AdventureNotes #3: London

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

Baiklaaah.. Setelah cuti nulis (ciee) beberapa lama, saya maleees nulis dg bahasa Inggris. Hehe. Jadi, maaf2keun kalo notes kali ini berantakan yaa.. 🙂

London is a city that I like. Kalo liat London, mungkin sedikit2 inget Jakarta walaupun banyakan ga mirip nya siih tp yaa dibandingin Hull, masih lebih mirip lah. Hehe… Karena London adalah ibu kota dan pusat ekonomi juga, jadi London itu suasananya sibuk, it seems like everyone is on the go. Buat aku yang suka dengan ke-hectic-an dan kesibukan, menyenangkan banget sih jalan2 di London. Kenapa notes kali ini tentang London? Yaa.. karena setelah York, London adalah kota kedua diluar Hull yang aku datengin di UK.

Pertama kali visit London, saya pergi dg housemate saya. Pas banget waktunya lagi Christmas holiday. Tentunya di waktu winter dan suasananya Christmas banget. Yang harus diwaspadai ketika liburan di musim Christmas seperti saya adalah melangitnya harga2, mulai dari kereta dan akomodasi. Tips-nya, booking semua di awal. Bulan Oktober kalo bisa udah booking semuanya supaya dapat best deal. Untuk transportasi, selain kereta kita juga bisa naik bus dari Hull. Hanya saja perjalanannya 5 jam. Tergantung lagi, apakah beda harganya signifikan. Plus, kalau punya tiket kereta, kita bisa masuk ke certain attractions dan makan di certain resto with 2 for 1 price. Promo ini sangat2 menarik karena yaa sama aja dapet diskon 50%. Syaratnya, ke London harus bersama teman2 dan berjumlah genap. Hee. Lalu, untuk akomodasi ada banyak pilihan. Ada wisma KBRI yang katanya sangat terjangkau (saya sih belum pernah nih jangankan ke wisma KBRI, ke KBRI nya aja blm pernah, heheheh), ada juga hostel yang terjangkau. Sarannya sih, kalau bisa pergilah ke London bersama teman2 yang banyak karena bisa ngirit ongkos akomodasi.

Lanjut, what did I do? Pertama kali ke London, 4 hari dan betul2 niat. Semua itinerary nya dibuat dg oke. Beli2 tiket masuk attraction dari internet karena biasanya lebih murah. Ada juga deal2 tertentu yang memungkinkan kita masuk ke beberapa attraction dengan harga combined. Kalo nggak salah, pertama kali ke London, aku pergi ke Madame Tussaud, Sherlock Holmes Museum, nonton Wicked, ke British Museum, Portobello Market, Harry Potter Studio, Oxford Street, Parliament House, liat changing guards di Buckingham Palace, naik London Eye, dan ke Hyde Park. Yah, kira2 begitulah yaa.. Menurut saya sih semua attraction nya menarik dan recommended kecuali Sherlock Holmes Museum yang ngantri nya panjang banget dan cukup mahal tapi tidak sesuai dengan ekspektasi.

Untuk aku, it’s a must-nya London ada beberapa. Kalo nggak ke tempat2 itu yaa rugi lah (menurutku yaa..). Pertama, nonton musical di London. Teater tempat musical2 ini ada di daerah West End biasanya. And I love West End area. Nggak tau kenapa tapi rasanya festive aja. Hehe. I also love strolling around in South Bank. Again, lebih karena alasan environment. Entah kenapa suka aja atmosphere disana. Lalu, ke Harry Potter Studi. Dimana lagi bisa ke Harry Potter Studio? Agak mahal tiketnya tapi for someone who grew up with Harry Potter like me, sungguh2 nggak nyesel.

Menurut aku sih, pertama kali ke London itu harus dipuas2in. Bener2 harus mengunjungi apa yang ingin dikunjungi. Karena kita bisa jadi turis benerannya hanya pas pertama kali ke London. Kesempatan berikutnya ke London… well, pastinya karena udah pernah jadi kurang exciting walaupun kalo buat aku sih, pengen balik2 terus ke London. The city has a charm.

What can you do besides the normal touristy activities? Coba buka website nya visit London dan cari2 event apa yang sedang berlangsung. Menyenangkan sih, dateng ke event2 yang diselenggarain di London karena pasti niat. Saya pribadi sih pernah dateng ke Winter Wonderland yang recommended banget, HARUS dikunjungi klo lagi ke London saat winter dan ke Canada Day. Menarik! Coba juga jalan2 ke taman yang ada di London, dateng ke pasar2 yang banyak banget juga di London. Atau, kalo yang mau ngeceng silahkan beredar di jalanan kota London pas jam orang bubaran kantor. Lots of cute guys with suit. Hehehe…

That’s about it. I didn’t give anymore details about the website, etc but you can ask me anytime. If you wanna go to London, I’ll be happy to make an itinerary for you. Hehehe.. Okay then, London is a city with charm which makes me want to go there again and again.

