How It All Began

I wasn’t planning to make a trip to London this year but due to a stroke of luck, I found myself heading to one of my favourite cities in the world again this July, and it was for a very good reason – to watch the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

After our wonderful experience at the Australian Open last year, YS, YE, KL and I were itching to complete our own spectator’s version of the Grand Slam, by watching all the four major tournaments on the tennis calendar – the aforementioned Australian Open (in Melbourne), French Open (Paris), Wimbledon (London) and US Open (New York). Among the four, Wimbledon is arguably the most prestigious as it is the oldest tournament and it has a rich history of sticking to time-honoured traditions. Accordingly, it is the hardest to get tickets to.

Unlike the Australian Open where we were able to buy tickets easily, tickets for Wimbledon cannot simply be bought just because you want to – you have to ballot for them. It is a worldwide ballot and the process starts as early as September of the previous year. For those who are thinking of going to Wimbledon, here is what you need to do in a nutshell.

First, you’ll need to create a myWimbledon account on the official website (click here). Next, you’ll be invited to register from September onwards. From October to end December, you will be able to apply online for tickets by entering the public ballot. In January, the ballot begins and you’ll just have to keep your fingers crossed that you get picked!

In my case, I submitted my ballot application on 2 December 2018 and I was notified on 30 January 2019 that I was successful in my application. I was offered two tickets on Saturday, 6 July 2019 for Centre Court, and the pair of tickets cost GBP216 (S$399.01). I excitedly asked YS and YE if they had also received the confirmation email from AELTC, the All-England Lawn Tennis Club (which organises the Wimbledon tournament), but they did not. It turned out that I was the only lucky one who successfully managed to ballot for the tickets.

At that point, I could still reject the tickets because I had not paid for them yet. The deadline for payment was 28 February 2019. If payment is not made by then, the allocated tickets will be forfeited and put into another fresh round of ballot for the other applicants.

I had considered giving up the tickets because I was allocated only two tickets. It meant that I could bring only one other person with me, so YS, YE and KL would have to conduct a ballot of their own to see who would be the lucky one! Another reason was because I was planning to take up a course in the later part of the year and I was unsure if I could go overseas in July.

However, YS and YE encouraged me to go for it because tickets for Wimbledon are really hard to come by (case in point: I was the only lucky one who got the tickets among the four of us). Furthermore, I was allocated Centre Court tickets for the first Saturday of the tournament (Wimbledon is a 2-week tournament). For Wimbledon, you do not have any control over the tickets being allocated to you. During the application process, you cannot choose the date or the court you wish to watch. You just have to accept whatever tickets are allocated to you.

In my case, I was offered tickets for Centre Court, which is where the top players will usually play. If I was offered tickets for Court No. 1 or Court No. 2 instead, perhaps it might be less painful to let them go. Furthermore, my tickets were for the first Saturday, which is the third round of the tournament. Of course, tickets for the second week would have been even better, but at least my tickets weren’t for the first few days. Theoretically, the matches get more exciting during the later stages of the tournament when the top players meet each other. All things considered, the tickets allocated to me were already very good, so it was a golden opportunity not to be missed.

I paid for the tickets on the very last day of the deadline (28 February 2019) and finally, I was on my way to Wimbledon! In the end, YE and KL decided to stay behind and YS would come along with me.

With the tickets being confirmed, we quickly moved to book our flight and accommodation. YS managed to source for a cheap flight on Lufthansa Airlines, costing S$898.60. The outbound flight included a transit at Zurich and the inbound flight included a transit at Munich.

Accommodation in London is expensive so we went for a low-cost option by staying at a YHA (Youth Hostel Association) hostel. My first choice YHA Oxford Street hostel was not available on all the dates so we settled on the YHA London Central one (click here), located near Oxford Street as well. For six nights in an 8-bed dorm room, the cost was GBP190 (about S$330) per person.

As we had both visited London before, we were quite familiar with the city so we didn’t make any special arrangements for sightseeing. With the Wimbledon tickets, flight and accommodation secured, we were good to go!

Introducing YouTrip

Before going any further, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce YouTrip to you (click here). It was my first time trying it out and I found it very convenient and easy to use. With YouTrip, I did not have to carry so much cash with me and I could easily track my expenses with the app. I highly recommend it to all Singaporeans who are travelling overseas!

YouTrip is a multi-currency travel wallet and money changer in an app. There are two parts to it. The first part is the physical card. After you register for a YouTrip account, a Mastercard will be mailed to you in 7 to 12 working days. With this card, you can take it overseas and use it just like a normal debit card or a prepaid Mastercard. But before you can do that, you need to load money into the card, and this is where the second part comes in – using the YouTrip app to manage your account.

To load value into the card, use the YouTrip app and top up your desired amount. You do this by charging it to a Visa or Mastercard debit/credit card of your choice. For example, to top up S$500 into my YouTrip account, I can choose to have this S$500 charged to my OCBC Visa credit card.

