a day on the town

Finally I got off my lazy butt and got out of the house! Today, my cousin Ify and I planned a full-day excursion to the center of London. The plan was to leave the house at 10am to be able to catch the first train, but considering my cousin took an hour to get up and get showered (which I full well knew would happen), we didn't leave the house until nearly 11.30am. First we took the bus to Surbiton Station and from there we took a train to Waterloo Station. I remember Waterloo from the last time I was in London, when one day my mom and I had a wonderful day exploring and being super touristy. It reminds me of Grand Central, just because it so big and so busy! From Waterloo, we took the tube (my cousin laughed at me for calling it the metro!) to Oxford Circle.

Wooo, Oxford Street! So many shops and many tempting things. I was supposed to be a good girl because I really have no money to spend until I get back to school and start working again. And I was doing fine, for a while. We went to all the usual stores, H&M, Zara, TopShop, and such, and I was getting bored because I was had seen most of the stuff before and especially because I was tired of looking at things I couldn't afford. Then, we got the the accessories section and I saw the loveliest ring! It was large and circle-shaped and the face of the ring was a pretty turquoise color. The ring band was a striking gold with detailed cut-outs on the side. Out of everything I had seen so far, it was my favorite and I really wanted it. But I told myself I had to be good and let my cousin convince me to put it down. She said that we would pass several more H&Ms as we continued shopping and I thought if I saw it again, I would buy it. The thought crossed my mind to hide it so that I could come back for it (Is that bad? Does anybody else hide items if they know they're going to come back and buy them later?), but for some reason that I can't remember, I put it back in its proper place. As I did so, I noticed that there were only two left, one size M (the one that fit me) and one size L. Even after we had been to several other shops, the ring was still on my mind. We went to another H&M, and then another one, and the ring was no where to be found. Then, when we made our way back up the street, I insisted we stop in the original H&M where I had first seen the ring so that I could buy it. As I made my way downstairs to the accessories section, my heart was beating slightly faster and I knew that I would be really disappointed if the ring wasn't there. And it wasn't. The moral of the story, for me at least, is that I know myself pretty well and I should have listened to my instincts (I had a feeling that it wouldn't be there when I came back) and just bought it in the first place because I knew that I really wanted it and I would have been much happier than the feeling I got from saving a few pounds.

After we finished shopping and eating lunch, we walked over to Picadilly Circus, which contains LED billboards like you'd see in Times Square, except there are only three of them. Then we took the metro one stop and walked to South Bank, where the London Eye is located. I rode the Eye last time I was in London, so I didn't feel like riding it again, but it was cool to see it again as we strolled along the river Thames. From there, we made our way back to Waterloo and then took the metro to Shepherd's Cross, where the London Westfield is just across the street. It's the same chain/franchise? that controls a bunch of malls throughout America. The Westfield did have an H&M, and of course I checked for the ring and it wasn't there. The mall closed at 9 and by that time all we wanted to do was go home, eat dinner, and put our feet up. Using various forms of transportation, by the time we got home it was after 10 pm! I had a lot of fun hanging out out with my cousin and going around to see London independently. If it wasn't so expensive to go into the city (7.5 pounds for an all-day travel card) I would make many more trips in! Pics to come when my cousin uploads them from her camera!