So... Welcome back! I will be talking about the 4 days we spent in NYC just the first 2 days for part 1 cos I'm taking tooooo long to complete the post. The time we spent in New York were primarily focused on the Manhattan borough, with just a bit in Brooklyn. As I've said, there's just so, so, so much to do and 4 days is definitely not enough if you plan to cover Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island (essentially the 4 other boroughs that makes up NYC).
Look out for the gold stars ('★') in the posts for extras on how to save money on your trip.
We stopped over at Dubai for a full day before continuing the journey to New York. As our 'transit' was more than 4 hours, we were given a complimentary meal voucher to be redeemed from selected restaurants across all the terminals in DXB airport. Free meal? Why not!
Currency used in Dubai is known as the dirham (i think it's pronounced as durhumms with a silent 'h'), stylized as Dhs or AED. It is pegged to the USD and US$1 = AED3.6725. At the time of travel, exchange rate for SGD is S$1 = AED2.60. I changed only S$100 and it turned out to be waaay too much as we did not plan to shop in the mall and there were no way to spend the money on food (more on that below).
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Currency used in Dubai is known as the dirham (i think it's pronounced as durhumms with a silent 'h'), stylized as Dhs or AED. It is pegged to the USD and US$1 = AED3.6725. At the time of travel, exchange rate for SGD is S$1 = AED2.60. I changed only S$100 and it turned out to be waaay too much as we did not plan to shop in the mall and there were no way to spend the money on food (more on that below).
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Flight to DXB
EK349 • SIN-CMB-DXB (77W)
ETD SIN 2330hrs >> ETA DXB 0600hrs
We chose this flight over other direct flights because landing in DXB at 0600hrs seems to be the best option out of all – you get to start the day right away upon touchdown! 22 hours is likely enough to see just a couple of landmarks leisurely with no need for an expensive night stay at a hotel.
If you have carry-on luggage, you may wish to consider Emirate's Left Baggage service. Conveniently located outside the arrival gates at Terminal 3, it costs only AED25 per 12hr block per bag and saves you the hassle of bringing your stuff around. It should only take about 10-15 minutes for the entire process. Present your receipt (in the form of a ticket) to reclaim baggage before checking in for your next flight and payment can be made by cash or card.
Off we go!
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Obligatory happy tourist shot by Rafik.
We chose this tour over the evening safari tour as we planned to visit Burj Khalifa during the sunset hour. This tour includes sand dunes bashing, sand-boarding and transport to and fro the desert. It is approx. S$72 per pax and tour lasts for about 4 hours. A USD10 tip is to be given to the driver before drop-off and is agreed upon booking.
Our guide, Rafik, is a really patient and friendly guy. It was a semi-private tour so we were joined by another couple (max. 6 guests). Pick up is complimentary at any hotels in Dubai.
Our guide, Rafik, is a really patient and friendly guy. It was a semi-private tour so we were joined by another couple (max. 6 guests). Pick up is complimentary at any hotels in Dubai.
Camel-flage? I thought they were trees.
The ride to the desert was about an hour or so and we got there around 9.30am. Upon arrival at the desert, Rafik released some air from the tyres and we were tossed wildly in the car like ragdolls. Exciting, definitely! Dune bashing is definitely not for the faint hearted or those with motion sickness.
It went full throttle, roller coaster style random bashing for about 15 minutes before we arrived at the spot below.
It went full throttle, roller coaster style random bashing for about 15 minutes before we arrived at the spot below.
*Cue desert pano*
There is really nothing at the desert except... Sand. It's really endless sand dunes after sand dunes after sand dunes, like how the ocean goes on forever except it's solid.
Helpful tip: do not open your mouth unless otherwise necessary, because you will end up eating a lot of sand especially when the wind starts blowing all that fine sand particles up and away. Also it helps to be wearing sunglasses, because even with these buggy shades on, I managed to get sand in my eyes. I was > < this close to wearing those lab goggles, you know.
