I’ve been back to work for 2.5 days and feel like I want to pass out. Literally, woke up this morning feeling feverish, wondered if I was allergic to the concept of work. Got back on Tuesday night after a ten hour flight, 2 hour stopover in BKK, 2 hours more on the plane (I still cannot get over the fact that I did not have my own in-flight entertainment screen, yes it was a dodgy looking screen on the wall in front of the middle seats of the plane). I lugged a 23kg suitcase, one 50litre backpack, one Harrods plastic bag, another crumpler bag (and you know you’re only allowed 1 handcarry, whahaha) from nolly’s place, down to the tube station, changed trains, got to the airport. I got to the airport in one piece plus one bruise on my ankle (23kg suitcase swung against my ankle), praying that I would get through the whole checking in without having to pay (I didn’t pay!). So I’m back with a lot of bed bug bites (I have no idea from where), still jetlagged, getting a throat infection but with plenty of photos and stories to tell (whoever wants to listen).
Day 1:
I got into London at night and waited in the terribly long queue that was for entry into the UK (think many many international students plus parents plus dependents waiting to gain entry, ok fine that was the queue beside me), waited almost 45 mins before I got to the front of the queue. Got asked a few questions and got my passport stamped and yippee! I was back in the UK!
I didn’t quite believe I was back in London, didn’t quite believe that I was buying coffee in Heathrow, didn’t quite believe that Nolly and WY were at the back of the same queue I was in, didn’t quite believe that the cold air I was feeling was not air-conditioning. Of course I was excited to be back!
Took a taxi to their place (a nice house with a NICE kitchen and nice sized rooms for everyone plus a garden plus a living room/visitors’ bedroom plus 2 TOILETS!) and felt right at home, except it was cold. Saw Berryl again which was great.
Collapsed into bed and a few hours later dragged myself out of bed to get to the airport to catch my flight to budapest. Got to budapest after a terribly turbulent flight and hopped on the bus towards the train station ( got a bit lost trying to get to the bus from the subway after trying to decipher what the people at the subway station were saying in Hungarian). Managed to get a ticket on an overnight train from Budapest to Belgrade after a long time of waiting. Waiting proved interested though, spoke with a Swedish guy (we were rolling our eyes at how long the person at the counter took) about travelling and stuff and he pulled out some Serbian money and said take it (only 20 Serb dinar larh) and have a good time travelling. Left my bag with this nice old lady at the Budapest railway station’s luggage deposit office and went off to explore Budapest. It really is pretty, reminded me a little of Florence as well, walked till I was certain my legs were going to drop off then got back to the train station pretty late. Not before some dinner and postcard writing…..
Train station at night, ALONE is quite creepy. Especially if you have an old man in a suit plus hat sitting still staring at the departures screen without twitching a muscle, for a very very long time. I was too tired and my feet too sore to bother so I got comfortable and waited for the train.
Got onto the train after my tourist photo with the words “BEOGRAD” in front of the train and looked around for a seat. Think Harry Potter train (the inside I mean) and found no cabin free and saw one that had a chinese looking guy in it. Figured i could take the other seat and stretch out for some sleep (plus he looked relatively harmless) and so asked if I could join him. So I met Jason, Canadian, from Trinidad, doesn’t speak a word of Chinese. Got to talking about travelling and life. Sleeping in the train was a pain. Firstly cos the stupid heaters (I am extremely grateful for heating in cold cold places) got overheated and my seat got super warm/hot in the night then the stupid window wouldnt stay open. so there I am tossing and turning and in the seat across me he is sleeping soundly =_=. When I finally get around to sleeping, the border guards come on the train and stare at my passport for the longest time. I was grumpy and tired and muttered, ” don’t need a visa”, passport got stared at for an even longer time before the guard decided that this sleepy looking bespectacled girl didn’t pose a threat and stamped on my passport (YESS!!!!!, stamp from Serbia, ok cheap thrill but THRILL!). They stared at Jason’s passport for a long time too before stamping it. We both spent a good 5 minutes staring at the fresh stamps in our passport before passing out again.
Many many stops, many many toilet trips, many many attempts at prying the window permanently open later, we got to Belgrade! I said we cos we decided we would go around and meet after we both checked into our individual hostels. One hour later (i.e. the time we were supposed to meet back at the train station), I finally got to my hostel. 1 hour because people didn’t understand me, no one knew the street, I cannot read Cyrillic road signs, plus got followed by a dog =_=”’. Quick shower and a cabride down to the train station (Driver had a chat with me about Singapore, told me about his pilot friend who’s now in sg, asked me not to take another cab in Belgrade–> aww so sweet). ok tired. will try and review this tomorrow.
. Got to travel, HK, Penang, London, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia. PLUS! Nolly’s getting hitched!
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