Arsenal vs. Manchested United 1-0

We were sitting in the third row from the front, THIRD ROW!!! it was ridiculously amazing!!!

Today I learned how much people really hate Rooney and how nasty fans get against Man U. I thought it was all really cool because I got to see Rooney and Park Ji-Sung.

There were really mean chants and songs about Rooney and his affairs.

Anyways, lets talk about the game and the intensity. Sitting three rows from the front behind the goalie, I was quite concerned about getting hit, no lie. I seriously thought about getting a Cech helmet LOL. I almost got hit twice which resulted in Ryan touching/hitting the call twice as well!

Now, the game was awesome because Arsenal beat Man u. Aaron Ramsey scored and it was phenomenal! The crowd went crazy and Rooney looked so pissed!

This was the best way to end our football adventures!

Here is the view from my seat!

The team that is called Chelsea

YES!!!!! I DID MEET SOME OF THE CHELSEA PLAYERS! I DID GET THEIR AUTOGRAPHS AND PICTURES WITH THEM AND NO THERE IS NO PICTURE OR AUTOGRAPH WITH MY FAVORITE PLAYER FERNANDO TORRES BECAUSE HE WAS BEING DUMB AND DROVE OFF THE TWO TIMES I TIRED TO GO SEE HIM!!!!

Anyways, here are actually some awesome people that stopped and were nice. Enjoy!

Chelsea Training Ground in Cobham

Didier Drogba, the man himself! Apparently we were really lucky that he stopped because normally he doesn't and he was really nice and Ryan said his car smelled nice


David Luiz! We really like him because he can't speak English...hehe


Kalou! Soloman - Salmon kahlua - my new name for him!


Essien was so nice! So adorable also because he was wearing a bow-tie!


Frank the tank!!! Really glad that I got to add his autograph to my collection!


We were so surprised that Ashley Cole stopped and we couldn't help but think about how he shot someone mwahaha


We love Petr Cech!!!! Soft Skull!!!! He turned off his engine to sign autographs and take pictures, who knew celebrities could be so nice :D


Benayoun!!! he does look a tad sick, but also very nice!


Anchovy! I can't believe he stopped!


Nicolas anelka, his license plate says NICO


Mikel, on the phone!


John Terry the man, England captain himself! He was really nice!

Kew Gardens

For Easter (4/24) me, Michelle, Ryan and Alex went to Kew Gardens!

There were two reasons for this, one was to go somewhere nice and somewhere we haven't been to for Easter and the other was to go on an Easter egg hunt!!! Kew gardens also had special Easter activites.

Kew gardens is known for its outdoor plants and green houses. I wanted to go with my professor but on the day he was going to go, I had homework to do so we decided to go for Easter!

The garden was huge so we didn't walk all of it but we managed to hit all the main attractions. The weather was lovely that day so it was overall a nice day for an outing!

We saw the two main green houses. one was of tropical plants and the other was with some desert landscape such as cactus and also a pond and animal eating plants. Ohh we saw this huge really fat blowfish that we kept wondering if it could swim or not or if it was a diabetic. It was seriously so fat!

There are some fish and animal life at the gardens.

There is one really cool attraction which is a tree walk sort of thing. You basically climb up as if you were walking among the tree tops, so we were really high and it was really cool!!

Now for the Easter egg hunt! So this was not your tradtional egg hunt so I was kind of bummed but it's ok because I still got my chocolate egg.

So here is the deal, there are 3 critters hiding throughout the gardens and you find them and get a token and then you find the bunny and give him the tokens and you get an egg!! Michelle and I were able to do s but Alex and Ryan were turned down.

It was a good and fun Easter :)

The drought is finally over!!

I cannot even begin to stress how relived I feel about seeing Torres score on saturday against West Ham. It was pouring that day and I was watching the game at a bar few blocks down from Stamford Bridge. I'm pretty sure the screams, shouts and claps were louder than any thunder that day.

Torres came on as a sub for Droga and the pitch was drenched which ended up working in his favor. It was the 84th minute and that goal proved that el nino was back.

I could not get off my seat, I was stunned and so happy that he finally scored. I was so happy and excited that I even teared up a little because the pressure is finally off.

Torres is back and with more to come. YEA!!!!

Dover disappointment

On Friday, I went on the school trip to Dover to go see Dover Castle. I was pretty excited to go because I wanted to see the white chalk cliffs of Dover and had been told the castle is huge!

