UK day 1

Day one in London

Hi! We’re on London now and couldn’t be more excited to explore the city. I am gonna write anything that crossed in my mind, things that happened and some highlights from the day.

So just quick explanation about why we’re traveling to UK it’s actually a holiday for just two of us and it happened in September which is the month that I am having my birthday. You can say it’s a birthday trip but it’s more than just holiday, it’s the trip that we want to be closer to each other as a married couple, know each other more, a romantic gateway perhaps lol. Four years ago we went to Bali, Lombok and a small island called Meno (Gili Meno), you also can read the story in this blog.

So, here’s our story in London.

We arrived at London Gatwick airport, the 2nd largest airport in London at noon from Dubai International Airport. As we arrived, I checked my phone immediately (you know, I am doing this spontaneously of course) and my sister said on Whatsapp that there’s an explosion on London Tube. I checked Twitter and it’s true. Hope everyone is okay. Thank you for inexpensive XL Roaming package, I can online anytime! You know for doing Instagram Stories, see the Google Maps and other stuff.

Line on the immigration as seriously long. It took us a while to get the permit to enter the country. The officer only ask three questions. Number one “What are you doing in UK?” Number two “Have you ever been in UK?” And number three “How many days you will spend on UK?”. After we answer all question, he stamped and give us the passport. Whoa finally!

So, apparently Gatwick is a very busy airport. The train station in Gatwick was very crowded with people who line up for buying ticket. Either on the machine or by manual. Pretty much disaster lol. Since I already know that don’t use Gatwick Express to London because it’s bloody hell expensive, instead we use Thameslink to get into London, St. Pancras station to be exact. Well, more 30 minutes added but we think it’s okay to save money on this.

And when i want to buy the ticket, that machine rejected my credit card lol. So I am using cash. 19.20 pounds for just two tickets. So the route was Gatwick - London st.Pancras using Thameslink. So off we go to Platform 4 and wait the train. What should be note here : be aware of what the announcer tells which one is the right train for you. Because lots of train using the same platform.

The train was very comfortable. Huge window and you can put your luggage beside you because the seating area is spacious. So no worries about the luggage.

Arrived at St. Pancras station probably at 4pm, we took a stroll around the area and feel the weather (It was light rain!). It’s not that cold, actually.  The area itself I think it’s’ like business area, people walking around with suites and work bag. We found Google office too!

Also we took our time to read the Tube map while enjoying delicious coconut latte. Yeap it’s coconut! Best thing ever!

Underground

So it is time for us to take the Tube to our AirBnB. Apparently, it is on Northern Line and we took the Tube on King’s Cross. We buy the Oyster card and popup the card for 5 Pounds in a machine so we don’t need to buy any single ticket yay! And if you already spent 6 Pounds for traveling with the card, either with bus or tube, the fare will be stop at 6 pounds in that day so you can go anywhere free after 6 pounds! Awesome right!

On an underground station, you need to go down down and down until you find your platform. Here, you can feel the rush of people catching up the train, the wind blows in to your face and you can hear the announcer give info about security alert.

Finally the train has arrived, we entered the tube and boy it’s really compact. Like a tube with a seat inside. With a dominant white, the interior train is filled with colorful seat and ads. Made the train more colorful. Smaller than Singapore subway. And the handrail is navy blue. Nice modern design

While riding the tube, there are no signal and all commuter just reading a book or newspaper, listening to the music or doing crosswords! When you’re in the tube, you can see any faces of Londoners!

So we arrived at the Colliers Woods station and walk for 10minutes to our AirBnB. On 6:30pm, it’s cloudy and yet cold. It was very quite neighborhood i tell ya. We were dragging our two big luggages, the sound of the wheel was the only noise around the neighborhood. We also saw a football field. The area

We finally met the host, Alissa and Dan. So apparently, the host also sleep in the same home with the guest here. Different from AirBnB in Asia, if there’s a guest, the host will stay at another house. The room was very nice and comfortable, so stylish and feels like a hotel room!

After that we go straight to take a hot shower and sleep!

That’s the day 1.