AirBnb: My First Experience

So if you're been a long term reader or a friend of mine, you'd know that I went to London last November. It was the first time I've been overseas without my sister, so I wanted to try out something new which led me to airbnb. Basically, I wanted to really get the local feel by living in a legit apartment in London (after watching that airbnb commercial on youtube...)

I scrolled through dozens of apartments and 99% of them were either too expensive, too far away from Central London or too small. Finally I came across the apartment which I stayed in. It looked extremely attractive on screen. Key word: looked.

It was an old Victorian Townhouse. Check
Kinda near Central London. Yes that's what I'm looking for.
It's beside a tube station and a bus stop. Nice.
2 rooms? Yeah I need two rooms       .
Wifi and heating is included. WIFI.
Oh also the apartment is beside a cathedral, a food market and stuff. Oh yeah that's nice too.

And this is where it gets interesting. I showed my parents the photos of the apartment and they were as amazed as I was because, I mean, just look at these photos. Don't they look like a fine ass place to live in... at first glance, yes.

My first reaction when I entered the apartment was 'wait did we get the wrong place?'. The apartment was smaller than my living room. But it's impossible right? How does the apartment look so big in the photos?? And then what my friend told me hit me right in the face. A few weeks ago he was telling me about how his Uncle, when selling his house, would turn on all the lights, open all the curtains so that the whole house was brightly lit in order to make the house bigger.

That's why.

That's not the only problem. So my dad snores a lot, and kinda loud, which was why I needed 2 rooms in the apartment. I guess it was my fault for not viewing the apartment's photos properly. Yeah it does have 2 rooms, but the thing that separate the rooms is a freaking piece of cloth.

The other huge problem was that the toilet mirror was too high up and there was only a small full body mirror so no, you can't take your daily OOTDs. Too bad boys and girls. Also the shower was pretty slow.

Now I'll just list down the disadvantages of an airbnb apartment.

Firstly, it'll be the compromise of your safety. Well it's obvious that the landlord has the keys too so it'll definitely be a risk to leave any expensive things in the apartment. There's also the issue of multiple renting. There's a recent news report about a lady who had been renting an apartment for a couple of months. But what she didn't know is that the apartment is being rented out as a love hotel while she's out working.

Secondly, there's the issue of hygiene. Most airbnb landlord provide towels and bed sheets and necessities as such. How unhygienic will it be if they didn't properly sterilise the towels right? In my case, there was a hassle washing the towels ourselves because we requested for a change of towels daily but it wasn't carried out.

Lastly, I find it kind of dangerous to live in an airbnb apartment. My apartment was in Old Street which is this super quiet place in London. Actually everywhere in London, except for Piccadilly and Chinatown, is pretty quite at night. So it's really easy to be mugged or whatever in this kind of places, especially if you look like a tourist. It's safer to stay in a hotel because most grand hotels are located in bustling areas, and there are also security guards standing guard around the hotel.

This photo was actually taken outside the tube station near my apartment. It was only at around 9 pm(?) but all the shops were already closed.

But y'know of course there are the benefits that you can gain from an airbnb apartment which you can't from a hotel. As I said earlier on, the reason why I wanted to live in an airbnb apartment was because I wanted to feel more like a local and really get the London vibe which I highly doubt is possible in a series of room service and grand lobbies. Despite all of those negative points I pointed out, I'll still probably try out more airbnb apartments when I travel next time (probably the more pricey ones) it really makes you feel like you're a local rather than a tourist. Greeting neighbours on the way out, going to the nearby cafe where all the neighbourhood locals hang. Seriously, I wouldn't have fallen in love with London so hard if it wasn't for my choice of accommodation.

Thanks for reading!

https://www.airbnb.com/

Top 5 Places to Visit in London

While I was planning the itinerary of this London trip in November, I realized how difficult and straining it was to do so. Finding the tourist attractions of a country was pretty easy. The difficult part was to figure out how much time I should spend in one. There was also the problem of budgeting for the trip which I was so bad at doing at over budgeted $1000 for this trip.

And so... 

