How was your Christmas?

Merry Christmas!

Hey peeps.. how's your Christmas weekend?

I wished you all have a great one, some travelling, some cuddled up at home alone - whichever you were, let it be a good one..

I spent my Christmas accompanying someone who's unwell.. I mean, anyone would have done the same.. and I realised he could do with some help cos I know how sucks it feels to be sick and unable to do much things.. I thought I'll just be around so he could use some help if needed... and I've gone back into the pool and swam some laps.. Damn I missed swimming so much..

And as the year draws to an end, I would just like to sum up 2016 as a year of plenty of dramas, ups and downs, and some great travels, went to Australia with the entire family and then went to London by myself.. people I've came to know.. people I chose to forget/forgive.. things I wouldn't have otherwise done..

I wish your 2017 a happy one.. Don't forget Malaysians, it will be a year full of challenges and for all we know, it's GE time and that means - go all out and vote against this crap!

Trying on the new Klang Valley MRT in a very lousy weather..

Spacious and quiet.. 

Day 8: Last Day in London

Day 8: 19 Sept - Monday

My last day in London.. I would fly back to Kuala Lumpur on MH1, which was a night flight from London Heathrow Terminal 4..

As I woke up in, I decided to go for a walk and then go to check out Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station, while touring St Pancras..

The giant clock in St Pancras International

St Pancras International, the platform

 

St Pancras International - Platform on the upper floor, shops on the lower floor

Facade of St Pancras International

Beside St Pancras is King's Cross.. it is where Harry Potter's Platform 9 3/4 is and the Harry Potter shop is located beside it.

King's Cross Station

Paid area of King's Cross

The queue.. From this point onwards its 45minutes..

The embedded trolley

I'm with Gryffindor!

Outside HP shop

After that I went to Westfield Statford City and took a glimpse at the Olympic Park.. I went on last minute shopping there and bought myself some clothes from Primark..

The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

All in all, my London trip expenses came to about RM8k inclusive of flights, but it's also one of the best solo trips I've taken and the people I've met..

As I learnt, all Malaysia Airlines flight depart from either Gate 6A or 6B which the information won't show up on the departures screen until the check-in counters are closed, which is like an hour before departure..

3 bags (one on my back) and a paperbag

Checking into Heathrow Terminal 4

Byebye London!

Homebound

Ahh.. the aircraft is being prepared..

Don't get me started on talking about Heathrow check-in and the terminal.. It's horrible!

Level 3 Zone H is where you do the tax-refund, which is horrible to the horrible to the horrible!! It's packed like sardines, the officers are slow like shit, the people are like, well, I'll reserve my xeno comments..

Because of that, I have to repack my bags and take out all the items I've bought that I want to claim tax refund, because the officer will want to see the items. NO ITEMS NO TAX REFUND. And then I have to go through the customs and get the tax refund settled inside..

I also learnt that you don't need to stamp your passport on departure from the UK.. I wasn't the only person wondering if I have missed the passport control counters.. cos other people too ask me if I have seen any counters or not.. it didn't cross my mind until I was in Malaysia..

Upper deck and business class passengers will use one gate, while first class and main deck economy passengers use another gate..

All settled into my seat.. 34A

Taking off 

Start of the longest flight I've flown

Dinner.. or rather supper..

Lunch

Arriving KLIA

Landing....

I tried to get some sleep on the 13 hours flight home, but unfortunately, even though it's night and bedtime in London, I couldn't sleep at all.. In fact, I did not sleep at all on the flight..

The plane landed in KLIA around 7pm, and after clearing immigration and all, I was home around 10pm and headed off straight to bed as next day need to work..




Next solo trip, where? 
Maybe Canada since Malaysians will no longer require visa to enter Canada.. a good CND200 savings there..

Day 7: Gymming Naked

18 Sept 2016 - Sunday (I'll update some general gym pics later)

(PS: Sorry I took this long to write this)

I didn't have much things planned for today, it being Sunday.. I woke up and went for a morning jog in Hyde Park and visiting Princess Diana memorial (who knows the fountain won't be open till 10am!)..

