Holiday of a Lifetime - After thoughts

Europe is a place where everyone dreams of going at least once in their lifetime as somehow concluded from my friends and relatives. Even though it was another Ang Moh place but it was entirely different from Australia, United States and New Zealand. They have their own culture, language, style of living, values etc.

Somehow, the Europeans are more up-tight & do not embrace foreigners as readily as we hope so. In a certain aspect, Asians including Singaporeans and the Americans are more open-minded towards accepting people who are different from us. Yes, I am proud that we are able to have a more generous heart and mind to accommodate other nationalities ! Let's give a pat on our shoulders !

Switzerland society has somehow struck a seamless harmony with dogs which enable them to have their pets on the streets, restaurants and even trains ! We were often amazed by the good behavior of the dogs whenever we saw one on the street! They were definitely well-trained. Accordingly to my European colleague who is a German, he mentioned that the Swiss are more or less confined to their own community. That might explain why they are unfriendly to foreigners.

Paris is definitely one of the most interesting cities in the world ! The city is not only huge but it was crowded with interesting artistic folks who earn their keep by leasing their talents on the streets and trains ! You could tell that most of these folks are not Parisians. They are migrants from different part of the world. There are 2 distinctive groups of people that caught my eyes in Paris. One was a group of blacks consisting only men who sell souvenirs to tourists in places of attractions. One was a group of ladies (not blacks though) who worked in a group asking tourists if they could speak English or occasionally dressed up as "Mummies" or "Egyptian Queen" for donations . Somehow, looking at them, I felt so blessed to be able to walk freely and enjoying life as a tourist. I just had this feeling that these groups were under some kind of underground organisation which controls their lives and money they earned. I felt a heartache for them and how lucky we are compared to them ! We have to be truly grateful to what we have and the full rights of being a human being !

Being stranded in London certainly "opened" our eyes to see how some organisations took advantage of this unfortunate situation to "advertise" their trade. Unfortunately, our national airlines was one of them. It was pretty upsetting to know that the airlines was doing so much for the stranded passengers in Singapore rather than to help their fellow Singaporean overseas. So Singaporeans are considered second class than foreigners stranded overseas ? That's exactly how we felt in London. Somehow, we still considered Singapore as our home despite the fact that the airlines has let us down.

It was during this rather unpleasant situation that we got encouragements from our friends via Facebook, emails or phone calls. We were extremely grateful with every messages posted everyday. We gave our thanks to all friends who genuinely care about us. Thanks to Fang who call SIA for us which took her like an hour to get someone to talk to her.

Holiday of a Lifetime - Extended Unwilling 3

Cannot believe that on the 6th day in London, there were finally news that the airspace would be open the next day ! Thanks to the CEO of British Airlines who flown a dozen of planes and landed safely in London !

We have been feeling really down especially for the first 3 days. It was getting a bit unbearable having to wait for daily news for updates.

We managed to get though SIA after almost 1 hour and only to know that we need to make a personal trip to airport the next day to rebook our flight home. It was a pleasant and peaceful night thinking of the following day. Even though we were not allowed into the departure hall to rebook our flights (yes, yet another chilly day), we managed to secured a flight home tomorrow.

We checked out of Tudor Court and met up with Sara at King Cross's Mc Donalds for lunch before we departed for airport. Sara also managed to secured a flight a day later than us.

When we were about to leave Mc Donalds, we realised that CK's luggage was gone ! I really could not believe it ! How could this happened ? I thought that we have enough drama for days and this could not happening to us leh ! Yes, the luggage was stolen under my very eyes and I did not detected anything at all. Well, it's all my fault, really. I was browsing through the camera's photos and someone might have just took it from the table underneath. It was amazing as the luggage was heavy with clothing, tripod etc !

I must thank God that the important stuff like passport, LV wallets were not stolen.

Our last itinerary in London was to the Metropolitan Police to file a police report. Very dramatic !

CK did not mind losing his luggage though as he was too happy about going home. However, I could not help feeling a bit sad over my few pieces of favourite dresses, Mark and Spencer clothing (new), Disneyland souvenirs and paintings which were bought in Paris and London.


