True.Illusion

[Tuesday, 24 June 2008, 12.56am, London Time]

So, finally made it to London. Now in Mich’s Aunt’s house preparing for sleep after such a LONG day. The flight was uneventful. Two kids sitting close by but no crying or whatever. They started to play with each other after a while in fact. There was a bunch of Russian kids travelling and making a heck of a nuisance of themselves. Customs clearance was alright. Didn’t get arrested. Oh, me and Jasmine tried to take the lift in Heathrow and we got stuck in it. The lift just stalled and refused to move. Then the ang moh family with us pressed the alarm bell and a mechanical voice said that the lift is not in use. WTF!! Anyway, we got out when the lift decided to work again and took the escalator down instead. Took the Tube next. Freaking long journey and most of us were 3/4 asleep by the time we arrived. Oh, we had to change trains half way and there was no lift in the station. So we had to physically haul our heavy bags up those flights of stairs. Glenn’s luggage broke it’s handle in the process.

But anyway, all 10 of us made it in one piece here. The place is a little small but we’re sharing room – the three guys, 6 girls and Michelle on the couch downstairs. It’s pretty cosy, though I’m not entirely sure how to handle 3 in a bed. Tis a bit stuffy too but I guess it’ll pass.

Oh yeah, we all missed Seng Hong as we were lugging bags up the stairs. He was the muscleman who helped us with the luggage. It’s kind of interesting to think that they’re on their way back to SG right at this very moment. I miss them already. Sigh.

Don’t know what we’re gonna do tomorrow. I’m more or less brain dead by now. I’ve been up since 6am Russian Time, which is…3am London Time. So that makes it almost 22 hours I’ve been up. No wonder I’m feeling a little light headed. Oh well. First day in London in the morning. Oh, and did I mention? It’s night time and dark. Lol!

[Tuesday, 24 June 2008, 11.50pm]

First day in London. Woke up around 11. Jun and DF had already gone out. Mich & Harris too. Had buns and milo for breakfast with Glenn cos the other girls were all still dozing. By the time we all got up and left was already afternoon. Went into town for shopping. Had buffet lunch at Pizza Hut for 6pounds, which wasn’t bad. So sinful. We really ate a lot. The waiter serving us was damn ngiao lah! He’s Chinese too and I guess he knows exactly what we were thinking. So when we ordered one drink, he said, “There are refills for the drinks but you can’t share.” WTF!!!! So tempted not to leave tip for him, but service was already included in the bill. Anyway, went shopping at Primark which is this department store selling really cheap stuff. I got a bag, a pair of slippers, a pair of stockings and a really nice pair of heels. Total 24 pounds, which was a little over my budget of 20 but it worked. Just have to cut down next time, which was why I had cup noodles and cup soup for dinner. Anyway, on the way back, Glenn was singing Credo at the Tube platform and we were harmonizing along and then a woman with a little dog started talking to us. Her dog is so cute!! It’s so little and friendly and I think it drooled over my Fila bag. Which brings me to a problem. How am I gonna explain my Primark bag to Mum? Considering that I just bought the nice Fila bag? Oh my Primark bag, it’s probably as close to my perfect bag so far as possible. But!!! I came back and one of the buttons broke. D-A-M-N!!! They’re all saying I should go back for refund, but me being non-confrontational, I don’t want to. Anyway, the bag wasn’t broken when I bought it. It broke after I put stuff in a fiddled around with it. Anyway, some nicer stuff, I bought another pair of ultimate high heels! It’s brown, Mary Jane style, so cute. So far it’s comfortable but we’ll see how it goes. Pei Min also bought her ultimate shoes. It’s like laced leather shoes but with heels. We were getting uber excited in that store.

Anyway, we came back and started rotating shower shifts cos there’s only one bathroom. And in between, Glenn decided to go do a Number Two and he somehow managed to clog the toilet up with toilet paper. And then he began to panic and tried to unclog it with 2 wooden chopsticks tied together. Lol!! We went to give Moral Support but were really laughing at it. Anyway, in the end, Glenn woke DF who went to get the Uncle who used a plunger to fix it. Dang, we were having a lot of fun with that incident.

