We arrived perfectly on time, simultaneously as Cathy. As we had another half an hour before picking up the car, we had breakfast at Costa and a quick chat to update each other. Mins later, we got the car, and ready to start the journey back to Eastbourne.
The trusted Toyota Yaris. Very cosy to drive.
As excited as we were like kids having a new toy, too bad I couldn't get the car started!!! That was so embarassing. Another blondeness!!! So I had to resort the manual and it wasn't helpful at all. After a while, I gave up and passed it over to Shahin which he ended up driving back to Eastbourne.
Shahin ended up driving back to Eastbourne
A quick stop in Eastbourne gave Cathy the time to freshen up after a long and tiring flight. Being cruel and mean, but again blame on her short time here, we packed our stuffs in the boot and set off staright to Brighton for lunch in no time. I drove to Brighton whilst Shahin tried to catch some sleep as he was so knackered and sleep deprived from the night before.
Lovely day just outside Eastbourne
On arrival at Brighton city centre.
After a late lunch, and bought some munchies in Brighton, we took off straight to Cardiff. It was a quiet 3 hour plus drive. It was just me and Tomtom. I just followed the audio instructions and everything went well, until it was time to find the hotel. hehe The sun started to set in as we approach Cardiff crossing the bridge. It was a beautiful scenery, and pictures were taken by Cathy and Shahin as I was driving.
View of the bridge from the car with the sun setting in.
Arrived in Cardiff, checked in to the hotel and we had dinner at Spice Root at Red Dragon Centre. It was very tiring and the roads in Cardiff were so confusing. We ended up going round and round the city centre. It was jam packed too. Luckily, dinner was good. There were so many Asians in Cardiff, especially the Malay community. Instantly saw Malaysians/Singaporean Malay diners. Didn't do much for the night as we were so knackered. Headed back to the hotel and had an early night.
Hungry faces waiting to be served.
Now filled up and satisfied with great foods, and foods were freshly cooked at the counter.
Started the day early morning. Had a slight confusion with the time change. We thought we had an hour extra, and it was the opposite. Tour around the Cardiff Bay, and had a quick look around at the Marina. It was very beautiful and quiet, but was very cold.
Then at 10am, we met up with Cathy's niece Lysa, and Nurul in the city centre for breakfast at the nearest pub. It was a good meeting although it was very short. They were very kind enough to show us around Cardiff. We had a quick look at the city centre, the town hall, the castle and the stadium.
From Cardiff, we drove to Swindon for shopping at McArther Glen. It only took less than an hour to drive. We spent for about 2-3hours or so to do some shopping before we head to Birmingham where we spent the night.
The bridge during day time.
Cows crossing the bridge. Brilliant!!
At Birmingham, we didn't do much that night. We went to the city centre and had a look around, and more so around Bullring. Then followed by dinner at Wagamama.
Birmingham at night.
The next day, we spent a few hours in Birmingham city centre and had lunch at Chinatown before we set off to Coventry.
In Coventry, we went to see the remains of the St. Michael's Cathedral which was bombed by the German Luftwaffe in the 1940's during the second world war. We went up the tower and had a good bird's eye view of Coventry. It was a narrow and spiral flight of stairs. It was making us all dizzy and gasp for air to breathe! From there we went to the Coventry Transport museum. That was the coolest part of all. We got to see all the British cars, bikes and also the cat's eyes. Brilliant displays and some of them were interactive too.
After Coventry, we drove off to Manchester to meet a friend. It was meant to be a surprise visit. Unfortunately, again my blondeness, I texted the wrong person for the address and told everything in it. I texted to the person who we meant to surprise. It was meant to be a short hop from Coventry to Manchester and esitmated to arrive at 6.30pm. Unfortunately, there was a diesel spillage on the M6 motorway and it was causing major delays and traffic. We were caught in traffic for about 3 hours!!!!
We finally arrived in Manchester at 10.30pm. Without delay, we headed for teh Curry Mile for dinner. It was a massive portion of kebabs, and we were to stuffed to fill in albeit being very hungry. The next day, we set off to Old Trafford, Theatre of Dreams as Cathy is a ManUtd fan. We went on the stadium tour, guided by a friendly chap. When asked what was the stadium called, Shahin shouted out "Anfield".. and jokingly he asked Shahin to get out. Then when he asked whether everyone could understand English, Shahin replied again and said "Si Senor". Hahhaa
After the stadium, we didn't know where to go. I decided just to pay a visit to Trafford centre for lunch and look around rather than the city centre. Dinner was at Lal-Qilla, as it was claimed to be the best for Indian food at Curry Mile.
After quick breakfast at Betty's, we took off to Liverpool. We headed straight to Anfield, and this time it's for Shahin as he's a Liverpool fan. Too bad, we missed the last tour as they didn't have it all day due to a memorial service. We only had a look around outside the stadium and the merchandise store before checking in to the hotel in the city centre. After lunch, Cathy took off to outside Liverpool to meet up an old friend whilst Shahin and I took the opportunity to look around Liverpool. We went to the Cathedral which was very scary and eary. We went through the wrong way which was from the backyard where it is a graveyard dating from the 1800's! All I could remember, it was cold, grey and quiet. *goosebumps* It was a long walk from the Albert Dock. From there, we walked back to the city centre to have a quick rest at the hotel, before meeting up with Cathy at the station for dinner. We had Mediteranean dinner at Kimos.
Upset for not being able to go for the tour. He was so much looking forward to this.
Sightseeing in the city centre, Albert Docks and the Cathedral.
Finally, we left Liverpool for Gatwick at 3.30am and arrived Gatwick at 9.30am to leave the car. From Gatwick we headed into Paddington and went straight for what we had to do. Had lunch at Westfield and met up with some friends at Leicester Square for coffee. The night ended with a dinner at Nandos with Cathy's friend from Huddersfield.
Then the last day... it was time to say goodbye to Cathy.
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