And if you were to ask me after all that we've been through; Still believe in magic? Well yes, I do

It's been a whirlwind of days. Sunday last week was Christmas dinner with the kilo-gang, and it was lovely. I was late and stressed, both because I'd had a busy few days, and because I had quite a few things on my to-do list that Sunday. Waiting for my bus from picking up a few books at the school library, I decided to undo my jeans, just so I could breathe properly. I don't know if you've ever tried it, but unbuttoning your buttons and unzip the flies are much easier to do discreetly rather than do them up. My coat was luckily long enough to cover me, so I wasn't flashing everyone, not that I know of anyway. I managed to drag the zip up a bit, before I went back to pretending that nothing was awry. The girls had pretty much finished preparing the Christmas tapas when I arrived, so I got the easy task to open a bottle of vino tinto and pour it into glasses. Sugar had kindly invited us to hers, which was extremely nice as we were able to spend more time working on something together, also we decided the volume and the choices of music, which is actually pretty important to an atmosphere. I cried a few tears, almost as evidence for Marble who pointed out that, yes I am an emotional person. Again, it was a lovely time, and it was so nice having everyone gathered again. We didn't leave until later than we probably should have, and therefore went to bed later. I think we slept for four-five hours? I say sleep, but I didn't really ever feel like I reached deep sleep, because I was slightly overstimulated by the girls. Pre-Christmas dinner I hadn't really been socialising with anyone for what feels like forever, and was mostly just buried in my master thesis. So any social stimuli was probably going to overwhelm me, and I spent a lot of the night just thinking about our conversations. Our flight was an early one, which meant once we arrived in London, we were knackered. And then we decided to take the bus to Oxford Circus, which was a bit not good. We had lunch at a french patisserie? Or maybe it wasn't either French or a patisserie, but we got some food and tea in us, before venturing outside to do a spot of shopping. Can I just say, all the chain stores seems to play music extremely loudly, and there was even a dj in Topshop. I started feeling really awful, as in swaying slightly at the spot and feeling nauseous, so Kiwi sent me back to the hotel. I'm grateful that she did, because otherwise I'd just be following them around and probably getting worse. I checked in, and immediately went to lie down under the duvet. I realised I had a case of trapped wind that just didn't want to remove itself from my body. It was a perfect time for having a nap, but since my body was in pain, I couldn't relax enough. Luckily it kinda resolved itself slowly, and I felt a lot better for it. Because I'd been worried I couldn't go along with Kiwi and Marble to meet up with Gemma and Alison. But I was good to go when we went to meet up with the girls. I did send a last-minute invite to Thomas and Anne, but Thomas was busy and Anne lives further outside of the city. So we didn't end up meeting them, but Thomas did a facecall, which was amusing. Initially I didn't invite them because it was so close to Christmas. Part of me feels like it's rude to intrude on people's time when so many spend that time with family. In hindsight I realise I should've just sent out the invites earlier. Oh well. Tuesday we went to Westfield because I personally prefer doing my shopping at a shopping mall if I know what I'm looking for. Finished off a few presents, and then we finally sat down for lunch. I had an amazing burrito and managed to cut my thumb on the aluminium wrapping. So now I'm craving burritos. We finished our shopping, and I bought my mince pies at M&S, before leaving for the hotel. Marble decided to continue her shopping, whereas Kiwi and I went back to relax a bit before leaving for dinner in Soho. However, once we got there, the queue was for almost two hours, so we decided on South Bank in the end, where we had a thirty minute wait, maybe more. But I got my patatas bravas and other tapas dishes, in which I've been craving since last year really. I honestly just went to look at a tapas menu just now, and fell in love with the sound of all the dishes. It's strange, because I'm not actually hungry, but the thought of tapas or a juicy burrito is making me salivate. Anyway, we took the tube back to Soho I think, and Marble and I decided to wander, whereas