So, waiting for all the shower shifts to be done so I can spread out my sleeping bag to sleep. I decided that three a bed is not going to work after all and the carpet is soft enough. And it’s only for a few nights.

[Wednesday, 25 June 2008, 11.15pm, Paris Time]

So, finally in Paris. At the moment, riding the RER line of the Metro. As usual, freaking tired. Got up at 5am and dragged my sleepy body down to St Pancras International Train Station.

It’s at King’s Cross – yes, supposedly the same one that Harry Potter uses. No, I don’t think I could find Platform 9 3/4.

Haha! The Eurostar’s kinda ordinary. Nothing to shout about.

Mostly underground and featureless countryside so I can’t comment a lot about the ride. Wish I knew the moment we went into the Channel Tunnel though. Just would’ve liked to be aware of it lah. First impression of Paris is that it looks like any other city. Second thought: “Omg. I’m back in a country where people don’t speak my language and I don’t speak theirs.” I think there’s something in Dr Maddelena’s idea about learning to speak other languages with the aid of alcohol. I feel so self conscious about speaking here. And I’m shy to try out Dr Ooi’s idea about speaking in a completely different language to force the Parisians to use English. So anyway, I’m in France. We took the Metro to our service apartments. The Metro is pretty interesting. They’ve got double-decker trains!! Seriously.

The Metro’s also quite scary. The kind of train I expect from Neverwhere. When there are multiple lines at the same station, there aren’t walls separating so you can see all the other trains when they come in. And I suspect there aren’t separating walls underground either. Just one huge cavernous underground system. It’s kinda scary really. But cool!

Moving on. We visited the Eiffel Tower in the afternoon. Oh My God!! I never had a reaction of overwhelming awe as when I saw it for the first time. Seriously. It’s hugely immense and standing at its base with the colossal structure towering over – it’s such an awesome experience. Did I mention that it’s HUGE? It’s a million billion times larger than what I had expected.

We bought tickets to go up to the highest observation deck. I was already scared stiff at the lower deck. The view is spectacular though. Well worth the fear.

Then continued up to the top deck. Thank god that deck was screened in. I was terrified and wobbly kneed. Mich didn’t help when she talked about how we could feel the tower rock when the wind blew. The view is even more spectacular though. It’s like looking at a real life Google Earth. It’s really beautiful and you really appreciate how large the earth is when you see it from up there.

Think I overspent a little here on souveniors. Lucky someone (Jun? Glenn?) stopped me from buying a 25 Euro Eiffel Tower watch. As it is though, I overspent. Could have bought those keychains for cheaper elsewhere. Anyway, I’m left with <90 Euros budget for Disneyland tomorrow, assuming I still want to go. Undecided cos the admission price includes rides and I know I’m not going to ride any. I’m better off saving the money for other things. Btw, my 8 pound Primark bag is breaking. Sob sob. I really like this bag.

Anyway, after Eiffel Tower, Harris joined us when he flew in from Amsterdam. We (minus Jun & DF who went grocery shopping) went to visit the Arc de Triomphe.

A bit waste of time cos none of us knew anything about the Arc except that it’s a nice structure. According to Harris’ and mine guide books, the Arc was built by Napoleon to celebrate/commemorate his victories but was unfinished when he began to incur losses. Then during WW1 (I think) the body of an unknown soldier was buried there and it became a memorial and a flame is lit there in remembrance.

As with architecture, it’s a beautiful monument. Wish we could’ve climbed to the top but 5.50 Euros was a bit high and we were freakin’ tired by then.

Then, Glenn decided that he wanted to eat McDonalds and then there was some trouble cos he got angry when the cashier didn’t understand him. I guess it’s an accumulated thing. He seemed moody all day. Anyway, when we went back to McDonalds to collect him & Winne & Bao Zhu, they were all gone. We eventually found Winne & BZ but we still couldn’t find Glenn. We walked up and down the street and couldn’t find him still. Started to panic if he got lost or what. Eventually, we came back and found that he had found his way back to the hotel. Dang. Lol!

Anyway, Jun decided to cook dinner. Not bad. Chicken, beef patty, potatoes, carrots. Haha! And we cleaned up with bathroom soap and bare hands. Dang hard to clean. So, now, DF’s killing these HUGE mosquito like bugs that are hanging from the walls. There are so many. Omg. Scary! But I guess they’re the local bugs.

