Haha a friend gave me this link when I told her that I was going to Italy for mid-semester break

http://www.italiansrus.com/articles/ourpaesani/italianmen.htm

As if I needed an incentive to go XD lol! I've been browsing for a while and the site itself is really interesting.

Ok, I'm off to get ready for a rugby match this evening. I'll update soon the other days I have pending. I'm sososo sorry about that XD I'm bad.

reflecting...

This is Daniel Araujo's note on facebook and I wanted to post it to comment and try to make one of my own. Things in red are my own comments:


I have been living in the city of London for the past 3 (going on 4) weeks, and I have 10 left. I have learned, seen, and changed my mind about many things in the short while that I have been here. So, here is a short list of some of the first ideas/impressions/lessons that London has given on me.

1.) The United States should lower the drinking age to 18 (at least 20).
Most people would abhor such an idea, but I have found that it creates more responsible adolescents. Because drinking is illegal in the States until such a high age (21), when kids do discover alcohol it is usually well under the age of 18 and greeted with excess. In the UK binging, drunk driving, and alcohol poisoning aren't really big problems. This is because people grow up with alcohol their whole lives and they know how to use it responsibly. I can see this no more clearly than when I go to pubs (dance clubs are an exception); people don't go to pubs to get drunk, they go to pubs to socialize. Alcohol is a social tool, not a means to inebriation. And surprisingly, people usually (but not always) drink without intending to get drunk.
Agreed. It worked for me at least. Not seeing alcohol as this horrible, forbidden substance, and actually growing up with it and having drinks here and there since I was very young, made me not obsess over it and abuse it. Drinking for the sake of getting drunk is a concept I will never understand. Yes, I do protest that I can't drink in the U.S. yet, but not because I really want to. It's the principle of the thing. Huff.

2.) Retailers, shops and restaurants should include the cost of taxes in the prices that are posted up for items.
It is so convenient to know what I'm actually paying when I go up to the counter, so that way I don't have to waste time calculating 0.8% of the cost of my item into what I will really have to pay. When I shop in the UK, I know exactly what change to have when I go up to the counter (assuming that I've added everything correctly). But then again, the costly pound is no friend of mine . . .
Agreed. Much easier that way. For the most part, I remember this being the case in Mexico, so once I got to the U.S it was a pain in the butt to sort out the tax. Made me do unnecessary math over the weekend too XD

3.) The United States should try to revamp its public transportation system.
Here in London, I am a frequent user of "the tube" or subway system. It is extremely convenient to use the subway to get to the other side of town, take care of shopping, and then come back home all in less than an hour. It doesn't even have to be a subway system. Just uping the amount (and respectability) of buses would do the trick for the US. It's just a convenient system.
Agreed. Night buses rule. I hated not being able to plan a night out because I had no way to get back (taxis are out of the question)

4.) The people and the government of the United States need to be more environmentally friendly.
London is such a clean city both because of the pride that the citizens take in keeping their city clean and the clean up efforts of the local government. When I went to the Mayor Thames Festival a few weeks ago, I noticed that there was hardly a piece of trash on the floor. At a festival, remind you! Not only that, but (as alluded to in point # 3), a sizable portion of the city's population relies on the public transportation system, thereby decreasing CO2 emissions. Recycling efforts in this city are also very impressive; there are recycle bins everywhere! Here, people really do care about the world they live in.
Agreed.

5.) The United States really (both in the media and at home) needs to embrace science.
Here in the UK, evolution and climate change are scientific facts, and are discussed and treated as such. This is really such a warm welcome for me as I don't have to explain myself everytime I want to get into a discussion about one of these issues. The people are well informed and know what I'm talking about and why I'm talking about it. Science is really respected and appreciated here in the UK and the goals of scientists are not treated with the amount of suspicion that they are in the US (usually).
Agreed. Though I really can't understand how it cannot be an embraced subject. Evolution theories and science don't conflict with Christian beliefs...at least not Catholic's. It took me some 3 books that related the whole evolution-not-taught-in-science-class-in-friggin-1990s/2000s drama and personal accounts to actually GET that it was a real mindset. And climate change is so OBVIOUS I don't get how it can be dismissed. Yay for science. Still not changing my major to it, though XD sorry Daniel haha


6.) Racism is non-existent here.
I have not heard a racial remark, slur or joke since I've been here.
I know there must be some... but I haven't really encountered it yet. A tiny anti-U.S. remark is all I heard in Edinburgh, and that was expected and not really hostile anyway.

7.) People in the UK are rude!
Britons have a no nonsense attitude about literally everything. And as such, it seems that most manners go out the window. I'm from the South (perhaps the Deep South, as I'm from Texas) and as any Southerner knows, manners are very important. But here, people just don't care. They don't say thank you when you hold the door open for them, they don't smile back when you smile at them and they certainly don't help you up if you trip or hurt yourself. (I don't even want to tell you how crappy service is when you go to a restaurant. But that largely has to do with the fact that people who work with food get paid a lot more than in the States. But, I digress.)
Disagree. They aren't rude. Manners a very important here. Yes, you don't say 'bless you' when someone sneezes, but it's not out of impoliteness. And I have encountered people often in the tube who will just smile (either first or back at me). And they have said 'thank you' when I hold the door open. I hear thank you a lot, in fact. And I know 'please' is a MUST here. Talking loudly in public is frowned upon here...and a lot from the group do it constantly. tsk tsk.

8.) The UK needs to start getting some Whatburger restaurants set up.
I don't know why I would ever need to explain myself on this point. Whataburger is the shizzle!
Uh...No. I don't really like burgers, but aside from that I don't think the UK needs more fast food. With huge orange signs. And not very pretty establishments. So no.