OH AND PLEASE DO NOT WEAR SNEAKERS LIKE US BECAUSE THE SAND WILL FOLLOW YOU TILL THE END OFTHE WORLD TIME. We attempted to empty our shoes at a pitstop nearby and the sand collected in our shoes can easily bury a hamster alive. Even at New York, the sand is still lurking in between my toes.
Get outta ma shoes already.
OH AND PLEASE DO NOT WEAR SNEAKERS LIKE US BECAUSE THE SAND WILL FOLLOW YOU TILL THE END OF
Get outta ma shoes already.
A 'been here, done that' pic with my cousin, Cee and me putting in effort to look cool, lol. Sand-boarding is really just about strapping your feet down on a board and then tumble down the sand dunes. Admittedly I'm not the most talented athlete in the house... Hahaha.
100% done.
No camel riding because I don't believe in doing things like that and also I don't want to spend money sitting on an animal. However if they want to pay me and let the animal sit on me please get in touch via email and we can discuss from there HAHAHAHA I'M KIDDING.
At the pitstop, taking a rest and allowing the vendors to help us tie this thing on our heads. Do we look suspicious? Especially with that buggy shades?? Urgh I still regret not buying this middle east man scarf thing. It would have kept me warm in SF and it's only AED15!!!!!
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The closest to warm food we could get during Ramadan (usually in June).
The Dubai houses an ice skating rink and an aquarium all within the mall itself! On top of that, there are hundreds of retail shops (from high fashion to high street), a cinema and so many picturesque walkways that you can easily spend half a day here. It is also conveniently connected to the Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall Station on the Dubai Metro via a 15-min long walkway so getting here from the airport isn't a problem. Access to the Burj Khalifa tower is directly at Lower Ground level.
It was fasting month so most restaurants were closed in the day. We could only find warm food in the supermarket and there were no seating area inside, so we packed salads, wraps and deli to go. Eating and drinking in public is not explicitly prohibited (or was it?) but to be considerate, we roamed around the mall in search of a really discreet corner to eat without having to fear being caught or shot lol.
It was fasting month so most restaurants were closed in the day. We could only find warm food in the supermarket and there were no seating area inside, so we packed salads, wraps and deli to go. Eating and drinking in public is not explicitly prohibited (or was it?) but to be considerate, we roamed around the mall in search of a really discreet corner to eat without having to fear being caught or shot lol.
That led us to the Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo! At least our efforts paid off cos the view was pretty amazing and it was tucked away in a quiet corner with little traffic. No admission fee required to admire the underwater world at this spot at First Level (outside Chilli's/Joe's Crab Shack restaurants) and access is via the escalator outside Rainforest Cafe, Ground Level. Guess who decided to interrupt my lunch?
Jawwwwwssssss! Oh and a strange waterfall/sculpture at level 1.
It's 37° out there! God!
Souk Al Bahar, an Arabic-style shopping mall just across the Burj Khalifa Lake.
The struggle is real yo. That is how low you have to go to get a full shot of the Burj Khalifa from below.
Remember this building cos you're gonna see a lot of it below. Hahaha
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At The Top, Burj Khalifa is situated at level 124 and admission is AED125 for adults before and after the sunset (peak) hour. During sunset/peak hours, it is AED200 between 1730hrs-1900hrs and AED300 for tickets purchased at the door for immediate entry.
We booked our tickets in advance on the website and collected the physical tickets from a self collection booth. If you have time to spare, consider going in at 1700hrs and hang around for the sunset (I think it was 1930hrs in summer) so you can save a bit on admission.
But be warned that there's nothing much to do at level 124. You can walk round and round the viewing area, spend some Arab money at the souvenir store or find a quiet corner to camp till sunset.
#cheapskates
Daytime view of Dubai city center from Burj Khalifa. The first thing I noticed was... There's almost no greenery. Just buildings after buildings after buildings, a sea of grey. Is this what they call an urban landscape?
