bandar Birmingham & Paddington photos - my Maiden Europe 2013 backpacking trip - day 1 & 2

Warning - LOTS OF PHOTOS (as usual click to enlarge),
the last one an eye-candy. Sight for sore eyes gitu.
tapi aku cerita sikit Perjalanan dari lapangan terbang Heathrow ke London ke Birmingham guna berbagai keretapi pasal aku nak cepat giler.

mission day one:
- Hope my flight has no delay and precisely 0530hrs to arrive at Heathrow Airport
- Clear immigration without problem as quickly as possible
- Must find a way to reach Birmingham City as fast as possible to at least walk around the city (kalau tak rasa rugi pasal tak tahu bila lagi boleh sampai tempat ni), then to find a way to Villa Park by 1600hrs to see Bon Jovi play.

Like in Singapore and I believe its the same in Kuala Lumpur, London's Subway uses Sunday as a day to do major repair works, so there will be a few stations which lines are closed.

So once I clear immigration and I realised this above problem may hinder my fast and furious mission,, I decided I have no choice but to take the Heathrow Express to Paddington and then switch to the Underground to Euston, and from Euston takes a train to Birmingham.
The cost if I remember correctly is something like this (I am typing this from memory but I do hope they are fairly accurate).

Heathrow Express - Paddington  - 40 pounds ( I bought both directions as after Bon Jovi plays Birmingham UK, I want to see Maiden plays in Germany and I dont have much time travelling time wise. )

Paddington - Euston using Underground UK - if you dont have the Oyster Card, get ready to pay about 4.50pounds on average for your subway trips.

London - Birmingham (take the train at Euston) - This trip is about less than 3hrs depending if the train you take is the one which stops at more stations, or the one that skips more stations.
This cost about 50pounds (to and fro).

During the trip you will pass by COVENTRY, and also you will pass by the Birmingham Airport Station which is next to the NEC, the place where the original Maiden England in 1988 was recorded, so its a kind of history trip for me as my purpose to backpack was in fact to see Maiden England LIVE.

I reach Birmingham City at about noon, enough time for me to wander around, and take a glimpse of the city center.
So the city is very beautiful and its so cold for me, I will never get used to that cold weather.

So you can see lots of old  historical buildings, Queen Victoria era, very beautiful, and also references to Lady Diana and all that. Its nice.

So heres the mumbo - jumbo photos of
Birmingham City area,
the insides of the Heathrow Express trains,
the Underground ( SCREAM FOR ME HAMMERSMITH!!! )
Euston Train Station
The inside of the train going to Birmingham and whatever else I just lump in.
Not forgetting the FLEA MARKET!!

.
.
.
Next....
.
.
.





PADDINGTON, London, is really something...
I took the time to wander the streets, and suddenly look what I found. Paddington waterway and watersides.

Some sort of water canals or small rivers, where there are sort of boats or gondolas being in used.

I think this is the best thing about travelling by yourself where you can just explore and see things for yourself.

.
.
.....
.
.
.
,
,... one last photo...
,
.
.
.
.
...
.
.
.
.
.....
.
.
.
.
Finish of this post with some eye-candy...

Janick Gers (withAdrian Smith in the background..)
- first night Maiden Frankfurt 11 June 2013.

Love his add-ons to the song Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son 
I wonder how  Infinite Dreams would have sounded with him joining in.

