The first "incident", if I may call it that, happened before making our way to the airport! Both Phebe and I thought our flight was flying out at almost 10pm so we thought we would have enough time when we got off work at 5pm to do all the things we needed to do and didn't have to go to the airport till 8pm. For some fortunate reason, Phebe checked the flight departure time, and realised that we had mistaken it for 10pm, when it was supposed to depart at 9pm! So my plans of
1) take a shower,
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| Intersection at Oxford & Regent Street |
3) finish packing,
4) eat the rest of my food in the fridge,
5) throw out garbage and compost,
6) vacuum,
all just went out the window....
We made it to the airport, dropped off our luggage, went through security and finally sat down to scarf down our Hainan Chicken and Rice that we brought from outside of the airport. We were famished and it was SOOOOO GOOD! The couple sitting at the next table was eyeing us the whole time and when we were finished our meal they kindly asked where they could buy that.... Sorry! Not available at YVR yet. (quick, someone go and open a Hainan Chicken shop at YVR!!!!)
We got on our flight without any further difficulties, flew nearly 9 hours and arrived in London. We got through immigration pretty quickly, and went to pick up our luggage.
Whenever I have to fly to/from/via Heathrow airport I am always reminded of my past experiences with this airport. It's happened at least twice where I flew out of Heathrow, whether it was after a trip to London or as a transit stop, on my way home, my checked luggage was lost/delayed. Thankfully in the past it was the return trip and that actually saved me having to lug my own luggage around, someone else delivered it straight to my home.
So this time, we waited at the luggage carousel, and my luggage came around, but after everyone on our flight left Phebe's luggage still did not come out. We went to speak to a staff and found out that the luggage never made it onto the plane because there was a problem at YVR with the conveyor belt!
The funny thing is that we dropped our luggage together and it went on the conveyor belt one after the other! *jaw drop*
Phebe was quite disappointed and upset by this, you would think, "oh great! now we can go and shop and buy new stuff at the airline's expense!", but it was distressing for her because she had to think about what she really needed and also make sure she found stuff she liked/used. Also, the staff at the airport and airline were quite vague about what they termed "essential items".
We were also promised by the airport staff that the luggage would arrive in London the next day and delivered to us, we were counting on it because not only does Phebe need her stuff, but I had put my shoes for Philippa's wedding in her suitcase!
Eventually we left the airport and made our way by metro to the centre of London - Oxford Street and Convent Garden area to check-in to our apartment rental. That brings up another memory.... so all the "incidents" didn't start with the flight time mix up. We actually got a message from our Airbnb host 1 week before the departure date, she said she wasn't allowed to rent out her apartment anymore! We were left hanging because it was such short notice, and when we had booked her apartment a few months earlier there were already limited choices - we were already way over our intended budget and located about 20-30mins away from Convent Garden! Would we be able to find something similar?
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| Lots of flower displays all around Convent Garden |
We looked at what was available but nothing on Airbnb made us say yes - usually it's because the location is too far. Then I watched a Youtube video on someone's trip to Iceland and they mentioned Homeaway.com, so I checked there and it just so happened to have a property that was right on Oxford Street (good for Phebe so she can go shopping easily) and it was kind of similar to the price we had paid before. We immediately snapped it up.
So, we arrived at the property and checked-in. No photos of the property but it was quite big, easily could have slept 4-6 people, so we got a room each. Very close to the metro, shopping, grocery store, restaurants.
The first night I went out and wanted to get my brows waxed (didn't have time to get them done before I left Vancouver), but I was late to the appointment by 10mins and they said that they are fully booked - I went around to some other shops and the same, they were all booked up. Just so you know, it's super busy in London and things are always fully booked. Aiya! but at least I kind of got to explore the neighbourhood because I was walking around the streets.
The reason why I was late to the appointment was because we wanted to call my credit card company where I had booked the flights, as you know most credit cards now have some sort of travel insurance coverage if you purchase your flights with the card. My gosh, did we learn a lot about credit card travel insurance this time! So let me talk about it here:
1) I thought I had purchased the tickets on my American Express credit card, so I called them up and told them the situation that it was my travel companion that lost her luggage, is she covered? (they said yes) I have my shoes in the luggage for a wedding, can I buy a pair of shoes and is that covered? (they said yes) -----> but after I came back to Canada and was preparing to file my claim, I went through the receipts and realised that we had refunded the flights on AE card, and used my Visa card instead (as we had got a better deal/coupon code)! AIYA! Check your receipts straight away!
so onto what Visa says about travel insurance coverage *this may not apply to all visa cards, please always check your own credit card's policy*
2) The travel insurance from your credit card may only cover YOU, your spouse and dependent children - please read the terms and conditions (which you probably won't read or if you do read, you won't remember until you need to file a claim! I read the booklets when I got the card initially but that was at least 3 years ago!) I called up Visa after coming back to Canada and told them the situation - they said that since the luggage is my travel companion's it's NOT COVERED under delayed luggage insurance - even if my stuff is in her luggage.
