Travelog London Paris - Day 3

Day 3 - Today we are heading to Paris - to Paris Disneyland to be exact.

Early in the morning we check-out from Travelodge Royal Scot St. Pancras.  Just after 4 am we walk down to St Pancras.  We immediately proceed for baggage scanning, and then proceed for immi check by France officer.  Check was smooth, and we waited a bit at departure hall for the train to arrive.  During the waiting, we met 3 Malaysian guys came for holiday and we exchanged few friendly notes.  They are perhaps in their 30-40s.  Mungkin pergi sama2 laki2 lagi seronok dari pergi dgn famili - no strings attached..

At around 5:00 am, we were allowed to board the train. Exactly 5:20 am the train departed.  Eurostar is one of the fastest way travelling from London to Paris - just above 2 hours.  I actually wanted to experience travelling under the water of English Channel.  But I slept all the way, so I deduced that it wouldn't be any different than travelling below Sg. Klang by Putra LRT.  We booked the train ticket 3 months in advance, so price is quite reasonable - around €69 per adult tickect.  Cheaper for children.  Train is fulled.  Its Monday, perhaps many Londoners on weekend break going back to Paris for work on Monday.  Most dressed in business suites.  There is cafetaria in one of the coach. So we bought some drinks and croissants for breakfast.

Ini la gerabak Eurostar yang kami naik - panjang train ni, kiranya kalau dapat coach yang belakang tuh, letih jugak la nak sampai..

We arrived Paris at Gare Du Nord Station at 8:50 am.  Paris time is +1 from London.  No more immi check here.  We went down to its underground called RER and Metro.  Since we are going to Paris outskirt to Disneyland, we need to take RER.  It cost around €6.  At 10 we arrived at the Disneyland Station or better known as Marna-la-Vallee.  First thing when we were out of train - its snowing a little.  Yes..its freezing cold in Paris.  And kids get to taste a little of snow.. macam salji renyai-renyai gitew..hu..hu..hu..sejuk wei...

Ini la stesen Marna-la-Vallee - turun-turun jer snow menyapa sepoi2 bahasa..tak nampak kat gambar ni sebab renyai2 jer..

When we go out of the station we can see many people already queeing for the security check at the entrance point.  They are not that strict on food.  So my nasi impit and sambal daging balance from breakfast in London pass thru easily... Good thing it was not too crowded that day, maybe its Monday.  Such a good feeling I have.. Disneyland at last...Teringat balik zaman2 muda2 dulu masa kat US, memang suka sangat gi Disneyland..Macam tak sangka pulak dapat datang dgn famili...Ala2 terharu gitew...

Entrance area - agak lengang..

Interesting encounter - A young couple asked my son to take their pic.  My son obliged.. After that, boyfriend said:"Gracias", girlfriend said:"Terima Kasih" and they are 100% mat salleh, maybe spanish.  I have many of these encounters, and I'm surprised that there are many european that I met in this trip actually knew we are Malaysian and spoken to us in BM without even asking "where are you from?"

There are two parks here i.e. Disneyland Parks and Walt Disney Studios.  We got both parks entry for the price of one - its winter offer.  As winter operating hours is only upto 6:00 pm, we have to be selective because there is so many rides to cover within one day.. I have the pride to choose the first ride - Space Mountain.  During my uni days, I pay homage to LA Disneyland every year and I love this ride the most..Its like reminiscing those good old days.. Queue was short so we were on in no time.  After the ride, then the reality set in...I got this nauseatic feeling.  I took a deep thought for a while...I knew can't be doing this anymore..I'm old..I can't live up the memories anymore.  Soon after this ride, I took a rest at cafe theathre having tea while watching disney classics on big screen.  Hubby and kids continue to explore. Later on we have big lunch of Fish N Chips that cost €8 per plate.  Then we took few more rides before we moved to Walt Disney Studios next door.  Ni aku paste la sikit2 gambar kat sini..kalau nak tengok banyak, come to my place..



Tempat ni dia panggil USA Main Street - kalau masa summer kat sini dia buat parade.  Masa winter ni ada mini parade jer..

In front of the famous castle.  Kat dalam ni la ada dancing dolls yang pakai baju from various country pastu nyanyi lagu 'It's a small world' dalam berbagai bahasa..Masa aku kat uni dulu, aku suka ride nih.. anak2 aku ni generation Y - so bende ni macam biasa2 jer bagi dia orang..

Gambar bawah ni - cuba tengok la dia punya air pancut tu sampai dah beku..mula2 meleleh makin slow, lama2 beku jadi stalagtite-stalagmite, memang Paris ni sejuk sungguh...

