This happened two Fridays ago…
My knit dress is from Gallo by Thian, and can’t remember where my funny socks are from >.<
Went for lunch at a French restaurant recommended by Neena, Jason’s fiancee. I was really happy to finally meet her, since i haven’t seen Jason himself for a couple of years??
Our matching tattoos got reunited! We got them yearssss ago… Crazy times.
Before i left for London, i saw online that Internet World (UK’s biggest convention for digital and online businesses) was taking place while i was going to be here. Trying to fit in some educational activities into my schedule, i signed myself up for it and went for Thursday’s talks.
I listened to Tim Woollias who’s the Retail Industry Head at Google,
Mark Nicholson from Sky on end-to-end online customer sales experience,
Tom Valentine who’s the MD of Secret Escapes on how they started up (very inspiring!),
and the charismatic Warren Knight who’s the Founder and CEO of Gloople.
In between talks, Beatrice and i had a quick lunch at Pizza@Home that’s just outside the Brompton Road tube station. According to Bea, it’s the most authentic Italian pizza she’s had in London for such a cheap price (bout 6 euros/pizza). Coming from an Italian, you gotta take her word for it! Extra points that the staff there are so friendly too!
I had parma ham, artichokes (goddamn i love me some artichokes!), olives, etc
After leaving Internet World at 3+, i headed home then out again to Selfridges by myself.
Wanted to check out some shoes and things.
When you’re in London, you end up checking the weather forecast on a regular basis to see what you should wear and do. Days out are planned on supposedly-sunny days, and working in for rainy ones! It was forecasted to be sunny one Wednesday, so Yishyene and i planned to walk along the canal (aka little venice) to Camden market for brunch.
Rows of daffodils are such a pleasure to admire!
Tulips and retardation face.
I’m wearing a top from Zara,
gold foil jeans from Levi’s,
and shoes from NakedKimchi
Last Tuesday i did some work in the morning, then went for a relaxing afternoon at the RAC where aunt G and uncle Mark are members. They take me there every time i come to London, and i remember hanging out at the bar with Ming last year with him eyeing up all the men in suits there -.-
Aunt G loves taking pictures of me in front of buildings and everything. No choice, just stand there and smile and apologize to pedestrians who stand on the side waiting for her to take the picture XD
I sat in the steam room which i actually enjoy (i don’t like saunas, too hot and dry!),
skipped the crazy cold turkish bath,
had a shower,
read some magazines,
had a little nap,
enjoyed a wonderful massage,
then ate a roast beef sandwich with horseradish so i could tide my tummy over till late dinner at 9+.
In the evening, Uncle Mark met us at the club, as did Ellen who was joining us for the show and dinner. Ellen’s the head of the spa department at the RAC and is only 26! I kept on admiring how pretty she is, especially with her perfect long curly hair. Apparently i had sudden hair envy for a few minutes there.
Ellen asked to review some Cinq Mondes products which are sold in her spa >
Just gonna THROW all the pictures into one post so it’s better flow methinks! Woke up on Saturday rather hungover (cos i met up with Jason the afternoon before -_-) and rushed to go out cos Aunt G said we’d go walking around some shops before having lunch, and then go for our first Vogue Festival talk that day.
We went into a design shop which sold furniture and knick knacks for the house. I bought a funny book with a hole, and an olde comic book with cartoons i’m not familiar with but Uncle Mark said he used to read when he was a child. So i thought it’d be nice to educate myself on this cult comic i have no idea about. It’s quite funny so far and i only read ONE PAGE. There were some cool mobiles (stuff that hangs in the air) too, but i reckoned it’d just be more rubbish in my house that i buy and plan to put up somewhere and never do.
Pottered about Smallbone and Devizes cos aunt G loves redecorating apartments, it’s her expensive hobby.
Tried to see if the queue at the V&A for the David Bowie exhibition was long, which it was. Anyway there was definitely no time to enjoy it and do everything else we had planned that day.
My birthday present from Aunt G was her buying me some tickets to Vogue Festival without telling me. When she finally did send an email while i was still in Malaysia, i was squealing in public when i saw whose talks she got us to attend – Paul Smith with Alexa Chung, Mario Testino, and Donatella Versace!
She couldn’t have picked better personalities for the talks – i LOVE Paul Smith, especially after i read his illustrated biography; i’ve always admired Alexa Chung; Mario Testino is one of my favourite photographers thanks to his long-term stint at Vogue; and Donatella Versace is so iconic, it’d be a treat to see what she’s got to say and is like IRL.
The festival was held all day last weekend and focused on 45-minute talks given by the most luminary individuals in the fashion industry. Besides the talks i went to, there were also sessions including Michael Kors, Vivienne Westwood, Tamara Mellon, Alber Elbaz, Victoria Beckham, Anna Dello Russo, and many many more.