Kiwi went back to the hotel. I personally really enjoy a city at night, because the atmosphere is really nice. Also, the Christmas lights are all out, so it's quite nice to look at. We wanted to sit down at a pub for a beer, but we were too late? They stopped serving alcohol, which Marble and I were extremely surprised by. We ended up going home, where Kiwi was ready to go to bed. Wednesday we did a bit of casual shopping, I actually found my perfect summer bag and it was on sale for even less than I thought. I also bought myself and my sister some merino wool knits from Uniqlo. So all in all, I had a really successful shopping day. As Marble wandered around Liberty, I went back to Carnaby street to sit down at Starbucks, where Kiwi had situated herself. I had a green tea, and it was definitely needed. We had decided on having afternoon tea at The Wolseley. However, they didn't have any free tables, so we decided on getting there early so we didn't have to queue for that long. So we walked in that direction, and I had to stop by Uniqlo again, because I'd actually gotten the wrong size for the knit for my sister. They'd marked the knit with size xs with one of those stickers, but the actual sizing was xxs. So, after waiting in line for what felt like ages, we finally went outside, and we found the most cosy bookshop. It was lovely, and possibly just what Kiwi wanted. Once we got to The Wolseley, we felt quite underdressed. The girls walking out the door just before we reached it, looked to be dressed as in a feature in a fashion magazine. It was kind of awesome, because a lot of the people seemed almost like characters. We waited for a table for half an hour, which was nothing compared to the ones that appeared in the line behind us. It was good luck or great planning, that we were basically the first in the queue. Apart from one lady who said she'd been waiting for forty minutes. I didn't mind the wait, as it was something we had been looking forward to, it also gave us time to do a bit of people-watching. Also, the staff was very nice. The actual afternoon tea itself, was maybe a bit too much, and quite sweet. Doesn't really matter, as we wanted the experience. We were actually sat beside the lady who waited in line before us, so we chatted a bit with her. She was lovely as well, and even came back after saying goodbye, because she'd forgotten to wish us a merry Christmas. We basically sat for three hours almost, before we asked for the bill, and took the tube back to the hotel. I needed to change from my clothing and shoes, as I didn't want to walk in my dress or heeled boots when going to Winter Wonderland, which is what we did after we had changed our clothes. It started pouring down, so we found a dry spot in a tent, where a man was basically singing karaoke from a stage. However, he was the entertainer, and the people around were singing along. He sang the kind of songs that everyone knows, so Marble and I joined in. Don't know if Kiwi did, but she did film us having fun. We tried one of the rides, which was a VR-ride, and we thought it would be scary. However, it was really lame, and a waste of money. We bought ourselves some "dinner", and found a very cosy lavvo with a bonfire within. The atmosphere was lovely, and the people were merry with a bit of alcohol in them, and possibly some cheer. That being said, most of the people we've met have seemed really nice regardless of alcohol. They were playing pretty classic songs on the speaker, and almost everyone was singing along. It's probably what I'm going to remember Winter Wonderland as, somewhere you can do a sing-a-long with a whole crowd. Sadly we didn't get there until pretty much closing time, so Marble and quickly bought ourselves a pint, and ended up drinking the rest as we started leaving the wonderland. We fancied going to a grocery store, but all of them seemed to be closed or close to closing time, so we went back home instead. I think we all still had some energy, because I hummed and let the girls guess the songs, which I thought was amusing. Thursday we basically went to South Bank to see Big Ben, which is currently under construction or something? I did tell the girls, but I think they've either not heard me or just forgotten. So it was a bit amusing seeing their disappointment once we got there. We all had some spicy lunch at EAT, and then the girls bought themselves dutch pancakes with various topping. It looked amazing, and I would consider it if we had a place to sit down and it wasn't cold. But we had neither. There's quite a few buskers along the