I <3 london.

I do not believe in visiting a place more than once. Especially when the first experience had been a good one, going back a second time might lead to the possibility of 1) being disappointed 2) bad experiences hence resulting in not liking the place as much before.

But london still holds the beauty which I remember so vividly from my trip there 2 years back. Maybe it’s the sights, the sound, the beauty of the place. Or maybe its just reconnecting with sis that makes this city feels like 2nd home.

. museums .
tate modern still lives as my fav. museums of all time. A pity I didn’t have time to do victoria & albert. Maybe when I go back in june, i’ll spend one day just to museum-hop.

. sights .
london eye. big ben. leicester square. buckingham palace. old spitalfields market. tower bridge. harrods.

. transport .
the world’s most famous underground is undergoing a major revamp. despite its intermittent breakdowns, lack of heating system in winter /air-conditioning in summer and dodgy looking stations, it still gets you places and is possibly the best way to travel in london. and the lady who goes “this is south kensington. change here for the xxx line. this is the district line going to xxx” never fails to put a smile on my face.

there is a reason why the londoners we see are all so skinny. With the amount of walking they do (brisk walking, no less) its no wonder all the girls can afford to flaunt their skinny stocking clad legs in 5 degrees celsius. men too, seem to love running in t-shirt and shorts along the river/under the bridge/across the road.

. brighton .
2 hours of coach ride away from central london is the sunny pier of brighton. i almost believed that I was back in pier 39, san francisco. And somehow, it was every bit I imagined it to be – and that was a good thing! the sun, the beach, the funfair games, carnival rides and amusement parks. Booths selling the famous fish n chips, hotdogs and candy floss. There were even seagulls!

And when I was there, it was really strange coz I kept thinking about the book "the five people you meet in heaven" which I read couple of years back. although amusement parks are all about fun and laughter, they always give me a tinge of melancholy when i step into them. its a very surreal feeling. hmm...

strange, but beautiful.

silly horror ride we took!

lunch: cods n chips (on the pebble bay)

I love brighton. I could live there. seriously.

. cambridge .
despite being a university town, the place felt really different from oxford. the universities and cathedrals were great. But my favourite had to be the punting. touristy I know. But as my fav line on this exchange goes – "im a tourist. and proud of it" (:

let's go punting!

bridge of sighs

familiar sight (:

where pink floyd played their 1st gig!

. shopping .
yes. it was as good as i remembered it to be. topshop. ms selfrigde. primemark. oasis. accesorize . claires . i went crazy with 4 pairs of shoes, 1 earrings, 1 hat, 1 coat, 1 top, 1 stockings, 1 clutch. i hope i didnt miss anything out.

theme for london fashion week: china-london

. musicals .
was really hoping to catch dirty dancing, but check this out – they were sold out for the next 9 months (like wtf??!?!) so we watched billy elliot in the end, which would have been my 2nd choice anyway. And as expected, it was good (:

. eats .
i missed prêt. so imagine my joy of seeing the familiar red and white sign. Its like reuniting with a long lost friend (: other eats includes waganmama (cheap jap-styled restaurant), canteen (brit food!), eat (sandwich place like prêt).

kiasu – restaurant in bayswater serving singaporean / malaysian delights like or luah, fried carrot cake, chilli crab, char kway teow and ice kacang. thanks to sis and bee ling for the nice dinner treat!

belgos – i have been craving for the mussels since i had it 2 years ago. And man, was it worth the wait. Fruit beer was yummy and so were the fresh seafood which we have been deprived for so long.

. sis .
the little time we had made the time spent together even more valuable. to have someone to “mother” over you, feed medicine for my cough, made me eat breakfast, buy me dinner and give up a nice king size bed for me (:

thanks sis (: