toured London via tube using a one-day travelcard. Visited most places other tourists normally do. we even took a cruise on River Thames from Westminister to Tower Pier. Lovely, though the weather was a bit dull. Late evening, we visited a family friend, Pak Mat, an expat, in East Ham and had a lovely dinner of laksa.
Tuesday 3rd June we headed up north again, after receiving an unexpected text message from a long lost friend. 20 years of lost contact, i didn't want to miss this opportunity, so we drove up to Northwich to meet her! It was wonderful to finally meet Ana again, and of course I must thank Ana for the delicious meal! We headed back to Birmingham that evening, realising that our holiday was over! How time flies, though in the long days of summer, time was short on us! The next day was our final day in UK- a day of intensive packing for me, while the kids enjoy the sunlight at the park, the sunlight which came out finally on the day we are departing home....
Owhhh... we missed UK...

P/s: there were so many pictures- i will try to upload as many as i can, but not here, they will be in my fotopages.