CK's luggage (the one carried on his back) last seen at Paddington Station !

Holiday of a Lifetime - Extended unwillingly 2

So how did 2 stranded Singaporeans while away their time in London ?


Made a wasteful trip to Singapore Embassy. Sadly, the Singapore Embassy was located amidst a resident area in Wilton Place. It occupied a just 1 unit of the concave shape building and the Consular Section was at the basement ! Pathetic ! Saw three young fellow Singaporeans there. Befriended a lady called Sara who works in NUS. A Singaporean who worked in the Consular Section told us stuff which we have already knew like flights canceled, airport closed, no choice, have to wait..... bah bah bah. Excuse me, we watched BBC and Sky News everyday without having to hear from another person ? Our purpose to Singapore Embassy was not also to ask for freebies like free accommodation or money. The lady seems helpless and told us there was no indications from MFA. She suggested that we e-registered ourselves in MFA website. This was the funny part. We suggested that they could help us to register in MFA website and they said they have no internet access ! What a ridiculous excuse ! We started to get a bit impatient and disgusted with their "help". I could tell that the Singaporean staff started to get worried and started to suggest budget hotels and internet cafes but we just exited the place without turning back.

EXTRACTED FROM MFA WEBSITE
Assistance for Singaporeans

What can our Consular Officer assist in?

*Provide you with information, advice and consular assistance.
*Issue you with an emergency travel document if you have lost your Singapore passport overseas.
Note: It is an Immigration requirement that you report the loss of your passport to the local police and furnish our Mission with a copy of this report.
*Contact your relatives or friends to request them to send you emergency funds for your repatriation or other necessary emergency expenses.
*Notify your next-of-kin in the event you are injured abroad.
*Notify your next-of-kin in the event of your arrest or detention.
*Visit a Singapore citizen who has been arrested or imprisoned and monitor that due process under the judicial system of that country is accorded to him or her.
*Help to obtain a list of officially registered local lawyers and translation services where this is available.
*Assist in making the arrangements for the return to Singapore of the remains and personal belongings of a deceased Singaporean overseas.
*Help you during emergencies such as natural disasters or civil disorder in the foreign country.

We have jokingly said that all that Singapore Embassy could help us is to :
*Assist in making the arrangements for the return to Singapore of the remains and personal belongings of a deceased Singaporean overseas.
In short, when you were still alive and kicking, you take care of yourself !



The one in white jacket is Sara. We met with each other daily as she was alone in London. As you can guess, we went to Chinatown for food and sightseeing.



CK and myself went to this free museum called "Victoria and Albert" museum.



We went Harrods .. a famous high-class department store. Late Princess Diana's boyfriend, Dodi Fayed (Mohamed Al Fayed's son who bought over Harrods in 1985)



Hyde Park ... when you least expected, the tulips were at their best. I cheered up tremendously with their brilliant colours !



Princess Diana's memorial park. London parks are huge and some are connected to one another. The weather was nice and it was really a good idea to do a picnic.

Holiday of a Lifetime - Extended unwillingly 1

It was strange that after you have touched ground safely in one piece after being stranded for seven days in London, suddenly there was no urge to complain in papers to SIA and Singapore Embassy. Can it be tiredness ? Can it be over-whelming happiness to be back in familiar grounds ? Or we are too busy picking up the pieces where we have left behind ? I think it was a mixture of all points plus Laziness !

It was definitely devastating that no help was rendered to affected passengers by our national air craft. We were just handed a piece of paper outside the closed departure hall in the cold ! Helpful tips or suggestions were not given voluntarily. They suggested that we could proceed to the Arrival Hall which was still opened to enquire about booking a hotel. Yes, we went and was shocked that the hotel rates was 300 plus pounds per night! Anyhow, we called our Insurer and lodged a case of travel delay. There were many passengers who looked as helpless as us and walking around aimlessly !


