16 Watson Road’s road trip to Lake District!
16 June 2003 Monday

The beginning of the trip didn’t go well. We were supposed to leave at 9AM but ended up leaving at 12PM due to loads of delays. Firstly, we couldn’t rent a car (we planned to rent it on the day it self). Secondly, Alex was in the hospital checking his sprained ankle (but he couldn’t get a doctor to check for him, a male nurse checked for it). Our journey began after everything was settled but it was not the end of our troubles. We were lost in the complicated highways of England for one and a half hour.

Mindy and Su Ween & our car

Lost in England

Lost in England 2

Kf and Alex took over the lead and 4 hours later, we finally reached Windermere. Alex winded down his window and stretched his hand out in a proudly with V sign.

Even though we reached Windermere safety, we had another problem. Strangers have taken our hostel rooms! They left their luggage in the room and some girl even unpacked her clothes and left her blue bra hanging on the bed. We contacted Paul, the owner of the place and he came within minutes. He was puzzled with the unknown luggage and decided the move them all out. As for the unpacked luggage (the one with the blue bra), we had to wait till the person comes back and pack her stuff. Su Ween had no bed to sleep!Wen Dee and I spoke to Paul to settle the stuff and I helped him to remove the luggage out from the room. And there, moments later, we have 2 rooms with 2 double bunk beds and a single bed on the floor each!

The backpacking hostel, for me, was great. The room we stayed in has pretty orange design with 2 double bunk beds. The toilet was amazingly clean. It was literally sparkling. Furthermore, it has loads of facilities such as Sky TV (cable tv), free breakfast (cereal, tea, coffee, bread and milk), Internet access (but we need to pay for it, 1 pound for 10 minutes!) and washing facilities. 

Everyone was sound asleep once we arrived. I didn’t want to sleep thus I ventured out on my own. While I was walking around exploring the town of Windermere, 2 young Caucasian girls (probably 12 or 13 years old, one of them was pretty cute) who were eating ice cream, smiled at me and one of them said,

“Bonjour sevar!” (I think they said this)
“er hello, can you speak English?”
“No no! French! No no!” (I think they can’t speak English)
Then they started speaking French non-stop to me.

I said, “er, I don’t understand French!” I then rudely walked away. She suddenly muttered another French word out. I think its bye. I turned around and wished bye and quickly walked away. Sigh, so embarrassing!

Little Chippy

Inside Little Chippy

Hotel @ Windermere

I scouted for restaurants in the town and found couple of cheap ones. However, by the time everyone woke up, all the shops were already closed. We had to resort to fish and chips. The chips were really good as they were the greasiest chips I’ve ever tasted!

While we were eating outside the hostel, the owners of the luggage that we moved arrived. They were Jewish ladies (youngest one was pretty cute and she has huge boobs!! I mean HUGE!) and they were mad because we moved their stuff. Someone told them that there were empty rooms and thus they could move in. However, they had not made any bookings or payment. We called Paul again. He told the Jewish ladies that they have to move out. They were furious by then but fortunately, they found a room in a hotel next to our hostel.

After dinner, we went to a lakeside. We were there taking photos last year. The couples ventured out on their own while the singles were stuck together waiting for the couples to finish their romantic walks.
 

Windermere lake