With the S$500 now in my YouTrip account, I need to exchange it the overseas currency before I can use the card to spend the money. In my case, since I am going to London, I will need to exchange the currency from SGD to GBP. Once again, it is done using the YouTrip app.

On the app, I can virtually exchange the money to over 150+ currencies with 0% transaction fees. The exchange rate provided by YouTrip is slightly better than the exchange rate at traditional money changers. And it is definitely better than the exchange rate being charged by credit card companies when they send you the bill at the end of the month.

For example, at the time of my visit, the exchange rate for British pounds at my local money changer was about S$1 = GBP0.574713 (or GBP1 = S$1.74). The exchange rate provided on the YouTrip app was about S$1 = GBP0.5852 (or GBP1 = S$1.71). Via the YouTrip app, I can exchange my S$500 virtually into GBP292.60. Compare this to a traditional money changer, where S$500 will only get me GBP287.36 in cash, which is about GBP5.24 less. So you get more bang for your buck with YouTrip.

The other good thing about YouTrip is that you never have to worry about not bringing enough cash, because you can simply top up your account anytime, as long as you have data or Wifi connection to run the YouTrip app. Within a matter of seconds, you can load more money into your app, exchange the money into the overseas currency and then pay for your purchases with your Mastercard.

Of course, you still need some cash for certain circumstances (e.g. at flea markets or for small purchases) and for emergency purposes, but with YouTrip, you can drastically reduce the amount of cash to carry overseas, which is safer. I’m not getting any commission for promoting YouTrip but I found it really convenient so I’m sharing this information with you. You can consider trying it out!

(Exchange rate: GBP1 = S$1.74)

Day 0 – 1 July 2019, Monday

After rushing home from class, I took a quick dinner and shower and it was time to head out again. As always, mum and dad sent me to the airport (thanks mum and dad!) and we picked up YS along the way. We arrived at Changi Airport Terminal 2 at about 9pm and were soon safely on board our codeshare Swiss Airlines LX 177 flight, departing Singapore at about 11:30pm.

On the plane, we happened to sit beside a Polish gentleman who lives in Australia. He has been playing tennis for many years and has a wealth of knowledge about the sport. As YS is more of the tennis expert than me, I let YS do most of the talking. The man shared with us lots of tips about playing tennis on the different surfaces. He favoured playing on grass and he was predominantly a serve-and-volley player. For me, it was interesting to learn about the technical aspects of tennis as I personally do not play the sport. After dinner on board, I managed to get a few hours of sleep on the plane, which was great.

(Time difference: Both Zurich and London are 7 hours behind Singapore)

Day 1 – 2 July 2019, Tuesday

After flying for about 12 hours, we touched down in Zurich, Switzerland, at about 5:45am. The transit time was very short and we had barely cleared immigration when it was time to board our next flight to London.

The flight from Zurich to London was a short one, only about an hour. We touched down at London Heathrow Terminal 2 at 7:49am. Clearing immigration was a breeze as Singaporeans can now use the automated ePassport gates (e-gates). This border entry service was only extended to Singapore passport holders from 20 May this year, so we were lucky we could use it.

After collecting our luggage, we headed to the Underground and took the Tube train to the city. YS had two Oyster cards from his previous trip so he lent me one. We boarded the train at 8:27am and arrived at Oxford Circus station at 9:35am. The fare was GBP5.10 (S$8.87) as it was Zone 1-6 travel during peak hour. From there, we walked for about 15 minutes and reached our YHA London Central hostel at Bolsover Street, a relatively quiet part of the city north of Oxford Circus station.

As the official check-in time was 2pm, we could not access our rooms yet but we were able to deposit our luggage in the storage room. After a quick wash and packing the essentials into our day bags, we headed out to explore the city. It was a very fine and sunny day with temperatures hovering at about 17 degrees Celsius. During my previous visits to London (not during summer), it was always cloudy and gloomy so the gorgeous weather was very welcome indeed.

It was nice to be back in London and to get reacquainted with the sights. Having stayed near Oxford Circus previously, I was familiar with the area so I didn’t require much checking of Google Maps for directions. I could navigate my way easily and soon, we reached Leicester Square. As we didn’t have any plans for tonight, we decided to check out the TKTS booth to see what shows were available.

TKTS (click here) sells last minute and discounted theatre tickets and they are open seven days a week from 10am (Mon to Sat) / 11am (Sun). The discounted tickets are limited so if you want to get the best seats for your preferred choice of show, you are advised to start queuing half an hour before the booth opens.

When we arrived at about 11am, there was still a short queue but it moved pretty quickly. I wanted to watch The Lion King but we later found out that the discounted tickets were for the nosebleed Standing section high up in the theatre, so we passed on it. YS suggested watching The Woman In Black instead. I had never heard of it, but since it cost only GBP16.75 (S$29.15), we decided to give it a shot. After all, it’s the West End, so it can’t be that bad right?

