London, Swansea, Southampton
Went to London 1st before proceeding to Swansea for business.
1st impression of UK Heathrow Airport, very old & not much shops in the terminal that i touched down, sianz… There are 4 terminals in Heathrow Airport, but understand from friends that in other terminals, there aren’t much shops either… London underground (aka tube, similar to our MRT) is a truly unique experience (or nightmare). In some of the stations, you can’t find any escalators. Just imagine you have to carry your luggage up & down the stairs, really xiong! But luckily, i have 2 friends with me. They are studying in UK & made time out to bring me around. Really appreciate it! As we know, the repair work of MRT is usually done after the last train of the day so as not to disrupt the system. But as the labour cost in UK is very high, OT till late nights will be very very expensive. Hence the repair of the underground is usually done on weekends. Don’t ask me why, as to us repair on weekends is impossible since it will affect a lot of people. But this is being done is London. In the stations, there will be notices to notify you on which part of the tracks are being shutdown for repair, hence you either have to detour, take bus or take cab. Here comes the worst nightmare… There are NO aircon in the underground!!! This is due to London underground was built long long ago, it’ll be very expensive to retrofit. Furthermore, the weather in London is usually breezy hence aircon is unnecessary. I was very unlucky to be caught in the hottest period of these few years, hence it was a torture to take the underground. Very hot & stuffy… Soon i realized that there are no aircon for many places in London. FAINT!!! Hence folks, better be sure what is the weather like in London before you make your trip down…
After the 1st day in London, i agree that things in London are really expensive! Irregardless transportation, food, clothes, petrol blah blah blah. My UK counterpart told me that this is due to high taxes. Hence their pay is high (compared to us) to offset this… They hope that they can find a job in Asia but paid with the salary they are getting in UK. Chay! Fat hope!
Basically, i have to agreed that there is indeed nothing much in Swansea & Southampton. Life here is more R&R compared to London. Same as people in US, people here likes to relax in a big field of grass or just sit in an outdoor cafe to spend their day. I believe that this is due to there is nothing much to do hence no choice but to idle around… Opps!
Necessary places to cover… Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Stonehenge, Greenwich, London Eye.
Wonder when / where is my next trip…
