England

Experiences whether good or bad often turn into good when looking back on hindsight.

After much discussion...
Unfortunately, for the next leg of our journey to Paris we will not be hitchhiking but instead travel by bus.
Reasons ?

1) Convenience and time as we "have" to arrive in Paris by 25th as our accommodation has been arranged. ( could be push back but...)

2) to skip the immense effort to research on how to hitchhike out of London into Paris (crossing the channel isnt as easy and might be time consuming, especially since we are 3 people now)

Well, i sincerly hope my first experience wont be my last.

We decided to but the tickets 2 days ago in the evening, however we didnt book it online as i felt we could go to the counter the next day instead and book it over the counter in case there were better timings, better prices...
However the next day, when we were walking to the counter, we got "lost" and decided ah, might as well just go back home and book it online...
We got home and went online, but there was just so much "redtape" that somehow all our cards didnt work !
All 4 cards, what the crap !
and this morning, when we tried booking the Tickets on the phone, we found out the price had increased alot ! ( from 7.5+38 =45.5 to 16 + 50sth...)
And yes off course i was sad, broke as i am, the tickets now had an inelastic demand and the price could be as high as it could be and we would still have to buy it.

Real crazy day, i ran around with jason the whole morning to buy from 1 place, print from another place. And after jason left( he is meeting us in London later at 7pm) i had to rush back to buy some misc stuff and pack.

Being sad didnt really change the situation we were in, so i just want to share (with you guys and hope in turn remind me) the application of knowledge, which some people define as wisdom.
We all know last minute tickets are expensive..... and all the different things people tell you are likely to be true, but until you have experienced it for yourself, it is unlikely to register.
Hence, a conscious effort is needed to constantly apply what one has learnt whether from yourself or other people's experiences.
Well, now that i have experienced it, i guess the experience serves as a painful reminder to my wallet and hopefully preventing me from making similar mistakes.

I will leave you all with a quote and in anticipation as i go meet David Belle and Amelie poulain in Paris !

Meanwhile my butt is going to die as i sit on him for the 1630 till 0730 tmr

It isn't the problems along the way that make us or break us. It's how we learn to stand and face them that makes the difference."
— Joan Bauer

Also, im reading Romans now,
Really convicting and uplifting book.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive in Christ Jesus.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
Romans 6.11

We have been Staying in Cambridge since thursday, and we are planning to stay a little longer, maybe till next thursday to chill and enjoy the beautiful Cambridge
I just have to get this off my chest, contrary to popular belief, the food here is not as expensive as everyone makes it out to be, cheaper still if u make the effort to cook yourself. many of my photos show sweets tidbits and more, all going for a pound or less, kettle chips for 99pence,4 mars bars for a pound...the general idea is to avoid restaurants, they are the ones who kill your wallet
Also, the clothes here are unbelievably cheap, i was tempted to buy a long sleeve H&M shirt for 9 pounds, Jason was tempted to buy soccer jerseys which goes for 80+Sgd for 25 pounds...
What i am beginning to realise is the world is not what it is made out to be.
Your perception of the world is ultimately shaped by your experiences, do not take what everyone says as truth ( for i believe there is no absolute truth except in God)
Also, Kenni (fellow Couch surfer) were talking and both of us sincerly believe that people in general are nice and do not seek to "injure" those they are friends with. Except for a few nut heads here and there, maybe i ll get robbed tommorrow

Lastly, as we have been Crashing on Daniel's floor the past few nights, Daniel has been insisting that we take turns with the bed.
Honestly, even though i wanted the bed as my back has been hurting( for who knows what) i geniunely couldnt bring myself to take it even with his constant offer. I just felt that if anyone should be on the floor its not going to be Dan.
So i went to sleep, Daniel who got back a little late, was using the computer quietly while the both of us were sleeping.
In the middle of the night(around 3+, 4) i awoke to pee, and daniel was still on the computer. As i walked backed semi conscious, i suddenly saw Dan, slipping into my sleeping bag lying on the floor ! Shocked, i insisted that he go to the bed, but he was already settled in...Slowly, i knew the sacrifice he made was already cemented and there was nothing i could do but thank him in the morning and hope to do the same in the future.
Perhaps, this is true hospitality, it cannot be expressed in words or actions, but the attitude to place your guest higher or at the same status as you will result in you moulding your actions to do just that.

Oh God, give me a selfless heart, to place others above myself

I bought a new Lunchbox, Diary, and pencil case( the law of straightness( for those who know my old one )
My lunchbox says: "only good food allowed"
"no bible no breakfast"
"no devotion no dinner" ( came up myself ! ) haha

Cheers !

buddy--- Thanks ! i ll be as safe as i can hope school is good !
Roger--- i think if u are here with me you will die, ang moh paradise !!! haha
Confirm not everyone here is Drop dead gorgeus ! haha
but no GF la
Leon --- Screw facebook ! and how are the applications ?
Ambrish, kian pin, wei yu, matt, leon--- you ll love it here man !
Warrick--- wa lao, u should seriously be here, we confirm high ! HGBD !