This is the miserable piece of paper which was handed out to passenger who turned up outside the close airspace ! Yes, we were told by the Ah Moh SIA Representative that the telephone number for re-booking of flights was a local number ! We thought that a local number must be relatively cheap. Therefore, we decided to call from Best Western hotel room. Guess what ? It costs us 40 pounds ! About SGD82 dollars just to rebook a flight which got canceled the next day !


We discussed and decided to head back to London. We booked a room for a night at Best Western, Cromwell for 99 pounds via a travel agent. We liked the hotel and decided to extend our stay since the flight was canceled the next day. We went down to the reception the next morning to express our interests to extend one more night. Yes, they have raised the price from 99 pounds to 141 pounds ! The most "inhumane" gesture was that breakfast was not included for the 141 pounds stay !

Best Western, Cromwell

So angry Diana has written a feedback to Best Western Chain when she got her hand on her laptop in Singapore.

MY FEEDBACK
We have chosen to stay in Best Western Hotel in London because of our
wonderful stay in The Best Western Hotel Butterfly in
Zermatt/Switzerland. The room charge on 15/04/10 was 99 pounds per night
with breakfast. Unfortunately, the airspace was still closed the next
day and we have to extend our stay for one more night. The price has
gone up from 99 pounds to 140 pounds over night ! However, we have
accepted the offer as we had a tiring and stressful day without having
to think where we should stay for another night. After making payment,
the reception told us that the breakfast was not included! I could not
accept this arrangement. Being a strander was bad enough with increased
rates overnight and taking away the breakfast. Was there no compassion
shown to your guests for their unfortunate plight and making their stay
more pleasant ? We were very disappointed with one of our favourite
chain of hotels. It would take us quite a while to book our stay with
Best Western again.



BEST WESTERN'S REPLY
From:
"Fairchild, Kaitlyn"
...
View Contact
To: BABYTAI20042003@YAHOO.COM.SG

Dear Diana Tai:

Our office received the following response from the management of the Best Western The Cromwell in London, England:

DEAR MS DIANA TAI

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR EMAIL THAT WE RECEIVED VIA BEST WESTERN.

THE ROOM RATE OF £99-00 FOR YOUR FIRST NIGHT STAY WAS A RATE THAT YOU BOOKED IN ADVANCE VIA A TRAVEL AGENT.

ANY ADVANCE BOOKINGS ARE NORMALLY CHEAPER THAN A BOOKING MADE ON THE DAY. THE ROOM RATE OF £140-00 THAT YOU PAID FOR THE SECOND NIGHT WAS THE BEST AVAILABLE RATE OF THE DAY ON OUR BEST WESTERN WEBSITE.

I TRUST THAT THIS SITUATION WILL NOT KEEP YOU FROM STAYING WITH US AGAIN IN THE FUTURE.

KIND REGARDS
ANDRE BOTHA
DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER
Best Regards,
Kaitlyn Fairchild | Customer Care Representative
Best Western International | The World’s Largest Hotel Chain®
20400 N 29th Avenue | Phoenix | AZ | 85027
1 800 528-1238 or 623.780-6093 • www.bestwestern.com





MY 2nd FEEDBACK
I think they are not getting the idea ! Noted that they used CAPITAL letters to reply a complaint ??

Anyway, here goes my 2nd feedback hot from the oven !

From:
Diana Tai
...
View Contact
To: "Fairchild, Kaitlyn"
Cc: babytai20042003@yahoo.com.sg
Dear Kaitlyn

Thank you for your reply.

I would like to highlight that my feedback is not so much of accepting a higher priced room but was told by the reception that breakfast was not included the next day. This might seem like making a fuss out of a mole hole, but as a tired stranded passenger, we felt worst by such a gesture.

Anyhow, we managed to find a smaller established hotel which really empathized with us and made us feel very welcome.

I felt that I need to stress on non-monetary aspect of such an encounter even though losing 1 customer might not be much of an effect to a big chain like Best Western.

Regards
Diana



Okie, most likely my email is going to be marked as a trash, but I felt that there is a need for me to put my point across. Hahaha ....


