Day 4: Eurostar

Central Park Hotel concierge called this private cab for me.

I was surprised to see such a huge cab, so I checked with the driver how much it cost before I boarded it. I didn't want to get a nasty shock or get on a pirate ship.

It was 20 pounds. It was reasonable to me.

We reached St Pancras Station in about 10 minutes.

It was still early, so we decided to get our breakfast at the station.

A free-standing piano at the station for anyone to play

Our hot chocolate for the 4th day

Where we had our breakfast

I scanned my e-tickets to get the actual tickets at a machine here

And we went through the customs at the opposite side

Lots of travellers waiting to board Eurostar

Waiting

Platform of Eurostar

 The carriage number was indicated on the exterior of the carriage

We were disappointed that of so many large and long window panels, we had to be seated at the window divider where it was not possible to view any scenery, but we tried to keep our spirit up as we were on our way to Disneyland!

However, as fate would have it, something unpleasant happened again. 

There was a large British family seated right in front of us and behind us. Besides the fact that these Brits could get the nice window views, it was beyond me why there was such an illogical way of seat arrangement. 

The kids and adults from this big family walked up and down the aisle in order to talk to one another and made a lot of noise. I am not particularly racist, but I could not help comparing them with the Chinese Mainlanders who are notorious for being loud, boorish and inconsiderate.

The boring journey made me nod off after a while. When I woke up, I felt something damp on me. It was a used wet tissue. Well, it was difficult not to deduce that it was from you-know-who.

At the end of this unpleasant London trip, even the docile and accommodating Coco felt that we were victims of racial discrimination. For the first time in our life, we experienced racial discrimination, ever so strongly, in a supposedly first-world country. 

First-world country, third-world thinking - my London takeaway.

We were just so glad we were out of that place.

Day 3: Tower of London

We had planned to visit Tower of London and Tower Bridge on the third day.

Tower of London first as it was reviewed as being 'very crowded, so go in the morning'.

The girls were hungry, so I bought them fish and chips from a fish-and-chips shop just outside Tower of London.

I must say their fish and chips was good. Better than the average and common ones in Singapore.

Tower of London tickets:

Adult ticket for 21.45 pounds

Child ticket for 10.75 pounds

Followed the Beefeater or their guide at the entrance.

However, as the guide was free of charge, there was an unmonitored, large crowd. Easily more than 40 per group. And don't expect these tall and huge Caucasian men to be gentlemen. I could not even see the Beefeater most of the time. Heard a few things about Isaac Newton and the Tower being made up of 20 towers though.

It got boring after a while, so we decided to explore the place on our own.

Coco said that her friend mentioned that the Crown Jewels alone were worth the ticket price. So off we went. That's the tower where the Crown Jewels were.

Crown Jewels refer to the crowns worn by various kings and queens. And like what the name suggests, the crowns are adorned with beautiful jewels.

Very beautiful truly.

Coco wanted me to do something to him to test if he would react to me!

A tower containing armours and weapons.

The display showcased armours for the smallest man and tallest giant in the army

A shield and some swords

Saw some gorgeous jewelled pistols. I would not mind owning them!

Didn't read what this was. Thought it looked like some project made from recycled material!

At the canon and bomb section

Whew! Finally finished viewing a few towers.

We had a break at Apostrophe, an alfresco cafe near the entrance as well as the exit.

We exited from the myriad of towers. This was where we saw Tower Bridge from a distance and decided we would not go. A bit tired already.

Something unpleasant happened at Tower of London - I know, right? What else could not happened?

We got carried away choosing our food. We left our bags at a table, forgetting that at least one of us needed to be around. The police took them away. We had to go to this police station to reclaim our bags.

By then, I was quite fed up with the lousy treatment from the cold and unhelpful Brits. The man at the police station warned me sternly,"Do not leave your belonging unattended. It is a security threat!"

I took over the bags with a straight face and walked out without saying a word.

