Open House London 15-16 sept 2007

One of the best "festivals" in London- described as "Architecture in the Flesh" is the Open House London (www.openhouse.org.uk) event. I think they had something similar last year, but this year's sounds really exciting as many buildings are opening their doors for the public to visit- FREE!!! I don't think i want to miss out on the good fun of snooping around "private" buildings. Some of the places are those which you will normally have to "pay" eg kensington palace. However, you may need to email and reserve a place- info could be found on the website.

I am itching to join the Maggie's and Open House London Night Hike 2007 which promised 17 miles of exclusive routevexclusive access to some of London's most prominent buildings and landmarks including Guildhall, The Royal Geographical Society, The British Airways London Eye, Whiteley's, The Royal Festival Hall and City Hall. However, the £25 registration fees and £250 fund raising target put me off!!! Where am I going to harass that much money out of my friends?

I am thinking of targeting some weird and curious buildings like the Hoover building or the Green Build. Any other weird, curious, spooky ones?

Another T&G haircut!

We finally managed to book a session on next Friday Thursday pm. I cant believe that the Stamford street branch is so much more difficult to book that the New Oxford Street branch. I was already so impressed with my previous T&G hair cuts at the New Oxford Street branch, and this branch is supposed to be "better", because the "students" are mostly qualified stylists in advanced courses. Is it possible to have a hair style which could make me look 5 years younger and 5 kg lighter?

I will also meet Bisoumoi for lunch. I am really looking forward to next week because there are so many "programs" and the "2B"s will be away for 3 days, which means I will only see them 2 days next week. Phew!

Address and contact of T&G Academy:

58 Stamford Street
London
SE1 9LX
Telephone: 020 7921 9100

Cost: £5 per person
Time taken: up to 3 hours
Booking open on wednesdays for the following week's appointment. Got to book early because they are so popular!

depressed day

Today is a very depressive day.

One unhappiness after another. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

SOmetimes, it is good to put down what you are unhappy about to let it off. Sometimes, it is just best to leave it pass, so that there is no trace to remind you the anger/hurt/sadness you have.

Life is so short, and so precious that it is not worth spending time documenting every single sob story we hear, every regret we have. List down your regrets in detail, and your will never ever have a chance to forget your regrets, and then you can regret and blame yourself for the rest of your life, and hate yourself more each day. Banging head on a hard wall works better.

Ok.. cut that crap short. Bring on the cheers!!!!

Lets just say, yours truly, the cheapskate tai tai, managed to wrangle a FREE haircut from a Vidal Sassoon salon. Yes, you are right. say after me.. Vidal Sassoon. Yes, that shampoo guy.

double s, double o.

When I was a kid, I always wondered whether sassy came from SASSoon, as the SASSoon styles are so SASSy. It is like, "Wow, you got a Sassoon haircut....that is so Sassy!" or a Miranda priestly wannabe acted smart aleck and say to a tai tai.. "ooooo.. i recognise that Sassy hair", wink wink. hahahah

Talk rubbish symptoms surfaced.

It is so sad that when I get off work, all my talk rubbish gang is fast asleep. cant call anyone. Cant talk rubbish.

Who am I going to irritate?? Where am I going to pass my bad influence?

Hmm.... that remind me that there is a saint holed up somewhere and pledged to spend all his Christmas holiday on doing a paper!!!! I was like what??? You kidding me???

er.... why are there no photos of my cotswolds trip? Yours truly is an true idiot. Had a digital camera, took tonnes of photo, and then...........

................

.................

..............

dunno how to upload.



Files too big.


An idiot like me should just stick to my primitive phone camera.

I want my strawberries!!!! Missing Portobello market

Yeah, I want my strawberries!!! Peaches, grapes, raspberry and melons too.

Straberries and cream is just the perfect summer desert. Thinking of it made me salivate.

Portobello Market is probably the thing that I miss most about London. The Saturday fruit sweep, hahaha.

Imagine, I got a basket of grapes, seedless and sweet at £1.00. 3 gala melons for £1. 2 punnets of British summer strawberries for £1.20 or even £1.00!! In winter, we setteled for the lesser cousins, strawberries from Spain at a rate of 3 punnets for £1!!! Befor I came back , I got 2 pounds of cherries for £1.20 there, and 2 punnets of ripe yummy peaches for £1.50. Cheap?? Definitely.

Portobello has a reputation as "expensive", because people are put off by the prices displayed, particularly those nearer to the antique shop.

But the gems of Portobello market are down the road. Yes, go DOWN hill.

Nah, that organic pastry stall is crap. Expensive, and not yummy!! I would rather walk to the Wild and Natural at Westbourne grove, pay a little more, and dine with the good lookers from Notting Hill. Knowing that some stars like to eat the muffin I was having make me feel..... errr... well, I don't know. But it is better than that pathetic pastry stall!!!