[Thursday, 26 June 2008, 9.20pm]

Omg! Today was FUN!! Went to Disneyland!!!!!!!!!!! Omg!! It’s one of those moments… Anyway, it’s a really pretty place. I think I kind of understand the simulacra thingy with regard to it. Anyway, we were supposed to go there in the morning but we didn’t wake up until 11. Then we went and bought tickets. A nice ticketing lady told us that students had a discount. Yay!! So, 38.35 Euros, as compared to the original 59 for 2 parks. Then, we entered Disneyland Park. Omg! Beautiful. The iconic castle right before my eyes. But it was pink. Bit of a ‘huh’ moment there. I’d always thought it’d be blue. But it was beautiful.

And Main Street with all the shops and restaurants. There was even a barber shop. First went to the Haunted Mansion ride. The only thing scary about it was the first part. The guy in charge decided to scare Jun just as she was coming in and she screamed in fright. Then we were ushered into this ‘drawing room’ place. Then all the lights went out. I think they used black light or something cos it was completely dark. Then the floor started to descent and the ‘walls’ extended. The pictures on the walls, first looking very innocent, revealed a horror other half. But that was where the scary part ended. After that they made us get into these ‘chairs’ and conveyor belted us around the exhibits, which were scenes from the movie. So not scary lor!! We were laughing at Glenn’s singing/laughing along with the dummy.

After that, the others wanted to ride the Thunder Canyon ride so me and Winnie separated from the main group. We hung around for a while then went to ride the Disneyland railway for a few stops. Then went to peek at Sleeping Beauty’s castle and a ‘birds eye’ view of Disneyland. Not that it was very high up, you understand?

Took a walk around Alice in Wonderland’s maze.

It was kinda fun. The Queen of Hearts popped up to yell “Off with her head” in French, English and Spanish. The maze was fun to me. There was one part where water jets squirted across the pavement. And then, we went to watch a 20 minute version of The Lion King. It was alright. Simba had a London accent and was by far the weakest singer in the cast. Nala was a little too overbearing. Dang. I wanna watch The Lion King musical. But I also want to watch Les Mis. Hoping somehow it’ll work out that I can watch 2. Lolz. Lunch sucked a little. Bought a cheeseburger meal from the fast food thing at the same hall as Lion King. I think I didn’t know and I didn’t put my own vegetables and ended up with 2 slices of bread, cheese and a hamburger patty. Geez. Ate it anyway with lots of fries. I’m eating a lot of fries these days. Can’t be good for me. Watched a parade on Main Street. It was cool!!

Then went to sit the “It’s a Small World” ride. Omg!

It was kind of fun cos it’s a boat ride. But if I wanted to torture anyone, I’d make the person take that ride for like fifty times, tying his hands to the chair. The entire ride they played the “it’s a small world” song over and over on a loop in a million different languages. You know how annoying “it’s a small world” is after 5 minutes non stop? No wonder Rockapella devised a new variation of it. Saw a family of ducks and ducklings on the water during that ride. So cute! Wish they were close enough to take pic of though.

Then we rushed over to Walt Disney Studios Park before it closed in like 1/2 hour.

Watched the Stitch Live show. I really wonder how they did it. Stitch was animated on screen but still interacting with the audience, to the point where he even took a photo of a kid in the audience. It’s real cos he showed us the picture. Really cool technology. Wanted to buy a Stitch toy but it cost 23 Euros. Way too much. Anyway, after WDS park closed, went back to Disneyland for ‘fireworks’ at 8pm. Wondering how to see fireworks when the sun has not yet set and it looks like 5pm. I SAW MICKEY MOUSE!!!!!!