The ticket station

I had meant to go to Oxford Street to get a Tiffany bracelet for my youngest sister, but Coco was running a temperature.

The sensible Coco asked me to go ahead and find the Tiffany store, but I decided to stop spending more than necessary at London after all the unpleasant incidents that had taken place.

We went back to the hotel so that Coco could rest.

We sat at this Mc Donald's to try to get some wifi, but it didn't work.

All I got was a Caucasian cleaner who hit my shoes several times with her mop and stared at me like my shoes were in her mop's way! The Brits have a lot to learn from their ex-colony, Singapore. When Singaporean cleaners do that accidentally, they apologise with trepidation.

Day 2: Harry Potter at Warner Brother Studio

The knick knacks from the Etihad's activity pack came in handy the next morning as Central Park Hotel did not have toothbrushes or toothpaste for us. The black socks looked cheap but did a good job at keeping our feet warm.

We went to a tiny cafe, Lo Spuntino, next to Queensway Underground for our breakfast.

Our second day of hot chocolate

Coco asked for a bowl of chicken soup for breakfast.

Toast with scrambled egg for me

Toast with ham and egg for Coco

Now I know where Singapore first got her 'Priority Seat' wording from.

It didn't work with the general public and SMRT had to change it to 'Reserved Seat'.

The dingy Underground  

 The cramped carriage made me wonder if 'private space' is an exclusive Singaporean thing.

We alighted at Euston Station, and bought separate train tickets to Watford Junction.

Thanks to the internet, I was aware that there are 2 trains that go to Watford Junction:

one takes an hour to reach there, while the other takes only 15 to 20 minutes. Had to check with the ticketing lady which platform the 20-minute train was at, and she could only tell me when the train pulled in. From my experience, the 20-minute train is usually at either Platform 8 or 9. Even at Watford Junction, the train going back to Euston Station would be at either of these two platforms.

The journey to Harry Potter Studio took us 1.5 hour and another 1.5 hour back.

Can you imagine me journeying there and back the second time the next day?

The second time I went to the Studio, I realised that I could pay for the National Rail ticket using the Oyster card and charges between peak and non-peak hours are vastly different. I paid 8 or 10 pounds during the peak hours (about 4 to 5pm).

Watford Junction Station platform

After exiting from the station, we went to Bus Stop 4 to take a Harry Potter bus to the Studio.

1 pound per pax for the 15- or 20-minute return trip.

I had printed out the print version of the tickets, but still had to change for the real tickets at the ticketing counter.

I was supposed to receive the ticket for the souvenir guide as well, but for some reason, the counter lady totally missed it out.

I returned the next day just to get the souvenir guide and claim my tax refund for the 200 over pounds I had spent at the Harry Potter gift shop. I did my Maths and basically, my tax refund was wiped out by my transport cost when I went back the second day.

We were so fortunate to coincide our visit with hordes and hordes of student visitors. Sigh!

Harry's closet under the stairs was at the entrance queue

The 15-minute tour

The Guide explained that there is a Hogwart emblem in the fireplace, but it is never seen in the movies as it is always covered by the fire.

It makes me wonder why they bothered to create it in the first place.

One last look at the dining hall and the door we came in by

The first thing that struck me about the props was the intricacy and the amount of details they put in to create the set

Coco enthralled by the chocolate feast

Coco never fails to point out to the unsuspecting viewers that 'the chocolate is real'. Which chocolate sculpture? I can't remember

Coco loves the blue uniform

The pretty ice sculpture and Hermione's supposedly beautiful gown at the Yule Ball
I am sorry but on closer look, it looked like draps to me!

The Creaking Caldron. Don't know which scene it appeared in. Didn't matter. Coco wanted a picture of it.

The not-so-pretty, could-have-been-better Invisible Cloak

Harry Potter's dorm

The wands

Coco laughed when I told her that people were buying the Goblet of Fire as souvenirs. She said,"This one is the Globet of Fire lah! So big. How to buy?"

