Title : A series of unfortunate events
Location : London, UK
24 & 25 October
Excited to be going back to UK again since my last trip in January. Unfortunately, mood dampened by flight delayed by about an hour due to technical problem. To make matters worse, the video on my seat was not working. Luckily, I slept through most of the 13 hours, waking up only to eat. The last two hours or so was probably the most unbearable. This is the wonderful MAS service to its customer.
Arrived at Heathrow at 7 plus. Could not understand the two hours delay. Flight ticket stated arrival time as 5.20am. Later found out the time confusion due to UK changing its clock.
Decided to take tube to hotel. Travel interrupted several times. First, had to take replacement bus halfway through to get to Hammersmith. Just when I thought I can finally get onto the Hammersmith & City line to Great Portland Street (GPS), that particular line was disrupted. Had to take another line to stop elsewhere and then changed to another line. Very confusing given my fatigue.
Finally arrived in hotel after more than an hour of travelling. More bad news. Hotel misunderstood my booking. Thought I was supposed to arrive the day before. Now forced to wait an hour for a room to be ready.
When I received my room key, I was taught how to use the lift. I wasn't really paying attention and ended up rushing into the next available lift and found myself unable to press any button cause there weren't any! I went all the way up to 6th floor and stepped out at the lobby. Realised that I had to press my floor number on a hi-tech computer near the lift and then it will indicate which lift I should enter. Amazing.
Room was very comfortable with large TV. Unfortunately, complimentary internet access only for own laptop. Tried searching for some mineral water but none provided. Darn.
Despite the misfortunes, I tried to minimise the interruptions to my plan and arranged to meet my ex-schoolmate later in the afternoon. After briefly freshening myself, I set out to search for oxford street using the map I printed from google. Unfortunately, I had too much confidence in myself and ended up losing my way. Resorted to asking for directions to the nearest tube station only to find myself already pretty close to oxford street.
Having found nothing interesting, I moved on to Covent Garden in search of Radley and perhaps obtaining ticket to Lion King. I only succeeded in the first task. Sadly, tickets were sold out for Lion King. Went back to Oxford St to meet friend. Later had dinner at Mayflower in Chinatown. Thank god for good dinner. We were given a small opening under the staircase. Very private and cosy with seats enough for four only.
26 October
Arrived at bank station but could not locate the large black door of BOE. Went round building only to discover I missed it the first time. Quite an idiot. Went in to reception. Found that most participants had already arrived. I wasn't late. They were just earlier than me.
Each of us was given a name tag to gain entry into the building and a pass (which must be returned to the security before we leave the building). No photos were allowed anywhere :(
Guided through the mysterious hallway of the building by the coordinator (HS) up to the 7th floor where the training room is. We were to use that way for the rest of the week. The tea break room was well-equipped with 4 PCs, drinks (orange juice, coffee, tea, sparkling/still water), biscuits, publications from the bank and most importantly, daily newspapers.
Event began at 9am with introduction by course advisor, OR. The first session focused on the theoretical aspect of exchange rates. Found myself feeling sleepy. Must be jetlag. After lunch, we were taken out for group pix. At the end of the day, we had a welcoming reception at the City Rocket Restaurant.
I made fast friends with RLO and RRA. A game was played in which participants had to answer questions related to all the countries where the participants are from. I couldn't answer the one for Msia cause I didn't know the height of KL Tower. In my panic, I texted my msian friends in warwick and also another friend whom I knew will have a pc in front at that very moment. Thank god one person replied. Can be quite humiliating not to know especially when participants from neighbouring countries began approaching you for answer.
After the reception, a few of us left together only to discover none of us remembered the way back to the bank station. Luckily (or perhaps unluckily as we discovered later), we met another group and one of the member has a GPS. BU attempted to take us to the right direction. While we did find our way in the end, it was to another tube station which was a bit further. Kinda funny to be so lost.
Back at hotel, managed to catch the last part of an episode of House. I miss the show :(
27 October
Found my favourite Crunchynuts at the breakfast room. Vowed to eat only Crunchynuts and yogurts for the rest of my stay in the hotel. Left hotel early to take a walk at the Regent's Park. Unfortunately, got a bit lost and hence, had to cut the walk short.
Was feeling sleepy during class again. Thought I had enough sleep. Very baffling.
