Trip to the Holy Land - photothread.

[Bettyboo]

Part 1 - Korea to UK.

Found a Korean Air flight from Seoul Incheon to London Heathrow - 14 and a half hours direct flight. Cost £631 which is a very good price (believe it or not). Korean Air are one of my favourite airlines.

First, I had to be up at 4am, get ready, walk 30 minutes to Daejeon bus station for 05:10 then a 3 and a half hour ride to the airport. The ticket was about £20 in a comfy seat. As you come towards the terminal, you go over the long Incheon bridge.




A table for giants:







I'm doing 3 flights on this trip, so need a decent quantity of xanax:



(That should see me alright.)

[malmomike77]

Missed your flying phobia Bets. 631 is a great price. Look at the price UK to Home anytime

[Bettyboo]

05:05am, so time to board the bus.

















It was very comfy, so slept most of the way. So far, a good start to a long trip (about 22 hours door to door).

[Bettyboo]

Incheon Terminal 2. Got to the airport about 8:30am. The flight was about 10:50am.

I'd pre-booked my seat on the Korean Air site (free! - think about that BA!!!) Pre-checked in, so it was a breeze at the self-baggage check-in - very fast. Then, straight through immigration very quickly and easily (Heathrow terminal 4 coming up... ).





Loads of food places flight side (even more shops...), but expensive; the beers were all about 8,000 won - I walked end to end, and finally found a place where 2 beers and some great tasting food cost 11,00 won which is about £8.





The plane was (is) a 777-300 which I like. Boarding was a breeze, controlled by "zones", great gate staff.





The trip is going great thusfar...

[Bettyboo]

Missed your flying phobia Bets. 631 is a great price. Look at the price UK to Home anytime

Thanks, mate.

It was cheaper than many crap flights with multiple stops - very happy with it, and turned out to be the best economy class long-haul flight I've ever had.

[Bettyboo]

All aboard...

I pre-booked a seat right at the back of the plane, next to the food and toilets (on a 777) for convenience, and, of course, an aisle seat.

The stewardesses were fantastic, smooth flight, endless food - the food tasted really nice; the best I've eaten on an economy ticket.











My Sony player (£1000) and Shure SE846 earphones (£1000) is my go to travel time-spender - I've 200+ FLAC albums on it, the sound is great, and I can wear it for 10+ hours in comfort.



(To me, this has been great over the years I've owned it -worth the money.)

I had a couple of 2 hour sleeps, but always woke for the food.










Did you notice anything? I had zero alcohol on the flight... Was xanax'd out of my skull though...

The in-seat screen had some interesting graphics as we were coming in to land:



^ by far the greatest team, the world has ever seen!




^ Stonehenge seems to have moved a few hundred miles south...








That was a great flight. Felt excellent upon landing, buuuuuuut - Heathrow terminal 4!

Straight through the automatic immigration gates, walked to the baggage reclaim and my bag was rolling around the circle right in front of me. Walked out the door to my driver - 15 minutes from airplane to the airport carpark; zero traffic up to Buntingford.

22 hours door to door, but felt fresh - surprisingly good day.

[Bettyboo]

Now post 17 below.

[Bettyboo]

Now post 19 below - Newmarket racing...

[Bettyboo]

I wanted to check the zoom on my new phone, so I took a couple of other pictures:

[Bettyboo]

In the evening, the music:



Here's the description: https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/newm...nda-classical/



I took a few pics:












It was excellent.

Took about 25 minutes to drive home. A pleasant evening.

[taxexile]

The whales wearing clothes that a super model might watch on the beach, the cliched men, the way the children dress. Not for me...

always a visual pollution overdose returning to the uk after some time in s.e. asia.

the shameless and frankly disgusting and widespread obesity, the awful attire and of course the botoxed faces and lips swollen with filler. tv reality shows like love island etc. have a lot to answer for, but i cant understand how these bloated whales can walk around in tight fitting and revealing clothes. its sickening. and dont get me started on the tattoos they plaster all over their blotchy flab. no shortage of fat blokes too, all with that council estate haircut popularised by footballers. but the women seem to bloat out much sooner than the men.

the good news of course is that diabetes, cardiac arrests and arthritis will rapidly reduce the numbers of these loathsome beasts roaming the streets.

