30/5/09
Dubai 8.30 am (Malaysian time)
The flight stopped at Dubai International Airport for a couple of hours. My sister and I were walking around the airport hoping to find my fridge magnet. When I saw it, my heart just skipped a beat (or it practically stopped beating!) The fridge magnet was so expensive! I was thinking about RM5 or RM6, but no, it was 18Dhs (around RM18…). Well, I donated my ‘first’ gold…(the magnet better stay still on my fridge, whoever is gonna touch it will have to pay for it!). The clock in Dubai Airport was a ROLEX! I think my father would love it. Well, I couldn’t steal it for him, so I just took a picture of it!
Birmingham 12.35pm (UK time)This was the first time I stepped foot on the soil of the Great Britain. After 16 hours flight on the Emirates, I could barely walk when I reached Birmingham airport with sleepy eyes. My sister who was accompanying me hailed a taxi to take us to her apartment. Oh, her apartment is called “The Mailbox”…hehe….I was living in a mailbox...(sounds funny, right?).
Anyway, back to the apartment where I got everything unpacked. My sister got a snowball from LV…yeah, she was damn right happy about it. Well, that day I rested at the apartment because the next day we were to go to London.
31/5/09 6am
Early in the morning, my sister and I had a walk behind her apartment. She had to show me the Tesco market so that I would not starve myself to death. The walk was nice and the weather was so cool. The sun was smiling at me and the flowers on the street seemed to welcome me there. (I was actually thinking next week I would jog at the place every morning to keep me fit…hmm, good thought but incapable of doing so!) After going back to the apartment and packed everything, we headed to London. It was two hour’s drive from Birmingham to London.
On the way to London, we stopped by Bicester Village.
Bicester Village Shopping Centre is an outlet centre in Bicester in Oxfordshire, It is famous for several high-end brands, including Ted Baker, Ralph Lauren, Jimmy Choo, Burberry and Clarks, as well as housing a small number of restaurants and cafés. Being the UK’s leading designer outlet village, the centre's stores generally stock end-of-line ranges at discounted prices.The shopping centre is located just off the main roundabout which brings the A41 into Bicester, and is next to a large Tesco store and public house. The leek soup I had for lunch in Eat-in was the best thing I had ever tasted. (Actually, ever since that day, it was all soup pour moi. Wild mushroom soup, potato soup, chicken soup—mind you, the chicken soup here is totally different from our Chinese chicken soup!). I bought myself a good book by Jill Mansell to read while on the way to London. We also stopped by Oxford University! (Mummy, I made it! I stepped foot on the soil of the university that you wanted us to get in…hehe…but not studying there!) The whole town of Oxford is actually the whole university or should I say the other way round…hmm…blur…ok, here goes: Oxford is a city, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Buildings in Oxford reflect every British architectural period since the arrival of the Saxons, including the iconic, mid-18th century Radcliffe Camera. 
Early in the morning, my sister and I had a walk behind her apartment. She had to show me the Tesco market so that I would not starve myself to death. The walk was nice and the weather was so cool. The sun was smiling at me and the flowers on the street seemed to welcome me there. (I was actually thinking next week I would jog at the place every morning to keep me fit…hmm, good thought but incapable of doing so!) After going back to the apartment and packed everything, we headed to London. It was two hour’s drive from Birmingham to London.
On the way to London, we stopped by Bicester Village.
Bicester Village Shopping Centre is an outlet centre in Bicester in Oxfordshire, It is famous for several high-end brands, including Ted Baker, Ralph Lauren, Jimmy Choo, Burberry and Clarks, as well as housing a small number of restaurants and cafés. Being the UK’s leading designer outlet village, the centre's stores generally stock end-of-line ranges at discounted prices.The shopping centre is located just off the main roundabout which brings the A41 into Bicester, and is next to a large Tesco store and public house. The leek soup I had for lunch in Eat-in was the best thing I had ever tasted. (Actually, ever since that day, it was all soup pour moi. Wild mushroom soup, potato soup, chicken soup—mind you, the chicken soup here is totally different from our Chinese chicken soup!). I bought myself a good book by Jill Mansell to read while on the way to London. We also stopped by Oxford University! (Mummy, I made it! I stepped foot on the soil of the university that you wanted us to get in…hehe…but not studying there!) The whole town of Oxford is actually the whole university or should I say the other way round…hmm…blur…ok, here goes: Oxford is a city, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Buildings in Oxford reflect every British architectural period since the arrival of the Saxons, including the iconic, mid-18th century Radcliffe Camera. 
