Experiencing Cultures - Paris - London

Culture Experiencing @ Paris & London

Last week, i had an experiencing cultures trip for my subject, 

we went to Paris and London for 10 days. 

We have 22 interior architectural students with 2 lecturers, who are Ms. Sharmila and Ms. Norji.

Before we go, we did lots research about the weather, cultures, 

architectural buildings, arts movement, lifestyle, food, prices, tickets,

what to buy, transportation, accommodation, activities and so on. 

Therefore, we all were well prepared to explore the foreign country.

I was packing my luggages early ahead, 

so that i wont left out any necessary stuffs that i needed there.

I changed RM1k of Euro and RM2k of pounds 

at midvalley which usually we can get a good prices there.

I was really can't wait and ready to go!!!

Useful list that you may refer for 10 days trip like me:

Toiletry bag: Small bottle of shampoo, hair shampoo, lotion, perfume, 

contact lenses solution, make up, cotton, cotton buds, toothbrush, toothpaste, 

1 jean, 1 legging, scarft, socks, gloves, bras, inner-wears, 6 clothes, 1 winter coat, 1 jacket.

Charger, camera, mp4, international plug.

Handbag, passport, personal document.

Do we need a Visa?

For Malaysians, you can travel around Europe for 3 months visa free & 6 months in UK visa free.

Budgeting:

How much should i budget in one day?

I list out the basic expenditure per person as a guideline, adjustable depends on your needs.

Food €20

Normally one meal costs range from  €8-15, 

if you share with your friends, then you can save more money on other food.

Public transportation €7

Sightseeing €20 (mostly attraction in Europe are free.)

Accommodation €20 per person (4 persons in one room)

Emergency use €8

Shopping is very subjective, so it's depend.

You can get some reasonable and cheaper prices hotel in Paris, 

but in London, budget hostel is cheaper than hotel.

You can get a sim card from London and use it just for data online, 

costs 15 pounds only for one month.

You can always find wifi everywhere in London, so its optional to buy a sim card.

Every €1 save is a lot of money for me as a traveler from Malaysia. 

Therefore finding ways to save and enjoying more things 

with less money was always my priority when travelling in Europe. 

Therefore i am sharing some ideas that i learnt through the trip 

which works for me and hopefully for you as well.

We always have group discount when we purchased tickets.

Sometimes there is some website selling cheaper tickets, like Groupon.

Remember bring your student card (Mahasiswa Kad), 

you can get 30% off when you buy KLIA express ticket.

Remember bring your student card or apply for ISIC card

(International Student Identity Card), some attractions offer student price. 

If you are below 25 years old, you are eligible for discount for rail pass.

The day we took KL transit from the nearest LRT station which is Bandar Tasik Selatan.

The ticket price is RM22, if you have the "mahasiswa" card which is a promotion card for MAlaysian student, you may get 30% discount, which is RM15.40 that is much cheaper. 

We took only about 45 mins to reach KLIA.

We arrived at KLIA around 3pm, 

As it was still early, we went to the food court to have some light food while waiting the others to gather together. Most importantly, we make sure that we bring passport and everything. We can't wait to check in and couldn't believe that we were going to Paris and London very soon. Before that, we were busy rushing for assignments and design projects almost everyday, as an interior architecture student, it isn't easy to "survive" but i do have the passion and enjoy doing it. Its worth to have the honeymoon at overseas as return. 

We need to check in at least 2 hours before ahead 

and we were taking 7.30pm flight to Paris. It is advisable that do not take a huge baggage especially at Paris, because we need to walk and travel a lots through the Paris underground metro as sometimes it may not have the lift for us, we need to carry the heavy luggage through the stairs. You can carry a backpack if you have less stuffs. 

 Duty Free Paradise at KLIA
We find some light food from here and walked around while waiting for our turn to get inside the plane. There are lots duty free shops and i would buy some chocolate when i come back from overseas later.
I found that the ceiling ambience of the KLIA impresses me and this is beautiful.
You may find some familiar shops like starbuck, burger kings, Mc donald, others cafe and guardian which you can buy something if you forget to bring it.

We were checking our flight gate and boarding time 

from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai as 

we transited at Dubai for 5 hours before we reached Paris.
If you check your ticket when you are travelling, you can check your gate number from your flight ticket and boarding according to the schedule provided on the tv screen.
Everyone were learning how to see the schedule provided and make sure we queue on time.

