It's my last night in London.
Haven't been here terribly long, but I kinda like this place. It's very different from York of course... very 'urban'. Then again I've only been around zone 1 of London (as in London CITY itself)... but wow, it's Orchard Road multiplied by a thousand. The number of shops, boutiques, restaurants, wonderful 2nd-hand bookstores, etc. line countless streets. And within London, there's even their own "Orchard Road" called Oxford Street and it's HUGE!! I mean, it's an entire road with shops lining the two sides of the road and the road goes on and on and on... there're quite a lot of brands with more than one shop along the row of boutiques so sometimes you see repetitions. I really wonder why... convenience? But. Wah. They must really have a lot of money to open more than one branch along the same street. Perhaps the stuff they sell in different branches are different. Oh I don't know...
I went to Hyde Park today. I felt really sleepy when I was walking through the entire park (didn't sleep my minimm 8 hours again... felt like a zombie when I woke up. Almost felt sick but the whole giddy/retching feeling went away when I was worshipping in church today. praise God for healing...) Anyway! Hyde Park's Speaker's Corner woke me up today. It was so crowded... and fun!! I only listened to one guy ranting about America's war in Iraq because the others were barely audible. There were many speakers all around the Speaker's Corner but there were crowds all around them... couldn't hear them because of all the noise and people. There was this guy with a funny outfit... another old man talking about women and tits so I immediately walked away... an Arab waving a Palestinian flag and trying to draw attention to their 'oppression' in the Middle East conflict... another guy about 4m away from him waving an Israel flag; with hardly anyone around him, so he stopped speaking and started to sing "And can it be", the hymn... and at least 3 evangelical groups praising the Lord and spreading the gospel by speaking on raised platforms. I walked past one of them and overheard someone asking, "But who is this guy, Jesus? How can I EVER meet him?" in a mocking tone. Then the speaker immediately said, "Do you want to meet him? You'll meet him today! Let me pray for you. What is your name?" Wow... my heart was 'strangely warmed' (: when I overheard those lines. Praise God that people have such opportunities to reach out to people! If I do manage to upload my pictures (I doubt I can tho...) I'll load 'em into imagestation or something.
Been to Chinatown in Leicester street 3 times. Twice yesterday and once today... had wonderrrrrrfulll dinner! Roast duck, braised chicken, ma2 po2 dofu, vege in oyster sauce, etc. with rice. Ohhh goodness... it tasted so, so good. Haven't had these in ages! Had dinner with my fellow MOE friends...
Felt really nice to see everyone (well almost) today. That felt so surreal... everyone together, only walking down different streets in the cold...
Money seems to have flowed away like water ever since I came to London. Ok I bought two lovely items... a black smart-casual jacket with embroidered butterflies and vines at the back (which, agreed by Ailin, looks like some clubbing jacket) and a pair of skechers boots! I've been looking for shoes for a long time. Well not very long, about 2 weeks? But I entered EVERY shoe shop I passed by in Leeds and London. Think my friends were quite bored of looking at shoes already, tho Ailin was searching for one too. I liked a Caterpillar pair... it was dark brown, had some furry thing at the top of it. And it looks reliable. Very reliable. Like it can bear mud and snow and... yeah you get my drift. But I thought I'd go on looking because it costs 80 pounds. 80 pounds! *gags* But it was so nice...... Anyway. Went on looking. Then I saw a timberland pair; black, no fur at the top, just simple. Tomboyish, but sturdy-looking (Well it's Timberland!). I could fit into the kids' size, so it was about 50 pounds. Almost bought it, but instinct told me to wait and see. I'm glad I did! (so I can trust my instincts after all) Went to skechers and saw a whole range of beautiful shoes and boots I've never seen in my entire life before (why're there so few in Singapore...) Eventually settled for a 55 quid pair of boots that's like a combination of the above two that I liked. Ahh... so proud of my buy.
The rest of my London expenditure went to food and travel! Argh... so expensive... luckily I don't study here. Lost my weekend travel pass on Saturday so I had to buy a day travel pass for Sunday. Oh well... could have saved 4 pounds.
Sleeping on a small heap of t-shirts and tops are much more comfortable than sleeping on a bagpack.
All my night pictures are quite sucky so I deleted them. Thanks to Sim I've learnt how to take night shots! Goodness! And to think I've been owning this camera for months! And that I read the manual from cover to cover! I thought I was cheated somehow... diao. Thanks Sim!
I guess I'll have to go to Harrods and Big Ben and the London eye some other day...
Will most probably come back to London when Selina comes down. Andrea agreed to let me stay if I were to come down again...
Yeah. I like London... but I'm still glad I chose to study in York. I was taking the bus back with the other 'Imperialists' and gazing at the rows of shops along the streets... and I suddenly felt very overwhelmed by materialism and consumerism. Suddenly felt uneasy with the lights and mannequins and merchandise... I suddenly wanted to run back to York and sleep on my bed (nono sorry. but I was tired too) Ok seriously, I wanted to run back to York and see the campus, friendly people, the lake, the geese and ducks... York is a more humble, down-to-earth and nature-friendly place. It's quiet too... conducive for studying. Thank God for leading me to York too. London has too many distractions, and I'm quite playful... and quite a spendthrift as well. So is York a better choice after all?
Oh well. York is boring, boring and boring. I like London.
But I love York!
