So yeah, folks! Greg and I are going to UK!
It all started with one girl who has a dream of travelling to the land of fish and chips, shepherd's pie, and Gordon Ramsay. And then she met a boy who has been wanting his whole life to watch his favourite team play at the Theatre of Dreams. Oh hey! Apparently they match! So there began the journey of brave decision that this girl and this boy will visit UK together and fulfil both their lifelong dreams.
*Curtains drawn, audience claps*
Oookay. This is not Broadway! Snap out of it! Okay, seriously, it all just started with us being like, "Hey, I want to go somewhere far!" (this should be understandable since all we did was going to KL and Bintan, for goodness sake.) We've also gone to Bali twice and Hong Kong once, and I've gone to Pasir Ris like, a lot. Like, a lot lot, and that doesn't count as going overseas, although it sure feels like that sometimes, if you ask me.
I wanted to go somewhere where I can't find Nasi Lemak or Chicken Rice, or come across locals bargaining for fake jerseys. I wanted a long plane ride. The whole in-flight meals (and not just peanuts and bottled water). Asking for directions. I wanted a different weather, a different accent, a whole new experience that Greg and I can take all in together. Because we both love travelling. Or scheming, as we call it.
Once we decided "let's do it!", we realized it's not as easy to plan as we both have to fit in the right timing so that we can catch United play. Back then, the schedule for the new season wasn't even out yet, so we couldn't really anything yet. The whole UK scheme just seemed almost unreal, like we were just fantasizing about it.
The other problem once the schedule was out, was to determine how long we were going to stay and which places in UK we were going to go. I initially wanted to go to Dublin, it's been a dream too, especially after the teenage me watched "Once", this Irish movie about the story of two musicians, and of course, those movies I've seen that were shot in Ireland were just breathtaking! But then, I realized, that I needed Ireland Visa to specifically go to Dublin. My Irish friend also told me that it wasn't worth it to just stay in Dublin for 3-4 nights and not being able to see the countryside, which is according to him, is the real Ireland. "Dublin is becoming more and more commercialized like London these days," he said.
So after some contemplating, we decided to swap Dublin with Edinburgh! And we are going to go for 2 weeks, visiting London, Manchester (obviously), Newcastle and Edinburgh! Yay, I'm so excited!
We've booked the flights, hotels for London and Manchester, our travel insurance, and I've submitted my UK Visa application, and took leave from work, so I guess we're all set! There are still many things to plan out, like hotel for Edinburgh and train tickets to get us from one place to another, and of course, our itinerary!
We still have a little more than a month to figure things out but suggestions are welcomed if you have any! I can't wait to go and see people like these...
Whoops!