Oxford is known as the "city of dreaming spires" in reference to the harmonious architecture of Oxford's university buildings. After visiting the Trinity College and Botanic Garden, we started our journey to London. London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. London's history goes back to its founding by the Romans. London is one of the world's foremost global cities alongside New York and Tokyo. It is a major tourist destination for both domestic and overseas visitors. London is going to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.
1/6/09
From Barrett to the tube station in South Ealing was about 20 minutes walk. We went down to Westminster and the first thing that came to sight was the Big Ben!
Well, the Big Ben was so London and with the double decker everywhere, you know that you are in London. Behind the Big Ben was the House of Parliament. 
We walked along the street to Westminster Abbey. St. Margaret’s Church was just opposite of the building. After taking some photos, we took the tube to St. James’s Park to see the Changing of the Guard in Buckingham Palace. The Changing of the Guard took place at11.30am and the place was so crowded because there were so many visitors that day! Some had to climb up the walk to get a good look. I was lucky though to have found myself in front of the palace. After watching the changing of the guard, we took a stroll along the River Thames where you can see London Eye across the river. Another tube ride from the Westminster to Baker Street took us to Madam Tussaud’s—the famous wax museum! Just name the stars, you can find it in Madam Tussaud’s…and even Shah Rukh Khan was there (the fake one, of course!) Baker Street is famous for the filming of Sherlock Holmes. I wanted to go to the Sherlock Holmes Museum but my sister was not interested in all these stuffs. Sigh…I so wanted to go there to see my idol! Going to Madam Tussaud’s is a must. This one in London housed all the Mat Salleh, I couldn’t wait to see the one in Hong Kong. We walked to the London Eye because we had the ticket when we bought the ticket to Madam Tussaud’s. It is advisable that you buy the whole package. That way you can save a lot. Really! Up in the capsule of London Eye, you could actually see the whole London city. It felt like the city was under your feet! When I was in the capsule, I overheard a mother telling stuffs to her cute little daughter. Well, I was not eavesdropping; it was no harm to listen to things about the building. That little girl pointed at a direction and asked her mum “Is that Eiffel Tower?” When her mum said yes in a funny tune, I kind of believed it and told my sister. My sister was laughing her head off when she heard that! Yeah, yeah, I know, stupid enough to believe that but that tower REALLY looked like Eiffel Tower! How was I supposed to know? A walk along the River Thames could take you to the Tower of London where Lady Jane was hanged. 
The Tower Bridge (many of us thought that was the London Bridge!) was just next to Tower of London.
From Barrett to the tube station in South Ealing was about 20 minutes walk. We went down to Westminster and the first thing that came to sight was the Big Ben!
Well, the Big Ben was so London and with the double decker everywhere, you know that you are in London. Behind the Big Ben was the House of Parliament. 
We walked along the street to Westminster Abbey. St. Margaret’s Church was just opposite of the building. After taking some photos, we took the tube to St. James’s Park to see the Changing of the Guard in Buckingham Palace. The Changing of the Guard took place at11.30am and the place was so crowded because there were so many visitors that day! Some had to climb up the walk to get a good look. I was lucky though to have found myself in front of the palace. After watching the changing of the guard, we took a stroll along the River Thames where you can see London Eye across the river. Another tube ride from the Westminster to Baker Street took us to Madam Tussaud’s—the famous wax museum! Just name the stars, you can find it in Madam Tussaud’s…and even Shah Rukh Khan was there (the fake one, of course!) Baker Street is famous for the filming of Sherlock Holmes. I wanted to go to the Sherlock Holmes Museum but my sister was not interested in all these stuffs. Sigh…I so wanted to go there to see my idol! Going to Madam Tussaud’s is a must. This one in London housed all the Mat Salleh, I couldn’t wait to see the one in Hong Kong. We walked to the London Eye because we had the ticket when we bought the ticket to Madam Tussaud’s. It is advisable that you buy the whole package. That way you can save a lot. Really! Up in the capsule of London Eye, you could actually see the whole London city. It felt like the city was under your feet! When I was in the capsule, I overheard a mother telling stuffs to her cute little daughter. Well, I was not eavesdropping; it was no harm to listen to things about the building. That little girl pointed at a direction and asked her mum “Is that Eiffel Tower?” When her mum said yes in a funny tune, I kind of believed it and told my sister. My sister was laughing her head off when she heard that! Yeah, yeah, I know, stupid enough to believe that but that tower REALLY looked like Eiffel Tower! How was I supposed to know? A walk along the River Thames could take you to the Tower of London where Lady Jane was hanged. 
