Travel Checklist- London!!!

Let me do another quick check list for a tropical gal hitting London in late November. This will be different from my warm and humid travel to Bangkok checklist.

This will be a long long trip, and I plan to shop for most of my winter clothings there. Have done my homework and here it goes!

Travel check list for London- what every woman should prepare/bring to London on a chilly November/December.
Added some new entries in BLUE: after try the trip (Jan 06).
Updated Oct 2007

The usual stuff and other things for the unpredictable weather:

1. Credit card- remember to ask for an increase in credit limit a few days before travelling. All your SGD, RM and Baths will melt into ounces when changed into pounds! [UOB was the most generous, and straight forward in it.] If possible, bring a credit card which has a chip and pin function. Those with magnetic strips should work, but at times, you will face sales staff who don't give a damn about trying to make them work.
   
2. Cash and ATM Card : How much? Depends on how much you want to shop and whether you are staying in some B&Bs or hostels that do not accept credit cards. Some establishments charge extra for credit cards. I think the ATM cards are a good option, at a fee of only around SGD5 per withdrawal. My only grouse is banks like DBS only allow up to S$2000 per day, and if you depend on it for something major like hotel bills; you are in trouble. And change your money to pound sterling before you leave. Not only will your cash be less "thick", the rates in UK are generally very bad.
   
3. Umbrella? Forget it... if it rains, your umbrella will not help much. My friend's theory is you need a British brolly to take the British rain. I am advised to bring a raincoat or a very good water resistant coat or Parkas. Rain? it never actually "rained"; not in the sense we actually understand what "rain is". It is the persistent, intermittent, whole day long, light showers . Most of the time, all I needed was a scarf over my head. A water proof jacket will be really useful. Wind could be strong though.
4. Disposable panties! Panty liners! Double protection to keep my long johns clean :P If you run out of it, go to Marks and Spencer and get "real" panties (5 in a pack for £4) good quality, and a good excuse to shop. Don't bother shopping for disposables here. They are almost always as expensive as the real thing.
   
5. Good comfortable pair of walking shoes or nice BOOTs. Non-slippery types. Not to forget SOCKS. Will buy SHOES there, since the shoes there are usually very comfy and perfect for Miss Big Foot. [P/S: I found out that the cheapish and a little ugly looking blue socks provided by BA or Qantas in their toiletry kits is the BEST in keeping warm, so dun throw those away. They are thin- dry quickly, light, but keep your feet warm better than most socks.]
6. Wet tissues ....esp if room is not ensuite. I just read that it is scientifically possible, although rare to get sexually transmitted diseases through the sharing of toilet seats. Otherwise, get those baby wipes from one of the supermarkets. Those supermarket brands are significantly cheaper than the branded ones.
   
7. Lip balm & super moisturising moisturiser. If you are not fussy about brands,you can always buy them in Boots, and travel lighter!
8. Your phone charger/extra battery
9. The key to stay warm is layering, esp when the weather fluctuates so much. Checked and confirmed that brands like Topshop is much cheaper here. Bringing along two FTY long johns (skin tight, warm enough), body hugging T-shirts, my turtle neck sweater and a warm jacket. Gonna take along my nylon stockings too. (need 2 layers under jeans if it is windy) Dun look down on these flimsy things. It keeps you warm!The multipurpose warm shawl(the best thing I brought, other than my jacket) as well.
10. 3 in 1 Milo!! Gonna make my own warm drink before I hit the bed. Unfortunately most hotels there still provide only coffee and tea. (no need to bring if you have time to hit some supermarkets) Food is generally cheaper in the UK! If you budget some time to visit a supermarket, then you can pack significantly less things!
    

This is something that can't be taken along but must be done. FLU JAB!! To be taken a few weeks before hitting London.

Bring along also a multimap printout of your hotel, or the area that you would like to stay in. (www.multimap.co.uk) You can print out the list of nearby supermarkets, restaurants, laundrettes within a certain distance from your hotel. etc I found this really useful. Look out for supermarkets or convenience stores. The common ones are Tesco, Sainsbury and M& S. Tesco is usually the cheapest of the lot. Some are smaller in size and meant to be 7-11 equivalents. Eg. Tesco Express is the smaller one, and things are more expensive than those in a Tesco Metro. Head for teh bigger supermarkets if there is one nearby. Not only you get more choice, things are cheaper!

check out my post about money saving tips when visiting Oxford.

Not all rubs are the same

Just came back from my shoulder massage. Hmmmm.... Still works to relieve some aches. But it is just not the same. This guy have a tendency to press certain points on your elbow and wrists to induce the feeling of numbness and I did not like it. I prefer the usual guy who spend a lot of time on my shoulders and smooth out every single knot on it.

