I've been a U2 fan for at least 10 years now and having hair-raising moments when I watched their live concerts on DVD made me long to catch them live. I’ve never been to a concert and badly wanted my first one to be U2. So when AirAsia Facebook contest offered a pair of tickets to watch their 360 concert in London, with air tickets thrown in PLUS three nights stay, you bet I threw myself right into it!

Needless to say, when I received the notification from AirAsia that I won, I simply couldn’t believe it! This would be the first time that my husband and I would travel to Europe and we were really looking forward to it.

The new AirAsia Airbus 340 decked with the Raiders livery took us on our 14 hour journey. Bracing myself for the long flight hours, I was pleasantly surprised that the seats were comfortable with adjustable “flaps” on the headrest so that your head doesn’t loll too much as you slept. The food which we pre-ordered also took us by surprise as it more than just edible, it was good.

We took a train from Stansted to the hotel, also courtesy of AirAsia. St Giles Hotel is smack in the middle of the city, a great advantage to pound the pavement to sight-see London. The hotel also offered a great English buffet breakfast to fuel our energy for the day.

London is filled with beautiful buildings. I love the architecture and appreciate that they were built so long ago yet continue to look so good now. While we were there, the weather remained bright and sunny, unlike the dull grey British weather it is famous for.


The U2 concert was ... Magnificent! I kept blinking in disbelief that I was seeing Bono, The Edge, Larry and Adam with my bare eyes. The 88,000 crowd at Wembley surged and thrived with energy as soon as Bono took the stage. We screamed, sang, waved throughout the 2-hour performance and were sad when they waved goodbye. More of the concert has already been covered comprehensively by Han Sen , another winner, earlier.

So what did we cover in London? The changing of guards at Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, British Museum, Natural History Museum, V&A Museum, Sherlock Holmes Museum, Tate Modern, The Royal Albert Hall, Hyde Park, Leicester Square, Picadilly Circus, Trafalgur Square, Covent Garden, Camden Market, Portabello Market... perhaps the list of what we DIDN’T cover is shorter!

We managed to squeeze in a baroque performance at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, without realising how famous they were! We also caught We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre, just a few steps from the hotel. The show was amazingly entertaining and ended with a thunderous applause from the packed theatre. Everyone walked out smiling and laughing, having had a great time.

Since we were there, we extended our stay and took the opportunity to hop onto the EuroStar to Paris and spent 4 nights there, also covering museums, palaces and other famous structures. Besides the usual suspects like Lourve, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, Eiffle Tower, Arc de Triomphe, don't miss the Chateau de Versailles! We fell in love with the incredibly humongous gardens! If you're planning to visit museums, do consider the Museum Pass as we cut long queues at some places.

If we had more time and money, we would have gone more places as Europe is well connected.

More of photos and stories on London, Paris and U2 on my personal blog.

All in all, we had a blast and really are very grateful that we had this chance to visit London and Paris, thanks to AirAsia!

Being on aeroplane is such fun and in the same time creep too. I wish I am always on aeroplane!

Last June, me and my family went to London and from London, we sneaked to Paris. I would like to thanks to AirAsia X for making my dreams came true! I am really thankful for the freaking cheap tickets or not, we can't afford to go to Europe. If I had another chance to go to London, my choice is definitely Air Asia X!
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend all of you to choose AirAsia, cheap tickets, good foods, well-served, beautiful air-hostess and what else you want? Or at least you get chance to be in London! Who cares right? ;)

Some of my photos I took when I was in London.

Wowiieee! Daddy! I'm on London Eye!


I'm not sure if you don't know him. Hehehe ;P


Beautiful London Tower.


And from London, we managed to sneak ourselves to the city of arts, PARIS! Here some of the photos.


Eiffel Tower! :)


I made friends.. :D

Believe me, I am really happy and thankful for these awesome memories! I don't know how to express how grateful I am.