After buying our tickets, we walked past the Shake Shack outlet at Leicester Square and saw that there was no queue. With all the hoopla about Shake Shack opening at Jewel in Changi Airport back home and people queueing for several hours just to get in, we decided to simply waltz in and have a meal here. I had previously tried Shake Shack in New York and it was sinfully good so I was eager to have it again.

I ordered a Shroom Burger and a Peanut Butter Milk Shake for GBP10.70 (S$18.62). No doubt it is pricey but food in London is expensive anyway. The Shroom Burger was yummy, especially the melted, gooey cheddar cheese and the fluffy bun. The milkshake was heart attack-inducing good as well.

After lunch, we walked over to Trafalgar Square nearby, where the National Gallery is located. I had been here many times before but never entered it, so we decided to check it out.

The National Gallery (click here) houses one of the greatest collection of paintings in the world. According to the website, the pictures belong to the public and entrance to see them is free, even for tourists. During our visit, the gallery was packed with tourists like us and there were also many schoolchildren led by their teacher chaperones.

I’m not an art connoisseur so I cannot claim to be an expert in this area. However, like most laymen (or those who have read the Dan Brown novels!), I have heard of the greats like Vincent van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. Accordingly, the galleries where the masterpieces by these artists are housed were the most crowded. I enjoyed wandering through the different galleries and admiring the building’s architecture.

From Trafalgar Square, we continued walking south and soon reached the Horse Guards Parade building. There was no parade at the time but a pair of horses and their serious-looking guards stood at the entrance, posing for photographs with tourists.

We then reached St James’s Park and were greeted by the familiar sight and sounds of ducks eagerly waiting to be fed by the zealous guests by the lakeside. One of the things that Singapore has inherited from the British colonial rule is the love of green spaces in the city.

St James’s Park, together with Green Park and Hyde Park nearby, form the green lung of London and they provide much-needed relief from the mass of buildings and vehicles. The locals were taking advantage of the beautiful weather by sprawling on their picnic mats, having a meal or a nice conversation with their friends while soaking up the sun. It’s so nice to visit London in the summer!

A short stroll through St James’s Park led us to Birdcage Walk and we soon found ourselves at Westminster Abbey. The Gothic church was built over 750 years ago and it is the coronation church for royalty including Prince William and Kate Middleton. It is also where more than 3,000 famous people are buried and commemorated in the Abbey, including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and more recently, Stephen Hawking. I had never entered the church before and was keen to do so but there was a long queue so we passed on it. Perhaps next time.

Right next to Westminster Abbey is the Palace of Westminster, where the Houses of Parliament sit. Brexit campaigners were still very active and they made their presence felt by displaying their banners prominently and engaging passersby who were interested.

Unfortunately, parts of the Palace of Westminster building and the entire Elizabeth Tower were wrapped up with scaffolding as they were both undergoing much-needed restoration works. As such, we weren’t able to listen to the distinctive chimes of the Big Ben, the bell at the top of the clock tower. Restoration works on the Elizabeth Tower began in 2017 and are expected to wrap up by 2021. Or rather, unwrap.

Crossing the Westminster Bridge brought us to the South Bank of River Thames and we soon reached the London Eye. It was once the tallest observation wheel in the world before being overtaken by our Singapore Flyer, which is 30m taller. Of course, records are meant to be broken and the tallest observation wheel in the world is currently the High Roller in Las Vegas at 168m tall. However, it is soon to be overtaken by the Ain Dubai, set to open in 2020 and it will dwarf all the others with a staggering height of 210m. Oh well, not surprising as it’s Dubai after all.

As it was almost 2pm, we went back to our hostel to check in to our rooms and have a shower and a rest. At about 5pm, we headed out again and walked to the Fortune Theatre at Russell Street to catch The Woman In Black.

Fortune Theatre is a very small and intimate theatre so every seat is a good seat. Even on a weekday night like today, the theatre was almost full with about 200 patrons. It was wonderful to see so many locals coming out to watch a performance and support the theatre scene.

At 8pm, the lights dimmed and the show began. However, as the minutes ticked by, my eyelids got heavier as jet lag was finally setting in (it was 3am back home at this time). It did not help that the beginning of the play was very slow and dialogue-intensive. It was a serious, psychological-thriller stage play and there were no musical numbers to stimulate me. I eventually lost the battle and ended up sleeping for most of the show.

From the parts that I did manage to catch though, I found that it was not a bad production. The stage appeared small but it was actually multi-layered and the space was used effectively. There was also the clever employing of sound effects and props to excite and shock the audience. We were seated very close to the stage so we could see the actors clearly, and they gave a masterful performance. It was just a pity that I was too tired to fully appreciate it.

After the show ended about two hours later, we walked to Chinatown to have some dinner. We found a Chinese restaurant called Four Seasons but their famous roasted duck had already sold out so I ordered a beef hor fun, which cost me GBP10 (S$14.50). Food is seriously expensive in London! After that, we walked back to our hostel and called it a night. End of a long Day 1!