First Day (28th July 09)

Our flight to London departed from KLIA at 10.10 a.m and we managed to check in 2 hours earlier as required by the airport authorities. We had breakfast at 1901 Hotdog KLIA as we were really hungry and decided anything will do at this point of time! Fortunately time flies really fast while we're waiting to be boarded into the plane, after making our way pass the mandatory security check without any untoward incidents; we're ushered to our seats. My wife sat in a seat adjacent to the window so she could see our plane took off.

@KLIA

Right in front of Boarding Gate

The flight experience with MAS was very pleasant; the cabin crew was very polite and professional. I'm not surprised that they are voted as one of the best cabin crew and airlines in the world. We're pretty much well fed right from the beginning of the flight right up until the end. They even gave my wife some goodies as a token of appreciation when we’re about to alight from the plane. The flight itself took 12 hours and it is pretty much a very comfortable ride all the way to London but with some minor turbulence when we’re approaching the Bay of Bengals. I read books, watch movies and managed to get some sleep during the duration of the flight.

Walking to our hotel

We arrived at Heathrow airport approximately around 3 p.m local time and after boarding and clearing custom and emigration department which by the way took an hour to do. We made our way through Heathrow terminal to London Underground Tube, it took us quite a while to get accustomed to the London Underground Tube map and various points of interchange but once we got the hang of it, it’s definitely easier. We took the Piccadilly Circus Line from airport terminal to King Cross Station where we set off on foot navigating through the underground tube station. Mind you, the journey on tube itself was amazing to us, as this is the first time we sat our eyes upon English and Roman architecture styled buildings and houses. Upon exiting the underground station, the chilling weather was unmistakably unforgiving. Our initial thought was, is this how it is supposed to be summer? It was 14-18 degrees! Our hotel was about 15-20 minutes of walking distance from King Cross station so we decided to walk. We even had to ask for directions to our hotel and after questioning a couple of locals, there it was, our Holiday Inn King Cross Hotel! Originally we had planned to roam around the area but since it was quite late when we arrived there and we are exhausted, we decided to skip the evening walk as originally planned and crashed into our hotel room instead. Need to get a good night rest as tomorrow will be another long and eventful day.

View from our room

Inside our room

Until then,

Regards,

MARK