We were boarding and were welcomed by the  handsome flight steward and pretty stewardess. They will help us to check the seating number and guide you the way.

Before starting flight, we will have some teaching from the flight attendants or showed at the tv at the seating area obout the safety procedures like put on the safety belt, how to use the mask and safety jacket and etc. Although we seem like don't care about it, actually it does very important as it is the basic knowledge.

The seating area was also provided us the new set of earphone, few stickers like if you want to sleep but worry that will miss out the meal, you can stick the one written "wake me up for meal" or "wake me up for duty free" or "do not disturb". Normally they will just put the meal in front of your table if you are still sleeping. They will also provide the kids' meal first then only adults' meals according to the seating number. Because that time there was a foreigner asked me and Sherilyn to switch the seating places as she wished to sit with her husband and children together in 3 places. Therefore, after we switched, Sherilyn was sitting the kid's place, then the flight stewardess straight away put the kid's meal for her when we were sleeping. haa... That day, i can see the aeroplane is fully occupied with people and i couldn't find any empty spaces.

There are lots toilets in the aeroplane, and we brought some toiletry stuffs like tooth brush, toothpaste, facial cleaner so that we can clean our face for the long hours of journey in the aeroplane as our flight all the way from home to reach Paris's hotel, it took about one day. This was so disgusting as i din't bath for one day.

Emirates Meal

There is a light bites before this heavy meal,
like they will provide us some drinks and biscuit.

Then they will serve us the breakfast with fruits,
cheese omelette, croissant, scrambled egg with drinks,
complemented by the finest beverages from
a selection of wines, spirits, beers, liqueurs and soft drinks.

I like the cheese omelette and fruits.

Tomato rice served with chicken kurma and mixed vegetables.

Poached shrimp served with salad mix.

Grilled sea perch with red pepper.

Pistachio cheesecake.

Tea or coffee.

I think this is the last Malay food i had before the trip. 

The salad actually is cold one and mixed with some prawns. 

I only able to finish half of the cheesecake as i felt full already. This was quite nice.

We also kept the bread or packaging biscuit because we already full, the snacks can kept for another times when we feel hungry. This is how we save our money because we need to spend lots at there to eat later.

Emirates Tv

The screen is the coolest so far i have ever seen in an 

economy class seat with a whopping 14 inches screen in this aircraft 

with variety of choices of movies, songs, shows, games and so on. I watched few movies but most of the time i was sleeping. There are variety of movies, such as English, Hong Kong, Chinese, Indian, French, cartoon, and so on. Additionally, there are wide array of songs like piano, oldies songs, latest songs, country music, jazz, blue, melody and There are also categorized in various singers. My sister told me that the mango juice at the Emirate plane is super nice, then i tried and indeed it is. 

We were transited in Dubai for 5 hours and shopping around here. We bought some postcards from here. We were also walking around to look for chocolate and will buy it when back times. Dubai airport is very big and i am not sure it has how many floors, but each floors has a very longitudinal form and it is long enough to put all the shops, you can't finish shopping if you spend only few hours. One of the shop has the trolley for people to put luggage and shopping at the same times. This is really convenient as we were shopping in the mall with a trolley. This is a shopping paradise like what we have in the shopping mall with luxury goods and cafe.

Also, there were lots long seating area which provided for people to take a nap, it was fully occupied all the times, and we always hard to find although there were lots, you can imagine how crowded it was in Dubai airport. In the beginning, we plan to make a short trip to Dubai which we can tour at Dubai, but due to time constraint as we already only spend 10 days in Europe and London and this is already short period of times only, people usually will spend a month or 2 months there because the flight ticket is freaking expensive and the journey is too long also. Therefore, we din't go for a tour at Dubai, so we just hang around at the airport while we transited. You can change your money at the airport if you want to buy anything. 

Yeah! We landed safely in Paris. Our face looked bit pale and tired through the long journey, anyway we were excited about it. I was thinking i want to bath first when i arrived hotel to refresh. 

Bonjour!!

Reached Paris, 10.05am local time.

The architecture elements and forms of Paris's airport, Charles De Gaulle.

Day 1

We were looking for the transport to Eiffel Tower.

This is a machine to buy ticket but the transaction can't be process, 

so we bought tickets from another counter. 

Ticket from Paris airport to Charles de Gaulle Etoile where we can see the Arc de Triomphe where is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle. 

