We Are Not Londoners (2)

November 28, 2011

We spent the night at Denise’s aunt’s house. She’s a really nice lady, with a very quiet husband and an even quieter daughter. It’s a bit funny to realize how she dominated almost all of our conversation. She has a really nice home, a small house like in the movies, with a bit of Asian and British touches here and there. Because the family only have two bedrooms, Denise and I slept on the living room. Which was more than enough for us.

It was a little bit late when we arrived in London, so we just went straight to their house. We spent hours talking with the aunt, while everyone else just do their own activity. I think it was part of their culture, you know? I might not be able to see things like this at home.

When you’re in the Eastern culture, you’re required to be there with your guests even you don’t know what you’re gonna do or say. But here, if you don’t have anything to say or ask, you just do your own business and that’s not considered impolite. Of course, it was a bit uncomfortable at first  to be in this situation, because I am not used to things like that. Fortunately, they were so nice to us so we felt welcomed in their house.

We stayed there for two nights, however we didn’t see the host so much because we do our own business. Again, I think it’s the different culture. In the Eastern, especially Asian.. or particularly my family’s culture, it is (almost) required for the host to accompany the guest everywhere. I prefer the British way of course, because sometimes it would be a little bit awkward to be there just for the sake of being there.

Anyway… I hope we didn’t cause them so much trouble.

London itself is still the same.

The difference was, I spent more time at the East London. The first time I came to London with Mr. Nottingham, I was experiencing the backpacker tourist’s walk in the Central London. Last Weekend with Denise, I experienced being the East Londoner.

Going to Canary Wharf is definitely one thing I would like to do again… but later probably in spring. It was too cold to go there in winter (or almost winter) like this, because the wind is so strong and you can die freezing there. I would like to go there in daylight too, because it would be nice to see the sunset in the river.

The kebab shop is surely somewhere I would go again to eat. Of course this time I would ask for the smaller portion because the last time I can’t finish the kebab. The size is twice as big as large Doner Kebab in Indonesia. And of course… the Malaysian Food stall that only open in Saturday would be the place to visit because of the delicious rendang. RENDANG! It’s been ages since the last time I had one.

What about the photo session? Well… I migh tell you about that later :D

We Are Not Londoners (1)

November 27, 2011

Where were you Bybyq?

Yeah, I am so sorry I didn’t update the blog for the weekend. I am so sorry that I didn’t feed those hungry souls of yours. However, I am now back and I can tell you the whole story from the beginning.

Few weeks ago, I got a phone call from a professional photography studio in London, named Pierre Lemond photography, that I won a competition. I didn’t recall it at the first time because actually I entered the competition only by accident. Seriously. Me?

So, about two weeks before I got the phone call, I clicked on one of the ads on FB. The ads asked me whether I wanted to get a FREE make over, hair styling and magazine photo shoot experience? At that time, all I can see was the big “FREE” so I didn’t really understand whatever it was. I was just asked to fill the form, nothing else. So that’s it. I won that opportunity.

I was allowed to bring one friend with me. So, because I was in Denise flat when I got the call, I asked Denise to go with me. Of course she wanted to go, because things weren’t really smooth at her flat at that moment and she wanted a little weekend getaway. We booked a session for two of us and also two return tickets to London (with the cheapest transportation available).

Why didn’t I tell anybody about this?

It’s merely because I still unsure whether that was real or not. You know, all my life I never won any lucky draw or anything similar to that. So when someone called me and say I won something, it sounds unreal. I told Denise about my doubt, and she told me that if it is not for real, we can just go around London and have a weekend getaway without photo shoot. It would be as fun with or without the photo session, so I wouldn’t have to put so much thought about that.

So, the weekend came, and we went to London. Want to know what happened in London?

Birthweek: Next Stop, London!

November 6, 2011

For the closure of my Birthweek, I went to London with Mr. Nottingham. Yup, you heard me right.

After some times planning this trip, I finally went to London by bus. I admit that I was a bit late, because if only I booked the bus ticket earlier, I was probably able to get better deal. But that’s fine, I don’t want to spoil the fun because of the ticket price.