The Banana and Tomato King is my favourite stall. This is where a big chunck of my fruits came from. Cherries, which are in season now, raspberry (woah, thinking of it make me salivate!!!) in winter/autumn and British strawberries. They also probably have the cheapest "fresh" bananas in town. Their apples are always crisp, and can be terribly cheap sometimes. Ok, you definitely can get 1 basket of apples for £1 somewhere else, but those probably will have bruises. If you talk about "perfect" condition apples, this is the place.

The stall next to it, (its name has the word "Banana" in it as well), is cheap too. However, you can only buy boxed, and priced items from them. Try giving them a bag of grapes/bananas whateer, and you will end up wondering why the bag is so "heavy", cos the price did not come up as cheap. The thing I will get from them is just boxes of strawberries.

Many times bitten by them, now very shy :). I get "bullied" by them whenever I go alone, and hubby not with me. Hmmm, it must be because hubby look more like a gangster, and I look more like a sheep??? hahah. But this sheep is known to "bleat" at sales people when they try to cheat, and tell them off!!

If you go at closing times, ie past 4 pm some stalls get rid of their fruits by the boxes. YOu wil get big crates of grapes, melons, apples, satsumas (something like mandarin orange, but 10 times more yummy and juicy) for £2. Some of our happiest buys include a box of satsumas, which we shared with another customer for £1.00 each. That £1.00 bought us more that 40 satsumas, and we happily ate the satsumas, and give them away to friends. Another time, we got so much grapes, ie sharing a BIG crate with another person for £1.00, we had to distribute them away.

Those crates of fruits are usually very ripe, and must be eaten on the same day or the next two days, but hey, that is how you could have only fruits for dinner!!! (and breakfast, and lunch too!!) Imagine, by breakfast cereals used to be served as an accompaniment to my fruits (ie more strawberries in my bowl than cereal, hehehehe).

On the afternoon England played, I did my last Portobello Sweep, and was an extremely happy and contented gal to have no one fighting for the goodies with me, and the stall holders giving things away cheaply to go home and watch England play. Peaches, appricots, grapes, strawberries... etc etc, all those things that I tell myself I would buy and eat as much as I want IF I ever get RICH.

Now, back to reality. Back to that supermarket that I wish no longer monopolise the town.
Well, nothing wrong with them. It is just that they offer apples apples and more apples. Apples from Brazil, China, new Zealand, Washington?? etc etc. Green apples, red apples. Ok, they also offer lots of orranges, orranges and orranges. Ok to be fair, they also offer not so fresh grapes, for $3+++ a small box. It is difficult for me to buy, cos I think the grapes look like "crate" material!!! Well. SIgh..................

I walked around the aisles like a mad woman, past those expensive blueberries, strawberries, and also 3 for $3.55 pathetic looking peaches (definitely "crate" material)....finally settling on 5 gala apples. I have only eaten 1 apple (I mean fruits) since I landed, other than those generous fruit platter served by my "taitai" auntie.

I think i better find excuse to go to her place and get my strawberries?? Maybe I should also whine about the cherries and peaches??? If I whine enough, maybe her personal "fruit-er" will source for them??? Ok. Nah, better dun get so low down. Back to reality, and console myself that a durian goes for $5 or less, and news say Malaysia over produced durians this season!!!!
Woah hahaha. Poor farmers. But happy me. Cruel me. Hmmm, maybe these thoughts will affect my karma.... but who cares. i want durians!!!

And talking about Portobello, have I ever mentioned that I fell in love with Romeo Pires and thinking of losing weight for him in that fateful day when my "Shrek" was given a red card?

Ops... better shut up. Hubby will be spying here.

My free Haircut from Toni and Guy Academy London!!

Have you ever been a model?

I risk my future and my happiness to have my hair cut by a "trainee" at Toni and Guys.

It was scary. When I booked my appointment, the gal told me to allow 3 hours. In my mind, I imagine a kid with trembling scissors nipping my hair off, and the trainer having to "save" me eventually by giving me a "short and sassy" haircut.

The place is just near Centre Point, near the British Museum. In fact, I thought that if my mum comes here, I will bring her to the museum, and when she got totally bored and tired, she can "rest" and get a hair cut. She can then brag about that haircut in London.

When I announced my arrival at the reception, they told me to wait. I noticed other "models". Many pretty gals. Young, and pretty, and slim. Perfect. There is only one other fat woman with long hair, and she was equally nervous! We made small talk to reassure ourselves, and I told her where I got that coupon. Then, in come a Hong Kong-ish "si-lai": that kind that you will see on tv, buying things from market, choosing a fat chicken for the dinner cos her future DIL is coming. Gosh, her hair was a flat, grey and cut in an old fashioned bob style. I immediately told myself that I will never look like that 30-40 years later. Gosh, can something be done for her, in terms of hair?

After loitering for a while, some stylists invited us upstairs. Everyother model had been picked up by a "student", except me and the other fat woman. I was thinking: Round face =challenging?