I said "Merci"(thanks) to the bus driver and he smiled at me. They don't usually speak English, so we have to try to speak simple French to them.

Outside scenes from the bus. I saw the advertisement stand around the city with ornamental style and it showed that i was here in Paris. Their house or condominium also mostly made by exposed brick wall or stone which showing the raw effects and beautiful detailed.

Beautiful city with romance.

Walking to Eiffel Tower and we felt that the Eiffel Tower was getting closer with us. But it was actually still have much distance to walk, we can see the Eiffel Tower from far already. Along the way, we saw lots souvenir stalls and we felt reluctant to stop and have a look, but we have to follow the line and we can't get lost alone and it is dangerous. As usual, the place was crowded with tourists and locals. Sometimes, we can see the couples there kiss to each others which we felt very embarrass and shy because in our country we not usually can see this kind of scenes. Paris has four seasons, when the season changes, you can see different feel from the paris, that time we were in the summer and autumn season, i especially like the winter time of Eiffel Tower, it is covered with the snows and i wish that i could come back again one day.

We actually were carrying our big baggage and backpacks because we haven't check in to the hotel. We were first went to Eiffel Tower before we reach hotel. Therefore, the people was not allowed us to carry our luggage together because it was very heavy if everyone of us carried up. We have to separate into two groups and took turn to go up and one of the group will look after the baggage at one place. Fortunately, i was the first group going up with my classmates and Ms Shar. Ms Norji and the rest will take care of our bags first.

We were having Eiffel tour up to second floor. 

Waiting for the lift in the Eiffel Tower.The local people were friendly to us and we kept playing with the baby. Actually i also not sure either they are locals or from other country as well. Then we all cramped together in the lift. The lift was very stable and i din't feel scare when going up. It was actually carrying us in a slanted route according to the form of the Eiffel Tower. I was first time trying this kind of lift. 

We finally reached here and we can see the breathtaking whole scene of Paris. Paris is really big. I thought Eiffel Tower is only a tower, and i din't know that we can go up and even we can go up on the most top part of the Eiffel Tower. We just go up until the second level, but if you want to challenge yourself, you can buy the most top part ticket. ><

Outside scene from the lift. 

Cool and breathtaking views on second floor of Eiffel tower

to overview the whole Paris. The city is very beautiful and well planned with the beautiful landscape. We were standing on top 9113m from the ground floor. There were souvenir shops, restaurant and we took a few minutes to peruse the story windows. They tell the story of the construction of the Eiffel Tower and explain how the old hydraulic lift which, until 1983, would take visitors up to the top, worked. We also see how the current lifts work.

The Eiffel Tower is actually an iron lattice tower

located on the Champ de Mars in Paris.

With its circular view over Paris, it’s the ideal floor from which to get some photos for the album.

There was a staircase which we can go up another level. Ms. Shar and some of them went up and some of us still walked around at the level, then we helped each other at different level to take a picture. I can see the people there were relaxing on the second level and kept taking pictures.

There were spotting scope to see the view but have to pay few euros.

Everyone was looking up under the Eiffel Tower. 

Please be alert when you see these people as they may be 

some of the members of pickpockets.

we could buy cheaper prices with them 

if you know how to bargain with them. 

We randomly bought lots keychain from an indian, 

but not a black man. 

Please be careful!!

There were always few ladies came and approached you 

to ask you play some lucky draw, they actually are pickpockets with their friends. 

It might target you anytime, so just ignore them and run away from them.  

There are lots of food trucks which were selling various kind of drinks and snacks.

For example, ice-cream, biscuits, sausage, drinks, burgers, sandwiches, waffles, and many. I would love to try all the food, but i wanted to save my money because this was only the first day in Paris.

Tour bus in Paris. 

Public toilet in Paris and it is free of charge.

The public toilet will be cleaned and disinfected after every usage, 

so it takes long times to wait after every usage of each people. 

After the people finished using, they will come out, but we can't go in first, because the door need to close again and clean first, we need to wait another 3-5mins to wait and only can go in. The door will automatically open and close itself. We were waiting for one hour to our turn. This was really annoying when there were few Korean girls queued in front and they took very long time to wait for the toilet to open, actually they need to press the button, we were standing behind so we din't know that they were not responsible and kept chatting there only. There were toilets at another side with more rooms, but we wanted to try this compact public toilets. There was tissues provided inside the toilet, me and leo went inside together at one time, because we don't want to wait another turn. The toilet still got foul smells even it had been cleaned. It is an automatic toilets which it will clean itself, but i still feel that it is not clean enough. 