I arrived at about 10 a.m. at Victoria Coach Station. I know it wasn’t so far from Westminster Abbey because I saw the route from my window. Actually, I know that if I wanted to make it easier, I would just need to go and get a taxi there. But then I thought, where’s the adventure? So I walked from the coach station to Westminster Abbey, which Mr. Nottingham and I has decided as our meeting point.

After I met Mr. Nottingham (a little bit awkward because it was the first time we met, after the first time we met two months ago), we walked to Buckingham Palace. Yes we walked. And, actually, we walked a lot there. As the engineer in our group of two, he has calculated that we walked more than 10 km for our two days trip! I believe I lost some weight after that!

Actually, this was a budget trip! We don’t spend a lot of money to have fun. We skipped some place which we knew would cost us a lot of money and time, like London Eye, and instead buying some food, sit and had dinner together at the Thames Riverside. It could be romantic, but for us, it was all fun!

We also had a late night walk, from Earl’s Court where we spend the night, up to High Kensington where we can see nice restaurants and cafes, and beautiful houses. We decided to have a drink and shisha on one of the cafe there, and talked. Yes we talked a lot, and it was really a pleasant way to end a day.

In the morning of the second day, we starved! So, we walked to one of a small restaurant who sells Classing English Breakfast.

Some of us knew English Breakfast Tea… What I had wasn’t the tea. It was a real breakfast. I’ll give you the image so you can imagine how full I was after the breakfast.

Not so many people know that there is Sherlock Holmes Museum in London. even one of my teacher admitted that he never heard of this museum. The museum is located at 221B Baker Street (the actual address of the well-known detective). It was so much fun. Please guys remind me that I will buy Mr. Atheist the Sherlock Holmes’ hat later before I go back to Indonesia :D

Unfortunately, I lost my watch. Yes, you right. I lost so many things lately, and I hope the watch would be the last thing I lose (at least this year). But, would that make me less happy then? Of course not! I was so happy when I went back to Norwich, although I know this London trip is the end of my Birthweek. I can’t wait until my next birthday again…

Sudah Ke Mana Aja, Byq?

October 3, 2011

Belum ke mana-mana! Dan saya rasanya pengen nangis saat mengatakan itu!

Jadi… ini semua berawal dari e-mail (mari kita mulai mencari kambing hitam).

Inget nggak kemarin saya cerita kalau saya menemukan teman perjalanan yang sangat menyenangkan dan sangat baik di perjalanan saya menuju ke Inggris? Mahasiswa yang mau ke Nottingham? Bukan! Bukan the Yemen guy yang mirip Fachri Albar -_-”!

Itu lho, yang nemenin saya selama nunggu transit di Dubai… Yang nemenin saya ngobrol selama di pesawat. Yang bantuin saya ambil foto norak di bandara Dubai karena beberapa teman meminta bukti foto bahwa saya mampir ke Dubai, dan saya masih hidup. Yap… the civil engineering guy yang kasih saya koin 1 dirham kenang-kenangan dari bandara Dubai.

Hehehe… sepertinya kita harus membuat nickname buat dia, karena akan sangat sulit kalau saya menceritakan orang ini tanpa nama sama sekali. Kita sebut saja dia sebagai Mr. Nottingham.

Jadi, sebelum akhirnya berpisah di pesawat, saya dan Mr. Nottingham bertukar alamat email (keren bener ya? kaya businessman gitu tukerannya alamat email…) bukan apa-apa sih, tapi kita belum punya nomer inggris yang bisa dituker-tukerin aja. Rencananya, alamat e-mail ini mau dipake untuk add friends di facebook. Tapi entah kenapa, website dodol itu nggak bisa dipake buat add, sampai akhirnya saya kirim e-mail dan lapor kalau saya nggak bisa add dia di FB.

Malu-maluin banget ga sih? Kesannya kok saya gaptek banget sampe add aja ga bisa. Atau saya malah keliatan agresip banget kaya kepengen banget di add di FB? Entah ya? Saya sih mau di add di Fb *malu* tapi, bukan itu alasan utamanya *membela diri*. Saya kan sudah janji mau add, kalo nggak bisa add kan harus bilang… itu namanya prinsip. Ya kan? Bener kan? Bener dong.

