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