It's about time I blogged about London. Was actually quite lazy to do so, but I don't like withdrawing my promises so here goes :)
(pictures are found in the Petals section. also uploaded a few other albums like random shots of family, choir, etc.)
DAY 1
Sim was sweet in letting me have his room, plus he paid for my overnight stay at Caterbury Hall. He let me have his bed!! arr! Was vvvv touched. Thanks sim!!!
Yeah anyway. First meal I had in London was at Chopchop. My goodness the servings are humongous... I definitely put on weight after I came back from London. Had Laksa.. mmmm haven't had it in a long, long time. :P Anyway, after I put my stuff in Sim's room I went down to Leicester Square to meet the rest. (surprised that I could actually navigate the way with instructions. As simple as they were, I wouldn't have been that confident 1 year ago. Yes I'm THAT bad with directions.) Bought tickets for The Mousetrap - an Agatha Christie play that's been running for 53 years - then ate at Misato. 4 pound 90 grilled mackerel with teriyaki sauce yumm. Then we watched the play, which started at 8pm. Good and very prac-critable (made that word up dont' worry). Some semblances of 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" though it's not at all an absurdist play. (I LOVE Absurdist plays) 'twas a murder mystery... the 'policeman' IS the murderer! Goodness, so scooby doo-ish right. Haha. Afterward we went to Slug and Lettuce for cocktails and a chat. Closed at 11 (as all bars in London do) so we went home and I reached Canterbury Hall at about 11.50pm. Yeah.
Prices in London are EXORBITANT. 10 Carnets (tube tickets) for 17 pounds oh my goodness. That's like 10 MRT tickets for S$51. Thank God for a pair of legs to walk around with!! it's something we take for granted most of the time huh.
DAY 2
Woke up with trepidation and unease, don't know why. Might be something in the subconscious or in the spiritual that I'm not aware of. Had a long prayer but hadn't time to read the Word 'cuz Sim and Maner came into the room about 10ish, 11. Dallied around for a bit before I walked to Holborn to meet the rest. Helped that London streets are pretty straightforward... but I realise that when I'm alone and all by myself, I navigate my way around slightly better than when I'm with my wonderful friends who're absolutely brilliant with maps and directions. cuz when I'm around them I just let them lead the way, so I'll be half-asleep most of the time...
Anyways. Felt really tired and uncomfortable throughout the entire day. Bad sleep/falling ill? Strong coffee made it worse I think. And Hazelnut+Nutella-sugar-overdose CREPE kinda made me feel satieted. But it was fanntasssticcc. :DDDD It was near SOuth Ken, along exhibition road I think. Afterward we met up with Lin Hai and toured Harrods for about 2 hoursish. Bought funky Edward Monkton cards that went, "BEWARE the toast that has no ears!" and displays a piece of toast on the front cover. It's really really really cute and amusing.. just check out edward monkton yeah? Hahaha. My kinda humour. RANDOM.
Thereafter we caught Woman in White (the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical) and it suspends you like crazy. My heart was actually palpitating during intermission. I mean, tho I've read the book before, the musical entirely altered the plot and characters... and most importantly, the resolution! Was so shocked that the resolution was entirely butchered 'cuz I had exepcted Webber to tie in everything with brilliance... and I actually gave him much credit in advance of the Finis, but the plot took a different turn........ depite the shock I got, the ending was still pretty credible I suppose. And 'sensational'. And the singers are BRILLIANT.. well a few of them are. Anne Catherick especially arrrr she's a wonderful madwoman. I wonder how you can sing like that...... Child-like mania twisted with angsty screams and shrieks WITH A TUNE. Amazing. But anyway. I prefer the novel. Go read it guys. It was the sensational bestseller of the 19th century.
Anyway. When I got home after everything I felt really really disturbed. A number of reasons, one of which was HARRODS. I went to the Harrods toy section and it was impressive and huge... lots of toys, great variety of games... never-ending piles and stacks of boxes containing dolls, race tracks, lego and other toy bricks, action figures, guns..... and my heart just ached. It just hurt tremendously. Companies are advertising and manufacturing tonnes of toys for profit, and families are happily soaking into the pleasure of the Consumerist Spirit.... while tonnes and tonnes of children elsewhere in the world are dying and starving from lack of good and shelter. A child in Africa dies every 8 secs from unclean water; over 20,000 children die everyday from preventable diseases. I highlighted this to my friend and she said that's disease is a good way to keep population in check. I mean.. ! ! ! ! EDUCATION can prevent the babies from coming into world in the first place? Takes a long time but at least money can do something!! Oh my goodness. What cruelty in seemingly innocuousness. What can we do, you ask? Spend less (not spend nothing at all) on ipods and clothes and CDs and gadgets and entertainment and donate!! We complain that the world's unfair when we suffer setbacks of any kind... but aren't we perpetuating it anyway, with the things that we do? What hypocrisy...
