On my last Sunday in London before flying back to KL,
you can guess we packed in a full day of running around!
Went by Spitalfields where i’d spent a few afternoons wandering around alone,
and headed straight for Columbia Road where we were to browse + have lunch before Lovebox.
Cute doormats. I fancy the one on upper right
Aunty G can’t multitask. So when she BBs, we gotta stop walking.
Supercool shops on Columbia Road!
How come nobody told me about this road before i went to London!!!
All the displays and things for sale were so inspiring and quirky!
You can view how all their store fronts look *here*
Full of colour and
people shouting bargains,
people buying flowers,
people carrying flowers,
people pushing flowers,
people wishing they brought their 4WD so they could buy everything there.
Yishyene and i took the train from Waterloo station to Portsmouth (2 hours)
and from there we caught a ferry to the Isle of Wight.
From the ferry port, we (were lazy so we) took a taxi to the campsite,
where we had to trudge through the most horrendous mud i’ve ever trod in my life!
The mud was so thick and slippery (thank god not smelly!)
i was just clutching at my knapsacks praying silently i wouldn’t fall down
and soil my clothes like Bridget Jones.
We thought the stretch of camps would never end…
i swear it’s like a km long or something!
Okay, so we cheated at camping.
We paid for our tents to be set up, complete with sleeping bags and airbed.
80 quid a person for 3 nights, and COMPLETELY WORTH IT.
1. It’s much nearer to the festival than all the other campsites, and walking a long distance after all that dancing is no joke.
2. Just watching other people set up tents, take them down, and having to carry them back to wherever they came from, got us tired even.
3. Tangerine Field tents have allocated portaloos, taps and showers. And the loos are generally cleaner than the public ones in festival area.
It was my first time in a large festival (where previous IOWs have attracted up to 60,000 ppl!)
I walked past the store above and said to Yishyene - Me: Liqour Ice… ooh… what’s Liqour Ic.. OH. Liqourice. >.< Her:
Me: Trust me to just read the ‘liqour’ in ‘liqourice’ *finishes self-conversation*
There are groups of people who dress up in certain themes.
Some are, of course, nicer than others.
Above is the tutu group [not so nice] and below is a Hawaiian group, complete with blow up coconut tree [A for effort!]
Lots of shops selling clothes and funny festival gear,
as well as funfair rides scattered across the whole arena.
Wanted to try the ride above but didn’t make the effort in the end.
We should have!!
Apparently the momentum makes you stick on the sides like a fly to a wall,
with only a thin wire in front of your waist 0_o
Miriam works for my aunty,
and i’s so surprised we managed to bump into each other
seeing the number of people there were there!
Everyone’s encouraged to go green by returning their beer paper cups for 10p each.
Most people (like me) can’t be arsed, and give the cups to (mostly) children collecting them to earn themselves some £
SPEAKING OF BEER PAPER CUPS,
i went through so much trouble just to BUY ALCOHOL!
I was asked for my passport when buying tokens for alcoholic drinks (£3.60 each),
and i said i didn’t bring my passport (cos who would bring their passport to a festival and risk losing it?!)
I then showed my Malaysian driver’s license.
And you know how our freaking Malaysian IC anad license doesn’t state our birth date right?
It just shows a stream of numbers with the first two being our birth year.
I showed them the ’83′ in the front, and said i’m 27.
The guy looked back at me in disbelief and said, “Sorry, but i can’t accept this. I need to see your passport.”
Yishyene then went to try, and she failed too.
This is what happens when you look like a minor and attend a festival without your PASSPORT(?!)
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Laugh = cos yay i look young.
Cry = cos i really want my drinks goddammit!
“I can’t believe it… i can’t even pass for 21 here. I’m 6 years over the age limit for chrissakes!” i complained to Yishyene
Imagine… back in KL people are throwing free drinks at me to the point i don’t even want them.
Here, i can’t even BUY MYSELF A DRINK
We ended up approaching a stranger to help us buy tokens.
Then WAIT.
Problem not over yet.
When i wanted to PICK up my DRINK, i was asked to show ID too! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Yishyene told me to not to smile,
“Just frown when you go pick up the drinks. Cos young people don’t frown, so they’d think you’re older.”
So in complete opposition of my nature,
i went up the counter and frowned at everyone there…
and got my drinks -_-
At other times, the frown didn’t work,
and we’d end up asking strangers to get our drinks for us too.