Taking selfie with the Eiffel Tower.
We stop here for quite some times to take pictures before we left. Everyone think the best posing to take with Eiffel Tower, I was more comfortable to take a selfie because i can adjust the angle. We saw a postcard that the girl is taking pictures with her butt which is very funny. The postcard at the souvenir shop are quite expensive, so we din't get anything from there.

Under the Eiffel Tower.

Food kiosk around to have some light food.

lying on the ground and relax and chit-chatting always their cultures.

They don't feel shy to show their genuine affection to the beloved.

Their building mostly influenced by the
Romanesque, Renaissance, Neoclassicism and Gothic. 

They like to sit outside and facing to the road. 

We were attracted to the fruits stall and
we tried grapes and raspberry which were different
from our country and super delicious and fresh. 

Le Beaujolais - First restaurant that we drop by to have dinner.

Turkey Escalope with fried potatoes and either 

garlic or mushroom cream sause, the bacon 

wrapped pork medallions. It costs €15.

Finally, we reached our hotel in Paris.

Finally, we can have shower and nice rest after long hour in the aircraft.

Park & Suites Villejuif

It is very convenient as the next door is supermarket and 

lots restaurant nearby and even a vending machine. 

Vending machine in a shop.

We can get some food when all the shops are closed.

Supermarche Casino
The supermarket is selling all kind of Europe food and snacks and drinks
which you seldom see in Malaysia and with cheaper price.
I bought 2 bottles of nutella here as it is much cheaper compared in Malaysia.

Self-service checkouts machine.

We would like to learn how to use it there as it is still new to us.

If you know how to use it, it was very convenient to avoid the long queue.

Our hotel has a bedroom, living room, pantry and bathroom. 

We have 4 persons in one room.

I stayed with Sherilyn, Leo and Wei Wen.

I was sleeping on the sofa-bed with my friend in the living area.
The weather in Paris is more dry and our wet clothes are easily dried up
but our skin are bit dry and we need to re-hydrate ourself from time to time. 

Outside views from my hotel.

Day 2

It is important to learn how to read map.

This map is useful and easier to learn before you go Paris.

You also can get the map when you reach Paris.

We were having breakfast from casino supermarket, 

I bought sandwich and chocolate drinks. 

We were heading to Musee du Louvre by metro line train 

from Leo Lagrange Villejuif station to Palais Royal station.

Louvre Museum is one of the world's largest museums and historic monument.

Street near the Louvre Museum.
We could appreciate the beauty of the architectural buildings.

There were few street performers, painting stall, and sellers.

Peaceful greenery place around Louvre Museum 

that you never forget to jump!

There were few foreigners that requested us to help them to complete a task,
which was just putting a plate of cream on their friends' face. That was funny. 

Entrance of Louvre Museum.
Louvre museum has 5 floors and this is from the 1st floor.

There was a movable and expandable tube that transformed up from the lower floor.
That's brilliant ideas to transport but is only applicable for certain people only. 

We found the inverted part of the pyramid.

This is the lowest part of the museum,
-2th floor Hall Napoleon which is under the pyramid.

There were lots shops around here and connecting to the train station.

We entered Denon wing of the Louvre museum,
We had the chance to see a collection of sculptures, paintings,
decorative arts, prints and drawings, Islamic arts, antiquities and so on.

Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait of a woman by the
Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, which has been acclaimed as
"the best known, the most visited, the most written about,
the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world."
The tourists were so mad with the painting!!

I bought macaroon and it was tasty!

In Paris, there are always bicycles rentals available for tourists.
You'll need to pay Euro 1.70 for a day ticket
or Euro 8 for a seven-day ticket, which lets you
take an unlimited number of 30-minutes journeys.
Trips longer than 30 minutes incur small additional "usage charges."

It is very important to learn how to understand the map and train routes.

We passby the fruits and vegetable shop.
All are in fresh condition and costs range from €2 to €6.

These are container hostel for the construction workers.

Train station are under construction.

Candylicious..yummy..

They like to sit outside and enjoying the coffee.

