I took no pictures today, being a little photo-whored out, but I did make most of my gift purchases that day and had an interesting sandwich at a very normal-seeming bar that served the very goth-based clientle that seemed to permeate Camden Town. Ladies, if you’re ever looking for old-style platform leather boots or corsets, this is your destination. Trinkets, and the usual market mish-mash are also relevant, but the former because it makes this place unique.

Things I got? A purse, posters, crystal soil, a wine-glass made out of a recycled beer bottle, cloth-wrapped bead bracelets, and a pocket watch that I will probably wear as a necklace in the future.

We were up a little earlier on Day 8. We decided to take a look at London’s infamous Soho, which is not an acronym, first thing in the morning. The girls and I almost decided to take a peak at one of their curious adult-themed shops, but turned back as soon as three heavy, gruff looking men exited their chain-draped door. Whoops.

This picture expresses Soho, London in a manner a little bit cleaner than some other picture might.

Instead, we found ourselves in a vintage magazine-meet ex-redlight district: lots of old Playboy magazines, some Vogue ones, tons of vinyl, and some crude postcards.

From there, however, we stepped up our class and headed for Kensington Palace, home of many princesses.

Queen Victoria statue on the far side of the palace, depicted in the background.

Waiting in line to be seated.

The day was cloudy as usual, and the line wasn’t too bad. We split into 2 groups of 6 to be seated, which all happened quickly, though the manner in which the host addressed us could have been a shade or so more friendly.

You don't need to purchase tickets for Kensington Palace to eat at The Orangery, a restaurant in the palace itself touting tons of deserts and teas perfect for high tea!

A sneak look at some of the other guests at the Orangery.

In a fitting manner, the centerpieces are little orange trees. Their specialty is Roobois tea, made out of oranges. Frankly, a bit strong and overpowering in the orange for me.

Next we continued our slow ascent into the flamboyant by looking up (and speed touring) Harrods, which has just changed management. Are the new owners as flamboyant as the old? The decor doesn’t seem to have changed, though I had trouble locating their touted 400,000 Pound [Sterling] rock (and I don’t mean diamond or weight) in the huge maze.

Since we couldn’t afford anything from the actual store, we went down to Harrod’s own gift shop and purchased a musical bear for our director’s new son, who was also the reason of his absence from being our chaperone.

Everyone loved the bar so much that they all decided to get one as gifts for family or friends with new babies!

Tuesday also happened to be student night at one of the clubs we looked up, Tiger Tiger. We made a mad rush to make it by 11pm to get the student discount price of 5 Pounds. If you ever visit the place, head downstairs immediately. I have a silly picture of me dancing in the awesome groovy-themed 70s discotheque that I will not be showing.

It rained a lot again on Day 9, but we were prepared because our company visit with Winterflood Securities, provided us with these awesome umbrellas. Unfortunately, though sturdy, these umbrellas were also bulky and heavy, and a great many did not make it out of the flat on the last day. Many towels didn’t either.

Let’s just keep moving on through the days as I make a power-post of the final few days in London. Day 10 was uneventful so far as the touristy goes, though we did visit KPMG, one of the Big 4 Accounting firms. As our final full day in London, we did some R&R before we headed off for, rather perfectly symmetrically, for Picadilly Circus once more, this time to catch our 7pm Les Mis showing, our 30 Pound rush tickets in hand.

Related Posts:

1. Day 2: Don’t Forget Your Kit on the Pitch!
2. This is London Town
3. Day 3-5: A Square Mile of Traveling Through Time

We headed out at staggered times, and most of us ended at the Tower eventually. The deciding factor? Sleeping in a couple extra hours!

Saturday was our first day completely free of company visits, so we decided to fill it up to the brim to make the most of the trip. We began with the Tower of London, and a sky to match the mood: overcast and pending rain.

Here is a rather side-swiped view of the Tower of London. There were no lines, strangely, probably because the weather got so horrid.

We made a beeline for the Crown Jewels before we headed back to the entrance to join a Beefeater tour. I heard that they’d instated their first female Beefeater recently, and the men were giving her a bad time. We did not see her though.

This nice Beefeater guide put up with us through our dancing umbrellas and ushered us into the chapel when the rain came down too hard.

The Tower Bridge

After we left, we saw this parade heading into the tower.

A couple hours of that and we were all ready to get inside and eat something warm. Naturally, we chose the Wagamama’s right outside the Tower complex.

One restaurant that was perfectly okay with accommodating 15 of us. A couple boys went to get Subway, heh.

The secret to not getting fat on vacation? Lots and lots of walking. Also, skimping on less necessary meals by getting Tesco pastries for breakfast so as to conserve my sterling for more touristy adventures.