Of course this calls for a Burj Khalifa pano!
Night view! I always preferred night over day views because it's only in the night that you see the city illuminated with all the lights from buildings, street lamps along highways and headlights from cars. It's almost like watching it come alive, watching this place bustle with energy.
Also, it's finally time to bid Dubai goodbye as we had to start making our way to the airport for our flight to New York at 0240hrs. We took the Dubai Metro to the airport (towards Rashidiya) and a single trip in the Standard Class cabin costs AED6 (or AED12 in the Gold Class cabin).
An overall view of the metro map. More info on train fares here.
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*** Extra: Shower facilities at Dubai Airport ***
If you hadn't judged me for doing a 22hrs layover without mentioning refreshing myself before the next long-haul flight out, I salute you.
Of course I couldn't deal with all that grime for the next 16hrs of being strapped in a seat, I can't! Thank goodness for the shower facilities in the airport. Best of all, it's completely FREE OF CHARGE!
Our flight departs from Terminal 3, B gates and the showers are located near B13 and B19. Bring your own towel and amenities, as these are not provided (duh).
Click to enlarge! Circled the showers in red and Ocean Basket in black, where we redeemed our complimentary meal from.
If you are departing from other gates (A or C), you can have a look at the terminal maps and plan your route prior to the trip here.
So... Ciao for now!
So... It's been 2 months since London and I'm finally ready to tell you all about my trip!
My travel buddy, J and I, did a short 4 days stay in London and took the Eurostar to Paris, where we stayed for another 4 days. 8 days is alright to explore the main attractions in both cities, although we could do with more, haha!
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Flight Information
• Singapore Airlines // January 2016 (Winter)
• SQ306: ETD SIN 0120 ETA LHR 0745
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Essentials
• Data SIM card // Cheaper than the wifi routers, no kidding!
It costs just £20 for a 30-day plan (minimum) with unlimited data usage + 300mins talk time + 3,000 SMS. What makes this deal even more irresistible is that if you happen to also use your SIM in other Feel-at-home countries, roaming is FREE OF CHARGE! How awesome is that?!
"This means you can use your device there at no extra cost. Calls and texts back to the UK and using data will come out of your existing Pay Monthly allowance, if you have one."
We managed to use our devices in Paris without any problems. Connectivity was fast, too!
I was reluctant to not get the wifi router at first, simply because I was too used to having everything prepared beforehand. Having to find a store that sells SIM cards at reasonable prices downtown means we had to go without the internet for a few hours, and that scared me.
However... After check in, we immediately googled for the nearest telco and found this - Three. More about it here.
- Pros: Cheaper than wifi router (just ~S$42 for up to 30 days vs. S$200 for 10 days!)
We bought our SIM at the Kensington High Street store.
- Cons: tethering is not allowed - meaning you have to buy one card per device.
Take the Circle or District Line, get off at High Street Kensington (underground) station.
• Oyster Card // Like ez-link, but better.
We didn't have an exact plan on where to visit, so we opted for the pay as you go card. More info here. J purchased her card after clearing immigration and collecting our luggages. It costs approx £20 with a £15 value??
- Pros: convenient, can be used on almost any public transport in London.
- Cons: we forgot how much we spent in total (HAHAHA) and I guess the day passes could be cheaper if you plan your journey ahead??
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Accommodation
• Best Western The Cromwell Hotel // 110 Cromwell Rd Kensington, London
This is a 3-star hotel that is located super near the Gloucester Road tube station - about a 3 mins walk. You can also walk to the National History Museum (Night at the Museum!!) within 15 minutes.
Shops nearby within 5 mins walk includes a Waitrose supermarket (opposite), Tesco Express, Boots. Hungry? Fret not! There are also Starbucks, Pret a Manger, Paul, Burger King, KFC and even Byron (the burger joint) within 3 mins from the hotel.