The Centre Pompidou
National Museum of Modern Art
Arts gallery and Cultural hub
The people like to sit on the slanted floor to overview
the Pompidou centre and occasionally there is street performers
which make the environment more fun and relaxing. 

The landmark building, designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, 

wears its skeleton on the outside, with tubes and structures colour-coded

to denote their function - blue for air conditioning, 

green for plumbing, yellow for electricity, red for elevators.

The Centre Pompidou owns the biggest collection of 

modern and contemporary art in Europe, 

where fine art rubs shoulders with design, 

architecture, photography and new media.

For example:

Pablo Picasso 

-was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, 

stage designer, poet and playwright 

who spent most of his adult life in France.

Day 3
Villa Savoye
Villa Savoye is a modernist villa in Poissy,
in the outskirts of Paris, France.
It was designed by Swiss architects Le Corbusier
and his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, and built
between 1928 and 1931 using reinforced concrete. 

According Le Corbusier, "the house sits on the grass like an object,
without disturbing anything."
The openings amd symmetry of the approach and
entrance facades do away with any idea of "front" or "rear".
The ground floor disappears in the shadow of the first floor,
highlighting the floating effect created by the raised stilt construction.

I found dandelion on the grass that was so lovely.

Le Corbusier Mini Gallery

The grey lino ramp slopes gently upwards to the first floor.

The encased spiral staircase goes right down to the cellar.

The living room has a bay window opening onto the terrace.
At night time it is lit by a long nickel-plated steel chandelier.

The walls frame the landscape, acting as a prolongation of the
bay windows which run right around the house.

I had a chance to sit on the famous chaise-lounge and it is so comfortable!

The kitchen is accessed via a pantry with
fitted cupboards and a serving hatch.
The numerous cupboards and tiled worktops
highlight the importance of this room.

The son's room has a sleeping ares and a work area, separated by a cupboard. 

The boudoir opens into the hanging garden.

The hanging garden allows light right into the heart of the house.

Let's noted down that i have been visited here in Paris!

5 Points of a New Architecture which i have learnt from Villa Savoye:
Basic principles of the modern movement.
1.Stilts- A box in the air
2.Roof garden- It stands out clearly against the sky.
3. Open-plan- Reinforced concrete frees the interior of load bearing walls.
4.Free-floating facade- Free of load-bearing structure.
5.Horizontal window- Creating light and airy interiors.

Next, we proceeded to Charles de Gaulle Etoile
to take our Disneyland tickets.
We can see some food truck around.

Arc de Triomphe

The area around the Arche de Triomphe is called L'Etoile.

12 streets meet at the Arch de Triomphe roundabout.

Randomly see the nice buildings around.

Postcard magazine and newspaper kiosk stall.

Ceramic Hotel
Jules Aime Lavirotte was a French architect.
The most extreme example of the ornamental delirium
that is Nouveau that the French capital has hidden away.

Paris Art Street Belleville
We are amazed by the grafitti and arts studio around here.
Even the wall and van also have been "beautified".

It is called Portes Ouvertes Des Ateliers D'Artistes 

and offers an opportunity to visit the studios 

of over 200 artists in the Belleville area. 

It sounded like fun so off we go.

The artists was busy releasing his creativity.

We were searching around the artist studio that opened
and we would like to pay a visit.
We were seeing the huge colourful
murals painted on the many outside walls.

There was a man wearing the steel and hard metals and
creating different sound effects when he was walking. That's funny...

It was fascinating to get inside the studio and see the art works.

We were asked to wear the 3D glasses to see the art pieces and 

it transformed into 3D moving objects in the art pieces!!

We took selfie with the artist at Belleville.

We all were amazed by his art works. 

That is really awesome!!

Click on this Link and 

you can see how he produced the art works!!

----> Exposition Laoutec

That night, we were hanging around at Eiffel Tower again
to see the illumination panaromic views.

We bought lots keychains and postcards there.

Shining bright like a Diamond.
The Eiffel Tower will shine periodically at night.

Day 4
Disneyland Paris

Minnie made from Paris.

Interior of Disneyland Paris Studio1.
Here's are restaurant.

Moteurs...Action!
Stunt Show Spectacular featuring Lightning Mcqueen
(inspired from film Disney-Pixar Cars 2
It is live show by technical actors who showcasing
their superb car driving  techniques like in the Disney movie-
Cars 2 with live sound effects background.

