Last night in London.. (random thoughts)

Time flies... Can't believe that 12 weeks have just sped by! Before arriving London, I had an ambitious list of neighbouring countries I planned to cover and plentiful things I had wanted to do. Though I have not quite accomplished every item on my travel wish list, I am truly thankful for this 3-month trip and probably-once-in-a-lifetime experience.

During this overseas stint, I met wonderful people - not only did I have London colleagues-cum-friends who tried to make my stay as enjoyable as possible, I befriended Singaporean friends thousand miles away from Singapore. It is amazing how I was (placed to) immerse(d) in an environment of diverse culture but yet got to enjoy the comfort of occasional company from a familiar background.

Another highlight of this stay was the lovely weekend spent at Emily's place in South Hampton. Her house was absolutely GORGEOUS! One could tell that every piece of furniture was carefully chosen to complement the theme of the house. Most of the pictures hung on the walls was either taken by Dave or drew and given as a present from a relative - which adds to the cosiness of the house. Also, (it may sound bizarre to some, but) the feeling of watching HK drama serial by the fireplace in a typical English house was indescribably heart-warming. Until now, I'm still hesitating to post pictures for fear my poor photography skills will only do injustice to the beauty of the house.

......

Its 11pm now as I am writing this blog. Hmm... strange that my mind seems to be in a turmoil. Part of me is looking forward to go back (to bask in the warmth of my family) but the remaining part of me is sad to leave this place. Think there will be loads I will miss leaving London - the friendly people I met here (which goes without saying!), the french food at Islington (brilliant!), yummy Bayswater duck rice, the not-that-fantastic-but-still-cosy apartment I stayed in, shopping at Harrods, the train-rides out of London, driving alongside horses in South-Hampton (a true-blue 'country-side' life) and even London tube and buses.. Damn... I'm definitely gonna miss this place...

......

Bye.

Hen & Bachelor Party

Attended Chrissy's and Chads' Hen-and-Bachelor Party at The Angelic Pub. Nope, they are not getting married to each other - Chad's getting married on 24th Aug and Christine's 18th Sep. Can't imagine if they did. There would be absolute CHAOS.. Their bickering never fail to amuse me and they are never known to be able to co-exist in harmony.. haha~

Accompanied Karin to get the party accessories to dress Christine up (much to her violent protests). We contemplated between pink and white but unanimously agreed on pink to complement her sugar-and-spice-and-all-things-nice image.

My first time attending a Hen/Bachelor Party in London and it was quite an experience. Unlike SG (which usually involves a quiet dinner followed by drinks or coffee), its livelier and of course involves ALOT more drinking! As usual, I started off with a couple of 1/2-pint cider and proceeded on to champagne.

Guess this is probably one of the mildest Hen/Bachelor Parties according to London standards. Heard that its not unusual for friends to get the groom-to-be really drunk, strip him down to his briefs and send him off on a train out of London without his wallet. GOsh~! If I were that guy, I would faint out of embarassment and rather not wake up!

Christine all sweet with her pink gear..

Chads looking great with Purple Ears and feathers!

Karin a little tipsy after a few rounds of drinks..

Myself with a glass of champagne and chip!

Kensington Palace

Did a slow tour of the Kensington Palace on a lazy Sunday afternoon. This royal residence was home to the late Diana, Princess of Wales amongst other royalties such as King William and Queen Mary, Queen Anne, George I and George II.

The parts of exhibition which touched me the most:

• Photographs featuring the late Princess Diana - originally taken (just months before the tragic car accident) to promote the charity auction of her evening dresses
• Video clips of her life - her wedding to Prince Charles, birth of Princes William and Harry, her visits to third-world countries to raise social awareness and how she was not afraid to have upclose and personal contacts with the sick
• Countless articles of people relating their encounters with the late princess - each speaking so astonishingly well of her
  

It amazes me how her down-to-earth nature, despite her royal status, was able to make everyone around her feel so at ease. It makes me feel that she was beautiful not just outwardly but also very much at heart. She will always be missed by all..

Not a fantastic picture of me taken in front of the palace. This is what happens when you do sight-seeing alone and have to rely on a stranger to take your picture... sigh...

One of the ten flower sculptures which was installed in the gardens of Kensington Palace to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana. They echoed the thousands of flowers left by mourners in front of the palace gates days after the tragedy 10 years ago.

The one on Bridges...

London Bridge is Falling Down,
Falling Down, Falling Down

London Bridge is Falling Down,

My Fair Lady

While singing this song in my nursery days, I remembered picturing in my mind what I thought would be the London Bridge. It was a grand red-bricked suspension bridge built across the banks of a wide river. (Then, I had absolutely no idea that it was River Thames.) There was also a tower clock attached to each side of the bridge.

When I finally got to see the most sung-about bridge for the very first time today, I was slightly disappointed to see a boring plain grey-concrete bridge. It was nowhere near the image I had in my mind as a child.

Approximately 400 metres away from the London Bridge is the Tower Bridge. In fact, the Tower Bridge seems to be closer to what I thought London Bridge would look like!

Finally Re-Connected..

Woohoo~~

The internet in the appt is finally fixed! I have NEVER EVER been soooo over-the-moon at being able to surf the net..

Felt totally cut off and isolated from the rest of world not being able to connect for the last 2 weeks! Many friends wondered why I haven't been on msn or replying emails. One (you know who you are) even thought I was starved and became so skinny that I vanished completely.. DUH~! It really amazes me to know how ignorant some people can get.. :p

Time to continue the HK drama serial where I left off when Tunleng came visiting... Hmm.. am beginning to foresee many late nights to come...

Lion King Musical

Watching the Lion King Musical was yet another adhoc arrangement. MindAligned Desiree near knockoff time and we decided to try our luck at Lyceum Theatre to lay our hands on the last minute tickets.

I could tell that Desiree wasn't exactly very keen on the musical initially. She had the impression that it will be some 'cheapskate' musical with humans prancing around in lycra costumes. On the contrary, we were wowed by the way the musical protrayed the animals. In fact, the BEST part was when they introduced the animal kingdom!

Overall, it was quite a good musical. I did enjoy it pretty much as it didn't turned out the way I would normally expect it. In fact, it was better than my expectations! My only complain - there was too much dialog for a musical...