:: UK Day 1(Part 2) ::

We drove to Stratford after the short tour of London. We had some free time before lunch, so the five of us wandered around the park. There were so many swans, ducks and fat (really fat) pigeons all freely waddling around the park.

First, we walked round the park, taking pictures of ducks, swans and cygnets (baby swans). We saw some people feeding the birds, so we too bought some swan food; two packets, and each of us paid 20 pence. Although the label said ‘swan’ food, the ducks and pigeons were more than happy to help the swans eat the food. The two packets were used up fast.

While feeding the swans from the bridge, we saw the four boys from our UK group rowing a boat, so we rented a rowboat as well. The 5 of us paid 3 pounds each to ride on it for an hour. Unfortunately, we only had half an hour since we had to be back at a certain time.

Grace and Nicole sat at the back and took pictures, Rachelle and I managed an oar each, sitting in the middle while Lavinia handled two oars at the back. While rowing the boat (without ANY prior experience), we hit the bank twice and one of the pillars of the bridge; we had to push off with our hands. There were also designated ways to go under the bridge (indicated by arrows), but we couldn’t manoeuvre the boat through the correct way. Luckily, no one saw us…Or so we thought. People were watching us from the bridge; laughing to themselves or trying to tell us what to do. I guessed we looked quite comical.

It was difficult steering the boat in the right direction because we had to coordinate the movements of the three of us who were managing the four oars. We rowed back to the dock when the time was nearing, and we saw the boys’ boat in the distance. We docked first, and started to dash back to the meeting place. We had only 5 minutes left. The boys had some trouble rowing back and almost hit a boat at the dock, and one of them had to do it single-handedly (he probably had experience as he did it quite easily). An old man stopped Nicole on the way back, so I waited for her. He seemed to have talked about swans and boats. (?) We got back just in time.

We went to a restaurant called ‘Beefeater’. Since many people could not eat beef, we had chicken and fries for lunch. I ate some chicken, but it was a bit tasteless and tough, so I ate it with lots of salad leaves. I quite enjoyed eating the salad leaves, which I never ate back in Singapore. Nicole and I sat with the two teachers because there wasn’t enough space at the other table with Rachelle, Grace and Lavinia.

It was a pretty long drive, but we reached the Travelodge at about 9+ at night. We unloaded the luggage and walked inside the Travelodge. It was not very big, and the Travelodge itself was quite secluded.

Ms Koh was so kind; instead of Nicole, Rachelle, Lavinia, Grace and me in one 4-person room, we were given two rooms. So Nicole, Rachelle and I shared one room (108, I remember) while Grace and Lavinia shared the other.

The room had a TV (the only place we stayed in that had one), but it was spoilt…So we couldn’t watch it. The view at the window was of the main road, so we could hear cars driving; and pretty purple flowers at the grass right outside the window. It was already after 9pm, but the sky was still as bright as noon. Only at about after 10pm did the sky grow dark. As for the sleeping arrangements, Rachelle slept on the pull-out bed from the sofa, while Nicole and I shared the double bed.

Part 2 of my first day. There were no pics for this part because I was too lazy to take any. ^^"

+ Anita updated @ 7:18 pm

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