river, so we stopped to listen to them. The last one, Marble decided she wanted to leave for the tube station as it got too cold for her. Kiwi and I, however, decided to stay and listen to her. She was captivating, both in voice and her being. The second song we listened to was a cover of Coldplay's Magic. Before she sang the song, she talked about her struggles of becoming an artist and how she hasn't yet managed to get a record deal, so when she sang the last lines: "And if you were to ask me after all that we've been through; Still believe in magic? Well yes, I do", I just burst into tears. Almost spend the entire walk across the bridge trying to rein myself in. I was a bit mortified, and surprised by myself. To be fair, I did warn Kiwi that I suddenly felt rather emotional, and I can hear myself saying it at the end of a video I took of Tygermylk as she calls herself. I wish she had covered the song on Youtube or some kind of platform so I could listen to it again. Anyway, I thought it was so fitting to the themes of my master thesis, so now I want to listen to the song so much that it'll be the only song I'll remember from this time of my life. Eventually we found Marble, and we took the tube to Kensington, where we did a bit of looking at houses, which is a favourite of mine. We also went to see Harrods, as Marble had it on her list. Afterwards, we walked through Hyde park back to Paddington. Sadly it had already gone dark, and we didn't have time to wander around Kensington Gardens and to look at the palace. But we got to the airport in good time, only to be slightly delayed of course. It was annoying because Kiwi wanted to catch a train back home once we'd landed. But as we were delayed she lost the last train. That being said, I think we were mostly grateful for landing back home safely. We could've been flying from Gatwick, only to realise that the airport was shut down due to the drones. All in all I think we were really lucky, and I had a great time this trip. I only slept five hours yesterday, as I had a meeting at school. It went better than expected, despite me feeling like I was going to keel over. Got home and finally unpacked (normally I would unpack the moment I get back in), put clothes in for a wash, made some lunch, then I wrapped the presents I hadn't yet wrapped. It was good timing, as Monchita rang the bell. She later manipulated me to go to the mall with her, and we ended up buying some cheese and accessories for a cheese and wine evening. I stayed up later than what I wanted to, and slept for nine hours. I initially wanted to sleep without an alarm, as I was exhausted, but I had plans to meet with Oyster today. So Monchita tagged along, and we went to visit her and her family members. We exchanged presents and talked about life. We stayed for a few hours, before we wandered to the mall to buy a present for my dad. So now I've finally got all of the presents, and we're off for a long drive tomorrow. I need to pack for the few days we're staying at Lynx's house, although what I really want is to sleep because my body feels a bit ragged after all the stress the last month and in general the last week. But I'm push through just a bit more, and then hopefully sleep a lot. I am looking forward for the whole family to be gathered, as we haven't been for a very long time now. Merry Christmas! 

don't you know we're all wizards, welcome to Oz

London was above expectations. I've only taken around one hundred pictures on my camera, not cause of lack of beauty. The cause was laziness because I didn't want to drag around my camera at all times. However, the ones I've taken makes me fall in love all over again. It really is a beautiful city. We were really effective with our time, which must be why it was so tiresome. We've walked so much the past few days, and spent a lot of time shopping. Although none of us really did much of it. I did most, but even then it was things I genuinely wanted, which feels nice. It was kind of strange, because I sometimes walked through a shop without wanting to buy anything at all, but still feeling like I should. A London trip usually means a shopping trip. However, we've grown up, I guess, to not buy everything we see. Before the trip I did genuinely believe we'd mostly be in Soho, and that was it. But we really did see a lot of parts of London. I mean, at one part we were in Hammersmith, and then on Friday we were in Shoreditch. Anyway, here's my London diary for this time around. I want to go once when it's not so cold, because I would love to have picnics in the parks.  

