12 - Books, Cod and Two Smoky Bars (Manchester, London)

Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM - 08 september 2002

Manesh was glued to cricket-on-TV again this morning. As Gisela, Lee and I prepared to head out, Manesh claimed to be busy with some reports from work and declined our invitation to join us.

We walked around the town square and visited a bookshop. As I was heading to South America soon, I was keen to find a book from a South American or at least a Latin American writer and finally settled on 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.

As Gisela and Lee walked together hand-in-hand in a world of their own and smooched frequently, I was happy to trail behind them and admire the contrasting modern and old architecture of Manchester. Many times a very space-age, glass-and-metal building would be right next to a Baroque-style building. Interesting juxtaposition.

We found time to visit an art gallery. This was what was great about the UK - frequently, the museums and art galleries were free-of-charge. It had an excellent exhibition which I enjoyed thoroughly.

By 3pm, Gisela’s baby of a boyfriend complained of fatigue and moped around unhappily. So, we returned home. Manesh’s eyes were still glued to cricket-on-TV.

That evening, Gisela was finally on her own because Lee had collapsed in bed due to extreme fatigue from the very tiring day today hiking around Manchester, visiting one bookshop and one art gallery. I could chat with her a little. I had met her previously in Egypt in 2000, where she went to study Arabic.

Soon, the conversation turned to why she took up Arabic in university. What inspired her to take up this difficult language? She pondered for a moment and explained that when she was young, she was thoroughly fascinated by Tintin and his adventures, including some to the Middle East. So, one thing led to another. Hmmm… Tintin Tintin Tintin. Now, who did I say yesterday was a dead-ringer for Tintin?



Manchester to London, UNITED KINGDOM - 09 september 2002

I arrived in London at around 4pm, the last hour of which was a tedious crawl across the huge city in the horrible London traffic.

The friends that I would be staying with - Nick and Denise - were supposed to be back from their Scottish holiday the day before yesterday but last night, I had not managed to contact them. I only managed to leave a message with a lady (whom I learnt later to be Nick’s sister) who picked up the phone late in the night. So, I was quite lucky now to get Denise on the mobile phone on my first try and she gave directions on where I should take a train to to meet her.

I had met Nick and Denise in Peru in 1999 when they were on their first day of their RTW. When they came by Singapore the following year as part of the RTW, I had put them up at my place and showed them around. Actually, Nick and Denise were huge inspirations for my own RTW. It was really fantastic to meet Denise again.

As it turned out, after their trip to Scotland, they went to Paris yesterday and Nick was still in Paris for work and would be back only in few days’ time.

All over their house, they had put up enlarged photographs of their RTW trip. Gosh, they were incredible… I spent some time examining them and guessing their locations. I was not bad at this. We caught up with each other on the past events. As our interests were very similar, we could not run out of topics to talk about.

I also gave Robin a call. Robin and Louise were a couple I went on the horse-trek in Songpan, China, with. They had been really friendly and funny. We kept in contact via emails and we had looked forward to catching up in London. We agreed to meet on 11 September to visit the Natural History Museum.



London, UNITED KINGDOM - 10 september 2002

I made a photo-card and bought a 7-day travel pass usable in the London tubes, buses and trains. Excellent. Now, I feel a tad like a local.

Remember my application for the Bolivian visa in the Bolivian Consulate at Beijing? I had submitted my application for visa authorisation on 1 July. Now, more than two months later, I headed to the Bolivian Consulate in London to see if they could help inquire about my authorisation status.

I waited for about 2 hours before finally meeting the Consular. He was very understanding and helpful. He promised to fax to the Consulate in Beijing to inquire. I was to call back two days later.

I strolled down Charing Cross Road and gosh, to my surprise, this whole area was simply lined with charming second-hand bookstores. I did not know this previously. It was wonderful. I love books. I spent the entire day, just browsing in them and walking up and down the area. Books were dangerous stuff for me. I was really tempted to buy many of them. As I could not carry them all, I would have to send them back. They were not terribly cheap either. Through huge self-control and much pity, I did not buy any in the end. Sigh…

From a free magazine I picked up, I read that the ‘Earth from Above’ exhibition by Yannar Arthus Bertrand was now being exhibited outside the Natural History Museum. What a coincidence! I had first seen the exhibition in Warsaw, Poland and now, it would be exhibited at the museum that I was going to visit tomorrow with Robin and Louise.


London, UNITED KINGDOM - 11 september 2002

OK, today was THE SPECIAL day. All over Victoria station, everyone was on high alert. There were announcements repeating that all unattended items would be removed and destroyed. I was not sure if it was my imagination but there seemed to be loads of policemen crawling all over London today.

Robin had agreed to visit the Natural History Museum because according to him, that was the nearest to Central London he would allow himself to go today. I waited for them at South Kensington tube station. Louise came first. She informed me that Robin had just cut his hair and was suffering from hair trauma now. He would join us later.

After about an hour, Robin, with a really bad hair-cut, arrived. We sat at a café and exchanged hilarious stories about our trips and what was going on in their lives now. These guys were just great. We finally dragged ourselves to visit the Natural History Museum which had a rather original way of presenting their displays, thereby making them really easy to follow and interesting. We browsed through the Dinosaur and Human sections and barely had time for the Mammal section before the announcement came to ask us to scram. I was delighted at the exhibits at the Mammal section because I recognised many animals I saw in my past trips to Africa, Mongolia… Excellent museum. Free too.