All are waiting for the Disney's Stars and Cars.
Meet our Disney Characters Friends.

It's coming!!

Disney Dreams!
Spectacular lasers and sparkling water jets feature in the
fabulous night time show which had a good endings of the Disneyland trip.
It does make us a sweet dream!!

- Live Show -

Day 5
I went to Pont des Amoureux (Love Lock Bridge)
with Wei Wen early in the morning at 9am.
We discussed with Ms Sharmila how to go and
make sure we can reach the train station
of Gare du Nord which we took the train
from Paris to London at 12pm.
Thanks for Ms. Shar that she allowed us to go ourselves
and it would my ever new experience to find roads
and ways to the destinations all by myself in Paris.

There are thousands of love locks which make the place so romantic.

I have written my name with my beloved too!

Notre Dame de Paris 
is a historic cathedral, it is possibly the most famous cathedrals.

Notre Dame main entrance details.

It was among the first buildings in the world
to use the flying buttress. (arched exterior supports)

The building was not originally designed
to include the flying buttresses around the choir
and nave but after the construction began,
the thinner walls (popularized in the Gothic style) grew ever higher
and stress fractures began to occur as the walls push outwards.
Therefore, the cathedral's architects built supports
around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern.

Many small individually crafted statues were placed around 

the outside to serve as column supports and water spouts. 

Among these are the famous gargoyles, 

designed for water run-off, and chimeras.

We reached early at 11.10am at Gare du Nord station
which is the meeting point with others and travelled to London.

Beauvais-Tille Airport

Billetes Eurostar

We were on the way from Paris to London!

It took only 2 hours to travel, because it is superb fast!

There is a mini shop that the passengers can have a
quick meal or light food there.
I bought a hot chocolate which costs Euro 3.50.

Finally, we reached London.

Let's read and understand the map!

We reached Russell Square station that is near to our Generator Hostel.

Busy streets of London.

We settled down at Generator Hostel.

We had 4 people in one room.

I stayed with Nano, Nana and Emma.

 This is a creative and cozy hostel that i ever seen.

There are lots spaces to gather and 

mingle around with friends.

Eating area.

Bar area.

Cafe area.

Relaxing Lounge

Covent Garden
Market scenes and Street Performers
Once a thriving central London fruit, vegetable and flower market.
Here is now a major retail tourist attraction, offering cafes,
pubs, restaurants, small shops and a craft market.

We were having dinner at Peter's Cafe at Jubilee market in near Covent Garden.
I bought a baguettes with bacon, tomato and mozarella cheese with banana milk.

It's the time we were enjoying the award-winning musical-
The Lion King at Lyceum Theatre, Covent Garden, London.

"A Wonderful Wonderful Musical...It will touch a deep chord in everybody."

"It lights up the stage with a blaze of Fabulous Imagination."

Day 6

We were having early breakfast at 9am at the hostel.
This is a buffet type of breakfast where we were queuing up to take
drinks like orange, apple, coffee or tea, and
bread mix with ham, cheese, cucumber, tomatoes, and
fruits as well as cereal milks with cornflakes and oats and coco-crunch.
We could mix and match the breakfast as you like.




We walked few distance from the hostel to the
nearest underground tube, Russell Square station.
We were heading to Science Museum
which is located near South Kensington tube station.

Oyster Card like "Touch n Go" in Malaysia.

This is useful to travel with it in any transportation in London.

It is unlimited usage after exceed £7 a day, 

means only charge maximum £7 a day. 

We were waiting for the lift instead of taking the 175 steps of staircases.

Underground tube.

Science Museum
-is the most visited science and technology museum in Europe.

You can experience how science has been displayed
in the museum and transmitted the messages with interactive games.

It is a fun and interactive spaces for young people
to the wonder and excitement of scientific discovery
and learn with the powerful educational experiences. 

We were exploring the games station by station.
It was really fun to know more about ourselves through the games.

We passed by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

I was taking picture with the telephone box.

The phone booth are everywhere in London provided with wifi.

You always can online while you are at London compared to Paris.

London buses are always in red.

Piccadilly Circus

-is a road junction and public space of London's West End 

in the City of Westminster, surrounded by variety of shops, cafe, 

bars, restaurant, theatre and shopping malls. 

It is a busy square of the heart of London.

The famous fountain!

We were hunting our lunch here!

Fish and chips..so yummy....

Costs 15 pounds.