The castle was huge but the white chalk cliffs was not as amazing as I imagined it to be. I was kind of disappointed because from prior experience, this landmark was a let down once again. The cliffs were not as white, grand or tall as I imagined them to be. The castle was very big where they actually have a tram to take you around but the rooms inside was filled with furniture and holograms that made it look like a toy/fake attraction. At least the weather was nice out and we could kind of see France.

Turning 21

The big day has finally arrived and gone...I am officially 21.

I have mixed feelings about being 21. In a very big way, I am in no way ready to go into the world and find a job and I am not ready to graduate from college.

Anyways, I had an awesome birthday thanks to my two besties Michelle and Ryan. Here is how the day started off!

it started off with a surprise trip to the London Aquarium! I had never been there before so I was excited to go! The aquarium was a lot bigger than I thought it would have been and they had sea turtles!! There were a lot of different fish and creatures to see so it was a very nice and enjoyable visit.

The whole day was a surprise but in some ways I had guessed some of what we were going to do and where we were going to go. They kept trying to throw me off and it was funny!

Next we went to Camden Town. I had never been there before either. Camden is known as a funky kind of "out there" area. Reminded me a lot like Venice beach / goth people.

I really liked Camden, off did I mention how awesome the weather was?? There was sun and shine and it was warm!

Ok so at Camden Michelle and I had a pedicure. BUT not your average pedicure, this was with fish!!!!! The dead skin sucking fish!! ahaha it was such an interesting experience! At first it just tickled and then you Can feel their lips sucking against your skin! It was definitely an experience and something I want to try again before I leave. These fish are imported from Turkey called Garra Rufa fish.

The next part I knew about and we went to high tea at The Woseley. We chose this place because we have been wanting to try it for awhile now but we needed to make reservations. Michelle had told them it was my birthday on the reservation and they gave me a cherry cake, it was a tad too sweet but yummy still! We ordered one high tea and shared it all. There were sandwiches, scones and sweets. Very good except we had tea at like 6 so we had no room for dinner until 9 lol.

Since we were so full, we walked and shopped around until dinner time which they would not tell me and I had to wait until we got there to find out. We had Korean BBQ! The waitress there BBQed it for us and we were very full by the end. The meat was yummy and finally had rice!!

We wanted dessert after and met up with Alex to Chinatown! We had boba and drinks!

Overall I had a very good birthday! Ohh yea and the night before we went to a pub and then came home and played soco mug pong! hahaha

Awesome day! :D

Apartment problems keep escalating

I thought that with one month left, we have learned to deal or ignore the problems we have in our apartment..but NO.

There have been two major things that we have been struck with this week. 1) our washing machine is dying, it also acts as a dryer and 7 people use it and 2) it's just so unreal you'll have to wait to read all about it.

So out washing machine has been working fairly well. It washes and dries but it has become a 7 hour process. But recently, it would wash halfway and then stop working and after a dry cycle the clothes would be even more wet then before putting it on dry. After our landlord finally brought someone to fix it, we found out that the filter was basically super clogged up with lint and that is why none of the water was draining and why our clothes would never dry or wash properly.

The second problem we encountered is even better. So we have been smelling this gross rotten smell for awhile, He figured it was either something under the fridge or some rotten food and guess what it is?? It is a dead mouse caught underneath the fridge...So gross!!!! We had to get rid of it in order to get rid of the stench and it was quite a process. We had to lift up the fridge a little in order to scoot the mouse over and at one point the fridge got too heavy and then it came down and squished the mouse and guts came flying out, it was disgusting. The stench is still here so we will to wait it out.

True disappointment

I don't think I have ever really felt the true feeling of disappointment. I mean I have when it comes to school, like not getting into the college I wanted to or not getting the grade I thought I was going to get, but this feeling of disappointment that I felt on Saturday April 2 is one for something that I have come to love and support.

Arsenal v. Blackburn

This game would have been the 10th football game that I have ever gone to or my 5th game this semester. This game was vital for Arsenal to have a chance to win the Barclays Premiership. Man U had just kicked ass with Rooney scoring a hat trick and the end result of 4-2, so Arsenal definitely had to win this game to rank up the points.

We didn't win, we tied 0-0. I have never felt so sad or disappointed before a team...my team now. Blackburn was crap and didn't play fair and it was the first time I have ever seen a team with such a bad attitude. They would kick the ball to the crowds instead of just handing it to the player.