-_-
The next day, i was telling some guy queueing up behind us at the showers, about the whole ordeal. “I’m 27, so i’m SIX years over the age limit, and can’t even buy my drinks!” “You’re 27?!?! You don’t look 27! *peers at my face* You have great skin.” “Thanks!”
“And actually… the age limit here is 18, not 21!”
“Ah crap. I was thinking of US age limit somehow. 18? I don’t even pass for 18?! *incredulous*”
So yeah.
I look HALF MY AGE HERE ACCORDING TO PEOPLE.
Which is good… cos then when i’m 40 i’ll look 20.
And will finally be able to buy my own drinks without flashing ID
Acts we caught on Friday:
Calvin Harris! Calvin Fucking Harris MAN!!!
RowdyRudy and i played his album to no end at our joint birthday party!
Sarah and i use his songs for SalahWrong sets!
Everyone was dancing, and he’s also quite hot
Ending the night was Jay-Z. I’m not a big fan of hip hop (doop dee doo…) but still layaned his set just because he’s Jay-Z
Saturday
When we woke up on Saturday,
first thing we did was line up for the showers, which took almost 2 hours.
By the time i got into a shower, the water was a mere trickle
and i had to cup my hands and stand really close to the freezing wall
just to splash myself with a miserable amount.
At the point of time i had lathered facewash on,
the water stopped trickling and i was begging the Universe to please not do that to me then and there!
Gave up trying to shower after that.
The queue and pathetic amount of water wasn’t worth the trouble.
Very good thing: There was LOTS of food to keep us happy over the weekend!
English, American, Thai, Chinese, Carribean, Indian, even Filipino.
i’m wearing > polka dot top; baci, kl
white shorts; aa, nyc
pink tights; calzedonia, spain
shoes; for £5! at brick lane
watch; nooka @ h5, kl
I had Carribean goat curry twice.
LOVE BONE MARROW!
I spotted a balloon man selling all sorts of funny-shaped balloons,
and darted off like the wind to chase after him.
Thought very hard while choosing between a horse and a dog,
and ended up with a dalmation i christened Nigel Barkie (after Nigel Barker hardy haha)
Nigel taking to the beer
Yishyene had this brilliant idea to apply flamingo stickers on our faces.
So brilliant, that it left a flamingo-shaped tan on the side of my face after that
-_-
It was beautifully hot that weekend!
We were so lucky cos it was pouring the Thursday before.
The sun here is somehow different… i actually burn quite badly
and the only sunblock i could find was SPF 15 (cos kwailos like to tan -_-)
so i had to settle for that and apply it every 20 minutes!
Wilson was hot too
Balancing beer act
In between acts were breaks of 45 minutes,
when we’d nap in the sunshine
‘Twas a beautiful day!
Watched Paloma Faith for the first time,
and i really like her!
Another act in another area that i took a fancy to is Marina & The Diamonds
Crowded House took to the stage before Vampire Weekend, and played some songs we’ve all heard before but never knew who sang it
Poor Nigel got harrased by a group of cavemen…
Whereas Wilson met a friend!
This girl had this coconut on a stick with a happy face on it,
and when i saw it,
i immediately plucked Wilson out of my bag and introduced him to them.
We were all laughing and taking pictures of our two balls
and i overheard one of the guys with her saying, “I want one now too!”
See, like-minded people who have balls as pets hang out at Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend was FUN FUN FUN!
Check out the video below to see what a HAPPY PARTY it was!
Right after Vampire Weekend, was Blondie!
The only band ever to have had #1 hits on the UK charts in the 70s, 80s and 90s
Totally thought of SarChan cos we put Heart of Glass on our SalahWrong playlist too!
Actually saying that is so redundant… cos almost every act i saw has songs we’ve used on our sets!
These two guys called James and Rudy were really nice to hoist Yishyene and i up to their shoulders,
so we could rock out to Blondie proper!
As if Vamipire Weekend and Blondie wasn’t enough to kill me happy for a day, The Strokes came up to close Saturday’s performances!
Saturday night was AMAZING.
We danced and screamed and clapped so much,
we had to limp back to our camp in the cold after that.
We were tired and hungry so got some food to scoff in the tent before passing out.
Screw taking a shower in the cold.
We used wet wipes to get our make up off.
Sunday
I had this nightmare on Saturday night and tweeted about it even.