FRIDAY: Kiwi and I flew to London on a Friday afternoon, got to the hotel with an hour before we had to leave to meet our pals. It felt very similar to when we were in Asia, and had been out on excursions or doing activities in the day with the group, only to get back to the hotel with an hour spare before going for dinner. We weren't only doing dinner, but also going out later. So we chucked on our dresses, did our make-up, and left with out newly purchased Oyster-cards. First person we met was Lara, who were stood outside of the station we planned to meet up at. Then Gemma came walking a few minutes later. By that time I knew Thomas would be late, and that Ella couldn't make it. So we started walking to Chinatown to find a restaurant that would suit us all. I had given Gemma the responsibility of booking a restaurant, but predictably all of the restaurants were booked on a Friday evening. So we wandered for a bit, which suited us fine because we were waiting for Thomas. Mia was held back at work, so the possibility of her joining us diminished. We were all chilly, so we went inside the chosen restaurant and sat down and ordered a bottle of rosè. Thomas finally arrived, and we ordered our food, which was meh. Regardless, we chatted around our round table, and laughed ourselves silly. Obviously we reminisced upon certain happenings when we were travelling, at it just never gets old. We finished our food, drank the last bits of rosè. Then the waitress basically kicked us out. Lara parted ways with us when we decided to go to Shoreditch. We took a ridiculous amount of tubes, before we finally found our way to The Book Club. Before the trip, Gemma wrote to me in relation to finding a place to go out, saying some of her friends were going to book club. And I thought she meant an actual book club, like "why would we go to a book club?". We ordered our drinks, found a place to sit down and tried to converse in the loud music. It wasn't very easy. Thomas and I talked about life, a conversation that fascinated me, though Kiwi says everyone feels the same. Basically, we talked about what we're supposed to do in life, and my conclusion was that "maybe we just have to accept things like they are". Gemma's friends showed up at last, and we squeezed in three grown men into our little circle. I've no idea what their names were as I couldn't hear anything. Regardless, they seemed nice, and one of them was an avid dancer. And you know I enjoy people who dances properly. One of Gemma's friends bought us drinks, which would make my total units of that night four. Had two beers, which was unwise due to all of the liquid. I went to the loo once, and though I felt a slight urge to go to the loo when we were leaving, it wasn't too pressing. To Kiwi and I's luck, Thomas and Gemma was taking the same night bus as us. Most tube lines stops going around midnight, and we hadn't actually planned how to get home. It's more careless than I ever am. My urge to pee became very pressing when we'd been sitting on the bus for awhile. Thomas had gotten off at his stop, and now Gemma was getting off at the same stop where I said I couldn't hold it any longer. I genuinely felt like I was about to piss myself, and it hurt holding it in. We did a bit of running for some reason I can't remember, and it was a bit like torture. Kiwi and I parted ways with Gemma, and tried to find a toilet. All of the restaurants were closed, and there weren't any toilets in sight. I was desperate, and in the end we walked to a bit more private road, and I had a wee between two cars. Kiwi thought it was hilarious because 1. it was in a kind of nice neighbourhood and between two nice cars, and 2. it's not a thing I would ever do if I wasn't so desperate-- it was unlike me. After stepping out of the river of my own wee, we walked back to the busstop and waited for the next bus. We were in bed around 2-3. 

SATURDAY: We woke up around nine? I can't really remember, but I had a shower. Though we initially thought we'd be out of the hotel around noon, we were out by ten. Our only plan on Saturday was shopping, and fireworks. We had to do a bit of a walk to find somewhere to eat. We ended up walking to Carnaby Street, and by walking through a small opening, we ended up in Kingly Court. We had our brunch in Whyte & Brown, along with other Brits who seemed to already be sipping on alcohol. I don't know why I didn't think of it, but if you're doing shopping in any big city, I would always suggest to do it on a weekday. That way you can usually avoid crowds, which we didn't. Regardless, I ended up with a successful shop. Our first stop was infamous Liberty, and I think my face was priceless when the lift door opened to the fourth floor. Fourth floor is basically the Christmas floor, and has all of the bauballs. It was amazing, like all of the dreams I didn't know I had. Obviously I ended up purchasing two bauballs. We carried on to clothing shops, and I ended up with a coat I have been salivating