We bought some bread, salad, cheese, etc… and ate dinner at Hyde Park. Soon, it got nippy and Robin flipped through the London A-Z that I had brought along and decided on the spot to run to Royal Albert Hall to try and catch a PROMS performance. £4 for a standing ticket.

Gosh, Royal Albert Hall! I never imagined I would ever live to see the interior of it. This was turning out such a wonderful day, experiencing London. Just before we reached there, Louise received a call from her mom. She explained where she was going. Then, she added, “No, mom. I don’t think the Royal Albert Hall will be bombed today. OK, mom… Bye.”

And when the brilliant concert was over, we had about half an hour to browse the ‘Earth from Above’ exhibition at the Natural History Museum before it closed. I had a thoroughly good time today.


London, UNITED KINGDOM - 12 september 2002

I had a flight ticket from British Midlands to Paris and another from Varig flying from Paris to Rio. I decided to go to Brazil on 14 September.

I futilely tried to call the two airlines to arrange my flight. I was put on hold forever. I also could not reach Denise who had told me to call her at work as she could get off work at lunch and meet me. I was on the phone for about an hour, trying all three numbers and finally, I gave up.

I calculated the time in Singapore. It was about 5pm. OK, I decided to give it a shot. I called my travel agent in Singapore. And surprisingly, I could get my trusty travel agent Samir. Hah… All the London numbers failed but a Singapore number worked. He booked the flights for me right away. Really sweet of him. He would definitely be getting a souvenir from me.

I met up with Denise near her work-place for lunch. This was the banking district, the ‘Manhattan’ of London. But even in the business part of London, it was very cozy and charming. We visited Old Spitalfield’s Market, the Millenium Bridge, Tate Modern and came by The Globe Theatre.

Robin had recommended me to watch ‘Twelfth Night’ at The Globe. We inquired and there were standing tickets for the matinee tomorrow for £5. Alright. I paid up. This would really be a quintessential English experience, I told myself - watching a Shakespearean play in a reconstructed Shakespearean theatre.

We walked along the southern banks of the Thames and when we got home, we met up with Nick (who had arrived last night) and they took me to another typical English experience - the pub. It was a traditional pub with broad wooden tables and benches. Fish and chips, the epitome of English cuisine, were served, wrapped in newspaper here.



London, UNITED KINGDOM - 13 september 2002

I had called the Bolivian Consular yesterday and the Consular explained he had heard nothing from Beijing yet. I was to call him again today. Well, again, nothing. Sigh… I guess I would have to follow up on this issue when I reach Rio de Janeiro.

The ‘Twelfth Night’ play was put up by men only, like how it was done during Shakespeare’s times. What can I say? It was excellent. It was absolutely hilarious. We laughed all the time. I did not feel tired standing for 3 hours in the yard at all. The sun cast a shadow on the yard for the entire matinee so it was really very pleasant weather. For £5, this was a cheap and fantastic entertainment in London. The actor playing the Lady’s Maid was superb with his acute comic timing. The Lady was played by a ghastly ugly man with a heavily-powdered face. He was hilarious too. My favourite was the guy playing Malvolio. I highly recommend this to anyone coming to London.

That evening, Nick and Denise showed me photographs of their trips to Bolivia, Chile and Argentina and described many stories to me. Sheesh… from their graphic narratives of the harsh weather conditions, I felt I would really need good rain-wear and warm clothes. What I had with me was not adequate.



London, UNITED KINGDOM to Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL - 14 september 2002

Nick took me to the Borough Market in the morning. This is London’s version of a wet-market. But unlike the kind of wet-market I was used to in Singapore, the attendants here wore spiffy uniforms and everything was very classy and food items could be tried for taste. Nick bought loads of cheese, vegetables, fruits…

Just before I left for the airport, I sped through Wimbledon where Nick and Denise stayed, to see if I could buy myself some suitable warm clothes for South America. Shopping in London must be the worst idea! Things here were terribly expensive. But I did not foresee being able to buy warm gear in Brazil (skimpy bikini, yes, but warm fleece?) or good rain-wear in Bolivia. Surprisingly, I found a nice warm jumper for £9 and a water-proof, rain-proof, breathable jacket for £20. Bargains!

At the airport, I checked my backpack in and waited for my London-Paris flight patiently. Then, I noticed on the display that it had been delayed for an hour. That would cause me to miss my connection to Rio de Janeiro! I found a British Midlands counter and explained my situation.

The lady put me on the London-Sao Paulo-Rio de Janeiro Varig flight leaving later that evening. Oh, this was even better. She directed me to retrieve my backpack at the arrival hall and make my way to Terminal 3. Strange that I had to ‘arrive’ in London even before I left it. I even had to fill up the Landing Form and ‘clear customs’ before I could go hunt for my backpack.

At the Varig counter in Terminal 3, the check-in guy inquired if my backpack had ever left my side. Well, yeah… I checked it in earlier and then, because of the flight-changes, I had to retrieve it to bring it here. I found it lying abandoned near Belt 7 on a trolley, as a matter of fact. He paused a while and decided not to pursue it. It was odd, they were trained to ask these security questions and yet, did not know how to handle it if the answer was other than the usual.