Got these at the Oxford Circus TopShop for £70, suede and braided nubuck!

My boyfriend tells me he just spent $70 on an Electric Organ and I’m pretty sure I’m gearing up to spend that much on shoes between yesterday and today alone. And this is not taking into account the 8 other pairs I’ve purchased so far this summer.

I shipped a bunch over to New York, land of no sales tax on shoes and clothing under $100, in his trusted custody. Oh dear.

And since I haven’t done one of these ‘minor details of what’s going on in my life,’ here’s a quickie!

Lately I’ve…

1. Been working quite a lot. I gotten a part-time job [though my current hours are edging dangerously near to full time] for the summer, and naturally, have already gotten tickets lined up ready to squander all my not-quite-earned savings away: yes, m’dears, I’m going to JAPAN for Christmas vacation.
2. Does anyone else find the Fantasmic Disneyland radio commercial song oddly catching? When it comes on I find myself humming along much too frequently.
3. Been slowly (not quite surely) putting up a few backdated posts about my Europe trip, which is more than I ever did for my China vacation last summer.
4. Also been trying to figure out how to compact all the shit stuff I want to get back to New York in late August packed into one under-25lb parcel mail box, a medium-sized suitcase, and 2 carry-on’s. I’m trying to stay away from a suitcase being one of those carry-ons.

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It was a sunless day, though a typical one, for northern California beaches.

Went with a couple girlfriends down to Santa Cruz earlier this week, for a much needed respite from work. I’ve been working 6 days a week for the past three weeks, and I hadn’t been able to find time to hang out with my friends at a time that worked for all of us. Unfortunate, but this is what happens when one wants to vacation in Japan during the winter holiday: one must work one’s butt off to get money to do so.

Santa Cruz Beachfront, oh-so-California.

My boyfriend likes to remind that I’m from California whenever the modifier hella slips through. Usually he’s not appreciative of the fact, but this is a pale boy from New York speaking, so I like to think that all comments of his regarding my state are void and invalid.

See? Palm trees. That's my Jill-E camera bag in the front.

The dress I was wearing is now one of my favorites. I don’t know how many people have heard of Desigual, a Spanish design company that opened at least 2 storefronts in New York City in the past year or so (one’s in SoHo, it’s not difficult to spot). They sell these amazing coats and dresses made of a mish-mash of fabrics and patterns that just make me want to drop the $400 dollars the clothes are priced at.

Well, my dress (thank goodness) did not come from Desigual. In fact, I dug it out of a large pile of thrift clothes at a stall in the somewhat sketchy Montreuil markets in Paris and purchased it for the bargain price of 8 Euros!

The full front view of the dress.

Notice the zipper details and the empire waistline.

The patterns remind me of Ming vases.

Hemline.

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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.

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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.

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We actually began with a presentation on promotion and sponsorship for the club (not teams, clubs), now one of the wealthiest and best-sponsored in the U.K., thanks in part due to wealthy Russian owner, Roman Abramovich. Not only is this a field (pitch to the English), it’s also several hotels, a gym, shopping and apartments. They really don’t waste a spick of space or money-making potential. Perhaps the U.S. should take a cue?

Practicing my professional image in the official conference room, where the club provides more than healthy amounts of alcohol for the press before a game. Strategizing begins off the field.

Ending some time after noon, we head off for a quick lunch before meeting up again. Half of us stop by a nearby pub with a feel as traditional as they come and munch on some fish and chips.

Our next route takes us through Hyde Park, headed for Buckingham Palace. Lots of pictures follow.

We didn’t get to catch the changing of the guards, though we managed to see a lot of the guards, mostly because the Queen was in and they were doing some marching practices. I really feel like we didn’t miss that much.

Buckingham Palace.

We make a pit stop in a small garden park on our return trip for some modelling and camwhoring.

Being much less jetlagged that night, we headed out after dinner. Since it was a Tuesday night, our local pub, the Zetland Arms, was bountiful in the older generation. Nevertheless, we had a fun time just chatting with each other. If you’re of age in London when you visit, make sure to try Strongbow Cider – its delicious! Remember that all pubs close at midnight in London, so don’t plan on going out too late.

That’s it for our second day – Cheerio!

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So a little background on this London-Paris trip: I’m a part of a global business program at my university which involves traveling to a different continent/country every day for our first three years and getting to know not only a bit about the culture of the land, but also to get a taste for businesses in the country and a bit about how they operate within their economy. Our first year trip takes place for about two weeks in the summer, after school ends, this year from May 23th-June 7th. We spent 10 days in London and got a obligation-free two-daycation in Paris.