So I jogged towards Kensingon Gardens where Kensington Palace is and finishing my jog by taking a rest by the Round Pond (it's not round, by the way) in front of the palace and watch the birds and swans poop and feed.. It's just so peaceful and everyone is enjoying their morning exercise, far from the bustling traffic..

A squirrel!!

Look at the plenty of ducks

Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.. CLOSED!!

That's all I can see from the outer gate.. I can't make out where's the "fountain"

It's so cold that I have to jog with my jacket on!
(compared to when I was jogging in Mont Blanc Charmonix France when it was close to zero degrees Celcius - I needn't need a jacket!)

Kensington Palace

Outside the gates of Kensington Palace

The "Round Pond" in front of Kensington Palace.. Look how big this pond is!
The brown building on the left is Kensington Palace

Then I head back to my hotel and quickly got changed before I attended church service at St John's Hyde Park.. It's just a small church in the midst of the neighbourhood and that day they were having a charity bazaar after service in honour of the fallen men..

Church facade

Inside the church

They called in the horsemen

Some performance at the bazaar

Best Western Delmere Hotel - Paddington

After church, I went around the city center for some last minute shopping before heading to the nude gym in Chiswick nearby Gunnersbury tube..

My friend who's based in London for years have never heard of this place before, so I asked him if he wanted to go to a nude gym, he jumped at the thought and was rather impatient to see and experience it..

This gym, NKD Training, trains naked every Sunday afternoon 4.30pm with Paul.. The gym is actually open from 3.30pm-4.30pm for those who want to workout on their own, whether naked of with clothes, but the whole point of coming here is to workout naked, right??

Gay men are often plagued with insecurities about our bodies and not everyone is comfortable enough to strip off completely in a bold attempt to better yourself.. For everyone in that room, being naked was the most normal and natural thing in the world.. I can see my friend quickly settled in and enjoy training naked..

It was the sudden realisation that whether your body is perfect or not.. I was pinching my belly fats as my friend workout his abs and legs, for the first time I see his nicely chiselled abs with well defined V-lines and yummy legs.. lol...

If you are not naked, I bet you'll be harshly and silently judged by everyone else where, who are naked.. like "whats the point you come here to workout with clothes, might as well just go to your regular gym!"

Selfie in the gym!
Naked :)

Shoes and towel are mandatory.. Anything else is optional..

The training session, shaped like a HITT circuit incorporating cardio, strength and resistanc training for a full hour non-stop, is quite intensive and tough, even for someone like me..

Plus all the cocks swinging around.. Not that they distract (or attract me, since I ain't into white guys), but rather it's the aircond and sweat that bothers me more..

The front entrance is conveniently shuttered and you enter the gym from the back entrance, walk through the gym floor to get to the "reception" where founder-owner Paul greets you sans-clothes. (not very big, probably a 100sqm or so, with 3 showers and 1 toilet, some metal cabinets for storage).

Were the guys there hot?

I don't have a thing for white guys.. So my answer is no.. Then again, men of various shapes and sizes and colour and age are there, so it's evenly spread out.. Majority are white guys, some black guys, some I-dont-know-what-they-are and then there were two of us, Asians..

I do hear friends ask, "won't you get hard working out naked?"

The answer is NO.. You need all the blood to where you're working and to the brain, so the last thing your cock need is more blood.. So you won't get hard, so to speak..

So after the training session is over, everyone made a bee line for the showers, although the showers have doors and in bathrooms, to save time, everyone just queue for the 3 showers one after another.. Guys who are done dry themselves outside on the gym floor so that the next one can proceed to shower immediately..

No - we didn't shower together at the same time..

After that, we went to Bayswater for some awesome duck rice.. Yes, apparently the Chinese food here is really good.. The wait is about half an hour or 45 minutes and we had to share a table with others..

Bayswater

Gold Mine Chinese restaurant.. 

Ducks!!!

Itadakimasu!

Dinner with my London-based friend..

Next post: Platform 3/4 and flying back to Kuala Lumpur.