[L.E.P.A.K series: London] Chapter 27: The Morning After

 Yes. This is it. This is the last of my L.E.P.A.K posts. The adventure is coming to an end. 

Just a little bit more to go. Are you ready? 

 I'm not. :(

 But here goes! Our morning market stroll was greeted with all kinds of 'wacky'.

Seriously. Who would be looking for Ice Cold Water in this weather?

The must-have Notting Hill shopping bag. ;)

Umm... for those who are patriotic inside and out?

Alright. There's nothing really 'wacky' about this stall. 

It's just that we passed by it, took a shot and moved along... 

.

.

.

 ...and then when we passed by it again, much later...

WAA-LAH!

Lots and lots of pastries to choose from. We bought some to munch later. 

It was a very 'bread' day for us. £1 each or 3 for £2.70. 

Very affordable to the locals but that's a whooping RM13 to us. Oh well.

Merry men playing merry music for the merry people on the street. 

They were pretty good but we're pretty poor, so yeah. Haha.

This was the point where we decided it's time 

to make a U-turn and head back. Time to go 'home'. :(

One last pretty before we go.

Good bye Baker Street.

Struggle struggle. Resist resist.

Waaaaaa.... at the waiting lounge.

Attempts one last shot together.

One last London meal. Yes, bread again. But this was soooo yummy too. 

The Real Prawn Salad with crazy load of fresh prawns. Squashy. Yummy.

And so it begun... our 13-hour flight back to Malaysia.

Think the story has come to an end? 

 Think again. I'm not done yet. 

I want to remember some details on board.

You see, our plane took off at approximately five in the evening. The scenery outside changed from daylight to sunset, from sunset to total darkness and from night to sunrise and back to full daylight as shown in the sequence of photos above. During our flight from Malaysia to London, it was just daylight throughout the entire journey as we were travelling backwards in time, so we were stuck with 13 hours of daylight.

 So naturally this time, everyone went to bed at one point during the flight. 

That's normal right? 

 The thing was that it's Air Asia X. Not exactly the most comfortable long haul flight out there. Economical, yes. Spacious comfort, yes, if you pay more for a premium flat bed. So yeah, all of us 'economical' travellers were making the best out of the situation. 

 That was until a guy came right beside my seat and decided to create his own 'flat bed' 

by laying on the floor. 

 Say woot?!?!

You see. The usual plane seating would be 3-3-3, until you reach towards the curvy end of the plane where it gets narrower and the seating order changes to 2-3-2. Cik Anai and I were lucky enough to be seated at the very first 2-seater row. Yay! That means no stranger sitting with us. Double Yay because that also means we don't have to risk sitting next to a super big guy or a super smelly guy or a super talkative guy... (okay, I'm sounding a tad too bias and judgemental here but you get the idea). 

 But apparently we got ourselves a super strange guy instead. Who was laying right beside my seat, on the floor, trying to be as close to the side as possible because hello, the floor is of course, the aisle! And because it was 'night' time and everyone was 'asleep', no flight attendant actually noticed or came to ask the man to 'remove' himself. 

 Awkward. 

 The awkwardness continued for about 15 minutes or so and finally he stood up and left. 

 -_______-

After that, we passed through what we believed to be the desert, the Himalayas and we're home! 

 Our instant reaction?

H.O.T

Hot. Hot. Hot. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Our first meal upon touch down?

Curry Mee and Koay Teow Ting.

Unfortunately, we had them at the airport. So not yummy. 

 But we were too hungry to care. 

Sigh.

Yup. We're home.

Only in Penang

Where else in the world will you see an expatriate mother fetching her child home 

from futsal, strutting confidently down the road, while a family of Malaysians looking 

helplessly lost in the middle of Penang?

Amusing sight don't you think?

Granted that the lost family was definitely from outstation, but still...

Now imagine Mrs Expatriate offering directions to these poor Malaysians.

*grins*

Don't you just love Penang? 

I know I do.

*hearts*

[L.E.P.A.K series: Amsterdam] Chapter 18: Trams, Bicycles and Boats

So where exactly are we off to now? I bet the above picture is very telling. 

Oh yes, we are heading towards the A in the L.E.P.A.K series! 

It's time for some XOX Amsterdam yo! 

 *excited*

But first, it was time to sleep! The bus was not exactly the most comfortable place to call it a night but nonetheless, we were so tired from the full day's walk that we practically fell right into sleep. We were waken up somewhere along the way when some officers came on board to check out travelling documents. Surprisingly they were more strict towards fellow Europeans who were travelling with their IDs than us with our passports. So we went right back to 'bed' as they busied themselves down the aisle. 

