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Getting to Bournemouth
Friday, October 22, 2004
[ 1:50 AM ]

Changi - Heathrow
Gleneagles, Talbot Woods
Birthday Boy
Berserk Kids
International Students Orientation Programme
Bills, bills, bills
Car
Travels

Changi - Heathrow
It was a relatively easy journey. The kids were surprisingly well-behaved, except for the odd occasion when they decided they needed some exercises to prevent DVT (deep vein thrombosis). It didn't help that we had a very crotchety woman just in front of us who kept glaring back at Bradley every time he moved. And yet when her grandson did the same bouncing exercises she merely beamed. Yes, the joys of travelling.

Being September, the SQ flight was full and there were quite a few passengers returning to the UK from Australia. 4 infants onboard, so we couldn't get the bulkhead. We had the misfortune of sitting 3 rows back (thank goodness I did not request for anything nearer the front) from a very fidgety baby who cried through the night. I was about to offer the mother some of the children's Benadryl (yes, I came prepared, though the children didn't need it after all) when I saw her snarling to another passenger (obviously a mother) who had gone up to speak with her. Nope – don't think her baby does drugs.

At Heathrow we had just avoided the arrival throng. Trust SQ to be kiasu [Hokkien for afraid to lose]– we were expected to arrive at 0550hrs but, according to the captain, planes are not supposed to land at Heathrow before 0600hrs, so we spent some time cruising.

Just as well we were early. I didn't realise that we had to go for a medical inspection due to the nature of our visas. Belinda and I were subjected to a chest X-ray. Now, if I had known this, I would have brought my X-ray along since Ngee Ann Polytechnic insisted I did a medical just prior to departure. 2 X-rays in the space of 2 weeks? Who wants to go down the way of Marie Curie? The children were too young, so they were let off.

Perfect timing though. Just as we passed through customs, we met the driver of the airport taxi I had booked, and Mum appeared 5 minutes later. Her MH flight had arrived 20 minutes after SQ.

So far, so good. The taxi, well minibus really, was huge enough to accommodate all our barangs [Malay for things]. A note about our luggage – we were 50kg overweight but the somewhat blur airport check-in staff let us through (thank the good Lord). It was quite entertaining seeing the incredulous looks of the SQ staff. You could almost hear them think aloud "What? A folding mattress for check-in? And how many bags?" Oh, just 5 bags, 2 boxes and one mattress. Robin the seasoned traveller (thanks Rob, Christine & family members of course, for coming to the airport) nearly had a fit, I think.

We were well on the way…yawn…to Bournemouth... zzzz...zzzz...

Gleneagles, Talbot Woods
It was a dark and stormy night... ok, ok, maybe not quite as dramatic, but it was a bleak, dreary, rainy day when we arrived at the flat. In the UK, flats may not be the typical high-rise apartments we're used to in Singapore. Our flat is actually part of a huge house. It had been converted years ago into 6 units with 6 separate entrances.

Cecil and his mum were there to greet us with loads of food to tide us at least for the first day. (Now, how I met Cecil and his sister Bernice is quite another story. But to have found such lovely Singaporeans who run the semi-Asian Straits Bistro 5 minutes walk from me, is a blessing indeed).

Town and shops are a 5-minute walk away through tree-lined avenues. The full glory of autumn has not quite hit. Summer is struggling to keep its hold; sometimes it succeeds but there is that hint of orange-gold in the leaves.

Birthday Boy
It was Mason's birthday the day we arrived. So exhausted as we were, we went out to buy a cake from Waitrose supermarket. The kids chose a psychedelic caterpillar cake which was sickly sweet, much to their delight.

Berserk Kids
From Day One, the kids went wild! Overstimulation! They obviously loved the space and the adventure of discovering new experiences like seeing squirrels scampering on the front lawn. They were squealing, running about, being demanding – every parent's nightmare. Of course it must have a real treat having Mummy and Daddy spending so much time with them. It was a trying time settling them and, as I was to discover, it would take a month before they finally toned down. (WARNING: DO NOT TRAVEL WITH 3-YEAR-OLDS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE ARE 2 OF THEM!)

Introduced them to their nursery, Talbot Woods Nursery, which is conveniently located on campus. Again they loved it from Day One. They'd better. I'm paying £12 ($37) a day for each of them for a half-day programme. And this is the students' rate. It's a good thing that they've already been exposed to playschool, so being in a school setting was not an alien concept. They were so well adjusted that the teacher said they would not need the recommended 4 "settling-in" sessions. Hmm… she remarked they were very active, so maybe she secretly just dreaded having to deal with them, ha-ha! She really has the sweetest nature, so I hope the kids won't traumatise her too much.

Btw, Bradley is starting to sound British. He pronounces Mummy "Mum-may", rather than "Mum-mee".

International Students Orientation Programme
If you're a mature student, this is the best way to feel old! The activities are all geared towards the younger generation, obviously with the assumption that they're having to adapt to being away from home for the first time. It was a good thing I had done my research and had made that earlier trip in August – imagine having to wait 2 months for a bank account to be opened!