9.) Everything really is smaller here.
Cars, food servings, drinks, and even buildings are smaller here. I really do appreciate the space (and the personal bubble) I used to have in the States. It can be a bit claustrophobic here. However, the entire country is only a fraction of the size of the US, so what can you expect?
The cars are so cute!!! I don't mind the space, or lack thereof too much. I don't seem to find that I have less of a personal bubble here than anywhere else....and since I have the top bunk bed, I find that I can have my little world up there lol


10.) I love Texas.
I never thought I would say this, but I actually miss Texas. I miss the hot ass weather, I miss the smell of bar-b-que everywhere, I miss the long/wide roads that dominate everything and I miss (dare I say it) crazy Mexicans (at least they smile when they're about to shank you!). I am starting to miss my home, my family and my friends. And I already miss my girlfriend to the point of agony. But I'm still having a good time here in London. However, by the end of October, I will probably be so broke that it won't matter how much fun this city is. Oh yeah, speaking of which, I miss plain-ol' cheap stuff!
Sorry, but not really. I don't miss home yet. Yes, I miss my people, but not the places. Not yet, at least. I love the weather here and hate it when it's sunny. I don't like bar-b-que to start with, though I am beginning to be bothered by the common smell of curry. It's in every sandwich shop and it doesn't agree with me, so the smell now bothers me. It bothers me when Kim brings all her curry food or samosas into the room and closes the window. Ugh. Anyway. I don't care for wide roads... I've always been a pedestrian; wider roads are a pain to cross. I do miss proper Spanish a little, though. I perk up like a happy puppy when I hear people from Spain and the day I found a Mexican family at Sainsbury's I was elated. But it's like that even in SA. Proper Spanish is hard to come by. I do agree on the cheap stuff. I miss it!!! I can't buy anything here XD Except wine. I bought a bottle of Lambrusco the other day. Very tasty. (if you're a purist and don't consider Lambrusco to be real wine, don't burst my bubble. I like it.)

I'll come up with my own when I have time. I still need to update all those days below

Tuesday 23
Lecture on eradication of poverty and global warming

Wednesday 24
Welcome BBQ at Imperial College
Valeria's B-day- clubbing

Thursday 25

Sick due to clubbin XD Missed the outing for the Wax Museum
camden market

Friday 26
Edinburgh

Out of London

Saturday 21

Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, Oxford


Sunday 22

Stratford upon Avon

Poets' corner!

Friday 19

We went to Westminster Abbey. Loved it. Pity we couldn't take pictures inside; I was alternating between drooling at the Gothic architecture and tearing up at the moment. I'll update later.

Found my dream house!

Thursday 18

I had almost completely finished my nice, long update, and then the stupid thing closes by itself. Grrrrrrrrr.
Breathe in.........
Breathe out..... (don't start, Kavidha :P)

Ok, I'm done. Let's try this again.


We went to Kew Gardens for our Science class... Kim and I were a tad bit late (soso sorry). We forgot it was earlier than the regular classtime. Then the whole class got mixed up and we boarded the wrong train (that line has 3 different routes and we didn't notice, heh). Anyway. When we got out of Kew Garden station, several of us fell in love with the area. I found a couple of houses I now claim as mine lol It's so beautiful there, so quiet, the houses are charming and it's just so....green XD


Once inside the gardens, we set off to the Evolution House, since we needed to go there for our Science class. We went into the wrong building at first -Temperate House- because they were right next to each other and because the Evolution House was...tiny. Anyway, the Temperate greenhouse was full with plants from all over the world, but I kept seeing mostly from Japan and Southeast Asia. I think I missed an entire section, I don't remember the African ones. My camera decided to be difficult, so all my pictures of the flowers there are blurry and useless. Therefore we shall borrow Kim's photos. And speaking of Kim, we found two groups of Japanese students, so for a while we kind of went off wherever they were, just to see if we got any of what they were saying XD coughstalkerscough teehee

The Evolution House was a disappointment. Very simplistic, small and directed to a much younger audience.... which is why Dr. Pohlmann told us to write the essay on the whole trip, not just that one section. Even if it was only a two page essay (double-spaced), it still would've been a pain to try to squeeze that much out of it. That's how bad it was.

After that we went to the Japanese garden section...which again was a little too small for my taste, but at least it was there. Can't have gardens without a Japanese section XD. From there we went off towards the 'Queen's cottage' and the bamboo garden. Not very impressed with the bamboo garden, but by then we were running out of time so we only took a glimpse anyway. We took pictures every five steps, I swear and I even walked slowly *gasp*. The world could've ended, just for that lol.

We ended up missing like half of the gardens, but we were limited in time. That place can only be fully appreciated by spending at least half a day there, strolling and just relaxing. It is one of the most peaceful places I've been in. Loved it.

I picked up a real estate paper...because I'm totally going to have a house here...somehow....someday.... >___< They are ridiculously expensive. Sigh.

They have a store by the train station that has a lot of organic products... kind of like a mini 'whole foods'. I found one item I needed, so I was quite pleased. I'd been worrying I wouldn't be able to find that darned thing. Anyway, I.... hmm I can't remember what we did after we came back from the trip.... I think we just came back to Metrogate and were lazy. I think we might have gone to an used-books store... and you all know what must've happened then XD I'm going to donate some of the books at the end of the trip to Metrogate...or try to sell them back... I don't know, but I certainly can't bring them all back. Just a couple...

still sick

Tuesday 16

I was still sick, rather worse actually. Particularly with a headache sent from Hell. Spent most of the day trying to sleep it off, taking meds, seeing if the cough and headache would eventually give in. I couldn't even go to the meeting/class at 6:30pm. Prof. Pohlman was kind enough to send me a brief on the meeting. Thank you!