 We woke up again some time later just before 5am and saw that we were already very close to our destination. Unlike when we were on the bus to Edinburgh where we woke up to see the beautiful sunrise shining down on vast fields filled with sheeps, here we woke up to darkness illuminated with cold street lights. 

 We were scheduled to arrive Amstel Coach Station at approximately 6.30am but found ourselves at our destination way before 6.00am. The entire station was soulless with just us passengers wondering around, seriously in need of a toilet. Hahaha. There was no one around and the train station next to it has not even started its operation for the day yet. *yawns* In fact, it was not even manned and we wondered in and out of the platform freely without the need of a ticket. 

Still, not wanting to get into trouble we bought ourselves some train tickets and rode the first train out of the station towards Centraal Station. When we arrived though, we had problem checking out of the station since our tickets were never actually checked-in.

 Our lucky streak of meeting awesome people continued as the friendly stationmaster approached us and opened up the gates for us. He warmly started a conversation with us and asked us where we were from. When we told him we were from Malaysia, he threw us off by speaking the Malay language. It was the standard "Apa khabar?" and stuff but still here at Amsterdam?! Wow! 

 We said our thanks and headed off to hunt down some breakfast 

and found ourselves with some...

...'Gai Dan Gou'? (English: Egg Cake) 

 It was hilarious. Obviously we had no idea what we were actually buying except it' was food and it fills the stomach at only 1.70€. One bite into it and we looked at each other and asked "Gai Dan Gou?" Hmm.... wait... 

 *types 'Eierkoeken' into Google Translate* 

 Hahaha.... and it does indeed translate into "Egg Cake". OMG!

Our first and main itinerary of the day was to catch the train out to Zaanse Schans, a village just outside of Amsterdam that offers visitors a countryside feel of Holland. Because of its easy accessibility, it is also a much favoured tourist spot. It's like your one-stop destination for all things Holland. 

 However since it was still early, we decided to step out of the station and 

enjoy the early morning beauty of Amsterdam instead.

We were greeted by the extensive tram lines. Something we rarely see back home.

But what's mesmerising about Amsterdam is of course its canal and its buildings. The water in the canal was so crystal clear that it completely mirrors the beautiful scenery above it.

While Paris may awe you with its luxurious beauty, Amsterdam's simple beauty 

simply tugs the heart and soul.

Instead of sharing our space with a crowd of people, we found ourselves making way 

for 'Tai-lou' Big Bird and his gang.

Yo, whatcha looking at?!

There's really nothing much to say when the picture alone is saying a thousand words.

All I can say is that it's true that the early bird catches its prey. The best scenery are those 

at the early hours of the day where you can see the city slowly coming to life.

Time for a compulsory "I was here" shot.

Imagine there are people who call this their home. 

Oh oh! Ever thought of going into the window cleaning business?

Well, this is the way to do it! Real dandy. 

 We then made our way back to the station, bought ourselves two tickets off the ticketing machine and was happily on our way to Zaanse Schans.

Off we go again! 

Such a lovely way to start the morning.

[L.E.P.A.K series: Paris] Chap 17: Meeting Madame Mona

Alright! That was certainly a loooong rest since the last L.E.P.A.K post. No time to sit and linger anymore. It's time to get up and go, go, GO! Boy were we determined to hunt down Mona Lisa. Determined enough to set it as our goal before dinner. So we walked and walked until we got distracted by the beautiful night view outside.

The sun had set by then and the lights were on. Pretty. 

 We finally found that little turn we kept on missing and was on our way 

to meet Madame Mona...

... but alas, we got distracted once again. 

This time by a gigantic art piece. I say it just goes to proof my earlier point that 

Europeans have a thing for BIG THINGS. Hahaha. 

 Sure enough, we finally found the biggest crowd at the Louvre, all gathered to lay their eyes on Mona Lisa. It was impossible to get a good shot with her when there was a whole bunch of people to share the spotlight with. Not to mention she was shyly hiding behind a protective glass and surrounded by a barricade. Talk about being anti-social. Tsk tsk tsk. I came all the way just to see you, 'mam. 

 Oh well, you're even more famous than celebrities these days after all.

So I humbly settled with what she has to offer. *click* 

Boy do I look tired out in the picture. *sigh* 

Now that our mission is complete, it's time for a good French dinner!