The Tower Bridge (many of us thought that was the London Bridge!) was just next to Tower of London. 2/6/09
It was a shopping day. My sister, the shopaholic, could really spend all her time in a mall. We of course went to Harrods. To get there, you just have to get down at Knightsbridge. Everything in Harrods is very expensive. You ought to have enough $$ to shop in that place. Nobody could go London without going in Harrods. After that, we went to Covent Market, another shopping heaven with cheaper stuffs. We had our lunch at Chinatown because I missed Chinese food. The food was tasteless and the way the Chinese were treating us, made me think twice before I need to enter that town again! Walking around Leichester Square just to see the oldest cinema was a little bit of time wasted (because it didn’t look old enough to me!). To end our shopping day, my sister took me to St. Paul’s Cathedral because she knew how much I love the buildings, especially the old and ancient ones.
It was a shopping day. My sister, the shopaholic, could really spend all her time in a mall. We of course went to Harrods. To get there, you just have to get down at Knightsbridge. Everything in Harrods is very expensive. You ought to have enough $$ to shop in that place. Nobody could go London without going in Harrods. After that, we went to Covent Market, another shopping heaven with cheaper stuffs. We had our lunch at Chinatown because I missed Chinese food. The food was tasteless and the way the Chinese were treating us, made me think twice before I need to enter that town again! Walking around Leichester Square just to see the oldest cinema was a little bit of time wasted (because it didn’t look old enough to me!). To end our shopping day, my sister took me to St. Paul’s Cathedral because she knew how much I love the buildings, especially the old and ancient ones.
3/6/09
A day at Kew Garden was the theme for this day. We actually started off the wrong direction. Luckily that someone showed us the right direction. I thought the garden was the usual botanic garden that we used to frequent. Little did I know that Royal Kew Garden was so ‘hugh’ that one day walk would not be sufficient? While my sister and I were looking for her blue bells and Azalea Garden, we got lost in the forest of pine trees. We kept spinning around the Queen Charlotte’s cottage like the story of Hansel and Gretel. Finally, we managed to get out the forest by following the trails. But we missed the tree top walk, the water lily house, Winter Garden etc…sigh…This lesson taught us that next time check out the place from the internet first, so that we won’t miss out anything anymore! The ticket to Kew Garden was £13 but it was worth it. It is recommended to pay a visit to Kew Garden. It was there I first touched lavender. The smell of the flowers was heaven! It’s such a beautiful place that I wished I could stay there or somewhere the Garden. The housing area at Kew is so peaceful and the houses are just like what I would want it to be. (ok, I’m an architecture freak. When it comes to buildings, my knees would go weak because it is hard to walk away from such beautiful sight.)
A day at Kew Garden was the theme for this day. We actually started off the wrong direction. Luckily that someone showed us the right direction. I thought the garden was the usual botanic garden that we used to frequent. Little did I know that Royal Kew Garden was so ‘hugh’ that one day walk would not be sufficient? While my sister and I were looking for her blue bells and Azalea Garden, we got lost in the forest of pine trees. We kept spinning around the Queen Charlotte’s cottage like the story of Hansel and Gretel. Finally, we managed to get out the forest by following the trails. But we missed the tree top walk, the water lily house, Winter Garden etc…sigh…This lesson taught us that next time check out the place from the internet first, so that we won’t miss out anything anymore! The ticket to Kew Garden was £13 but it was worth it. It is recommended to pay a visit to Kew Garden. It was there I first touched lavender. The smell of the flowers was heaven! It’s such a beautiful place that I wished I could stay there or somewhere the Garden. The housing area at Kew is so peaceful and the houses are just like what I would want it to be. (ok, I’m an architecture freak. When it comes to buildings, my knees would go weak because it is hard to walk away from such beautiful sight.)
4/6/09
We booked a tour with Evan Evans Tour to go to Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth’s weekend residence, Bath and Stonehenge. The tour guide told us that there were 9 castles built around England during the time of William the Conqueror. One of them was Windsor Castle.