lights out in London

click all photos to enlarge Sambil tunggu nak sokong USA lanyak Ingerland, update flickr.com dan tampal sini jugak better half aku nye London backpaking fotos, tengok gambo2 ni, aku pun betul2 nak backpack gi sana. cita2 aku, maybe sampai ke tak, yang penting hidup mesti ada cita2 kan? tapi aku nye angan2, the iteanery will be very simple - At least Two Maiden indoor shows in their own homeland ( 2xlondon, or 1xlondon + 1xManchester ) - Stadium Of The Biggest Football Club In The Biggest City In Europe. ( nope its not Chelski or team jews tu huhu, though I have a soft spot for the original Up The Irons London team, of course, being a Maiden fan haha ). yo-yo oh je kan aku? tapi, aku nye biggest dream la ni dua, in terms of hiburan duniawi. tu hari pun seems Jetstar nak start sg-melbourne + auckland. So its just a choice nak naik kat kl or sg je kalo budget2 ni, tengok mana ada. Dengan budget airlines, satu benda yang impossible dulu2 untuk blue collar workers - travelling , backpacking tengok2 negri orang, atau tengok Maiden, atau tengok Arsenal, bukan lagi boleh dicakap impossible. Bukan lagi angan2 mat jenin, tapi kena la usaha pandai2 simpan sikit2 lama2 jadi bukit. But never forget Priorities in Life, especially food, well being, shelter, clothes, education, transport etc of your love ones and religious obligations such as zakat. Enough of that, t this is london.(click all photos to enlarge) right time right place photo cam gini kot From the backstreets there's a rumblin' Smell of anarchy No more nice times, black boy shoe shines Pie in the sky dreams Lights out, lights out in London Hold tight 'til the end Better now you know we'll never Wait 'til tomorrow mendung je gitu buat aku ingat cerita 28 days later / 28 weeks later ni bawah aku jeles rabak nye, stonehedge sey. sebagai peminat humour Obelix and Asterix - geng giler , biol dan otak mereng ni yang antara buat aku minat membaca masa sekolah dulu, aku tertarik masa nengok gambo ni.. a roman bath (teringat kat - ooo at least I can go and have a bath... its that time of the year anyway - nicko mcbrain, one of the funniest little joke kat listen with nicko series ). Where's Wally. Korang ingat Mr Bean sabo mamat guard ni haha.. kena projek rabak2 sey. oh oh oh I feel something coming.. feel like a riot in a dungeon lawa2 sey medieval buildings dorang. ni lak kuda ngah pusing tu wheel.. Maiden moments mesti la ada... Brave New World artwork haha Churchill's Speech... We Shall Go On To The End...We Shall Fight In France, We Shall Fight On The Seas And Oceans, We Shall Fight With Great Confidence and Growing Strength In The Air, We Shall Defend our Island, Whatever The Cost May Be bla bla bla bla bla bla We Shall Never Surrender!!.... Ewah!!! madame tussaud, einstein. Brighter Than A Thousand Sun dan what a joke, macam siol kan Maiden, apsal dorang swap ni ngan wrathchild kat Houston smalam? ( seken nite of tour ). Selenger Bacin ah Maiden. E=MC squared you can relate, How we made God With our hands this is so unik song for Maiden tau. ok bola nak start, more pics nengok kat flickr..

paris tu tempat berlakunya murders in the rue morgue

i found my better half's backpacking trip was a success and very interesting indeed. So I thought I just share some of the photos with you guys... ye la, sapa tahu lain kali aku ke korang ke sampai tempat ni sambil tengok Maiden ke hehe. ni apa ni, museum or something,...aku suka foto ni..anyway she used a S90 for this trip. (click all photos to enlarge) ni bawah ni better half aku cakap ni semua ni Louvre.. besar giler beb, seminggu pun jalan kat museum ni tak abis. aku memang suka museum2 ni semua actually.. sini yang ada monalisa aku cakap tu hari tu.. ni pengsi ni..nun jauh di mata..all the way.. ni yang kat wayang Interview With Vampire kot yang Tom Cruise ngan nenek bawak anjing tu tak salah aku.. ni tak salah Notredome ( sorry aku tak tahu eja ) yang cerita Hunchback Of Notredome, aku suka cerita ni masa aku kecik2 dulu something familiar.. effiel tower ( sorry aku tak tahu eja ), Eddie dah gigit dah benda ni.. yang atas ni aku suka angle dia besar gedabak benda ni.. kejap kejap...tak sah kalo takde Maiden moment at least satu kan? anyway, korang kalo dengar bootlegs Maiden kat France, biar betik Bruce bebual French , terror la dektu..., korang dengar yang bootleg NPFTD tour tu, paul ricard nye show, dia intro Nicko,' de charlie chaplin ', tu je aku paham.. kat official album pun ada kot, ARLO intro lagu Wasting Love dia merapek merhaban ntah apa kebenda cakap French. Murders In the Rue Morgue Running from the GENDARMES Murders In the Rue Morgue Running from the arms of the law Ooohh Gendarmes tu polis kat Peranchis.. siot je eh ingat balik time aku kecik2 dulu2. selenger. aku suka jalan2 dia...dah tu, standard, neat je.. pengsi kan kereta jalan kat tempat gini.. ni pun lawa ni, Eddie naik kereta tank kat sini kan yang satu tshirt tu... lagik.. lawa sampai kat siling.. last kopek , more pics kat flickr aku...kejap ni aku upload, wah..aku rajin dah buat album flickr sekarang kalo aku ada peluang internet...haha. walaupun background Moulin Rouge , huhu....tapi tetap... I remember it was plain as day although it happened in the dark of the night. I was strolling through the streets of Paris and it was cold it was starting to rain. And then I heard a piercing scream and I rushed to the scene of the crime what I found were the butchered remains of two girls layin' side by side. There's some people coming down the street at last someone heard my call I can't understand why they're pointing at me I never done nothing at all. But I got some blood on my hands because everybody's shouting at me I can't speak French so I couldn't explain and like a fool I started running away. Pathetic rabak kan bila ayam cakap ngan itik..