Summer Trip Travelog - Day 2: Main London Attractions

This is a continuation of the post from years ago.

After crossing off Kensington Palace from our list, we decided to move on to our next location; Buckingham Palace. As it is situated further, we decided to be sakai and got on the famous red double decker bus this time around. Hehe.

We stopped at Victoria Station and again, with the help of a guide and our handy map, we walked to Buckingham Palace. We decided that it was not worth it to enter another palace and forwent the inside tour. Instead, we spent almost an hour taking the ‘perfect’ picture at the gate. Typical Asians…

Next, we headed to Tower of London by underground. Let’s just say that we were tired from all the walking…

It was almost 4:00 PM when we arrived and the last call for admission was at 5:00 PM. It was certain that there was not enough time for us to tour the insides of it. So, we spent our time hanging out, enjoying the sun and English view by sitting around with ice creams in our hands.

The Tower of London is located right next to the Tower Bridge and it was given that it was our next tourist destination. We walked along the pier and my friends went crazy with taking multiple shots while I, sat around with all the uncles, aunties, gramps and babies that were tired as well. :P

Our next destination was the London Eye and so, we took another bus to the main city area. It was almost sunset and therefore, we decided to stop by at St Thomas Hospital for prayers. It was such a coincidence that we walked through the park of the hospital on our way out and managed to get an awesome view of Elizabeth Tower or more well known as Big Ben (fun fact: Big Ben is the Great Bell).

Soon after that, we walked to London Eye and got just in time to watch the sunset on the ferris wheel. It was a 30-minute ride and thus, we got the chance to get a view of London during the day and also at night. A 2-in-1 deal!

It was already quite late when we’re done with the ride, we decided to call it a day and headed back to Malaysian Hall. The trip back was not any easier though. We got lost again as the strike was still going on and information on how to get around was very scarce. After wandering about half an hour, we managed to get on a bus and arrived safely at our rooms. We rested well that night because we had enough adventure for a day and a flight to catch the next day.

Journal Update

Remember that once upon a time I said I wanted to journal every day of 2014?

It. Didn't. Happen. What a surprise!

I only managed to write for the first four months and then, I went traveling and my journal was left abandoned, never opened ever again. Okay, I might have written a bit during summer but that was pretty much it. I never consistently write in it anymore and for the past few months, I have only recorded life events on my phone because... it's easier.

It is such a big commitment, you know! It gets harder when you have no stories to write about because I live in a cave and no interesting things happen in here. I really should get a life...

Or live life.

Life is too short to be sitting around doing nothing. I would say that to myself every day but I do it again and again because this girl learnt nothing from her own experiences. *sigh*

How do you live your life people? How?

Okay, I might have a few stories to tell or blog about. Let's hope I get over this idle phase soon enough...

What I've Been Reading 003

I am so upset that I couldn't find the quotes that I have saved from the first three books listed below. I read them during summer in Malaysia and I used a different device then. Hence, the quotes mentioned would be some random ones I pulled out of the books and probably not my favourite ones. Haih.

1. The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion

Why do people value others’ time so little?

Why do we focus on certain things at the expense of others? We will risk our lives to save a person from drowning, yet not make a donation that could save dozens of children from starvation.

I love this book for so many reasons. I personally felt like I was reading the stuff that was going on in Sheldon Cooper's (from TBBT) head. I found Don to be cute and yet frusrating at the same time. The second book was out a while ago and I have yet to find time to read it.

2. I Heart New York, Lindsey Kelk

Sometimes we get so used to not really feeling anything, just going with the flow, that we forget how it feels to be really happy or sad.

I honestly did not like this book. It's too...for lack of better words, shallow? The storyline is too fairytale-ish to me, I felt like banging my head on the wall every time the 'perfect' turn of events happened. There are three other books in the series and I don't know if I would be able to get through them...

3. The Boy Next Door, Meg Cabot

Honey, You ain't a hundred dollar bill, not everyone is going to like you.

 This book was certainly an interesting read because of the sense of mystery that was included in it. A bit Detective Conan-ish I would say. I wish I have my notes with me because I honestly can't remember anymore what else I liked about this book. :/

4. Allegiant, Veronia Roth

I wonder if fears ever really go away, or if they just lose their power over us.

I fell in love with him. But I don't just stay with him by default as if there's no one else available to me. I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or disappoint each other. I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me.

I like Veronica's style of writing but the plot of this story was getting more and more ridiculous to me. I couldn't wrapped my head around the idea that she had for the ending that I just wished it ended then and there.

5. Epic Fail, Claire LaZebnik

No one's family is normal. Normalcy is a lie invented by advertising agencies to make the rest of us feel inferior.

You wouldn't think the touch of someone's hand could blow your mind. It's nothing, right? People don't write songs and poems about holding hands - they write them about kisses and sex and eternal love. I mean, when you're a little kid you hold hands with your parents to cross the street. Who's going to write an ode to that?

 This was a light read that I had to had because of my frustrations from Allegiant. It was a fun read nonetheless and served its purpose to me. People say that it's a modernized version of Pride and Prejudice but I have yet to read that book, so I can't really compare them.

Commonplace Book

Starting this moment, I want to officially keep a commonplace book.

A commonplace book is defined as a book that one uses to keep ones' favourite quotes, sayings or poems or whatever stuff for future references.

Technically, I do own several 'commonplace books' though they're not really physical ones. I usually keep the stuff that I like in my phone or laptop. They are very random and oddly placed, like my Twitter for random conversations, Goodreads for quotes, weheartit for pictures and Pinterest for recipes and DIYs.

In short, we can just conclude that I like to collect junk...

And this is the mini neat freak in me trying to reorganize stuff that I own. Occasionally, I like to browse through the stuff that I have saved just because. I find joy in that sometimes...weird, I know.

I also would like to limit the time I spend online for the millionth time. Impossible, yes, but I would like to try. This might be just another empty talk but hey, this is something I love to do, I should be able to do it ~effortlessly~.

I'll brag if I managed to maintain one. :P

Cray Week

These past few weeks are probably the busiest I've ever been in my entire life!

It's too crazy and rare, it's worth writing a blog post about. Experience level increased, new achievement unlocked!

All this while, school is only a place I go to whenever I have classes, or events. I don't go to school to 'study' or to do 'work' because I prefer the comfort of having everything that I need within my arms' reach. You know, if I were hungry, I'd go to the fridge, not the food court or something like that.

However, life changed!

I'd never thought that the day I stayed back in school until 11 pm would arrive. I'd never thought that the day I would go to school on weekends would arrive. They happened, guys, they did! I am still fascinated by the facts myself. I couldn't believe that I actually managed to do so... T_T

*pats self*

This is not the end yet. The coming week will be crazier but I shall brace myself.
I can't wait to be done with this term. Just a bitttttt more. A bittttt more, dear self.