London 2012 Part One

Year 2012 was a year of travel for me for I was almost out of the country every month, be it for business or personal. No doubt, BKK & KL topped the list, haha! Traveled across the globe to LDN to attend a sales conference last March and it was an eye-opener for me :) I get to interact with colleagues from different offices and finally, putting a face to those names that I see so much in email but not in person.

Before the trip, each office will have to contribute a gift for one of the games during our gala dinner. So, I was tasked to buy the gift, not exceeding a certain amount.

Something that is symbolic to Singapore ... and considering the company's culture, it was a relatively easy choice. Headed to Raffles Hotel's Gift Shop & picked up the Singapore Sling. And I have to admit, I have yet to try Singapore Sling before!

Took the overnight flight to LDN and it was one of the rare times when Leecher came to the airport to send me off. *touched*

Leecher helping me with the big luggage that I brought along for the trip. Wearing my specs, since it was going to be a 14h flight. 

 

Merlion making its appearance in the airport.  

 

 After checking in my bags, we headed down to the basement of T3 for dinner @ Ramen Champion, where 4 Ramen chefts battle it out in Changi Airport T3 to be crowned the Ultimate Ramen Champion.

4 contesters hailing from Sapparo, Tokyo, Chiba & Hakata fighting for the title of Ramen Champion.

The beeper with your card number.

Once your order is ready, this beeper would light up and vibrate, telling you to collect your order from the counter.

Leecher had the Hakata Ajitama Ramen, prepared by Hakata Ikkousha. The ramen shop carefully selects its ingredients, especially on local produce pork bones. The soup base don't have a strong smell of pork bones, which made it very tasty.

I went for Spicy Kimchi miso ramen, prepared by Sapparo Gantestu. Gantestu means stubbornness in Japanese.

us with our big bowls of ramen, waiting to be tucked in!

 

Tea time @ Killiney.

Off to London, a week without Leecher, lol.
 

My first time onboard A380, but I couldn't get a seat on the upper deck, boohoo! 

 

The long queue waiting to board the flight. Overnight flights are mostly full, judging from my experience. 

 

The 2 bags that I always have on my trips ~ laptop bag & personal bag. 
 

My preferred window seat & it was drizzling outside. 

 

Snacks first before the meal. 
 

I think this was my breakfast before reaching LDN. 

After a good 14h, we landed @ Heathrow Airport at 6am. I took the same flight as Eric, so we had each other for company on the way to the hotel.

 

 Headed to Arrivals to clear immigration, where we experienced an extremely long queue. Took us almost 45 mins to clear the stage.

Long queue at the baggage collection area as well.

 

Taking Heathrow Express to central London, Paddington. A great way to get into the city. Tickets can be purchased online , at the ticket machines where it costs $20GBP for Adult, $10GBP for Child on a single ticket or on board, where it costs $25GBP for Adult & $12.50GBP for Child on a single ticket.

The train departs almost every 15 mins, and you can download the app "Heathrow Airport Guide" on your mobile to gain access to travel planning tools, terminal information, news etc - everything you need for an easy journey to and through Heathrow. 

 

Arrival @ Paddington station. Somehow, the name of this station always reminded me of the Paddington Bear, so I went to google if there is any link b/w the two. It turned out that Michael Bond named the bear after Paddington station ~ he noticed a lone teddy bear on the shelf in a London store near Paddington station on Xmas eve, which he bought as a present for his wife. In the first story, Paddington bear was found at Paddington station by the Brown family, sitting on his suitcase with a note attached to his coat which reads "Please look after this bear. Thank you". A status of the bear is also located on the station concourse, but I didn't get a chance to look for it.

  

Taking the (iconic) London cab to our hotel, one in summer colours :) These cabs are metered, a min charge of 2.40GBP. You can tip the driver as much as you like, while most people round up to the nearest pound. 

 

Leaving for the hotel, just when the sun was rising.