london - amsterdam part 1.

4/4, day one. we agreed that we'd meet at the bus stop at 8.30. i was with shavi and atik, and we were on time. the bus arrived, and we saw alan and shannon running from two different directions. i never had faith in them waking up early. and if they did, something was bound to go wrong. the last time that happened, there was nearly a break up. a three hour train to london and back for 13 pounds didn't seem bad at all. the plan was to arrive in london by one or two, and find the hostel that we've booked, eat, loiter around for a bit, and then go to the jason mraz concert. from the outside, hyde park hostel looked pretty awesome. didn't look to great when we stepped inside the room. yes. one room. i know we only paid twelve pounds per head, but i didn't imagine it to be this bad. bunk double decker beds. eight of them. in a room probably the same size as my dorm room. we talked a bit, til we realized there were already occupants in the room, sleeping. at noon. who the hell sleeps at noon? in london? one white dude, one black dude. this might be bad for the girls. and why is it called hyde park hostel, when it's not in hyde park at all? bayswater hostel maybe? fast forward to 7, in this massive queue at the hmv apollo theater. quite a few asian faces. couldn't tell what were they. definitely not chinese. korean? jap? hk? viet? maybe a little mix of all of em. bought concert shirts. don't know why, but you absolutely have to buy concert shirts. like a little ritual or something. what grinds my gears is how they stall concerts with smaller name artists for like, forever before the main character shows himself. if i wanted to see that artist or band perform, i'd buy a ticket to their concert. but my ticket says jason mraz, so too bad. but one of them really caught my eye. although she really did look like an ant from where i was. priscilla ahn. look her up on youtube. korean american, with a voice that could turn a rock song into a lullaby. she's gonna be big. just you wait. half past nine, mr mraz finally shows himself. but damn it was worth the wait. played the favourites like i'm yours, 1000 things, beautiful mess, live high, lucky, and loads more. but we all know we all came to see mr toby on the percussions. colbie caillat wasn't going to be there to sing lucky, so priscilla ahn filled in for her. and she rocked. cute little giggle at the end too. after that, we had a little midnight snack that lasted til two in the morning. while walking back, we all thought we wouldn't be able to survive the night in that room. so we began scouting for other places. found the malaysian halls, but they had a curfew of eleven, and only accepted online bookings. directly opposite the halls, this hotel offered us 120 for a family suite, for what was supposed to be a 250 room, since we were only going to stay there for a good 8 hours. the room was sweet. everything was comfy. only thing that was missing from the picture was a bathroom lock.

5/4, day two. the rest of the gang was going to go back to keele today. but before that, shopping. shopping in london was amazing. supposedly amazing. for the rest of them. i didn't do any shopping. that's one for the history books. just had to keep reminding myself that i couldn't go broke before i went to amsterdam. spent most of the time we had in selfridges, a department store that can be compared a little to harrods. a little. harrods still trumps everything. i still find it weird how 19 year olds, or younger for that matter, can buy stuff from louis vuitton and gucci and etc, with a clear conscience. not trying to offend anyone here, but it's just my opinion. after a little daytime madness, the rest of them left, and i checked into the malaysian halls. my malay was a bit rusty, so it was a little entertaining and challenging talking to the receptionist, who was from kl. i had to share a twin room, but i was nowhere bothered by that after looking at the room. freaking hotel room standard yo. for the hefty price of.. six pounds fifty. half the price i had to pay for the shithole on the the first night. after dumping all my luggage, i went to grab a bite at a malaysian restaurant at the area with ashley. ashley's a guy. well if you've read my blog long enough you know ash already. i was going to go to amsterdam with him. just the two of us. how gay is that. had dinner with my brother's fiancee's aunt. complicated i know. i should've just said family friend. anyway. she worked in holland before and said amsterdam was terrific. and while i was there she told me to go to the clubs, get high, and go to the red light district. my mom wouldn't tell me that in a million years. got back to the malaysian halls by half ten. i waited up for my roommate. wanted to see how he was like. no, they wouldn't let girls share rooms with guys. this chinese dude came in. philip, if i remember correctly. from kl, a graduate. doctor. i think he's gay.


stay tuned. seven more days.