Author: arlanadya

The last weekend playground of the year spent in a city where the doctor heart has always been longing the most.

Liverpool was set once the annual leave approved and a home hospitality ticket was available for some quite pricey number. Yet, the chance to be able to watch the Reds in Anfield might not come twice, so secured it was better than regret. Alhamdulillah the ability to pay for it was also granted.

We once had been in Liverpool in 2017 but only for day trip doing the stadium tour. It’s beyond imagination that going back here to watch a live match granted two years later. I am not a fan at all, and I didnt watch the match with him too (I am not insane). But, since I knew the doctor from day one, his love for Liverpool is somewhat beyond a mere fan. So, it’s a pleasure to witness something that means so much for him.

We also stopped by Albert Dock, Museum of Liverpool, and the iconic statues of The Beatles for the first day itinerary. The second day agenda was going to The Beatles museum and Liverpool mosque.

The Beatles Story is one of paid museums that worths the pound spent, for us. The audio guide, the interior, the feel, they all make good combinations for an enjoyable visit. Ticket price is £17 for adult and £10. Langit is borderline and most of the time, some kind British staffs don’t count her so we often only pay for two adults.

For such big city, when you type Liverpool Central Mosque in search engine, you will only find one mosque called Al Rahma Mosque. I am not sure whether this one central or not, but the mosque located in a quiet residential area and quite far from city centre. Central mosque in one city is usually identic with halal food around. London, Oxford, Seoul, Tokyo, Bath, all located quite central surrounded by halal food restaurant. But in Liverpool, there is none.

In my opinion, Liverpool is more lively than Manchester. The city centre and the town are more charming. Although compared to London, the people are less friendly. Listening to the doctor’s explanation about Liverpool history, it is understandable that the people smile less than Londoners.

Another thing, I can safely say, the local seems really love their city. A taxi driver asked us where we came from and when he heard the answer that we live in London, he said something about pitying us and he started telling us about how good life in Liverpool is. Instead of annoyed, I found it so heart-warming listening to his story about places and felt the big love and pride he has for his hometown.

He gave us his number, told us to give him a call when we come back and he promised to give us a tour to the places less traveled by tourist in this city.

Then, there could be the third time, maybe?

I dont mind.

Last Saturday was a playground session for mommy. This time, the baby had to follow us to go to Oxford in less than five degree weather.

As the city of learning, Oxford is so lively and exciting. I couldn’t help admiring how they preserve such university buildings since 1231. All clean and seems just like what they were thousand years ago.

Oxford was chosen because few of Harry Potter filming scenes were there, good price for the train ticket, only an hour from London Marylebone. The city also has one of the 2019 best Christmas market in UK and Oxford Central Mosque is available. Many good reasons to make a visit to this city.

I planned to visit three colleges : New College, Christ Church College, and Magdalene, but only managed to visit two : New College and Christ Church. Is it free? Surely not. Budget for college entrance should be prepared when you want to visit this city.

In New College, we only visited the Divinity School, it costed £5 for family ticket. It’s only a small half-empty room which used as hospital wing in Harry Potter movie and several other movies. We had made our way to Magdalene College but, they only opened at 1 pm, so we left and didn’t comeback.

Au contraire, we went back and forth to Christ Church college three times. The first attempt we didnt buy the ticket because the great hall opened at 2 pm. The second time we came back after lunch, there was a very long queue to buy entrance ticket. We chose to leave for Oxford Central Mosque first and came back for the third time and got our ticket. It costed £25 for family ticket. Christ Church is the most popular more because of the potterhead wants to see the staircase where Harry met Draco for the first time and the Great Hall which resembles of Hogwarts Great Dining Hall.

The market is also full of eye candy stuff. As we love food, we bought home a pack of jam and coffee beans from Oxford Coveted Market. Oxford University souvenir shops spread everywhere and each of the store sell different uniques kind of souvenirs. Compared to Bath which feels like a city for older people, Oxford suits the young people like us (lho?) better.

Also, the House of Wonders in the city centre, a shop where you can get Harry Potter things, is also different than the Harry Potter shop in Kings Cross and House of Spells in London.

The only downside was the weather. It was freaking cold. It was such an achievement to survive a whole day 12 hours winter trip in feels-like-two-degree weather, especially for Langit who managed roaming around the city here and there with her little scooter, enjoyed Thai food for lunch, Libanais for dinner, without any whining. I am very proud of my little girl.