They way Arsenal played was not very good. It was vital for a win. There were so many times where the ball was suppose to go in and for some strange reason, it didn't. The crowd was on edge, I was on edge.

The crowd walked out somberly. The mood was somber.

It pains me to...

As the weeks wind down until the end of the semester, I've started to reflect in depth about my semester abroad so far. I have had many great and wonderful experiences so far abroad BUT there were also times where I would seriously hurt someone. I'm not really sure where to start with this post, but obviously something has happened recently to trigger this thought.

It's funny when you live with people you know and don't know. I thought I had the roommate from hell already and when she was gone after the semester I was so relieved...but NO! I was so wrong. I have never met certain individuals that are so inconsiderate. It is really not that difficult to throw a bottle away or wash a freakin dish. Is it rally that hard? I have never seen so many crumbs EVERYWHERE where the mice start living in our apt because they know they are being fed. It has become beyond ridiculous. If you don't want something, it's common sense to just throw it straight into the trashcan but nope, not for this person, apparently the everyone is at her feet and when they become fed up with this person's trash then they throw it away. This person has never once taken out the trash, I bet this person doesn't even know how to open the door to the trash. OMG this person also never turns off the light and when this individual showers, it becomes a flood in the bathroom. There are so many things I don't understand. This individual is also SO FREAKIN LOUD, everyone can hear everything through the walls and that laugh, oh my that laugh can cause a flock of birds to crash and fall from the sky. It's become so ridiculous where everyone is just on edge. Everyone wants to throw something of this individual's out the window. Let's talk about laundry. How about like a bajillion loads at once while everyone else needs to do laundry as well. It's probably this person's fault that the machine was broken. This is just a gist of dealing with this person. If I mentioned everything, it would take post after post. I just don't understand how someone can be so inconsiderate. It blows my mind. how difficult was it to teach your child to clean up after themselves. nuff said.

Roommates are a funny thing. Living with someone allows you to learn so much about that person. You think you know someone until you live with them and that's for sure.

I want to move on from roommates. That is just a topic I don't want to touch anymore.

Studying abroad has thrown me into the real world. They say college is like going into the real world but it's studying abroad that did it for me. We had to find our own apartment, deal with a terrible landlord and feed ourselves. I have had to grown up a lot faster than I anticipated too, it's not a bad thing but it just makes me want to feel forever young.

There are so many things that could have gone right or wrong with my semester abroad. Instead of reflecting back on what went wrong this semester, with the remaining month, I shall hope and aim for the best. I can only advise those going abroad in the future to not make the same mistakes that I have. One can only hope.

Where the sad fish lives

Copenhagen, Denmark...a place that I have come to know as the place where the sad fish lives. It also know for its stunning modern architecture and as the country that is leading the green movement.

I spent a weekend at Copenhagen with the mogwai. Even though it was a tad chilly out, the city is simply lovely. It was such a nice getaway from the big city. We managed to get most of what we wanted to accomplish done so that was good! Our hostel/hotel was very close to the train station and everything else was on the other side of the train station so we were in a prime location.

So Tivoli gardens was NOT open when we were there which is :( because I was reading up on it and I was excited to go and Michelle said we should go but it was closed, so bummer. Next time then! We walked past city hall and onto Stroget - the longest pedestrian shopping street in all of Europe I believe (based on what Ryan said hehe)

Did you know Lego was Danish? Because I did not. Copenhagen is on the island part of Denmark so the water cuts between the city and it so pretty! They have canals but nothing like Amsterdam.

Nyhavn is the picturesque waterfront of Copenhagen. It has the boats in the front an of course the colorful buildings. All these buildings have know become restaurants. We actually did eat at Nyhavn. It was out last night there and we went to a place called the Heering and both had fish. I had a salmon and it was yummy and Ryan had some other fish! Quite nice Danish food.

Anyways, We also hit the Danish museum and the Danish Design center. There was so much to see! The Danish Museum was free to get in and I was on the search for Vikings! There were some horn helmets and golden horns and a viking ship! BUT the viking ship is a lot smaller and not as long as I thought. The DDC was really cool! We saw how design changed from the 50's all the way to now. We also got a spork with a knife which and the name is still to be deteremined.

