Rome Day 19

1:55 AM July 27, 2011

Today was the last day of the class walking around Rome and seeing our sites. We had a breakfast, which is basically a pastry and coffee (from what I've noticed, it's the typical italian breakfast). I had some sort of brioche with nutella inside (YUM) and a manachella (espresso with chocolate and cream)[super YUM].

After class, decided to hit the stores to check out the sales going on ending at the end of the month. I went to Zara and got 2 dresses...in sale! SCORE!

After dinner, we went to watch a symphony perform at the courtyard of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza. Amazing!


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Last Days in New York

After our last day session of the Open, my brother took us to a Malaysian restaurant at Hoboken. It was pretty good. The soft shell crab was goooooooood :]

The next day, my friend Paula [we've been friends since elementary school in the Philippines] took us shopping at some malls in NJ. I found a nice black clutch from Juicy Couture for $40 :] I also bought a silver starter charm bracelet. Alas, no charms yet hahaha. I really want a tennis charm!
After that, we had sushi. Then, drama went down with Paula's ex. Quy left them to sort whatever out, and listened to some old school RnB...Quyonce and Annaynay HEEEEY! hahahaha

Friday, we just went shopping in SoHo. I lost my shit at Top Shop. Well, I didnt end up spending too much money, but I wanted to! Yay for 10% year-round student discount! We also went to Columbia to take a tour, but they were not offering tours. We went to the Architecture dept., but they told me the same things I found online :/

Saturday, Quy and I spend the afternoon at Central Park. Frollicking in the meadows! hahahaha
My brother's girlfriend's cousins came to town, so we went out to dinner with her and her fam at Cheesecacke Factory. Seating for 10 takes FOREVVVEEERRRR! Food was good, especially when you're really hungry.

Came back yesterday. Still tired.

Thoughts: I had fun, but I wanted to do more! Didn't get to go to Morimoto's, do other architecture-y crap, more broadway, more tennis! hahaha

New York Day 1

Today was our first whole day in the city--a very wet day; hurricane season and whatnot.

We woke up really early [around 7] because we needed to get to Albert Einstein College--Quy was meeting someone about the bio program there.
We got lost a few times in the Bronx. Thanks a lot Google Maps app. We found it eventually... we got there in time for her thingie. Off topic, was Peter Parker from the Bronx? The area we were at in the Bronx totally looked like Peter Parker and Mary Jane's neighborhood!
Anyway, the guy showed us around his lab and talked about what they were working on [something about the spindle during anaphase in meitosis...UH! I still know my science!]. ...ummm...pretty much did not understand what they were talking about, but I enjoyed looking at cells on the microscope, super high-tech microscopes, and short clips about the spindle that were colorful!

After the tour, the post-docs and one of the grad students took us to lunch at this Bar and Grill called Coals. It's a very chill place serving paninis and pizzas. Their pizzas were DELICIOUS! Super thin crust, melty, melty cheese, garlic, pepperoni....mmmm. My pizza was called a Dean Martin. I killed it. I was sooooo full! Also had cider with lunch [the guys were drinking beer, so why not?]...it was called ACE and it was made in Sonoma County. Pretty good...it's a little sweeter than imported ciders [strongbow, etc]. Note to self: alchy + empty stomach = no bueno. Kinda tipsy after we left the restaurant.

We were going to Columbia and Pratt Institute afterwards, but we were tired of college campus so we decided to head over to Times Square. I dragged Quy into Toys R Us and we rode the ferris wheel in the store. Not embarrassing at all. We kinda freaked out a bit...but we calmed down after the first cycle. If little kids could do it, we could too!

Decided to head over to Serendipity 3 afterwards. I got the frozen mochaccino and Quy got the frozen hot mint chocolate. OMG SOOOOOOOOO GOOOOD! The server said that the desserts were only 16 ounces. It was waaay bigger than that! It was probably like 24 ounces of chocolate and whipped cream goodnees. It hurt sooooo good! [we're both lactose intolerant]. Totally worth $8 each...I felt like I died and went to heaven.
Dylan's Candy Bar was down the street, so we hit that up next. OVERWHELMING AMOUNTS OF CANDY! I felt like I got diabetes just by walking in. I got roomies, Tony, and my mommy presents there. [Roomies+ Tony, you'll find out when I get back...PS, Tony, you're gonna love it hahahahahaha...it's from me and Quy]. I bought my mom some marzipan [I only got her a little bit because it cost $20 per pound...it cost me $2...do the math]. I also bought a skittles fan for US Open and warheads candy :]