Met ex-coursemate, MK tonight. Supposed to watch ticket but cheap tickets mainly sold out due to school break. Decided against watching anything as I preferred to catch up with MK. Went into a Mexican restaurant, Navajo (???) near Covent Garden area (I think). Had a great meal. Although too full, still continued for a drink at a nearby pub. Bought camomile tea. MK remarked that it's her first time seeing a friend have tea in a pub. Halfway through, fire alarm rang. Saw angry waitress running around. In the blink of an eye, firemen appeared. Nothing major happened. Phew.
Departed at tube station. On the way back, tube got interrupted. Geez. Bad luck not ending yet.
28 October
Woke up, switched on bed light and poof. Room went dark. Nothing working. Called reception while cursing my luck. Luckily can still switch back light from main switch box. The bedside lamp was faulty. When is it gonna end???
During lunch, a few participants organised a walk to the Tower Bridge. I chose not to join as I wanted to run over to the museum to attempt to purchase some souvenirs. When other participants found out about the walk, they wanted to go there too. AB asked for the direction from RJ. Would have been uneventful if not for RJ's blunder in speaking too near to the mike. So, when he was explaining the route to AB, all of us could hear him in the room. That was seriously funny. Yet, no one else seemed to be laughing. These people were just too serious or was I too ticklish?
Wanted to try my luck at getting some theatre tickets tonight. But RLO wanted to go to Oxford St. Decided to go with her and HE. Unfortunately, road work at Oxford Circus. Got stuck. Finally detoured and ended up in Starbucks with RLO where we spent the evening chatting.
Back at hotel, caught a bit of True Blood. Fell asleep before the ending. Was exhausted.
29 October
Another uneventful day during the course. By now, RLO and I had submitted to our routine of sitting at the same spot during lunch. A new mate, OG began to adopt the same routine.
In the evening, we were taken to a tour of the British Museum. OR and HS had to make sure they get everyone to the location via tube during rush hour. OR claimed he has not lost anyone yet. By the time we got on the tube, only half of the participants were still following OR. All was not lost as the rest managed to find their way and arrived earlier.
The tour was led by a volunteer who told us interesting stories about some of the artifacts. That was a truly memorable tour. Later in the evening, I joined a few of the participants for dinner at a pub around Russell Square. 3 of us ordered fish and chips and it came out really hard. Couldn't finish the whole thing plus the peas were yucky.
30 October
Last day of course. Two highly-respected professors were invited for the last two sessions. One of the professors began by greeting everyone in their own native tongue. Truly impressive.
Farewell lunch was a few minutes walk away from the bank, Mehek Restaurant. Indian food which OR love. As everyone began to say farewell, a few of us made plans to meet for dinner.
RLO had to meet a friend. So, I thought I can do some last minute shopping at Oxford St. Plus I was supposed to meet a colleague but she couldn't turn out at the last moment. I found out later she did heavy shopping during the day and worn herself out. While I was busy shopping (or attempting to shop amid the massive crowd on a Friday afternoon - where do these people come from???), another ex-coursemate called to tell me we can meet up later that day. Darn.
Had to rush back to hotel to meet AN who was to arrive at GPS at around 6pm. Invited him to join us for dinner but he had to rush back to Oxford.
Went to a pub with the gang. Had to sit inside since no seats available inside. Ordered orange juice again. Two guys ordered a beer and discovered the sweetness, making it a girl's drink. Never knew there was such a thing. While we were there, we saw lines of cyclists passing by causing traffic to stop. Wonder what's the event. Halloween?
After awhile, we switched to another pub where we can get food. Some of us were hungry (incl myself). This time, I decided to save money and ordered only tap water to go with my food. We talked and talked. One topic came out was about the fish we eat in our respective countries. Topic came out because OG ordered fish finger burger. When question came to me, I went blank. I seriously have no idea and in my panic, I blurted out tilapia, saying it's probably alien to them since it's in BM. To my horror, they said they know tilapia. Darn. Didn't know is English.
When the gang were finishing their second round of beer, BU turned to me and asked if I was gonna order my second beer :) Should have said something witty but I can't.
We departed at the hotel lobby, not knowing when we will meet again. These were really nice people. Now we are FB friends.
Summing up some inner thoughts:
1. Latin Americans are a friendly lot. They smile a lot too. I like them and hope to visit someday.
2. European seems so distant and cold. Where's their sense of humour?
3. Sparkling water baffles me. Why would anyone want to drink that? I kept to still water and orange juice the whole week.
31 October
Colleague came to visit and picked up my stuff for temporary deposit at her home. Very kind of her. If it hadn't been for her, I would have struggled through my trip to Vienna and Prague.
No comments:
Post a Comment