Now for the food! So first things first, Danish hot dogs!!!!! EAT THEM WHEN YOU GET THERE. There are so many different types but I'll go over the one I ate and the one Ryan ate. So mine was I guess a traditional Danish dog. It still has the wiener and the bun, the wiener is very long and sticks out of the bun mind you. Then they put raw onion, crispy onion, and three types of sauce. Danish ketchup, mustard and something else that is really good! The kind Ryan got has a closed bun and you first out all the sauces in and then stick the wiener in!. The ketchup here is different because Ryan can actually eat it and he likes it!!!! success for Danish ketchup!

Then we went on a search for the Danish Open faced sandwich called smørrebrød. It is not really a sandwich but more like a dish with bread on the side and it was amazing!!! the Danish is also really known for herring which I cannot eat so Ryan had a go at it and he loved it!! My open sandwich was Danish sausage which was yummy too!! The food is so good!!! Even the breakfast we had the hotel was awesome, from herring,salami meat to pate, it was all too good!

That pretty sums up my trip to the place where the sad fish lives. I will return soon!

Pastries, tapas, paella and jamon..oH my!

SPRING BREAK 11' - OH HOW I WISH IT WASN'T OVER

The destinations are - PARIS, LYON, BARCELONA AND MADRID.

Spring break last week and it was super awesome!!! Ryan, Michelle and I went to France and Spain.

Our first stop was Paris, which I've been before but it was nice going back and this time the people there were a lot nicer and the weather was good too and then we went to Lyon for a day. One awesome accomplishment was getting my Longchamp bag which is $40 cheaper than in the states. I was gonna get blue but then Michelle got it so I was something different, the color is Graphite and I really like it! its not gray or black, it's different with a shine so I'm special! hehe. We took the eurostar to Paris and on our first day we almost walked to death. We hit most of the sights on the first day such as Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, the Louve, and the fountains and gardens. We got into the Louve for free so yay! Then the second day, we had a hiccup and accidentally went to the city of Versailles instead of the palace so we did our shopping instead and on the third day we made it to Versailles. It was huge and crowded and the gardens are freaking huge and scary!! OMG so we went onto the pond and i rowed a boat for the first time and got made fun of BUT in the end I would say it was a success because I learned how to row a boat.


Lyon was the next destination and it's the 3rd largest city in France. It was really nice there because it was nice to get away from the big city of Paris and it was just a quaint and small town and the people there were really friendly and a river runs through the city so it was quite beautiful! We took the funicular up to the mountain where there is an abbey and it overlooked the city and the view was amazing! We ate at a restaurant called La Mere Jean and THE MOST EMBARRASSING THING HAPPENED TO US! I have never been so embarrassed so to make a long story short, we shift tables, middle table had to stand, middle table and cups and everything on table shatters to the ground and every looks at us and we eat the meal with our heads down the whole time and we give big tip and never go back! THE END


Then we flew out of France and off to Espana!!! our first stop was Barcelona. I was super excited to go to Spain because none of us has ever been but when we got to Barcelona it was pouring rain so it kind of ruined it for you BUT the food there is amazing and all we did was eat during our whole break LOL I'm like the size of a whale. We went to Bon Qu Qu which is actually just called Qu Qu and had tapas and paella and Ryan had a Barcelona style cannelloni fulled of cheese and meat!I had awesome black paella from the squid ink with chunks of squid!!


Anyways so our first day in Barcelona and something really cool happen, we saw a super duper famous soccer player that plays for F.C. Barcelona and on the Argentina national team, his name is Lionel Messi. Barcelona is near the beach but since it was raining we didn't actually go to the beach but we went to the harbour and did see the water. Saw a lot of the sights of Barcelona and ate a lot - tapas and paella galore! At night time we were walking on one of the many popular walking streets with lots of stores and restaurants and since the lifestyle is so different everything closes so late because of siesta! We encountered the Josef market which is one of the largest outdoor markets that specialize in fruits and seafood. The amount of fruit was amazing!!! every stall sold fresh fruit and fresh fruit drink with the coolest and wackiest combination. We also went to see Camp Nou which is the F.C. Barcelona stadium and it was super ugly and i got a shot glass!

