That is like sooooo harassment!! / UK Revisited

Oiiii!!!
Annoyed!!

I was trying to sleep this morning when this really annoying woman just kept ringing on my mob. I refused to answer it because I needed my sleep. It was my day off and I had every right to make the most of it. Ok, let me just rewind for you a lil bit. A couple months ago, I was making my way to the cinema when a group of street interviewers approached me. I should have said ‘no’ but being a nice person that I was (still am), I indulged them with my willingness to answer their questions. It wasn’t much of an interview really, for they gave me this lil piece of paper, on which they told me to put my particulars. Once finished, they said I might win a free vacation to Phuket or wherever I couldn’t really remember. Then I’d completely forgotten about all of this until this bloody woman called me yesterday telling me to go pick up the voucher. Sounded good eh? Well, not when she eventually revealed that I needed to attend the 2-hour presentation before I could collect the free coupon.

I could just smell SCAM all over it!

Besides I didn’t really care anyway. So I told her no, I wouldn’t be able to go and attend the meeting. I had something better to do. Ok, that was taken care of, I thought…

But then this morning she must have called me more than 10 times. I never once picked up and she just didn’t take the hint! Urghhhh, I hate telemarketing, give it a rest, will ya!? “No” is exactly that, N-O, what part of it don't you understand!?


UK Revisted

Anyway, let’s talk about something pleasant now. Though it’s been over seven months now since I came back from my significant other’s motherland, hardly a day goes by without me reminiscing about it. Call me traitor or unpatriotic, I’m utterly smitten with this little isle!

Its people, its diverse dialects and accents, its unique humour, its arts, its language, its music, its literature…please stop me here!

So yeah you got the message.

My trip to the UK was initially just an idea my other half and I were toying with. I’d never thought it would actually come true. When the plan began to take shape and an appropriate sum of money saved, I booked the flight. You know I wasn’t excited or anything to book it seven months in advance. Anyhow, it gave me a sense of assurance to have the ticket resting warmly in my sweaty palms. The next step now would be the dreadful visa application.

As Thai citizens, we’re blessed with the privilege to have to apply for a visa in order to set our feet in most countries. England is, of course, no exception. Why would it be? Fortunately, I was then still a student so visa applying shouldn’t be much of a kerfuffle. If I remember correctly, I went to apply for the visa during my final exams of my last year of university. Honestly, I was worried more about the visa than graduating. We (boyfriend and myself) made sure I had all the documents they would ever require. I arrived at the embassy at around five in the morning and saw quite a few people were already queuing. Well, I’ll skip the waiting bit and fast forward to the moment I was being interrogated by the interviewer. She asked me if the person I was going to visit was my boyfriend. I was like yeah and she was like come on there was no need to hide. I thought well how would I know you weren’t some kind of homophobic sod. What if I told her right off the bat and she rejected my application? It’d always better to be on a safe side, no?

So finally, I got granted the visa. Everything was set. I was counting down the days to my departure day which never seemed to come quickly enough. But then again life’s all about waiting, isn’t it?

The most fun aspect of travelling, to me, is the process of getting there. I love the airport atmosphere, love the feeling of leaving my country (traitor!!), love the anticipation. The plane ride has got to be the most exciting and, at the same time, boring bit. It’s almost like a community, a small, temporary version of a family where everyone lives together, eats together, sleeps together, shares loos togther, sleep next to each other and pray we get to our destinations intact.

I can go on and on forever about how much fun I had on this trip but in order to keep some of the readers interested, I won’t do that…just yet. So instead of wittering on about it, I’ll just make a list of things I most enjoyed while I was in the UK (in no particular order)…


1. Bullring – Birmingham: Love it, love it. Loads of cool shopping places. Modern yet traditionally English. I love the church being just in the background of it all. It’s a must see destination in its own right! I remember dragging my suitcase through that area when we came back from London, or was it Paris?, at night (the bloody bus was soooo overheated I could have died of suffocation). It was just beautiful. Stark contrast to what it was during the day. Very serene and quiet, the bull’s still there, the church’s still there, BUT the people’s gone, wikkid!

2. London: Love everything about it. Who doesn't!? Except for 2 things though. One being it is overcrowded with tourists, another one being how cruelly expensive it is to live. I love the streets filled with shops and stores. I was like an excited lil kid amidst toy shops! Not to mention all the tourist attractions, all live up to their reputations. Famous red double-deckers were passing by, it was just oh-so-English.



3. Billy Elliot The Musical: My first real taste of theatre experience in England! Haha yah, got a bit cultured eh. Though I didn’t go to one of those classics like Cats, Chicago, The Lion King, or recently-made-into-film Phantom of the Opera, I was perfectly satiated with Billy Elliot the Musical. we were willing to pay £50 (3,500ish baht) to get the best seats in the house. The show was very inspiring and the cast was superb, especially Billy himself! I was well impressed.


4. Chinese food: Ok, as pathetic as it may sound but honestly Chinese food tastes extra delicious when you’re in a Thai food-deprived country (Chinese chow in Paris was equally delicious! My boyfriend had a go at me for always wanting to have Chinese food when we were in Paris. Well, I didn’t want to have cheap, greasy pizza or le sandwhich smothered in le thick fromage every meal, it’s unhealthy!!).

5. Theme parks: Thorpe Park, Drayton Manor, they’re all fantastic. I can only wish people at our sad Dreamworld could at least step up and add something mad and exciting to the park. Seriously, we’ve long got a bit fed-up with your Hurricane! It's stale!

6. PoundLand shop: You gotta love PoundLand. Everything in this shop costs £1, ranging from questionable-looking shampoo to garden tools. Funtastic!

This is just the prologue of a long saga (ain't saga long anyways?) so hang in there. Again, this is me reminiscing about the UK (note that I use the term to mean England alone) so it’s going to be this English this, this English that. If it’s getting too much for your stomach, you can always leave.

Traitor!!

Until then, tra!