We left Iain house at around 10 am yesterday leaving for Cambridge in search of Dan the Man
How ? heh heh

We took the underground to balthamstow station, the station which we thought was closest to the M11 (highway that leaves London for Cambridge like their PIE), when we arrived we kept asking for direction to the M11. When we got a rough idea of the general direction, and with determination in our hearts and a heavy fulpack on our bags we set off for the M11. Haha !
Excitement quickly diminshed as we started to realise
1.how far it was ! (google balthamstow station to M11)
2.how hard it was going to find a good place to hitchhike (cars were too fast or cant walk there)
3.How dangerous and how little day light hours we had to get a ride !

We started walking and met a few people who kept wishing us good luck which made me burn with a fiery determination ! )
As mentioned earlier, we were trying to reach the M11, the connecting road was called the A406, and somehow we walked past the start of that and were already in the middle of the A406, so we decided to continue walking to the M11, and wow it was one long walk.
The whole time i was thinking to myself
1. this is getting really crazy, is this one of the craziest things ive ever done ?
2. Every step forward will mean 2 steps backwards in order to go back so there were quite a few junctions where a decision was to be made to move forward and boy oh boy despite my fiery determination, it was a hard one to make.
(A little like navigating in the jungles of Brunei, with a heavy field pack, and almost no sense of direction, everytime a junction was reached, a choice on which direction to take and we had to take turn Reccing the area in front ! in order to help us with our decision.)
After a really long and crazy walk ( Climbing over fences, crossing roads and overhead bridges countless times all woth our field pack) we finally arrived at the start of the legendary M11.

Unlike the movies or video clips it wasnt a slow moving or lonely highway where you could take your time, the M11 was really busy road with many cars driving at least 50mph zooming past.
Thankfully there was a small road shoulder where we could walk confidently as there was quite a wide gap.
We were already very exhausted and somehow it didnt occur to us that we should start hitching, and we just walked forward nonstop until we reached a signed which said Cambridge 47 Miles and oh man it hit me again in the face, in OCS we only route marched 30+km in a day, and this was 47 Miles this might take awhile, we might even spend the night before reaching Cambridge !
But with all these being said, we continued walking, i could tell Jason was getting quite irritated and tired, but i was just going a little crazy in my mind thinking back on all the brunei days and was secretly smilingly to myself once in awhile and decided while walking why not stick my thumb out as well...

After walking for who knows how long, suddenly, really just suddenly a green Car just pulled over and Jason was like " Shawn !!!!"
and i was like " Eh he really Stopped !!! Crap !" *both of us running with our heavy fullpacks towards the car, when the door opened, i took a quick scan to screen the driver while he asked us where we were heading, we told him cambridge and asked if he was heading there. He said he wasnt but he could drop us near by so we got in !!!

We soon found out he(Mark) was heading home from London after visiting his Grandson and he stayed in Norwich which was an hour north of cambridge so we told him, drop us any where convenient for you near Cambridge and he agreed.
We were both overwhelmed with a sense of relieve and disbelief. On the Journey there we found out much about him and apparently he was a hitchhiker himself when he was our age and explained that in the past, everyone did it He also shared with us stories about his work and told us about his chickens as he had 1 Acre of Land (about a football field)
Shawn: Wow, if you had that much land in Singapore, you would be a real wealthy man !
saf: Yea, maybe even president !
Shawn, Jason and Mark: Laugh like crap
Mark also told us he had done alot of traveling and had been hitching all his life and shared with us that he had 4 children and was twice divorced
After a long chat, but extremely fast journey, we suddenly realised he had turned into Cambridge and he started asking us which part of Cambridge we were going to and kept asking us to call Daniel for his address, and spent at least 15mins finding a driving us to where Daniel was (Arbury Community centre) We were just lost for words at his sudden gesture of kindness of going out of his way to drop us right at the doorstep !
When we got off, i gave Daniel a call and he said he was walking over. We dropped our bags and thanked Mark profusely knowing the debt can never be repaid but happy that my belief in the goodness of people was still alive

When Daniel was seen crossing the road walking towards us, i shouted in relief :
" DAN ! So good to see you man, epic journey we just had haha "
Daniel than proceeded to help me with my Fullpack and we went away to his school where we took a rest, and Daniel just took our hitching Sign and showed everyone we met on the way " Hey ! this are my friends from Singapore, They just hitchhiked from london "
And everyone was like " Really !?"
I proceeded to stand at the side and act seh pretending as if "oh it was nothing special" haha !
Ang moh Chicks !

