Where was I?
Ah, me complaining about how cold London was.
Got it.
As soon as I settled in the apartment, it was close to dinner time already.
Didn't do much that day because it was a Sunday and everything closed early that day.
So, naturally.. We resorted to eating.
Nadia, Zaim, Iman and I went to makan Khan's at Bayswater. No Indian cuisine restaurant can come close to Khan's, man. Noooone.
The next day, the 31st of May, Nadia and I went to watch Ariana Grande Live in Concert for her Honeymoon Tour at The O2 Arena
Höooooly shit, that girl can sing her lil booty off!
For such a petite figure, she hits every single note known to mankind. Listening to her live was like listening to her album in your car.. amplified
BAPAK BEST, hands down one of the best concerts I've ever been. Nadia and I were dancing to each and every song, those little girls beside us must've thought we were slightly cuckoo.
Loved that she sang even her songs from her previous albums.
 |
Those cat ears were a must |
The next couple of day after that was, of course, spent at Oxford St. Hehe.
Since I was just there last year, there were not many places I haven't been, so I decided to just take leisurely strolls down shopping streets and make up for my no-shopping-for-one-whole-month because of my finals. Surprisingly though, there were barely anything I wanted to get. Don't know if it was because the summer collections were all blegh, or I just didn't feel like spending.
After several failed shopping trips, Nadia and I decided to just give up and go eat at a Korean restaurant called Bibimbap at Soho
Thought I wouldn't find any fault in anything Korean related, but errrr.. not a huge fan of Korean food
Maybe it's because everything on their menu is jam-packed with veggies and well, those green stuff and I do not get along too well.
Look lah at my bowl. People might have thought that I ordered a salad and didn't even touch it.
No, that is just my meal after I've left all the veggies.
As I said, London shopping didn't excite me anymore.
Neither did shopping malls.
So, what did I do? Go to markets! I love markets, not only in London but everywhere else in the World. Bangkok, Singapore, Bandung, you name it.
And since I've been only getting around the city with the tube or a cab, I decided to get around by foot this time.
... Also the fact that I ate like a fat pig the past few days motivated me to walk even more..
Look look! 148 calories gone!!! :D
*Checks calories in chicken tandoori*
..Oh
At least got a bit lah gone. Whatever.
After a few days in the city, we decided to rent a car and drive a little around the UK.
First stop? Machester!
Papa studied here for a year before he continued in London for the next 5 years
My God, Manchester is beautssss!
A little dodgy at some places, but for the most part of it, it really is a mini London
Okay fine, maybe because I thought it was going to be like ladang as far as the eyes can see and sheeps running around. But it's nothing like that at all! Hahaha
The malls were probably even bigger than Westfield in London, haaaa
We stayed at an apartment we found on Airbnb, which was pretty close to the city centre. Probably only a 5 minute walk. There were also trams everywhere, so that was convenient.
The dodgy part of Manchester was really dodgy though. Forgot what the area was called, but we had nasi Arab there for dinner and when we left the restaurant, there were drunk people screaming at each other.
It was actually quite funny actually. This drunk girl was at the ATM machine across the street taking out some money for her friend, and she forgot her friend's pin.
"What was your pin again?"
"It's 4-7-1-4!!!!!"
"Whaaaaat?"
"I SAID!! IT'S 4-7-1-4!!!!!"
-_____-
Girl. We. Can. All. Hear. You.
We stayed in Manchester for only a day, and left for Liverpool the next day.
But before we actually arrived Liverpool, we stopped at Lake District for the day. Mama and Papa have been there, and absolutely loved the place so they wanted to show us around.
Got a little lost trying to find the dock where the boat would take us to Bowness, a little town.
THEY WERE HUGE OK
THEY LOOKED LIKE THEY COULD EAT ME
Houses at Lake District started at 8 million pounds, oh no biggie..
"Isn't that our boat? ...Shouldn't we be lining up..at that long ass line?"
I freaking love Bowness & Lake District, so so beautiful
Probably the nicest place for me compared to the rest of the places we visited
(I say everything is my favorite, but just bare with me lah ok)
Finaaaally! Liverpool!
We stayed at this beautiful place, also from Airbnb, that was really close to the Liverpool Albert Dock
Liverpool pun lagi satu, so so incredible beautiful!
The mall in Liverpool was also surprisingly huge
We had dinner with one of Papa's friend at Jamie Oliver's restaurant, and heeeck it was so good
After 2 days and a night in Liverpool, we were headed back to London
But first, we stopped by Zaim's university at Stoke-on-Trent to drop him off. He had to pack his stuff and move out of his on-campus accommodation before a certain date and move it to his new place.
While we were there, Zaim played tour guide and showed us around the campus grounds
KEELE UNI IS BEAUTIFUL
A lot of historic story behind it but err, don't ask me to explain.. Was probably too mesmerized by everything to pay attention to what Zaim was saying about the history behind it.
The most flowers I've seen throughout the trip
Geez, London
-___-
After dropping Zaim off, we left for London
We spent the next week just exploring London and showing the city to my Paktok, who's not been here for more than a decade.
It was actually my first time on the tour bus as well, so it was pretty fun!
Our bus had a live tour guide and not just the recorded one you hear through the earphones
And he was bloody hilarious, I might have missed several stops because I was laughing too hard
Ah, British humor..
And here comes some of my shameless OOTDs just 'cause
Top Topshop
Pants Miss Selfridge
Cardigan H&M
Top Zara
Pants Topshop
Top H&M
Jeans Topshop
After a good week in London just discovering the city a little bit more, Mama & Paktok decided to go to Cambridge for a short trip. I tagged along because to be honest, got a little bored of London.
Didn't take too many pictures because it was such a short trip and it was such a beautiful lil town filled with incredible handsome university boys, who remembers their camera right?!?
Told my mum that it's so senang to find calon suami here, just find a good-looking guy. Because if they got accepted here, already confirm pandai so don't need to worry already what.
Numsayin', ladies?!
It was such a small town that we finished the bus tour in an hour and took the train back to London after 3 hours. Not much to do there anyways, no wonder everyone is so smart!!
I especially love how they've conserved the initial architecture for almost all the buildings. Makes it feel like a completely new place.
Especially compared to Manchester and Liverpool, which almost felt like mini-Londons.
We had only a few days left in London, so we just spent it with taking in as much of London as we could before we bid adieu.
I, in particular, spent one of my last days there with a workout bootcamp.
How fun.
Hahahahaha. But it really was!
A few weeks prior to the trip, I was scrolling my Instagram feed and found out that my faaaavorite fitness trainer from Australia was doing a World Tour Fitness Bootcamp in London! Quickly signed up, and found out that it was sold out not long after I registered. Phew!
Of course, you'll see results if you continue to do the workout after the bootcamp lah
..which I'm still trying to find "time" to do..
So the next time you see me, don't expect too much ok
But heeeck, that was one hell of a workout
Put emphasis of the hell okay please and thank you
Nothing much happened after that until our flight back home
It was just Nadia, Zaim and I flying back 2 days after Mama, Papa, Paktok and Iman because we booked our tickets seperately
Other than the fact that our flight back felt like we were on a roller coaster simulator, we reached KLIA safe and sound, Alhamdulillah!
That (finally) wraps up my post for this trip!
I am currently in Penang right now, and Ramadhan is almost ending.
Which only means Raya is in a few days! a.k.a My favorite time of the year!
Will take tons of pictures for Raya and write back soon.
Until then!
x,
Tania