Digital camera

A digital camera is what every traveler should have, esp one who loves to blog. Must make a mental note to hunt for a digital camera again.

They salesman at this big big chain or electronics shop put me off that day. I asked for a recommendation for a good entry point camera, and he showed me all those on the high ends. Hmmm :(

Heading for a good rub-head and shoulder massage

I am gonna go for a good shoulder massage.
Yes, good old seated shoulder massage. My neck and shoulder have been stiff after sitting here for so many hours.

I find that it is kind of unfair to these guys at Ko Hong. They have so far been consistently good (although I heard that the standards do varies sometimes). What is a neck and shoulder rub is like, friends have asked me. I know most gals are too shy to try it, since the masseur for this kind of rub is usually a guy. If you have tried it (and have stones for shoulder muscles like I do), you would have understood and appreciated why it is usually guys.

For one, the strength that they need to apply to "melt" my "stones" (this is how I refer to my stiff and bulging muscles) is no joke. My usual therapist, a small sized forty something "uncle", even have to stand on stools and and apply the weight of his body on his elbow to clear the knots I have. As you would have imagined, this could be painful sometimes, especially when the knots are worked on, and certain acupoints are hit. I sometimes refer to these 20-minute sessions "buying a torture".

Other than the neck and shoulder, they also massage the hands, crack the fingers and sometimes your back and lower back as well if they noticed that the stiffness originates from there. The session is usually not really painful, at times quite comfortable. At times, the discomfort and pain sometimes persist for a couple of hours after the massage. It all depends on how "stiff" you are when you go there.

But why do i go back to it?

It effectively clears my tension headache. I still remember a lecture a long time ago which talked about different types of headache. One type stands out to me- tension headache.

Tension headache is the type that some people complains can't be tamed by paracetamol or NSAIDS. Not suprised. The root of the problem is tense muscles, particularly those two long stips of muscles that are connected from the shoulder, passing through the back of the neck and almost circling the skull.

When I go for a massage, I asked for more attention on these culprits. And the massage have served me well as a headache prevention.

So, have I justified my S$200/10 session rubs? Ok. i am heading for a good rub before the stiffness build up further!

Foot massage in London

What is the cost of doing a massage in London?? The massage addict in me plays this question over and over again. Finally I decided to google for it!

Foot massage
For a foot massage in North London, I have to fork out £35 for a 1.5 hour session. That works out to about £23/hour or 1600B! Argh! It is 4-6 times the cost of doing it in Bangkok! And North London is not exactly " central". At this rate, I got to think many times before getting a good rub for my soles.

And now it scares me very much too to find out from another website that you just need to attend one day of lesson from 11 am to 5 pm and you get to be "CERTIFIED" and " registered" with some prestigious sounding associations. I am also quite curious with the fact that the "Thai foot massage" offered seems to cover hands as well in London.

Aromatherapy, Thai massage Tui Na, etc?
Hmm.. most websites are pretty "discrete" about it. Got to call for more information. However I read somewhere that it is easily £40-$100 per hour. While I question how "authentic" these massages are, I know that I do not have to worry much because at this rate, I will definitely be deprived of it.

Place for a good "clean" massage in London?
As the term used in massages seems to vary from place place, I think I better learn the correct terms. Indian Foot massage and Thai Foot massage is DIFFERENT! Would not want to end up in some places which offer "extra services".

Learnt two interesting things today

I learnt two interesting things today while reading other's blogs.

Pulau Weh is a paradise which survived Tsunami. For a person who had just been to Perhentian Island to scream that it is beautiful, it is must be beautiful!

Massage... while the Thai have their unique "body massage", the Indians have their "foot massage". Yeah, one use the body to massage you while the other uses the foot! Better double check what you are asking for!

(I have always wondered why the Thais dun call their "foot massage" as "finger massage" or "stick massage". Yeah, they use a wooden stick to press the acupoint!)

I just want a flight ticket: Why is it taking me so much time?

A flight ticket to London and back. That is all I want.
Why is it taking me so much time?

I am spending hours searching for the ticket.
what am I looking for? A cheap ticket which allows me to change my date of return within a six month period, since my plan is sto stay there "a couple of months", with no definite return date yet.

I am combing through the sites and I am full of complains here. Here is a list of my pet peeve
1) No indication of which currency they are using. "$"- means which country's dollar? USD? C$, SGD? I have to search for the type of currency (sometimes to no avail). Ridiculous! Despite all those talking about globalisation and reaching to customers all over the world, these sites seems to forget that many countries use $ sign as well. Dun mislead me into thinking that a ticket plus tax to London cost $700 plus. My interpretation of $ is SGD. Orbitz, cheapticket.com and hotwire are some of the sites.

