Everybody said that I was traveling the world. I think not. Traveling the world, to me, is bumping from one place to another, crossing continents and visiting at many countries as possible, many of which were randomly selected.
I’m not traveling the world as I am going home, a long way home in deed. The 1st home means where I came from before, and where my parents lived. The last home is where I live now. And if it worked out and I crossed to Vietnam from China, the title would be “Home, Home and Home.” It takes so long because I wanted go overland as much as possible. If I had more time, instead of flying in and out of Australia, I would to do it by ships.
It’s obvious where Ricky Gervais gets his props.
When you hear the following lines, you’d think the unapologetic comedian is at it again.
In 1995 he asked a Scottish driving instructor in Oban: “How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?”
And on another trip to Australia in 2002, he asked a group of Aborigines: “Do you still throw spears at each other?”
I’m not sure if my first trip to London can be considered a visit given I had only half a day to see the city.
I didn’t remember anything except for the arrival at the busy Victoria train station. Then I hauled my over-packed backpack from street to street around the station looking for accommodation. Everything was booked out. The available ones were too expensive for a student who had just return from an internship in … Eastern Europe. I had vague images of the Thames and the London Eye. I might even ride it without remembering anything. I remembered joining a group of Malaysian businesspeople to walk around the red-light district and then ditching them later not having enough energy and mood to socialize with complete strangers.
Visit the museums is a must when you are in London. Most of them including the major ones are for FREE. The collections and paintings in some museums I visited are of absolute quality, worthwhile of your time. The only minor problem is that there are many museums worth seeing and scattered around in the city in addition to the size of each one.
Some open very late (until 10 or 11 p.m. on particular days); you might want to note down the hours to check them out after sight-seeing the city.
Somewhere while sauntering at the colorful vintage and antique Portobello Market and lazing on a comfortable couch in a basement teashop at Camden Stable Market, I came to a conclusion. To enjoy an unfamiliar place you are going to visit, you need to lower your expectation and stop looking at images of the destination.
Prior to the London trip, I’d been brooded for two months mainly because of my secret vow to never return to the same country, let alone the same city, before completing my Euromega–seeing every official country in Europe. I was in London six years ago during my first trip to Europe and didn’t like it at all (long story). The idea of returning to a city that bore no impression on me didn’t resonate with me. On top of that, people’s telling me how big and expensive the city was added to my woe. But I wanted to see an old friend who flew all the way from the US and picked something from her.
My name is Cindy, also rhymes with travel junkie. A friend said I was probably a gipsy in my previous life. One of my many secret missions in life is to convert you to run off every once in awhile.