Wednesday 17

Feeling much better. Just a mild catarrh. My throat wasn't hurting anymore, it just hurt when I had coughing fits. Funny, the better I feel, the more I cough. Huh.

In order to start on the exercise for Sports class, I went to the pub (see? feeling better XD) to watch the Dynamo vs Arsenal game. 1-1. Minute 88. I wanted to slap them. Glad Arsenal didn't lose... (ya quiero ver a Carlos Vela jugar con ellos, me lo he perdido. Con quién juega en Mex? con las Chivas? ...lástima que Rafa Márquez está en Barça y no aquí para poderle ir a nadamás un equipo XD aunque Barcelona como equipo aparte me gusta tmb)

I didn't get my fish and chips this time around either, since I'd only just had some left-overs... but a little into the game I decided I was hungry enough for a small apple pie with custard. I hadn't noticed before that the pub would be closing for a while for refurbishments in 2 weeks... so I need to find another place to watch the games. Darn it. This one was just at the corner, very cozy and convenient...oh well.

SO not funny.

I have a cold. Of all the things.... First it was Kimberly, and I remember thinking how horrible it was for her to be ill barely on our second day here. And now I have it. It's not too bad really. Mainly just as I wake up, and really it's just my throat being uncomfortable and my head a little stuffy (aka mild headache). Nothing really painful or unbearable. But I still feel wretched at having being dealt this hand -mind you, if this is all the bad luck I'll have to deal with, then I'm totally fine XD
Thing is, I was planning on having a day trip today. I have a couple of places I want to visit, and today would've been perfect. I suppose I could still make it; after all, I only feel a little faint at odd times. BUT this would make the cold worse tonight or tomorrow. I'd rather just wait it out and not make it too bad. We'll see how I feel in a couple of hours.

edit: ok, scratch that... throat is sore and swollen now and so are my ears. meh.

edit 2: yay! Kim brought this magical syrup medicine thingy that allowed me to get out of bed. Throat is much better, the rest is a bit better, though my head still hurts and I just want to go to bed and not have to set up the travel form. Too much research, not enough brain cells healthy at the moment.

weekend!

Friday 12

We had our British Life class. Prof is cool. I think he treats us a bit too much like children but it's not too unpleasant. We watched a fragment of Harry Potter, try to find characteristically British things in the movie. I actually found out something I didn't know, out of that activity: I wasn't aware that Jamaicans that lived in the UK, back when they first got here, were employed a lot for public transport. For the longest time, I couldn't find the point of that annoying head hanging from the Knight Bus, yapping. Now I know that the Jamaican head is a bit of a, shall we say, reference to that. I'm not sure I'm comfortable about that (just like I'm not comfortable when they put silly/ignorant stereotypes for Mexicans in movies), but I don't know to what degree that's significant or if it's actually anything to take offense over on their behalf. So I'll just leave it at that.

Afterwards we really did go to the Mall, I just forgot what it's called. Starts with a 'W' XD I'm awful, sorry. Anyway, we got there and I shopped a little at H&M. I finally found lychees, but they were fresh and not in their juice/canned and I thought it was too much of a bother. I might go back for some, but not anytime soon. We split up at the Mall for a while... and I can't believe I spent all that time in just one store. Whoops. I also bought a pair of flat, dressy-ish shoes (finally), since I left my heels at El Paso and SA. I was planning on buying some nice high heeled shoes BUT the only ones I liked that were comfy and pretty (and they only had that size), the guy tells me he can't find the other shoe to complete the pair T_____________T Then he has the nerve to criticize me for being picky. Honestly. *huffs*

On another note, Kim and I also found an used-books store nearby. Uh oh. XD

......

If I recall correctly, that's pretty much what we did on Friday. Not a lot to report.

Saturday 13

I had to attend the Mayor's Thames Festival for our English class, but it was something we all wanted to experience anyway. This time we also went with Erica, who's just a darling. Can't believe she's older than I am.
The sun was out today, so that was unfortunate. I think that's what finally lowered my defenses and made me sick. My body was confused by the heat coming from the evil day-star, but the wind was also rather strong and cold due to the river... Add to that that Kim had been sick for a while (so I was directly exposed to the virus). So yeah, I started getting a bit of a sore throat.

We split up from Miguel and Martha and for some reason stayed behind.... it was really lively, with all the stands and different cultures offering trinkets and food. I bought a couple of prints. The Chinese food I had left a lot to be desired. My head was hurting by then, so the food just put me in a bad mood lol I can't believe I forgot my ibuprofen in the room. Erica saved my life with Tylenol, but it wasn't enough to eliminate it.
We knew that the actors that play the Weasley twins in the HP movies (James and Oliver Phelps) would be there, so we quickly planned out around that. At 4:30 we met with Martha, Kat and Miguel, and lined up to get into the event. It was aimed at children, but we didn't care. All I can say is that the twins are very pleasant and better looking in person. I personally liked James better and can now tell them apart. That can't be good... After the show, I went around to the back and caught a glimpse of them outside the trailers. I was about to take a picture when they went inside. =( A lady was behind me with her kid and was all excited the twins were out there. "Oh my, they are yummy", she said. I couldn't help but laugh at/with her, thinking they were 22 yrs old, and this mom was pinning after them. Oh well.

Will post the pictures as soon as I can get the camera's transfer cable to behave and do its job. I only have a couple good ones, though. It was very dark in there, plus we weren't supposed to have taken the camera out... so we were trying to be all sneaky about it (which lead to crappy pics).