I dreamt that The Courteeners came on at 1:30pm instead of the scheduled 2pm,
and woke up in a jump cos i was so kancheong that i missed them!
Looked at the time and realised it was only 8am,
went PHEW,
and went back to sleep.
Told Yishyene my dream too, “Yeah i dreamt that they started at 1:30pm and you were being a total bitch to me and didn’t care cos you don’t really like them!”
We got lunch and sat on the grass,
before heading to the main field at 1pm to hang around
(and also because i wanted a good space to watch The Courteeners :p)
At 1:20pm - “What… are they performing now? What time is it?” asked Yishyene “Can’t be… they’re supposed to start at 2,” i answered, checking the schedule again “Is that them on stage?” “So weird to be sound-checking now, they’re not up yet.”
And you know what?
They started at 1:30pm.
Instead of 2pm as stated on all the festival material.
Which was weird because EVERY OTHER act started at time stipulated to the minute!
HOW WEIRD IS THAT?!
MY DREAM CAME TRUE.
I think the Universe was just warning me cos I wanted to watch them SO BADLY.
After The Courteeners was Friendly Fires, who played Paris as their last song and i loveeee
I love Friendly Fires!
Love the vibe their songs always bring,
and it’s so interesting to see the different types of people who make their way to the front for their favourite bands!
People were all dancing and waving their arms in the air and sunshine!
I brought funky glasses i found in Krabi, just for the fest.
And bubbles too
Look how tanned i got!!!
Spandau Ballet came up after that,
but i don’t know most of their songs,
so i took a nap
Editors was very rock and i only know one song from them which they didn’t play.
Dunno, i find them a bit noisy and most of the songs sound the same to me.
I much prefer more melody
Pink performed after.
To be truthful (and i know people are going to say i’m so undeserving to watch her) i’m not a fan of Pink
However, she did give an entertaining performance,
what with shooting out of a box in the sky to appear on stage,
to whizzing thru the air above the crowd on wires,
and jumping into a zorb ball unto the crowd which i thought was a brilliant idea!
I just think that she probably has to do all those circus acts to make up for the lack in other areas
*avoids flying items from Pink fans*
And Pink fans at the festival… well, the ones that surrounded us,
were large drunk girls that pretty much scared the daylights out of Yishyene and i
cos they’re so rough and don’t give a damn who they bump into when they sing and stomp along.
Scary for small people, y’know?
Funny thing is during her performance, i felt my period come,
so i rushed to a portaloo feeling kinda stressed out cos i didn’t have a tampon with me.
Upon emerging from the loo, Yishyene asked, “So how?” Me: Oh. It wasn’t my period. I guess Pink just made me wet my panties.
Her: Hahaha!
Closing the Isle of Wight festival was the legendary Paul McCartney.
Paul McCartney.
One of the Beatles.
And i managed to see him.
Priceless, i swear.
His band is freaking brilliant as well.
You have to watch the video below.
Imagine tens of thousands of people all singing to Hey Jude…
Incredible experience.
Monday
Going home day.
I was appalled by the mess campers left behind…
some didn’t even bother taking down their tents to bring home with them!
Had to wait for 2 hours on the pier to catch the ferry back
since so many people were trying to make their way off the isle as well.
A triangular cloud caught my attention and made constantly looking up at clouds worth it
All in all, the festival was SO WORTH IT.
I paid £160 to attend it for 3 days,
and £80 for my 3 nights stay at Tangerine Fields.
It was completely magical with all the music surrounding me,
and i think… i’m going to watch out for other festivals next summer to see which one i want to go for next
Tips if you’re going to a festival:
1. Bring toilet paper, sunblock, wet wipes.
2. Bring alcohol to drink before going in
3. Prepare not to shower for 4 days.
4. If you’re small (like us), find small people in the crowd to stand with them.
5. The moment you think you get a whiff of fart, stick your neck out and breathe the air as high as you can. Or hold your breath. Whatever it takes. I’ve neve smelt so many people’s farts in my LIFE.
Last Saturday, Yishyene, RyanSoosay and i took a morning train
to Redhill where Uncle Mark picked us up.
We then headed straight for the stables to watch Aunt Gerry ride,
which uncle deemed a “compulsory activity”
Khalif the horse, is only a couple of years younger than me 0_o
Lonesome Lodge the house…
The garden…
And the flowers! Oh, the flowers!
I got made fun of just cos i liked taking pictures of daisies… -_-
Isn’t the poppy freaking beautiful? And it’s larger than my hand as well!