Haha! I sound so childish. Anyway, Mickey, MInnie, Pluto, Donald, Goofy and gang came out and sang and danced and in the end shot out streamers. Chey!! But I enjoyed it. The crowd during this and during the earlier parade was literally 人山人海. It’d be impossible to find someone lost in that crowd. I bought a lot of souveniors. Biscuits and chocolate. Got a souvenior coin for 2 Euros from a machine. But my prize souvenior is a music box. It’s got Belle twirling inside to part of the Beauty and the Beast song. Originally intended to give to Duan, now I’m very tempted to keep it for myself. It was the sweetest of the other Disney princesses there imo. Dang. I overshot my budget today by a whole 5 Euros. Which is not good cos I don’t have that much euros left. Guess I’ll starve for the next 2 days in Paris. At least Jun had the bright idea to buy groceries and cook. It’s way cheaper. But I can’t cook so I guiltily just eat. Lol!! Wish I was made of money. Then I could’ve bought that cute ‘Pirate Princess’ handbag or that vintage looking Mickey Mouse watch, or the Winnie the Pooh mug or Stitch stuffy. Sigh. Unlimited wants, limited resources, like econs says. Oh, was looking out for a Mickey watch, one where Mickey’s hands point the time. But couldn’t find it. Sad. I’d have bought that, screw the budget. Anyway, I couldn’t find it.

Oh I just remembered. Saw a man making crystal/glass sculptures in a shop. He was sitting at the table with a really intense flame and sticks of glass. Then he held the sticks up to the flame and shaped the most beautiful sculptures. It’s amazing. He’s so talented.

[Saturday, 28 June 2008, 12.20am]

Phew. Today (or rather, yesterday) was a fun but tiring day. As you can see, I have not managed to keep my vow to myself to sleep in the same day I woke up in. As I write, I’m sitting in a smoky, dirty Paris train on my way back, with Jasmine. At least we managed to catch the last train. Was so worried what would happen if we missed it and was panicking all the way but we’re safely on our way.

Woke up late today after a very late dinner of stuffed pasta – courtesy of BZ & Winnie. Yum! Went out with Mich and Jasmine. 1st we went to visit the Louvre. It was anticlimatic. We found our way through the underground mall to where the inverted pyramid was. That smaller pyramid under it was there but it was no where as mysterious as the Da Vinci Code suggested. It was obvious that the smaller pyramid was nothing more than a smaller pyramid.

Anyway, then, we went above ground to see the upright pyramid. It was much smaller than I expected it to be. But it was really nice seeing that glass structure against the stone of the Louvre’s Palais Royal.

The museum is HUGE!!! We visited all 3 wings but it was almost literally at a run. Oh, I saw Mona Lisa for real. Again, she’s much much much smaller than I thought she would be. And surrounded by swarms of people so I couldn’t really get close to her.

Oh, I wore my Linguist tshirt yesterday and at least 2 people read it. First person was the cashier at the supermarket. She was giving me strange looks as I stood there and initially I thought that she was pissed that I was holding up the line cos I was on the phone with Michelle. But then she read my tshirt out loud. Second time was in the Louvre. Some random girl read my shirt out loud too. Haha! 2 linguists I met in a day.

Anyway, after the Louvre, made our way to Notre Dame Cathedral. Got a little lost cos the information from the internet differed from the guide book but the guide book was right. Anyway, it was a beautiful church, kinda like York or St Paul’s, with the soaring buttresses, carvings and stained glass.

It was super packed with visitors. Attended vespers service then mass at the main altar. It was an immensely interesting experience. Not just because I couldn’t understand a single word apart from the Latin Kyrie and Salve Regina. I was beginning to see the merits of a common Catholic language as I attended that mass. Anyway, the atmosphere was just so nice and the acoustics as the two cantors sang. Wow! Can you imagine singing in such a magnificent cathedral? Anyway, it was the shorter weekday mass, which was a pity cos I’d have liked to see how a full mass would’ve been like. They used the Latin ‘et cum spiritu tuo’ in their responses. Anyway, point is, mass there was great. Loved the cathedral building, even though I’ve seen the like elsewhere. The carvings on the outside were very interesting though.

So, after mass, went to meet the other two at Champs Elysees. But I blur-blur steered by Eiffel Tower instead and got lost!!! Like Michelle said, the Paris Metro was probably designed by a drunk man. The place is Crazy. If you think Dhoby Ghaut station is crazy, wait till you see Chatelet Les Halles. Imagine 5 different lines transiting at the same station. So there I was frantically trying to find my way round Paris. Haha!! But I got there in the end. We had very nice pasta at an Italian-esque restaurant. Mine was tri-pasta thing. 3 kinds of pasta in one dish – some tasteless spinach thing, mincemeat lasagne, creamy stuffed pasta. Don’t know what it was stuffed with but it was nice. Then had a sinfully chocolately chocolate mousse. Delicious. And all for 20 Euros.