We spent the day and evening walking around until our feet hurt. Kim, Erica and I wandered away from the Festival by mistake, and went to explore the area nearby. Kim found a store devoted to Dr. Who, so she'll be going back for that.

Around midnight we again set out to walk, in search for someplace where we could dance (or at least that's what Martha and I wanted). We ended up in East Putney instead of Picadilly St XD. How did that happen? We boarded the bus on the other side of the street, and then just decided to get off wherever.

We walked for a while in that unfamiliar part of London...being all scared even though it's a nice area (in the day, I'm sure, but at night we had our imagination running wild). We explored until we were dying... Kimberly and Martha had several blisters and my toes were bleeding lightly (Martha and I were wearing our new shoes, only hers were high heels). We walked back to the bus stop...and then got off a little too far from Metrogate, so we had to walk more. I could've carried Martha part of the way, and did offer, but she said she could manage. Needless to say we fell asleep soundly, when we finally got home.


Sunday 14

We went back to the Festival on Sunday (we couldn't muster the strength to wake up in time to go to Mass...Again. I'm seeing a pattern here. Hopefully not.) and started out at the other end. This time we went with practically the whole group and a few from the Florida students living downstairs.
There was even more food on this side. We'd missed a lot the day before and we still didn't manage to finish the whole festival on Sunday. I resisted the urge to buy a pretty bag from India. It was 6P, so it was reasonable. But I'd already spent the day before, and I wanted to only buy food. Which was a grand total of 6P. I bought a mushroom/cheese/ham/spinach/tomatoe crepe (5P) and a smaller one with berry jam... I'd originally wanted a small one with apple/cinnamon, but she didn't have any more of those...or any of the other options I'd asked... plus she burnt it, so she didn't charge me for it. Weeeeeeeee. The coke was 1P (gah almost 20 pesos O____O), but absolutely indispensable. The only thing I did buy was a cute, tiny pocket/necklace watch. Laura and Erica had bought one first (the face being blue and indigo, respectively. Mine is red XD) and I just couldn't help it. So very cute and useful, since I hate having to unearth my mobile from my bag's secret pocket whenever I want to know the time.

It was getting rather cold, but we wanted to wait for the parade (I really don't envy the girls that were in costumes -practically naked- dancing. Me vale que tenían cuerpazos. Como el pollito del chiste "Pi..Pi...Pi... che frío" neta) and the fireworks show, supposedly starting at 9:45pm. I think it was closer to 10:20 when they finally did. We had a great spot, so while we waited we just played 20 questions, so we wouldn't have to move and lose our location. We so wished we had someone special to huddle against in the cold (Orlando Bloom, anyone? XD heh) instead of each other... especially when we'd purposely pull away, just to annoy the other. We still managed to have fun, though. Martha and Laura decided they wanted to kill time by wandering around some stands- particularly the food ones, so that they could be near the heat. The fireworks were very pretty, and it's a good thing that I no longer feel the impulse of calling out the possible components for each colour XD In fact...I...don't think I... remember them now.... hmmm... oh well.
We headed back as soon as the fireworks ended, just wanting to get home, under the warm blankets and sleeeeep.

Sadly, I do not have many pictures since my camera died around 6pm. And even if I did, I still can't upload them. I'll steal some from Kim and Erica later heehee.

I miss you, people. Even if you don't think that's likely lol I have my moments
I'd love to hear back from you sometime :P (Kavs, Kait, Birah, haven't seen you guys in ages!!). Mum, Dad, Gaby, my SA peeps and my Incen sisters. Don't make me stay here for life, feeling dejected :P (ahahahahaha). But seriously, miss you!

Lovehugs&kisses

Markets, birthdays and HP craze

Thursday 11

We had our Science class today and afterwards we headed to a nearby Mall. Or so was the plan. Miguel was guiding us, but we got distracted by some shops and a little market on the way. There were several gift-shops with good deals, but I only bought a jersey (England #7, because that's my number. Nvm that it says Beckham on the back -_-), a thin, red London jacket and a small bag (my leather one broke btw mum. The stupid strap, as we predicted. Good thing we went to WalMart and bought a messenger one, David lol. It has saved my life.)

Kavi, darling, I need to know what you already have of ManU, or if you want something in particular (no, I can't bring you one of the players. Sowee, Princess). And it'd also be useful if someone would let me know what they already have for Arsenal.... or rather don't have. Otherwise I can't shop properly and you'll just have to do with last minute lil things. Sabs, Kait, let me know if you want anything, k? I still need to make a list for the rest heh.

In the little market there were shops with products from Iraq, Brazil, the Philippines, Africa (Kim got tricked into buying a charm there, apparently lol). There was a nice locket at the one from Iraq, made out of silver, but I really didn't want to spent 10P, so I left it. I'm proud of myself lol

We had to rush afterwards, since we were meeting at the Profs' flats to celebrate Mrs Pohlman's b-day. We had a lovely time there, and they even provided with food and refreshments. Some of us stepped out to Prof Amen's terrace and snapped pictures like crazy. Loved it. At the end, we serenaded Mrs Pohlman in Spanish. It came out nicely, I think lol


Afterwards, the whole group set out to King's Cross station, because we're geeks and wanted to take a picture of Platform 9 3/4. And so we did. Several in fact, with guest stars Cho and Luna to boot. More at photobucket XD
I have to say it was really fun, and I don't care if I come across as a kid lol






Off to bed now, lots to do tomorrow, and I still need to update for Friday....

