Summer Trip Travelog - Day 2: Hyde Park and Kensington Palace

What happened to my summer stories? To simplify it in a few words, I lost my mojo. In easier terms, I got lazy... Uh, when was I not lazy anyway?

So, here goes...

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After our vain attempt to get a London Pass, we walked back to the main road to go to Kensington Palace. According to the map and myself, it's not that far. However, my traveling buddies were pretty tired so they wanted to get on the bus. I agreed and we waited at the bus stop.

We waited and waited and waited.

After missing two buses (they were too full, it was impossible to squeeze in), we decided to just walk and we're glad that we did! We got to walk through the famous Hyde Park! To me, it's just a park but I think that it's nice to have a green scenery in the middle of the city. It's a pretty significant landmark for Londoners too, I'd say.

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The entrance fee to Kensington Palace was £13.70 for students, included was a voluntary donation. We, students, wanted to save money and therefore, only paid £12.40. Hehe.

I would insert all the details about Kensington Palace here but to be honest, I know nothing about the British Royalty. HEH. I heard it's the home for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge but do not take my word for that for I didn't have the right source. I might be wrong...

£13.70

£13.70

£13.70

I personally did not like the way the stories about the palace were told. I found that it was bothersome to have to look around to read the explanation regarding each rooms. I don't know if it's their intention to be interactive but I certainly didn't enjoy staring at artifacts, not knowing their significance to the place and history. (Excuse me for paying attention to details like this. I was still annoyed that I had to walk to the end of the apartment to know why there were 18 empty chairs in one of the rooms.)

Fun fact: Corridors or hallways did not exist until the late 17th century and therefore, the only way to get through from one room to another is by going through all the rooms in the way.

Nonetheless, I still think that it is a place worth visiting for it's glorious history and I did get to learn a few things about Queen Victoria. :B

10 months

I intended to post a lot of stuff in the past two months, but nothing was ever published because I never really took my time to sit down, think and pour my heart out to this page.

Then time went by and tada, I am back in O-town, ready (or so I thought) to take on my final year of studies, inshaAllah!

The time-traveling thing got to me when I thought that I would make it back to attend the first day of classes. However, I was absolutely wrong and totally missed all of them! I was super worried when I realised it that I almost cried when I found out. HEH. Nerd.

Anyway, I am back in my second home and I totally miss it a lot!

When I was in Kuching, I had a few moments when I wished I was back in Ottawa. I was still excited during my last week in Kuching because the thought of going back, made me so happy! Only on the last day that the reality kicked in and I found it to be hard to leave home, again.

Now, I am here, it's time to start being independent once more.

Nobody's waking me up for Subuh prayers, nobody's preparing my lunch and dinner, nobody's driving me around to anywhere and anytime, nobody's fetching me a glass of water whenever I'm too lazy (hehe). I'll miss them but I'll pull through, people. I will.

Cheers to my last (hopefully) ten months in Ottawa!

What I've Been Reading 002

This is my second installment of this 'series' that I have on my blog. Sadly, the amount of books that I have read is still quite small as compared to what I have expected. However, this is progress and I shall cherish them! *pats self on the back*

1. Insurgent,Veronica Roth

I am afraid that if I start to sob, I will never stop until I shrivel up like a raisin.

We both have war inside of us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroys us.

People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you decide to trust them.

It was given that I would read this after Divergent. I found myself secretly nagging Tris because of her reckless decisions. Other than that, I personally think that the book has started to have too many intimate moments. I didn't think it was really necessary to show the love between Four and Tris.

2. Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell

You can't take back texts. If you come off all moody and melancholy in text, it just sits there in your phone, reminding you of what a drag you are.

I love this book. It's so cute and quirky. I love the excerpts from Simon Snows' novels very much. I wished they existed so that I could read them too! Oh, I was in love with Levi.

3. Attachments, Rainbow Rowell

I'd rather you said 'I love you' because you were so full of love for me that you couldn't keep it in.

I shouldn't need proof, but proof can be very reassuring.

I told him that I didn't want magic, that I wanted someone who wouldn't leave me if he could. Who couldn't feel like being committed to me was such a burden.

I was on a Rainbow Rowell marathon so I chose to read this book. I love the email exchanges between Beth and Jennifer. They're really funny and I found myself guessing important events that had happened in their life as well!

4. The Guard, Kiera Cass

But I've seen a lot of people let the bad around them make them hard of stubborn. In the end, they miss the chance to make their world better because they only see the worst in it.

This is a book from Aspen's point of view. I would say that I like Maxon's point-of-view better than Aspen's. Maxon's point-of-view gave me a clearer situation of the plot. Aspen's on the other hand, I would say, the story fare well enough without his thoughts. Some things are better left unsaid.

5. The One, Kiera Cass

I don't mind mistakes...I mind the uncertainty. Most of the time I can't tell what's going on.

It's hard to know everything about people close to you, even the people you love the most.

The ending was obvious but I still enjoy the book. I would say the main point of this book was how Maxon overcame his own struggle with choosing the girls and his conflict with the king.

Book covers taken from Goodreads.

Summer Trip Travelog - Day 2: London, Tube Strike Problem

What better way to kick-start our day than with a plate of hot nasi lemak?

Our first breakfast in London was very Malaysian and we had nothing to complain about that. Malaysian Canteen was full with such familiar environment that for a moment, we felt like we were actually home - ordering food in Malay, uncles having breakfast before office work, roti canai and nasi lemak on the menu.

According to our plan, we were supposed to get a London Pass at Paddington station.

As a tube strike was in progress, we had the option to walk or to use the public bus. In front of the bus stop, there was a tourist shop - we bought a London City map there for our own convenience. After locating the station, I suggested that we walk to the station because it's close by, around 15 minutes walk.

Please be warned that I am a big fan of sightseeing on foot. I have nothing against using public transports but I prefer walking because I want to see more of the city and not the underground. I also would like to avoid as much contact with human beings as sometimes, these public transports are crowded and thus, not very comfortable or safe - pickpockets.

Upon our arrival at the Paddington station, we found out that the booth that was selling the pass was closed due to the strike as well. The person at the information center had no clue either and was unable to help us out. In the end, we were directed to the wrong people, wrong stations, wrong directions and to no avail.

We decided that we were wasting too much time and chose to forgo the London Pass and proceeded to our next destination, The Kensington Palace.

Perspective

Before this summer, it has been a while since I last attended a wedding reception. The most recent one would be around four years ago, perhaps. In fact, that's not quite recent enough...

Being able to attend four wedding receptions this time around, I would say that my perspective on such event has changed a lot. The way I see things now and then are worlds apart and I just couldn't help but to notice it myself.

I found myself paying attention to details like the dais, the food, the emcee, the seating arrangements, the outfits, the door gifts, and the event itinerary too! It's like I am mentally taking notes for my own wedding - which would not happen anytime soon - subconsciously. My mom and I even discussed things about MY wedding, which is odd!!

The fact that the topic came up naturally sort of freaked me out.

Perhaps, it's the 'coming-of-age' phenomenon that's affecting my mind. It's realizing that now, I am attending weddings of people who are actually of my age, slightly older or younger even.

This is me, taking in the fact that I am no longer a child, and in actuality, old enough.
Old enough that I should probably act my age more, however that is.