Oct 18, 2013

AdventureNotes #2: York

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

So, this is my second notes about my adventure while I was studying in the UK. Why York? Well, there are two reasons for that. First, my trip to York is the first out of city trip that I did after I came to UK. Second of all, because I love York. Seriously, York is my most favorite city in the UK. I don’t know why and you may not agree, but the city is very gorgeous.

The reason I went to York is because my housemate asked me to join her and her friends to go. She actually wanted to shop – because there’s this big outlet in York. I agreed to come not because I wanted to shop but because I just got nothing to do at that time. LOL. Good way to spend money, Zaa.

York is not too far from Hull, only around an hour by train. As usual, I had to book my train ticket early so I could get better deal. However, I made a mistake. I misinterpreted my friend’s request and I bought too many train tickets. What should I do? Thank God I bought the open ticket or all day ticket which means that I can travel anytime during that day. It costs a little bit more expensive than the advanced ticket; so I can returned the extra tickets. It took a long time until my money was refunded into my bank account but yeah, at least I got my money back.

I did quite a lot of things when I went to York. I didn’t go to the outlet the first time I visited York but I went there later on. As my favorite city, I went to York several of times. I just love it there. Places that I’ve visited in York are the museums (Castle Museum, another museum that I cannot remember the name, and Railway Museum), the tower (which again, I cannot remember the name), the Shambles (which is a cute old street), the Minster, and the parks. As I went there for the first time during the Christmas period, there was also a Christmas market. I loved the ambiance of the market, especially during the night. I also tasted the famous English afternoon tea (which was very expensive and… well, not as I imagined).

As a short visit destination, York offers quite a lot of attractions. I really like York with all its attractions. There are more museums than what I mentioned above and more interesting places a little bit outside of it such as Castle Howard. I regret I haven’t had a chance to visit Castle Howard because people said that it is gorgeous.

Now, for the tips. If you want to go to York, there are many options of transportation. You can go by train, bus, or coach. It’s only an hour by train but the fare is slightly more expensive. Great deal on Megabus sometimes so you can travel by coach for one pound only. Bus may be a good choice if you want to get to know Yorkshire area better. Visiting York can be expensive. The museums are not free. It is quite expensive, honestly. So, get promotion deals and buy the one year tickets. Plus, always ask for student price. I think, shopping in York is fun. I like to go to the outlet and find good stuffs in cheap price. The price in the outlet is already cheap, but if you go during the sale time, it gets cheaper and cheaper.

I definitely recommend people to go to York. It is such a beautiful place with interesting attractions to visit.

 Oct 09, 2013

AdventureNotes #1: Introduction

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

I feel like I write things based on request. LOL. Please anyone motivate me to write something more challenging. Well, it’s not that writing this type of text not fun, but I think I need to write more serious stuffs. Well, anyway… It’s been more than a year since I came to UK and study AND travel. The last part may not be the focus but it’s definitely the most memorable (I think).

In my opinion, travelling is a must! When you’re half way around the world from your home country, do travel. You’ll gain so much experience and learn so many things. You’ll see the world you’ve never seen before and you’ll be more knowledgeable.

I am quite independent and therefore I am not scared traveling alone (is there any relation, anyway?). But I believe that as long as I can speak and I have brain, I will be okay. As a part time traveler, I used to plan my travel during holidays or weekends, depend on the place I want to go to. I also have to save my money so that I can spend it during my trips. Traveling is not cheap so you need to prepare financially. Try to find promotions or cheap trips from the university so you don’t have to spend as much money.

In this modern world, traveling is not too difficult as it was before. Even if you have to travel alone, you can plan your trip before hand, book your transportation and accommodation online, etc. You can also always try to look for people you know, who may be able to help you during your trip or kindly let you stay in their place.

Traveling inside the UK is very very easy. As long as you plan your trip far before the date, you can get cheap prices. As people in UK also speak English, language won’t be a problem. There are also loads of information about touristy places and you won’t get lost – well, you can get lost but you’ll always find someone to help you.

Unfortunately, traveling outside the UK is quite difficult for Indonesian citizen. To travel in European countries, you need to apply for schengen visa. The procedure may not be too difficult but there are many requirements and documents that you need to prepare. You also have to have quite a lot of money in your bank account. The cost for schengen visa, per July 2013 is around GBP 100. Therefore you need to prepare if you want to go to other European countries.

An easier way to travel if you want to go somewhere outside UK without any visas is going to countries with on arrival visa. For Indonesian citizens, this means Turkey and Morocco. Those two countries are not too far from Europe (yeah of course because Turkey is partly Europe) and you don’t need to apply for visa before hand. You can just buy your airline tickets and go! As they are a bit far (Turkey is half Asia and Morocco is in Africa), the airfare can be quite expensive. So, again, prepare your money.

I don’t have a lot of money but I try to save money as much as possible for travel. I think it is worth it. So, while you’re in the UK as a student please do travel! 🙂

 Oct 08, 2013