Ika and Jevon’s trip to London

Ika and Jevon made it to London. In all they spent 6 days here experiencing some of the hottest weather on record, the day they left it reached 36C.

We stayed in London at at house my dad has just finished renovating. Highlights of the trip for Ika were meeting my parents and sister, being in a new country and visiting Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and River Thames. My mother tried her best to accomodate Ika by cooking a flavoured rice side dish for Ika to go with her dinner, actually on the last night here we ate boiled potatoes, brocoli, carrots and roast chicken, just like Warung Murah!

Exploring a city with a young kid is a new thing for me. Sure I’ve done it in Bali, but what is it like in a big western city? Well we borrowed a baby chair and took it on the buses, subway and overground trains. It was quite easy, even with crowded trains and busy stations.

One funny thing happened in an Italian restaurant in Covent Garden. Ika, Jevon, my brother Chris and myself went in for a pizza and drank 3 large waters plus some other drinks. The bottles had faded labels, coffee stains and were covered in water drops. When our bill came I went over to the head waiter and said “I’m happy to pay for the food, but I’m not paying for the water because I think you filled it up from the tap.” “Whatever you like Sir.” he said. I then went to the cash register and repeated my statement to the feamle manager was there, who popped open 2 pristine new bottles of Italian water. “No” I said, “I don’t want new ones, I’m just not paying for the ones you filled from the tap.” “You can think whatever you want” she said. I paid for the food and met no resistance. Criminal how they dare charge $3.80 (pounds!) for a bottle of tap water! My tip would be too ask for sparkling water instead off still in London restaurants.

Anyway, our trip to London was all good and Ika had her first taste of long distance travel. I will be returning to Bali in the near future and look forward to getting into Bali stuff again.