After a while, a handsome guy came to me and introduced himself as Carl. He was very young, and I was thinking eh... dont tell me I am unlucky enough to get a "basic" level trainee.

After doing a consultation about my lifestyle, previous haircuts, my likes/dislikes and what I "hope"to get "today", he suggested some styles, and discussed them with me. then he told me to wait a while, so that he could get his trainer. He repeated everything that I said to his trainer.

His trainer checked that I agreed with him, but did not agree about how to cut my fringe. He suggested making it ASYMETRIC! Was I keen to try? Why not???

Carl then had to tell his "trainer" what he planned to do, which part he will start to cut first, and how long it will be. He seemed to get everything right, except the EXACT length. The trainer wanted it to be about 1 cm shorter to take into account my curls and my face shape.

The cutting was quite slow. At first, I was nervous at the way Carl seemed to measure and measure and measure. I was wondering how good he was. But as soon as he took his first "cut", I knew he was good! Everything was "measured" and checked again by the trainer at the end of each step.

I was in and out of sleep. About 1 hour later, I was almost done. I did not get that radical asymetric cut to open up my face, as Carl discovered he could make it look even better if he "push" my hair to a side in a certain manner. I was happy. Trainer was happy , and that was it!

I think this is my best hair cut so far.

How about that si-lai??? She looked good after the haircut!!! It was another bob haircut, but somehow she looked updated, and was obviously very very happy.

The other models? They finished earlier than I did, (since a wavy, asian hair like mine was a "challenge") and walked out looking great!!! I did not spot any bad haircuts! Fantastic!

It turned out that most of the "trainees" are already qualified hair stylists, who go there to update and polish their skills.

How did I get this Free haircut?

The tel no to book an appointment is 02-078360606.
Location: at 71-75, New Oxford Street, near the Centre Point building.

You can just call and book. I got a "FREE" coupon from www.thelondoncareers.net magazine, which you could access online, or at popular Tube stations.

With that coupon, you don't have to pay a penny, without it, you pay £5.00 "booking fees"...I got to warn you the advert does not appear on every single issue. I got mine from the 5th June 2006 issue, so if you cant get it, go to the website, look for this issue, and find the coupon on page 9.

Hubby kept on looking at me after my haircut, and I am sure this time it is not because the haircut was bad.

Infact, I myself grabbed every opportunity to look at my own reflections on glasses and mirrors.--> VAIN!!!

Imagine, these were my "criteria"

• FAT, ie face is ROUND
• Have limpy hair, that is dropping like crazy, and curling in all sorts of directions
• not wanting to spend more than 30seconds styling my hair

And yet, they fulfilled it!!!
I looked quite good!!!

If you are spending some time in london, do consider a Free hair cut!!!

P/S: Back to that sunny island now, and people are saying my cut is good. heheheheh....

I had a thirsty, free, facial!

I redeemed my facial at Cannons yesterday.

What a surprise!

These Brits really know how to make use of ancient buildings. The gym cum spa was converted from an old steel factory building, next to the river Thames, and there are real cannons located outside this spa called “Cannons”. :)

I always thought spas reflect the culture of a country very much. After all, this is what people expect to get from pampering, ie REWARD. So, different cultures would be different.

If you go to a Japanese thing, the first thing you get when you enter is tea. Asians, at least Japanese and Chinese will definitely serve you tea, the moment you get there. It is hospitality; basic politeness. You get other varieties in Bangkok and other places, but you will definitely get something. And you take off different amounts of clothings in different countries for massages and facial, that again reflect the culture.

My first impression, is British is invaded by Eastern European. My therapist in another Eastern European.

This is my experience and “take home points” from my facial yesterday:

1. No water/tea/liquid whatever given to you. You are getting a facial, not drinks.
The answer? “Thirsty? There is nothing I can do for you. I am going to start now.” It was a warm day, and I walked a while to get there. By the time I got to the treatment room, I felt really thirsty! (I tend to get delayed thirst here, because even when you sweat, you don’t feel wet).

When the therapist ask me, “Are you ok?” I said, “How long with the treatment last? I feel really thirsty.”

The answer? "Thirsty? There is nothing I can do for you".

Since I was half naked, there was nothing I could do for myself as well.

2. Take off your socks!
Yup. I only took of my shoes. Little did I know that she would massage my feet for a while, to “relax” me. That was nice. Warm towel infused with aromatherapy oils on tired feet = HEAVENS!!!

When the session was over, I was shocked to see 1 of my socks (which she took off), lying on my branded handbag (my one and only branded handbag, which my super stingy SO bought to compensate for not taking me to US), and the other sock flung to a corner of the room.

My experience of living with Eastern Europeans enlighted me that they have no concept at all that the feet is not considered very clean. That is why you have people putting your used socks on your nice bag.