After dinner, me and Jasmine went to see Paris at night (about 10+ by then). It gets dark real late here and it’s a little annoying. Arc de Triomphe is nice at night

but Eiffel Tower at night is better.

It was intoxicatingly beautiful. It lights up with sparkly lights every hour too. So beautiful. Took lots of photos and stayed out till midnight buying tshirts and hoping to see the sparkling which we missed at 11pm. But we saw it anyway and it was so pretty. So pretty. Everyone should have a chance to see the Eiffel Tower by night.

[Saturday, 28 June 2008, 4.54pm]

Sigh. It was a good holiday until today. Morning was still fine. Supposed to go shopping at La Vallee. Then me and Jasmine decided to go to the Opera House. Except that I got robbed along the way. Looking back now, that guy did seem a little suspicious but we didn’t suspect anything at the time. Anyway yeah, now I’m wondering if he tampered with the ticket machines thereby making it look like he was trying to help, on the pretext of picking my wallet. Anyway, I’m super super upset now. I’ve never been robbed before. Lost my IC, Nets card, EZ link, matric card in addition to 140 Euros and S$10. And a lot of sentimental mementos. Sigh. You know, I’d be fine if he took my money. Just give me back the rest. Put it in the mail or something. Sigh. Yeah anyway, lucky it’s the last day so my vision of Paris isn’t tainted too much by this unpleasant incident. It’s the sentimental value of the stuff that really upsets me. Stupid fucking son of a bitch bastard nigger!!!!! Yes, it was a black man that robbed me. You fucking ruined my vacation! I hope that whatever you do with my wallet brings you bad luck. May you get food poisoning with gastric spasms lasting a week. May you meed a karate chopping person who’ll kick your sorry ass to inferos. If I ever get my hands on him I’ll slice off his penis with a blunt scissors and toothpicks. Grrr…

Anyway, made a police report, which is nothing more than a formality since the officers couldn’t speak English and just gave me a form to fill in that was basically no help whatsoever. Anyway, you know what pisses me off most about this incident? Me and Jasmine both saw him and he was in full view almost all the time. Still he stole my wallet right under both our noses. Fuck!!

Psyching myself to remember that it’s just a wallet and everything inside is replaceable and there are no dire consequences of losing my wallet. sob sob.

[Sunday, 29 June 2008, 1.10pm]

Well, I’m in London. Going around by myself today. It’s a little scary but it’s not too bad. Having lunch – chicken salad sandwich and hot chocolate – at a cafe claiming to be the Charles Dickens Cafe, on the street just up from the Lyceum Theatre. Lion King later. I’ve already bought a ticket for 48 pounds. Woah! Trip to Michelle’s Aunt’s place was funny. First there was butt crack guy. Omg! He fell asleep in the Tube and he was leaning forward. Each time he tried to push himself back onto the chair, the friction made his pants and subsequently his underwear, slide further down his ass. Lol! And then, he finally fell off his chair and his very ugly butt was exposed for the world to see. Ewwww!!!!! But he just got up and pulled up his pants and went back to sleep. LoL!! We were all nudging and giggling. Haha! Second thing that happened was that we lost Jasmine! We were almost at Totteridge & Whetstone and then Jun asked, “Where’s Jasmine?” and then we all sleepily looked around and panicked cos she wasn’t there! But she’d taken the next train. She’d stopped to top up her Oyster card and didn’t tell us. So that was last night.

I’m on my own in London now cos the rest of them were still asleep when I left. Went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of guard. Even though I couldn’t really see it, it still looked impressive. Dressed in red with the tall furry hats and the military band and the mounted guard. *g* Twas cool!!

[Tuesday, 1 July 2008, 10.12pm]

Been a while since I wrote. Been busy and didn’t get the chance to write yesterday. Yeah right. Busy? On holiday? Surely you jest. But I have been planning my days very closely indeed. Didn’t want to waste time in London. It happened anyway.