Unfortunately, Bad news guys, Jason left the camera battery in Iain's House so we have no pictures to share, but believe me it was one epic adventure ! You can see the sign we made though. haha !

Cheers !

After the great time we had at Richard's house it was time to move on and head to chiswick park where Iain was waiting for us, but first a stop at my favourite shop the 99p store !!!
It was epic, After 8 chocolates, big packets of Haribo Sweets and many many more all for 99p each ! However when i paid for them goods i didnt check the change and i lost 4 pounds so instead of saving money i spent even more ! Crap ! Also, i noticed many people shoplifting, (elephant and castle is a poor area) but there was this guy with a 4.6k pounds racer bike who did the same !

The bus ride to chiswick park was a long one, when we finally arrived, the houses that surronded us were epic big, similar to the landed area in Singapore, and we started getting excited as we walked towards his house. When the door opened all excitment and anticipation was immediately swaped into disbelief and surprise, haha ! the big epic house we imagined was split into 12 different rooms by the owner and rented out, and Iain was staying in one of them. The entire house was just a room and a kitchen ! haha (

We than proceeded with a long chat with Iain about life and he asked us countless questions about Singapore which i found hard to answer, " So tell me, what do Singaporeans eat" ..." What time do Singaporeans normally eat"..."what happens if you Pee on a tree in Sinapore"..."Are there dinosaurs in Singapore, a Singaporeans once brought Dinousaur soup in a can here"
Ok the last one was made up But Iain was a really interesting person, when he first sat down he emptied his pockets of about 6pounds of coins(which is what i usually do as well) than he proceeded to say " thats all the money i have till the end of the week" (my mind : oh no he should be staying with us instead). He explained how he did not believe in amassing money and everything he ever owed could be thrown away and he would still be perfectly fine(sad off course but perfectly fine)
Iain than made us an epic soup, it was really nice, one of the nicest i ever had He had an amazing movie collection, alot like Victor's but slightly more specialised. He let us listen to an album he was working on and i was totally blown away ! Really great music, im sure Jenn, Eddie and David would love to meet him.
The Second day we went to Arsenal Stadium as jason was dying to see his favourite team. 15 Pounds for a tour of the stadium, we ll have pictures posted so u can decide if it was worth the money, haha.
We stayed for two nights in his house and than had to leave for Daniel's place in Cambridge.
As there was no internet connection at his house, reality suddenly dawned upon us when he said " so how are you guys getting to cambridge"
..."we're going to try to hitchhike " "how are u doing it ?" * silly smiles appearing*... " oh man, you boys dont know what you are doing eh, interesting " * silly smiles appears on Iain's face also....

The next two days were Epic, Richard was extremely nice and kindly took it upon himself to bring us ( Kenni, Jason and I) out the whole day. We had a nice jog through the park ( no sweat involved ) and took a bus to Greenwich (Greenwich is the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian of the World, making it the official starting point for each new day and year. It is also home to London's only planetarium, the Harrison timekeepers and the UK's largest refracting telescope.) * from the website. We had a Terrific view of London ! After that we went to a market where everything looked good but had bad prices ( the flesh is willing but the wallet is weak). We than took an underpass which runs below the River Thames to have a view of the other side and ended up near Westminster Abbey * Separate entry, where we attended an evening Choral service. We also went to leicester square, trafalgar square, hyde park and a glance at Buckingham palace before heading home exhausted. Had real nice talks with Kenni and Richard, both of them were really nice people (Richard from england and Kenni from Denmark). Despite the differences in background, I found much similarities between myself and the both of them.
Richard was a man whose age you would never be able to guess, i only found out much later from jason that he was actually very old, age did not came across my mind when all he did was walked with us (at a fast pace) the whole day and even suggested for us to go for a jog !
Hah ! All in all he was a really nice and good man that i looked up to, a man that radiated christ and showed care and concern for his fellow man. Patient and caring, always looking out for you and as mentioned, someone whom you could really trust.
Kenni was a really nice person also, i was really very sad to see him go, he was a really sensitive and who also took care and made sure people dont get left out. He was also a real gentlemen, mature and trusting with integrity, i really hope i see the both of them again...

The following day, we went to Petticoat lane Sunday market, which was essentially a Pasar Malam but the clothes were from Topshop, H & M, Stone island, brands i couldnt care less for, haha . And lastly we went to St Paul's cathedral which was EPIC !!! After that Richard's Church (metropolitan tabernacle) and back home for Dinner ( Richard's Famous Tuna Pie !) Good food, Good friends, Good coversations, what more could a man ask for !

