The journey to London

blogLondon

May 27

Written By admin

Note: I must apologise for the lack of decent pictures. There were moments I couldn't capture because I was trying to figure out where I am; where I need to go; and I felt weighed down & anchored by my luggage that I couldn't really move around to take photos. Also, I didn't want to look like a tourist amazed at everything he saw, even though I was. The last two days have been particularly taxing. The journey to London has been physically & emotionally exhausting. From saying farewell to Bel, Brendan & Viv at the airport, to a 5-hour stop-over at Singapore Airport, to a 13-hour flight to London, I can finally say I've settled in to my temporary home for the next few days.

I woke up in Viv's apartment at 6am Tuesday morning. We drove to Brendan's place to pick him & Bel up, then Brendan drove us to the airport to see me off. A teary-eyed hug from each of them & then they were off.

My first fumble was forgetting to deflate my bike tyres before packing it. Luckily the check-in counter lady reminded me when I mentioned there was a bike in my luggage.

The flight to Singapore was uneventful. About 8 hours to Singapore, I slept most of the way. Singapore's Changi Airport is impressively cavernous. With three terminals all connected by a convenient skytrain (think: shuttle bus on rails) I made my way to the food court in Terminal 3 in search for a power outlet. I recharged my phone & pigged out on the caramel Tim Tams Viv forced into my bag (thank you!). I then went in search for the info counter. (To use the free wifi at the airport, you have to register your passport at an information counter to receive a code)

Again, I'm incredibly sorry for the lack of photos. I was running on auto-pilot for most of the journey. Just doing what I needed to do. So with the wifi all set up, I settled down at the food court again & this time grabbed some food. I let some people know on Whatsapp that I had arrived in Singapore safely.

Even I'm getting bored writing this up. So let's skip the tedious 13-hour flight to London & fast-forward to Heathrow airport. Got my sim with 3: £30 (yikes) with so many minutes for local calls. But I mostly got it for the unlimited data. So everyone with Whatsapp, Skype or Viber-- you'll hear from me a lot.

After getting my phone set up, I unpacked my bike. I wasn't the only person in the airport setting their bike up-- a guy with a road bike was setting his one up just a few metres from me.

Despite the (flimsy) cardboard I used for protection, my bike sustain some damage-- the computer mounted on the handles snapped off. I'll need to find another way to attach it, since all the plastic bits have fallen off.

I took a photo of all my stuff before heading down to the London Underground. If it was just my backpack & bike, it wouldn't be so bad-- I could just chain my bike to a post & then flit around taking photos. But my other bag would likely be marked as a bomb & swept away by the police.

I bought an Oyster card & took the train to Wood Green station, all the way on the other side of the Piccadilly line. While I sat there in a carriage full of morning commuters, I took notes on how I was feeling:

2015-05-27_WoodGreenStation

I'm drawn to my new surroundings. Advertisements line the car's ceiling-- & I was fascinated by them. Almost like when you forget to take your phone to the bathroom, so you resort to reading labels from shampoo bottles, I read every bit of the ads.

I was even engrossed in the matte finish of the "Door Alarmed" sign on the emergency exit; the different notices they have here; & the colours.

The smell of cologne & perfumes of other commuters became a welcome aroma after spending a day's worth of time cooped up on a plane breathing dry, recycled air.

The sound the train makes is slightly different from back home. The guard's accent makes me smile, as he apologises for the delay while they wait for a green signal.

The weather has been quite nice. Stepping outside, the air was brisk & fresh. It's a lot like a cool Sydney Autumn day.

As I stare out at the platforms of people going about their lives, I feel an eagerness to join them. An eagerness to find a job, a place to stay, and to get right into life here. But that might not be the best thing for me. And I've put in place commitments that will hold me to the idea of travelling around Europe first. I've paid for a flight to Helsinki for the 9th June. I've reached out to family living in Tampere so that I can meet her in the coming weeks.

"Slow down. I'll say it again. Slow. Down." Rolf Potts' (author of Vagabonding) voice replays in my ears when I think of how much stuff I want to do.