Some sessions were useful though, like having the National Healthcare System (NHS) explained ("We find a lot of students need contraceptives.") and getting our email accounts ahead of the locals. The NHS is another nightmare. First, I wasn't allowed to register with the campus surgery because my kids didn't qualify. Second, I didn't realise that different surgeries had different policies. The medical centre closest to home did not accept new entrants in the country till 6 months after entry. When I finally found a suitable surgery, I thought that would be the end of the story. Alas, that was not to be.

Surgery: We need a letter from the university. Just ask your Programme Administrator and they'll know what to do.
Uni: What letter? I've never been asked for a letter. Just show them your student card. If there's a problem, ask them to call me.
Surgery: No, your student card is not good enough. No, giving us the phone number just will not do. We need a letter stating the nature and duration of your course.

And so that finally got sorted out after 3 weeks. I can't even bear thinking about dental surgeries…

Bills, bills, bills
These are thoroughly confusing.

There's the council tax, which was due before I got my student exemption certificate. There are 2 water bills, one for water, one for sewerage. Then there's the gas (do I have a gas stove or is it just for the central heating?).

I could change service providers depending on the deal I like. If not I would have to sign a contract with the existing provider. There are lots of pamphlets and letters "to the resident" to confuse you further. You could choose to pay by direct debit (GIRO), which could be cheaper for certain providers but more expensive for others. You could pay at the post office for free or for a fee, depending on what bill it is. Some bills are monthly, others quarterly, though they don't necessarily tell you which one it is.

For the phone service, even if you choose a provider other than British Telecom, you still have to get BT to connect the phone line. So, I had to call BT first, then subscribe to the cheaper NTL, get NTL to cancel the BT line while retaining the number. But there's a cooling off period, so it takes a week for any activation to be done.

Confused yet?

Car
Here's more confusion. Well to buy a car is not a problem. In order to drive the car, I had to get car insurance. All very well indeed, except the premiums can vary a great deal.

Before I rant on about insurance, here's some info about the car. It's a red Renault Megane, 1600cc, 1998 model, bought for £2850. For the 4D punters, the registration number is F536 HO.

It's one of those with clutchless gears (apparently a limited edition), a real breeze to drive. Automatic cars are not easy to come by at second hand car dealers.

There, of course, is a problem with a foreigner getting insurance. Most of the companies considered my licence a new one, since they record it from the date I entered the country – so I'm considered a new driver despite having driven for 14 years. The only way to get round this is was to get my Singapore licence converted to a UK one. For this to be done, I had to surrender my Singapore licence (non-returnable) and my passport (yeah right, on Royal Mail?). I would hear from them in 2 months' time (so what do I do in the meantime?).

Finally found one company which had the lowest rate (still almost £800). They lowered the rate because I decided to register my mum as the second driver (go figure).

Travels
Here's where it gets interesting. Managed to get some travelling done before term began proper.

Portsmouth
Rather disappointing really. It was quite a windy and chilly day, so we were restricted in our movement. Dirty and drab. Pity we didn't get to see the historic ships. There's a huge factory outlet complex though J

Chichester
A quaint Tudor town, but that's all there was really.

Weymouth
Very pretty beach and narrow cobbled stone alleyways with some unusual shops.

Portland
This promontory is a few miles from Weymouth and the views are spectacular.

Isle of Wight
Cordelia's haunt. Absolutely delightful, especially the town of Shanklin. Pretty thatched roofs and scrumptious cream teas. Don't bother going to the overrated "world-famous" Shanklin Chine though.

Shaftesbury
Another quaint cobbled stone street town. To be honest, after a while they all look the same. There's the famous Goldhill that appears in a lot of postcards. Would have been great if we could have done walks in the countryside nearby.

Torquay
Seaside town. Steep cliffs with houses built on them. Sub-tropical gardens. Exceptionally pretty villages along the way from Bournemouth, which I would love to explore further, like Totnes, which is famous for its lace.

Plymouth
Historical. We were really here to stay the night only before going on to Eden Project. Lovely B&B, which had won this year's "Britain in Bloom" award.

Eden Project
Highly fascinating. It's like walking into a mother ship of an alien civilisation. I was particularly impressed with the Malaysian kampung [village] house, complete with scooter. The plants must be fed some top secret nutrients to reach such mammoth proportions.

Dartmoor
Really bleak even in summer but quite educational to see Sherlock Holmes country. Very sparse vegetation and some wild ponies. Some picturesque villages en route to Exeter.

Exeter
The cathedral is the main feature here. It was going to be Harvest Service that Sunday, so we were in the thick of the action as farmers decorated the church with their produce. An interesting structure was a "house that moved" (don't know the story behind this). The quayside was interesting as well with shops that were built into hillocks.

Lyme Regis
Part of the heritage Jurassic coast. The coastline was quite spectacular, and it was great walking on a beach covered with fossils.

Back to Reality
No, no, I haven't forgotten the real reason I'm in the UK. Many GB Pounds lighter now with the exchange rate at £1 = S$3.10 (now why can't that be down on the weighing scales as well). It's early October and soon Mason has to leave for home (sob!) and it will be time to get some routines going.

(logged by Anita)

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