Lots of love to everyone,
Miss you, guys!

4-1. In your face.

Tuesday 9

Martha and I didn't have class today, whereas Kim had her World War II class. I just relaxed all day until 5:30pm, since at 6:00 we had our meeting at FIE with Prof. Pohlman and Prof. Amen. We had updates on events and the schedules, basically. Kind of a touch-base session.

The rest of the evening we spent it planning out trips outside of London... I MUST go to Dover and Canterbury at least. Kim is pressing for Wales. Other than that we roughly planned for France, Italy for mid-semester break, Ireland, Spain, Poland and Greece. We still need to look at it thoroughly, but we have a start on prices and flights.

So far, we have kept up with going up the stairs twice a day. I'm proud, though my knees do protest a lot.

Wednesday 10

I woke up early at 5:30am to go have a run on Hyde Park. I wanted at first to run to the Big Ben and back, but changed my mind in the end. I'm glad I did. My knees are not ready to be forced through concrete yet. I was also glad because I had a most wonderful view; I only regret not having taken the camera to capture it: the sun was just coming out from the Round Pond, touching the sky with beautiful shades of gold and pink. It later dawned me what that meant: there would be sun that day. Ugh. At the time, though, it was perfect. I ran and walked around the nearby portion of the park, gawked at the swans (I still love them) and marveled at how many others were also running. I topped off the session with running up the dorm's stairs. It felt... kind of good (no, dad -nor mum- you are not allowed to say "I told you so").

Afterwards I went to my morning class with Prof Amen -yay sports!- and it seems that it was a good idea to have brought 'Fever Pitch', since it's one of the recommended readings. So thanks. The other recommended book is 'How soccer explains the world'. Go figure lol.


We went back to Metrogate and I just passed out. Slept through the afternoon and evening until 7:30pm. This is why I don't like working out in the mornings. Drains me out entirely... some people get pumped up with it. I just die all day lol. Just as well, because I was getting all depressed that the sun was fully out hahaha XD

We had decided to meet at Gloucester Arms to watch the Croatia vs England game (4-1 England yay!!!), but we didn't get in time to secure a table, so some of us went with Prof Amen to eat some Indian food. The wait was a pain, but my dish was soooooooo good. I had Lamb Chop Tandoory and sweet Lassi (tastes just like the yogurt drink mum used to make). Loved it...it was my first time eating lamb, or at least doing so consciously, so it was a good choice... though it was such a small portion I wanted to cry when I finished it off lol. We went back to the pub and watched the second half (Theo Theo Theo!!!!!). It was awesome. I had a small glass of ale and a Foster's lager (tasted like Corona, really XD), but I ran out of money T___T oh well. I also have to note that 5/6 of the guys in the pub were OMGHOT!!!!. If not hot, then cute. Only a couple of plain or non-attractive guys. I'm not even kidding. Totally kicked Tequisquiapan's butt on ratio of cute guys, and that's saying a lot.

No pictures for this day, I'm afraid... But I'm willing to go back to the pub, just to demonstrate the level of hotness there... I don't care if I have to camp out XD

Chinatown

Day 4 -Monday 8-

We had a meeting at the FIE main building where we had a small orientation of sorts. More rules and introductions. Once we got out, we headed straight to Chinatown. We headed towards Picadilly circus and from there just walked a short distance, until we saw the red Chinese lamps.



I swear, the place is around two small blocks, at most, and we spent over 4 hours there. Martha was happy with all the bright colours and all the cute accessories they had. Kim and I went nuts with all the Japanese products, Chinese and Korean dramas and posters. I ended up buying 'Lavender' with Takeshi Kaneshiro (lol Gingin :P mine.), now I just need to figure out how to watch it XD stupid codecs. Kim and I also got a little mobile phone plushie-holder each, supposed to be a toufu. Mine's the brown one. I want to think it's milk chocolate XD




I failed to find fresh or canned lychees... though I did find green tea with lychees juice and lychees puddings, which are very good, actually. How is it that there are canned lychees at the Dollar store in El Paso, but not here in London's Little China? Ah well.

The buffets were really cheap, though we didn't eat out today, since we actually spent money. ^^^^



We headed back to the dorms to catch a breath, and then got together with the StMU group (nvm that we were left behind at the tube haha good thing that we know our way) for the 'We Will Rock You' show at the Dominion. A musical with many 'Queens' songs incorporated. I loooved it! The plot was rather silly, but the show overall was fun. The singers were very good; sent chills down my spine at times, and I missed so much to sing. Not that I can sing like that at all, but really made me want to break into a song, all the same.



After the show, we wandered around the area, taking random pictures... which I now realised are on Martha's camera, so I'll have them up later. We also went to a sex shop, and Kimberly was freaking out lol! she was all "ok, we're in. now let's get out" In my Incenerate innocence I went in just to see what it was like *is an angel*....no, seriously. Martha and I were having too much fun teasing Kim. I had more fun just because it is so highly unlikely IRL lol I should've brought something for Kavi, Sabs and Kait. Let me know if you want something ;P lol

We didn't do much after that. We wanted to go to a club afterwards, just get home and change clothes, but when we got there we realised we were dead tired.

Paartey!

Day 3, Sunday 7

While we missed the Greenwich trip, we did have plans of our own. Kimberly had found out about the Regent St. festival, starting at noon... of course we didn't leave until 2:00, but we made it. We could've walked, we certainly knew the way now, but we decided to try our luck using the tube. It was fun, and though it was the easiest route in the world (a couple of stops down Picadilly line), it still felt great that we managed. We own this city lol

We made it to the festival and quickly had all the food samples we could get without being kicked out XD There were a lot of stands and the shops around us had a lot of discounts... I went into some nice coughexpensivecough stores, just to try on clothes, and came close to seriously considering buying a very elegant rain coat. In the end it was just too much. I'll have my little extravagance on something else, by the end of the semester when I won't deprive myself of something important (like a trip to France or something like it). It was a shame that Kimberly and Martha didn't join me in trying on clothes, since they just had to sit there while I had fun.