Transport is easy-peasy. Gloucester Road tube station is on the Picadilly, Circle and District line. Change to the Central line via Notting Hill Gate station for shopping. Victoria and Bakerloo lines are also easily accessible via Picadilly Circus or Oxford Circus station.
Direct access to Heathrow Airport (LHR) via the Picadilly line (approx 30-40mins?) is a big plus too!
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Day One // Borough Market, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Oxford Street
We were starving after the 14hrs long flight and commute, so the first thing we did was to comb Borough Market for fooooood! It was Saturday when we landed, so the market was bustling with locals and tourists alike.
• Borough Market // a foodie's heaven!
There were many things that we wanted to try... And in order to sample more things, we only bought one portion of each item. In the end... It was still quite a handful so we only managed to try 4 items. :(
Salt Beef Bagel with aged cheese and bacon, £8.
It's really quite salty (as the name suggests, hahaha) and I'm not the biggest fan of cheese (much less aged cheese), so I think this was so-so. J loves this though!!!
Fresh Calamari Rings £6 + Seafood Paella £6 (not pictured).
My God. I am salivating just thinking about these heavenly calamari rings as I type. They are the best calamari rings I've tried in my last 25 years of existence! Fresh, tender and no "squid-y" taste at all. The batter complements the squid so well, I literally wolfed down this tray of goodness. I remember dropping one on the floor and went like NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I scared the angmohz around me LOL.
The paella was okay, maybe because I was already so fascinated with the calamari that I didn't remember much about the main. At just £6, it's definitely worth a try!
Then we hopped on over to Monmouth. J said she read reviews about the coffee online and wanted to try it out. Well... I'm a boring 3-in-1 coffee drinker and didn't know much about the artisan coffees, so I went ahead with a mocha (please don't judge me) while she went for a Flat White.
The chocolate truffle balls went so well with the coffee, and was just what we needed to warm ourselves in the cold weather.
Outside Monmouth Coffee.
We also roamed around the fresh produce section of the market... and bought a punnet of strawberries. Only £2!!!!
No plastic bag so I chucked it into my trusty Duffle 6. Which ended up being partially drenched in strawberry juice. #owned
After satisfying our tummies, we walked over to London Bridge and the nearby Tower Bridge.
• Tower Bridge + London Bridge // not falling down
We took a 45 minutes walk to the Tower Bridge and chilled (literally) at the foyer. People watching is always a good idea... just not in winter, with the strong winds blowing in your face. J was dying in the cold (HAHAHA) so the jet-lagged us decided to end the day with shopping at Oxford Street.
• Oxford Street // shopping, shopping and more shopping!
We took the tube and got off at Marble Arch station. What greeted us upon exiting the station was the giant PRIMARK store! Needless to say most people would be familiar with Oxford Street or at least heard about it somewhat/somehow so I will cut the crap and direct you to the food instead. We used this map to navigate through the rows and rows of shops. You name it, they most probably have it.
Fun fact: we spent close to 3hrs in PRIMARK. Boyfriends, husbands and male travel companions, you have been warned.
• Burger & Lobster // because any time is a good time for lobsters.
26 Binney St, London W1K 5BN
After seeing 100,000,000 photos of B&L and hearing friends rave about this must-try lobster joint, how could we give it a miss?! Lucky for us, it was just round the corner. There was a queue (Friday night, y'know) so we were told to leave our names and come back after 45minutes.
Fri-yay!
The food menu consists of a dessert (or two??) and the mains. Choose from one of the 3 below – all of them comes with chips (fraaaaiiisssss) and house salad.
(1) Grilled Lobster (a whole lobster)
(2) Lobster Roll (chunks in a butter roll)
(3) Burger (giant juicy beef patty)
We tried the Lobster Roll and god it was so heavenly!!! Giant chunks of lobster meat was overflowing from the lightly toasted and decadently buttered bread roll. The accompanying creamy lemon butter sauce went so well with everything, I drizzled it over the fries, dunked chunks lobster in it... Basically I finished it all. What a worthy £20 spent!