Then it was off the Madrid! The weather in Madrid was so nice!! it was warm and sunny!! We met up with Stephanie and Jess who are studying abroad in Madrid and they showed us around. They had horror home stay stories which made me kind of glad I didn't go to Madrid because the home stays are awkward! They have really good jamon and we fell in love with the museo de jamon in Spain and there are a lot of plazas in Spain and they are really nice and lively. Plaza mayor and Plaza Sol are the two big main ones! We also went to the Museo De Prado and saw the Royal palace and the gardens and the Retrio Park!We took a trip to see the Real Madrid stadium the bernanbeu and it was really tall and very nice looking! There was an outdoor market there that day so that was lovely and we had CHORIZO..so yummy!!!!

Overall, my spring break was really good and I'm sad that its over. I feel that I have definitely grown from all my travels. I feel more independent and proud because I traveled the same way that I do with my parents. Just take a map and use you feet and go. Life is about exploring and learning new things so just like in Mag class, we are not tourists but we are travelers and every new place you go to is a new destination waiting to be explored!

I'm off to Copenhagen for this weekend, I've never been to Denmark before so I'm excited for that!

Another fun fact to remember, I had my interview with HarperCollins today - keep you fingers crossed!

xoxo

Leprechauns & 4 leaf clovers

On the first weekend on March, I went to Dublin with Michelle, Ryan and Katie. We were there for 2 days, so friday and saturday and came back sunday morning. Overall we had a really fun and productive trip. We managed to get all the sight-seeing and touristy things done and get a good feel of Dublin.

Since this was awhile ago, i'll try to remember everything we saw. Dublin is divided by a river and on both parts of the city, there is a lot to see and do. We went on a free tour of Dublin and also got our bit of history.

So we saw Dublin castle which is not really a castle and was never really occupied and also Dublin city hall which is right next door. We hit the Temple Bar Area - there are lots of pubs, bars and resturants. Dublin is of course what people would think of as the drinking capital. We also went to the Guinness factory which was really cool because we took a tour of it and in the end we learn how to pull a Guinness like from tap. We also ate dessert at a place called Queen of tarts and it was very yummy! On saturday night, we went on a pub crawl and it was so much fun! For every drink you buy, you get a free shot and we were all a little bussed by the end.

Dublin was very fun and it was a great trip!

Society Club

So I wanted to write a quick bit about how my internship is going. I love it!! Robert and Baette are wonderful and are so nice. Also offering tea or food and Robert is always giving books away. At first I was working on the website and was editing the content of the blogs on the site. Then I was working on the cinema club which takes place every night. The movie night is a new aspect and I'd say that it is quite successful so far! So each monday they have a different movie and a different theme and members or non-members come and watch the movie. The usually have a speaker or an author of a book that goes with it and it's really cool adn it takes place in such an intimate setting - The Sanctum Hotel in Soho. The owners are two of the members from Iron Madien, so that's cool!

Now I have started working on the paper. The Society Club paper is also a new thing. It will be sold for a pound and is sort of like a fanzine. It will be very graphically designed and lots of pictures and words! I'm excited for that to come out and see how it turns out. I worked on the layout and will then further work on the content of the articles.

Ryan has also started working at Robert and Babett's. He has been helping with the design and such and it's been fun working together. I also wanna bring Michelle in whenever she can. They have 3 small dogs that I still have to get the name right. There is a Chihuahua and a bulldog named Modestine and a cocker spaniel!!

Bath time!

Yesterday, I went on the school field trip to Bath, England. it was about a 2.5 hour bus drive and when we got close to Bath, I awoke from my slumber and found that we were surrounded by mist and fog! But that's alright because when we actually got to Bath, it was clear but very cold. The first thing we did was go see the Roman Baths! We got to use an audio tour and it's actually a pretty big and long place. You first get to see the main Bath, which is the biggest one they have. The water can get up to 45 degrees Celsius! Bath is a UNESCO world heritage cite, and not just the baths but the whole city of Bath is a cite. Bath is the only place where when the Romans came, they found natural hot water from the ground!

We were not allowed to touch, dive, or swim into the water because they said it's really dirty and pigeons are often found swimming in the pools, but you are allowed to try some of the water for 50p, my flatmate Alex tried some and like they said, it's very mineral tasting.

We saw the history of the Roman baths which use to be called Aqua Sulis. We learned how it was built and how they got the water to come up from the grounds. So smart.

Next it was lunch time because I was hunger. We ended up in a small restaurant and had some French food. I had a salmon crepe and it was quite yummy! Then we walked around the city, it's quite small but very charming. We saw this bridge which is one of the only bridges that has shops on both sides!

