LONDON! Finally visited this place I thought I'll put off till I come back for masters or something but this place is really one of the nicest city I've ever visited. In some aspect it's like a nicer/classier Paris with more attractions and words easier to understand while being much more expensive; but it mostly posseses a form of Old World charm that's pretty much incomparable (perhaps to Switzerland but not really as well). Anyways, this is one place I'll definitely visit again, for holiday, for long, or maybe even for good.
Left Ingatestone heavy-heartedly and also bade Jiahan goodbye after we split up at London Liverpool street. Met Irene at Hammersmith and the first thing we did:
After we put down out luggages and settled our lunch was the second main theme of this UK trip: shopping! And yes, Primark again and I brought another pair of pants and shorts this time round. Went over to Kings Cross next cos, well, I've recently received my letter of acceptance from Hogwarts and it's the first day of school... #sian
Talking about there being a lot of people, as you can see, there's actually a line behind this piece of wall and we queued for almost half an hour to take a photo with it; if Yimei was here she'll probably be mad at how ridiculous this is... Haha! Went over to the city centre area to have our late dinner that Irene reserved for us. On the way there she keeps saying, "hope it's not cloudy; hope it's not cloudy" and we were baffled by her prayers (is it outdoors or what?!). When we finally reached, we understood:
Manage to catch the tube before it closed and went back for a pretty early night rest; and for the first night, the cold, hard ground with my beloved sleeping bag is my bed...
Next morning was supposed to meet Jiahan and Hanni (who's coincidentally here in London; well, everyone is in London this festive season... Friends are posting all over Instagram and Facebook of their London trip; Singaporeans are everywhere wherever we go; and the tourists on the street... Just go home already!) but Jiahan was late so we missed the first morning tour (Huihan and I actually reached pretty early, early enough to get us a cup of Starbucks but oh wells). Walked around Covent Garden, mainly the Apply Street Market and ate paella (cos Hanni hasn't had breakfast) and wandered around before the next tour started at 1pm. Went to Trafalgar Square to see English's middle finger to French; walked past Pall Mall street, the 3rd most expensive in UK apparently; saw the legendary Big Ben and got reminded of V for Vendetta (Guido/Guy Fawkes was mentioned in the tour as well); Westminster; and also the London eye!
Hanni left us after the tour cos she's leaving on a train to mid-Wales; the three of us went on to meet Irene for dinner. Jiahan saw this recommended steak somewhere and suggested we go and it's actually pretty famous, according to Irene. It costs £10 for a plate of beef steak (that's super nice!!!) and for that we had to wait for almost an hour...
Went on to Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park which is basically a Xmas market with fun fair rides; it's super crowded probably because it's a Sunday. Ate Churros (super nice), Oreo Belgium waffle, pork cracking, and buffalo meat burger!
This is not the London eye
Next morning had Ben's cookie (apparently they went to Singapore already) then went down to 221B Baker Street cos Sherlock said he had some cases to discuss with me. Reached there and realize there's a long line of people queuing up to seek his expertise and he imposed a steep £10 on the entrance so I decided to Pangseh him. Went into the shop to see his merchandise before I went over to the Beatles shop in hope of finding them there; guess they went over to Abbey road when I visited but it was kinda out of the way so we decided to chill at the UK food chain Pret a Manger cos they had free wifi!
After that went down to meet Irene (where she bought us Xmas gifts!) then proceeded to Kensington Garden and Palace cos Kate Middleton said she wanna see me since I'm in London. Irene reserved a high tea for us at Orangery to experience the taitai life Kate is living but Kate stood us up in the end. Tsk.
Walked down to see Albert at King Albert Hall but apparently he's not in too - all escaping the festive crowd...
Entered Imperial college cos they wanted to offer me a slot in their medicine school but they realize I didn't take A'level chemistry so we went to La Pâtisserie des Rêves to buy tart Tatin and chilled in the lobby (and use toilet) before we met the Malaysian girls (Joanna and friend) and chit chatted for a while.
Went down to Harrods cos Huihan was feeling rich after a whole day of taitai-ing and proceeded to spend another bomb. Wanted to buy something but Huihan reminded me that I still owe her $1k... Got Macaroons instead lol!
Finally, last event of the day made us stone 1.5hr waiting for it... But it was definitely well worth the wait, presenting:
Good food of the previous night carried on the next day when we went down to Borough Market (where we met Chingyi while on our food hunt). This place is SOOOO AWESOME! Had Wangus Burger (wagyu+angus; damn worth), duck confit (abit dry but delicious indeed), macaroons (again), and OYSTER!!!!!! Satisfied my don't-know-how-many-month-long craving for it (even better than the one I had in Nice!)
Only charged me £7, maybe cos I handsome LOL
The famous confit (bread was disappointing)
Earl Grey!
After satisfying the stomach it's now the eyes' turn to indulge. London Bridge, Hay's Galleria, Tower Bridge, and Tower of London!
Went down to Oxford Circus/Street, which is basically the Orchard Road of London and it was super crowded! Walked abit and found the famous fish and chip from Golden Union!
Took a walk after dinner to Piccadilly Circle which is, as expected, super crowded as well. Went into SOHO and visited the Chinatown where we'll return again several times. Reached the theater early so we went to chillout at a bookstore and finally, the much anticipated to-do in London:
After the eargasm is time for "dinner!" Went back to Chinatown for Four Season's Roast duck which is supposedly the best in the world (ya, not in Hongkong)
Next morning is New Year's eve! Went grocery shopping for ingredients with the bitches (Irene bought a new baking tray cos she's lazy to wash -.- really damn rich; then again, she bought it from Poundland - equivalent to our value$hop just twice the value cos everything's £1). Went back to Chinatown with Huihan to meet Daphne (from HDB) and their fellow Dunman friend, Krystal; ate Ramen and mussels from eat Tokyo! Had a strong craving for ramen but their ramen sucks so it didn't really satisfy the craving; mussels was alright perhaps cos oyster the day before was too awesome. Bubble tea from Chatime (apparently they're in Singapore too) after that was was nice though! Went to do our favourite activity: grocery shopping again, for tofu at the oriental market (Long Feng) and stupid Huihan pushed me to the "cash only" line when we were already cash-strapped at this point of time. The tofu cost £1.25 and, lo and behold, I just nice had £1.25 exactly in my pocket! "Today is your lucky day," said the cashier, and I guess this whole trip has been pretty good actually! Also, Songen told me that the orinetal market here listens to YES 933 and I didn't believe, untill I hear the familiar "YES 933 醉心频道" and a tiny surge of homesickness rushed in...
Got our goods but Irene wasn't home yet, so back to the second theme of our trip: Primark shopping! Found a nice belt and bought a throw for Irene as Xmas/NY gift before we proceeded back to prepare our very chillax NY celebration...
Nua-ed until 12am and... HAPPY NEW YEAR! Watched the love telecast of the firework at London eye over the computer on BBC Channel. Tried to put on some movie but we were all too tired.....
2015! Spent the first day of the year lazing around the house and not step out of it at all; had leftovers and pizza for meals the whole day and it was a much needed rest for war when I head back to Stockholm for my exams! Ended the day with packing, cleaning, and Doreamon movie! And 3am in the morning the next day, we bade Irene goodbye... Till I see you again in summer maybe?
And as I've said, thanks Ms Spoiled Princess for taking me in as your burden these two weeks!!!
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It's been an awesome experience traveling around Europe these 5-6 months, with the closure of this trip I'm just gonna study for exams, enjoy the last few days in Stockholm, and leave for my true home. I'll definitely be back though! :)
