Friday | 22 June - Last day in the UK, at Beckenham, Kent

So today's my last day in the UK. It's been 2 weeks gone by really fast, but very meaningfully as well.

Last night, I took Aunty Cynthia & Uncle Robert, Aunty Anne, and Andrew out for dinner. They decided on eating at the Friendly 8 Chinese restaturant, just a 10 minute walk away. The food was pretty good, but I was full from my late lunch so I only had a single a la carte dish. I insisted that I pay for the dinner, which they graciously accepted - very happy that we could share a meal together!

I walked back to Aunty Cynthia's house with Aunty Anne, and she showed me the old houses and the flowers that adorned their gardens. She let me smell the honeysuckle of a particular house. The skies were very beautiful that evening - it was still bright at 9pm, and about dusk.

I spent the night at Aunty Anne's place, which is a 10 minute jog from Aunty Cynthia's place. Aunty Anne is really very nice and friendly - she showed me the kitchen, where to find water/food/breakfast and told me to help myself.

She showed me the shower, and also showed me the bath tub (in a separate bathroom) "in case I felt like having a bath instead".
She let me check-in online and print out my boarding passes, and provided me with a map (hand drawn) to Aunty Cynthia's place by foot, and also scissors to cut up magazines which I wanted to bring back (alot of good photography which I hope to learn from).

She went to bed earlier than I did, while I spent about 1-2 hours repacking my bags and discarding useless stuff.

I woke up at 7am, thinking she'd be at work already. But hearing activity outside my room, I went out to see Aunty Anne having her coffee and breakfast. She told me that my coffee was by my bedside - that was so very nice of her to make me coffee and put it at my bedsite table for me! I sat at the sofa next to her, and dozed off.. much to her amusement.

She showed me where breakfast could be found, and how I could use the telephone. I told her I think I'd sleep in (I was really tired) and I'll call Aunty Cynthia that I'll be over for lunch instead of coming over for breakfast. She immediately made the call to Aunty Cynthia for me.

She went off to work after that, while I went back to bed. I woke up to finish my coffee and call British Airways (on a free line, not the PREMIUM RATE line, which Uncle Peter cleverly found out for me - he has these ways of finding out the cheapest way to go about doing things). I'm relieved, and more confident of bringing back ALL my things home without any additional charges.

I'm going to wash the dishes in the kitchen and write a thank you note to Aunty Anne, as well as present her with a bar of Thronton's chocolate.

My total expenditure so far is probably about £550.. Won't be spending any more today!

excess baggage - a way out?

My Free Checked in Allowance

World Traveller and Euro Traveller – 1 Bag
Maximum dimensions per bag (H+W+L): 158cm (62in)
Maximum weight per bag: 23kg* (51lbs)

* Please note: we will continue to accept a piece of baggage weighing up to 32kg (70lbs) for travel completed by 30 September 2007.

So I may be able to check in my luggage, which weighs just under 30kg.


Alternatively,

"You may check in your free checked baggage plus one additional item of sporting equipment providing that it weighs no more than 32kg and does not exceed the dimensions: 2.5m x 1.00m x 0.8m (98cm in x 39 in x 31 in). "

So I can try checking in some of my stuff as sports equipment - the kites, the ball & mit sets, and also throw in some of the heavier stuff like postcards, etc. Should just meet the 23kg (for my first check in) and definitely less than 10kg for the additional bag.


Praying everything will work out..