Knowing me as a travel maniac, I wish to go more places such as Abu Dhabi, Chengdu, Pnom Penh, Istanbul, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Stockholm and more actually. Since now there's a promotion to Abu Dhabi and Chengdu, I hope that my parents let me go there to visit the awesome places.

Few days ago, I nearly booked the tickets to Chengdu without my parents' permission, unfortunately, when it comes to payment, I was stucked! Hahah! What the ...? Can't I just pay in counter such? Seriously, I got the offers! But when I told my momma, she was like, speechless. Now when I rechecked, I lost the offers. But anyhow, it's still cheap to be compared to another flight fares. I have a dream to go to China, and Chengdu is just perfect for me! Beautiful landscapes, and my best friends! Pandas! :D

So, I checked for Abu Dhabi too! And once again, I got the offers!! I was really like, oh my God, is this for real!?? Abu Dhabi is a very nice place and the continent I had never been, Middle East. I always wanted to be on a camel, visit awesome mosques, see fantastic Arabian dances (lalalala~) and eat Arabian foods! I can't get the real taste in Kuala Lumpur even there are a lot of Arabian restraurants, seriously. I want the Arabian scenery and ahh.. I can melt seeing those handsome Arabian men. Hehe. Well, I watched all that on Al-Jazeera channel. Blame Al-Jazeera. Hehehe. Also, from Abu Dhabi, I can sneak to Dubai, to see the awesome Burj Al Arab(the highest building in United Arab Emirates and second in the world). Now I am waiting for my times to go to UAE :) God-willing, soon (as soon as when?)

Next places I really wanted to go to are Pnom Penh and Siem Reap. I always love to learn new cultures. Cambodia is one of ASEAN countries I wanted to visit beside Bangkok. These fantastic buildings are worth to see live. Furthermore, Cambodia is one of the 1000 places you should see before you die (from the book "1000 Places To See Before You Die"). Before this, I watched a lot on Discovery Channel and Travel(ASTRO). It brings me virtually to there, but for sure, I want to go there and see Cambodia with my own eyes.

I think, that's all. I just wanted to wish all the best to Air Asia X teams, and I hope this company can expand more, maybe to my favourite country - Sweden? I hope :) Air Asia X is the best!
Once again, I want to thanks to Air Asia for making my family, my cats (oops)and my dreams came true! :) And yes! I love Air Asia!!

From my blog(didn't publish yet) - http://www.ola-lala.com

I couldn't believe it when I got the call that I won tickets to see U2 in London! I'm usually unlucky when it comes to stuff like that but this one takes the cake! Big thanks to Mix FM! :) And so the planning began and the possibilities were endless. I have never been to UK or Europe before so I took this opportunity to explore that continent. In the end, I settled on covering London, Paris Barcelona & Madrid. As AirAsia was one of the sponsors of this trip, naturally we all flew AirAsia X from LCCT to Stansted in London. I had my doubts before this, you know, having to fly 14 hours on a budget airline, in my mind, would be painful. But to my pleasant surprise, the seats were rather comfortable and spacious, even for a 6 footer like me. My only complaint is the entertainment system for rent. There were only so few to go around and half of it was broken!

We arrived on time and we took the stansted express train into London. The hotel we stayed at is called St Giles Hotel. Just situated above Tottenham Court Rd's tube stop, the hotel is really central, which is perfect for travelers! Because of the convenient location, I managed to walk to areas like Leister Square, Oxford Circus, SOHO and Covent Garden. Most of the other attractions are just a few stops away on the tube from here. But I like to walk and sort of get lost in the city, I feel like its the best way to explore it! On the second day, I think I walked in a total of 9 hours with a break for lunch and a stop for coffee! My feet were hurting at the end of the day but it was well worth it!