Audio tour was available and every detail in the castle was well explained. The first station that we stopped by just had to be the Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. Oh! It was just fascinating to look at but I couldn’t get a picture of it because it was NOT allowed! (Could anyone please build me a doll house for my Barbie dolls?). Inside the castle, pictures, paintings and china were everywhere. There was a painting of a Chinese who definitely look like 马浚伟, the Hong Kong movie actor. Maybe he was the Emperor in his previous life? After walking around the castle, we visited the St George’s Chapel. It was said that Prince Charles married his mistress, Camelia Parker Bowles here. After Windsor Castle, we headed to Bath. Along the way, the country side was so beautiful and decorated with daisies. I like daisies. They are so friendly. Like what Meg Ryan said in : ‘Daisies are the friendliest flower in the world’. She had a point there. The daisies were everywhere to greet me. How I wished I could bring them home. Sigh…my heart just melted when I saw them. Bath was just a place where the Romans had come and built the temple because there was a hot spring somewhere around the place. 
It was the Romans’ bathing place. That’s why the place is called Bath. Nothing more to say about the place except for the ruined building had been equipped with modern facilities. I had a chance to talk to the so called “priest”. He was worried that I might get sunburn without a hat. Duh! After spending around one and half hour around Bath, we finally got ourselves going to see another monument that was made of stone called the Stonehenge. At first, the tour guide told us that it could be built by aliens or the Saxon. Later on, when after finishing the tour, she told us that it was built by the British and they made up the stories of Stonehenge just to attract tourists. Haha! I guessed this day was a day to see batu only…sigh…
We booked a tour with Evan Evans Tour to go to Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth’s weekend residence, Bath and Stonehenge. The tour guide told us that there were 9 castles built around England during the time of William the Conqueror. One of them was Windsor Castle.
Audio tour was available and every detail in the castle was well explained. The first station that we stopped by just had to be the Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. Oh! It was just fascinating to look at but I couldn’t get a picture of it because it was NOT allowed! (Could anyone please build me a doll house for my Barbie dolls?). Inside the castle, pictures, paintings and china were everywhere. There was a painting of a Chinese who definitely look like 马浚伟, the Hong Kong movie actor. Maybe he was the Emperor in his previous life? After walking around the castle, we visited the St George’s Chapel. It was said that Prince Charles married his mistress, Camelia Parker Bowles here. After Windsor Castle, we headed to Bath. Along the way, the country side was so beautiful and decorated with daisies. I like daisies. They are so friendly. Like what Meg Ryan said in 
It was the Romans’ bathing place. That’s why the place is called Bath. Nothing more to say about the place except for the ruined building had been equipped with modern facilities. I had a chance to talk to the so called “priest”. He was worried that I might get sunburn without a hat. Duh! After spending around one and half hour around Bath, we finally got ourselves going to see another monument that was made of stone called the Stonehenge. At first, the tour guide told us that it could be built by aliens or the Saxon. Later on, when after finishing the tour, she told us that it was built by the British and they made up the stories of Stonehenge just to attract tourists. Haha! I guessed this day was a day to see batu only…sigh…5/6/09
Another shopping day again! This time we went to Westfield Mall where things were at their normal price. In Westfield Mall, my sister was just crazy about bags. Sigh, wasted an hour in just one shop--London Luggage Company. Well, lucky for me to have Boots there. I actually did buy a pair of boots too!
Another shopping day again! This time we went to Westfield Mall where things were at their normal price. In Westfield Mall, my sister was just crazy about bags. Sigh, wasted an hour in just one shop--London Luggage Company. Well, lucky for me to have Boots there. I actually did buy a pair of boots too!
6/6/09
Jon took us to Seven Sisters. The place was near the sea. While walking along the path to the seaside, we saw a herd of sheep. They were busy chewing the greenest grass and the path was decorated with their very own faeces.
Yewww…this place was downright smelly! When we reached the cliff, (this place is called Seven Sisters because it is made up of 7 cliffs.) One of the cliffs had all the countries’ names. ‘Malaysia’ was not included, so we decided to put the name there. At the top of cliff, we sang to the Sound of Music because this place really looked like the place that was in the movie where Julie Andrew sang. All the beaches in England were stone beaches. So it was kind of hard to walk without your shoes. Imagine that the kind of stones sell about RM8 per kg in Malaysia. Wah, if only I could take them home with me…I would be rich by then!! After that, we went to Brighton Pier where there was a fun fair on the sea…The Royal Pavilion was a gift from a Maharaja of Patiala of India to the Queen. It looked like a mosque that made us wonder if the Maharaja was a muslim…hmm…
Jon took us to Seven Sisters. The place was near the sea. While walking along the path to the seaside, we saw a herd of sheep. They were busy chewing the greenest grass and the path was decorated with their very own faeces.