We found this place called the fudge kitchen and they made the fudge right in front of you! It was so good so we bought some and i'm usually not a fudge person but it was delicious!
Our last stop was the Bath Abbey. This was different from most cathedrals or abbeys that I've been too and I liked it. I liked that it was a lot brighter inside and they had beautiful mosaic windows. Overall, I quite enjoyed my time in Bath. it was a far drive but worthwhile to go see it!

the past week...

Let's start backwards shall we? since I suck at this LOL

Today I started my internship at thesocietyclub.com and it was great! My boss Babette and Robert are both really nice people and very outgoing. I am still a little quiet and reserved there but it's getting better...it's only been one day! Today I got to work on the website. I edited content and updated/deleted old blog entries so that was fun, I now have a feel for the website so I don't need to come in until next week but just finish the rest of the material this week. Then I took a little break and Robert took me and his friend to the Royal Academy of Arts and we looked at a sculpture exhibit. It was very interesting because it started from very old and b.c sculpture to modern day sculpture and it hit a wide array of sculptures. Robert even knew one of the artist who would randomly throw a dart at a map and go to that location and recreate the location. He gave me a free back and a post card as well as a book by the author darin strauss who I have heard of before! Then I chatted with Babette a bit about what I wanna do in the future and for the summer and she mentioned Stardust company and how she knows the lady who started it who is BTW Yule Brenner's daughter and she will put in a good word for me but nothing guarantee, but that's still very nice of her! She also mentioned finding something for Ryan, which they are both interested in him, with the design lady. Overall my first day of work was very successful and I really enjoyed it!

Next is back to Valentine's Day 2011! Ryan the mogwai really surprised me this year and took me to a football game. Fulham Vs. Chelsea!! It was awesome because I GOT TO SEE FERNANDO TORRES AND I HAVE PICTURES OF HIM!!!! but other than that, the score was nil-nil blehhh but it was so cool!!! AHHHHH awesome :D The Chelsea fans are so intense and non-stop singing like seriously they do NOT stop!!! intense and they curse and yell a lot hahaa

We had a nice relaxing weekend bc certain ppl were not present for it!!!! Went to Portobello market again. OHH and on friday we went to a Chelsea youth game and it was really cool bc we got to sit all the way in the front and you can hear and see everything!!

i'm going to bath on friday so yay!

I thinks that is all...oh yea freakin hate our apt and certain ppls ;D

and we're walking

to make a long story short bc bloggger won't let me copy and paste from my other blog, I walked a ton yesterday. From marble arch to tottenham court road bc the whole central line was done.

Whirlwind

so it's been awhile since i last blogged so i'm going to try to make sure I remember what has happened in the last couple of weeks and I mean 2 weeks.

EMIRATES STADIUM!! On tuesday we went to an ARSENAL v. Everton game!! Arsenal kicked butt with a comeback in the second half and won 2-1. We learned some pretty interesting chants such as "you don't know what you're doing" " the referee's a wanker!!" and an Arsenal song - OHH ARSENAL WE LOVE YOU!! I went with Ryan, neo neo and Katherine. We all had on our Arsenal gear and Ryan finally found the scarf he wanted with the red and white stripes and the cannon on the bottom. After the game, we stalked players as they drove out and managed to recognize some!! It was awesome!!!

sooooo Greenwich. We went to Greenwich and saw where time started. I saw the prime merdian line and stood between two time zones. It was very cold that day and extremely windy. I saw also saw the Queen's house and the National Maritime Musuem.


The next trip was off to Stonehenge and Salisbury. Salisbury is a small medieval town with a huge cathedral. The Salisbury cathedral is the main attraction of this town. So you would think that the Stonehenge would be this great giant monument with giant stones towering over you and you could stand next to the stones, BUT it is not. Instead since this attraction is very old, you are not allowed to touch the stones but you can stand next to them with a gate between you and the stone. There are stones that are missing and it just doesn't look as grand as google image said it would.

I went to the East end markets with the school and it was a pretty terrible trip. Nothing too exciting so we left half way through. Along with that we also went to a flower market which was pretty and I saw new flowers that i've never seen before.

