UK Day 9 and Day 10: Greenwich and then it's Bye Bye UK... for now

Day 9
5th August 2014

This is our last morning here in London as our flight departs at 1010pm tonight from Heathrow Airport.  We cleared the last food stuff from our fridge for breakfast (ie last night's pizza from dinner) and packing was considered final.  We stepped out of our apartment close to 930am so that we can just nicely enjoy the off-peak train rates.

We topped up our Oyster cards once during this trip, and a day or two before my card somehow was not detected at the Touch Out machine, so I touched it a couple more times.  When we checked our balance later, we noticed that my card was over deducted instead. A visit to the Customer Service counter at the tube station corrected one trip with a refund, but charged me a few quid as "penalty."  Ah well.  Can't stomp my feet and scream and yell, right?  Just have to swallow my mistake and move on lor.,. Fortunately, Dad calculated if we take both to and fro train rides during off-peak times, I'd have JUST enough balance in my card without needing another trip to the Customer Service to request for a balance refund.  Dad donated a small unused balance in his card.

We arrived Greenwich which is not too far away, probably half an hour train ride including change of trains?  I can't recall exactly.  Some pronounce Greenwich as "Green itch" and some as "Gren idge" which some claim is the proper pronunciation (just like Yorkshire as "York sher" and not "York shy-er") but a quick check with Uncle Google claims its a recent pollution from the middleclass newcomers.

I personally think Greenwich is a nice town, albeit not a very big one but this first visit we discovered many international cuisine eateries, which shows there is an international community here - Vietnamese, Italian, Thai, French and of course Chinese!

A wefie with the English postbox?  By the way, I realized a few days into this trip that Dad brought different caps to wear, it's like an accessory to him - how cute.

I didn't miss you out, little wild yellow flowers!  If my 6yo boy, William was here, he would not hesitate to pluck you and present a bunch of you to me. : )

Look what we discovered?  We chanced upon, and I say chanced upon, because we did NOT know it was market day here.  So yea... yippeee!!

Flea market... from trinkets, photos, gardening tools, clothing, to food and toys and antiques!

No close up photography allowed, so just a general, quick shot

Ok, this is where we'll be heading... 

As we headed towards the Royal Observatory we took mental notes of places to have a lunch later, as we learnt from our painful experience last night.  The prices of lunch here was very reasonable, and if you were on a string budget, you could get away with less than GBP5 lunch at the bar.  Of course, don't expect to down it with a beer ; P

We picked one or two places to eat near the train station, but as we walked along, we saw more choices and then by the time we were near the Observatory and Museum, I think we both decided to "play-by-ear"!  Haha... what a far cry from Oxford Street!

Everything about King William.  My boy was so happy to here that he's not just named after the future king of England, but also a previous King.  

Greenery.  As we left at lunch time, we saw many people having picnic, cycling, children playing and just casual outdoor activities.  I wish our Malaysian weather and park could allow us to have the same enjoyment

Can you spot my Dad?  Glad that he could walk well and not have any pain in his legs

This is the bottom of the small hill - leading the walk up to the Royal Observatory

Nelson's ship in a bottle

The Queen's House from up the hill, which now forms part of the National Maritime Museum

Errm... this is definitely NOT the time that we arrived. 

By now, I guess anywhere where there's grass and open space, the angmohs will just plonk themselves down and let time go by... a great way to destress - DO NOTHING

Not knowing what to order for myself, I asked the bar attendant to recommend a drink for me.  The Summer Berries mout cider surprisingly taste sweet with a tinge of soda to it. 

I had the Ultimate Hunters Chicken whereas Dad opted for the Prime Steak Burger

Lunch Venue.  A bar with an open garden in the yard called Kings Arms. We normally choose our makan venue based the look of the place and then glance through the menu if it suits our appetite or craving, then we'd walk in. 

On our walk back to the train station, we passed by the market entrance and I thought I'd take a photo of it, just to remember how inconspicuous it is.

The entrance is the beige concrete right behind where the two men are standing.  If you walk past and look right in, you'll see that it opens out to the market hall we were in earlier.

Queueing to check in.  There was quite a long queue in front.  Dad attempted many times to do a web check in from as early as 2 days before our departure but could not.  So this trip we had to wait in queue, and somehow the queue was moving so slowly.  Worse, as it neared our turn, a girl from a group of returning students a few numbers in front of us suddenly fainted and that held up the queue a bit

We had a quick dinner at Pret-A-Manger on the way to the gate.  I think it's a good meal to end this trip since we have seen so many PAM outlets in London but never tried one until now. The hot wrap was very delish.  Being Chinese I guess, we weren't too keen on the cold sandwiches for a proper meal 

On the flight, we were served food before lights were turned off.  I had a good sleep but whenever I woke, I kept my eyes on the screen, taking note on the location of our flight as I was still worried.  The flight was uneventful and I don't recall turbulence or crying kids or a snoring passenger.  I even managed to watch a couple of movies including a Filipino comedy.

                                           

Good bye UK, till the next time I step foot in this beautiful country, so so dear and special to me.  When I left in July 1999, I looked down from my window seat and wondered if I will ever breathe your air again, or step foot on your soil.  When we married, hubby and I did not have enough funds to have our honeymoon back in the UK where we fell in love, instead we went to South New Zealand and discovered another beautiful land.

11 years later in March 2010, we returned to the UK, not just the two of us, but four - two beautiful kids in tow.  This trip was planned very impromptu and I'm thankful that God had allowed this trip to materialize and for Dad to "game" on.  Right now, I realize what a miracle it was for him to have no severe pain on his legs despite so much walking and there wasn't a need to use the foldable walking stick that he packed along.

Our flight was delayed by half an hour, I supposed due to some Malaysian royalty on the same flight.  We arrived 15 minutes late as the pilot caught up on time.  But poor hubby who was waiting at KLIA with Vic and Will, did not get any updates from the ground staff and that worried him as they could not answer when our plane will arrive.  After MH370 and MH17 incident, I think they should be more sensitive and informed on questions on flight delays.

Oh well, all's well end's well.  All glory to God for this summer trip with Dad.  It sure was great to be back home with my loving husband and children.  My parents in law were also at home with dinner waiting and a happy maid ready.