On the 14th, this was the first of two concerts that U2 will be performing at the new Wembley stadium. I've been a U2 fan since I was 13 and I've seen them live 4 times across the globe but U2@ Wembley is definitely one of the best to catch! As I walked into the stadium, I was amazed by the scale of "The Claw" stage that they built for the tour. With the installation of a wrap-around state-of-the-art screen, U2 is set to provide a 360 degree experience, hence the title "360 Tour" The opening acts were The Hours & Elbow. Both very good bands but a little too emo and mellow for my liking especially when they are suppose to hype up the crowd. But once U2 took the stage, everyone was on their feet. Bono and Co. kicked it off with new material from their "No Line On the Horizon" album before dishing out old classics like Beautiful Day, Sunday Bloody Sunday. Pride & Streets Have ho Name. There was such great energy in the atmosphere and the crowd was giving just as much as the band. We literally sang HALF of Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For!!! I was thoroughly surprised that they brought back The unforgettable Fire, a song they haven't performed since the 80s! Another treat for me was "Ultraviolet", one of my fav tracks off the "Achtung Baby" album which i've never heard live. Bono, with his usual theatrics, came out in the dark wearing a suit mounted with tons of LED lights, hanging onto a swinging mike! You can always count on Bono to put on a show,hehe. Before you know it, everyone was chanting along With Or Without You and the band closed the show with Moment of Surrender. Among the 5 U2 shows I have been to, this one definitely tops the list.

London is a wonderful city to be in, especially during summer. So much to do and see. I must say I managed to cover most of the touristy stuff but I think my favorite moments were walking along Thames River, picnic at Regent Park, visiting Tate Modern Museum, Greenwich and all the good times I shared with my friends in London! This will definitely not be the last time I visit London.

At the moment I wrote this, I'm at St James's Park, London. Waiting for the Changing Guard Ceremony at the Buckingham Palace. I don't know how the expressed myself. I don't know how to thank to AirAsia that make my wish come true. I never thought that one day, ONE fine day, that I'll be in London. Oh dear .....it is a wonderful feeling.

I, together with my husband, flew from LCCT to Stansted, London on 19th March, 2009 at 4.20 pm (local time). My heart pounding as this is the first time we will be going to London. Our dream destination. All the way to London, not to mentioned its 14 hours long journey....we had a pleasant journey. We talk, we ate, and we watch movies from the E-player. The E-player helps a lottt. Then, the Captain announced, we will land in Stansted in a few minutes. Once the captain says " we already safely landed in Stansted, London" Oh My God.Oh My God. I'm in London! I'm in London. I asked my husband to pinch me a bit. Just to make sure that I'm not dreaming, and I'm NOT.

We passed the immigration without any hassles. It just go smoothly and nice. The officer, Alan, is so nice and warm. He asked 5 question :-

1) is it your first time in London ?
2) how long you'll be in London?
3) after that what u do ?
4) can i see your return ticket?
5) where will you stay in London?

There. it's done. no worries okay. once we get out from the airport to catch our bus to central London, we freezed. Its so cold. Then by Easybus, we off to Victoria Station.

In London, we walk..walk...walk..and walk again.I think that is the best way to feel like London people. Oh, not to mentioned how sufficient the underground tube and the buses. I did not faced any trouble while in London. The people are so warm. Just asked them how and where to go, and they will explain and show the easiest way. We went to see the changing guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace, the Big Ben, Tower Bridge, ride the spectacular London Eye, went to Stanford Bridge - Chelsea Stadium, to Camden Town-just to experience the 4 flea markets. Hey...you can get what ever you want in Camden and its cheap too.

Stanford bridge - Chelsea Stadium

For those who crawling for branded item, must not to forget the Oxford Street. It will make your feet screwed up! Trust me. With Selfridges, Primark, Clarkes, Gap and many more. Just prepared your loaded pocket and your credit card as well.

For Muslims, a lot of halal foods in London. There's one at King Cross/St Pancras Station, Leicester Square, Bayswater and others. The food is huge!