We had enough of walking for the day so we decided to head down to a restaurant 

inside the Louvre. Nothing overly fancy but still a very 'luxurious' place compared to all 

the budget meals we were having for the past few days. All that savings certainly deserved 

one good meal and what better place to dine finely than Paris, right?

I ordered my very first cup of coffee since I arrived at this side of the globe. 

Truth to be told, the coffee was not very impressive which was kind of disappointing since I was kind of hoping to be wowed by it. *sad face* Now, those little sugar cubes and complimentary nougats on the other hand was conveniently brought home as my little momentos. Muahahaha. So Chinese. So proud of it. :P

Now for the recommended affordable dish-to-try in Paris, Croque-Monsieur! 

Yummy. It was not bad at all. Cik Anai being the bread-potato-lover that she is 

preferred this to our another order. 

 BUT! I stand to differ!

Because I was in loved with this other dish instead. 

Yuuummmmy Poelon de moules au curry et poireaux. What?!!?! Haha... or in English, 

Mussels and leeks casserole spiced with yellow curry. Again WHAT?!? Leek? Eww! 

And why go all the way to Paris to eat curry. These girls are not in the right state 

of mind are they. :P 

 But I see no leek and instead lots of what looks to me like alfalfa sprouts. Hmm... 

and nope, the curry was not spicy at all, obviously. Spiced? More like herbs maybe. 

Either way, it waaasss delicious. Well, at least to me lah. Each to their own.

I love it enough to insist Cik Anai to take a picture of me with it. Yum! 

Oh and in case you're wondering about the cost of a meal inside the Louvre, well, the Croque

 was 15€ and the mussels was 9€. Not to outrageous I guess for a tourist spot.

Now that we are all recharged and energised back to at least mid-battery level, 

we're off again to hunt down our next 'target'. Venus de Milo. By then, the museum was pretty much cleared of tourist. Yay!

That gives us time to linger and take our time at every single thing that 

perked our interest. Like insanely beautiful architecture!

The Nike of Samothrace or also known as the Winged Victory of Samothrace. 

Why such a faraway shot instead of a close-up you say? Well, we were left in awe 

of the sight of the empty stairway actually. Hahaha. Earlier in the day, this place was packed 

with visitors as these stairs was the cross-road to different halls. There were people walking 

from in every direction and there were also those sitting along the stairs, at the feet of the statue. There were people everywhere and now, waalaah! A lady and a statue.

And finally! Venus de Milo was surprisingly easier to locate. Maybe because 

we were more calm and less distracted by the crowd. The down-side of a night trip 

to the museum is the lighting though. :(

One last compulsory shot inside the museum. *click* There are a lot more to see in the museum actually. All that we saw were only in one of the three wings of the museum. Imagine that. Museum enthusiasts can easily spend three days in here and still complain there's not enough time. So yeah, this would have to do for us this time around. If the chance do come by again, I'll be sure to drop by and awed all over again. *smiles*

We decided to step out again for a night shot of the museum.

It was a bittersweet feeling for us as it was also time to bid goodbye to Paris. 

BUT WAIT!

Not before we visited La Pyramide Inversée aka The Inverted Pyramid. Hehe. 

With that, our mission here in Paris was finally completed. 

 Or so we thought! 

 Who knew we had one last adventure before finding our way to the bus station. *sigh* 

For us, Paris does not sign off 'with love' but instead 'Paris... with adventure'. We headed towards the one route that we knew of, the route that we came but alas, we somehow got ourselves a little lost. With the clock ticking away, we hit the yellow panic button. 

 Eh? Eh? Eh?!? 

 Finally we found our way to the metro station only to discover it was already closed! Wooot?!?! Panic signal hit orange. Danger Danger! We headed out to the streets only to be greeted with a lonely street and a sad few pedestrians. Panic signal reached bright RED because we had no idea how to go about from here because we had no freaking idea where we were. 

 Weee!!! Heart-pounding excitement. 

 The thing was, we had a bus to catch and if we missed it then we're practically stranded in Paris. Yeah, worst come to worst, we can somehow manage a night's stay in a hotel but still.... *tick tick tick* 

Time to ask for help!!

We quickly approached a young lady who seemed to be on her way back from work and asked for the nearest metro station and guess what!! She kindly offered to guide us there. Hooray! WAIT! Should we turn our suspicious mode on? No time yo! It's time to believe in the greater good of mankind! 

And so we followed. 

 And so we arrived safely to the metro station. 