Kimberly and I went into a tea-shop and bought some instant tea. Hers is a mixture of flavours, a bit heavy but tasty, designed to put you to sleep. Mine is Mango&Passionfruit, and it's light and veryvery refreshing. I'd already bought a box with very good Earl Grey and my regular green tea, so I wanted something lighter I could use for... well, pretty much for soda substitute XD This does the trick marvelously. I also wanted a lovely tea set, but I figured there wasn't much case to it, since it might break on the plane, and I don't think I have room to have it as a carry-on. We'll see when the time comes. Still three more months to consider it.

There was a pair of actors, playing Dumbledore and Hagrid for some reason, and being the little geeks/dorks that we are, we went and took pictures with them. All the time I wanted my Kavi and Sabs there, kept imagining you guys joining in the act or something lol God knows we have the theory down on that lol.

We also ran into a theatre group, doing some street acting... I immediately recognised it as Hamlet (love it!!!), but I was surprised that for others it wasn't obvious they were interpreting it, not even when Ofelia's death was announced. Maybe I'm just obsessed. Either way, they were awesome, and it was a pity we didn't follow them, but we had much more to see.

There were some musicians playing... some just performing contemporary songs on the street and some delighted us with classical music on stage. I developed a crush on the cellist, but I seem to do that a lot... No one like my Zuill Bailey though *swoon* I wonder if he's still happily married and with children lol XD


We stopped at a gift shop and I bought a little purse for Gaby (for her mobile), some postcards, a London poster, a very thin maroonish scarf (just to decorate, really, not warm enough for autumn. I'm set for those months in any case) and a really soft, cream-colored pashmina.


We continued down the road and when we were done, we headed down to Oxford street, where it is a little bit less expensive. Still didn't buy anything, but we saw some places we might consider for later on. As we went down, we noticed an increasing amount of middle eastern shops... we have no idea what it was called there, so we just nicknamed it 'little middle-east'. We went to shop around and Kim actually bought some clothes... I wanted a nice coat, but I'm not sure I really need it... besides, it's too early to buy one so warm.

It was around 7 when we decided we were beat. We took a bus down home and saw that Chinatown was a couple of streets from Picadilly circus, so we made a note to go back and check it out. Then we went to sleep. XD

lots of love!

London Bridge is falling down...

I am dutifully trying to cram all my updates at 6am today XD

Day 3 (Saturday 6)

Let's see... woke up at 8 and didn't have any breakfast because we were very smart and didn't think we should have bought groceries last night.

So far I haven't felt any jet lag symptoms (according to wiki) -even if it may seem as if I have by those who don't know me: Loss of appetite, nausea, digestive problems, headache, sinus irritation, fatigue, irregular sleep patterns, disorientation, grogginess, irritability, mild depression. My appetite is just like always (aka I'm always hungry T___T), no nausea or digestive problems (unless you consider so that I process everything too fast, and so I'm hungry way too soon), headaches are normal on me, no sinus problems, fatigue is a normal state on me XD though it hasn't been too bad here, my sleep patterns suck (or rock, depending on how you look at it -I can sleep whenever, however, wherever-). I'm directionally challenged, therefore usually disoriented, though again not too badly here. I'm just lazy, so grogginess is always there. Irritability? Me? Neeveeer... haha yeah right. And no depression, so we're good to go!

At 10am we went to the walking tour with our guide from yesterday and visited again Imperial College, then went to a Neo-gothic -decorative style- church (yes, I'm still an Art History freak at heart). We passed the Royal college of Music (*swoon*), Royal Albert Hall, the Royal College of Organists with its contrasting style. The buildings around there are gorgeous, I was such a happy puppy. Strolled around Hyde Park
and ended up in Kensington Palace. Visited the Queen's Gardens, 'Millionaires' Street' -where apparently Dustin Hoffman has a house, I think-. We also got to see the house where T.S. Elliot lived...
We went to have a late breakfast at an inexpensive sandwich shop.
At 2pm we had our bus tour. We went down Cromwell Rd. to Knightsbridge, passed Hyde Park (640 acres XD) -where I learned that for some 45P I can go horseback riding...uh, pass. sorry horseys-
Went by the Marble Arch, Picadilly Circus (aka 'circle'), Trafalgar square, the business district, Covent Garden, Notting Hill, Downing St., Parliament Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey (I went nuts here with the architecture), Central Methodist Hall, St. Paul's Cathedral, Millennium (wobbly) Bridge -from where we could see The Globe (reproduction of Shakespeare's theatre) across the Thames-

We came back from the tour and at 6:30pm we went grocery shopping (since we'd heard we might get some extra discounts after 5pm). It took us ages to get what we needed (and a few little treats), looking for the cheapest options and discarding half of our load. I even gave up my box of cereals *omigasp*. I am determined not to buy any until I finish the oatmeal packages I brought from SA. T____T Temptations, temptations....
ANYWAY. We did fairly well, and I spent the same or less than its equivalent while I was shopping for StMU, so I feel proud of myself. The journey back to the rooms was hell, though XD. Endless, it seemed.