The night view of Piccadily circus.

We bought keychains, shirts, postcards from the kiosk.

We tried to bargain with the seller 

and we only get  £2 off although we bought lots.(Average 30pounds per person)

In the beginning, the seller said will give us discounts, 

but when we decided to buy and bargained with her

and her face turned black and was not friendly with us. 

I bought a Chelsea cap from the souvenir stall just now and 

thought to buy for my boy friend who is a crazy fan of Chelsea club. 

When i entered this shop (called Cool Britain) , 

i took a pictures with the cute man and entered the shop with the cap.

Suddenly the workers inside suspected that i stole the cap which also sell in the shop.

I explained that i bought this from another place which is a stall with no receipt given.

After they checked for a few minutes, I left the shop with an unhappy mood.

I feel like although i am a tourist here, but we didn't get a special treats from the locals.

It is so important that there are always best friends to be with you and cheer you up!

Day 7

In this early morning, we were here at Buckingham Palace.
It is the Queen's official London residence and
is used to receive and entertain guests on state,
ceremonial and official occasions for the Royal Family.

The soldiers.

Victorial Memorial
-is the golden statue of Queen Victoria which sits in front of
the Palace facing down the mall.

Buckingham Palace

Changing the Guard
-takes place in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace at 11.30
everyday in summer, every other day in winter. 

The woman sat on her hubby's shoulders in order to see the ceremony.
It was so crazy!

Crowded people around here.
waiting for the ceremony...

Then, we went to Stratford to visit Discovery Children's Story Centre.
Before that, we had our lunch at an Indian restaurant.

Discovery Children's Story Centre.
-is a place where children and their families can enjoy
playing, learning and making up stories together.

There is offices on the upper floor.

Reception

Garden Playspace.

Community and education officer named Ms. Jodie Sadler patiently
brought us walked around the spaces and explained to us. 

This is the space that the children can make own spoon puppets and create own stories.

The interactive illumination attracts the children to move and experience the sounds effects.

Queen Elizabeth Olimpic Park

The Olimpic Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies
of the London 2012 Games,
and the athletics and Paralympic athletics.
Now the games are over, the park has been
transformed into the Queen Elizabeth Park.

Nano's teddy with the Big Ben, London.
It is the Great Bell of the clock at the
north end of the Palace of Westminster in London.

London's Eye.

We were so happy to get the chance to take picture with the pretty foreigners.

Westminster Abbey

It reminds me of the Royal Wedding of Britain's
Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge Leave
Westminster Abbey following their wedding ceremony.

Cool interior views of Westminster Abbey!

Trafalgar Square

-is a public space and tourist attraction in central London.

Magnificent Victorian edifice of the National Gallery 

and the Fourth Plinth which 

is now used for exciting and controversial modern art.

Fantastic free outdoor events highlights 

the best of London's multicultural music and dance scene.

Day 8
Arsenal Stadium

The Arsenal stadium tour costs 20 pounds which can visit
the whole stadium, gallery, museum and have a chance to visit
the place where the football stars are sitting.

I bought a souvenir for my friend.

I was writing postcards for my friends and families.
The postcards cost range from 0.50-0.90 pounds and
you can get the stamps range from 1pound to 1.50pounds.
You can get the cheapest stamps from the
currency exchange shop especially in the attraction streets.




Fake street performer.
You can take pictures with him and pay him a little tips.

Tate Modern
-is a modern art gallery in London.

Interactive drawing wall.

Art works display.

Slanted floor connecting the entrance with the interior spaces.

We bumped into the "Take Away Fish and Chips" and we bought it!

Tower of London
A ceramic poppy will be planted in the Tower's moat for each allied victim.
More than 800,000 poppies will be planted before Armistice Day in November.
The poppies will be sold off to raise funds for six military charities.
The name of 180 victims will be read out each evening to honour the dead.

Tower Bridge
-is a combined bascule and suspension bridge
in London which crosses the River Thames.

There are bridge lift times either up or down for different sailing purposes.
The Tower Bridger was raised up to allow access for the ships.

At first, i was curious about why the Tower Bridge painted blue...

Tower Bridge was painted red, white and blue
to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee.

Southbank Centre
-is a complex of artistic venues in London.

We walked through the market and bought
crepe with nutella that was really delicious!

I have tried bit of the beer, not bad but i seldom drink beer.

