About a girl... in London
Exactly 6 months ago, the 15th of February, Yute was in London. She went there with a group from Indonesia to be part of various conferences and talks. London is very close to The Netherlands so I told her that I'm planning to go there for a weekend. That way I can see her and support her with her activities as well. She was quite surprised and happy to hear that I would do something like that for her. I had to think about the fun time we had in Bandung and London seems like an interesting destination for us to meet.
Representing Indonesia in London
Friday 15th - Amsterdam to London
It was Friday, the last working day of the week and time seemed to go so slow. I was looking forward to go to Amsterdam and take the plane to London where I would see Yute again. For days I had planned a sightseeing route through London and could not wait to discover it with her. I was texting and mailing her how she's doing in London and about my arrival time at Heathrow. Time couldn't go fast enough for me.
After a loooooonng day at work it was time to catch my flight. I immediatly went on my way to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. It's an hour and a half long drive and my mind was already in London. I have been in there before but that was with a schooltrip, this time it's for a girl.
Taking my very cheap camera to an adventure in London
Finally I arrived at the airport, checked in and waited for the time to fly. I noticed that I had much more luggage with me than the other travellers because of my camera equipment. Luckily the guys at the customs didn't make too much of hassle about it and let me through.
It was time to board the plane. I took my luggage and went to my seat. Next to me there was a guy reading a book. I couldn't do anything but look out the window and think about the upcoming weekend. The flight would take off any minute and I decided to kill time by listening to music.
Arriving in London at 21:30 o'clock
After a while there was an announcement that we would be landing soon. I have been in quite some flights before so I wasn't scared of flying but I had never been so exited to land to my destination as that moment. The plane landed safely and I stepped out into the place famous for their fish and chips; London, England.
"Banyak Bule di London dong!"
As soon as I left the gate I was looking around to see if Yute was there already but I couldn't spot her. There was a small coffee shop at Heathrow Airport and I decided to get myself a nice hot chocolate milk. It was cold so any hot drink was very welcome.
I took the drink and wanted to sit at a table but suddenly my cup slipped from my hands and poured hot chocolate milk all over me. Apparently the lid wasn't closed properly and that caused the slip. I couldn't believe that just happened, Yute could arrive anytime and I thought this is not really a nice way to show myself to her. I cleaned up myself but there were still chocolate milk stains everywhere.
Rendezvous
As I was cleaning myself, Yute appeared and she came walking towards me. We greeted and she noticed the milk but it didn't bother her so much. I was a bit relieved when she said that. We didn't talk a lot at the airport because it was getting late. So we went to the hotel and Yute would show me the way. Suddenly she became a London tourguide.
The East, the West and the sunlight
We took the metro which would stop nearby the hotel. From the subway station it was just a couple minutes walking. We arrived at the hotel, checked in and went upstairs. She also has a room a couple of floors higher, sharing it with a couple of people who would also attend various conferences.
We went to my room and we checked out how it looked like. The first thing I noticed is that there were two tv's and one remote. This was really confusing because if you turn on one tv, the other one would go on as well. So you had to watch two channels at the same time. It didn't work so well so I turned it off to talk a bit with Yute. That's who I came for in the first place.
The Planning & The Teddy Bear
She arrived in London the day before and told me all about it. Besides that she also let me know about the things she has to do the upcoming days. There would be a conference the next day (Saturday) but the day after she would have a bit of free time to walk through London for a bit. I told her about my planning and that I had a route planned out so maybe we could try that out.
I brought a couple of presents from The Netherlands for her. I had tulips seeds, a 'delfs blauw' windmill and something custom made from myself; a teddybear wearing a shirt with my photo on it. I knew it would be her birthday soon so that bear was an early birthday present. I gave it to her and congratulated her there because I wouldn't be in Indonesia for her real birthday.
The teddybear is safely in Bandung
We were talking a lot and I started to notice that she became a bit sleepy. I told her it's better for her to get some sleep because there were many thing to do the day after. She was on her way to her room but before she left she told me that she has to go to the conference at 9AM so I suggested to have breakfast around a half an hour before.
