zuanqing extraordinaire

As I was making my way to St. Paul's Cathedral in the morning, I was amazed by its backdrop of a cloudless blue sky.

I wound up at the wrong entrance. Lol.

Outside the main entrance of the cathedral

Definitely one of the best sightseeing place I went to in London

Chilling at a cafe opposite the Cathedral as I was waiting to have lunch with Mish

The moment I touched down from Amsterdam, I grabbed a quick lunch before rushing to catch Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre! Tix were booked online before hand :D

Maybe because I watched the 25th anniversary performance screened at GV 2 years back, I was expecting quite a bit and was a tad disappointed with the performance. But it will always be my favorite musical. Can't wait for the show that is coming to MBS in July!

After the musical while still carrying allll my barang, I went to Regent Street and Harrods for some last minute shopping for friends and relatives before heading back the next day.

Kudos to this bride baring it all in the freezing cold weather

There was some kind of celebration going on at Harrods and I arrived just in time for the fireworks

the iconic bear of Harrods

It was this fateful night that I *almost* became a target of pickpocket.

I posted the status below on FB detailing what happened that night:

Man behind me on escalator going down to tube platform: Do you speak English?

Me: yes?

Man: you were being followed by the woman with a head scarf.

Me: really? How did you know?

Man: I saw. It's because of your bag. Be careful.

(Now I'm not sure if he was referring to the ultra big Burberry paper bag I was carrying or my satchel slung on the same shoulder being pushed behind by the Burberry bag which I guess makes it an easy target for pickpockets- totally let my guard down cos I was tired & carrying so many things: Burberry bag, my satchel & travel bag from Amsterdam)

Me as I cross slung my satchel in front of my chest: thank you!

Man: that's why I was standing behind you. Be careful.

Omg super nice soul in London! Most unfortunately I suspect he's gay cos he was dressed in a bright yellow trench coat.

I reached the platform & sat down. Shortly after, a woman with a head scarf took the empty seat next to me.

I glanced at her, stood up, and walked away.

Thank God for keeping me safe, really. 

Forced myself to sit down and pack my luggage as I was heading back the next evening.

Some of my loots hehe

The next day I decided to head to Bicester Village where the outlet stores are located. I made a big booboo finding my way there and almost didn't make it there! But eventually I did and I'm glad cos the shopping was pretty fab :D

I bought a Prada bag for mumsy and a cardholder for myself, a GA polo tee for daddy, and a Bally bag and a pair of Tod's shoes for myself :D Good thing I was rushed for time and didn't get to stay long... else I'm quite sure I would have maxed out all my credit cards!

My story of making my way from Mish's apartment to the airport was epic. My luggage was so heavy and stuffed and I had another bulky runaway bag bought from Portobello Market a few days back. And I had to walk from the apartment to the subway station which proved to be too much for the flimsy runaway bag and the handles broke!

I was already huffing and puffing from the weight of it all. When I finally made my way to the tube station (I was planning on taking the tube to the airport), I was at quite a loss cos I have no way of carrying a broken bag and overweight luggage by myself.

Thanks to the free wifi at the station, I contacted Mish (who was away for a school trip) and booked a car to the airport. So I was waiting in the cold, getting worried that I won't reach the airport in time. After quite a wait, the car finally arrived. It was one of the most 不划算 item I spent on the trip - it cost 70 GBP which at that time converted to about SGD140. HEART PAIN.

But never mind, that's not the worst. When I arrive at the airport I was about 2 hours ahead of my flight. I went to queue at the VAT refund counter and the queue was so long it stretched from inside the room out into the cold. But I thought I'll give it a shot still since I had time. But the people in front of me bought like 10,000 items and each person took such a long time to process that I didn't get to reach the counter before the SIA personnel came in and threatened us to check in else they would take off without us.

So I had to leave the queue to go check in with just a few more people to go ahead of me! Urgh. 

Remember earlier on I said my bag handles broke? After rushing to check in I rushed to a shop to buy a new hand carry. The only suitable one I could find was like Tommy Hilfiger and I paid over 200 SGD for it. HEART PAIN x 2. 

And I didn't get to claim my tex refund. HEART PAIN x 3. 

Hai. That being said, it was still one of the most awesome trips of my life. For the first time, I travelled solo to the Europe continent and even went sightseeing by myself and survived by myself. (Y)

I even made a new friend on the plane. Hehe.

Most people will know me as being spoilt and extremely dependent on others so here's a pat on my back for taking care of myself. Haha.

And it is always good to go home to people who care.. and of course to my buddies :)

Departing shots before the woggers left for Singapore

So after lunch, Mish went back to work and I accompanied the woggers back to the hotel (where all my shopping bags were stashed haha). Sent them off in a cab and I lugged all my shopping back to Mish's apartment before I went off to do some sight-seeing by myself.

Most sightseeing places close quite early at like 4-ish 5 and I almost didn't make it! Was contemplating between St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey and decided on the latter as I think it was nearer. I did like a 200m dash to the ticket booth and managed to make it in the nick of time before it closed for the last batch of visitors for the day :D

Partial view of Westminster Abbey from inside the ground

Regretfully, no photography was allowed inside. An audio guide was provided and it was nice listening to the narratives while exploring the inside. It is a place rich with culture and history, and a burial site for many monarchs from the past. It was a pretty interesting tour but didn't really strike a chord with me. To me it's one of those "been there, done that" places!

But the architecture is rather nice and impressive, albeit a little dark and gloomy inside.

When you have no tripod and no one to take photos for you

After the Westminster Abbey I roamed the streets nearby where Big Ben and River Thames were. It was so full of tourists and I witnessed tourists getting scammed by those gypsies who pose for photos with you and then extort money from you after that.

Ditzy me almost got conned that morning we were there and luckily Swi and Char were more well-travelled than I am and guided silly me to safety. I think I'm really stupid and blessed. Lotsa things could have happened to me but I emerged unscathed! More to be elaborated in upcoming posts.

After exploring enough, I proceeded back to Mish's apartment where she cooked risotto for dinner. Yumzzzz.

And I ended off my night with a mini magnum bought from our grocery trip 2 days ago.

After YAF in church on Sunday. 

Left: my feet. Right: Swi's feet. This was totally not orchestrated! Do all girls do this?? Haha 

 Our fabulous spread at Fabulous Baker Boy. So glad we made it in time - I absolutely adore their cakes. Super good!

Coffee is a must.

LB Caitlin Cheongsam in Pink. Am glad the dress turned out less poufy than I thought it would be! Tho the side mandarin collar is a bitch to do up and down. Am gonna wear this for my company's LNY cocktail function tomorrow! 

Chilling and breakfasting by myself at Paris Baguette after meeting up with the rep from UniMel. The food was pretty meh but the coffee was bleargh. Never again.

 Helping Yina with some work in the office! All these stocks from CNY launches. Total war zone. 

Welcoming Daniel into the barbarian family!!! Son of Jieying and Rayvin. Visited him on Tuesday and he is so super cute!!! Melts.

Love my new floral sheets from Ikea :) Goes so well with the fuchsia!

 Am also glad the dresser came just in time before CNY! To scrimp on the $80 delivery fee I lugged it back from Nex with the help of Sarah and Jui. Haha

Ok thanks bye!