over since September. Kiwi even knew before I finished my sentence that I wanted to look for that certain coat. Before travelling to London, I went coat-browsing in the shops. I found one which has a lovely look and the right colour, but the quality was awful. I tried another one on, which was not the right colour or look, but the quality was far better. Even if it was a fail, I was grateful for it in hindsight. Because then I knew the coat I tried on was perfect. I am very happy with my purchase, which is the best kind of purchase. I also managed to find what I was looking for as a part of my secret santa present. My blood sugar was running low, and I wanted to find a place to sit down for a bit. However, lunch time in Soho on a Saturday is packed. So after walking around what seemed like everywhere, we ended up on the tube in the direction of where we were supposed to watch the fireworks. We've learned that even if the temperatures in London seem mild, the weather is really brisk. So it feels even colder. We stood on a bridge for a few minutes in the cold, before we decided on finding a hot drink to wait for the fireworks. Once we had been to the loo (I never want to re-experience the feeling of being so desperate you almost pee yourself), and bought ourselves hot chocolate, we went back to the bridge and waited. And waited. And waited. I was apprehensive from the start, and I apologised to Kiwi on forehand if the fireworks didn't happen. I've experienced enough in my life to know that sometimes things doesn't happen when people have written they will. Basically, I read an article with an oversight of places in London where the fireworks would happen. And if that article would be right, we would have seen fireworks. I checked the official webpage of the event, and it said another date. I wasn't at all surprised, because there were no signs that fireworks would take place around where we were standing. Meaning; though there were loads of people crossing the bridge, none were waiting for fireworks. We gave up eventually and headed for Yo! Sushi in South Bank. Kiwi is my sushi-partner by far, and we "discovered" seaweed salad on our Indochina-trip. Both of us had seaweed salad sushi (I'm sure it's got an actual name, but I am not aware of it), and I ended up with a soup after I smelled Kiwi's. With full stomach's, we took the tube back to Paddington, where we were staying. Watched X Factor, fell in love with this performance. And then we both jumped to the window when we realised the noises we were hearing was fireworks. I met the eye of a girl in a window across us, and it was slightly awkward. We went to bed sometime later, and I think I was out pretty quickly because I was exhausted (slept pretty badly night to Thursday and Friday. Then we didn't exactly sleep long enough night to Saturday for me to recuperate).

SUNDAY: We woke up at seven, we had our plans made for the day. Apart from meeting the others, seeing Notting Hill was the one thing I wanted to do in London. So Sunday was started bright and early in order to try avoid queue's to breakfast places. As we decided upon Granger & Co in Notting Hill, we didn't avoid it. It's a pretty popular place, and it felt a bit like standing in a line for a night club. We were also chilly, Kiwi more than me. We had done a bit of a walk to find the place, and though the walk was nice itself (we walked past villa's and nice neighbourhoods), it was pretty darn cold. I also insisted on taking pictures, so my hands were freezing. At last we got a table, and we both went for an acai bowl. I don't know about Kiwi, but it was my first time trying an acai bowl, which is something I've been wanting to try for ages. It's one of the things I regret not doing when we were travelling in Asia. It was good, but not a great choice when we were already cold. Luckily I had my green tea to warm me. We spent some time observing the people, locals and tourists. It's really interesting, people-watching. However, we didn't stay for long. We paid for ourselves, went to the toilet. You know it's kind of posh when they've got Aesop in the washrooms. And then we were on our merry way, passing the huge line of people waiting for a table. We started kind of mid-Portobello road, and walked upwards. It was lovely with the colourful houses, the markets and the gorgeous mews. It was exactly what I was hoping for. I didn't buy anything, but we browsed quite a few shops, some stranger than others. Kiwi bought herself a new hat and socks, and we wandered into a vintage shop with some really quirky Christmas jumpers. I did say if I would find Mark Darcy's Christmas jumper, I'd buy it. It's been on my wish list forever, hasn't it? We walked on, and eventually found the tube station. We went from Notting Hill to Blackfriars, because Kiwi wanted to see the Blackfriars bridge due to a fictional world she's in love with. I suppose she was in some sort of heaven when we were standing on that bridge. I snapped a few pictures