See Ya, London!

The queue at the VAT refund counter had a ton of people. I wasn't about to go stand for an hour to clear my receipts. Sod it. I want to have a fuss-free flight home. I'm not going turn up at the airport 3.5hrs earlier and queue for 1hr 20 minutes to claim £200.

Each time I shop in London, I don't do so with the purpose of claiming VAT on the items, well knowing how crazy the queues can be. So I don't feel the pinch. Anyway, the items are already cheaper than what it is in Singapore, so I ain't gonna complain. Or one could shop at the airport. Limited as the selections are, the choices aren't that much better in the boutiques either.

Luckily, security clearance at Heathrow doesn't involve AIT body scanners, yet. In the USA, we have the right to reject passing through these scanners, but will be subject to a thoroughly invasive pat-down. You might feel violated, but if you're one those who aren't keen on AIT radiation, no matter how miniscule, you will not want to do it. I'm NOT particular pleased about the whole shenanigans about it. Let's see how it goes. For now, I don't want to fly to any US destination and feel like I'm a criminal while sitting in a nice comfy seat on the plane. They might as well handcuff me there and then before landing.

We spent a long time in DFS, staring at the single malts on the shelves, trying very hard to decide what to buy. Laphroiag 25 y.o, Old Pulteney 21 y.o or Talisker 57º North, et cetera. Very exciting. After checking in 2 enormous suitcases, we've nothing else to carry. We had earlier couriered home 2 boxes of shopping bags, groceries and assorted perishables. When I travel, I don't like being weighed down with other people's shopping lists. If they hand it to me, it's with the understanding that they either pay for shipping if their lists are ridiculously long, or I'll simply purchase at London retail price without VAT refund. I'll not stand in the queue for any reason because I rarely do it for myself. My time is more precious. Next year VAT is rumored to go up to 20%. I'LL STILL NOT DO VAT REFUND BECAUSE THE QUEUES WILL BE EVEN MORE RIDICULOUS. The most silly thing one can do is to shop for people you don't particularly like, or people who think that my 60kg luggage weight can include their bulky and heavy items, like a box for their Hermes Victoria Tote. Humans really, sometimes, don't use their brains.

The last thing to do before flying out from is to sit at the counter of Caviar House & Prunier for some breakfast. The man insisted, "It's a tradition." Yes, yes. We do that. They do stock my favorite brand of bottled water. Heh. The seafood is always yummy. But its coffee is nothing to shout about. But the coffee at the SilverKris lounge is eeeky too, so I might as well sit here on the high stools and absorb the last bits of London.