2) You need to supply your personal information before you get information. Since when does a customer need to supply all the details, from passport numbers to addresses and phone numbers and emails etc just to find out more about a product? These top airlines must have forgotten who is king.

3) Please do not bombard me with all those terms, i am not a travel agent! Just tell me in plain simple English whether I can change my date of departure after booking. And if you decide to fine me for being fickleminded and yet cheapskate at the same time, tell me how much is the administrative charges for changing my departure date. I do not understand why they cannot spend some time writing these simple information but can go on and on about telling me that I have the privilege of getting a full refund should I be dead. If the ticket is so cheap that you will not allow me to change my mind, just tell me, "no changes and refunds are possible, unless you are dead or dead sick".

4) and yeah.. tell me those terms and conditions(including the luggage allowance) up front. there must be a link to it the moment you make me happy with the display of low fares. Dun make me choose flights etc, only to be told at the last one or two steps the terms and conditions. And tell me if i dun like these terms and conditions, how much more i have to fork out to get what i want. I will gladly pay the differece.

6) please, tell me about the planes (i expect this froom airlines, although not from the middle men). I actually have a preference. Yeah, I travel cheap, but still have the extra one hundred or two to spare for a more comfy flight.

Cathay have one of the best sites, you can actually choose your seats when you book! I love this so much that I was contemplating a detour and stopover in HK, as I do not have to remend me to check in as early as possible- at the 48th hour prior to departure to get a nice seat. And yet, why do I have to fill in all the details before I can see the fare rules?? I am a typical internet shopper and I browse. You understand? I browse and compare. I want the info quick. I need to info to make my decisions. I am not interested to fill up forms just to find out the terms and conditions. Duh! And please dun add to my agony by reminding me that the fare migt change if I choose a flight of a different timing. Just list all the flights and timing! Learn from BA/Qantas in this aspect.

kayak.com gave me hope, as it claims that it searches hundreds of airlines websites and showthe available fares.

I was not impressed. My excitement and expectation which was built up while watching the the green bar indicating that they were churning my results crashed when i say the 13 pages! My first impression of the results is, " oh dear, you do not need to display all the different flight and all the "sellers" on the page and gave me 13 pages of results".

As an impatient consumer, I just want to see where to get my cheap tickets. Lump all those flights by the same airline together, whether it is a morning flight or night flight. Since there are a handful of people who are particular about the timing, add a filter function! You know what made me mad? After dilligently going through 13 pages of results, I hit "book now" and what turned up was an apology:

"We strive to include every airline on earth with accurate flight information and direct booking links. You have chosen an airline that we do not yet have a direct link with yet but we are working on it."

Well. Not only there were no direct link to the sites. Worse still, they brought me to a site which is not my country of residence and I could not book or even check flight information from the site. I needed to hit many more buttons to reach the correct site, and enter the booking information all over again.


BA wins hands down compared to many airlines when it comes to tranparency regarding the fare rules. There is a link at early stages ofthe booking to it, and the display the amount for taxes early. No last minute suprises. However, BA drove their business to Qantas by not offering a cheapskate traveller like me an option of getting frequent flyer miles. I thought I saw world traveller's membership a couple of months ago. May be i am wrong but all I see now is the Executive club. Read- take business class before you get your miles, no FF miles for ecconomy passangers!

Ok. A pauper like me would not be spending so much $$ for a plush-er seat for that ten odd hours. (Call me calculative, but the price difference is sufficient for me to get a new set of sofa) What do I do? Join the qantas FF club and book from Qantas! If I do miss BA very much, i will just select a BA operated flight since they have a code share! Woo all the business class people you want to, just dun forget that many of us fly on business while on business but fly economy when we want to economise and go shopping! If you make me unhappy at the back of the plane, you will have a harder time pleasing me when I am at the front.

Misa's site made a good attempt at tranparency by even listing all the booking classes and fares. However, these alphabets like W, H, Q, D I ring no bell to someone like me, and I spend one hour reading all those fine prints. If you want to include these terms, provide a "dictonary" to explain what it means. If I can understand these info, I will not need spend time to fill in a form to get you to spend time to find out about my tickets for me. I would just call and book!

Despite the large amount of ticket bookings throught the internet, there are still a lot to be improved by these portals. Airlines that have friendly portals will gain alot of business while those who don't will definitely lose out. After spending tens of thousands to build a site, have they tested how user friendly it is for the customer? Having standard typical functions are just not enough. Your typical customer will one day might have an extra condition when booking, and the system fails to meet up to expectation. This is a good way to lose a customer. Dun believe it? Try.

so .. where is my ticket after spending so many hours? I gave up. I am relying on the good people at misa to find me a ticket.