They did include after that that if the ticket doesn't have a name then for whoever it was purchased for - but they insisted that that meant it still had to be you/your spouse or dependent children! What about those of us who are SINGLE???? What if I never get married!?!??!?!
And it just doesn't make sense that they don't cover those who the ticket was purchased for - it has her name!!!!! SNEAKY insurance companies!
Now my cousin and most people are going to buy their tickets separately.... so that their own credit cards can cover them. I hope insurance companies will make a change soon!
I can't remember much now, it's almost a month since the end of our trip, but this came as such a shock to us as it just doesn't make sense, and also we had bought "essential items" thinking that we were covered by AE and also that since the credit card bought two tickets it would cover the two travelers......
3) The airline did agree to cover the expense for essential items due to delayed luggage, but they were much more strict and gave us guidelines like - you can spend up to $125 in the first 24 hours, then you can spend $50 the following 24 hours, up to a maximum of 96 hours..... or something like that. It was quite stressful because we didn't want to spend over the amount and we had to think about what is "essential" - does it mean the same thing to the Airline as it does to us?
4) ok, I'm going to talk about LHR (London Heathrow Airport) - just want to get all my complaints off my chest! They promised to deliver the luggage to us the next day (we arrived June 14, so we should get it June 15). We asked several times, and they said that we would get a call 2 hours before it was delivered. We even cleared our schedule for the day (as we had things planned initially) so that we could be near the apartment in case we get a call. The luggage never came - when we called to find out what happened, they gave us another number to call and passed the ball around....
We also checked the website online and it said the luggage was picked up from the airport already that day, we checked in the evening and waited until midnight, but no calls. Not even a call to say "sorry, we couldn't deliver today as we were too busy" (or whatever other excuse they could make up)....
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| Seven Dials Area |
Ok, so back to our trip. We arrived on June 14, Day 1, I can't remember what we did for dinner.... oh wait, I think we walked around and bought some of our "essentials", then went to Sainsbury's to buy some groceries and next door was a Wasabi store - this shop sells ready to eat sushi, we were tired and hungry, plus after 9pm all the food goes on sale!!!!!
We went back to our apartment, I took a shower, and I think Phebe fell asleep then woke up at 2am and took a shower, but she said that half way through her shower the water went cold - unfortunate incident #3 (which was to repeat itself a few times during our Europe trip). Apparently lots of places in Europe have small hot water boilers for the shower and the one in London has a heating function that is timed for a few hours each evening, and after 8pm it turns off. We didn't know the water would go cold, so she had to finish her shower in cold water. We learned that we could turn on the water boiler manually but we would have to wait an hour for the water to heat up and accumulate.
Day 2: Exploring Oxford Street, Regent Street, Seven Dials and Convent Garden
Next day, we went out to Oxford Street to continue shopping for "essential items" and also general shopping. I did a bit more exploring and walked down Regent Street to a restaurant called Bao - where I was to meet Phebe for lunch. Across from Bao is a place called Veggie Pret, I wonder if it is associated with Pret a Manger? Didn't get to try Pret a Manger this time in London.
middle photo: the bao is in the upper half of the photo
She made her way over to Bao and we ordered different dishes to try. We have restaurants/eateries that also do baos in Vancouver, but this one is famous for their deep-fried horlick ice cream baos - which was the item that caught Phebe's eyes when she found out about the restaurant. Glad she got to try it!I have to say that the portions are quite small, I guess I'm used to the portions in North America, usually you order a set lunch meal and it will fill you up a bit too much. In Europe most meals and dishes are smaller and it's nice because then you can order more things - but it all adds up on the bill!
After lunch I went to get my nails done - and well I have to say contrary to what I read online, the place I chose is not that great..... it's called W-- Nails (email me if you want to know the name of the place). They are quite famous for their nail art (where they do drawings and designs instead of just painting them, they can be quite extravagant), and well their shop looks really hip with graffiti and neon lights, but actually in reality it was quite disappointing. It was also quite messy - not your typical nail salon/spa.
I wanted to get nail art because I thought, since I'm paying for a manicure, I might as well get something fun for this trip. So, I sat down, and the nail artist's table was soooo messy and dirty with remnants of the previous client(s), nail polish swipes on the table, and the tools that they used were not from a new sterilized pouch/packet - they were just sitting in a shot glass with some blue liquid (which I assume is some kind of disinfectant?)
I don't know why I didn't walk out..... just thought I should be polite, but I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone and would definitely never go back. Furthermore, the girl who did my nails was very harsh as she worked on my nails, she nipped my skin a bit and didn't really do the usual manicure steps that I would expect (no soaking the fingers to soften the skin and cuticles, no cream to moisturize the hands etc.) Her drawings on my nails (we decided to do a symbol for each of the places I would visit on this trip - a tea cup for London, Eiffel Tower for Paris, waves for Croatia because it's coastal) were not that great, I liked the Eiffel Tower the best.
And when I went to pay.... omg, they have a basic fee for nails, and then they charge per drawing and per colour used (or something like that!) so my nails came to £60!!! Not worth it at all!!!!! No tip for her!
Then I walked back to the apartment, had dinner, and continued waiting for the luggage.....
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