So… saya dan Mr. Nottingham mulai ngobrol di e-mail. Sama seperti sebelumnya di pesawat, dia sangat baik di e-mail. Ngalor ngidul dari urusan beli nomer Hp buat nyalain BB, sampai teman-temannya yang titip salam. Sampai pada akhirnya Mr. Nottingham cerita bahwa dia sudah lihat patung Robin Hood di sana. Dan dia pun bertanya: Udah kemana aja Byq?

Eh!

Aku… aku… aku… AKU MALUU!!!

Saya baru sadar bahwa saya belum menjelajah Norwich. Saya bolak balik ke city center, tapi belum sekali pun menjejakkan kaki ke castlenya, atau ke theatrenya, atau ke manapun lah! Padahal katanya kota ini punya banyak situs bersejarah… tapi kok saya belom pernah lihat? Payah banget deh :(

Jadiii… Saya memutuskan, saya harus bisa setidaknya ke castle di tengah kota untuk memulai misi saya mengelilingi UK dalam setahun. Bisa ga yaaa?

Norwich, A Fine City

September 26, 2011

Saya tidak tahu kenapa tagline kota ini seperti itu. Tapi, memang sih… this is a fine city.

Sepanjang perjalanan saya dari London menuju Norwich, saya bisa melihat betapa indahnya pemandangan di kanan kiri kami. Jadi bukan sekedar sawah ladang membentang, tapi sawah ladang hijau subur dengan sapi dan domba bertaburan. Meskipun saya kesal harus mengakui bahwa tebakan Mon benar, dan bahwa banyak sapi di sini, dan bahwa sapi di sini beneran belang-belang, tapi saya senang mengetahui bahwa saya tidak akan tinggal di tengah kota yang padat seperti Jakarta.

Sampai saya menulis ini, saya belum sempat melihat seperti apa city center karena saya tinggal di lingkungan kampus. Tapi inilah yang bisa saya ceritakan tentang kampus saya…

Saya tinggal di University Village, letaknya tepat di seberang kampus. Meksipun tidak berada di dalam kompleks kampus, tapi masih berada di lingkungan yang sama. Meksipun namanya VIllage, tapi sebenarnya kompleks residensial untuk mahasiswa ini berbentuk seperti kompleks apartemen kecil. Saya harus berjalan sekitar 15-20 menit dengan kecepatan sedang dan dengan lebar langkah perempuan asia rata-rata. Hasilnya setelah beberapa hari berada di sini, saya sudah merindukan tempat pijat refleksi langganan saya… :D

Sepanjang perjalanan menuju ke kampus, dari tempat tinggal saya di Village, kita bisa melihat taman dan padang rumput. Taman itu disebut Earlham Park, orang-orang yang tinggal di sana sering datang ke taman membawa anjing jalan-jalan. Saya suka melihat bagaimana orang-orang di sini memperlakukan anjing mereka dengan sangat baik hati dan bahwa orang-orang tidak suka menjahati anjing-anjing itu. Padang rumputnya adalah favorit saya…

Saya jatuh cinta dengan padang rumput itu saat saya melihat sunset di sana, pada waktu perjalanan pulang dari kampus. Pegal di kaki seketika hilang, dan saya sempat berhenti mengambil gambarnya. Saya akan post kapan-kapan.

Udaranya tidak sedingin yang dikhawatirkan beberapa orang lebay. Sedingin di Puncak waktu malam, tapi di dalam ruangan sangat hangat saya bahkan menyesal tidak membawa beberapa baju tanpa lengan yang sengaja saya tinggal demi menghemat tempat untuk baju-baju hangat yang sekarang tidak ingin saya pakai. Serius… saya sepertinya akan membeli beberapa baju bagus besok saat saya ke City Center…

Blackberry saya masih aktif… bukan berarti saya berani memakainya berlebihan, karena saya masih pake nomer Indonesia. Moga-moga saya bisa menyelesaikan urusan blackberry besok, meskipun saya tidak janji juga (emangnya saya mau janji sama siapa?)

Singkat kata, apakah saya happy? Terlalu cepat untuk memutuskan, tapi sementara ini saya benar-benar menikmati tempat ini. Saya menyukai semuanya, termasuk kaki saya yang pegal dan makanan yang rasanya hambar itu. Bahkan walaupun saya bolak balik nyasar pun saya mungkin akan tetap mengatakan saya menyukainya.

Jadi…. ada yang mau nyusul ke sini?