Saturday 16th - Conference Business
It was 8:30 in the morning and I heard someone knocking on my door. I opened it to see Yute standing there asking me if I'm ready to have some breakfast. I just had to get my camera, gloves, hat and I was set. As we were having breakfast we talked about the conference.
It would be like a simulation of a real conference. There would be people from all over the world who represent a certain country, Yute would represent Rwanda, and they would talk to each other about various subject, which were: nuclear energy and drones.
The Rwanda representative and her supporter
It was 8:45 and we were headed to the conference building. It was only 5 minutes walking so we could take our time. Once we were there, everyone had to go to their conference room. There were a lot of people and conferences so we had to check where Yute was supposed to go. She was heading to a room and I followed her into it.
As we entered there was someone who was yelling out names and helping people to sit on their place. The places were in order of the countries' name. The people representing countries with an 'A' would sit in front and 'Z's would be more in the middle.
I sat myself at the back of the room and observed as the conference was starting.
A room filled with suits
As I was sitting there in the back, I came up with a little game called; 'spot the Dutch person'. Dutch people have a funny English accent so when they talk, I'll recognize it pretty fast.
As the conference was going on I noticed that Yute wasn't really saying much. I figured it's because she represents Rwanda and there's not much going on regarding nuclear energy or drones in that country. A subject like human rights would serve her better.
A discussion among suits
There was a short break and she came up to me. She actually told me the same thing what I was thinking; Rwanda doesn't get involved in nuclear subjects. It was a shame but I enjoyed the conference. I studied peoples' body language and the way they present themselves. It differs very much.
The morning and afternoon went pretty much like that. Conferences and breaks along the way.
Evening Meal
In the evening we went to the hotel again. Yute was quite tired and surely hungry so she went to get some rest while I talked to the guy standing at the counter. I asked them if there's some place nearby to get something halal to eat. That's when he pulled out a pizzeria menu and told me that they could order pizza and eat it in our room. That sounded good to me so I ordered a pizza, chicken wings and a Haagen Dasz icecream. They informed me it was possible to pay via pin.
I went upstairs and waited for the food to arrive. I talked with Yute about her conference day and told her that I guessed which person there was Dutch. She told me that the guy I mentioned was actually from Belguim where they also speak Dutch. I had a small victory for myself going on. I was also practicing a bit of Bahasa Indonesia with her. It's a good thing that I had a couple of language programs on my phone which surely would come handy when I go to Indonesia again.
England's world famous fish and chips
Not much later a different counter guy knocked on my door with the food. He said I had to pay in cash. I was a bit confused because the other guy told me I could pin. To avoid some weird situations I told him I would pin at a local ATM and get the cash for the pizza. He told me direction to the ATM and I ran over there. It was kinda weird because people were looking at me like; "Why is that guy jogging so late in the evening?". Anyway I got the cash, went back to pay for the food and finally could eat some tasty pizza.
After having the meal Yute went to her room. We planned to meet up around breakfast time the next day again.
Sunday 17th - London Exploration
On this day she would have free time to roam around in London and get some taste of English cuisine. After our breakfast we went exploration mode through London and took a lot of pictures.
Next stop...
The Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens was just a few minutes away from us so that's where we were heading first. It's quite a big park and there's lots of people there on a sunny day. There are lots of people jogging, playing with their dogs, picknicking, biking or just walking around like us.
Yute noticed that the trees at the park didn't have any leaves. I never payed attention to it because I'm used to seeing them like that. Then it occured to me that trees never lose their leaves in Indonesia because the weather stays the same all year round.
Trees without leaves
Trees with people
There were a lot of people at the Gardens who were speaking a different language than English. Somehow I had the feeling we weren't the only tourists in London. It made me realize how popular London is as a vacation spot.
