Blogging Location: Flat, packing at the mo'
So let me catch you up a bit...
.:London Fashion Weekend:.
Look at me participating in mass consumerism...
I will admit, so I can get admitting out of the way, that London Fashion Weekend was not what I thought it was going to be on several counts... It was definitely a shopping experience as they claimed it would be. I expected everyone to be extravagantly well-dressed, enough to make me feel bashful, but for the most part, not everyone were fashionistas. I saw a lot of Uggs (thank goodness there were no Crocs) and I do believe I saw a couple girls in sweatpants... /shock
The catwalk wasn't as professional as I expected either. None of the designers were announced with the outfits modeled. Odd. And as much as I love vintage clothes, I didn't pay money to see outfits from 40-odd years ago. Show me something new!
Don't get me started on the gift bag that came with the ticket... Let's just say the contents were similar to an easter-egg hunt in the Costco consisting of samples from the beauty aisle. They did throw in a little bottle of Bailey's, which I can't complain about... It's one of the few drinks that actually taste decent to me...
Now, on the other hand, LFWE was pretty fun for shopping; plenty of labels-- although not as many high end ones as I expected, not that I could afford it-- I noticed that for certain stalls, a lot of the clothes were 'rejects.' I'm kind of a village idiot, but I know the difference between 'style' and 'oopsie.'
I bought a couple pieces, one from Ella Moss and one from Buddhist Punk, both of which I got at ridiculously good discounts, so I can be fairly happy with that.
Some photos at the catwalk:
After the crazy extravaganza, my friends and I went for an asian-food run. A couple of the girls we were with had Chinese food the night before, so we went with Japanese (ironically, the entire staff was Chinese). But the food was good and I got my sushi fix.
All in all, it was worth the trip to London, but I think it's a one-time thing. I'm quite satisfied shopping at thrift-stores, thank you.
.:Birmingham:.
It took about 4 hours by coach to get to Birmingham, but it was definitely day-trip worthy. Why? We went to CADBURY WORLD!
Cadbury is England's main chocolate maker, probably at the same level as Hershey's in the US, but it tastes SO much better, hence our trip to the theme park. (I'd like to say that half my English experience has been Cadbury, but I don't think my program would like to hear that much...)
It was about £10 to get into Cadbury World (with student discount, yes! I LOVE being a student!), but we got about three full-size bars of chocolate, which were considered "samples," like it's NO BIG DEAL. They were delicious. While not a factory, Cadbury World had a lot of demos for how they make their chocolate. No photos were allowed in those parts to keep the secret recipe... I CAN tell you, however, that they did not mix their chocolate by waterfall... and they put a glass and a half of milk in their bars.
The park started off with a history of the discovery of cocoa-- well, more like the theft of it from the Aztecs. Anyways, they had a cool set up with wax Aztecs and Spaniards, fake trees, fake giant snakes, etc... Since it's a one-way self-guided tour of a park, the next bit was chocolate's history as a sweet confectionary. They had little hologram shows and the like to explain things. Corny, but cute.
Finally! An English gentleman!-- oh, wait, you're made of plastic.
Ever been on that Bug's Life attraction at Disney CA Adventure? The one that scares the flying crap out of you with the special 4-D, invasive effects? There was something like that at Cadbury World. You get shaken, jolted, mixed, heated up and nearly melted, but they made their point. Next up! There was actually a little ride! Imagine the Alice in Wonderland ride at Disneyland mixed with the Peter Pan ride and the Winnie the Pooh ride. They had these little characters that were meant to be cocoa beans. The drawings of them were adorable, but as models they were... less cute. Look, you can even get your picture with one:
How cool is that guy's jumper?
.:Leeds:.
So I usually only write about traveling because I assume that's what everyone's interested in... but I DO do work... I just turned in an essay and a workbook yesterday before the end of term, and boy did I slave away. I'm enrolled this semester in Social Communications: Processes and Effects, Processes of Performing 2: Text and Image and Technique and Improvisation, Forensic Psychology and Film Music. Unlike last semester, I'm actually enjoying all these modules. Though Forensic psych is a 10am class and they don't take roll, it's cool enough for me to get up for.
In terms of flat life, I'm in a self-catered accommodation, so been doing a lot of cooking on my own. Lots of experimenting... I'm not going to go through all the dishes and desserts I've been creating, but I have to share this photo:
My flat mate Laura buy bananas from the local farmer's market (don't ask me where the bananas come from-- there's AIN'T enough sun in England to grow anything... except mushroom, which grow in the dark...) and for a pound, you can get about 20-30 bananas. Yeah, that's a lot. So we made banana cream pie! And we had leftover egg whites, so I whipped the living daylights out of them and made a meringue topping. Great. :)
.:TTFN:.
So in regards to the title of my blog... I'm leaving Leeds for a month! Just when the weather has started to get warm (when it's above 50*F here, that's warm). Oddly enough, I've gotten so used to the cold that anything above 55*F gets me to break out in a sweat when I'm walking to uni or town. I think my pores have put on their own little eskimo jackets... must ask them to start changing for the next season.
Where am I going, you ask? Look for the select dots:
Anyways, the weather doesn't look so great for where we're heading... It looks like rain and cold every where, but it will be great nonetheless. I'm going to be completely honest though: I'm DREADING being exhausted... One gets little to no sleep in hostels, not to mention walking and sightseeing all day... but I'm going to definitely pray for energy and sustenance! And gonna hope I catch all my flights and trains and such... if I miss one little flight, it's a crazy domino effect of disaster!
Anyways, if anyone could spare any prayer for safety that would be fantastic!
Talk to you in a month!xx
-Raech