I took Ryan the mogwai to Portobello Market or as he likes to call it Porabello Mushroom or Parmesan Cheese. I was so happy that I got to being ryan there. We first went to Dim Sum in Queensway so that was yummy and my baby had chicken feet for the first time!!! So back to protobello mushroom, we walked all the way to the end and saw so many stalls and tried local home-cooked foods! Mogwai really enjoyed it so I was glad.

On friday, feburary 4, neo neo and mogwai and I took a trip to Oxford and saw the prestigious Oxford University. It was cold, windy and rainy and you had to pain to get in anywhere. We were able to go to Boldeian Library which is the heart of the university and the oldest lib! The main reason we saw this library is because Harry Pothead library and other scenes were filmed there! hahahah Then on sunday we went to Cambridge university. It was my second time going there but this time we were able to get into the colleges without paying bc neo neo have friends that are attending the university. I like Cambridge better than Oxford because I think that fact the Cambridge has so many more colleges makes it more historic. You are literally surrounded by hundred year old buildings even when you are in the city center.

I went to Stambridge Stadium on Saturday with the school. This is Chelsea Football club's home. So to start off this part. FERNANDO TORRES offiicially moved to Chelsea on Monday January 31, right before the freakin transfer window closed. I have to admit it is quite odd to see him in blue after seeing him in red at Liverpool and Athletico. We took a tour of the stadium and got to see the pree conference room and went into the lockers and walked out of the tunnel. SO EPIC STORY - we were in the locker room where their jersey hung and after everyone left , Ryan and I stayed back in and i crawled underneath the security lines and TOUCHED FERNANDO TORRES' NEW JERSEY and ryan got pics so I am one step closing to fufilling my drea - now I just gotta meet him and take a pic with him!

It was Chinese New Year on Feb 3 and Daddy's birthday also! We went to chinatown after Chelsea and had some old school dim sum with the carts and it was Katies first time at dim sum and she liked it! then we went grocery shopping and encountered 2 differnt dragon dances!!! Ryan the mogwai got this paper dragon toy and it's like his new pet.

I think i covered mostly everything. I promise after this whrilwind post that I will do a better job at poting daily if not after every event!!

xoxo

One week into London

So I have been in the great city of London for one week now! There's a lot to catch up on so let's get started.

First arrived at the Royal National Hotel near Holborn and Russel Square. Michelle and I checked in and got ourselves settled in and then off to Faraday House! We had an orientation meeting that night where they just went over safety information and talked to us about being in London and how to act and such. That night we went to a pub/restaurant with Katie and other people and I had a Guinness! haha It feels great to be able to just order drinks haha. We were quite jet lagged still so we called it a night after dinner. The next day started with a housing and transportation orientation. We learned about our oyster cards and all of London's other forms of transportation lol then came the important part- Housing! We def didn't want to be homeless!! By the end of the meeting we managed to have 7 people. So we started looking for a 7 person flat. We waited until around 2 to hear back from a well-recommended landlord who then told us he didn't have anything and then we panicked! we called around and made several appointments for that day. We ended up at another real estate agent who had a giant ugly fish name nobby that scares Katie ahah. He made us wait around so then we bounced and went to go look at apts with William. By the third one we were set. We live on StourCliffe Road right off Edgeware Rd. next to Oxford Street and Marble Arch.

We didn't get to move in right away because he needed to bring the beds and get things fixed. Little did we know that we would be doing the manual labor. After much deliberation, we settled on Ryan and Alex in the first room,which unfortunately is the smalled room. Me, Katie and Michelle in the master room which includes a bathroom that smells like sewer and Melissa and Safa in the back room. It took us a while to get settled in. No one wanted to unpack LOL and we also had to go grocery shopping because we were sick of eating out!

After we moved in that morning, Ryan and I went to go explore on our own! We wen to Queensway which is a small version of Chinatown because it's only one street. I remember we went there last time to have dim sum so I will def be returning to have some dimsum there! There were Chinese restaurants and lots of little stores and also a big shopping center! Ryan was looking at some Arsenal stuff so maybe we will go back and he can buy it and we can get a good price! There is also an Asian market there so we can go there for groceries and it's closer to our apt than Chinatown!

