We took the Euro Star from London to Paris, a relatively short trip of 2 or 3 hours. The U.K. countryside is beautiful, though I’m pretty sure I drifted off for a good portion of the trip. Prepare for ear-poppage in tunnels.

A charted bus picked us up at the station in Paris and we drove through the slowest traffic to reach our hotel, Raspail Montparnasse, almost 40 minutes later. The Hotel Raspail was a small, intimate, clean and enjoyable place to stay. It’s very European, and has a small breakfast area in the basement which is decently price. I can imagine that it’s a pretty affordable place to stay, and about 80-150 Euros/night.

Don't worry, the hotel does have a (tiny) elevator, but since my room was only one floor up, I figured it would be easier to trek the spiral staircase one flight rather than wait in the huge line while one person at a time made their way up to their respective floor with their overflowing luggage.

This is a double room with two twin beds. The beds and room are nicely decorated, but the beds were literally pushed against each other.

I was generally satisfied with my rooming accommodation, and for a university-funded trip, almost expected less. The bathroom is good sized, though the hair dryer looks more like a vacuum cleaner extension set on inverse, The fridge comes fully stocked with beverages, if you choose to indulge, but remember it will cost you on your final bill!

After an hour or so to settle in, we made our way pretty directly to Notre Dame Cathedral, where we explored the church, took pictures, and walked along the Seine and a good 2 miles of the Champs-Élysées. It was like London, minus the jetlag, added the travel fatigue, and more walking.

The group by the Seine in daylight.

Notre Dame from the distance. Parisian traffic, tsk.

Outside the cathedral.

Inside the cathedral.

Arc de Triomphe. We walked here.

And took a group picture. Many, actually, but this was the only decent one.

Men talking near the fake lake in the gardens at the Champ-Élysées.

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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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First company requiring business formal rather than business casual.

So the next few days are less full of pictures and a little more full of moving from place to place. Our next company visit, on the third day of our stay in London, was to UBS, in the old Square Mile of London (also so called are the financial services based primarily here). The architecture is industrial meets modern here, and especially around the businesses.

The first half of the UBS was one of my favorite company visits, since we had an amazing guest speaker, Paul Donovan, who was the director of Global Economics for the company. He gave us a great overview of the current economical outlook from their view in Europe, including notes on the current slow-paced recovery. Crossing fingers that Greece doesn't default an cause domino-like ripples.

We split into smaller groups again after leaving UBS, since one of the interns there had recommended nearby Brick Lane as a great place for international food. In our search, we stumbled across Spitalfields Market in the east end of London, so named for being the Hospital field at one time in history [a tidbit we learned later on a Jack-the-Ripper tour].

Spitalfields market waning at the end of the day. They have tons of clothes here, and I snagged a dress for 5 pounds!

Of course, when we finally arrived in Brick Lane we realized that our intern guide had been somewhat misrepresentational in her “international” designation. Brick Lane is of course home to a plethora of Indian restaurants, not necessarily multicultural ones. You do get to bargain with such a huge selection, and after much debate, we were finally drawn into one that offered us a 25% discount and a free round of drinks.

Day 4 found us back at the university’s London Centre in Heythrope College with an animated history professor giving us a overview of the enormous length of British history and culture. It was a great introduction to our next stop, the British Museum, free but controversial for tightly holding on to its plundered treasures.

The gorgeous covered inside of the museum.

The Rosetta Stone, behind glass.

Acropolis replica.

We walked over to Chelsea in the late afternoon. We had been invited over for a small house party at the home of one of our University’s trustees.

We passed a couple daycare centers on our walk over. Imagine living here!

Obviously staged posh laughter.

Here we are all dressed up.

Day 5 was an early rising: we headed to the U.S. Embassy much too early in the morning. There, we were introduced a bit more to the expat view of London, and privy to a short bomb threat warning, whence were were instructed not to leave the room we had been placed in.

You can also tell that the American Embassy, out of all the places we’d gone to, had the smallest budget, by their lack of coffee and teas. I do believe that a good chunk of their money is going to building a new embassy, set to open in a few years.

The U.S. Embassy

A couple of the girls and I head over to TopShop at Oxford Circus (biggest and busiest) and did a bit of shopping before heading over to our next visit at Virgin Media.

Group photo, actually from a later date, but since I'm having trouble pegging the exact date, here's us in all our formal glory. Such a business outing group photo, yes? You can see our exchange office plastered with these, though we probably are prettier.

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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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We took a United direct flight over; the plane was almost empty, as you can take a look-see here. We had the aisle seat empty, though my brother who is more motion sick than a drunk flamingo would not let me move so we were stuck still squished in our seats.

We flew into Shanghai’s Pudong Airport. Shanghai is extremely busy getting itself ready for the World Expo in 2010. It’s ugly little blue mascot is everywhere in the city, though I refrained from taking a snapshot of it for its sheer unattractivenes. Half the streets are being fixed or repaved and the city’s really pushing to finish its subway system. Construction is a frantic and constant activity all throughout the city, since the aim is to be done or just stop by March for the initiation of the Expo.

In Shanghai, we stayed with one of our mother's old college friends and her husband in her 13th floor apartment just inside the Inner Circle. This is the view from her balcony, and as is typical, clothes hang dry in lieu of dryers. If one city in China really needs dryers, it would be Shanghai around storm season, when essentially you're breathing vapor.

Nevertheless, Shanghai is China's New York City, beautiful waterscape and all. We went down to see the cityscape at night and it was amazing. Haagen Daz had a shop right down by the waterfront, and as already one of the most expensive ice-cream brands in China, I didn't even dare wonder what the price was on actually going to the 'restaurant'.

Left: My favorite building in Shanghai and also one of its newer ones. It also happens to be the tallest one at the moment in the city, though I never did get to go in and do the wide-eyed tourist thing inside. Right: street singer with a beautiful voice.

The aunty we were staying with totally explained all the buildings to me but honestly, I didn't catch their Chinese names well enough to store and memorize, nevertheless think of translating. Maybe sometime before I try to attend the expo I'll do more research and catch up on my empty bucket of knowledge, but for now, enjoy the view.

On Sunday, our third and final day in city in July, another one of mom's old friends came and took us to Old Shanghai, more tourist-trap than anything truly authentic. Nevertheless, the vibe was still great.

China should look like this everywhere.

We went to Yu Yuan, a small garden in Old Shanghai and dined at a quiet restaurant.

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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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Will be vacationing in and around China from July 13th-August 14th!