Feeling really "cheated" at Best Western, we decided to check out the next day. As Best Western Hotel has free Wifi access, we booked another hotel, The Royal Norfolk hotel, near Paddington Station.

We lung 4 luggages, took a train to Paddington. The Royal Norfolk hotel sounded like a posh hotel ? To our horror, it was a small hotel and looked rather run-down. This hotel has no lifts and we have to carry our stuff to our room. Anyhow, we have been pretty well-trained in Switzerland to London for carrying luggages whenever we were on the move. The room was rather big and basic but the bath room looked like something out of a TV murder scene ! Yes, I did not dare to take a shower that night and bugged CK to move to another hotel. Ok, I don't smell because it was cold, therefore did not perspire at all. By the way, the hotel room door has a key hole which people could also peep in if they wanted to ! Another reason for moving is the fire-hazard issue. Our room was tucked in a corner of a strange-structured labyrinth hotel.

As we walked around the estate, we realised that there were many small hotels near The Royal Norfolk hotel. Finally, we found Turdor Court Hotel which was ran by Indian immigrants. It was a family-ran business hotel and the boss's son, Krishna showed us an unoccupied room upon my request. The newly-renovated room looked clean and cosy and we booked a room from him. We moved to Tudor Court which was just a stone-throw away from The Royal Norfolk hotel. However, Tudor Court got no lifts too but we did not mind that much! We stayed at Tudor Court for the rest of our extra stay in London, extending day by day till the airspace was opened again. It was a blessing that we do not need to move from one place to another place again.


Tudor Court, Paddington. Before we checked out, Krishna has asked us to write a review for them in "Trip Advisor" which I did when I got back.



Here's the review I have written:
“A hotel with a heart”
Tudor Court Hotel
Save Review
5 of 5 stars
babytai20042003 1 contribution
Singapore
Apr 27, 2010 | Trip type: Couples

We were so glad to find Tudor Court Hotel due to the unfortunate closure of the airspace recently ! The owners were helpful and friendly to us. Unlike other bigger chain of hotels who took this opportunity to increase the room rates (yes, it happened to us before we found Tudor Court!), they did not resort to such act. The hotel has been renovated last year and it was clean and pleasant. The English breakfast was nice and they do not mind you asking for more toasts etc or refill of your beverages. We have extended our stay day by day due we were able to rebook a flight home. The owners have tried to match our requirement and we were very grateful for that. As many who have mentioned, the excellent location at close proximity to the underground is indeed a plus point. A hotel with a heart, is there no reason to stay in such a hotel ?

* My ratings for this hotel
o 4 of 5 stars Value
o 4 of 5 stars Rooms
o 5 of 5 stars Location
o 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
o 5 of 5 stars Service
o 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality

* Date of stay April 2010
* Visit was for Leisure
* Traveled with With Spouse/Partner
* Member since December 14, 2007

* Would you recommend this hotel to a friend? Yes

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Was this review helpful? Yes

旅行小 贴士

Wishing I could use mandarin for this blog but by the time I finished this entry, it will be too late. So I can only afford to have the title in chinese characters.

Generally, Euros and pounds have depreciated in value but it was still costly against our Singapore dollars.
100 SGD = 79.46 Swiss Franc
100 SGD = 55.80 EUR
100 SGD = 47.84 Pounds


For budget tourists like us loves to seek for money for value buys. They do not necessary meant that the quality might be compensated.

G R O C E R I E S

In Switzerland: Look out for their "National" Supermarket (very much like our NTUC) : COOP (can spot this supermarket widely in Switzerland)

In Paris : Carrefour and Leader Price (there might be others) Singaporeans should be very familiar with Carrefour.

In London : Marks & Spencer and Tesco and Waitrose. Marks & Spencer seems to enjoy a higher status in Singapore. However, in London, it's really just another supermarket. After surveying the prices of the biscuits, candies and chocolates sold in M&S London, we realised that we have been overpaying at least 50% or more in Singapore ! Moreover, the expiry of the items in London are so much longer ! This goes the same for the toiletries ...


