yet another weekend

the weekend that has just gone wasn't quite as eventful as last week (to have worn sari for the first time) but still relaxing nevertheless. went for a burger meal for lunch on saturday. had always wanted to try out this burger place called Gourmet Burger Kitchen (more commonly known as GBK) cos they apparently serve the 'real' burger. but for the price of 7 to 8 pounds each, i'd just forgo and go into another BK (burger king) la lol. luckily, eateries in london are getting more and more competitive that they have to offer buy 1 get 1 free to lure customers - of course, the customers are more than happy to take advantage of these offers hehe.

we ordered one each - 1 cajun spiced and 1 satay sauce + some random sauce. both burgers are made using 100% aberdeen angus beef and were huge!

surprisingly they tasted really good even without cheese - who says burger must go with cheese lol. only managed to eat 1/2 of satay sauce and 1/4 of cajun spiced cos i was stuffed soon after... for the first time, eating burger actually felt healthy hahaha :)

went to heathrow to pick housemate up this evening. hehe her 2 weeks home passed really fast, no more home alone for me! took us about 2 hours to get there and another 2 to get home... why la make ppl drive through the city to get to airport! (although i wasn't the one driving lol) on the way back we passed by many places that i haven't actually been before, and realised how big london really is. while waiting for the traffic light, we came really close to Parliament Square and the Big Ben. only then it struck me that i haven't seen it that upclose before lol. i guess when something is so easily accessible we are less likely to appreciate its magnificence? or is it just me... Big Ben actually looks really nice in sunny breezy weather like this!

wanted to take pics of London Eye too but the car moved too fast... maybe i should spend a weekend 'absorbing' the beauty of london... erm after i finish all my papers la, which may well mean .. never? *touchwood*

fast fwd to dec!

hehe as usual, jiun booked tickets well in advance on an impulse...

been checking air fares since (well, even before) i came back from my May trip home. the fares have gone insanely high this year, the usual 'cheaper' alternatives - middle eastern airlines, are no longer cheap. they've taken over MAS position previously (in terms of price), charging at least 850pounds for a round trip. of course, MAS try to 'outperform' their rivals by charging even more :S a round trip costs GBP1,064.50 the last time i checked.. no way i'm going to pay that amount of money to go home!!

hsemate told me about the recent offer on MAS that charges very very low fare to certain destinations. so i checked, and found out that it is really really cheap to fly to HK... the cheapest it can get is about rm500+, good deal huh?! then i discovered cheap-er flights from london to hk using virgin atlantic, about GBP695. not bad considering it's peak season and that it's a direct flight :) after a night of intensive research, i came up with my (hopefully flawless) plan hahaha

i'll fly to hk, meet my parents there and spend about 3-4 days, and come back to kl with them. HAHAHA evil smile :P

rang my mum first thing this morning and told her my plan... at first, as all business ppl are, she was a bit hesitant cos she couldn't possibly leave the office 'uncontrolled' for a few days. but at the same time, i knew she was interested hehehe. furthermore, must keep her daughter safe and company right lol. she asked for more details and said she'll give some thoughts to it... about an hour later, she rang back saying she can shift around public hols in dec to those few days, so effectively the office will be closed while she and my dad are away hahahaha. gum dou dak...

so yeah, i've bought my tickets home in dec!! :D:D:D but very 'heart pain' la, such a big sum gone just like that. nvm, as long as i can earn back right hehe.

speaking about that, dad and mum are very pleased and excited that i'm taking them on hol. it's been a while since they went abroad (actually, out of KL haha). the last time was when they came here for my graduation, and that was already 2 years back. quite glad that mum is starting to realise she should travel and experience places while she's able to :) so in a way, i'm very willing to pay for their hol this time la... dad was so excited that he checked the air-tix confirmation emails right after i fwd-ed them :S

my itinerary:

13dec LHR - HKG

14dec reach HK

17dec HKG - KUL

03jan KUL - HKG

03jan HKG - LHR

yay, something to look forward to! :D