A silent pray spelled wish she had a chance to go back to this city for studying one day.

Amin.

We have one destination that we always visit whenever we travel : Market. In Paris, we visited Bastille Market, in Tokyo there is the famous Tsukiji Market. In Seoul, we plan to visit more than one market, but we ended up visiting Gwangjang Market twice! Among all the destinations, in 5 days, Gwangjang Market got the honour to be visited twice😁.

Now we are living in London, it’s the heaven of markets. From touristy markets until local farmers market, we have visited few of them. Some of markets are also tourist destinations. While the markets we visited near our house are more of the local one. These markets have been there since hundred years ago and they still keep running until now.

Some of the famous tourist markets in central London we have visited so far :

1. Borough Market

Located near London Bridge and London bridge station. This one is also famous because of Harry Potter shooting location.

2. Covent Garden

Covent Garden is torn between sophisticated, artsy, and parish. It smells, sounds, and feels like mini Paris when I visited it for the first time. The second time I went with the doctor during his day off, we ended up buying two real leather made in England jacket and coat from one of the sellers whom we really admired his sales skill. We only wanted to look around at first but ended up bought TWO leather jackets. Me, who is rarely tempted buy anyone or anything, finally made my most expensive purchase during three months living here. Regret? Obviously, NO. I got a new nice leather jacket!

3. Shoreditch and Old Spitafield Market

These two located in East London and could be reached within walking distance. Shoreditch is bigger and full of mouth watering street food, vintage and second hand things and also street musician. Old Spitafield is full of cute things that you rarely found in other markets. Like these first pictures below.

I once visited Shoreditch when we came here in 2017 like written in my old post. The second time, almost no picture taken. Beside, Shoreditch on weekend is totally crowded!

4. Greenwich Market

When other three markets above are all in zone 1, Greenwich Market is in Zone 2. Although it’s not that very central, but this one could be included as a tourist market. Greenwich itself is worth yout time visiting it. I have written this before.

I have visited this market twice and it turned out maybe there are different tenants on different day. These pictures below were taken when I visited the market on Wednesday. When the second time I came on Saturday, some tenants were totally different.

5. Portobello Market

This one is also in central London and it sells lots of antiques. It is located near the famous Notting Hill. Among the five, this one is my least favorite.

Some of tourist markets are still on the to-be-visited list when we have some time to be tourists again later. This December is about Christmas Market and so far we have only visited one in Hyde Park. Looking forward to visit the other markets when the school holiday is here!

Sabtu lalu, sesi playground gratisan ditiadakan. Kenapa?

Karena :

1. Weekend perdana dibukanya Winter Wonderland di Hyde Park.

2. Udah gajian (🤭).

Alesan pertama ngga ada artinya kalo ngga ada yang kedua karena Winter Wonderland ini cukup mahal (buat saya), seperti halnya museum-museum berbayar di kota ini.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland buka setiap hari jam 10.00-20.00 dari tanggal 21 November 2019 – 5 Januari 2020. Tutup di hari Natal. Masuk ke Winter Wonderland ini gratis. Jadi kalo cuma mau liat christmas market dan keliling tanpa beli dan naik atraksi apa-apa, bisa ngga keluar uang. Ada beberapa atraksi berbayar seperti ice skating, sirkus, Paddington on Ice, dan lain-lain. Wahana permainannya pun cukup banyak dan semua berbayar. Sistemnya adalah kita beli token di loket khusus baru bisa digunakan di wahana tujuan.

Tujuan utama dateng kesini adalah mau coba ice skating. Saya ngga pengen-pengen banget sebenernya. Selain ngga bisa, dingin, trus ya lumayan harganya.

Satu sesi ice skating adalah 50 menit. Sebaiknya booking tiket dulu via website. Satu tiket dewasa harganya £14.50 dan anak £9.50, kalo booking slot di jam standar. Jam standar artinya yang ngga terlalu ramai. Kalo weekend ada di slot jam 10-12. Hari biasa juga dihitung waktu standar. Slot peak bedanya hanya 1 pound dengan yang standar.

Tadinya kita pengen dateng malem karena pasti lebih bagus dengan lampu-lampu dan hiasannya. Tapi dengan pertimbangan baru pertama kali, akhirnya kita pilih slot pertama jam 10. Udah dateng dari jam 9.30 dan antriannya udah lumayan. Jam 9.45 gerbang di buka dan sebelum masuk semua tas diperiksa.