So, to continue with Sunday’s activities. I attended the matinee performance of Lion King in the afternoon. Visually it was a feast, as expected. Vocally however, I think there are things to be desired. For one (or two), Young Simba had a strong British accent and Old Simba had too strong an African accent. Kind of spoilt the effect a little. Nala sang well as did Rafiki. Rafiki was a hoot, bringing down the house when she appeared. Mufasa was ok. Scar wasn’t as evil as I hoped/remembered. Oh, Zazu and Pumbaa were cool too. Ok, everyone rocked! Haha! Enjoyed myself a lot. It was a full house but maybe cos it’s the only musical playing on Sunday.

Anyway, after that, I had time to burn before I planned my Jack the Ripper walk. Not quite knowing what to do with myself, I decided to ride the Tube to kill time. Took the PIcadilly line up to Ealing. I think Uncle Ted grew up there, if I’m not wrong. It’s normal lah but interesting to imagine what it was like way back then. BUT then, I got the time wrong and the Tube stalled for some reason and I MISSED JACK THE RIPPER!! So sad. Oh well, next time I come London.

Yesterday was super packed also. Went with Jun & DF to TKTS at Leicester Square to buy Les Mis tickets. 44 pounds. Omg. Then I ran off to Holborn where I was just in time to catch the tour to the British Museum.

That was fun! The guide was very interesting and entertaining. I saw the Rosetta Stone.

That was cool. He brought us round the Egyptian, Greece areas. Not too bad I think.

After the British Museum, I went to visit Madam Tussauds. Baker Street station is kinda neat. It had Sherlock Holmes silhouette on the walls.

But I couldn’t find the Sherlock Holmes museum (un)fortunately. But anyway, Madam Tussaud’s. I think it’s pretty disappointing. First, the counter staff gave off a very ngiao attitude when I declined to buy ticket to ride the London Eye. I really had no time to ride it mah! Then her ngiao-ness got worse when I gave her a 10 pound note that apparently is not in circulation anymore. WTF! How am I to know??! Anyway, when I finally got to the exhibits, it was so super crowded that I couldn’t do very much. Especially not when I’m by myself. Lots of Indians taking pics with Aishwarya Rai and some other Bollywood star. She’s pretty! I took pic with Pavarotti and Simon Cowell.

I couldn’t find Johnny Depp in the midst of all the chaos. The chamber of horrors was scary by myself. I didn’t go into the separate room with live actors. Scared. Then, they made us ride this ‘Spirit of London’ ride in which was just showing the evolution of London from Victorian times. Then they took our photo at the end of the ride. It cos 7 pounds if I wanted a copy but I didn’t want it. I looked bad! Haha! Anyway, I was out of there in an hour when I had planned to spend the afternoon there.

Decided to go visit the Tower of London and omg that was such a good decision.

Took the audioguide tour and heard all the stories and history of the place. Fun! Also saw the Crown Jewels. Super beautiful and expensive looking. Haha! Of course they were beautiful and expensive. Also saw HMS Belfast that was mentioned in Neverwhere.

Then had fish & chips for dinner. Not too bad. Couldn’t finish the portion. Ate outdoors and that guy sitting next to me was feeding his fries to the pigeons in a very disgusting way. He was chewing the fries then spitting them out. Ewww…..

Then went to Queen’s Theatre for Les Mis. Got lost on the way and ended up in Leicester Square. Wasn’t bad actually. There was the world premiere of Mamma Mia movie ( I think) at the Odeon Theatre. I saw Tom Hanks!! He was there in the distance. Omg! Never saw a movie premiere event before, nor a movie star in real life. See, getting lost wasn’t really a bad thing. lol!

Anyway, eventually Jun & DF found me and we went to the theatre. I bought the cd of the 10th anniversary concert. Happy! The musical was alright. I found Valjean lacking somehow. Fantine was plain annoying. She was literally screaming at times. Javert was the best. Little Cosette was so sweet!!!! But she had to go home early to go to bed so she wasn’t at curtain call. Les Mis musical was a little heavier than I expected but I enjoyed it. Enjolras was satisfactory. LoL!! Anyway, like I said, the musical was fun and I really enjoyed myself watching my favourite musical live. Hee!

