During this segment, we reunited with Jessica and Rob in London. We spent most of our time exploring the city and enjoying the comfort of our host’s flat. We did manage a short two-night excursion to Brighton—a charming coastal town. The visit gave us a chance to reacquaint ourselves with some of England’s extensive public transportation system, popular hotel chains, grocery stores, cafés, and more.

2025.08.06/07 – [GB] Home ==> London

Our kind neighbor Sharon generously drove us to the airport, navigating through rush hour traffic. Without a bicycle box to check in, the airport process felt much easier and stress-free. We had over three hours to wait before our 9 PM flight.
Once on board and after the doors were closed, we were pleasantly surprised to find the middle seat between us left empty. Unfortunately, the selection of new movies on board wasn’t particularly impressive. Jenny appreciated the extra space, which allowed her to stretch out and get a bit more sleep during the flight.
Upon arrival at Heathrow Airport, our attempts to use the automated passport gates were unsuccessful, so we proceeded through immigration with a counter agent instead. We decided to take the Elizabeth Line to get to Jessica and Rob’s neighborhood—a one-hour ride. Although we initially boarded the wrong train, we still ended up at a station just a short Uber ride from our final destination.
We received a warm welcome from Rob and Jessica, who were both working from home that morning. Over a light breakfast, we caught up and shared stories. Later, we went for a 40-minute walk. Upon returning, we enjoyed a light lunch. After freshening up with a shower, we gave in to the jet lag and took a much-needed nap.
Dinner was a delicious lasagna, after which the four of us went for a longer evening walk through the neighborhood. We were surprised by the number of construction sites in the area—many new buildings had sprung up since our first visit back in April 2022.

2025.08.08 – [GB] London ==> London

After a restful night’s sleep, we had a late breakfast prepared by Jenny. Shortly after 11 a.m., we bid farewell to our hosts and set off for the Kew Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We had been reminded by Jessica that we could use our respective credit cards to tap-in/tap-out of any tube lines which made it very convenient and avoiding us to queue to buy tickets. We reached the attraction by taking a direct one-hour overground tube(train) ride from our flat. We spent four hours exploring the grounds, greenhouses, and various gardens. On our way back to the station, we stopped at a café for coffee and snacks.
We returned just in time to enjoy some nacho appetizers before our hosts prepared a delicious fajita dinner. We played a few rounds of Bananagrams, which Jenny particularly enjoyed. Afterward, we went for a short walk and admired the full moon from the rooftop terrace of Jessica and Rob’s building. We also made a hotel reservation for our upcoming visit to Brighton and purchased a rail card, which gives us a 30% discount on train tickets.

2025.08.09 – [GB] London ==> London

As our night sleep was disrupted by what we hoped was some left over jet-lag, we ended up waking up late morning. Rob went for a run while Jessica left for a session at the gym. Jenny managed to wash a load of our clothes and hang it on racks for drying. Upon our hosts return, we had some sandwiches with a touch of kimchi for lunch. In the afternoon, we visited the nearby V&A (Victoria and Albert) East Storehouse which offered a behind-the-scenes work of the museum and access to its large collection in storage. As the case with many cultural venues in the UK, the museum visit was free. We stopped along the way back at a Tesco Express for some staples for our dinner. In the evening, we took a very busy tube ride to London’s city center to attend a candle light concert held at an old cozy church. We took a Uber ride back to the flat. We’ve been appreciating the comfortable weather up to now with its temperature in the mid-twenties. We purchased our train tickets, via the trainline app, for Monday’s departure to Brighton.

2025.08.10 – [GB] London ==> London

After a leisurely mid-morning breakfast, the four of us set out for a long walk in the nearby Victoria Park. Along the way, we passed various food market stalls. Once back at the flat, we rested before heading out at 3:15 p.m. for a traditional Sunday roast lunch. After a short walk, we returned to the flat again, where Jenny did a small load of laundry. Later, we took a few hours to catch up on some much-needed sleep. In the evening, we played several rounds of Bananagrams and Rummikub.