If I am not being used to getting shocked about what my housemates put right next to their shoes (freshly washed undies, put on a radiator, with the undies touching their smelly shoes), and where they would put your shoes, I would have been quite mad. Oh ya, my housemates also "borrowed" my plastic basin which was meant for handwashing my lingerie to soak their athlete feet!!!

3. The “aromatherapy” here is much more intense!
Much better quality oils, I suppose, and more generous amounts? I got four varieties oils added to my treatment- ylang ylang, lavender, rosewood, and lime. The lime was fantastic!

4. Massage skill of therapist?
Really really so so. She tried to do some acupressure, but it did not hit the points. I was pretty annoyed.

5. No extractions
No extractions, but I think the Elemis scrub and peel she used was good. Most of the large black heads are gone!

6. No hard sell.
Yup, no hard sell. That is the best part. My experience in some Singapore “spas” including having a “manager” going through packages with me as my extractions are done.

The facial was so-so. I must say the products and concepts are good, with "relaxation" stuff life warm towels, deep breathing thrown in to make me comfortable. That was great, but I would have been a very happy girl if she had given me a cup of water.

Post facial, she tried to introduce me to her products, but I did not really listen. I was just hurrying off to go and get a cup of water!

How to get free facial? If you are in UK, join www.nectar.com. The introductory period points are huge!

MAMMA MIA, that was GooD!!! ....and it was FREE!

Hubby was dragged out of his obsession with PC, and had to miss his World cup matches.
Of course, gave me the look that was like a buffulo being dragged to the slaughter house.

He was dead bored with the Royal philharmonic orchesta, and the Lion King "performance" was a shame!!! How could they just send two actors to represent the "cast", and just sang one song, " Cant you feel the love tonight"? Well, I cant feel their love, or their enthusiasm. Decided never to watch them!

If I were a mummy taking my kids there, they will surely go "mummy mummy, where is Lion King", and they they will repeat the question again and again while I try to answer, and finally yell" Mummy you lie! There is no Lion King"!!!

After the Lion King thing, hubby was like "are you sure, they extract the best from each show"? I think he was thinking lunch.

I managed to keep him there by whispering how much my very rich and cultured friend paid for STOMP when they came to Singapore. HE was then Ok, lets see.

STOMP was interesting. It is difficult to describe. But I would say they are a bunch of good percussionists, and I think it is a good work out for them!

But luckily, the cast from MAMMA MIA, spring onto stage and brought the whole Leicester square ALIVE!! That was really really great. They belted out song after song... Money money money, dancing queen, etc etc. They crowd was clapping to their music, and dancing to it. FUN!!!

Unlike the animals from Lion King which disappeared, the MAMMA MIA cast gave their best! That is what I call good ethics, whether is it an event for the public or in their own stage in Prince of Wales theatre, they give their best!

The other show that was fantastic that afternoon was the BLUE MAN GROUP. Not that well known in Asia, but this was really a show worth seeing! If there is one word to describe it, it is CREATIVE!!!! The tourists there were saying things like they never seen anything like this before. The show makes you wonder how many marshmallows a person can stuff into the mouth, and how big the mouth cavity is. I will be happy to pay for the show actually.

That was a fun day, and it was FREE!!! Not only we had free entertainment, we also had a goodie bag of freebies. Can anywhere else get cheaper than London?

West End Live 2006: FREE WEST END theatre on 17th and 18 June

West End Live 2006: Enjoy the best of West End Theatre for FREE!

Little did I know that it is possible to enjoy west end stuff for free this weekend! Too bad, got to miss today's events cos hubby is busy with volunter work. But tomorrow, I will wake up early, to catch the Lion King at 12 45, and the catch Mamma MIa!.

Althought these are just 20 minutes "excerpts", it is usually the best from each show! So it worth cancelling every other plan to head down to Chinatown. :)

And then I will move on to my favourite Covent Garden!

Haha.. I love London, always got free shows! I have been well entertained here, despite only forking out for one movie. The rest? It is free!

.

The definitive taste of Chinatown: Wong Kei : Eating Cheaply in London: Part 4

The definitive taste of Chinatown: Wong Kei

41-43 Wardour Street, London, W1D 6PY

Telephone: 020 7437 8408

Wong Kei or “Wang Ji” in London’s Chinatown has acquired a sort of cult status in London. Shocked by how shocked our friends were when they found out that we had not eaten there yet, we dutifully went there during our Saturday Chinatown shopping trips.

Wong Kei has three floors. And according to our friends who are regulars, getting allocated to which floor is a lottery.

We went in, told the waiter that there are two of us and was promptly shown to the basement. I feel like I walked into a “Cha Chan tang” in Kowloon. Basic furnishings and very efficient waiters who spoke in Cantonese! The moment our bums reach the chair, a pot of hot Chinese tea with two tea cups were on the table, along with two red menus.

My impression of that place?

1. Feng-shui-ed! A big fountain, pouring in water from the ground floor entrance to a pond in the basement!
2. CHEAP FOOD!!!!
3. Huge portions!!!!