As we were walking around we saw a big lake. We were heading to it to check it out from up close. Swans and ducks were swimming in the lake and some people gave them something to eat. There was a bench there and we sat on it to rest for a bit. Our feet were getting a bit tired from the walking.
Having a break
After a short break we continued walking through the Gardens. We saw many things and took many pictures. I'll just let them speak for themselves:
Lots of laughter and photos were present that day.
Yute with the Kensington Palace on the background
The other side of the park
Tunnel vision
"Hmm... could you put your hands up dek?"
"Thank you!"
Souvenir hunting
Once we were out of the Gardens we just walked to whatever location we stumbled upon. On the way we saw a lot of restaurant which serve fish and chips. "Might as well try some, we're not everyday in London" I said. So we entered a small diner and ordered for the both of us. Chips are very popular in The Netherlands so I was curious about the English flavour. I liked it very much, but the fish was quite dry. Not very tasty at all. Well, atleast my stomach was full and ready for another walk.
Lots of interesting art
And as they say... time flies when you're having fun. It was getting late and I had to catch my flight in a couple of hours. We went back to the hotel where she suddenly gave me a present. It was kripik from Bandung, she told me it was from her mom. I wasn't expecting that at all and I thank them for it. I was very happy with the present.
We exchanged the photos we took that weekend and talked a bit about our next destination. The future is an unpredictable thing so who knows where we could meet up next. That makes it quite interesting.
The way home
I took my bags and camera equipment and we were headed to the hotel counter to check out. I thanked the counter guy for the hospitality. It's a nice hotel, too bad for the weird tv's in my room though. Before I left I decided to buy an 'I Love London' umbrella. It would be very handy to have a nice umbrella in The Netherlands.
We walked out the hotel and to my surprise it was quite dark. The sun was already down. I remember it was very bright when we entered just a few hours ago. It's just a reminder how time flies. We went the same way we got there when I arrived so we took the subway to get to Heathrow Airport.
The ride on the subway felt so long. I didn't know what to say to Yute. Saying bye is always hard but somehow this time it was impossible. I noticed that she was the same, just quiet and enjoying being together. Sometimes there's no need for words.
My flight would leave at 20:15 and we were around an hour earlier there. I was a bit hungry so we went to sit at an airport restaurant called "Café Rouge". I was a bit sad because I had such a good time with Yute in London. Yute has to stay a couple more days to attend conferences and what not. We talked about it and she'll keep me up-to-date with her activities. It's not only for the days in London, but when she's home in Bandung as well.
Taking pictures at the airports' Café Rouge
20:15 London - Amsterdam
It was time to catch my flight. I thanked her for the great time and wished her a lot of luck there. I told her that I'll make sure to contact her often when I'm home again. It's always nice to hear from her.
I was on my way to the gate but it was quite a hassle. It took more time as I expected. Especially at the scanners where I should take stuff like, coins, belt and any other metal items in a basket and let it roll into a scanner. Since it took so much time I was in a rush to take my stuff again and ran to the gate. It was an awkward run because my pants was almost falling off because I didn't put on my belt properly. Luckily it wasn't a far run but once I was at the gate. I saw it was closed.
I was scared that I was too late but the stewardess told me that they were waiting for me and I was able to board. There was someone who showed me the way to the plane in case I'll get lost. Somehow they were able to make it a long run because it's quite far to get from the gate to the plane. When I finally got to the plane there was a stewardess who told me that all the bag storage is full so I she took my luggage and put it in the crew's storage.
I turned my head to see the plane's isle and saw all the people's faces looking at me. I could hear them think: 'So that's the guy we had to wait for.' I walked to my seat which was just 10 seconds away but it was such a weird walk when everyone is watching.
Anyway, I finally got into my seat and we were ready to go. As the plane was moving I was thinking about Yute.
Six months later...
I'm still thinking about her. Anytime when I'm with her I'm having a great time and London was no exception. Sometimes I ponder where we will meet next. Wherever it will be... I'm sure it will be another great adventure.
To be continued...
"Walau ke ujung dunia..."