On Sunday, we went with the school to Greenwich. It was freezing cold because we were right next to the Thames but it was lovely! There is a giant elevator that takes you beneath the river where you then walk in a tunnel to the other side and then take another big elevator and then you arrive in Greenwich. The center is very small and very quaint! We first headed over to the Greenwich Market which is an outdoor market with food stalls and small craft stalls! It is similar to the Portobello Market and Borough Market but smaller. Michelle and Ryan both had some Thai food and had curry! and I had chorizo and potatoes in a tomato base sauce with rice! I think it was either Portuguese or Indian food but either way it was delicious! It was nice to eat hot food since it was freezing out! The we walked around and hiked up to the Royal Observatory. The view was amazing! We could see everything up to the Thames. Greenwich is the place where time started, where Greenwich Mean time and the prime meridian is. Then we headed over to the Queen's house and the National Maritime Museum. Overall, my trip to Greenwich was a success! I have never been there before so I was excited to go somewhere new and I learned a lot as well!

Monday rolled around as did classes. I had one class yesterday which was PRL 530 - PR in an international setting: Great Britain. My professor is Sheila Gunn and she was the press secretary for former Prime Minister John Major. She def has a lot of background, knows a lot and has a lot to offer but sometime she spaces out and her lectures are quite bland. Hopefully this PR class goes smoothly unlike all my other PR classes. For today, I have COM Law. I finally decided on taking MAG 400 instead of switching to COM 346 but it's still up in the air.

Here are a few other random stories and then I will end with a little spiel.

One night for dinner we went to an India restaurant near the hotel. No idea what it was called but it was me, Ryan, Michelle, Katie and Alex. Man, did we made quite an impression. They probably hate Americans but it was great! To make a long story short here are the little things that sums it up. Alex orders a Chai tea and puts a bajillion spoons of sugar in it! Katie says loudly that she had a "screaming orgasm" which is a name of a drink by the way and she is unable to understand the waiter when he asked if she would like the bone taken out LOL then Michelle announces to the restaurant that she is born and raised in the US ahahaha and I ordered a Normal Naan as opposed to just naan and Ryan attempt to order a Soco and Ginger Ale but waiter fails to understand but the right drink still arrives. HAHAH what a night!

We had quite a journey trying to eat Fish n' Chips. Apparently pubs stop serving food around 6 and people just start drinking and 6 lol so after we moved in, we finally got to eat fish n' chips. We went to a restaurant nearby that is quite cheap actually. Everyone except me had fish n' chips since I am not a fan of fish! lol instead I had sausage with beans and chips, it was yummy! I had a Crabbies to drink which is an alcoholic ginger ale and it was so yummy! It just tasted like regular ginger ale!

Another eating occasion includes eating at La Tasca. We had Spanish tapas and some Sangria. It was tasty and we had an array of food. nuff' said.

Alright, here's the end. I have been in London for a week now. I've been to familiar places we well as new places. This is going to be an amazing semester already, I can feel it. I rode the tube by myself and just by doing that I felt so immersed in the culture already! I have great flat mates and an awesome apartment and now I just need to get through classes and explore a new place, location, country and destination! also super excited for the Arsenal Game on Feb. 1

and of course...find Fernando Torres!!!

Countdown to London: 5 days

There are five days left before I embark on my journey to London. I have started packing already so that is definitely a good sign. For my last few days in LA, i've been trying to make sure I have everything I need, see everyone I want to see and do everything I need to do , because for the next 5 months, I won't be seeing home. I have been to London 3 times already. The first time I went was for the 2006 World Cup in Munich, Germany. I have always wanted to go to London and was finally there! I still remember when I first arrived to the city, I fell in love with all the history and culture the city had to offer. The second time I went to London was when I also went to Paris. London was still as amazing as the first time I had been there. Last summer, I went to World Cup 2010 in South Africa and we stopped by in London for a few days in our layover. This time, I was done with all the tourist attractions and set out to find the real London. I went to where the locals were and ate foods the locals ate. My last trip to London was truly amazing because I felt like I really connected with the city this time and I wasn't just a tourist. For my upcoming semester abroad, there is so much I want to accomplish. One of main goals is to get an internship. If I can an internship, that would just make my time in London so much better! I'm not going to lie but I can totally see myself migrating to London if the opportunity permitted it. This city is so full of life and I can't wait to breath it all in - as cliche as that sounds, it's true. I'm going to be living in this city for the next 5 months and I want to make it the best experience possible! I've got my two best friends - it's going to be quite an adventure. oh, and of course I need to find my soccer star love - Fernando Torres. In 5 days, the adventures will begin and I can't wait for it. London - i'm ready for you!

p.s. - save the turtles!