Bruschetta
-is an antipasto from Italy consisting of grilled bread
rubbed with garlic and topped with tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Royal Festival Hall

The spaces inside are interconnecting each others,
i can see various spaces
when i am standing at different spots.

Postcards sent!

We were taking cab back to the hostel after we finished shopping at Oxford Circus.

The superwoman, Ms Shar never feel tired to shop and walk around the streets.

Day 9

Portobello Market

-the world's largest antiques market with 

over 1,000 dealers selling every kind of antiques and collectible.

This morning, I plan to meet my long old friends who stay at UK, 

but they left when i arrived at the market as they need 

to fetch her sister back to university. 

That's bit upset because i wish to meet them. 

Anyway thanks for coming although i was not there yet. 

A nightmare for me although here's really happening 

as i lost my phone here. :(

Please be careful and alert of your handbag when 

you are taking photos or looking at something.

Be aware!! Pickpockets are around!!

These two cute juniors trying to cheer me up!

They took picture with the shop that is called zaza(my nick name).

Abbey Road Studios

-Abbey Road was the final Beatles album to be recorded.

I love Beatles!

The tourists were queuing up to take picture at the crossing road.
They act like how the Beatles posing.

My girls crossing like the Beatles.

Harry Potter

King Cross Station

I have the Magic Stick, please be careful of me..hee

Potter-Lovers are

Happily snapping pictures!

Crispy honey nuts.

Never miss out the sales in Primark!

Those stuffs are crazily cheap!

Day 10

Banana milk from Ms. Shar early in the morning 

when we reached Paris by bus.

We took 10 hours bus from London Victoria Coach Station to Paris.

The macaroon in Paris airport.

It's the time to return to our homeland!!
We departed from Paris to Dubai which we may transited for 3 hours
before we reached Kuala Lumpur. We landed safely in KL around 3pm.

The things that i bought from Paris and London!

My brothers like Nutella and Kitkat.

Big Eiffel tower for my daddy and mummy.

The Lousy shirt is for my eldest sister.haaa.. XD

The brochure and information and tickets 

that i kept all the way since the journey began.

This was my ever great and first experience in Europe! 

I was real experiencing the environment that i have always seen from the movies. 

I also get to know their cultures, lifestyle and food. 

Additionally, we get a chance to see the architectural buildings 

that we normally can see from the Internet. 

Through the real experience, it would enhance more impression 

on my architectural knowledge especially from Europe. 

Although i have a bad experience there, but i would more appreciate 

what i gain there and the precious fellowship among each others. 

I mix around with my juniors and lecturers which 

we may not have the chance when 

we are rushing for assignment in normal school days. 

Lastly, I would say a millions thanks to 

my beloved lecturer, Ms. Sharmila 

that she proposed and planned and did everything 

for us in order to achieve our Europe dreams! 

The End. Hope you enjoy my stories. Merci :)

Safety advice especially in Europe:

Pickpockets may be present in anywhere, they operate in crowds 

while you are photographing or looking at interesting or cheap products. 

Please follow these rules:

-Keep your bags closed and hold them in front of you.

-Do not flash your cash.

-Divide up your cash and keep it in several different inside pockets 

or in different compartments of your bag.

-Do not put your wallet in your back pocket.

-Do not follow the advice of stranges at ticket machines.

-Pay attention to your bags and pockets while taking photos.

-In the event of a problem, contact a security officer for assistance.

First incident:

A friend was actually wanted to buy the train ticket, 

a man approached and offered to help to click on the machine, 

but the man took the money that is left from the machine without permission. 

Second incident:

There is few ladies came and approached to ask my friend 

to sign up something or lucky draw,

they cover and chase after you. Please gather and keep 

in the group, so that they would have lesser chance to target on you.

Third incident:

A friend's iphone was stolen in a morning market street 

after she entered the market just a few minutes. 

It is because i think she was taking photos and 

or looking at something, and the professional thief was 

so quick in action. Never mind, 

iphone has a strong security mode to lock it 

and people always said that the people who stole iphone is stupid!

Fourth incident:

My friend was suspected by the officer near the shopping area 

that she steals something and she was being quarantined 

for 30 minutes and the workers were checking, 

and she actually did not steal anything. 

We were so suddenly and in worrying. 

It's really fun to experience a great country like Paris and London, 

but safety is also very important to avoid any unnecessary troubles. :(