A transit in London....

the Heathrow Express at the Paddington Station...

13th August 2009

The flight on Malaysia Airlines from Kuala Lumpur to London was full that no one in his right mind would have imagined that we are in a global recession!

Pakdokter had not gone to London for quite a long time actually. The last time pakdokter went there, it was to visit pakdokter's late mother-in-law ( 'Mum' as pakdokter would address her) after she had successfully undergone a thoracotomy ( a lung resection surgery) for a primary cancer of the lungs. That must have been something like 15 years ago......Mum lived for another good 10 years before finally succumbing to a different cancer of the intestinal tract.

This trip, enroute to Edinburgh, to visit pakdokter's daughter Raena, and to experience the Edingburgh's Summer Arts Festival, we decided to make a transit in London. We were lucky that pakdokter's brother-in-law's flat at Bayswater was available for us to put up at.

The flight from KL to London was a long 12 hours journey and pakdokter hardly slept and managed to finish reading an interesting book by an Egyptian writer in one sitting. And pakdokter must admit that the service on Malaysia Airlines was commendable with tasty warm meals and the usual choice of drinks.

Heathrow Airport was not as busy as pakdokter had expected. The recession must have greatly reduced the number of travellers as the queue at the immigration was not as long as during pakdokter's previous visits many years ago. And the Heathrow Express took us only about 15 to 20 minutes to reach the Paddington Station in London at a cost of about RM100 per person.

From Paddington Station, it was a short 15 minutes walk to our flat.

view from the balcony....
Porchester Terrace with the Hyde Park to the right..

It was quite a sentimental experience, actually, to be back at Bayswater. During pakdokter's first trip to London, way back in 1978, for pakdokter's honeymoon, it was at Bayswater where we spent the month or so in London. The Peter's Court flat at Porchester Road where we stayed at still looked the same and it brought back many sentimental memories to pakdokter.

The Queensway still looks the same except that there is a more definite 'presence' of 'Middle Eastern' communities in addition to the originally mostly Oriental populace of the district those days.

Queensway....

'halal' meet on display at the foyer of Whiteleys on Queensway..

a typical English pub on Queensway...

Peter's Court at Porchester Road....