Martha, Kim and I were hanging out in the rooms at midnight, when it occurred to us that the Big Ben hadn't seemed that far away when we went by coach. We prepared our bags and set off to walk over there, just like that. It was rather easy to follow the map, even at night. The streets were rather desolate for a long portion of the trip, but we were careful and didn't let our guard down.
Down Knightsbridge there were several window displays that were very interesting, so we went wild taking pictures of them lol It probably made us take twice as long as it would've normally, without the distractions. but it's London, so distractions are a given I'm afraid.

We did get disoriented a couple of times, though it helped when a couple stopped by and asked us if we could give them directions to... hmm I forgot where, but at the time we knew where it was, thanks to the map XD. After a while we could see a little bit of the Big Ben on the distance, and later the London Eye, so we knew we were on the right track...

After a lot of walking and being silly we finally made it. The pictures suck, but it all looked so pretty at the time. We walked a little further and got to the London Eye... we didn't cross over to the actual side where it stood... since we couldn't ride it, we saw no point in it... We'll get our chance to get in, I'm sure...


The view was unbelievable. I could've camped there all night, just to see dawn and the change of lighting... Unfortunately by then our feet hurt like you have no idea, so we retraced our steps for a little while and searched for a bus that would take us close to the dorm. A driver was kind enough to drop us off the bus stop we really needed, and from there set off on the second story of the red bus.

On the way some Mexican students got in and made asses of themselves. I really would've liked it if they hadn't made it so very clear they were from México... rather embarrassing. The gentleman sitting next to me had heard me speak to Martha in Spanish and he recognised the accent. I guess my mortification at the spectacle the others were making was obvious, because he chuckled and assured me that he knew not all of us behaved that way. We joked around a bit and throughout the trip had one of the most pleasant conversations I've had in a while.

We walked four short blocks home and got into our rooms at 4:00am... went to sleep almost at 5 though. Needless to say I didn't go to Mass at 9:30am next morning, like I'd planned XD. I would've loved to go to the Greenwich trip Prof Amen and the rest took, though; by the time I woke up and read the e-mail detailing the plan, they were already gone ;____;

I've fallen in love with this city... and London seems to like me back, which makes for a nice change, for once.





again, visit my photobucket for more pictures, though I'm still missing two days' worth of pictures

I wander thro' each charter'd street...

I shall allow myself a moment of silly girlishness, because I'm cool like that and can pull it off. Here it goes *ahem*:

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!! I'M IN LONDON YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm REALLY HERE!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!
!!!!
!!

I can fill out pages and pages on this, but there really isn't much point on it. HUGE thanks to those of you who helped me get here. I'm in heaven XD
....though this heaven has a dreadfully slow internet -_____- had to go outside my room, down the hall to get a good signal. Ah well.

Warning, this is going to be veryvery long, so yeah, skim through it XD



Let's back up a bit in time, shall we?

Day1 (&2? Thursday & Friday)

I arrive to the airport wearing 5 days' worth of clothing (to lower the weight in the suitcase a tiny bit), including shorts, two sweatpants and jeans (I'm glad I brought Lorena's rather large jeans, otherwise this wouldn't have worked). Plus two jackets to layer on later :D I was dying lol nah jk, it wasn't too bad. Carrying and rolling my things was a bit of a chore, but I managed; not without casualties, though. Unfortunately my plushie pillow was lost somewhere the way *moment of mourning*... ah well, it's not like I've needed it so far, and it would've only added to the bulk.

At the airport we're all a mess of suitcases, everyone checking out what the others brought, trying to determine whether we over or under-packed. With the information I have now, I know I could've done without my CHI (hair straightener) and the hair-dryer (since they tend to blow up, plus it's so wet there's really no use), but other than that I think I packed just right. [Stupid gloves ended up being both left handed. Baka... so I'll need to buy new ones. Pity, because I already own some and they're so comfy and practical. Waste of money.]

ANYWAY... as I was saying, I packed all right, the only problem being that my suitcase is too heavy by itself. A large duffel bag with wheels would've been perfect (te lo dije, papi =P nunca me haces caso). By some miracle it didn't go overweight.

The first plane took us to Houston... merely 35 minutes flying. We had a PMSing flying attendant and I pity those girls who had to directly deal with her moodiness. Even the gentleman sitting next to me thought it was a bit too much (she was making a huge deal out of the fact that one of the carry-ons didn't fit easily, as if it were the girl's fault that the plane was full and all the space taken before we boarded).

Once in Houston, we had a few hours to waste away... then we boarded (this time by seats and not as a group, so that we wouldn't be the last again and have to deal with insufficient compartment space). The flight was all right... I was a good girl and drank all the water (=P yuck) I could and walked around the plane =P people started to get annoyed at me, but I was not alone while roaming the plane lol In order to accomplish this, I had to stay awake for most of the flight >_____< (yes, very out-of-character for me. The world is ending) All hail the movies and music selection for making this tolerable (ok, fine, it wasn't bad at all). Spent my time watching 'Breakfast at Tiffany's', 'Bridget Jones' Diary' 1&2, and listening to practically all the rock, jazz and Luis Miguel sections. The girl next to me, Stefania, was nice enough to point out ways to save money in London and still attend good theatre productions and shows.


The flight was uneventful and so was the immigration process at the airport. We got out and it was drizzling, so I was very happy. It wasn't chilly enough for a jacket... but then again I was wearing far too many layers already XD Our guide was very nice and explained us what we were looking at on our way to Metrogate, but I was only half listening, mostly taking in the view.
We finally got to Metrogate...it was a nightmare to move our stuff into and around the reception, trying to get our keys and fit into the elevator (some daring individuals chose to got up the stairs with their luggage. I wasn't one of them.). Lucky as I am (haha) I got the last -or second last, not sure- floor, and the farthest room on that floor. Crappy internet and it's just a deterrent to use the stairs. I'm trying to use them at least twice a day...see if I can get in shape with that... or at least not get worse.