Ghost Protection in hotels! Protect them or against them??

A recent survey in UK showed that there are more people who believed in the existence of ghosts than the existence of God. Hmm, probably there are a lot of people who are like me, able to feel the presence of the unseen and unheard than feeling the presence of God.

I am not surprised with these developments, considering the immense popularity of Feng Shui gurus like Lilian Too and the likes.

A kind friend had sent me a popular mass circulated email titled:

Ghost Protection in Hotels (the title made me laugh).

I have received a similar email many times, especially from fellow travel bugs.

I decided to post the email here as I found most of the advice pretty sound. Those in blue are excerpts from the email and my own comments are in black.

Hello, For all of u who love traveling.

OK, here's some believes of the hoteliers:

Every single hotel, there shall be at least a permanent room which should be left vacant at all times. No matter how full the hotel is, they are not to sell that room(s) to any guest. It was said that special room was "reserved" for those "special visitors". So, if you plan to stay in some hotel, always book in advance. Try to avoid walk in. If the receptionist told you there's no more room available, do not insist one anymore or try to bribe them to give you a room. If you do that, most of the time the room you have will be that "special room".
Hmmm I am not too sure about this. May be someone in hoteling industry can provide more clues. However, I always thought that hotels keep some spare room for emergencies?

Sometimes those "special visitors" might go to other rooms also, so here's some tips on how to protect yourself:
Before entering your room, always knock on the door first, even if you know the room is vacant. After you enter the room, if you felt very cold suddenly and have "chicken spore", leave the room quietly immediately and go to reception to request to change room. Most of the time the receptionist will understand what's happening.
I have been told that the idea of knocking is to not to "alarm" the other guests. To me it is more like not to alarm myself. I always knock on the door. I would not want to "catch" someone inside. A scatter brain like me easily go to the wrong room.

After you enter the room, immediately switch on all of the lights, and open the curtain to let the sun light in. This is a MUST. Both from the practical and superstitious point of view. You would not want to discover that you have a view of a garbage dump later, or the lights are not functioning well. The sunlight is also a good disinfectant. Other than that, the "yang" energy can also "cleanse" the room. May be some Fengshui enthusiasts have other explanations.

Before you go to bed, arrange your shoes so that one of them is upside down. Some say this is representing yin& yang to protect you while you're asleep. I am a firm believer in this, especially after an experience of what happened when my hubby put my shoes away. I wonder whether the modern Feng Shui gurus have alternatives to this shoe thing. There is always a risk of forgetting, when you are very tired.

Always leave at least a lamp on while you're sleeping, preferably the toilet's lamp. If you're staying alone and they have give you a twin bed, do not sleep with the other bed vacant, try to put your things like luggage on the other bed before you sleep. Some lights always offer a sense of security, although I do not believe that little light could scare anything away. I heard about the luggage thing from my colleague too. Any Feng Shui or other explanations?

Another tip to protect yourself...When you enter your hotel room, look for the Bible. Most hotel place the Bible inside a drawer. However, if upon entering, you see the Bible on the table, DON'T STAY IN THAT ROOM! It means "special visitors" are there. If you see the Bible opened up on the table, LEAVE THAT ROOM IMMEDIATELY and request a change of room!!! It means the "special visitor" is really creating trouble in that room!! My frequent traveler friend (who is not superstitious at all) swears by this. Hmm I would not take a chance.

And here's some tips on protecting yourself in the cinema. Do not attend the first screening of any movies in the cinema. By the first screening, I mean the first time the movie is shown in that particular cinema. Reason? The first screening is meant for the "special visitors". However, if you insist on going, then sit somewhere in the middle. The first and last rows are reserved for "them" !!! Be warned.... Hmmm. Not sure about this. sounds like the same theory applied from the Chinese opera shows. My mum would not allow my to follow my grandpa to the first few days or any openings, as those are the days that are meant for the "good brothers".

FIY- the Chinese refers to ghosts as "good brothers", as they believe that we should not be talking about them. Talking about them will attract them !

Related post:

A traveler's tales of the 7th month: different worlds ocupy the same sphere........

cheaper flights from bangkok

Today's Saturday edition of the local papers taught us a trick- getting a flight from Bangkok.
It is supposed to be cheaper, especially for First class and bussiness class. I grinned when I read it.

If you could afford those classes, savings may not be that important to you. afterall, most people fly those classes when they are on comany expenses. So why bother about taking a flight to Bangkok, and then taking a flight from bangkok again? It is those travellers like us (read- cattle class citizens) who gets trilled with these bits of savings. Every bit counts!

I am going to do a comparison and check those sites this weekend, and post the results here. :)