F R E E W I F I
Mc Donalds, Starbucks, BurgerKing etc or check with your hotel for free Wifi ID and password


T R A N S P O R T
In Switzerland: Swiss Pass is recommended for unlimited rides on trains, trams, boat etc.
In Paris : Go via Metro or RER to major attractions. Buy tickets from stations.
In London :OYSTER stored value card (very much like our SMRT stored value card)

F O C A T T R A C T I O N S
In Switzerland:The Lakes, every city seems to have a lake. Walking along the lake leisurely can be quite a relaxing activity.
In Paris : Churches and the streets. If you visit famous attractions like Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe etc, they are free unless you want to go up the structure.
In London :Museums and Parks. Maybe not all Museums are free but we have seen quite a few that are free. (ie. Natural History Museums, Science Museums, Victoria & Albert Museums etc). Parks in London are huge and beautiful. (ie. The Royal Parks namely:St James Park, Kensington Garden, Hyde Park, Greenwich Park, The Green Park etc)

Holiday of a Lifetime in Europe- LONDON

Our shortest planned visit amongst all the 3 countries, London. From Paris, we took the Eurostar to London. It was about 2 hours ride. It was a pleasant ride and even though it was only a 2 hour ride, they served us a pretty nice breakfast. In London, we were surprised to know that even entering a church is chargeable unless you are inside for worshiping. (more than 10 pounds) The freebies in London are most museums and parks. Seriously, after visiting Paris with their fantastic attractions, London was not alluring anymore and we did not pay to go into any attractions.

Buckingham Palace. Even though this is a must-place to see in London but it was a bit strange, the most impressive of all are the gates !

This is St James Park opposite Buckingham Palace. Our "family" photo with imaginary Jojo.

Beautiful UK signature Telephone Booth

London Eye, our Singapore Flyer looks so much better especially the surroundings!


Tower of London serves as a place for execution and torture, a fortress and castle 930 years ago. Yes, it's that old.

Tower Bridge

On the way to London Bridge. You would be taken-back to know that the London Bridge was nothing much of a bridge.

Shakespeare Globe

Convert Garden, ang moh pasa-malam with items priced too high !


One of our loveliest time in London, we watched a musical called "Love never dies" which is a sequel to the "Phantom of the Opera". This production is new. CK bought his first gift for himself in the whole of the Europe trip, a CD of "Love never dies". In Singapore, theatre-goers dressed up to kill but in UK, watching musicals is just another normal activities in their life. The theatre even sell wine and food inside the theatre during breaktime. It's that casual compared to Esplanade. Feeling rather light-hearted and happy after watching the show.

London Underground (also known as The Tube) was the first underground railway system in the world. Can you imagine their so-called MRT station was more than 100 years old ? I was very impressed that their transport technology was so advanced. Even though the design and carriages are old now but it was a functional public transport for the locals and tourists.

Video clip of Big Ben

Already beginning to miss home and was glad we were going home soon.

Other random scenes in Paris & Switzerland in Europe

P A R I S


Along Seine River ...

From Eiffel Tower, 2nd Storey

Réseau Express Régional (RER) in Paris. An integration of a modern city-centre rail and a pre-existing set of regional rail lines. Within the city of Paris, the RER is an express network with multiple connections with the Paris Métro. Though the trains were vandalised and the gap between the platforms and train doors are huge, but it's interesting. I was always excited to take the two stories RER rather than their METRO. There was another time when we took the RER to Disneyland, someone played violin on the train. FOC music ...
See Video below to see why ...

After they have performed, they will go around and see if you wanted to "donate" money for their performance. In Singapore, this can never happened in our SMRT !

Many bridges served as a cross-over from Seine river ...


Art pieces sold along the Seine river ... always made me stopped my footsteps !

Loved this bridge in black and white.

Lady played instruments as performance. Similiarly, you can choose to give her money for her performance. There are many street performers in Paris.


S W I T Z E R L A N D

Holiday of a Lifetime in Europe - PARIS (Notre-Dame & Lourve)

Another famous site in Paris ... a new Gothic style church and was fully restored in the 19th century ! (It took 20 long years to restore this old church !)

