As I had a busy day ahead of me, I was up, showered and ready for breakfast by 9am. I managed to coax Dan out of bed to join me with the promise that he could return to snoozing once we had eaten. The rooms may have been tired but they did a good full English breakfast buffet to make up for it. Coffee and tea served to the table. Heartily enjoyed, with a slice of marmalade toast the perfect English way although by now I was wishing I had procured that small jar of vegemite in Berlin’s backpacker central. I left Dan grazing over his breakfast and headed into London’s tacky tourist central – around Leicester Square – in search of a cheap carry on case so I could put all my new shoes in it, strap my small backpack to my big one and stay under the weight limit. Once I found a souvenir shop that was open (this part of London tends to swing into action around 11am or so) it was easy. I sensibly purchased a purple spotted case so if I do ever need to check it and pick it up on the conveyer belt in Canberra, it will be easy to spot next to all the non-descript black ones.

New bag in hand it was back to the hotel to pack and check out. A bit of a monumental task since I had just been shoving stuff into the pockets in all my bags for some time now. After the packing and the repacking and the checking the room to make sure nothing was left behind (apart from most of the toiletries I was dumping to save on weight. Let’s face it in the humidity of Singapore, who is going to notice if IU am using the cheap stuff the hotel provides? Packed and checked out, I left Dan in South Kensington with a few tips about the museums and headed off to Camden. Now that I had space and weight allowance for more shoes, I was going to use it, damn it.

Knowing that we would catch the tube to Heathrow later in the afternoon, I bought a day pass that covered Zone 4. Camden was already in zone 2 so I figured it would be cheaper. And I wouldn’t have to wrestle with the queues with all my luggage. I headed back to Irregular Choice in Camden High Street. It’s not often you find an array of original shoe designs even if a few were a bit Lady Gagaish for me to get away with these days. Despite its Camden address, these weren’t bargain shoes by any stretch of the imagination -starting at about £80. I could have spent my life savings in there but remembered I still had to carry my bag (and feed myself once I got home). I found a glorious pair of lace up houdstooth booties that will make a nice addition to my winter wardrobe. And I picked the shoes on sale – Dan will be proud. Beautiful shoe box in hand (that was of course going to get ditched when I repacked in the hotel lobby, I headed back to meet Dan. (The Separation of Church and Skate – NOFX – From the excellent album – The war on Errorism, released during the Bush presidency in the US. Most people associate NOFX with a samey-samey punk rock sound that fires up pre-emo kids into circle pit frenzy but the genius behind Fat Wreck Chords and his mates also produce some biting political and social commentary. If you don’t own this record – get it.)

With only an hour or so left before we had to head to Heathrow, we wandered up the road, past all the houses we could never afford, weaving through the traffic we could never afford, into the Department store we could never afford. The thing that’s impressive about Harrods though is the food hall. Just rooms and rooms of meat, produce, deli and specialty items (like tea and chocolates. There were a million and one readymade meals or counters you could eat at. While high end pre-prepared meals have become more prevalent in Australia over the past decade or so, Harrods was a step above (and probably more expensive than a café meal at home. As we wandered through the seemingly endless halls, we eventually arrived at the jewelry part of the store. I asked Dan if he was worried we had ended up here. His response? He felt quite comfortable because there was no way he could afford anything they had to sell.

We collected our luggage and headed to the tube – fortunately we were on the right line for Heathrow. Initially dealing with our luggage in the crowded carriage was a struggle and we had to stand up for the entire 35 minute journey. It was much cheaper and faster than most of the other options. My last couple of experiences through Heathrow were quite difficult with lengthy waiting times and complex visa and passport checks. This experience was much simpler, perhaps because the first leg of our journey was within the European Union and we flew out of Terminal 2. When we arrived there was no queue at the Finnair checkin counter. We had all our bags checked in, with boarding passes in hand in just a few minutes. From here through Immigration and Customs, a simple passport check and luggage scan. There was a full body scanner but they were only making some people go through it. The whole process was really quick and left us with a couple of hours to wait before our short flight to Helsinki.

We wandered about to see what was in the terminal – answer – not much. And found a seat. We hadn’t really eaten since breakfast but Dan was keen to avoid the expensive cafes and restaurants in the airport. We chose a last visit to Pret-a-Manger. Dan had the same sandwich again. I chose a rye sandwich and some soup. We also both sampled their quite good brownies. I then used up the rest of my British change in the souvenir shop – including the purchase of a beanbag neck pillow for the flight – albeit with a union jack on it. On the short hop to Helsinki I did something I had never done before. In those few minutes before you take off I always flick through the in-flight magazine and onboard shopping catalogues. Usually I just put them down but this time I spied an ingenious device that solved one of my perennial travelling issues – carrying perfume. This was a lipstick sized atomizer that you could sit on top of any perfume bottle to fill. So I bought it. And in an interesting twist it had been awarded by the red dot design museum I had visited in Essen.

There was snow on the ground when we landed. Fortunately though, we got off the plane through the terminal and arrived in the transit lounge without having to re-clear security. About 30 minutes later we were on the plane to Singapore. No rescreening – just a ticket and cursory passport check at the counter. (Dr Who – Cybermen remix – Pound System – I was a slow comer to the world of electronic music and to this day I am still pretty discerning. Pound System were one of my fave Australian acts from an era dominated by electronic love ins and big fluffy creatures. The music from this album feels pretty dated now but you have to give points to anything that samples the Dr Who theme.)

The 12 hour flight to Singapore was long (and tedious). And the meal schedule and darkness did nothing to help with jetlag adjustment. It was almost midnight when we took off. They fed us almost immediately and then insisted on the cabin remaining dark until we were about an hour out of Singapore, where it was 4pm in the afternoon. Firstly, not many adults sleep for 10 hours. I can’t sleep on a plane anyway and the Finnair TV show selection isn’t outstanding. I like to look out the window and the hostesses always get annoyed even if you raise the shield just a crack, so it couldn’t possibly bother anyone else. We flew over Afghanistan and the Himalayas – it was daytime. All I wanted to do was look out the window. Let’s not mention the couple in front of us who lowered their seat backs as soon as the plane took off so it was nearly impossible to watch anything, and who refused to lift them up even during the meal service because they weren’t hungry.

Christmas themed activities – 24 War museums and model shops – 3 Design experiences – 2.5