2025.08.11 – [GB] London ==> Brighton

Jenny and I woke up at 8 a.m. After a light breakfast, we packed our travel bags and said our goodbyes to Jessica around 10 a.m. We took an Uber to Stratford station, then boarded the tube to Farringdon station, just four stops away. Upon arriving at the tube station, we made our way to the nearby train station. We waited only two minutes before our train to Brighton, a coastal town. It wasn’t until we were on the one-hour train ride that we realized we hadn’t tapped out with our contactless cards when exiting the tube at Farringdon. We were surprised that we managed to board our train without passing through any exit gates. Worried, we feared our credit cards might be charged extra for the journey.
When we arrived at Brighton station, we explained the situation to the gate agent, telling him that we had already purchased our train tickets on Saturday but had forgotten to tap out at Farringdon. Without any questions, the agent let us through and advised us to call customer service for a refund on our contactless cards.
We walked a short distance from the train station to our hotel. Since we arrived shortly after noon, we left our luggage at the reception and set off for some sightseeing in the surrounding area. Along the way, we enjoyed a nice break at a café. Later, we picked up some snacks at a grocery store before returning to the hotel to check in at 3 p.m. After a few hours of rest, we went out for a fish and chips and roast chicken dinner. On our way back to the hotel, we strolled along the pedestrian walkway by the pebble beach.

2025.08.12 – [GB] Brighton ==> Brighton

We dropped by a nearby Wetherspoon’s pub for a bargain breakfast and were astonished to see how many patrons were already drinking beer at 11 a.m. After a short break in our hotel room, we headed over to the seaside promenade.
The sunshine made for a much warmer day, but thankfully, the occasional sea breeze helped keep us cool. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped briefly at a shopping mall in hopes of cooling down. Struggling to find a place offering cold slushy drinks, we eventually ducked into a McDonald’s for some ice cream and frozen lemonade — it turned out to be cooler inside than the mall itself.
Before returning to our room for an afternoon break, we stopped at an ATM to withdraw some local currency. We also booked our train tickets for the next leg of our journey, scheduled to begin on Friday.
After thoroughly reviewing our dinner options, we chose a Chinese restaurant. In the evening, we enjoyed strolling through the quieter streets after the day-trippers had left town. The city’s seaside promenade and streets felt much more pleasant and relaxed at night. Earlier in the day, we managed to confirm on-line that our credit cards were not overcharged for yesterday’s missed tap-out coming out the tube.

2025.08.13 – [GB] Brighton ==> London

We were hesitant to return to Wetherspoon’s Pub for breakfast after yesterday’s less-than-stellar experience. Still, the price was hard to beat—the budget-conscious traveler in us couldn’t ignore that their breakfast was half the price of the hotel buffet. Fortunately, today’s visit was much better. We even placed our orders through their mobile app, which worked surprisingly well. It seemed like every business in the UK had its own app—we’d already downloaded at least half a dozen.
We checked out of our hotel at noon and walked to the train station for an uneventful journey back to London. Along the way, we discovered a not-so-obvious tap-in/tap-out panel meant for passengers transferring between the train and Tube systems—a small but important detail that could easily be missed.
Once back at the flat, we rested for a few hours before heading out at 6 p.m. Rob led the way to downtown London, where we met up with Jessica at a steakhouse. When we arrived, we saw a crowd queuing for a table—but thankfully, Jessica had made a reservation for us. We enjoyed a delicious meal; most of us had steak, while Jenny went for a burger.
After dinner, Jessica and Rob surprised me with a birthday card that revealed a special activity planned for tomorrow: an immersive Titanic experience. We wrapped up the evening with complimentary ice cream cones from the restaurant and headed back to the flat for a few more competitive rounds of Bananagrams and Rummikub.

2025.08.14 – [GB] London ==> London

After yet another late breakfast, Jessica, Jenny, and I headed to a nearby shopping mall for some clothes shopping at Uniqlo. While we were there, we also picked up groceries for our early dinner.
Following our meal, we left the flat and took the Tube to Canada Water station (yes, that’s actually its name) for a post-birthday surprise activity: an immersive Titanic experience. The visit was both informative and fun, featuring virtual reality and metaverse elements that really brought the story to life. Overall, the experience exceeded all our expectations.
Afterward, we took an Uber back to the flat, where I was officially presented with a selection of birthday pastries from one of London’s high-end Japanese bakeries. We ended the evening with more rounds of Bananagrams and Rummikub—though the competitive spirit of certain players definitely started to show!