The room is nice and not as cramped as I thought it would be. Kimberly said that she liked to be on the bottom...so I had to take the top bunk bed. It's not so bad anymore.
>>>> This is the view out of our window. Not extremely panoramic, but much better than the brick wall others have to face. Look at that beautiful sky. No sun showing, cool wind blowing, light showers. That's my kind of day. It is at times like this when I wonder what the heck am I doing at San Antonio... or El Paso, for that matter, but that's not up to me lol. (Weather aside, I do like San Antonio and my people there, so don't feel bad :P)

It was at this point that I found my camera and my life was complete again (while I was in SA I was freaking out because I couldn't find it, even though I knew I'd packed it).

FIE gave us 5P to use for lunch... so Martha, Kim, Katrine and I headed out to seek for a place to eat at. Have I mentioned how beautiful South Kensington is? Well, it is. It screams out 'posh' left and right. The mixture of old buildings with new... I love it. And the museums! For the full series of pictures, visit my photobucket account


I love it how they let us know where to look at for oncoming traffic XD Doesn't help much -yes, we suck-


We only found one reasonably priced restaurant in the direction we headed out to -Italian food-....and it was closed T______T If we'd gone the other way around, we would've found plenty more, but this way we found Sainsbury (supermarket) XD and got a look at the general prices to estimate what we would have to spend later on. I ended up buying frozen pizza and a drink... spent 3.50P, I think. When we went back, we decided to take a detour, try to see what was a the back of our street and get to know the place.


That was when what's-her-name started bugging us. Ah well. We made it in time to eat our meals and go to the first walking tour of the area. We went to the entrance of the University we're connected to: Imperial College... which turns out to be the MIT of the UK. Fancy that. I can't wait until classes start there and we can join the clubs... though I'll have to pick only one or two out of the 7 or so I want...


Area near our residence




Foundation House (where we'll take our classes). It's a couple of streets away from Metro, so we can easily get there in the mornings. I'm still going to head out early for class on Tuesday, because if I stay true to myself, I'm going to get lost anyway XD. Better do that with time.

I'm missing a lot, but the internet is a pain... I'll update later...

Phoenix pending

Eek I forgot to update about Phoenix this summer... oh well... I'll do it later, because I want to get down what I have from London XD

Austin TX

It would seem rather sad that I might consider going to Austin -from San Antonio- as something worth posting here... but I'm bored, and I went there by bus, so it's a keeper.

My philosophy professor had asked me if I'd like to help out at her booth in the Green Living expo. We'd be working mainly with children, but we'd also be promoting the Texas Nature Project (her organisation). Originally I had planned to recruit two friends from work... one of them being the owner of a car that could conveniently drive us to Austin (1 hr away). Unfortunately, both of them had decided to attend the Oyster Bake* on Saturday, so it was a nono for them. I still wanted to help out my prof, so I decided I get there by bus. I looked up the schedules and asked my professor if she could pick me up from the bus station at Austin (she had been staying there since Friday).


Now, I don't have a car-heck, I don't even drive. So I woke up at 5am, trying to make it to the public bus stop by 5:50, so that I'd be at the bus station by 6ish (with plenty of time to buy my 7:10am ticket)...but I was 5 mins late T____T so I took the 6:30 bus and got to the station at 6:40... and almost had a heart attack when this elderly and rude couple took ages to buy their tickets (and there were still 4-5 persons before me). It was 7:09 when I finally had my ticket, so I made a run for it. Fortunately, the bus still took a while to leave.
I slept all the way to Austin... and before anyone scolds me, I have to say that I don't fall asleep 100%. Half of me stays alert and I sleep hugging my bag, so the faintest movement can and will wake me up. Years of traveling on bus does that to you.

I was scheduled to arrive at 9:15, but we got there at 8:45 (half an hour of precious sleep lost ;___;). The bus station there was much nicer than in SA...honestly speaking, Greyhound in SA is embarrassing. I called my prof and she said she was on her way already. She was very happy that I'd come, and now I too am happy I did.

The Expo started at 10am, and we made it there with perfect timing.
It was actually fun. Interacting with the kids was re-freshening, the expo had interesting booths (there were pweety toys and naturist food and cool green-life techie stuff) , my prof had taken awesome wildlife pictures (the animal biologist in me was happy) and included cool visuals (hummingbird nests, ostrich egg, snake skeleton, antlers, feathers...) aaaand I got free food XD. They gave me $20 for lunch and at the end (7pm) my prof took me to eat out. We both agreed that we loved Jap food, but that anything we came across would also be fine.... but we were driving downtown on a Saturday...and there was nowhere to park. Fortunately I spotted a sushi-bar near a parking lot. We went in and it was a nice, animated place. Unfortunately, it was very slow. We started panicking at 7:45, when our food wasn't there yet, since my bus left at 8:15 (or so we thought). We ate super fast and drove to the bus station (we got a bit lost but it was ok, because we found out my bus actually left at 8:25)

We drove off, and made it to SA at 9:55pm. I'd arranged for a friend to pick me up and drop me off at school. Oyster Bake* ended at 11:00pm, so I made it in time to spend the tickets I had left from Friday.

And so ends the first post in this blog...I might tweak it a little later on, but I just wanted to put this on record.

*For more info on Oyster Bake, refer to my other blog 'Ghost of a Rose' (in my profile). The post isn't up yet, but it will be later on