When I was a kid, I always dreamed of visiting England one day. I’m not sure why. I’m guessing it’s most likely because I read and heard most about this country while growing up. After all, we were once under the British colonial rule. So I’m guessing, it would be an interesting and beautiful country to visit.
Hubby and I planned and booked the air tickets for this trip with my in-laws before I was pregnant. So when I found out about my pregnancy, I really took quite a long while before I finally decided to go on with this trip because my Babymoon 1 to Khao Yai ended with me vomiting very terribly. I thought, since this trip fell nicely in my 2nd trimester coincidentally, maybe it was a sign that I should just go ahead. With a child, it would be even more difficult to plan another trip like this! I’m glad I went with my gut feel.
We took a 1am flight with the Singapore Airlines. The flight was quite full, so there were no extra seats for me to move to a more spacious seat. It was also rather tiring to stay up so late for the flight (yes I cultivated a good habit of sleeping around 10pm during my pregnancy!). And most interesting of all, it was my first time requesting for food (such as sandwiches and biscuit) from the cabin crew in between meals because of my hungry baby inside me. Haha!
We arrived at Heathrow Airport around 7.30am London time and saw a very long queue for the immigration. I could actually visit the toilet during the queue and return to continue queuing! When we finally cleared it about an hour later, I heaved a sigh of relief and was glad that I did not faint. We were having our breakfast at the Nero Cafe in the arrival hall when I spotted a man holding a card with my name. Yes, we booked our airport transfer with BA Transfer. A vehicle large enough for 4 of us with our luggage cost 109 pounds on the first and last day of our trip. We thought it was reasonable given the convenience it would bring to us! Another company that my friend recommended and was commonly seen on the streets was the Addison Lee.
Our plan was to start our tour from Scotland and then self-drive back down to London. But knowing that we needed time to adjust ourselves to the different time zone, we decided to rest for 1 night at London before taking a train to Edinburgh tomorrow!
Our ride took about 30mins from the airport to hotel. Driver said that it was thanks to the good traffic condition. I was unable to appreciate what he meant by ‘good traffic condition’ until we returned to London days later (omg the horror!).
That night, we stayed at Premier Inn St Pancras which was near King’s Cross Station. Premier Inn was a common sight in London as 1 of the largest hotel chain there. The reception of the hotel was at level 2. Thankfully, there were 2 small lifts and we did not have to lug our luggage up.
As we were still too early to check in, we deposited our luggage with the concierge and walked to the King’s Cross Station less than 5mins away to settle our train tickets to Scotland. King’s Cross Station is next to the St Pancras International which is a terminal for trains to Europe. Beneath the station also lies the King’s Cross St Pancras tube station of the London Underground. The proximity of all these different lines makes this place one of the busiest transport hub in the country! Another famous feature of the King’s Cross Station was it’s association with the Harry Potter story and film. Fans would be happy to visit the Harry Potter shop and take a photo with the fictional Platform 9 3/4. Admittedly, I was not a Harry Potter fan. I can barely remember the story! But I had a great time looking at the items sold in the shop although the queue for the photo with the trolley was too long for a non-fan girl like me.
Look at the people queuing to take photos!!!
There is a row of eateries at level 2 of the station. We bought our lunch from Wasabi Snacks and Bento shop and found a seat overlooking the gantries of the train station.
When we could finally check in to our rooms, we decided we needed a rest before heading out for dinner again. Afterall, London was 8hrs slower than Singapore. My body was already sleepy at 3pm (11pm Singapore time). What was meant to be a short nap turned out to be a rather long sleep. We dragged ourselves out of bed unwillingly and headed back to the King’s Cross Station for dinner at KIOSK where they served burgers and sandwiches. That night, I woke up at 3am (11am Singapore time) and started to rummage my bag for cookies. after messaging my friends for 1hr, I finally fell back asleep…
Perrine Travels 