Frankly, I do not know how to appreciate Gothic style churches. I have seen Cologne Cathedral in Germany before and was not keen to go near it. It is also a world-famous church but somehow the structure send shivers down my spine. Yes, I do not like medieval period stuff very much.

However, Notre-Dame church is not too Gothic-looking and the garden was wonderful. Tulips sprung and trees' flowers blossomed in Spring. It was simply relaxing just to walk along the garden by the seine river along the church. Peaceful despite the crowds that did not seems to diminish.


It was most crowded at the front facade of the church. The church does not look very big from his angle. You can enter the church free of charge but the queue curled like a snake. We decided to give it a miss. Can't help feeling that it was such a waste not to visit the interiors and it was my second time that I missed ! As I recalled now, we have walked for many hours this particular day and was tired. (My blog entries were not accordingly to the itineraries on the same day)

To reach the side facade of the church, turn right from the front of the church. It was very pleasant during spring to walk along this lane with pretty tulips!

Back facade of the church. More Gothic-looking when viewed from here.


Taken from a bridge across the church .... pretty church, clean and nice.


On the way walking to Lourve Museum.
Obelisk in Place de la Concorde (the largest public square in Paris) This is the very place where the bloody French Revolution was started in the troubled era !

The Fountain of River Commerce and Navigation on the Place de la Concorde

Huge square with the Hôtel de Crillon; to the left: the embassy of the United States of America.

After the square, we were closer to the Lourve. We will pass beautiful Tuileries Garden ...

A much smaller and ancient-looking "Arc de Triomphe".

Finally, we reached Lourve !!!

Main entrance to the world famous museum. Guess what ? We did not go in lah, we are just not the museum visiting type of tourists.

Another photo taken around the big square of Lourve.

Friday, April 30, 2010 Holiday of a Lifetime in Europe- PARIS (Arc de Triomphe & Champs-Elysées)

Arc de Triomphe is also a must see place in Paris. This is also a historical structure commissioned back 1806 and was finally completed in 1836.

It was extremely convenient to reach Arc de Triomphe by the train. Once you have came out by the right exit, you were immediately greeted by the arch ! This arch is located at the end of Champs-Elysées. It is also a round-about for motors and the only way to cross over to the arch is via an underpass. (Do not attempt to dash across as the traffic is heavy and the drivers drive in high speed)


This is most likely the first spot to take the arch for many tourists just when you came up from the train station. How convenient ! Har, the arch is under some kind of construction. Not the best time to capture it's glory. Try reaching the arch by 9am as it was not very crowded then. The place will be flooded by 10am. (But if you are climbing up to the top and need not queue up to buy tickets, it should be ok)

Another angle to look at Arc de Triomphe.

The Arc de Triomphe is engraved with names of generals who commanded French troops during Napoleon's regime.

CK bought a ticket to climb up Arc de Triomphe ! There are 234 steps to climb and I shall leave it to the brave and fit ones ! (No lifts or elevators) I just walked around the arch area and taking some photos of the streets. It was a rather blissful moment for me as I took in everything from approximately 12 streets that Arc de Triomphe stretches out to. This picture was taken by CK on top of Arc de Triomphe. This is one of the most famous street in Paris called Champs-Elysées which sited branded goods shops !

Picture taken while I circled around Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tower can be spotted from Arch de Triomphe


Video taken by CK on top of Arch de Triomphe


Champs-Elysées itself ... we settled down at a big 2 storey Italian restaurant for a long lunch.


We spotted the LV shop !!! Got very good customer service from the LV shop staff. I believe the LV staff know that Asians love this brand and could spent thousands in their shop ! I was really so tempted to buy an LV wallet but it was pretty expensive even after tax rebate. CK has kindly said I can choose one wallet for myself but after thinking, I actually rejected his offer ! Come to think of it, a bit regretful ... hee hee. Anyhow, we have bought a wallet for my mum and she said it was too expensive for her and she feels heart-pain to use it ... lol !