I ordered a Won Tun noodles for £2.80, while hubby order fried hor fun with beef (£3.80).

I must say that the Won Tun only had bits of prawn, like the Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand versions, and too much pork to make up the size! I felt like I was eating pork ball-wrapped in wonton skin. The noodles were ok and the soup was not too bad (better than most Malaysia/Singapore hawkers, not as good as what you would expect from Hong Kong!). It is definitely a steal at £2.80, but definitely not as yummy as that in the Dragon Inn (12 Gerrard Street) which was very Hong Kong-ish!

My hubby’s hor fun was very yummy, with generous amounts of beef, although they over-cooked the beef slightly. Large portion- this is the first time a big eater like him packed the left-over home!

Verdit:

Price? One of the cheapest in Central London! The tea is free! Three of us had to pay £4.00 for a pot of low quality tea (very very bad, definitely “recycled”) when we had lunch at the Big China near South Kensington Tube! WYSIWYG- no extra charges apart from the already low prices on the menu. No service charge!

Service? We did not experience any of the legendary rudeness, probably because I speak Cantonese! They were very efficient, and friendly if you speak Cantonese, and did not expect you to tip!!! (The guy at Dragon Inn was hinting for me to tip him even after paying service charge!!!) They also did not expect/pressure you to order more! NO grumbles when you want to pack your left-overs, and there was no extra-charges for packing.

Taste? The Wonton is a let down. My hubby’s hor fun was yummy, and people around us seemed to be enjoying their char siu and other roasted meat.

Location? Chinatown London.

Will I go again? Yeah, definitely! That place got "atmosphere", and I want to go on a Sunday morning to see the full "glory" of Wong Kei's dim sum hour!

If you are in the Chinatown area, this is definitely the place to fill up your tummy or have a taste of Chinese in London! If you order “dry” stuff, and you are not a very big eater, you can easily pack your “dinner” when you take your lunch! (£3.80 for 2 meals is a steal, right?)

This restaurant is frequently mentioned in guidebooks. However, remember that this is not the best that London had to offer in terms of taste, but it is more like a glimpse of Chinese “culture” in London!

P/S: To see how "cult"ish it is, read the pages and pages of reviews when you google "Wong Kei"! Here is on example of reviews

and compare it to my all time favourite: Yummy duck- Four seasons at Bayswater
(FOUR SEASONS is a must go. It is a very "sinful" place, tempting people away from their religious practices with those juicy BBQ meat! If you are "lucky", you will see tables of Malay and Indonesian speaking people devouring their char siu, and I once seen another lady with a head scarf there...I tried hard not to *laugh wickedly*)

Other related posts:

Cheap eats for London: Part 3 (supermarket options)

Cheap eats for a short london stay: Part 2

Eat well, eat cheaply in London: Part 1

London is expensive? The insider's guide to do it in a cheap way.

Cheap eats for a short london stay: Part 2

This is the best possible arrangement for a 3-5day camp in a backpacker's hostel:

Breakfast - try to look for one which is provided.

Don't pay extra just to have BREAKFAST included. It is not worth it! Most of the time they just give you plain and watery coffee, and the cheapest possible housebrand cereals with milk. These are very very cheap stuff, and you might as well buy it from the supermarket! The exception will be "english breakfast" with sausages, baked beans, bacon eggs and coffee/tea/milk. This will be worth an extra few pounds, and give you a good start. If you are a vegetarian...hmmm .. forget it.

If breakfast is not provided, you might have:
1) Milk (£30pence/pint) + cereal (about £1.00 for a 500mg box if you buy housebrands like Tesco, Sainsburry etc) + coffee/other hot beverage, if you have access to kettle. You could buy those sachets about £2.20 for Nescafe's cappucino 10's packs and about £1.20 if you buy housebrand ) You will have filling breakfast for about £4.00, for 4-5 days at least.

2) Fruits(from markets) + yogurt (about 50 pence for a 500mg tub of housebrand, 25-40pence for a 150g).

3) Grab a sandwich for £0.90 to 3.00 from supermarkets or Boots (Boots pharmacy has yummy sandwiches too!). If you stay near Gloucester Road in South Kensington, go to the "SANDWICH shop"! I am sure your hostel people know the shop location, cos it is always packed with hungry backpackers and students from the nearby universities plus a smoothie/coffee etc for another £1.00

4) Look out for coffee plus croissant for £1.50 signs in shops. These are only for takeaways. However must warn you that this will not keep you full.

5) for an Asian treat, go to Malaysian hall at Queensborough terrace, very near Bayswater station for a nasi lemak (£2.50) or roti canai/prata (£1.10) and teh tarik (1.10).

6) Check out the 1.99 breakfast promotions for Mc D, Burger king or Benjy's.