Buat ke Ice rink bisa masuk dari gate 5. Saya lupa biru atau ungu ya warnanya. Masuk ke ice rink dan langsung ada backdrop foto berikut fotografer dan mesin fotonya. Pasti difoto, diambil atau ngga terserah kita. Kemudian lanjut ke ruang penyimpanan sepatu dan tas. Tidak diperbolehkan bawa tas apapun. Handphone boleh di kantong. Jadi semua disimpan di loker. Enaknya di eropa, ukuran kaki saya yang ngga lazim pasti ada. Setelah simpen tas yang kalo ngga salah bayar juga mungkin 1-2 pound (karena liat ada kasirnya), sepatu kita dituker dengan sepatu ice skating. Pinjem sepatu sudah termasuk di tiket.

Buat anak seumur Langit dan lebih kecil, mereka tetap menggunakan sepatu biasa lalu dilapisi dengan sepatu besi khusus buat skating. Jadi, kalo main ice skating sebaiknya pakai boot yang plastik. Kalo kata Langit “muddy boot” kaya Peppa Pig.

Setelah ganti sepatu bisa langsung menuju area ice skatingnya. Untuk anak-anak disediakan pinguin doll buat membantu mereka jalan di es. Jadi bisa sendiri. Banyak juga anak-anak yang lebih kecil dari Langit main. Sekecil yang sepertinya bener-bener baru belajar jalan.

Satu yang saya kagum dengan orang-orang eropa ini, anak-anaknya kecilnya agile banget. Awal-awal sampe suka bengong liat anak yg ukuran badannya setengah Langit tapi kemampuan naik skuternya tiga kali dia. Luwes banget dan kaya bener-bener tau mengendalikan skuternya. Saya kadang-kadang ngeri sendiri tapi orangtuanya pun keliatan biasa aja. Di playground pun gitu. Anak-anak umur 1,5 taun manjat sana sini pun terlihat fit banget. Ngga heran sih mereka soal fisik dan mental jauh dari kita. Dari kecil udah disediakan fasilitas dan terbiasa sama aktivitas fisik seperti ini dalam cuaca apapun.

Balik lagi ke sesi ice skating. Seperti yang sudah diperkirakan, Langit keliatan hepi, Pak Dokter juga jelas karena ya dia yang paling pengen, saya ngga bilang ngga enak, tapi menikmati banget juga ngga. Saya menghabiskan waktu dengan mengelilingi ice rink pegangan di pinggiran sambil berusaha jangan sampai jatuh. Sesekali ikutan pegangan di penguin Langit karena ternyata enak banget. Langit juga pas tingginya buat penguin itu, meskipun beberapa kali tetep jatuh.

Satu yang ngga boleh adalah foto di es. Ngga boleh sama sekali keluarin hape dan foto waktu di es. Kalo mau foto kita keluar dulu dari ring, trus yang foto berdiri di luar. Saya dan Pak Dokter sempet kena tegur sebagai orang norak yang baru pertama kali main skating outdoor denga dekorasi bagus😣.

Di arena ice rinknya ada selfie spot dimana kita bisa foto kaya foto box. Kita foto juga disitu. Di slot yang kita pilih cukup enak karena ngga terlalu rame, jadi yang amatir kaya saya gini ngga terlalu khawatir. Saya benar-benar menghabiskan waktu dengan pegangan di pinggiran box. Pernah beberapa kali pegangan tangan sama Pak Dokter yang sedikit lebih jago, yang ada malah hampir jatoh. Di film sih keliatan romantis ya. Padahal mah kalo jatoh yang ada keliatan konyol.

Setelah selesai ice skating, kita ke ruangan ganti lagi dan kembalikan sepatu juga ambil tas. Di ruang ganti selesai ini juga ada kasir buat ambil foto. Kami ambil tiga foto dan bayar £25. Keluar dari ice rink, kita keliling buat liat atraksi lainnya. Langit sempat naik beberapa wahana kaya komidi putar anak-anak, bom-bom car sama satu lagi kaya apa ya. Muter-muter juga cuma agak ekstrim. Cuma tiga aja karena satu wahana lumayan juga harganya. Sesi Winter Wonderland ini ditutup dengan beli lolipop warna-warni.