Pintu masuk ke Walt Disney Studio

At the background - Hollywood Hotel tu dia angkat korang naik lift tinggi, pastu dia drop freefall dalam gelap (tobat lahung aku tok naik menate nih..mutoh ija la wei..)

We closed the day after few more rides in Walt Disney Studios.  Dah dengar announcement park tutup baru kami keluar.  The good thing about coming to Disneyland in winter and weekdays, org tak ramai, naik ride beratur sgt sekejap.  The minus part is its freezing cold here in Paris, so you need to warm up inside every other hour.  Operating time is shorter, no fireworks at the closing time and there is only mini parade...  Nevertheless we ended our day in this dreamland happy although tired and freezing...

There is free shuttle bus took us from Disneyland to our next hotel - Hotel Kyriad Disneyland.  I found this hotel from booking.com and read the review from Tripadvisor.  Its the cheapest among the Disney Hotel chain i.e. €70 per room inclusive of buffet breakfast.

Bilik aku, hubby and the girls - the boys take the double room next door.  The room is moderate in size.  Clean with country setting, so its very cozy..I like this hotel..itu yang tidur tak hengat..

We're so tired, so all of us fast asleep by 8:00 pm.  Suprisingly nobody wants dinner after heavy loads of Fish N Chips at Disneyland...

Day 3 - Malam tu, aku mimpi masih dok kat dlm Disneyland lagik...

Mimpi yang dah jadi nyata masuk balik dalam mimpi....best!!

....Bersambung....

Travelog London Paris - Day 2

Day 2 plan is to visit Sunday Market in London.  Plan asal nak check-out awal2 from Terminal 5, tapi macam biasa la, nak bersiap untuk 6 orang bukannya senang. Yang ni siap, yang tu nak masuk bilik air, etc...So dah dekat pukul 9 pagi baru kami checkout.

Ni la Hotel Travelodge Terninal 5..tunggu feeder bus utk ke Terminal 5 untuk ke London City

But before we explore the Sunday market, we need to leave baggage at St. Pancras International where we will be taking Eurotrain to Paris.  As we are taking first train out to Paris at 5:20a.m Monday morning, we need to stay nearby St. Pancras. No public transport to bring us at 4:00am to St. Pancras if we stay far from the station.  All bags were left at leave-baggage center, only things that needed for Paris were brought in to the next hotel i.e. Travelodge Royal Scot St. Pancras.  Itu pun bajet mengulang baju sebab musim winter tak perlu tukar baju sangatkan...

Ini la St. Pancras International - station for train from London to other parts of Europe.  Ada leave-baggage service kat sini, harga dia agak mahal, hari pertama £8 per bag, hari seterusnya £4 - kami akan ambil balik beg yg tinggal kat sini ni bila dah balik dari Paris nanti.

Sudah tinggal beg, kami turun ke underground station King Cross untuk ke Petticoat Lane - salah satu Sunday Market kat tengah bandar London.  Sampai bawah, baru tahu rupa2nya Sabtu/Ahad banyak laluan tutup sebab maintenance.  So during weekend, be ready for underground downtime.  Jadi kami kena pusing jauh sikit untuk sampai ke Stesen Liverpool Street. 



Station Liverpool Street ialah perhentian untuk ke Petticoat Lane.  This station is one of the main station for inter-city train travelling in UK

 Liverpool Street not so busy over the weekend

Petticoat Lane berada di belakang bangunan Liverpool Street.  Walaupun tak semeriah 10 tahun lepas barang kat sini memang murah (by UK standard).  Dulu lebih meriah sebab ada jual folk-art macam teapot set, dulang bagai.  Ada juga kedai pinggan mangkuk macam queen anne dan barang2 tembaga.  Painting and leather bags also aplenty and cheap.  But now, there's not much variations of goods sold here.  Sekarang ni paling banyak pun pakaian, beg dan baggage.  Ada juga few souviners stall.  Anyway harganya murah, so dapat juga buat rampasan harta kat sini..

The beginning of Petticoat Lane

Winter accesories banyak dijual di sini.  Same brand 'Thinsulate' for glove and cap sold in Malaysia for over RM50, is sold for £3 here.  Being Malaysian, I bargained and get it 2 for £5.  Dirt cheap.  Menyesal beli kat Malaysia. Winter coat can get as low as £10.  Kat Malaysia banyak ratus la jugak for good jacket.. One thing to always remember, kalau dtg UK, beli winter  jacket or accesories kat UK not in Malaysia.  You can save a lot, even if you purchase at Oxford Street..