Yewww…this place was downright smelly! When we reached the cliff, (this place is called Seven Sisters because it is made up of 7 cliffs.) One of the cliffs had all the countries’ names. ‘Malaysia’ was not included, so we decided to put the name there. At the top of cliff, we sang to the Sound of Music because this place really looked like the place that was in the movie where Julie Andrew sang. All the beaches in England were stone beaches. So it was kind of hard to walk without your shoes. Imagine that the kind of stones sell about RM8 per kg in Malaysia. Wah, if only I could take them home with me…I would be rich by then!! After that, we went to Brighton Pier where there was a fun fair on the sea…The Royal Pavilion was a gift from a Maharaja of Patiala of India to the Queen. It looked like a mosque that made us wonder if the Maharaja was a muslim…hmm…7/6/09
My sister insisted to go to Knightsbridge because she wanted to buy a bag. After choosing her bag for what looked like eternity to me, we finally got to move on to Oxford Street, another shopping heaven. What I needed was a bookstore to occupy my time while my sister was busy doing her shopping. Then, with all our purchases, we left London by Virgin train to Birmingham.
My sister insisted to go to Knightsbridge because she wanted to buy a bag. After choosing her bag for what looked like eternity to me, we finally got to move on to Oxford Street, another shopping heaven. What I needed was a bookstore to occupy my time while my sister was busy doing her shopping. Then, with all our purchases, we left London by Virgin train to Birmingham.
8/6/09
I did not go anywhere because I was down with flu and reddish eyes. People might be afraid of me and I thought I was having H1N1. The newspaper said that Hay fever was everywhere then. So I decided to stay home, took vitamin C and finished reading all my books. Still, I did not get well. Sigh…wasted my time here…
I did not go anywhere because I was down with flu and reddish eyes. People might be afraid of me and I thought I was having H1N1. The newspaper said that Hay fever was everywhere then. So I decided to stay home, took vitamin C and finished reading all my books. Still, I did not get well. Sigh…wasted my time here…
9/6/09
I went to Bullring today because my sister wanted to have lunch with me. I insisted to go to Eat-in coz’ I love the soup there so much! Yummy! After shopping a while in Bull Ring, I decided to go back because I was still very sick. Dinner (Malaysian food) was with my sister’s colleagues because that night we booked the ticket to watch the musical ‘Chicago’. It was so nice that I regretted for not watching “The Phantom of the Opera” when I was in London. Sigh….regrets, regrets, regrets…
I went to Bullring today because my sister wanted to have lunch with me. I insisted to go to Eat-in coz’ I love the soup there so much! Yummy! After shopping a while in Bull Ring, I decided to go back because I was still very sick. Dinner (Malaysian food) was with my sister’s colleagues because that night we booked the ticket to watch the musical ‘Chicago’. It was so nice that I regretted for not watching “The Phantom of the Opera” when I was in London. Sigh….regrets, regrets, regrets…
10/6/09
Had to stay home again. This time it was not because of me feeling sick, but it was about to rain. I could not afford to get wet or else I would be sicker. This was the time for me to explore the TV channel of England…hehe…and how I loved watching ‘Britain got talent’.
Had to stay home again. This time it was not because of me feeling sick, but it was about to rain. I could not afford to get wet or else I would be sicker. This was the time for me to explore the TV channel of England…hehe…and how I loved watching ‘Britain got talent’.
11/6/09
This day was the bravest day of my life! I traveled alone in a foreign country and still could get back in one piece…hehehe…Ok, here goes: I went out to the train station, hoping to find a map to get elsewhere. (I actually needed to go to Birmingham University because I had promised Pn. Chen to search information about the universities in UK.) Instead of going to the university, I got a map of Birmingham City of which I had not explored. So this very day, I followed the map and found out the city’s most interesting buildings. This city actually boasts a strong collection of Victorian buildings, much to my satisfaction. (I love Victorian buildings, mind you…).
This day was the bravest day of my life! I traveled alone in a foreign country and still could get back in one piece…hehehe…Ok, here goes: I went out to the train station, hoping to find a map to get elsewhere. (I actually needed to go to Birmingham University because I had promised Pn. Chen to search information about the universities in UK.) Instead of going to the university, I got a map of Birmingham City of which I had not explored. So this very day, I followed the map and found out the city’s most interesting buildings. This city actually boasts a strong collection of Victorian buildings, much to my satisfaction. (I love Victorian buildings, mind you…).