Top 5 Places to Go in London


5) The London Dungeon

The targeted audience for this lovely attraction here is for the sad and masochistic souls who love being tortured, scared, treated like a slave (exaggerated). Well, this is the place to be. Entering Olden London as one of the traitors plotting to overthrow the great King James, you will be living the murky pasts of London a millennium ago, experiencing what the peasants of the past did. To be hung alive as entertainment for the civilians; to rebel with the infamous Guy Fawkes against the higher authorities of the country; to live in fear, not knowing when the notorious Jack the Ripper will strike again with you as the next target. 



With its 360 sets, great actors, screams and special effects, one might actually think that they really have been sent back to the past through a time machine. "Oh shit what am I doing here... oh yeah I paid to come in here." The duration of the attraction is 90 minutes which will fly quickly once you've immersed yourself into the theatrical storytelling by the guides. 





If you are interested in visiting this dungeon, do book online to save money. The prices start from £18.95 for adults and £16.50 for children. By purchasing tickets of other attractions in the vicinity such as The London Eye and Madaam Tussades Museum, you will receive a bundle offer which will save you money.


4) Central London

To be more accurate, it's this area.

Westminster neighbourhood+ area around Buckingham Palace. If you enjoy taking photos, this location must be included in your itinerary.

I started off at Buckingham Palace to watch Changing the Guards. The dates can be found in this website but just to be safe, you can also go the palace a day before to confirm with the workers there.

After a long hour of watching guards march around, we walked through St James Park which is the most beautiful park I've ever seen. Autumn colored leaves dotted the grassy fields; swans frolicking in the almost crystal clear lake. It is truly a refugee from the bustling city life. 

We walked towards Big Ben, right before crossing Westminster Bridge and then walked south-west towards Westminster Abbey for more photos.

3) Les Miserables

Firstly, it is pronounced as 'Lay Me-zeh-rab' (in English). So if you're planning to buy the tickets on the spot, learn how to pronounce this first. At first I didn't really know how it's pronounced and I was quite embarrassed that I had said it wrongly. To be honest, I'm still not sure if I'm pronouncing it correctly but well it's on the internet so it must be right, right?? :) (nervous smile)

Because it is such a popular show, the better seats are bound to be gone weeks before the show even started. I think I purchased mine online on 3 weeks before the play and 90% of the good seats were gone. Thank god I managed to get a hold of 2 3rd row seats in the Dress Circle.

Since The Queen's Theatre is an old theatre (more than a 100 years old), the theatre is quite small- cramped seats with little leg space. Imagine how inconvenient it'll be if the person sitting right in the middle came late. However, the tiny theatre had a spinning stage to make up for it's size. 

Great plot. Great lighting. Great actors and really amazing songs. I really recommend this to theatre lovers who haven't seen it yet.

2) The Slug and Lettuce

Looking for amazing food that comes with a cheap price? Look no further.

The Slug and Lettuce is a national pub that serves great food and alcohol. When I first saw this on TripAdvisor, I thought 'hmm it's a pub. It's probably going to be quite cramped and loud' but I stand corrected.

Because we went in the morning, we had the whole place to ourselves but it starts to get cramped during lunch hours. We were really lucky to go on a Monday as there is a promotion every Monday. Half price off food! There is also a buy 1 get 1 free sort of deal for desserts on other days too. 

Well I had to order 2 plates of dessert for myself since I am a glutton. I really recommend this one^ . I forgot what the name is but there's the word cookie in the menu. It's basically a brownie, baked in a cookie with nuts, finishing off with a scoop of icy cold vanilla ice cream. My mouth is already watering at the thought of it.


1) Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel

Lastly, my favourite location- Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel. 

I had a bit of trouble finding the location because my phone had a little glitch. Also, the tunnel is hidden in a car park beside a skyscraper. At first we found the closed end of the tunnel and I was really disappointed because I was really looking forward to it. Then there was this guy just walking there and that was when I realize that the tunnel isn't closed. After asking a few guys in the car park, I found the entrance to this insta-worthy background heaven!!

London is truly the perfect place for art, photography and to relax. I'd definitely come back to London as there are many interesting places to go to despite being a small country.