We walked the whole sunday, no buses ! haha

Richard, Kenni, Jason and i went for the evening Choral service in Westminster Abbey, sure photography was not allowed but i couldnt stop my camera from having a sneak peak at such an bone chilling place.

Warning, this entry only reflects my thoughts and experiences at the 2 churches and is no way doing justice to the majesty of them.

Westminster Abbey

As i sit awestruck during the service, my head couldnt help turining aroung * im usually very attentive during service I was going dizzy ! Everything was so detailed, from the roof which was uniquely shaped (some sections were painted and tiled * i believe by hand) to the floor which was covered in inscriptions. The entire church was splattered with Sculptures of different people ( the one im sitting beside dates 1752, Holy smokes ! ) The chandeliers were stunning, reflecting light in a slightly different way each time you look at it. The pillars were another thing altogether, each pillar was carved in such a way that it resembled many smaller pillars fused together to become a bigger one, with all these being said, no single thing was similar or duplicated, each pillar was different from the one beside it * amazing right !
Lastly what really took my breath away were the stained glass that covered the sides of the buildings, absolutely surreal.
A wave of emotions and peace sweap through me as i gaze admiringly at it. They were just beautiful and no Art piece i had ever encountered could ever hold a candle to it. Maybe this is what defines Art, It hits you, leaving you stunned and amazed in awe, and after allows you a moment of serenity and calmness as you enjoy it beauty.
Very Similar to God;s amazing Love and Grace, it hits you, and you think how can something like this ever exist, but when you finally enjoy it and experience it, you are left with a sense of fulfilment and contentment. Off course Westminster Abbey cannot compare with God's Love but thats just an illustration

St Paul's Cahedral

After seeing Westminster abbey, a friend josh said St Paul's was bigger and better, i was sceptical thinking, how can any thing be any better. Oh well... Jason and i walked to St Paul's from Elephant and castle the next day ( if u google it, its quite a walk )
When we arrived....duh duh duh, yes we were blown away again, especially Jason haha, who couldnt stop taking picture of it !
My description of it can never be appropriate to what you will experience when you see it for yourself, so if u are thinking " should i go see St Paul's cathedral ? "... " YES ! YES ! YES "
We again went for the evening Choral service, as the entrance fee to have a look around was 14 pounds ! money we never had
Its Epic la, my vocab is running out, glorious majestic....indescribable. Except this time instead of the Stained glass in Westminster, St Paul's had an absolutely amazing ceiling, which i believed was hand painted and woah, u could just stare at it for hours, this time though the choir and sermon was more audible and a preacher from australia was preaching. He was preaching about God leaving the 99 sheep to find the 1 lost sheep and it was a really good sermon, but what brought tears to my eyes were what he said in the closing " Do you believe that you, as a mere mortal... a Sinner can change heaven... yes, the bible tells us that heaven rejoices when a sinner repents...when u choose to repent...God rejoices ! Entire heaven rejoices ! " He than went to quote Luke 15:7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Blessings and bye bye
Wish u were here !

What a Crazy day ! I was still struggling to pack 3 hours before my flight. Haha, i guess we;ll find out what's missing as we go.
Didnt had time to talk to victor or have a proper dinner with ambrish and kian pin aka PTI Pin. but thank you both for sending me off at the airport

The stopover at Dubai was a long one, Jason and i walked the entire transit area and everything was just Super Expensive !
After another 7 hours, we finally arrived in London and took the tube to elephant and castle, the closest stop to Richard's house. While trying to walk to his house we got lost and approached 2 women for directions. They were extremely kind and helpful in pointing us the right way, but before we left they passed us 2 pamphlets in Chinese as we told them we could understand Chinese. Turns out they were 2 Jehovah Witnesses. Well an interesting start to the day, we got lost again soon after as the directions Google earth gave us were inaccurate ! But we found our way there eventually. The 1st thing Richard I felt when I saw was that he was a nice guy and someone i could get comfortable to. And it turns out he was all that and more. Richard than showed us to our room and "couch" which was really very comfortable. Richard than explained that there were 7 people( all Christians from the same church), Jason, me and another Couch surfer staying there. We soon found out all of them were really nice and friendly, offering us Tea and cake which we gladly accepted,as well chatted with us about life.

We than left the house at 5.30 pm ( we were given an extra key, so we could come and go as we pleased bought a Sim card, some food and went home for dinner. We soon got extremely tired around 9.30pm (UK time). So at around 11.30pm, we succumbed to the slumber, i woke up at 5am though as my headstrong and confused body clock refused to change its habits .

This concludes the end of the 1st day
Look at the pictures to understand more

Random thought: Asians are really very small
Goal for the trip : finish reading bible and CS Lewis collection !