Starting from the Bullring, St. Martin’s Church was just right beside the hideous building. Then walking along Hill Street, I came across the Former Head Post Office at Victoria Square. Surrounding the square were the Council House, Town Hall (which looked like the Pantheon) and Museum And Art Gallery.
Then, heading to west, there was Baskerville House and Hall of Memory (where I met my handsome statue. It was love at first sight). The Repertory Theatre was just in front of me but I took the wrong turn. Anyway, I took the shortcut to the Argent Centre (gold pen and pencil manufacturer). Then I headed straight along Graham Street to St Paul’s Church. This church was very gloomy. When I took a picture of the tomb, the picture was very, very blur. The pictures taken elsewhere were okay except for the tomb. I felt so tired of walking, so I just went to St. Chads Circus to take picture of St. Chad’s Cathedral and walked back to the Bullring. While heading back, I passed the The Exchange (or formerly known as the Bell-Edison Telephone Building.) The reddish-brown building had a riot of decoration of balconies and highly decorated gables. 
The Jacobean-style of chimneys enhanced the beauty of the building. To go back to the Bullring, you would have passed by the Bennetts, formerly a banking building that was built in 1869. I love the statues at the corner entrance. It is now a popular pub and wine bar. My tour of the Birmingham City ended at the Bullring, because there was the only way I knew how to get back to the apartment…hehe…
The Jacobean-style of chimneys enhanced the beauty of the building. To go back to the Bullring, you would have passed by the Bennetts, formerly a banking building that was built in 1869. I love the statues at the corner entrance. It is now a popular pub and wine bar. My tour of the Birmingham City ended at the Bullring, because there was the only way I knew how to get back to the apartment…hehe…12/6/09
I finally decided to pay a visit to the Birmingham University.
I took the train to university. Well, I was actually lost in the university because the first building I saw was the hospital. After walking around the university, I was feeling lost. I had to find the administrative office but I just couldn’t find it. I had to sum up the courage to ask around. But nobody could give me the answer. I saw the Law School that Pn. Chen’s daughter wanted to enter. The person whom I approached was friendly enough to tell me that everyone can apply online. Talk about wasting time, so I decided to get out of the university. When I finally saw an Asian guy (didn’t know which country he was from), I approached him to ask about the direction to get out of the university. So unlucky for me, he was new in town too! The people around me thought I was a student and kept asking me for directions when I myself needed the direction too! Sigh…Finally, the guy came back with an answer pour moi. Talk about luck. The gate was actually right behind me! Well, I could not have known that it was the gate because it looked like going to a housing area which I thought was the hostels. Then I asked the guard for I needed to go to Selly Oak to get to Selly Manor and Cadbury World. When I told the guard that I was going to walk there, he looked at me like I was insane because Selly Oak was about an hour walking distance. Well, I did not care that much because walking did me good for curing my flu! I went out through south gate and started to walk towards Selly Oak town. The town had a history dated back to Tudor’s time. Due to the proximity of the University of Birmingham, there were a large number of students in the area. You could always see posters sticking on the wall for students’ references of renting a house. I found Selly Manor, paid £3.50 and went in to have a look. Selly Manor is the oldest timber-framed building in Birmingham. The Tudor manor house sat in beautiful period garden. The garden had been recreated as a Tudor garden. 
Selly Manor housed a superb collection of furniture dating from 1500 to 1750. While I was there, a group of primary school students was playing around the garden. When they went in with their teachers, I followed them and listened with them to the guide as he spoke about the history of Selly Manor and how the Tudor lived in their time. I spent about two hours in the manor house and the children were waving goodbyes as I took leave. I had to get back to the apartment because at night we were going to have barbeques with my sister’s colleagues.
I finally decided to pay a visit to the Birmingham University.