Today, is my last day in London. Its quite sad as i have to leave tomorrow morning. I have a lovely stay in London. I love the city. I love the weather. I love St. James's Park.

To AirAsia, Thank You. Thank you so much for making my dreams do come true. Now, I believe, " Everyone Can Fly".

No, it wasn’t my first time to London, but it was the first time flying into the UK capitol on AirAsia X, and as an added bonus, it was the inaugural flight too!
Yes…I was one of the lucky people on board ‘Excalibur’, the Airbus A340 bound to Stansted just a few weeks back on March 11. VIPs included the deservedly proud CEO of AirAsia X Azran Osman-Rani, Asean secretary-general Dr Surin Pitsuwan, British High Commissioner to Malaysia, local and regional media including representatives from Australia, Thailand and China and a few other invited guests.

After speeches were made in front of a large mock up of Big Ben and the houses of Parliaments, local musicians, and London guards then paraded the VIPs to the holding room before we were all guided to the plane with more music and cheering from our other excited staff (with maybe just a touch of jealousy!).

The flight took off on time and it ran as smooth as silk (well if not the Flight Attendants certainly didn’t let it be know there were any hic ups!). Now…I have been on a number of long haul flights and usually the passengers settle themselves down, plug in their head phones, watch film after film, or read their books or sleep….but the true culture of AirAsia shone through on the flight, and there was almost a party atmosphere on board. I guess everyone was just as excited to be on the inaugural flight, which sparked up conversation between themselves after meeting earlier over the coffee, tea, sandwiches and scones we served to them at the departure hall before boarding. And another difference was the lack of built in TV screens (although you could purchase hand held entertainment systems for a minimal fee of rm30/6GBP). Some people thought this would be a problem on the 13 hour flight but in fact I think it added something different to the flight – and more people were talking to each other.

It was actually the first time I had flown to London direct. I usually go through Dubai or Abu Dabi with other airlines which tend to be cheaper than the direct flights and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the flight went. In between chatting to my ‘plane buddies’ I also managed to watch the recent Oscar nominated film Australia, and some classic TV series such as House, America’s Next Top Model the UK hit, and the revolutionary UK sitcom The Office.

The time flew by and suddenly the captain announced that we were soon to be arriving into Stansted. After landing a good 20 minutes early the plane taxied through two fire trucks spraying water over the plane before we were all greeted by AirAsia flight attendants waving British and Malaysian flags, and wearing their smart red coats to bear against the chill of the English weather. Amongst the big welcome committee also stood Group Chief Executive of AirAsia Tony Fernandes and none other than Prince Andrew himself!

The media and VIPs were speedily escorted to the Radisson Hotel beside the arrivals hall where press conferences were held and celebrations were made for the historical, ground breaking event that had just taken place; that Long Haul could be low cost AND high quality, and that AirAsia had become the gateway to Europe for not only Asia, but also Australia.

The celebrations continued that evening at Altitude 360 situated on the banks south of London’s Thames River with approximately 300 invited guests; even the Prince popped along to join in the party!

Thanks were given to the staff at Stansted airport for all their support, and a commemoration made to Laker Airways. Not only is Sir Freddie Laker Snr’s name painted on one of our planes, but his son, Freddie Laker Jnr was awarded free flights for life on AirAsia in recognition for his father’s profound affect on the Airline industry. Stars were also there to join in the festivities; UK pop group The Saturdays performed a number of their hit songs, as did Malaysia sensation Jo Flizo and the jazz artist Sheila Majid.

All in all it was a day and night of rejoicing – and everyone was revelling in the victory that AirAsia had done it; they had dreamt the impossible, believed the unbelievable and made it to London. And I for one consider myself extremely lucky to have been a part of it.

Now I can go back to the UK more often, and what I’m even more excited about is that my family and friends can come over and visit me in Malaysia and take the fantastic opportunity to travel and explore all of what Asia has to offer through the ever growing AirAsia network.