london lit again.

oxford street

during my weekend back at london, i managed to be part of this beautiful colour display called the lumiere festival. the festival was only on for 4 days, so i was uber glad to be able to catch it when i least expected to be around during that time.

magnificent works of art were placed in different parts of london, and it was staged almost as a treasure hunt for us to go around and look for them all. 

the parents standing in the middle of oxford street

lanterns hung from side to side, and oxford street was even shut off so everyone can enjoy these pieces in the middle of the street.

if you look closely, there are in fact many plastic bottles filling the fountain in trafalgar sq.!

the roads being blocked off are not to say however that taking photos were any easier - people flooded the streets from everywhere, particularly on the saturday when the festival became more well known following social media shares and posts.

leicester sq.

leicester sq staged a beautiful garden themed lighting show. there were lit up reeds, colourful branches of trees, and glowing flowers.

whilst waiting for the rest of the lights to come on, my parents and i decided to go and browse around nespresso to wow at the coffee machines and take advantage of their warmth before heading out in the cold again to look for more lit up art.

nespresso

we also saw these two soldiers on the way and my mum for some reason was particularly fond with taking pictures with them. my dad reluctantly snapped this one, at which my mum annoyingly complained he chopped off a bit of the guy on the right.

we then went into jd where i picked out some new crepes for my dad, and then met my auntie before continuing with our hunt for the lights.

skeleton light display on oxford street

mayfair.

in mayfair, the crowds were huge. everyone were literally like penguins trying to shuffle around and take a look at the lights.

these bird houses were one of my favourites. so inventive, so cute.

another biggie was this display in the middle of the street. it almost looked like a giant fire ball in the sky if you looked at it from afar.

these glowing men also hung everywhere on top of buildings and streets. where you would see people  looking up into the sky, you would know you've come across another piece.

this moving animated elephant amused many. on the other side of the building was the elephant's bum!

and lastly, we found this arty paint splatter building which has been casted on by a projector.

at around 10:30pm we finally sat down for dinner at joy king lau. for some reason, it was still so busy at such a late hour. we were however thankful for food and warmth after walking around so long in the cold.

what a nice treat from spontaneity!

short trip back home.

having finished all my mocks (finally!), i logged onto Skype and had a rather long catch up sesh with my family. it was then i realised i had a whole week of zero lectures and zero seminars to attend, except for a moot (mock trial) at the end of the week. my parents were eager to see me and so i booked my coach ticket for the next morning to head back to london.

wow my trips back to london are always so spontaneous.

i got a chance to catch up with etain over a green tea latte from timberyard, and we managed to sort out a few things for a holiday we're planning for in the summer.

sunday morning, i got to go to church with my whole family, which is pretty rare nowadays as i'm in southampton obviously, but if not, my dad is usually at a different church every week to preach.

it was our church's 65th anniversary this week and so the service was held at the hammersmith townhall, and a grand choir and orchestra was especially organised for the occasion.

and to top my weekend home, there was also a light sprinkling of snow :)

life lesson 3: revision mode.

for the past few days, the only view of the outside world i had was my window and my phone. upon returning to uni, i knew i was in a well and truly troubled position. 

i have 3 exams and a moot (mock trial) in the following two weeks, and have not learnt from my mistakes to prepare for them in advance - even the sky was looking hella dark for me too.

during the last semester, i completed the bare minimum in my tutorials, fell asleep in lectures (or just didn't turn up), and i admit they would perhaps have made this revision process much easier.

i have never lived in halls with it being this quiet before. everyone is so unenthusiastic and dull upon coming back this month as exams are hitting us hard. the only thing retaining my sanity is perhaps my multi coloured muji pens to be honest.

regular scene of my day.

today i've just completed 2 of my exams, and after 24 hours of no food, burger king has come to save my life.

camera, london, friends and food.

last wednesday, i met up with kelly, yina and loksze to go for a long overdue photoshoot.

i had planned to take these guys to what's known as the pergola in hampstead heath because both the scenery and architecture really is beautiful.

as a clash of clan addict, loksze couldn't stop posing next to these posters which are literally plastered everywhere around london and all the tube stations at the moment.

unfortunately the weather was so rainy and windy, and the pergola was also closed due to maintenance works! i let these guys down this time, but at least we still got quite a few good shots around the park as it was so quiet.

we decided to head to the british museum instead and take advantage of their architecture there. as we approached it, closing time was in about half an hour and the sun had already set so we weren't given the best lighting despite their rooftop window.

nevertheless, kelly worked her magic and we ended up with some very pleasing shots to end our photoshoot! photos to be posted soon ;)

we stopped by at covent garden for a light refreshment copped from tesco. as we admired this rather big christmas tree, we chugged down some arizona and ate wasabi and ginger flavoured popcorn.

loksze and i then headed off to a get-together hosted by yas, where before we could enjoy glorious food, we had to make them first. i was involved in the dumpling factory and mass produced these beauties with a few others.

the other food factory produced lots of sushi and oven chicken, and before long we tucked into a hearty meal filled with banter and laughs.

we managed to stay so late that i missed my last train and bus, and so was welcomed to stay the night. i hadn't caught up with etain properly for so long, and it was good that it was just like the old days - sleepovers and late night chats. i also realised that i'm over at their house so often i have acquired my own toothbrush and contact lens case there!

the next morning, etain cooked me some breakfast and we devoured in that before i had to make my way to chinatown to have lunch with my family, grandparents, aunts and cousins!