20th - 27th February 2011

LOL. this blog is long term overdue. But I have kept this drafted in a word document for the past week or so.

Wow, this past week has gone by way too fast. And I’m not even sure if I remember most of what’s happened. But it was worth it all, it was a great week. I’m not too sure where I was up to from my last blog. Anyways, on Sunday, I met up with another gap student, we went shopping on Oxford Street, then at night, went out to the local pub down the street. Got a few cocktails, then the pub closed. Lol, so we moved to another one down the road. We got ID’ed, but they didn’t let us in because apparently “Drivers licences aren’t a legitimate ID”, so we were like, “ok fine....” –moves somewhere else – and the pool & bar pub/bar was where we stayed for an hour or so. We were also with another girl who stays at the hostel. Also met a few Australians, but they were from Adelaide and Perth. Haha, one of them was high, it was funny meeting him. Kinda awkward when he broke one of the glass bottles in the bar. A and I got a bit bored, so we decided to go to another club/bar. The other girl (from the hostel) that was with us, went back because she had work the next day. So we caught a cab, and asked the driver to take us to the nearest club that was open (note that this is about 2.45AM). He took us to a club called “fabric”, which was open until 6AM (lol this was on a Sunday night too) and was only ₤10 entry. It was an alright club, the music wasn’t too bad, but also wasn’t danceable to. And most of the people there were guys. Haha, felt so weird. There were barely any girls, and the toilets were shared. There were no male or female toilets. We meet a few guys. It was fun just sitting there and watching people talk/dance/etc with each other, and then wondering what their motives are. And it’s more than what people think or see. I mean, there are legit nice people in clubs too, I don’t really see how clubbing can be that bad, or looked down on. But whatever, you only live once, so I guess, just make the most of it. I think we left the club around 4 or 5 in the morning. Ahhaa. Though, I’m pretty sure that club would’ve been better on a different night.

We woke up on Monday morning around 10am, and went shopping again, on Oxford Street. We met up with another gap student, although we only stayed with her for a few hours of shopping. We headed back to the hostel and just chilled there for a bit. Another gap student wanted to meet up as well, I mean like really keen to hit the nightlife. Lol. It was funny though, because we went out too early, and got to the club first. How embarrassing. But before that, we had dinner at cafe rouge. Oh my gosh, it was just so amazing! Anyways, yeah, we went to a place called O-Bar. Ahhaha, walked in and then walked straight out, because there were way too many ‘older’ people there, and by old, I mean like 30 year olds and over. So yep, that was pretty awkward. We ended up at Club49, a little bit near Soho. The club seemed alright, the only problem was that we were there way too early. So basically, when the music started, and no one else was there, we left to go back to the hostel. So that night was an early one. Although the next day, we woke up early, then slept in, and woke up around 4pm? Went out to the groceries, and only bought a few drinks, ice cream (Ben and Jerrys, omg it’s soooooo nice) and crisps LOL. Pigged out back at the hostel, and contemplated for a few hours whether we should go out or not. And we were still thinking even up until 11pm. We finally decided to go to Belushi’s which was just down the road. It got to about quater to 1 in the morning, we walked down London Bridge, to the nearest bus stop, and caught a double decker to Piccadilly. As soon as we got off the bus, a clubbing tour guide kinda man directed us to the nearest club, though we got to choose which one to go it. It was only ₤10 entry. Ahha, oh and if I didn’t already mention, we didn’t know that we were going to be clubbing on this night, so we weren’t so dressed up, and by that I mean, no make up, no dresses. Ahah. Just jeans and a simple top. And ironically, it was one of the best nights so far.

The next day (Wednesday), A went back to Tring (where her placement is), she works in a performing arts school. We went there, omg, it was huge. We went back to her house that she’s living in for this year. It was a pretty good one too. Two storey, although it was shared amongst the other gap students and one teacher. I think we ordered pizza for dinner on that night, and then around 9pm, I headed back to London. I’m pretty sure I had an early night ? I can’t remember. But the next day, I went on the free walking tour, that takes us around London. It was really good, and worth the time as well, especially since it was free. But I did tip the guy in the end. Ahha. We went pretty much to all the Royal places in London, like the Wellington Arch, Buckingham palace, etc. Our last stop for the tour was at Westminister. And from there we all dispersed. Lol. I met this really nice New Yorker, who is also kinda on a gap year, but she goes back to the States for the Army in April. She was so awesome, and was only 21 years old. On that night, I went on a pub crawl. I met these really nice New Yokers, and also this girl from Boston, who’s working for documentaries in the Netherlands. Haha, amazing thing I learnt about her, is that she plays Quidditch, as a legit sport. J.K Rowling created the game when she wrote the Harry Potter books, but these bunch of Americans decided to make it a legit sport, with brooms and stuff. I wasn’t too sure on how they work and stuff, but yeah. That was the most interesting thing I found out on that pub crawl. Ahah. I forgot what the clubs were called, but that night was good, one – because of the good company, and two – because we went to the clubs that were actually opened. Ahha. I got back to the hostel, probably around 4 or 5 in the morning. Omg. Even if the sites are closed (like the London Eye, Westminister, etc) they look so amazing at night, I guess it was because of the lights. Ahah.

On Friday, I went to the markets- Camden markets and Covent Garden. Everything was so cheap. I can’t believe how much I bought. I was contemplating on going on the ₤15 walking tour, or the ₤5 pub crawl that afternoon/evening. So I ended up on the pub crawl, but left early, because it wasn't as fun as the one I had on the previous night. I headed back to Borough, and just chilled at the bar/pub at the hostel. Met a lot of people. Few French guys, Spanish girls, and English locals. It was quite a good night, seeing as I checked back into my hostel really really early/but late in the morning.

On Saturday midday, I met up with A again, did a bit of shopping and what not. Headed to her hostel, and then just chilled for the rest of the evening, until we go to Ministry of Sound. We met up with another gap student, and his girlfriend, then headed to Ministry. It took us a while to find it, but it was so awesome when we got there. The music, the crowd, everything :) Omg. Totally a night to remember. I got back to Borough around 3AM? Then hit the bar again, and saw a few friends that I met, and since it was my last night in London, they paid for quite a few of my drinks. Haha. Ah love them. Anyways, got back to my hostel even later, and got to sleep in for a little bit until my taxi came to take me to Kings Cross, where I headed back to Hunstanton on that afternoon.