And I have stopped taking photos of EVERYTHING and EVERYWHERE... So, makes it even more difficult to recollect my activities and etc.
But well, the main points of each day are still clear in my mind, so better blog all these now while I still have some time before my full curriculum starts.
Let's see. I called home again this morning... She seems to prefer me call in the evening (Singapore time) because she always sound to keen to put down the phone when I call her in the afternoon (Singapore time). Anyway, it turned out that it was Mid-Autumn Festival and my family was just sitting down for dinner. I knew that Mid-Autumn was close, but I didn't realise it was today! So my mum actually sounded very happy to hear from me today. It being the festival for family together-ness and everything.
Then, went down to the Strand campus today afternoon to get updated letters for the bank with my new address after my change in room. Wanted to finally get my SIM card so that I can be contact-able in London and saw this advert in the Metro with free 5 pounds credit - good sign! Also saw an Orange shop along the main road from my campus so that was my first stop after my admin at school.
However, to my astonishment, it was CLOSED! Now, why would they close a handphone shop on Sunday?!?! Never mind. I have plenty of time before the Thames Festival in the evening. So, I decided to take a loooooong walk to Oxford Street, under the assumption that the main shopping road in London should have their fair share of OPEN handphone shops. Yup, I was right. Right at the end of the road, I found my Orange shop. But the staff were super unfriendly. Esp after they realised I was there for the free SIM card, and not going to spend any money buying any handphone sets, etc.
Let's cut to the chase... Fast forward to the evening, around 6.30 pm. I had a great time perched upon the railing at this pier with a great view of the street performers. My timing was just right and I got to see ALL the performers as they go past me. I would prefer a closer encounter but was too lazy to stand for 2 hours at the railing along the road.
The performers cleared within 2 hours and with the setting of the sun, it started to get real cold... With the cold wind, lonely surroundings and dark skies, I got real depressed. Things got real depressing as I see the full moon arising, and started to feel really sorry about myself. "Why was I subjecting myself to such loneliness? Why did I take myself away from everything that was familiar and loved?" I was in such a catch-22 situation. There was nowhere for me to go even if I wanted to leave my perch. I got a good seat at one of the best positions to view the fireworks, facing the OXO building in between the Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges. So there I waited...
Ever grateful to the Moon goddess (there must be some magic with it being the Mid-Autumn Festival), a group of Hong Kongers walked past my perch and decided to settle there to light lanterns and eat mooncakes. I gave them advice when they had difficulty lighting their lanterns and they were real nice to give me an extra one. They also shared their mooncakes with me. I never savoured and appreciated a piece of mooncake more in my life. It was just heart-warming to be able to share a special moment with some people who share the same language, the same culture, even if they were perfect strangers. Of course, I'm also ever grateful to my grandparents forcing me to speak almost-perfect Cantonese.
Last but not least, I managed to grab a piece of souvenir!
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