London Bridge is most certainly not falling down, and if we hadn't already known it to be a disappointment, we would have been disappointed.

We had better formation in the first shot, though I was instructed not to show that one because of strange facial expressions and unposed and therefore awkward hand positioning.

This walk was directed towards the Tate Modern, but a few of us took a short detour and headed through the Borough Markets. So delicious with so much food, but alas, we could not tarry.

Squid on a stick?

Hmm, cider. A-hem.

The Millennium Bridge in front of the Tate Modern, however, did meet its demise in the sixth Harry Potter film. Look at that spindly thing!

The Tate Modern boasted free entry and massive architecture. Tate 2 - MoMA - 0.

Space! Lots and lots of it inside the museum.

My favorite tate installation. The weird lumps on the ground are primordial beings, and the big thing is a lightning representation of some sort. Also, I appreciated the context the Tate provided for most of their exhibits, something the MoMA refuses to do. Again, Tate - 3, MoMA - 0. I like art with some intent, because it focuses emotion.

We headed to the Globe Theatre to pick up the tickets our director reserved for us to watch Macbeth. Excitement!

The actual replica, and not the ticket office.

So we had what is technically considered the “cheap seats” – at 5 pounds per person with standing room only. However, I considered it to be the best seats, because they provided this mysterious head canopy for the audience to poke their head through and watch [and experience] the show up close and personal. Meaning when there was fake blood, that got splattered on us. When the witches moved? Our legs got brushed against. When a bucket of water was thrown at the audience? Oh, that landed on me. My fault really, I shouldn’t have made us a target by ducking.

These canopies were definitely not waterproof, however, since the weather, continuing with its pathetic fallacies, decided to match the play. It was pouring throughout the last few acts. But since I'd been soaked early on and had ducked under the overhang to dry after my spot was stolen during intermission, I remained relatively ok.

Related Posts:

1. This is London Town
2. Day 3-5: A Square Mile of Traveling Through Time
3. Day 2: Don’t Forget Your Kit on the Pitch!

I’m currently in London right now, in the middle of my first abroad trip with my honors business class. We’ will be here for 10 days in London during which we’re to do a couple of company visits as a part of our trip here while we see the sights.

Most of the group at Trafalgar Square.

Yay for classic, red telephone booths.

Related Posts:

1. Day 2: Don’t Forget Your Kit on the Pitch!
2. Jet Lag, and Powering Forward Through All Signs Thereof
3. Day 6: Pathetic Fallacy, Since We Lost ‘Em

Around this time, almost twenty-one years ago, you and your wife were distraught because of your inability to have children the old fashioned way. Thus, you went to a specialist to debate the various options available to you, a rich couple with too much money and time on your hands. Between the choice of getting a surrogate, adopting, and the recently perfected option of reproductive cloning, you and your wife choose cloning. Because your father had stipulated the conception of a granddaughter before he will release his fortunes to you, the two of you choose to have your wife cloned.

Your wife is ugly now, old and wrinkled, but your daughter has grown up, the picture of health and flushing youth.

Happy Reproductive Cloning Day!

Inspired by my own horrified thoughts on the topic in my Philosophical Ethics class and Bob Power’s Girls Are Pretty blog.

Matt Damon at the end of a day's shooting.

My school’s been featured in quite a few movie filmings lately, the most recent two being Wall Street 2 (featuring Shia LaBeouf and Michael Douglas) last month and The Adjustment Bureau (Matt Damon) just today. For both, the production agencies offered the opportunity for students to apply as Extras, and mostly because I needed money, I tried my luck at the latter one. Amazingly, I got a reply 2 hours after I sent in my picture.

The extras gathered to cheer on the campaigning senator who Damon plays.

So this morning I haul my ass up after 4 hours of sleep at 5am to meet the call time of 5:45 dressed in more colorful winter finery than I would have chosen for myself naturally. 10 hours later after all parts of me have lost feeling and gone numb, we wrap.

Moral of the day? Dress warmly and understand that Extra-ing is the tedious task of standing around. There’s no glamor to it, even if you are essentially paid as human fodder.