Grilled lobster was next on the list – we went back again on our last day and tried it. Same great taste, except you get to use your hands and enjoy the... Fruit of your labour. HAHA!
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Day Two // Science Museum, West End (Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Soho)
• Science Museum // fancy space stuff, a bit of history and some biology.
Exhibition Rd, London SW7 2DD
Thing about museums in London is... Most allow you to enter free of charge, but have a donation box for £5... We couldn't get past the free entry (lol law-abiding Singaporeans) so we dropped £10 in... Only to realise that the activities (e.g. IMAX, animations, themed exhibitions) are chargeable.
Oh, we watched an IMAX film of the universe and almost fell asleep. Haha!
My Favourite section is a tie between the human body and aviation history. Isn't mankind amazing?!??!
We spent a good 4hr or so in the museum... That's how intrigued we were.
Science museum is located at Exhibition Rd, which was straight down the road from our hotel. But we took the tube and ended up walking past the V&A and through this tunnel which was further than from our hotel itself.
Nearest station: Piccadilly line, South Kensington.
• South Kensington // white houses.
We were pretty much starving so we settled for Wasabi, a random jap food joint along Exhibition Rd, where the all-white terrace houses lined. Many middle eastern restaurants are available but we weren't into exotic cuisine so we gave it a miss.
How can I miss an OOTD, right?
Picturesque buildings everywhere we went.
Also, it was winter so the skies turned dark pretty fast – already 'night' at 4pm. How do people deal with it?!?!
• West End // tourist sights!
All that splendour.
This greeted us when we stepped out of the tube station. Yes, it's that dark! We didn't have anything in mind but to visit the major sights so we explored the area without a specific destination.
No attraction or monument is complete without hoards of tourists.
The statue of Arethos at the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain. It is near impossible to get a good shot here with the statue so we didn't bother. We sat down at the steps and people watched again... and just zoning out with the giant light boards and countless flashing display signage in our faces.
Leicester Square!
Leicester Square Garden was within a short walking distance from the statue, so after we had enough of stoning, we wandered to this area. There were many buskers (street artists?) in the area and touts, so once again we decided to sit by the corner and watch people do their thing. Behind us was the Leceister Square Garden where some people were doing a stand-up talk show kinda thing.
I guess this place would be more interesting in the day, during Summer?
Stumbled upon Kingly Court... Fancy cafes all around us!
More wandering ensued... after encountering a random shouting woman in Chinatown, we roamed into the Soho area - by complete accident and found the Flat Iron joint while looking for a public toilet! There were also many independent/street style boutiques in the Soho area, for example Fred Perry, Monki, Supreme and American Apparel.
Guess that's what they mean by you find something when you least expect to...
• Flat Iron // delicious steak for just £10!
17 Beak St, Soho, W1F 9RW
Tadaaaaah!
First introduced to me by my trusty friend Swin, Flat Iron specializes in steak on an iron plate. Each steak comes with a side of greens and popcorn for starters. Fries go for £2.5 a pop and sauces are £1 each. I typically don't do raw-ish meat so Medium Well is my choice but I think it was still a little 'bloody' for me towards the end.
I was a little peeved about eating meat from a 'rusty' plate and at one point even thought that there was an iron-y taste to the meat... But I'm pretty sure that's just me, HAHAH! Other than that, we thought this meal was really value for money and truly satisfying. Go try it out if you're in Soho or Covent Garden!
With a full and happy tummy, we strolled back to the nearest tube station - Picadilly Circus (again) and made our way back. Depending on which are you're staying at, you could also take the Oxford Circus or Leicester Square route.
Hi. What are you doing??
More on London day 3 to 5 in another post. Hope you enjoyed reading this one!
