Back (C)on Track!
Feb. 25th, 2026 10:57 pmWell, it feels like I'm finally back on track here lately---if I ever have been since arriving here in the first place. I've organized everything nicely, vacuumed, started doing my homework more proactively, and finally started cooking actual meals again instead of spending too much on takeout this or microwave that. Which is also helping my wallet---which is suffering, poor dear.
I think it's partially because I'm both a resident and a tourist. I'm here too long to just be on vacation, but short enough that there's still an impending sense of everything being over soon and I feel like I have to constantly be doing some fun attraction every weekend. Speaking of, last weekend was so cool! Saturday I had two big firsts.
Firstly, I went to London Anime And Gaming Con, my first ever con! I went with some fellow American friends from my British uni, and it was super epic. My highlights include: getting FOUR Streetpasses at once, seeing a ton of cool and cute cosplays and getting some cute stuff from the Artists' Alley! My favourite finds are a cute phone charm made to look like a lavender Nintendo DS game cartridge and a big bag charm shaped like Girls' Generation's lightstick with chibi heads of the members inside!
After the convention (thanks again to my sainted friends for helping me do all the stuff I wanted to do in my limited time!) I got the tube and met up with Blue! I needed to grab a quick lunch, but the Hammersmith station's ramen vending machine (a real thing!!) wasn't working! :( So I got Chopstix instead, which is a Chinese chain probably comparable to Panda Express for my American readers. I had their "soymazing chicken" and lo mein, but didn't get to sit on the train so I had to eat it standing up. And then when I got to Covent Garden station, there were really long lines for the escalators. "I don't know why they won't just take the stairs," I think, as I pass them by and start up the stairs.
I was not thinking the same thing 200-300 steep spiral stairs later. And what makes it worse is that I was cutting it very close timewise. I got lost in Covent Garden Market and had a lot of trouble finding the bus, and made it to the theatre with about three minutes to spare before the show started. I met up with Blue and we found our seats!
The show was really good!! It starred Hugh Bonneville from Downton Abbey, which my parents watched all the time when I was growing up, and it was insanely surreal to see someone so famous in person! It was matched only by the coolness of when I saw Verivery in person. He's probably the most famous person I've ever seen in person! And everyone's acting was wonderful. The show, in case you don't know, is about C.S. Lewis and his relationship with his wife, and how they cope when she's diagnosed with an illness. It's spectacular, and I hardly have any criticism for the show. It was funny, happy, sad, and got me reflecting about life and death in a valuable way.
Then we wandered around the West End for a few hours before trying to find a place to eat. We settle on Din Tai Fung, kind of a fancy chain that does handmade dumplings and other Taiwanese food. It was really delicious! Although I didn't realize how expensive it was till the bill came. But I'd say it was worth it. I had chicken dumplings, egg fried rice, garlic broccoli (split with Blue) and this cute little (non-alcoholic) peach drink! It was delicious. I could totally imagine a K-pop idol eating there! For some reason, my mind goes to Hyolyn from Sistar and Tiffany from Girls' Generation. I'd like to come back when I have the money. ^-^
I've also been spending less lately. I think my rock bottom was when I went thrifting with a friend last week and spent a concerning amount of money, though I won't divulge the figure here, given my admittedly low budget. I'm not bankrupting my family, but after adding up my spending for the past month and a half since coming here, I've become really anxious. Granted, there are plenty of reasons why it might not be entirely my fault or something, but at the end of the day I just need to take responsibility and do better. Which I did today!
I was going to just do my weekly grocery shopping, stop by the post office and maybe treat myself to some press-on nails today, but I ran into a cool person from my uni's K-pop club who I've been wanting to hang out with, and we ended up spending the day going shopping together! But besides the stuff I had had in mind, I only ended up buying about £10 worth of stuff! Part of which is a surprise for Grey. :) I also bought myself a bracelet and a box set of the first five seasons of Gossip Girl on DVD. It was really cool and, I hope, the start of a friendship.
