supposed to be l'angleterre (england) but heck. :D

anyways. I'M BACK!!! maybe 2weeks might be sufficient to cover the entire london, but this trip ain't that sufficient for me, considering i spent 6days away in edinburgh and lake district. but i've covered a fair bit of what i've wanted to see.

there's simply far too much photos for me to upload one by one here, so i'm using 2 collages with 1 for london and the other one for edinburgh/lake district.

london:


edinburgh/lakedistrict:


there's 3 things that i've noticed that's similar in the 3 places:

1. they are courteous and friendly! they simply just offer the seats when you are in more need and they greet people readily! (more for lakedistrict actually)

2. they love to jog/cycle. i've even seen a man in sharp suit cycling after work! saves the earth too.

3. they love to lie on the grasses and bask in the warm sunshine whenever they can. the monday when me and janice arrived was a bank holiday and we saw plenty of people in hyde park. sometimes the males would just take off their tops and walk around to feel the sunshine. during lunchhour on a working day we also saw some people lying on the grass near the tower gateway. same thing in edinburgh. my aunt remarked that their grasses are clean (there's bins specifically for dog poo)

out of the 3 places, my favourite place is edinburgh because it is not as commercialised as london but at least more commercialised than lakedistrict (there's fcuk in edinburgh). and i love the edinburgh castle which is so readily in view at the New Town, unlike the castles/palaces in london. the medieval feel in Old Town is cool too. so the biggest problem would probably be the weather. we were at calton hill for 2hours waiting for sunset and me&janice got so coldddd. (nightfall is like 9plus. o.O)

we stayed in a guesthouse called Castle View which our room has a goodview of the edinburgh castle. great description. ha. and their scottish breakfast is not bad!

on our second day in edinburgh, we met up with janice's friend weelong and his fellow travelling partner (army friend i think) jeffery for dinner. after dinner we took off with the guys for the ghost tour. 信豪 (my baby cousin) cried after we went separate ways. ):

then at windermere (e area we stayed in lakedistrict) we took a fullday tour and there's this japanese lady who travelled by herself! she's soooo my idol cann. and yeah the lakedistrict is beauteeeful. the guesthouse that we stayed in (Kays Cottage) is cosy too! love the smoked salmon with egg on muffin!

wanted to go to Hill Top to see beatrix potter's house (she's the author of peter rabbit, and i didn't know she's the author anyway. lol) on the day we arrived but it's closed on fridays (how zhun) so we walked around. and got some stuff. like a new pringles flavour chips! :D and vintage woodstock! me janice and the baby boy stayed in the room while my aunt and uncle went to shop around a home appliance mart.

the thing about the shops in england is that they generally close pretty early, say on average about 8pm. goodness. and in edinburgh some of the shops just let their tvs and display lights on! such a waste of electricity! ):

covered the sightseeing part for the earlier part of second week (most of the first week is spent away from london). went to hampton court, arsenal and chelsea stadiums, tower of london, museums, greenwich, stjohn gate and badenpowell house. covered pretty much of the tudor history! :D

and i finally stepped into the megamarts of london, namely tesco, sainsbury's and waitrose. i love the fact that they display their booze openly! and in such a variety! oooohh. me hearts it mann!

after covering the main sightseeing places, went shopping! there's actually shops in london which are quite cheap! like H&M and Primark. e latter is so crowded with people that there's actually security guards walking around. and in the bags that they use to carry things that they want to buy, the majority of them had more than half of the bags filled! (me and janice only like used 0.1)
went to harrods where they sold real exquisite stuff (my aunt reckons should at least go one round and see what's inside). too bad espirit dun have the item that i want, and gap and topshop's prices are about the same as singapore.

but dorothy perkins have sale when we decided to walk to the west of oxford circus. (we went east the day before and walked till regent street) the jeans there is like 15pounds (about sgd$45) and there's a 20% off! (ie abt sgd$36) and there's also 2 for 25pounds. OMG cann. then they also served drinks (alcoholic and non-alcholic), has a live dj and gives away goodie bags (provided you donate 2.5pounds)! :DDD

then on the last day in london we went to bayswater to have a lunch at a chinese restaurant which serves great roast duck! it's soooooooo delicious i tell you! go check it out when you go london! then we walked around a shopping centre nearby where i bought a book about spirits (alcohol) and my baby cousin had a facepaint makeover and became spiderman! he still had that face on when we went to airport. haha.

somehow watched more tv when i was in london. like in the morning before we go out we would watch CBeeBies with the baby boy and now i can still remember some of the songs they sing in different shows. like Big Cook Small Cook, Balamory, and the springtime song. goodness. :D then watched CSI and Law&Order at night.

and last thursday watched American Idol top3. and i got reminded of how david archuleta caught my eye when the new paper carried a story in headlines of the showbiz section about how season7 has the most number of goodlooking guys (4 to be exact) and he got the most mention. about how he sings well and look so cute. i'm quite biased towards him when i watched the show. like i really loved his rendition of Longer (but he should change his shirt) and how i prefered his attire for And So It Goes and the result show. LOL.

but david cook is not bad too. his renditions of Dare You To Move and I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing are great! rocker mans. hah.

today went to listen to all the songs that archuleta sang during the season and he sang Think Of Me! i watched Phantom of the Opera movie on the first day i reached london and i love this song!!! omg. along with Angels, Heaven (either 2nd or 3rd auditions) and When You Believe! sounds like i'm a total fan of him when i've only watched the Top 3 episode. LOL.

the return flight was faster, but i can't sleep that well (this time i sat in the middle while e last time i sat by the window). watched 27 Dresses and about half of Jumper. dun really understand who are the actual villains (i reckon hayden christensen is the hero) because both sides sound evil. ha. and played lots of solitaire.

singapore was soooo much hotter than london and i miss london's cool (sometimes cold) weather. SIGH. met up with hweepeng and qingjun for dinner (i didnt eat cuz i had breakfast at 3pm local time) and i drank bubbletea! :D gossiped again. hurhur. and i got jetlag! i thought by staying out late i would sleep soundly by the time it's midnight but no! i woke up at 2am and i cant sleep after that. so i went online and chatted with people until 3plus. then i unpacked my stuff kinda in the dark (but got light from the opposite flat). then i tidied up my wardrobe and i finally went to sleep at 8am (actually i planned not to sleep) and woke up at 1pm.

this trip is a really fruitful one because i've learned about european royal history and realising i do like it quite much. and the culture that i've witnessed so much in the 2weeks. i do want to go back to europe and explore the continent as much as i can. so i really do want to get into FASS!

then i think i've also thought things through. i reckon it's only there when the factors are there.

Travel is a means to an end.
Home.

8:00 PM