 *phew* 

 She even asked if we know how to manage our way with the ticketing machine and we said yes as we already have our carnet of tickets ready. We expressed our deep gratitude as she smiled and wave farewell to us. Yup! She was not heading to this metro at all. She just took the extra effort to help us! *sniffles* Together with the guy who helped us ordered our lunch earlier in the day, I'll say French people are so not what some made out to be, snobbish or unfriendly to those who knows no French? Well, not to us at least. 

Thank you Paris for a wonderful and exciting experience like no other! 

It will forever be a day we will never forget. :) 

 Now it's time for a rocky night's sleep on the bus as we get ready 

to wake up in another country. Weee!

[L.E.P.A.K series: Paris] Chapter 14: Triumphing Elysees

 As we strolled down the road with a crepe in hand (well I had the crepe, Cik Anai had her camera :P), we soon realised we were no longer surrounded by trees but instead magnificent buildings. When we saw the many al-fresco cafes lining up the street, we knew we have arrived at the famous Champs-Elysees.

 SEE SEE!

Told you there were many!

And they probably had a written code that RED was the official colour.

 SEE SEE! Told ya.

And as we walked and walked and walked, suddenly cars came out of nowhere! At the walkway! Or at least we thought that was the walkway. They came from underground, nifty eh. *snap snap* *click click*

Who can missed the grand Louis Vuitton building when walking down Champs-Elysees? 

Look at the lady in the picture, betul-betul ada gaya, mutu, keunggulan. Truly French. 

Truly Paris. No?

Something really interesting happened here. While we were busy taking photos and being all touristy, suddenly two Chinese women approached us for help. First they asked us if we knew Mandarin, while being unsure of the entire situation, we nodded a little and said yes. Then they asked us if we can help them buy some LV bags and instantaneously we went like "Whoah!!" Defensive mode on. They went on explaining to us that they have bought just enough for themselves but they have friends back home that have asked them to buy too. However there was a limit on how many bags one can buy so yeah, that was why they needed our help.

Cik Anai and I looked at each other and probably had the same thought in our minds. These people are either damn rich or are some con women at work. Either way we're not risking it. So we told them no. And guess what?

They told us they will even pay us for helping them.

Hell, NO!

And after a few stubborn sorry's and no's later, the ladies' faces turned black and finally walked away. Shhh!

As we continue down Champs-Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe grew bigger and bigger. We were figuring out how to get a good picture of it when suddenly we saw the divider in the middle of the road and got a light bulb turned on right above our heads. *ting* The divider was actually there as a midway point for pedestrian crossing since it was a pretty wide road. So while everyone was busy zooming pass us, we stood at the very tip of the divider, hopefully out of the way, and took our money shots.

*ka-chak*

"Look 'ma! I'm standing in the middle of the road."

As we reached the end of the road, right across the arc, we got ourselves another good spot for some photos. And then we were lost. We stared across the road, looking in awe of the majestic architecture before us that was surrounded by busy traffic all around and wondered... how on earth are we going to get to the other side?

The answer was well... at the other side of the road. 
The other side side. :P

TADAA!!

There was an underground passageway that led us to right under the arc. If you are a lover of art, you will find yourself walking pass street artists along the underpass. By the looks of it, if you have amazing negotiating skill, it's not impossible to get some nice paintings for a fair price here. 

As we opened the doorway leading to the arc, we were once again left in awe of pure architectural beauty. The Europeans do have the tendency to "GO BIG!" with everything, from food to buildings. 

They also have a good appreciation of space. I guess another fact to consider is that us Asians are generally smaller in body size, so we somehow see everything here as just big. 

Though I don't think we were the only ones feeling small. :) We spent a little while resting our tired feet here as we sat along the base of the columns and took in the chilly breeze. After awhile, we decided we had enough. It was not the chilly breeze that was freezing us out, it was the ice-cold marble under our butts. LOL. From here, we went back down to the underground in hunt of the Metro. Our next stop was Eiffel Tower!

That's me being all crazy while waiting for the train at the platform. We finally took our first Metro ride instead of the RER. The Metro trains are more similar to our regular LRT / MRT / Tube / Subway trains found everywhere else in the world while the RER gives an impression of a more upgraded version. 

There were cute little foldable seats on the train. Space-saving during a crowded ride yet conveniently provide extra seats whenever possible. Make sense, right? As we sat and enjoyed the view outside, we noticed something odd. The doors do not open automatically at each stop. You have to do it manually. *shocking*

So I'm ending this post with Hiyashibeeps' L.E.P.A.K Travel Tips No.9! 

See that little button Cik Anai is pointing right there? You gotta press it for the doors to open. So before you go all panicky that the doors are not opening when you are in Paris, remember that little magic button right there. ;-)