And that's about it! Blue and I are going somewhere cool this weekend, which I hope to update you about as soon as I return. I still miss Grey a lot, but we're doing our best to appreciate the time we get to spend together anyhow. I'm trying to do all my work and everything, and I think I'm doing better than I was, thank God. I hope I can work on my site tomorrow as well! Anyways, I've got to go get ready for bed. Toodles! (-_-)Zzzz
I think it's partially because I'm both a resident and a tourist. I'm here too long to just be on vacation, but short enough that there's still an impending sense of everything being over soon and I feel like I have to constantly be doing some fun attraction every weekend. Speaking of, last weekend was so cool! Saturday I had two big firsts.
Firstly, I went to London Anime And Gaming Con, my first ever con! I went with some fellow American friends from my British uni, and it was super epic. My highlights include: getting FOUR Streetpasses at once, seeing a ton of cool and cute cosplays and getting some cute stuff from the Artists' Alley! My favourite finds are a cute phone charm made to look like a lavender Nintendo DS game cartridge and a big bag charm shaped like Girls' Generation's lightstick with chibi heads of the members inside!
After the convention (thanks again to my sainted friends for helping me do all the stuff I wanted to do in my limited time!) I got the tube and met up with Blue! I needed to grab a quick lunch, but the Hammersmith station's ramen vending machine (a real thing!!) wasn't working! :( So I got Chopstix instead, which is a Chinese chain probably comparable to Panda Express for my American readers. I had their "soymazing chicken" and lo mein, but didn't get to sit on the train so I had to eat it standing up. And then when I got to Covent Garden station, there were really long lines for the escalators. "I don't know why they won't just take the stairs," I think, as I pass them by and start up the stairs.
I was not thinking the same thing 200-300 steep spiral stairs later. And what makes it worse is that I was cutting it very close timewise. I got lost in Covent Garden Market and had a lot of trouble finding the bus, and made it to the theatre with about three minutes to spare before the show started. I met up with Blue and we found our seats!
The show was really good!! It starred Hugh Bonneville from Downton Abbey, which my parents watched all the time when I was growing up, and it was insanely surreal to see someone so famous in person! It was matched only by the coolness of when I saw Verivery in person. He's probably the most famous person I've ever seen in person! And everyone's acting was wonderful. The show, in case you don't know, is about C.S. Lewis and his relationship with his wife, and how they cope when she's diagnosed with an illness. It's spectacular, and I hardly have any criticism for the show. It was funny, happy, sad, and got me reflecting about life and death in a valuable way.
Then we wandered around the West End for a few hours before trying to find a place to eat. We settle on Din Tai Fung, kind of a fancy chain that does handmade dumplings and other Taiwanese food. It was really delicious! Although I didn't realize how expensive it was till the bill came. But I'd say it was worth it. I had chicken dumplings, egg fried rice, garlic broccoli (split with Blue) and this cute little (non-alcoholic) peach drink! It was delicious. I could totally imagine a K-pop idol eating there! For some reason, my mind goes to Hyolyn from Sistar and Tiffany from Girls' Generation. I'd like to come back when I have the money. ^-^
I've also been spending less lately. I think my rock bottom was when I went thrifting with a friend last week and spent a concerning amount of money, though I won't divulge the figure here, given my admittedly low budget. I'm not bankrupting my family, but after adding up my spending for the past month and a half since coming here, I've become really anxious. Granted, there are plenty of reasons why it might not be entirely my fault or something, but at the end of the day I just need to take responsibility and do better. Which I did today!
I was going to just do my weekly grocery shopping, stop by the post office and maybe treat myself to some press-on nails today, but I ran into a cool person from my uni's K-pop club who I've been wanting to hang out with, and we ended up spending the day going shopping together! But besides the stuff I had had in mind, I only ended up buying about £10 worth of stuff! Part of which is a surprise for Grey. :) I also bought myself a bracelet and a box set of the first five seasons of Gossip Girl on DVD. It was really cool and, I hope, the start of a friendship.
And that's about it! Blue and I are going somewhere cool this weekend, which I hope to update you about as soon as I return. I still miss Grey a lot, but we're doing our best to appreciate the time we get to spend together anyhow. I'm trying to do all my work and everything, and I think I'm doing better than I was, thank God. I hope I can work on my site tomorrow as well! Anyways, I've got to go get ready for bed. Toodles! (-_-)Zzzz
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