UK Trip Over the New Year
January 22nd, 2009 by Leo
We flew to Birmingham on boxing day! No presents from the plane though.
We visited 4 places in UK – Manchester, Birmingham, Cambridge and London.
First Stop – Manchester
Wai Ching (Doris’ friend) picked us up from the airport. We had lunch at her place with her husband, Dave, and her daughter, cutie Zoe. Then they drove us to catch the bus to Manchester. We only spent one night in Manchester, but it was a relaxing evening. Nice dinner (well, actually steak was a bit dry but not too bad) with nice French red wine. We also watched a movie in the comfy hotel room. It was so nice to be able to relax.
The next day we walk around Manchester city. And of course we started the day with a nice big breakfast. Coffee was okay – of course never going to be as nice as Italy. We arrived at Chinatown a bit too early and all shops were closed.
Second Stop – Birmingham
We took the bus back to Birmingham. However, there was a traffic accident and hence all buses were late. We ended up waiting for 2 hours for the bus to come 
And it was really cold. But anyway, thank God it finally arrived.
Wai Ching came and pick us up again. It is so great that we can stay at her place. Such comfy and warm feeling.
Again, we walked around in the Birmingham city. The road system is very complicated indeed – giving us the excuse of getting lost about 2 million times. The malls here are huge, but because it is the end-of-year sale, it is always crowded. It was so crowded that people have to queue to get on the elevator!
Wai Ching also took us to the University of Birmingham to have a look. There was a small lake and Zoe was feeding the ducks. Nice place to study – if you are indoor. It was just far too windy and cold.
During our stay we cooked for Wai Ching’s family for 2 evenings. That’s the only things that we can offer. Thanks for taking care of us 
Third Stop – London & Cambridge
I met Chung in Sydney when he came over to travel. Doris introduced him to me and we became friends.
And this time, it is my chance to annoy him hahaha… We stayed at his place for our whole London trip. I must say he is such a professional tour guide. We didn’t even have to take a map with us. He just showed us around with routes well planned. He even took us to the spot that we can take the best photos.
On New Year’s Day Chung drove us to Cambridge. And because it is a public holiday, we can enter the colleges for free :p
Not sure if he is really moving to Beijing. But if he is, then we can surely have an easy Beijing trip as well
I was so glad that I have the chance to have lunch with Scott. It is always good to catch up with good friends.
Doris & I watched 2 musicals – We will Rock You & Les Miserables – and certainly makes our day. As usual I would purchase the program. And hell they know how to earn money – they have another booklet called ‘brochure’ and sold seperately. The story line of We will Rock You is a bit dumb but it is a musical produced by Queen (the famous band) and Ben Elton. Music was so good. At the encore section the whole cast sung “Bohemian Rhapsody” and it was so great! And the guitar solo is just awesome! (FYI “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a song by the English rock band Queen. It was written by frontman Freddie Mercury for the band’s 1975 album A Night at the Opera.)
My second time watching Les Miserables, although it is Doris’ first time. How lucky she is to watch such a magnificient musical in a theatre in London with the London cast!
To view more photos that I uploaded to facebook, visit here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=69704&l=1e09c&id=591917272
More photos on Doris’ Facebook profile:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70343&id=647057650
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70683&id=647057650
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70851&id=647057650
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71054&id=647057650