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I went on a trip to London,  just to see how my son settle down who left for London a month earlier to start his 3 years undergraduate study at the London School of Economics. It  dawn on me that things are so expensive overseas , especially if someone from the Asian countries is travelling to Europe, with the Pound Sterling as high as 6.49 just over 3 months ago.    It  was just recently that I had  this discussions with some friends about sending children overseas for education which is very costly.  At today’s rate, sending a kid to complete a course in London would cost almost 75,000 Sterling Pound which when converted to the Asian currencies, is enough for the retirement of many. So the question of whether it is worthwhile  sending one’s kid overseas  is debatable. 

I am surprised that there are many parents out there who I know  are financially capable, but seem unwilling to part with the big sum of money, and eventually settle with some local education.  I am not saying that local education is no good, but given the choice of a good university, I think as parent, we should not let the children down.   There is this wise saying of  “Give a person a fish, you will feed him a day, Teach him how to fish, you  will feed him a life-time”.

I suppose I subscribe to the idea of the later part and this begins my wife and I working on our travel and holiday plan, booking of hotels and air travel,  travel insurance etc.

My trip to London was  to see how my son settle down, so my 8 days travel  was centered  solely around London.

Day 1 – Over a weekend , rented a car from EuropCar and checked in and stayed a Putow Farmhouse, located just about 18 miles east of London, near a small town Dunmow.  Cost is very reasonable at Sterling Pound 55 a night that comes with full English breakfast for a couple. Had dinner at a pub called  “The Black Lion”  within a short distance from farmhouse.

Day 2 – Drove to Cambridge Town which is north-east of London, and spent some time in town, before driving down to London Town to drop the luggage for my son.  Headed of to dinner at a Chinese restaurant in  China Town before heading  back to Putow Farm
 
Day 3 – Drove around Great Dunmow town a short distance from the farmhouse, walk-around shopping, had tea at a  very nice Tea House by the Lake, and then dinner at another pub called Axe and Compass.

Day 4 – 8  Checked  out of farmhouse and checked  into a studio unit at  the Citadines at Tralfagar Square right in City center, just opposite my son’s Residence in Northumberland Avenue for convenience.  Price a bit pricey at Pound 130.

On day 4 -  attended a friend son’s graduation ceremony at the Imperial College, conducted at the Royal Albert Hall   

Spend a lot of time walking around and probably covered 30 Kilometer of walking for the 4 days, visiting places around Trafalgar Square over the next few days. Places visited included    Trafalgar Square , Leciester Square,  Coventry Garden/Open Market , British Museum, LSE Campus Area – around Houghton, Kensington Park/Hyde Park – A long walk across both Hyde Part and Kensington Park, Bayswater Area  - along the streets of Bayswater area.  The Whiteleyse Mall  around the corner is also a good shopping stop. 

Recommended places to have meal includes
- Four Seasons  Restaurant at both  China Town   and  Bayswater
- Cheng Chuan Ku  China Town
- New Fortune Cookie Restaurant next to Queensbay Tube station

Day 9 – Checked into a budget hotel, Premier Inn near London Heathrow Airport  for convenience for next morning boarding flight.  Rate of 55 Sterling Pound , though without breakfast was value for money. Reach home  early morning next day after 13 hours flight, and gone through the usual jet lag for the next couple of days.

My friends have asked that for spending so much money, and just staying put in London which is extremely costly and whether it is worth .   My plan was to visit my son to see that he is well settled down for his next 3 years course.  As a parent, I can only say that it brings me great satisfaction to see the children grow up, and be able to be independent. There is no greater satisfaction than to give them the best which will stay with them wherever they go.  And I am looking forward to at least another trip to visit London, before he completes the 3 year programme.

Posted by
Ivan

Written by : Ivan                                                                  

I choose the topic of sustaining happiness because I think that we are mostly happy at one time or another. The issue is only how does one keep sustaining the level of happiness for a longer duration.  With happiness, there is also sadness, for without sadness what then is happiness.
This an a universal sought after.  Be it someone from the Artic down  to the Antartica,  .  The topic is extremely wide and varied and the writer would like to share his opinion, understanding and offer those few tips and tricks that he encountered  and picked up along this journey.

Happiness
Perhaps at the fundamental level, we must at first try to understand what Happiness stands for and what it means to us.  Our upbringing,  background , environment , educational level  and many other factors shape our outlook towards life and what life stands for.   From this, subconsciously,  we all view Happiness in different light. So at the fundamental level,   one must do some soul-searching and determine for himself what constitute Happiness is to him,  and no one else except him.  The essence is Happiness means different thing to different individual..  This definition can take on lengthy debate, but suffice to say,  it would not do much good to get into an analysis paralysis situation and defeat the purpose of the article.

   
From my own experiences,  I am aware that there may be a spiritual definition of the term Happiness, but for this article, I would rather focus on as it applies to the secular world.
If there is ever a universal gauge on happiness,  and a  measure of  the degree of happiness, we could then see whether there is any difference..To my knowledge, there is non.  For instance can we say that a rich man is more happy than a poor man. This I would say not.

   
Is Happiness a state or a journey.  I am sure we can say that we are all happy at various point in time but the question is that how do we sustain and maintain that level of happiness.
So,  we now need to define Happiness within our own context.. And let us not  confused it  with Success in life. For success in life enompasses the ingredient of happiness,  and  without happiness where then is success. 

 
My tips in my own journey to seek out and sustain my  happiness level  involves the following;
• Keeping a balance/harmonious lifestyle
• Make Necessary Changes & start by changing 

 
 Start with Yourself 
 “When I was yound and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older, and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country.
But it, too seemed immovable.
As I grew into my twilight years, in the one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.
And now as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realise, If I had only changed my self first, then by example I would have changed my family.
From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country and, who knows, I may have even changed the world.”           Anonymous

  
• Take Action/Do not procrastinate
• Communicate & Communicate
• Learn to Say No
• Take your Vacation
• Take and accept responsibility.
• Learn to Forgive and Forget/Letting it go relieves a great burden
• Accept differences and diversity
• Be appreciative of what you have while you strive for more
• Keeping a Healthy Lifestyle.

For some people,  the above may be seen as lethargic,  non-progressive  approach but really, it is sometimes this greed that we harbour that drives us to keeping wanting for more,  and when we do not get it,  we become unhappy.

Just as in  life, happiness is mystical, and as  man seek to understand it more, he will find that they are still unexplained phenomena and more  unknowns uncovered.  As man continue to seek further knowledge on this topic,  let us individual not dwell into all the “if” and “but”, but instead embrace it and maintain a state of mind that we can say we are at a  good level of happiness in Life. 

Yours truly,
Ivan

If you think this can motivate someone