Cheapest and good quality souviner in London also can be found here.  All for £1.  For the same quality, it can be £2 to £3 at other places in London.  Rugi aku tak beli banyak kat sini.  Maklumlah first day, not yet in the mood for shopping..

Lepas dah pusing2 kat Petty Coat Lane, perut semua orang dah berbunyi.  Dekat sini ramai muslim, dari penjual kepada stall2 makan.  Cuma yang aku musykil ada juga stall mat salleh jual hot-dog tulis Halal kat depan stall dia.  Tak berani aku nak makan, macam tak leh percaya jer.. Sebabkan bebudak sejuk menggigil, kami terpaksa masuk makan kat restoran..Agak class jugak la tempat ni..so memang mahal la kan..kedai ni orang Pakistan punya, nama dia Bundu Khan.  Satu meal lebih kurang £8 - £10.  Jangan la kali 5, tak makan nanti...

Lama juga la dok tunggu nasik dia masak, very slow...bab servis ni tak leh lawan kedai mamak - tu belum cakap pasal harga lagik..

Lepas pusing2 lagi kat market..kami balik ke St. Pancras dan check-in ke Hotel Travelodge Royal Scot St. Pancras. 

Hotel St. Pancras - about 600m from station, rather far, but located in the quiet are of residency

Kedudukan 600m dari King Cross/St. Pancras tu kira jauh jugak la untuk bebudak ni nak kena menapak (esp. Sofia ni lemah sikit bab menapak) ..tapi inilah hotel yang boleh la dikira walking distance sebab pagi2 sepe'i esok dah nak kena ada kat St. Pancras. Hotel ni pun OK jugak.  Kami book 2 family room.  Yang satu bilik tu punyalah besar macam one bedroom suite.  Harganya hanya £45 untuk dua bilik.  Murah banget... Puas hati..Malamnya aku dah malas nak keluar.  But the guys keluar pergi tengok2 makanan..the girls penat, awal2 dan landing.  Kena rehat - esok jam 4 pagi kami dah kena menapak ke St. Pancras nak naik train 5:20 pagi... Seperti biasa, aku tido ayam jer la kalau esoknya travel pagi.  Sindrom  takut oversleep...Ishh tak dak ubat penyakit nih..

Ini la rupa bilik aku kat Travelodge Royal Scot,  Bilik bebudak yang suite tu lagi besar.

Day 2 - letih angkat-angkat beg.  Tapi seronok hari ni dapat sneak preview London dan pergi market - bila balik KL nyesal pulak shopping sikit2 jer kat sini..

....Bersambung...

Travelog London Paris - Day 1

Flight kami adalah hari Sabtu 29 Jan 2011 pukul 10.40 pagi.  Seperti biasa aku memang ada masalah nak lelap malam tu kalau next day nak travel...Dlm tidur2 ayam, awal la aku bangun.  Sudah solat subuh, kami dah siap tunggu my BIL Abe Ghani nak hantar kami ke KL Sentral.  Kali ni hantar sampai KL Sentral jer sebab budak2 nak rasa naik ERL.  We check-in at MAS counter KL Sentral so we have plentry of time for the last good cheap breakfast in this country before we fly.  We have pretty big breakfast - nasi lemak ayam goreng berempah kat foodcourt KL Sentral.  Cost only RM4 - aku dah siap convert - tak sampai pun £1.  Right after breakfast we head for ERL to KLIA. 

ERL ready to board - first time for my children, normally somebody would sent us direct to the airport.  But, ERL surely is the most convenient transport to KLIA.

We take flight MH4 at 10.40am and expected to arrive at Heathrow at 4.20pm same day London time.  It is an 11 plus hour journey.  So we expected a tired foot and body aching at the end...but excitement overcome all those.  Plus points for taking MAS are food and entertainment.  Kalau lapar or dahaga anytime boleh request for snack and drinks.  Latest movies is abundant - so time flies quite smoothly.  As for me, I would sleep some, and the rest of the time I would be reading papers and watch at least 2 movies.  Journey was fine... 4.20 pm we landed at Heathrow Airport Terminal 4.  I'm glad that MAS now moved from the ancient terminal 3 to this new terminal.  Clean and new. Dulu terminal 3 kotor dan crowded.  Masa nak keluar kapal, terjumpa x-boss Dr. Fazul who also came here for holiday cum visiting his son at Warwick.  We exchanged few friendly notes while waiting for immi check - which took almost one hour.  What surprise me, the immi officer is very friendly.  Those days, UK immi officer macam nak makan orang...tak friendly langsung..Tanya pun baik "You are here for holiday? Is Malaysia is having long holiday now?" Me: "Malaysia is on long leave for CNY holiday".  She: "Its cold here you know".  Me: "We like cold weather".  She smile and wish us "Have a nice holiday".  Tu aja..settle

Habis immi check, kita org pergi Terminal 5 untuk check-in hotel...

