Wednesday 1 August 2012

Trip to the UK (Part 1)

So here’s for all my dedicated blog reader’s who have been on my case to put up a post. Thank you for being dere despite my very lazy and procrastinating attitude. I take full blame lol and yh i finally got around to putting some music on here. Enjoy...
So a whole lot has happened since I my last blog post, I fell in and outta ‘love’ or whatever u guys call it. I took a leave from work and went to the uk to see some friends and relatives briefly. My post is gonna be mainly on my trip anyways. Everyone knows I love travelling afterall…giggles. I have a pending post on my trip to Ghana which was before this last trip. I’ll do dat after this because its long overdue and I may start forgetting all I wanted to share. My travels have all been great experiences so far and I’m grateful for the opportunity to embark on them.
My UK trip started out like play like play, I had told my very good friend Antonia the last time she came to Nigeria that I would very much like to visit her before the next time she came around, and another of my friends, Habib who had come for a brief internship had said it would be nice if I came to the UK for a bit. He explained that the process was easy and it would not cost me so much if I booked my ticket early. He even offered to me the services of the travel agent he usually uses when travelling. The final push I needed was speaking to another friend, Esiri, and he told me to meet his mum, who is a lawyer and had helped out in countless applications. I was overjoyed as I had asked some colleagues at the office to help me out with the application and the process and they had all been very vague. I would finally get experienced adult assistance; I’m that kinda person that prefers someone experienced putting me through something than going in on my own.
 I went on the internet to the visa application file, read up on the types of applications they had, the guidelines and the fees involved. It did not seem like a difficult process but then again one had to be careful and precise in order to not get rejected. I have travelled to a few places without much stress and I did not want this to be any different. I informed my boss of my intention to travel, he has been to several places including the UK severally and I also needed a leave from work if I was to travel. He informed me that there was an event holding in the UK that I could attend with him and that processing my visa through the office would ease the process. Between several consultations with my boss and my friend’s mum, I was able to get all my documents in order. I went to submit my documents on December 23, my birthday and it was a long ass process!! from getting a queue no. to submitting my documents (that took the longest time), then paying for the visa application and finally getting my biometrics done. I finally left there around late afternoon. I had gotten a number of gifts including a cake (from my favorite bakery and in my favorite color) from a close friend around midnight and another in the evening from my cousin in Lagos. It was a good day overall. I stopped by the office and shared some cake for my colleagues and bosses and visited some friend with cake too. I received numerous calls, texts and Facebook and Twitter messages which is the norm on my birthday. Anyways enough about what led to my going there, let’s get to the koko. I tracked my application online and went to pick it up on January 21 and it was no surprise really that I got the visa with all the plenty preparation I put into it. In my mind I was like, the first step is over, I don get visa, na plane ticket and spending money remain now..lol..The visa was for 6 months and was going to expire in July, so I had about 5 months to go ‘cos I knew the Olympics was in July and ticket prices would be crazy, talkless of the crowd in London where I was gonna spend majority of my holiday. I told my boss I had gotten my visa and would like to apply for my leave and he told me it’d be best to wait till June before I go ‘cos we had a new project I had to work on and that it’d be summer there by then. I did not even have the funds at the moment anyway so I was cool with going in June, I would have adequate time to scout for a cheap ticket and inform my cousin and friends that I was coming so they would prepare accordingly. I informed them I was coming, I was able to nab a 162k return ticket :D. 
I applied for my leave of approximately a month then went shopping for all the naija things my cousin and friends had said I should bring for them, from Indomie, goldernmorn, peak milk, kilichi, and groundnut to neomedrol, black soap, ori (shea butter), Dunlop slippers(I forgot this though), padlock *smh ,fura and man shanu. My cousin came in from Lagos some days to my trip so she helped out and one of my friends used his car to drive me around for my use :D (what a sweetheart!!). We finished buying everything around 11pm, I’m so lucky to have friends that don’t mind sacrificing their time for me. He dropped me off @another friend’s place, we moved all d stuff out of his car, said our goodbyes and he left. I had a movie date with this friend on our favorite series Game of Thrones!!! (I am a series freak!lol). we were to see the final episode of the 2nd season. He had gotten pizza and icecream and I came bearing the soft copy of the series. It was a great night and episode and I was brimming full!!!i had to go home though and finish up packing ‘cos my flight was a morning flight. We got ready to leave and on getting outside, his neighbor had blocked his car, he went to their house and the wife said she can’t disturb her husband when he’s sleeping! See me see wahala o! dis was like dat kind 1am o!i just dey pity myself, me dat I love sleep, I was just consoled by the fact that my cousin was home so she’d wake me up @least, if I attempted to oversleep. My friend was pissed, with good reason, it started drizzling later, we honked and honked his car horn with the aim of waking the sleepy husband up since his wife was so scared to do it. We’ll never know if he woke up or not but we got the attention of some of his white neighbours who loved their sleep so much they volunteered to drop me @home. I think I got home around 1:30am and I was sooooooooo exhausted but I still had to pack!! My cuz helped out and we finished around 3pm before I collapsed on the bed and embraced the sweet sleep I was craving. It was too soon!!!i’m sure I had not slept for 2mins wen I felt my cousin poking me that it was 5am and I had to leave for the airport in a bit if I was to make my flight. I grudgingly got up and looked @her with hate in my eyes like it was her fault I could not get more sleep, she wasn’t even bothered! she went straight back to sleep once she saw I was up and outta the bed. I called my friend that was supposed to drop me @d airport, he came some mins later and we stuffed my luggage in his boot. I had just one big soft bag, my laptop bag and my handbag. We got to the airport just in time, just to see them turning people away from the entrance and telling them to come bk at 7pm!!!They had to be kidding me!!After ditching my sleep, the most annoying part was they gave no explanation which was very unlike British Airways, usually dey’d send a mail or something. Anyways I was kinda happy, I went back home, dropped my luggage and slept like a baby till around 3pm. I visited some friends then got a ride around 6pm. The flight did not take off till 11pm. Thank God I was able to corner a socket and I had my blackberry and ipad handy to keep me occupied. Oh yeah before I forget, they said my luggage was in excess when I weighed it, yepaa!!!mi o ni owo o, I thought to myself, but I had come with another bag in case this happened, so I moved some things into that back and all was well in my world again! *whew, close call. It was a smooth 6hr flight and I had no complains about my seat. I slept like a baby till we landed @Heathrow!!!
Stay tuned for Part 2.....Toodles!XooX