Forgot to mention. Alicia bought Krispy Kreme doughnuts on Sunday night. I tried a glazed one and a chocolate custard one. So nice!! Of course, not being a doughnut coniesseur, I can’t tell the difference between KK and, say, Munchie Donuts. But now I can say that I have eaten Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Lol!!

We slept super late last night. Everyone was gushing about their day. The other girls went to watch Wicked and were doing the bimbo ‘toss toss’ move all night. Glenn had gone to Wimbledon and talking about how he sneaked into center court and saw Venus and Serena Williams match and Andy Murray. We were all waiting for the one bathroom to be free. By the time I got in (third last), the bathroom drain was clogged up and super disgusting. Tried to unclog it but it didn’t really work. Jasmine said she thought she saw bugs crawling in it. :p Think DF eventually fixed it before the bathroom flooded.

So that was yesterday. Today, slept in and did some packing in the morning. Went shopping with Jasmine and Glenn at Primark. Bought another pair of slippers, a nice clutch and another bag. I call it my Mary Poppins bag. (Oh, did I mention that I saw Mary Poppins in Disneyland?) Anyway, yeah, I decided to dump my other bag (making everyone think I’m crazy. Shh…don’t tell.) But I didn’t want to bring a broken bag to SG. It doesn’t make sense, especially when I can’t fix it. Oh, my orange Clay bottle broke too so I trashed it in London.

Went for the Westminster walk in the afternoon. It was ok. We didn’t go into the Abbey, sadly. Just walked around the block. Wish I had more time. Would’ve loved to go inside and look see. The Abbey and Houses of Parliament. Still, it was nice to see the outsides, Big Ben and all.

It was Canada day so, being a country in the British Commonwealth, the Canadian flag was flying at Westminster Abbey. Took a pic for Cba.

After that, rushed back to finish packing. Omg! Almost couldn’t lift my bag, it was that heavy. Haha! The Tube to the airport took super long. 2 hours. And there was a HUGE MASSIVE delay at Acton Town cos there was a mix up as to the train’s destination. Omg!! And all the while I was worrying we weren’t gonna get to the airport on time and we’d miss our flight or something. Yeah. Major worry about that today. I worry far too much for my own good. Bought some Paddington Bear toys from Harrods in the departure area. So cute. I love me my Paddington.

Anyway, yeah, now I’m on the plane on the way back. 11:09h more before reaching. The inflight entertainment choices are super nice and a lot! Just finished listening to Spice Girls’ cd. Now listening to Rascal Flatts. Got lots of movies and stuff too. Gonna be an interesting flight even if I can’t sleep.

[Wednesday, 2 July 2008, 9.45pm, SG Time]

So, I’m finally back and sweating like heck in SG. I tell you, it’s no joke coming back to SG after 2 blissfully cool weeks in Europe. Lol!! I’m missing English weather already. The flight was not bad actually. I watched LOTR-FOTR until I was so sleepy I had to force myself to stay awake to finish the movie. I was feeling yammy when Boromir declared his allegiance to Aragorn with his dying breath. Yeah. Aragorn is hot. Just gotta say it again. Listened to Rascal Flatts’ cd until I fell asleep. Not that it was boring, understand? It was somehow soothing. All was well till my legs started to feel real cramped and my left knee fucking hurt!!! Hate these squashed economy class seats. Haha! Anyway, like I said, uneventful flight and we landed in Singapore without me feeling like the journey had taken forever.

Yeah. So I guess that’s it. The conclusion to my trip. It was a blast overall. Loved it. Except the bad bits but that’s life and bad things happen. I’m putting the bad part of the past behind me and moving on. Oh, I don’t know if I have said it. Now that I’ve spent time in London and Paris, I have to say that I definitely prefer London, not just because it’s an English speaking country. Paris feels like a version of London in which someone took the nice ordered city, gave it a few strong shakes, then set it back down. Like an all jumbled up and confused version of London. But ultimately, I like a city like London but with St Petersburg’s views.

So yeah. That’s the end. Enjoyed myself and now it’s back to real life. *muacks*