Waiting for train from Terminal 4

Train - still new, those days naik bas buruk untuk tukar terminal

Tunggu feeder bus pergi Hotel Travelodge Terminal 5 - anak2 punya seronok sebab bercakap keluar asap...first time..dia orang sibuk dok sembur asap keluar mulut - ME seronok tengok anak2 seronok

Kita orang dok hotel nearby Terminal 5 utk satu mlm saja.  Sebabnya kami sampai dah malam dan badan dah penat, kalau nak gi London city malam ni jugak mesti letih.   So aku plan rehat betul2 malam ni kat airport hotel.  Gitu gini kita org sampai hotel dah dekat 7 mlm waktu UK, waktu Malaysia 3 pagi. Mestilah penat...So first thing sampai hotel aku terus masak nasi dgn lauk pokcik Brahim.  Makan dan terus tidor.  Unpack sikit jer kat sini sebab esok dah checkout lagi..

Hotel ni sangat2 murah.  We take 2 family rooms, cost us only  £19 per room.  For a UK standard - sangat murah.  Family rooms can fit in 4 adults.  Bilik luas dan ada free drinks lagi.  I book this hotel online.  Bukan tarap 5star, but it definitely worth every penny.



Habis Day 1..Perjalanan penat tapi seronok sebab dah selamat sampai tempat yg dituju...

Prelude - Travelog London & Paris

Lama tak bersiaran...now I'm back.  Maklumlah bulan Feb ni working days sikit sangat.  Balik cuti, kena habiskan deadline dulu baru boleh ber blog balik.  Minggu ni kira baru start longgar balik la jadual ku.

Alhamdulillah, me and family safely back from London and Paris holiday that took place during CNY.  Best dowh...Rasa macam 8 hari tu tak cukup.  The last trip to London for me is about 10 years ago.. So I'm kind of losing all the familiarity of London city.  Its the first time for Danny and Sofia.  The second for Syahmi and Neesa, tapi masa I first brought them in 1996, they were too small to remember.  So its like the first trip for everybody (except hubby of course).   I actually have few long months planning for the successful journey, termasuk la berdoa dimudahkan Allah.  Since this is a budget travelling, we (read 'ME') need to do lots of research and many bookings were made in advance.. After the hard work of planning, and doa', our journey go and return went well.. Alhamdulillah.

So in the next few post, I'm going to mumble jumble about my journey in the new series of Travelog, London Paris this time...and this is the Prelude post.

For a start, my friend Suhana lent me her book of London and Paris.  Kalau kita pergi satu2 tempat, elok kita faham apa yang ada kat situ, baru kita lebih hargai tempat yang kita lawat.  So, I went through my iternary and then when through the book - berjalan dalam buku dulu...very interesting guidebooks..and educational too.

Guidebook on London and Paris - very detail, so I went through places I plan to visit only

Other than the guidebooks, banyak travelling tips ni aku dapat dari Cari.com forum yang bincang pasal travel.  Forum ni bagus sangat sebab banyak bagi tips dan jawapan yang bernas untuk setiap persoalan.  So guys, if you are travelling, Cari.com travel forum is a must-see forum.  Satu lagi web yang 'must study' ialah Tripadvisor.  Nak cari good deals hotels and review.  Kalau ticket train, buses, parks - go direct to their site.  Kalau Disneyland tu beli direct kat website Disneyland.  Eurostar train also offered better deals on their site.  Itulah antara beberapa tips nak cari good deal ni..

What am I bringing to London and Paris? Nak pergi ramai2 ni aku kena prepare jugak la. Yang paling penting tentulah makanan.  Although I know its quite easy to find halal food in London and Paris, I know for sure when the night set in, no body wants to go out for food.  And its winter too.  So for dinner, I brought a whole range of instant food by Pokcik Brahim, with rice and the cooker too.  Mokcik Maggi pun ado jugok...Penuh la satu beg besar untuk makanan jer...

Inilah sebahagian makanan yang aku bawak..penuh beg ni sebab dinner utk 6 orang selama 7 malam

All ready..Semua dah dalam baggage, except winter coat, yang mana aku masukkan dalam backpack nih..Kalo turun dari kapalterbang gerenti sejuknya...

Ini dia backpack yang aku sumbat winter coat - barang lain semua masuk perut kapalterbang...

Berbekalkan makanan, baju sejuk dan online tickets yang berkajang2...I'm ready to go..

London Paris here comes...

...Bersambung...