7) Clearance!!-Around the closing time, supermarkets clear their food like ready to go meals and sandwiches for a fraction of their normal price. If you go past a supermarket at its closing time, be sure to check out their "reduced" shelf. Things can be dirt cheap sometimes. I got 8 slices of stuffed turkey which usually retails for about £5 for 20p before, and loaves of bread and sandwiches for 10p each.

Other cheap stuff for breakfast: Donuts (12p each) Cakes from Sainsburry basics (15 p for a chocolate roll, and about 25 p for a rather large slice of madeira cake), Biscuits! (Go for Marks a Spencer!= 49p for 400g of yummy yummy custard cream), make your own hard boiled eggs, if you got kettle. Eggs is about 10p each.

Finally, if you are a group of hungry people, just go to Tesco, grab a loaf of bread (about 50p), a box of ham (1.70 for 400g!) a packet of cheedar cheese (about 0,50p for 12). For about £3.00, you will have enough to last you through lunch for about 3 people.

Calling cards- Great deals for Malaysia or singapore: Part II

I just spoke to a friend yesterday, and found out a great deal.

"Pineapple" calling cards!

The catch is you have to buy it from Chinatown. The deal is if you could find the shop, you should only pay £7.00-£7.50 for a card with £25 of value.

Another catch is the connection charge of 50p, which is actually about 14p considering you paid £7.00 for a £25 card.

So where is the shop?

You can try this "electrical shop" at Wardour Street called Lee Fook, and other shops which sell calling cards in the area.


Other related post:

UK's calling cards- call the right number to save $$ (Part I)
CALLING HOME CHEAPLY from London!!
Calling home Cheaply from London or UK : Part 2
London is expensive? The insider's guide to do it in a cheap way.
Getting around Cheaply in London- An insider's guide
SLEEP WELL, SLeep SAFELY and CHEAPLY in London(coming soon).

Calling home Cheaply from London or UK : Part 2

II) Call through special discounted numbers

Someone gave me these series of numbers:

(will put here later, got to check that they are working first...)

Frankly, I have no idea how this works or how these numbers come about. It is passed on through friends, from their friends. Probably it is just like Zone1511 in Singapore. Anyway, it works. And I know people who always use it, (including myself sometimes!!)

These numbers are very popular among office workers and students here who have access to phones in their offices. To make it worth while, you got to call these numbers from a landline, and you just incur some charges of a few pence/minute (usually 1-2p), depending on destinations. Before they put you through, they will explain these to you.

The disadvantage of using this is the “instruction” or “introduction” is lengthy, and you might be told to call a different number if the destination you call is not “covered” by the number you are calling. The benefits? No calling card, you pay nothing. Very small fees to the phone line owner. (the schools and bosses are not complaining, so it is really cheap!)

III) Buying a local SIM card

You can get a local SIM card, if you plan to stay a week or so in London.

The following is for the point of view of tourist or short-term visitors to London or UK, who wants to call home or stay in contact while here.

Virgin Mobile is usually recommended when you try to purchase a SIM card from a store. Most shops sell you cards for £10. Virgin is considered cheaper, as it came with a £5.00 airtime when you get the card.

Choose carefully!! The charges differ by as much as a few times! It is crazy. Example O2 charges £1.50 per minute of international call, Mobile world starts with a few extra pence and Tesco charges 20-40p/minute.

I bought a Virgin mobile SIM too, and my friends bought them as well when they first arrived. For me, it was ok, not too bad. But for my friend, she had it bad. Her hotel room is at the basement, and she had no line!! And it is not that cheap! 30 or 35p/minute for the first five minutes! Just calling a friend in London to tell her that you arrived can cost you a pound!

My suggestion is consider FRESH mobile

• The charge is 15p/minute and 5p/sms. One of the cheapest around.
• Reception is ok.
• The international calls are the cheapest for this one, I think. International SMS only 15p/message.

Downside?

I think only Carphone Warehouse sells them.

Upside?

Carphone Warehouse is present in every corner, every high street here. You can’t miss it! Find out more from www.carphonewarehouse.com. You can also check out Mobile World by carphone warehouse.

My current SIM is Tesco Mobile.

Cheap!!! 15p/minute and 5p/sms for the “Value” option.

Downside?

You got to buy the SIM by post if you choose Tesco Value. SMS home for 20p. You can find out more from http://www.tesco.com/telecoms/ if you got a friend here who can receive the card by post on your behalf.

Other options?

Easycall – need to buy from internet https://www.easymobile.com/. Yes, this is from the same people who give you the cheap and relatively good EasyHotel chain. P/s: There is a promotion till mid May. You get £5.00 airtime free!

Other related posts:

London is expensive? The insider's guide to do it in a cheap way.

Getting around Cheaply in London- An insider's guide

EAT WELL, EAT CHEAP in London (coming soon).

SLEEP WELL, SLeep SAFELY and CHEAPLY in London(coming soon).