Kalo ditanya, sebanding ngga sama harganya? Kalo buat yang pertama kali, belum pernah ke winter wonderland dan budgetnya ada, boleh lah. Apalagi kalo cuacanya cerah. Waktu itu kita malah sempet hujan-hujan main ice skating. Anak-anak sih pasti suka ya. Orangtuanya tinggal bayarnya aja sama harus berhadapan sama sakit badan dan kaki setelahnya. Pegelnya ampun.

Jadii, kalo pas ke London akhir taun sama anak ataupun ngga, Winter Wonderland bisa dimasukan sebagai salah satu itinerari.

Satu highlight di hari itu : banyak sekali yang bilang kostumnya Langit lucu banget. Dimana orang-orang pake jaket bulu angsa penahan dingin lengkap, dia pake daster winter beli di Myeongdong karena mamanya pengen dia pake itu yang mana agak susah occassionnya. Maaf ya be.

This Saturday we went to the west for another adventure playground. Holland Adventure Playground is like a mini Battersea Park and Playground.

The weather was cold but the park was still quite crowded. Inside the Holland Park, there is the well-known mini Kyoto Garden.

It was just like our another Saturday playground session until something catched my eyes. I couldn’t think for few seconds when my eyes starred at one of the kids. She starred back. Then from behind, another kid came running and climbing the slide. I was indeed astonished.

They were really here?

In this small playground in the forest?

Playing just like any other kids?.

Suddenly the girl shouted, “Mama, look!”

I turned my head and couldn’t believe my eyes even more.

A mid 30s woman, with coat, jeans, a hat and a pair of long boots came to the girl. At first, she seemed just like any other mother in the playground until I saw her closely.

She was there. The media-around-the-world darling. The future queen.

She looked as ordinary as any other women in the playground.

It was unbelievable to see the most famous people in this country so up close and personal like this. In a small playground, playing like any other kids, queuing with my own daughter waiting for their turn, climbing, running here and there.

Didn’t I take picture? I did. But, the guard noticed and told me not to take it. Since then, the guard kept his eye on me everywhere😁

But, other people were as casual as they were no one. No one came close and asked for picture, it was totally like no one worth-asked-the-picture-taken there.

The kids wore such simple clothes like any other kids. Unless you know their face from the paper or screen and being pretty close to them, you won’t recognize them right away.

It was nice to see the real royals who acted just like the real ordinary people, meanwhile out there, there’s a lot of ordinary people who try so hard to act like a royal.

I never imagine deciding which playground to visit is important until today😁.

Today’s playground visit was indeed one of the most exciting that we had!

Didn’t I really take the picture at all?

I did of course secretly. They were safely kept for my future memories and for few more years later to be shown to Langit that she once was playing on the same playground with the royals of England!

Stonehenge had been on the bucket list for quite long time. I know it’s just stones, but reading a lot of stories about them made me really want to see them and most of the picture with them are so breathtaking. I was trying to fit this one during our 2017 trip. But, as that year trip wasn’t mine but more for others, so this one wasn’t included.

Stonehenge could be reached by train from London to Salisbury. From Salisbury, you’ll need to take Stonehenge Bus Tour to the Stonehenge Visitor Centre. Stonehenge Bus Tour runs every an hour and it costs 16 pounds per adult (insanely pricey, yeah). After arrived at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre, there’s shuttle bus to take us to the yard.

I was quite taken aback at the first sight, because, is it this all? Really? But, you must see them from different kind of angle. They look mightier when we see them from the other side of the circle. Maybe lots of tourists also made the view less appealing. There were neolitikum houses too which considered as the house of the builders.

Done with Stonehenge, we went to Bath by train. It took an hour from Salisbury to Bath. We stayed overnight at Bath and explored the city the next day. I had one specific purpose to visit in Bath, which was Jane Austen Centre. As Mr Darcy’s fan, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Semsibility, Mansfield Park, and Emma reader, Jane Austen Centre is a must. The ticket is £10 if you buy online, £12 if you pay at the centre. Is it worth the visit? If you are Jane Austen team, it is. The eloquent guide explained little details about the writer passionately.

Done with the centre, we were strolling around the city. We visited Sally Lunn, the oldest house in Bath from 1400 which sold the famous bun in Bath. The bun was really good.

We didn’t manage to visit some places as planned since the mood was quite ruined because of first paycheck drama. As usual, strangely, there’s no single thing run just smoothly about us. For the same simple thing, when others just have it gently and smoothly, we need to dig, sweat, chase, and spend some unnecessary energy until we make it.

In spite of the bad mood, I enjoyed the city and hoped to see it more.