Leeds Castle, Kent Day 1: Arrival in London

 

Recently, I've been trying to clean up stuff on the external harddisk and I came across a London folder which documented my trips to London. 2 years ago, I blogged about my virgin sales conference experience in London. I was privileged to be invited the following year, when this appeared in my mailbox:

 

We'll be heading to a castle, how cool is that! I couldn't wait for the dates to arrive. It was then back to the usual routine and before I knew it, it was the day of departure for London. Leecher accompanied me to take a cab before he scooted back home to catch up on his TV shows, lol! This Leecher super not romantic one, he doesn't send me to/fro the airport. In his words, I can find my own way home, lol.

Breezing through the departure gates. Hunger pangs hit me even though I had dinner with Leecher earlier before heading to the airport. A visit to Burger King for their Mexican drumlets to curb the hunger, before washing it down with jasmine green tea.

Walking around after the meal to aid with digestion, by heading the duty-free shops for shopping :) 

 

No makeup face to endure the next 12h flight; hence I went to the toilet to apply some moisturizer on my skin so it won't be dry on board. I have a bad habit though - I don't reapply moisturizer once I'm on the plane, which is extremely bad (I know!) for the skin since cabin air is so dry.

   

I took the red-eye flight to London, so we'll land early in the morning. As it was drizzling during departure, our flight was delayed for a couple of minutes. Nevertheless, I was all set and ready to doze off :) 

 Always a pleasure to fly with our national carrier. I do kinda miss the flying days now that I'm not traveling frequently for work. 

I miss inflight food! Beef stew and potatoes + vegetables to start the night/morning. In the past, I will usually be on movie mode to catch up on all the movies that I wanted to watch. Nowadays, I will be catching up on sleep instead, only waking up during meal times and toilet breaks. 

The lovely view outside :)

As we slowly approached Heathrow, breakfast is served. Even though it was 4AM, my appetite was so good that I polished everything off the plate - even the bread, lol! The muffin was so yummy that I was craving for 2nd helpings but decided to curb my sugar intake. I did saved the cereal for snack later, in case we needed to wait around the hotel for the others to arrive. #dontwastefood

Peeped through the window and saw that we will be landing soon. Meanwhile, I'll just have to endure the sun rays piercing through the windows while I catch up on more sleep.

Yeah, finally landed. I was glad to be up and out, giving my body a good stretch after being confined to a tiny space for 12h. We met up with the HK team since I had made arrangement for airport transfer. We calculated that it would be cheaper to get a private car rather than the hassle of airport express + cab. Our driver was already waiting for us and we walked to the car park where the car is located.

Cruising to the hotel while the rest of us slept (what's new!) in the car. The whole journey took close to 1h due to morning jam. It was close to 9AM when we arrived at the hotel. There was only 1 room available for early check-in but Clarins allowed us to use her room to freshen up. Shower, here I come! 

❤ ❤ ❤ Read the rest of my London-Kent Castle adventures here ❤ ❤ ❤
① Leeds Castle, Kent Day 1: Breakfast & Shopping in London
② Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Hello, Leeds Castle
③ Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Stables Courtyard 
④ Leeds Castle, Kent Day 2: Team Dinner   

KL Work Trip, Dec 2012: Day Trip to KL

My perseverance finally paid off - for I'm now composing the last entry for 2012 work trips! Hooray to clearing another folder :) I went on a day trip to KL, meeting up with prospective clients for a quick catch up before they all head for their holidays. Dec is always a quiet period (in office) where out of 10 emails sent out, you will receive at least 6 out-of-office replies. Thus, I had to confirm schedule with my clients before I proceeded to book tickets for the trip.

 

I headed to the airport early morning to catch the 7am flight, which surprisingly was a full flight. Instead of passengers heading for holidays, I saw quite a lot of passengers dressed in their business/corporate attire on board. We were all busy typing on our laptops whenever we can #lastminpreparation, lol!  

Xmas period, my fave! (Psst ... mental countdown to another 6 months of Xmas this year)

My trusty dog tag that accompanied me during my travels :)

Anyway, I flew Silk Air to KL, as I had to get into town early morning to meet the clients. My 2nd time traveling Silk Air and it felt like an upgraded version of budget airlines. My usual routine - read the papers to catch up on the latest headlines first, then off to lala-land when the plane starts taxiing and wake up during touch-down. This time round, I was busy preparing for some materials for clients' meeting, so I spent whenever I can typing on the laptop instead. 

Upon landing, I immediately hopped onto a cab and headed straight to client's place. I had a late breakfast/early lunch at Starbucks, just below my client's office - needed the energy before the start of a long day. I even got 10% discount off for being a "staff", lol! 

 

 A couple of hours, I was back at the airport ready for my flight home. Before that, I needed some comfort food & the best place for junk food - McDonald's! McDonald's french fries and corn cup are my comfort food. 

I decided to walk around the main terminal instead of heading to my usual spot for "debrief" session. 

Xmas decorations all over the airport. Now, I really feel like jetting off to winter wonderland for Xmas this year! Somehow, Christmas feels more magical when snow is in the picture :)

        
Dinner as soon as I landed in Singapore - this pretty much wrapped up my business travels in 2012 :) Mission accomplished!  

BKK Work Trip, Nov 2012: Erawan Shrine & The Garden Lounge

 

 {Continuation from Part One} Leecher was sick over the weekend and he decided to recuperate at  home. His method of recuperation? Planting himself across the sofa in our living room and watching Apple TV. We watched a couple of dramas and variety shows - extremely unproductive, but we find it enjoyable that we share each other's interests in life :) Since I have spent most of the weekend doing basically nothing, I decided to switch on the comp and finish my last bit of blogging for BKK work trip.

Grand Hyatt Erawan is situated close to the famous Erawan Shrine, which housed a statue of Phra Phrom, the Thai representation of the Hindu creation god Brahma. I have walked past this shrine a couple of times during my previous trips, but this is the 1st time that I stepped into the compound.

I didn't pray, but just stood at the sidelines to observe the surrounding. At a small pavilion next to the shrine, there were performances by resident Thai dance troupes who are hired by worshippers in return for having their prayers answered at the shrine.

Street vendors selling flowers as offerings are clustered outside the temple.

I even managed to do some shopping within that short walk from Central World to the hotel #shopaholicatheart
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Breakfast of scrambled eggs + salmon + bread before I begin my morning. I piled everything onto the bread and munch on it while packing my luggage + sorting out my work stuff.
 
After my round of clients' visits + meetings, I went back to the hotel for a late lunch and also, to pick up my luggage. I decided to check out The Garden Lounge, housed in the beautiful Atrium Lobby. 
 
 Fresh flowers are placed on every table :) Doesn't the glass of orange juice complements the flower?

  Lunch :) Over the years, I have gotten used to having meals by myself. At times like this, my trusty iPhone is my companion, not to mention the dramas that I have stored on the phone. 

The Garden Lounge

Grand Hyatt Erawan, Lobby

Tel: +66 2254 6250

Operating Hours: 6am till 1am daily, Afternoon tea from 2.30pm to 6pm

I was stuck in a jam on the way to the airport. The jam was so bad that even the driver had time to read his newspapers!

I was famished by the time I reached the airport. I quickly ducked into a cafe and ordered a plate of basil chicken with steamed rice + thai ice tea before boarding the plane back to Singapore.