UK's calling cards- call the right number to save $$

On your phone cards, you will see a few numbers. These are the usual “options”:

“Dial access” or “Freephone” --- starting from 0800

“National”-- starting from 0845

“London local access number”--starting from 0207

“Payphone” – starting from 00800

If you don’t have a landline, you got to call the payphone number from a telephone booth. From my own experience, not all public phones allow you to call this number. I did not manage to get connected a couple of times. Through my own experience, your best bet is those RED, traditional looking phone booths. You could connect without any problems from here.

If you live with a friend or have an accommodation that comes with a phone, you could try using 0207. This will give you more minutes than using the 0800 numbers. But check with them first. Most people here would buy a package when they get their land lines, as local calls here are not cheap! (Imagine, the local calls are listed in bills!) With these packages, usually they can call 0207 numbers, or local numbers without any extra charge. Some people have packages where they call for free during night time and weekends, and some could call all day.

Don’t try to use hotel phones…obvious reason—it is very ex!

If you have a GENEROUS friend, or your friend got a phone package that gives them free national calls, you can call 0845, the national number. National numbers are expensive to the phone bill, but give you’re the max number of minutes. Eg: if you use 0845 to call Singapore or Hong Kong, you get 1500 minutes using iphone. If you use 0800 number, you get only 400minutes or less. So, if you can use 0845 number for FREE, use it! Otherwise, don’t fleece your friend.

Lastly, the dial access number or free phone number. You can call this from landlines without incurring any costs to the line owner. So, use without guilt! The minutes are slightly better than payphone numbers (from experience), but worse than 0207 number. However, check before you use your hotel phone, whether they will charge you for using 0800 numbers. By right, they should not.

Related Posts in My blog:

• Getting around Cheaply in London- An insider's guide
  
• EAT WELL, EAT CHEAP in London (coming soon).
• SLEEP WELL, SLeep SAFELY and CHEAPLY in London(coming soon)
• CALLING HOME CHEAPLY from London!!
  

Calling home Cheaply from London or UK: Part 1

Part 1: Calling Cards

If you tell your family and friends that you will go on a shoe-string travel, they will WORRY about you. So, cheap travel should not come with lazy calling home. The folks, especially will really worry. So, here are some CHEAP ways to call home!

If you want to call home to Asia, eg Singapore or Hong Kong, calling cards are the cheapest options for overseas call. The other options are special numbers (if you have access to a landline or a local sim card) and also using and “pay as you go” sim card.

Generally there are 3 ways to call:
A) Calling cards
B) Call through special discounted numbers
C) Buying a local SIM card

Lets starts with calling cards.

There are a few things to look out for when you buy calling cards.

1) Where do you buy them?

This can affect your calling cost by as much as half!

Usually, there is value in your card. Common denominations are £5,£10 and £20.

For a card worth £5, one shop may sell it for £5, another may sell it for £4, another for £3.50, or 3 for £10, and yet the cheapest I ever bought was £2.50- at a market stall.

The cheapest place to get it is in markets-look out for a small “table” with lots of cards displayed. These usually sell £5 cards for £3 or even less, usually £2.00.

Never ever pay full price, ie same amount as the printed card value. Usually there is discount. The exceptions are “Unitel” cards- I have not come across any discounts yet, and iPhone, usually will be priced more highly than other card. However, these two cards have decent call qualities.

2) Any surcharges for using a payphone number?

Beware when you buy the calling cards. Some of them charge you 20p just to get connected. It is small sum, but you might not get connected all the time or the person may not pick up your call! Some cards also have a surcharge of 1-2p/minutes when you use a payphone, so read the posters outside the shop for fine prints. Imagine, my most disappointing card only gave me two-10 minutes conversation to Singapore. (and I paid £3.50!!).

3) Expiry dates

Once you “activated” your card, there is an expiry date. This is usually 30 days or 45 days. iPhone gives you 90 days from first use.

4) Can you use them outside UK?

Look out for statements like “global freephone”. It means that you can call a 0800 number in UK from overseas. This is very useful when you are going to travel to other countries after UK, because you can still use them to call home!!

5) Calling the right number

Calling the right number when using a phone card is an acquired ART! I have wasted so much money doing a trial an error thing to get the cheapest was to call. They don’t give you these information when you buy it, and you can’t find it the information on the internet either, so consider what I am sharing as EXCLUSIVE!!

To read more >>>>>

If buying a calling card is not for you, then you can consider using some special numbers and also get a local sim card.

To read more (will post soon)>>>>>

BEWARE!!!
When you walk along a busy street, eg Oxford Street, a leaflet distributor may hand you “phone cards”, promising you free calls when you call a number. Never, ever use those numbers. When you call the numbers, they will immediately charge a huge sum to your bill!!! Read the fine prints!

Other calling options?

B)Call through special discounted numbers
C)Buying a local SIM card

Other related posts:

London is expensive? The insider's guide to do it in a cheap way.

Getting around Cheaply in London- An insider's guide

EAT WELL, EAT CHEAP in London.