I took the train to university. Well, I was actually lost in the university because the first building I saw was the hospital. After walking around the university, I was feeling lost. I had to find the administrative office but I just couldn’t find it. I had to sum up the courage to ask around. But nobody could give me the answer. I saw the Law School that Pn. Chen’s daughter wanted to enter. The person whom I approached was friendly enough to tell me that everyone can apply online. Talk about wasting time, so I decided to get out of the university. When I finally saw an Asian guy (didn’t know which country he was from), I approached him to ask about the direction to get out of the university. So unlucky for me, he was new in town too! The people around me thought I was a student and kept asking me for directions when I myself needed the direction too! Sigh…Finally, the guy came back with an answer pour moi. Talk about luck. The gate was actually right behind me! Well, I could not have known that it was the gate because it looked like going to a housing area which I thought was the hostels. Then I asked the guard for I needed to go to Selly Oak to get to Selly Manor and Cadbury World. When I told the guard that I was going to walk there, he looked at me like I was insane because Selly Oak was about an hour walking distance. Well, I did not care that much because walking did me good for curing my flu! I went out through south gate and started to walk towards Selly Oak town. The town had a history dated back to Tudor’s time. Due to the proximity of the University of Birmingham, there were a large number of students in the area. You could always see posters sticking on the wall for students’ references of renting a house. I found Selly Manor, paid £3.50 and went in to have a look. Selly Manor is the oldest timber-framed building in Birmingham. The Tudor manor house sat in beautiful period garden. The garden had been recreated as a Tudor garden. 
Selly Manor housed a superb collection of furniture dating from 1500 to 1750. While I was there, a group of primary school students was playing around the garden. When they went in with their teachers, I followed them and listened with them to the guide as he spoke about the history of Selly Manor and how the Tudor lived in their time. I spent about two hours in the manor house and the children were waving goodbyes as I took leave. I had to get back to the apartment because at night we were going to have barbeques with my sister’s colleagues.13/6/09
This was my last day in UK. I had to go back because the school starts on Monday. However my flight was not until 9.20pm, so we decided to go to Blenheim Palace.
Blenheim Palace, home to the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, set in 2100 acres of beautiful landscape, surrounded by sweeping lawns, formal gardens and the magnificent Lake. Inside, the scale of the Palace is beautifully balanced by the intricate detail and delicacy of the carvings, the hand painted ceilings and the amazing porcelain collections, tapestries and paintings displayed in each room. We had an audio tour, so when we reached Churchill’s birth room, we were well-informed of the things in the room. Outside, the sun was shining brightly and we had our lunch at the terrace. After that, we walked to the rose garden and tried to find the secret garden. We thought we had reached the ‘secret garden’ where it was surrounded by trees; we were disappointed because it was not as appealing as a secret garden should be. However, the real secret garden was actually hiding right in front of the fake ‘secret garden’. Imagine how delighted we were just to be in the garden. Not wasting any more time, we took the train to Pleasure Garden where there hold a giant symbolic maze and Butterfly house.
At 5pm, we headed back to Birmingham Airport where I had to fly back to Malaysia…sob, sob…Goodbye England!
This was my last day in UK. I had to go back because the school starts on Monday. However my flight was not until 9.20pm, so we decided to go to Blenheim Palace.
Blenheim Palace, home to the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, set in 2100 acres of beautiful landscape, surrounded by sweeping lawns, formal gardens and the magnificent Lake. Inside, the scale of the Palace is beautifully balanced by the intricate detail and delicacy of the carvings, the hand painted ceilings and the amazing porcelain collections, tapestries and paintings displayed in each room. We had an audio tour, so when we reached Churchill’s birth room, we were well-informed of the things in the room. Outside, the sun was shining brightly and we had our lunch at the terrace. After that, we walked to the rose garden and tried to find the secret garden. We thought we had reached the ‘secret garden’ where it was surrounded by trees; we were disappointed because it was not as appealing as a secret garden should be. However, the real secret garden was actually hiding right in front of the fake ‘secret garden’. Imagine how delighted we were just to be in the garden. Not wasting any more time, we took the train to Pleasure Garden where there hold a giant symbolic maze and Butterfly house.At 5pm, we headed back to Birmingham Airport where I had to fly back to Malaysia…sob, sob…Goodbye England!
I thought it looked like a wax because it didn’t look real to me. We were not allowed to bring in camera, so there won’t be any photo of Uncle Ho. We also were ushered to Ho Chi Minh’s working quarter and visited his house. One Pillar Pagoda(独柱庙)was very near to that place and the temple had many visitors (most of them were childless couples) who came to pray for a child. 