Found a tyre swing in the neighbour’s garden
We had lunch at Three Bells pub,
before dropping my grannie home cos she’d be bored at Knowle house.
Think she kena dragged to too many historic places till she cannot tahan already >.<
See my friend Yishyene. Who doesn’t know how to eat properly. Or something.
I passed out from the lunch on the way to Knowle at Sevenoaks, Kent.
And ultimately… so did the rest of us. Poor Uncle Mark driving alone
Had tea after the tour of the house.
Well the others had tea, i had wine
And SCONES AND CLOTTED CREAM!
I LOVE CLOTTED CREAM ARHMARHMARHM *cookie monster sound*
Saw these two old ladies in bright pink coming down a hill,
and thought it’d made a nice picture.
The deer were really tame, and RyanSoosay suggested i play my Disney Bambi music (which i was playing earlier on the lawn) to draw it closer.
After Knowle house, we dropped by an area where A Room with a View was filmed
because the houses and surroundings replicate the 1800s most accurately
More flowers
Can’t help it, i loike!
Also stopped by Uncle Mark’s old boarding school, Tonbridge, where i couldn’t help smelling the flowers.
And Yishyene said i looked like i was eating it.
By the time we got home, it was night and my aunt said it was up to us whether we wanted to eat in or out.
RyanSoosay and Yishyene looked at me,
so i said EAT HOME-COOKED PLEASE!
I love my aunt’s cooking…
always fresh and yummy food.
I know this is so irrelevant to my blog since it’s kononnya a travel + fashion one, but eff it. I live to eat so i will darn well blog about food too!
We had grilled aubergine (love!) with olive oil and teriyaki sauce.
Grilled lamb chops with basil, pepper and other herbs
Mixed wasabi powder with mayonnaise to dollop unto smoked salmon.
Steamed veggies to retain flavour and juices.
Yishyene snapped a (cock-eyed) picture of me cos she’s never envisioned me in the kitchen before -_-
Don’t know why, but Meesh did the same thing when i was doing the dishes on Friday.
Met up with Meesh and Zain last week at Borough Market, which is down the road from where Meesh stays.
Borough Market is essentially a food market,
and i’ve never been happier trotting around
eyes a-darting at different types + colours of food
with so many yummy scents wafting towards me!
Curry couldn’t compare to that of in South East Asia of course…
Poor babe
Couldn’t help taking pix of octopus cos it was so massive and icky!
And one of my ultimate weaknesses… fresh oysters!
Was in absolute heaven slipping it into my mouth,
after watching in anticipation as the guy shucked them in front of us
Meesh met Wilson
At one point she started screeching at me when we started talking about kids, and i brought Wilson into the topic. “I can’t believe you’re comparing a golf ball to a real child!!”
You miss me don’t you
You can spot people basking in the sunshine everywhere
Dropped by a pub to get some beer
As long as there’s a bit of sun, beer in the afternoon is allowed! Heh
Meesh took me to the park nearby LSE in the evening
where we got some raspberries + Guinness,
and spent a good few hours catching up on the grass
The park is much bigger than this…
with many more people than i captured as well.
It really is SO NICE to see ppl just lounging about on the grass,
playing the guitar, throwing a frisbee, etc.
i’m wearing - floral tank top; baci
high-waisted pants; zara
sandals; steve madden, nyc
Wilson has come along to Europe with me,
whereas Philip is sick so he’s staying at home with Clem
Raspberries for a quid, and Guinness for four
Walked to Verve Bar on Upper St Martin’s Lane to meet a group of Meesh’s friends for drinks.
I’m amazed at how CROWDED the outside area of every pub looks like,
macam ada rave okay.
But kononnya just a regular drinking night
All drinks and food were half price off (that’s why we were there!)
Meesh and i had a jug of long island each, reminiscing bout old TAG days.
We went to get some chinese food for late dinner,
and found another pub where we could grab a last Guinness for the day.
Some random drunk guy touched my head, and i went, “Don’t touch me ” He came to say sorry after that and that he just liked my hair (but who touches ppl’s hair when they like it -_-)
i could see he was just really drunk so i went, “Yeah yeah ok” and moved away.
Somehow, they took it as me being unfriendly and his friend said i was being rude for not accepting his apology.
