Sun, 25 Aug 2002

author Tim	location Beckenham, London
posted 21:43 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/England/London/London 1 ( all photos )

Touchdown! ( 11 photos )
Well, that's the flying part out of the way for quite some time. It all went smoothly once again, with the exception of us thinking we were going to die when the plane landed - we did a little zig-zag on the runway at high speed which was the talk of the passengers for hours to come. Quite scary.
So I got through immigration OK - I got asked to recite what the conditions of my Visa were, which was fine since I have studied them in fine detail. By the time I had found our baggage carousel (Murphy's Law dictates that when faced with a random choice between two possibilities, you will always pick the wrong one - I went the long way), Liz had already got it all stacked up on a cart. I've got her trained well!
Then, we walked out and were greeted with the fantastically smiling, if very short and hence quite hidden face of Meaghan! She guided us through the underground in a way that only an Aussie who has been in London for eight months can, and four trains, one bus and many many tall staircases to lug suitcases up later, we eventually located Beckenham Junction - the closest station to the Goodwood B&B where we are staying.
There was one slight moment of panic, where we were given about ten seconds warning that due to trackwork, we had to get out at the station we were at to get a bus to Beckenham. Only Liz made it out in time. Myself and Meaghan were left madly pressing buttons next to the door, but to no avail. We were re-united after Meags and I got off at the next station, and got a train back.
Our first meal in London was supposed to be a pub meal, but all the pubs had stopped serving food. So, we went to an Italian restaurant and I drank an Italian beer. Not quite warm lager, but I suppose there's plenty of time for that.
The B&B is homely, small, and run by two old biddies who are an endless source of amusement. Meags is staying tonight, and will go home later tomorrow. They apparently have no double/queen rooms available, so Liz and I have a twin (two single beds). At least Liz won't steal my covers.
Now that I've been up for almost 24 hours, it is probably high-time to go to sleep. Looking forward to the jet lag...

author Tim	location somewhere over Chennai, India
posted 09:47 India Time	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/England/London/London 1 ( all photos )

Up in the air, we fly ( 11 photos )
(Continued from Singapore 1)
No major dramas getting back on the plane. We had two separate busses attempt to pick us up this morning - which is far better than zero. A funny little man with a very slow Combi van, was it a sign of things to come for us?
Check-in went smoothly, and the bottle of Jameson in the overhead locker above me is the sign that duty-free shopping is not totally lost on us.
Breakfast on the plane was ok, but not spectacular, and we now have a load of drinks to re-fill our bladders. Hooray for economy class!
Liz did the most amusing thing so far on this trip, when our breakfast arrived earlier. We had this strange little packet of cereal, which had the milk in it's lid, and a clear cover over the cereal itself. Far be it from Liz to notice said clear cover, and she proceeded to empty a packet of sugar all over the now infamous clear cover. The look on her face was priceless as she attempted to come to terms with what had just happened. I'll give her that it has been an early morning - we're both feeling sleepy. That's a good thing with ten hours of flying time still to go.

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