SLEEP WELL, SLeep SAFELY and CHEAPLY in London(coming soon).

Getting around Cheaply in London- An insider's guide

Here is the chapter one of my series; Insider's guide to survive cheaply in London!

I start with GETTING AROUND IN A CHEAP WAY, and try to put up other stuff when I have time.

London can be a really expensive place to move around, if you do not know how to. Getting around takes up a big chunk of your budget, if you are not careful in planning it.

GETTING around Cheaply in London- An insider's guide.

1) Find out more about transport in London!

Before your come, spend a while getting an idea of how the transport system works, and you can save a bundle. Travelling around can be expensive, and taxis and cabs are not an option, except to those really loaded people. Checking out www.tfl.gov.uk, the Transport for London website is a MUST DO. You get information about Oyster card, the prices of various travel options and give you interactive maps. Those maps are really impressive, they guide you point to point, and come with an estimated travel times.

2) Use the TUBE to get from the Heathrow Airport to Town.

Want to try the Black Cabs? Forget it. It cost about £48 to get to South Kensington very early in the morning. If you stay further east, you pay more! If you are caught in the rush hour, fish out that credit card.

You don’t have to worry about walking to your hotel or hostel with your luggage. In London, you see people pulling their luggage ALL the time. Some areas have more tourists than locals.

3) Buy OYSTER CARD!!!

Ignore this advice at your own peril. Serious. Buy Oyster card->the first thing when you do when you arrive. Then use this card to go from Airport to the hostel. The Oyster Card is the cheapest way to get around London, and the difference between using card and cash is worth it! Imagine, you pay £1.50 cash, £0.80 by card for non peak bus travels. And from 2006 onwards, it is cheaper to use Oyster Card than travel cards. So, it is worth buying even if you just stay for a few days!

4) Use the bus

Those double-decker red buses are the best way to see London. If you go for those hop-on, hop-off tourist buses, you see about the same thing, but pay a lot more. With buses, you have a cap of maximum £3.00. Remember, buses in London charges a flat rate, no matter how far you travel. It can also be safer than tubes, as some tube stations can have no staff at night, and a favourite crime spots.

5) WALK

London is the perfect place to walk. Most major tourist attractions in centre of town can be covered by foot. I have acted as tour guides, and brought friends from the South Kensington Museums, to Hyde Park, to British Museum via Oxford Street, and then to Piccadilly Circus and Soho/Chinatown via Regent Street. The weather is perfect, and the traffic at Oxford Street could be bad. So walk!!

6) Get a good, detailed MAP

You can either spend £1.50 to get a map on the tube stations on your way in, or check out the tourist centres. The “Police Post” at Piccadilly Circus also hands out free tourist maps of central London. (but slightly less detailed)

Other related posts:

London is expensive? The insider's guide to do it in a cheap way.

EAT WELL, EAT CHEAP in London

SLEEP WELL, SLeep SAFELY and CHEAPLY in London(coming soon).

CALLING HOME CHEAPLY from London!!

London is expensive? : The insider’s guide to do it the cheap way!

Why are tourists avoiding London???

I am tired of the “lame excuses” which my friends have been giving for not visiting me, or staying long enough in London. Come on, there is really lots to see in London, and lots to do!

OK, I will put up some tips for a cheap cheap way to cover London, after seeing people coming and going and spending a bomb in the process.

I start with GETTING AROUND CHEAPLY in London- An Insider's Guide, and try to put up other stuff when I have time, including EATING aka FEEDING yourself WELL and CHEAPLY in London, Cheap phone calls from London, SHOPPING TIPS etc etc. Please come to London, it is a very interesting place!

The chief complains that I got including it is very difficult to "survive" in London. The accomodation is expensive, the transport is expensive, and even the food is expensive! Everyone complains that it seems one would take about £20 to feed yourselves 3 meals a day. Entertainment is also expensive in London. By entertainment, everyone think of the WEST-END musicals and operas etc. That would be expensive, of course!

Well, there are definitely ways to get around and enjoy london within your budget. Don't forget that london is full of broke students, and full of tourists and migrants from all over the world. It is possible to get around this place in a "cheap" and fun way!

London is not so much of a tourist trap, it is possible to enjoy your stay without sleeping in the park or starving.

Related Posts in My blog:

• Getting around Cheaply in London- An insider's guide
  
• EAT WELL, EAT CHEAP in London (coming soon).
• SLEEP WELL, SLeep SAFELY and CHEAPLY in London(coming soon)
• CALLING HOME CHEAPLY from London!!

Another cheap travel link- cheap flights fr London to ASIA

We went for lunch with a friend and came back with another piece of information for cheap travel. Acoordingf to my friend if you want cheap fares from UK, you should look for lee's travel

This is probably the cheapsest site. The downside is if you want to pay by credit card, there is a 2% surcharge, and a surcharge of £1.00 if you want to use a debit card.

ANother thing is it is cheaper to travel before July, which means I better make my plans early!