Meesh and i were superwtf going, “HELLO HE WAS BEING RUDE BY TOUCHING HER IN THE FIRST PLACE! -_-”
Damn a lot of crazy drunkards here i swear,
also saw some guy rolling on the road and friends laughing at him.
Ok the sun is out and i’m dying to get out and grab some lunch and walk around!
Went for lunch with Yishyene at a place called Giraffe @ Russell Square yesterday.
I didn’t think i would be able to finish the 1/2 chicken and salad i ordered,
but it was so tender and flavourful i whacked it.
Note: This is why i’m going to be putting on weight here
Took a walk across the park there when she had to return to work,
and ventured into the British Museum.
Wandered into an exhibition and looked on in wonderment
at actual drawings made by the Egyptians thousands of years ago
Mummies of their pet cats
More mummies…
And after awhile, there are only so many mummies you can look at in interest for more than an hour,
so i left and grabbed a bus to Oxford Circus.
Went into Topshop and the other high street stores there.
And… would you believe it, i didn’t buy a single thing!
Only because. It was so bloody crowded.
And there were SO many things to look at / try on,
i got completely overwhelmed.
I didn’t know where to look first cos there were just
SO many colours + patterns + textures + styles
to the point my eye started twitching.
Literally.
I was so overwhelemed in Topshop, my left eye started twitching for a good 15 minutes, and i was holding a finger to it thinking, “BLOODY HELL”
I didn’t think i’d be taken by Topshop’s new make up line,
but after seeing the products in person,
i must say i’m smitten by the nail colours and eyeshadows
and am definitely going back when it’s bright and early AND EMPTY to shop at my own leisurely pace!
Went to watch The Pearl Fishers in the evening.
Aunt Gerry and i
Uncle Mark
I know opera is hard for some people to swallow,
but i think because i was exposed to it when i was younger
makes it easier for me to appreciate now.
I reckon that if you take a liking to classical music and musicals,
you’d be okay with opera!
I was treated to a really nice late dinner at The Ivy after that!
According to my aunt, lots of celebrities dine there (but i didn’t see any, not like i’m any good with spotting them!)
I had foie gras and chilli crab linguine
and almost fell asleep at dinner
cos i was so full and (according to Aunt Gerry) the jet lag really started to hit.
Ok oh my god Yishyene is at the Star Street flat,
my aunt and uncle are peeking over my shoulder and laughing,
Yishyene is also laughing -_-
And i really can’t blog properly now,
and they’ve just dragged her downstairs to perhaps harrass her,
so i’d better run off to save her now!
I have to say that despite traveling to so many diff places and cities,
there’s just something about London i love so much.
I was SO happy on the plane my heart started pounding
(the same feeling i get when i see Clem :p).
Bought heaps of bloody Super Rings for Yishyene,
and got asked to open the suitcase at Heathrow.
AND HAD TO EXPLAIN WHY I LOOK LIKE A SNACK PSYCHO, THANKS YISHYENE!!!
“I’m so embarrased! My friend asked me to buy these snacks for her cos she can’t get them here,” i blushed to the girl at the airport.
Luckily she was really nice, laughed and asked me whether it was that yummy.
-_-
Super Rings super malukan me!
Aunt Gerry & Uncle Mark picked me up at the airport,
and we went to have dinner at an Italian restaurant below the flat i’m staying at in Paddington.
One of the first things my aunt said to me was: “You’re so skinny! Gotta fatten you up!”
Have already pre-emptied Clem that i might will return to KL a fatter fairy.
I thought i’d either be staying in the Star Street flat, or with Yishyene,
but my aunt decided not to let out one of her flats this month seeing i’m coming,
so i’ve got a 1-bedroom place all to myself in Zone 1
Unpacked all my stuff after dinner last night,
to make it seem more homey.
Think i brought too many shoes sigh. (cos i know i might buy some here -_-)
Spot the frog contact lens case ClaudiaOnCrack got me from Korea!
I’m obviously brand loyal only when it tickles my fancy :p
London HAS changed quite a bit in the past 10 years…
i can’t recognise certain streets anymore,
and shops are different.
Below is my aunt’s office and flat (5-min walk from where i’m staying)
where i used to stay and intern at when i was 18.
The lounge i used to spend HOURS in writing letters and watching tv late into the night.
The stairs i would make a racket on, running up and down
and constantly slip and fall on.
Okay, i’m gonna run out to sort out my BB sim card and see Yishyene for lunch!
Then opera and dinner tonight
*finishes self-conversation*