Related Posts:

1. Tree Light, See Light
2. Hanging by My Shoelace, Watch Me Go
3. All For the Price of an Electric Organ

Lately I’ve…

1. Been exercising an counting calories, oh my! Nothing except the thought of going to China where I’m probably a size L motivates me to get off my butt and lose a few pounds (or at least a few centimeters in girth). This endeavor (a week or so in) has included Tony Horton, a banana for breakfast, and sparkpeople.
2. Actually this isn’t so recent, but since I mentioned it on the last few “lately”s, my 35mm f/1.8 Nikkor came. I’m not sure if I like it as much as I expected to.
3. Witnessed an interesting incident with a woman at the grocery store when a woman left her cart in the middle of the asile with her kid in it. Because it was blocking everyone’s way and causing a traffic jam, a nice lady pushed the card forward a few inches (closer, I dare say, to the mother). The mother began yelling and scolding the woman and as others stood up to defend the poor lady, the mother began to snap at them, too. I do believe their mistake was to even talk back to her; giving her a dismissive look and then walking away would probably have shut her up faster.
4. Made an Excel spreadsheet of what exactly (minus clothes) I will be bringing/needing in college.
5. Sent out my essay of affirmation to Tierney Hall.
6. Shuffled through 3 computers to find old family photos to print and bring back to China on request of my paternal grandmother. There were about 60+ that I printed. Then today when my mom handed me the stack of pictures to bring back, I noticed that it was ridiculously thin. Alas, she’d pilfered off her favorites and all those she didn’t think she looked good in. Which totaled to be a lot.
7. Watched Watchmen; am in the process of digesting the comic. I wish American comics had prettier pictures, because after watching Malin Akerman in her hot! costume (I want her hair by the way), and Dr. Manhatten’s finely chisled abs and uh, blueness, the distinctly masculine pictures just don’t cut it as well. Eh, I’m probably writing blasphemy though. I’m sure the comic will reveal a lot more details the film only got to glaze over.

Mother has also just informed me that she expects my brother and I to bring a small carry-on roller luggage case and a backpack to China between the two of us. She is obviously delusional. I brought that my for a 3 day trip to New York by myself. Three days!

Related Posts:

1. A Little Peep from Yours Truly
2. China ‘09, Part I: Shanghai

Below you will find a “marketing poster” for the Olympus E3 dSLR camera. Just another case of fun and creative advertising. Too bad these awesome marketing fronts

Unfortunately, as brilliant as the is, I don't think it was actually legitimately used anywhere. Olympus just happens to have it on file. Ah, Asia and their restrictions.

I like my fairy tales dark and cynical and my humor somewhat wacky (and preferably sarcastic), so its no surprise that I fangirl Alice in Wonderland in any dark form whatsoever.

Alice, dear Alice, how I obsess over your Wonderland. That place was the inspiration of my college essays, the substance of many projects, and one fairytale that really isn’t a fairytale. For years now I’ve been anticipating a film version of American Mcgee’s Alice, though that never bore fruit. The premise of the video game is simple(y brilliant):

Seven years or so after the original Wonderland, a fire breaks out in Alice’s home and kills her entire family. Not quite in her right mind, she is tucked away into the Rutledge Asylum, where at some point the White Rabbit shows up and escorts her back to Wonderland once more. Only Wonderland is a very different place now, disintegrated along with Alice’s mind.

So now what with Tim Burton’s version (2010) actually under production, I’ve become a very happy camper indeed. And we all know Mr. Burton likes his stories just as dark as I do.

Mia Wasikowska stars as Alice with Johnny Depp cast as the Mad Hatter. Doesn't he look like he's on hookah? Costumes are amazing - the lady wears a tie!

Just one thing: could you please send your costume designer my way? (And I wouldn’t mind if Mr. Depp tagged along too.)

On another note, I’ve been so sorely busy with school and end-of-the-year projects that I hardly have time to sleep. I just finished my Lit&Film short film though, so I’ll post that soon.

Related Posts:

1. Sometime in the Snowstorm
2. Mass, or Being Human Fodder

Yeah, I know.

If you’ve every read her, you’ll understand what I mean. They embody everything vampires probably are and what the Twilight series avoided for the trilogy and then for the +1 suddenly decide to embrace it (going to the repercussions angle): sex.

So when my mother comes in today to grab a book to read while overseeing my brother’s piano practice, the one book she would obviously choose is Micah, the 50-page fluff novel that happens not only happens to be one of the series also happens to also read like porn without pictures.

I don’t even remember why I got it. In fact, I don’t even know why the lady wrote it. And any other book from the series would have been better since they have tiny font, are long, and actually has the occasional sighting of the bunny called plot. In translation, this means mother would have given up before she got very far.

But Micah, well, Micah gets its own genre…

Naturally, flustered and not eager to let my own mother read a book like that to practice her English, I quickly asked where my copy of Howl’s Moving Castle was.

It was a really close shave.

This is an ad made by Acuve Contacts for (I assume) Circle Lenses. I have new respect for the company's sense of humor.

Though honestly, contacts are a bitch to wear just so you can see out of.

^{[*] Circle Lenses are colored contacts, usually larger in diameter worn purely for the cosmetic reason of making the eyes appear larger. Asia loves them muchly, but they aren’t quite legal in the US since they aren’t FDA approved lenses. Something about blocking too much and causing the eyes to dry and maybe shrivel up and potential blindness.}