of her, and then we walked towards EAT on South Bank again. I really enjoy the area because of the urban feel. We walked past the skateboarding area, and a few street artists. Sunday was a day where everything seemed to go as planned food-wise. We found a table, and Kiwi got the food. Both of us had been to the loo, and the time was around 1 pm, which was exactly what we had planned. I had another hot chocolate, because why not. After food, we walked a bit towards the London Eye, and I got a few pictures of what surely must be the most iconic attraction in London-- The Big Ben. Before taking the tube, we stopped by Oliver Bonas and Paperchase. In the latter I bought a gorgeous mug, which was a discussion topic between the cashiers and I. We took the tube to Oxford circus, where we went through a few shops in order to find a Christmas party dress for Kiwi. Our last shop was Liberty because Kiwi was buying a perfume for her mum. We walked a bit further this time, and I ended up looking at gorgeous velvet sofas. Eventually we were both really tired of walking around, so we walked back to Whyte & Brown in Carnaby Street. We ordered some warm drinks, and Kiwi added a plate of sweet potato fries. We had booked an Indian place for dinner, so we couldn't exactly gorge ourselves on the fries. We ended up sitting for quite awhile, before we wandered off to Office to look at shoes. Kiwi wanted to find a pair of joggers to replace her old red Nike's. At last we walked to the restaurant called Masala Zone, which was practically right beside Office. I almost ate myself beyond full because it was so good. Luckily I stopped before I became painfully full. Indian is always so good. To me it was a great food experience, and according to Kiwi, we sounded a bit like we were drunk. After our meal, we walked back to Oxford street, in search for a proper grocery store. After walking for a bit, we decided upon taking the tube back to Paddington and going to the local grocery store. Kiwi bought herself some snacks, which I now remember she forgot to stock up on. From what I heard from my shower, she really enjoyed the snacks whilst watching X Factor.

MONDAY: We woke up at seven again, Kiwi went for a shower, and I packed my things. We were out of the hotel pretty early, walked among the local's on their way to work in the morning. We left our luggage at the hotel with plans of going to museums. However, the first thing on our agenda was breakfast at a certain place. Whilst walking, a man in a van shouted "are you cold?" towards us, and I answered "yes". Kiwi hadn't heard the conversation, so I retold her everything, telling her I think it was a dig at her hat and mittens and overall look. In that moment, I guess if I could describe Kiwi's general look, I too, would say "cold". We walked and walked, over a bridge, under a bridge, to a business corner, and by the river. Despite looking for the breakfast place so thoroughly, we couldn't find it. So we ended up on the tube to Soho again, and ended up at Whyte & Brown for breakfast. I had an English breakfast, whilst Kiwi went for porridge. After breakfast I wanted to have a look at H&M just to see if they had a different selection, as I know they usually do in Paris. But it wasn't any different at all, so we walked back out in the sun. Kiwi asked if there were any shops we hadn't yet been to, and I suggested Forever 21. It prompted another "shopping trip", as we ended up in Selfridges, and other stores. I actually ended up with a pair of trousers that really can be dubbed as a pair of sweat pants. They're pretty much perfect. After visiting Topshop, we took the tube from one end of Hyde Park, to what felt like the other end. We ended up at the V&A museum in South Kensington, which was a much briefer visit than we had planned. Kiwi went to the loo, and then we went to find somewhere to have a snack. To be fair, the museums we had planned to visit was mostly just so we had something to do. That being said, I would love to go back to the V&A museum someday (it was huuuuuuuge). We had to cut the visit short because we were running out of time. We walked past a lot of tea-places in Kensington, before we ended up on a Cafe Nero, where I had a hot chocolate and a slice of banana bread (my insides always go 'yeees' of the mention of banana bread). On our way to the tube, we walked past a shiny Harrods. I've got to admit that the building does look pretty with the lights. We went back to pick up our luggage at the hotel, then took the Heathrow Express. We had already checked in online, which is the first time I've ever done it. Only had security, and then my priority was food. Had a burger and fries, and then we walked through Boots and dutyfree. Neither of us found anything, so we ended up waiting at the gate. We got on the plane eventually, and the plane took off. I fell asleep at the end of the flight, but woke up for the landing. Home at last to snow and fresher air-- my god, it truly is polluted in London.