[Bettyboo]

^ there are some tattoos going on; seems to be a trend with ladies to get leg tattoos; not my thing, but their bodies.

Is there anything you've liked or felt positive about thusfar in the thread, Tax?

[malmomike77]

Whilst unfortunately what Tax says is true, I think he won't see them tatts get wrinkly. You pics on pic on posts 7 & 8 ain't showing

[Bettyboo]

Cambridge is a 30 minute drive away. It's very nice for a day trip.

I took some photos:








Everyone loves a wine shop:
















Popped to a country pub on the way home, upon a country green - t'was very nice:




Then I popped in to see my brother:

[Bettyboo]

Whilst unfortunately what Tax says is true, I think he won't see them tatts get wrinkly. You pics on pic on posts 7 & 8 ain't showing

They did work... Then there was some kind of computer thing, and it changed - I'll try to redo them.

[helge]

He does have this "I wish he would leave the fucking goats in the car" look on his face.

[Bettyboo]

Post 7 redone:


Food...

Korea has a few nice dishes, but it's not like Bangkok where you can pop to Paragon or numerous other places for UK food - Korea is double shite for getting English food.

Thus... once back in the UK, I tend to go a bit crazy on food.

I've done loads (10 different ones already?) IPAs too.

Here are some pics:









^ a Cumberland Scotch Egg!!! You don't get that in Korea.

[hallelujah]

Cracking thread, Betty.

I was working in the region for a while in 09 and travelled through Turkey, Syria and Lebanon.

Lebanon is a proper night out.

[Bettyboo]

Post 8 redone: Newmarket racing:


Had to pop to Harlow, Essex, in the morning to the O2 shop (trying to sort out the esim on my new iPhone 13 mini; I like small phones that easily fit into my pocket), and it was traumatic. The people. The things they wear. Their voices and mannerisms. The whales wearing clothes that a super model might watch on the beach, the cliched men, the way the children dress. Not for me...


Went to Newmarket about 5pm for six races - the two folks I went with are annual members of the Thoriughbred Lounge which is a nice place with tables, TVs, it's own betting boothe, it's own food, bar, outside box, security, etc - there were about 10 people looked after by 3 staff. It's very nice.

In the evening was a 2 hour Hacienda concert which had a famous DJ from back in the day, bands such as New Order and M People plus an orchestra - it was really really good. The ticket cost me £80. The food/bar bill was £85 for three people. I lost £20 on the day, betting...

I took some pics of the place and people:



















Racing is good fun...

Finished at 8:30pm - then the music, as above.

[malmomike77]

Are you two drunk or am I myopic

[Bettyboo]

The sculptor Henry Moore had a house, studio(s) and gardens about 40 minutes drive away. It makes for a nice day trip.

Henry Moore Foundation | Henry Moore Foundation

I took a few photos:

















Well worth the trip. There's a very nice cafe too.

[Bettyboo]

Are you two drunk or am I myopic

I'm on my way to the Holy Land, but as you know, a pilgrim's path is a winding one, so I'm visiting the UK first...

[malmomike77]

Still not seeing 7 and 8. Anyway, as I understand it, it's considered good luck to rub a nuns face in your crotch, or is that get your face blessed by a nun or rub a corniche pisky

[Bettyboo]

^ now 17 and 19.

(big and proud)

&, a nun's crotch is always an welcome option.

[Bettyboo]

He does have this "I wish he would leave the fucking goats in the car" look on his face.

Goats are great. Everyone knows that...

Later on, if all goes well, I'll post a goat in the Holy Land!