Ah, enough of my rant. I just felt inexpressible pain then... kept crying in the tub when I was bathing and praying for mercy upon those who suffer. Then Ps 46 popped into my head and I ended the prayer with peace in my heart, knowing that the Lord is sovereign...
v6 "Nations roar and kingdoms fall,
He lifts his voice, the earth melts.
Oh well. Reminds me of the serenity prayer, and this is just the first part of it:
"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Back to London...
DAYS 3 and 4
Days are flying rather quickly.. did so many things and finally acquainted myself with the streets of London. Hopefully I'll remember how to bring my mom and bro around when they come up this Christmas. Went to Covent Garden... fantastic. I love flea markets... and the buskers. Don't necessarily have to buy anything, I just love the entire atmosphere. Went to the Brit museum, which was near Russell Square tube. 'twas quite amazing.. learnt quite a bit but I can't quite remember what! (doh) That aside, 'twas really eventful. Moved into Andrea's after day 3 and we talked quite a bit at night. Really edified by the conversation, and she's just so lovely! Blessed with the charm and grace of God. After the wonderful sermon at All Soul's I was prompted to pray for Andrea and talk to her... so I did, and both of us prayed for each other. Felt really blessed by the mutual love and fellowship we have in our Daddy. Anyway, after church Jon and I walked from Oxford Circus tub to Russ. Sq. to meet Jiamin and Cui, and along the journey we had a really edifying conversation about God, spiritual gifts, struggles, relationships, etc. Ah, Jon's such a funny guy. Glad to hear that he's grown.. Hm really like talking to him. In fact I discovered I really like talking to the MOE peeps! Teacher quality in all of them? haha perhaps. Felt that even when we spent 9-10 months apart, our growth and MOE connection and OBS have kept us quite attached to one another.. or is just what I feel? But anyways. Really feel at home and happy talking to them. And Jon was such a dear! During lunch I discovered that my wallet was missing so I went back to his room (where I left my stuff) to check. It wasn't there so he called Andrea for me.. she left her keys with TIankai and so we went over to Hughes Parry Hall, met up with Tiankai and went up to open Andrea's door. Searched around... and no wallet! Then it suddenly struck me that I had taken money out for the offering at church, so I definitely brought it out to church with me. Question is , what happened after that? I've never really figured it out, and there is no way for me to find out anyway... yeah so Jon accompanied me all the way back to All SOul's and we reported its loss. A nice, young M'sia lady by the name of Li-Ann noted my name and the description of my wallet... and I left my hp no. with them too. So I went through the day without a wallet, but I surprisingly felt at peace about it. Recognised that things are really just material and will be replaced or destroyed sooner or later. Surprised that I was at peace about it.. .just a lil perturbed that HSBC made me wait on the phone and zapped about 2 pounds of phone credit. Eventually I got through later in the day and cancelled all 3 cards. And yeah, I was waiting for Jon in his hostel and wondering whe he'll be back, 'cuz my stuff was in his room and I needed to meet the rest in Kings Cross soon. My phone died so I couldn't contact anyone... using the reception's phone I tried calling Sim and Jon but they weren't in. AND I surprisingly still felt assured that things would turn out alright, praise God! Anyway, I switched on my phone just in case it could work (been trying all day) and amazingly it did, just for that moment! Ah! Was so happy... and the first thing that popped up was a voicemail, telling me that I've got my wallet returned. Ahh! Then I called Jon and asked him if he could come back, and I told him that my wallet was found. He said he'd walk me to All Soul's later on. So anyway, my phone died IMMEDIATELY after Jon and CUi's call... and I continued waiting and reading the word, mumbling to God every now and then. Yeah.. then Jon came back after a while... WITH my wallet! haha. He actually went to All Soul's to get my wallet for me. Wow... anyway. went up to get my stuff, talked for a while and I left to meet the rest at King's Cross. After Chopchop's (humongous servings again) we boarded the train and headed back to York......
'twas a wonderful trip. Learnt a lot of stuff just within 4 days, and had great conversations with people.... ahh, blessed trip!
