Amazing London

I got married in November 2005, and then my honeymoon tour took me to Dubai, London, Dover, Calais, Paris, Lille, Geneva, Lausanne and Liverpool. I was in London for nearly a week at the end of December 2005, I was there during Christmas and New Year Eve 2006. My lovely wife and I enjoyed our honeymoon tour greatly. It was like the “Amazing Race” TV show. We never stopped traveling. We walked all over London, mostly.

Special thanks to my adorable sister for giving me free lodging during my brief spell in London, it’d saved a lot of my monies. thanks sis.

It’s still my dream though to stay at Four Seasons Hotel in Mayfair, Park Lane, London; in one of its suites not guest rooms. Hopefully on my next trip :-). My dream also to travel first class on MAS direct flight from KL to London non-stop, although the ticket would cost me RM16,000 +++ just for a one-way trip :-(

In central London, I visited lots of great place but I missed the famous ‘London Eye’ or Millennium Wheel. I wanted to ride it but unfortunately the queue was so long, it would take me 3 hours just to buy its ticket. So I left and took a ferry cruise along the River Thames instead. I had a really good time!! But the winter temperature in London was killing me, it was -1 C. Even my Big Bus Tour around London could not last long, I could not even feel my legs after 20 minutes in the bus.

I visited the historic ‘Windsor Castle’ which was originally built as fortress in 10th century by ‘William the Conqueror’ , I was impressed, now I know how bloody rich and influential the King & Queen of England to the English. I went in and saw many unique and antic collections of the Queen and the past Kings of England. I think the collections alone worth $millions not to mention the market value of the huge castle yet.

I also visited ‘Buckingham Palace’ which was built in 17th century, but of course I only stood between ‘Victoria Memorial’ and the entrance gate, I witnessed the changing of guard ceremony, it was regal and unique. I would recommend the guards at Istana Negara Malaysia to learn that ceremonial trick from the English people. Tourists would love it.

I think if you want to do serious shopping spree, you should consider London, there are hundreds of shop, store, market and mall. Unfortunately I had no extra money, so I just enjoyed window-shopping and sight-seeing at Knightsbridge, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Leicester Square etc. During my visit I witnessed the so called “Boxing Day”, I saw shoppers literally camping outside the department stores. Anyway I managed to buy a few cheap souvenirs for certain people back in Malaysia. Thanks to my lovely wife, she knew most of the streets so I didn’t get lost easily. By the way, she read law at Liverpool University.


But the place that impressed me most about London was its Royal Parks. I visited Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, The Green Park, St James’s Park and the Regent’s Park and I was impressed by their size and landscape. These parks were beautiful and well-maintained. I really enjoyed my brief strolls at those parks. I took some pictures and fed some wild birds there.

I think Kuala Lumpur needs more green parks like those Royal Parks, I appreciate our Lake Garden & Taman Tasik Titiwangsa but we need more. I hope the government will create more green parks in other areas. We need to educate our young people to see the parks as a recreational and enjoyable place to be, day and night.

Let’s go green folks!!