After having ice-cream (kem) near the One Pillar Pagoda, we went to Museum of Ethnology to gain knowledge about their Orang Asli. (Haiz…this one I can say it was totally boring!). But we did get to see many couples taking their wedding photo there because the scenery was beautiful. Next stop—lunch time. We ate at the Ladybird Restaurant where the food was awesome! (I know, I know, by eating all the rice a.k.a carbohydrate would fatten me, but what could I possibly do to stop myself from eating that oh-so-delicious-and-pearly-white fragrant rice?) We even planned to have lunch here the next day too…hehe…After lunch, we headed to Temple of Literature (文庙). Temple of Literature is Vietnam first university. The weird thing in this so called university was that there wasn’t any classroom around….hmmm, really make me wonder how they studied? Finally our last stop—Ngoc Son Temple (玉山祠). 我们绕着湖边走向玉山祠。很中国式的庙，还有一只镶在透明柜里的巨龟标本。听说这就是还剑湖传说中的那只借剑给李太祖的神龟。 
这里的建筑和邮政服务还保留着很古老的味道，里面还有旧式电话厅，好不特别。我还在这里买了几张Postcard to give to friends和邮票for my own keeping. ( Hehe, forgot to say that I was riding motorbike with a Vietnamese tour guide and he was the one who planned where to go for sight-seeing). Opposite of the post office was the Notre Dame Church(圣母大教堂). It was beautiful and I couldn’t get in because it was closed for the day. Sighhhhhhh…..
高臺教圣地就是全越南最大間的高臺教教堂了！圣地頂上有各種各樣的神像。神奇的宗教, 融合了世上的主流宗教。看看大殿盡頭的這些神像， （以下八個應該是高臺教最崇高的神祗）正中央最高層是釋迦摩尼，第二層中間分別是老子、玉皇大帝和孔子，而第三層的是观世音菩萨、耶穌和關公，第四層則是太上老君。除此之外，旁邊還有許多大大小小東西方的神話人物, 在這一切之上的是一只`大眼睛’, 被視為是人間的主宰… 逛完后, 我们就去越南战争博物馆. 
基本上，这里的展示品都是以前越南战争时代的一些资料. After the tour of the museum, I felt so sorry for those people who suffered all because of the war that happened. 在那边发现很多工作的残疾人士都是以前橙色剂（orange agent）的受害者。 橙色剂是能够抑制植物生长的化学物品。当年越战时期，橙色剂大量被用在越南的树林以对付以树林为遮蔽的游击队。橙色剂就这样大量污染了好好的一片土地，导致了许多畸形婴孩的产生。But one thing overwhelmed me was that the friendship that President Deng and President Ho built, helped the Vietnamese to overcome the hardship and the suffering of the people.
統一宮的佈局設計與周圍風景相映成輝。其中房間有總統辦公室、內閣會議室、外交大廳、總統夫人室和電影室等等。出来統一宮时, 外面下着雨. 我这真的要回去hotel冲凉了。冲完凉了, 我繼續去走走. 原来越南也有百盛的, 去逛逛走走百盛, 觉得百盛的东西不便宜, 还是大马便宜得多. 逛完后, 吃晚餐就回hotel睡觉了.
During my stay in Buon Ma Thout, not only I got to eat my pho ga (鸡丝河粉), the rest of the local delicacies like Banh Mi (法国面包), Banh Xiao, 米春卷 and com ga (Chicken rice) were so delicious, that I had put on weight when I went back to Malaysia. The only place I get to visit was called Buon Dung. It’s where I got to ride elephant. I was so shocked when the guide had to hit the poor Jumbo because it wanted to eat the sugar cane beside the road. The way the guide poked its head until it was bleeding made me realized that I should not be sitting on the elephant. They have the right to roam around the jungle and not being used by tourist like me. I felt awful that day. My lunch for that day: Bamboo rice (just like our lemang except it was without the rendang. ). In Buon Ma Thout, I had attended some Vietnamese Language class for 6 times and my Vietnamese teacher is Chi Linh. (Chi means older sister, Linh is her name). She brought me around for sight-seeing and I saw the most beautiful white house somewhere around the town when she was trying to take me to buy some noodles and bread. Vietnamese houses are long and narrow. But the bungalows in the town were so European and that they make you think you were in Europe. And everywhere you turn, you will always see those statues about soldiers. I had bought myself 5 aodais (Vietnamese costume) for my graduation. I wanted to look different for my convocation. After spending two weeks there, I just couldn’t wait to go home. For me, the stay in Vietnam is totally eye-opening and boring. The lifestyle is so simple that the people have nothing to do but drink coffee every day. (Did I mention that Buon Ma Thout is famous for its coffee product?)
And yes, I drank café day time and night time too during my stay there because like them, I had nothing to do too! It was a relaxing vacation that I really hope for.