We begin our journey about 5pm at JFK, where some of the group gathers outside before heading in to join the larger group - all told, we're 17 plus 1.

It took us 9 hours of flying time to arrive at Heathrow, around 11am local time. This meant we had an entire day to power through before we could get some real sleep. After waiting much too long for our chartered bus, we piled on and headed for our assigned student housing.

We lived in posh South Kensington for the 10 days of our stay, a stone’s throw from femme fatal Anna Chapman’s residence behind the South Kensington tube station. Russian spies? Check. Bentleys parked on the street and Lamborghini dealers? Check. Echoing streets and sensitive neighbors with a street-wide quiet hour of 11pm? Oh, it all comes with the territory.

South Kensington streets had strange trees and a lot of white wash (not here, obviously).

The first thing we did was head out in search of food. We were instructed by our upperclassmen to run (don’t walk) to Nando’s Chicken. Since we saw one from the bus on the way, that was exactly what we did, arriving at the chain restaurant shortly after its 11:30 opening time.

Nando's Chicken - I had spicy rice and wings. I have to say, the British know how to blend fast food and sit-down ding. At this establishment, you are first seated and given menu's, and at your own leisure, you can head up to the counter, queue up (what else?), and order your food, which is later brought to you at your table.

Next we attended a few orientation sessions at the London branch of our university. We received a few safety tips, mostly regarding pickpockets and false ATM machine openings which allow your card entrance but deny all exits. Speaking of ATMs, for those of you with Bank of America checking accounts, did you know that with the ATM Alliance you can withdraw cash from any Barclay’s ATM free of charge? They don’t even charge you conversion! I could pull out 20 pounds and have exactly $29USD withdrawn from my account (the conversion rate being 1:1.49 at the time).

Hungry again after orientation, we were treated at Pizza Express–another well-known London franchise that is much fancier than its name suggests.

Yum, lemonade.

For those who decided we wanted to see London before we crashed and succumb to jet lag, the post 24th hours of our day consisted of a lot of walking and ground-breaking coverage of the must-see tourist sites. We began with Piccadilly Circus.

Picadilly Circus had the biggest Ripley's I'd ever seen. But of course, different city, similar sights. Like Times Square, the Circus hosts a variety of brightly lit signs and musicals.

From there we walked all the way to Trafalgar Square, the heart of London–for tourists, at least.

F

Nelson's Column at the Square.

Boys on the Column's base.

Lions! We had so many group photos - it was ridiculous. Good thing our chaperone was a good sport about it; he was handling 3 to 5 cameras at any given photo opportunity!

Next top: Parliament and every edging closer to Big Ben.

Where parliament resides...

...demonstrators follow, right across the street in their specially allotted square.

Big Ben. Need I say more?

The London Eye, which we skipped because no one felt it was worth shelling out 20 pounds for.

We took the tube back, because by then, we were too exhausted to move. Sleep was fast and the flat was very silent that first night.

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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.

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A group outside the doors, waiting for the event to open at 7pm.

“By seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived, no thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums…. Already the halls and salons and verandas are gaudy with primary colors, and hair bobbed in strange new ways, and shawls beyond the dreams of Castile. The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside, until the air is alive with chatter and laughter, and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot, and enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other’s names.” (F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby)

"His gorgeous pink rag of a suit made a bright spot of color"(102). Not pink, but close.

More people waiting in style outside the Met.

There were also student-led tours through the American Wing should guests choose to do so.

In the spirit of the Great American Novel, the College Group at the Met invites you to celebrate the opening of the Museum’s New American Wing. Guests are encouraged to don attire inspired by the party-throwing, mansion-building, and art-loving Americans of the early 20th century—such as those who might have attended Jay Gatsby’s lavish soirees.

The honor will be entirely ours, old sport.

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So in the last two months since posted, I’ve been from California to China and back and then to New York, where I am currently. It’s been a hectic two months that still hasn’t settled yet, because now, 2 weeks into college, I’m already backlogged with work and readings. Half of that is because as of this morning, 1 hour ago, I still only have about 60% of my books and am missing some key, very necessary, books for my macro class.

Today also happens to be one of my friend’s birthday, so as she is the princess of the weekend, gets to dictate where our fate goes for the remainder of the day. We will be off to central park in a few hours, thus making me more broke than I already am, it being not even halfway into the month and me already being perilously low on funds.

Of course, it must be taken into consideration that I purchased 4 pairs of shoes and a new jacket in the last week or so.

Perhaps soon, when I’m procrastinating, I will reminisce my trip to China and my ardent desire to go back again next summer. For now, I need to clean my quarter of the giant quad that is my dorm room.

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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!

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