My weak defense of my ignorance,"Oh, who asks the cup of dunno-what look so much like a goblet?"

Dumbledore's office

Props, props

And more props

The flying scooter and brooms are set against a green backdrop so they could 'photoshop' backgrounds into the scenes.

And I always wondered why Harry Potter and his fellow actors are not afraid of height

The mechanics of the various props

Some things would be kept a secret if you never read:

The furniture and items in Hagrid's Hut were made small to make him appear large

Very intricate door

As Dolores Umbridge becomes more powerful, her suits become pinker. I bet nobody notices it.

The amount of details they put into making Harry Potter!

The audio guides

Harry Potter Studio was good at making money out of Harry Potter suckers. Who can pass up the opportunity of having pictures of himself in the flying car and on flying brooms taken? Plus a DVD on the flying broom. It cost me 55 pounds for 3 photographs and 2 DVDs if I recall correctly. 

They even incorporated magic in the toilet - you place your hand over the button and it would do an auto-flush!

We came to what we thought was the end of the exhibition and decided that we should do our stomachs some justice. It was cold, with a little shower. We needed some warmth, in and out.

The counter staff asked if I wanted onion. I was expecting chopped, white onion bits. I must have looked shocked to see big chunks of carelessly cooked onions poured on my hotdog. The Chinese guy behind me immediately made it very clear, and loud, to the staff that he did not want onion.

I simply cleaned the onion off my hotdog before I wolfed it down.

Drinking her Butterbeer, because the Guide said you couldn't get it anywhere else

If you want me to describe, it tasted like root beer with vanilla foam on it.

Doesn't Baby look stylish?

Baby had to stand as she was completely hidden when seated

The Night Bus

 

The Bridge that looked sooo long in the movie

By then, we were getting a little tired, but we were informed by a staff that we were only halfway through the exhibition!

So we ploughed on.

Saw the mechanics of some props 

Baby playing with the owl 

and *gasp* Voldemort!

My favourite section of the Harry Potter Studio - Diagon Alley

The Hogwart model built in 2 (or 3?) months

We were visibly relieved that we finally reached the gift shop, a sign that we had come to an end. It was getting late and we had spent about 7.5 hours at the Studio.

'This is so cute! Help me take a picture!'

Guess what happened next?

'Can I have this? This will be the last soft toy I have.'

Don't believe a woman, no matter how young she is, when she says 'this will be my last ...'

Watford Junction Station (National Rail)

We couldn't believe what we read on the train's toilet door:

This train flushes directly onto the track.

Do not flush the toilet when the train has stopped at a station.

Eeks!

A bored Baby and the tired-but-happy Coco

I had forgotten all about my tax refund and souvenir guide. For some strange reason, I woke up at 3am in the morning just to remember them! I am not sure why they came to my mind. It was like I was reminded. I thought about whether I should make the long trip back and I was unsure if I could get the tax refund since I read online that you must get the tax refund receipt on the same day you purchase the merchandis, but eventually I decided that I should so that I wouldn't keep thinking about it for the rest of the trip.

By the time I reached the bus stop at Watford Junction, the bus had stopped serving trips to the Studio. I waited in vain for at least 20 minutes and managed to catch one of the returning buses on the other side of the depot. The driver, Rob, was very nice about it when he knew I had forgotten about my stuff. He offered to take me back without charging me and told me that I could catch his bus back if I could make it back to the Harry Potter Studio bus stop within the next five minutes. I know I may sound really useless but the awful experiences at London within such a short time had me in tears on the bus. I felt so lousily treated I told myself I would never return to London.

I ran back to the Studio and a nice guy at the gift shop assisted me in getting the tax refund receipt without any fuss. He also told me where to get my souvenir guide. 

When I went back to the bus stop, the same driver, Rob, was indeed still there. 

I was grateful to these two guys. I would give them 'The most helpful people in London' award if I could.

Coco was running a temperature the next day. I left her at the hotel with Baby while I went back to the Studio. By the time I returned, this was what greeted my eyes.