Quy and I felt like such fatties after Serendipity's that we decided to walk to Central Park [it was just a few blocks down the street]. We just walked around and took goofy pictures with the ducks and junk. We were almost mowed-down by a little kid with a mullet on a motor scooter several times. Then, we walked back to Times Square to look for a bar/pub that was still serving food and had pina coladas [our weird craving].
We ate at a place called Pancho [or something like that] on 44th [?] [probably 42nd street or something], serving mexican food. Why there? They had pina coladas. Place was no bueno. The food was ok [combo fajitas], but the pina coladas didn't taste that great. Meh. Maybe we were just tired.

When we got back to Jersey, it was POURING! Our jeans and shoes [sandals] are soaked. Poop.
Rain please stop.

It's Thursday

I can't believe I will be leaving in a week. Sad.

Wall-E
really cuuute! WALL-E! EVE-AH!
It has a [political] message and it was very explicit about it:
we should should do something to save the planet...we can't just do nothing.
I agree.

Tuesday:
Margaret, Jeany and I went to the King and Queen for our last karaoke night at the pub.
I am never getting a martini ever again. I got a Blue Martini [it's pretty], but it was just PURE ALCOHOL! I felt like I drank 3 shots of different spirits. So yea, martinis are not going to happen again.

Wednesday:
Margaret and I spent the day in London. We mostly spent it at Harrods. HARRODS IS AMAZING! very expensive, but I do love the free samples of food :D
The lady working there kept giving me free samples of marzipan...VERY GOOD! She said it's to be eaten after dinner with coffee.
I wanted Christian Dior sunglasses, but I didnt buy it because I wasn't sure how much money I had on my debit card. I should have bought them because I had enough money. BALLS.

I finally got to see the Paddington Bear statue at Paddington Station and Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross. YAY me!

When we got back, we went to a jazz club with Ruhi, Jeany, Emily and Carolyn called Casablanca. It was pretty fun...there was a live band that played good music. The lead singer was HAWTTT!
He looked like Orlando Bloom's brother.

AAAHHHHH! I'm going to Scotland tonight! I gotta pack.
OMGGG! I'm going to watch LES MISERABLES on monday! WHOOOOHOOOO!
ugh...school. I dont like econ.

shopping is bad...but feels sooo gooooood!

Primark jacket: 13 pounds
Primark sandals: 2 pounds
Primark flats: 4 pounds
MKOne mary janes: 7 pounds
Total damage: 27 pounds!
Not bad at all!
I loooooooove shoes. It's a problem. There's another pair of shoes that I want at MKOne [they're only 8 pounds]. They are black, closed-toe, 4 inch slingbacks. I think I shall get them next time...maybe before I got to Paris. Je regarderai très très à la mode à Paris.

I really like my new jacket because a) it's not black b) it's not a sweater c)it's not too thick so it wont be heavy when I have to carry it around when it's not cold d) it's thick enough to keep me warm e)it's cuuute!
Primark is bad. I'm spending money there. Buuuuuuut, it's sooooo cheap! And nice quality! It's a good place to buy basics.
I want to buy an outfit in Paris....I already know I'm going to feel like a fat cow in Paris...

Greetings from England! Day ....uh..start of week 4

Week-end:

On Saturday, Jeany and I went to London via Coach. We have been craving Asian food really bad, so we decided to find Chinatown. It's not very big compared to the Chinatowns in major cities in the US. It's just like one block or something like that...food was pricey. If you changed the pound sterling sign to dollar signs, they'd still be pricey. Anyway, Jeany and I got dimsum [SOOO GOOD AFTER BEING DEPRIVED OF ASIAN FOOD FOR WEEKS]. ...felt like we were being judge [Jeany felt it more that I did]. We wandered around Chinatown in their grocery stores [I bought more instant pancit canton because it was only 20p]. We also bought some pastries that we ate in front of the British Museum.

British Museum is HUGE. [also free :D] It's overwhelming how much stuff they have! We were in there for at least 3 hours and I don't think we finished the entire museum! I think we saw most of it, but we didnt get to finish looking at the some of the exhibitions. They have several rooms and floors dedicated to their Egyptian collection. It was kinda creepy being in the same room as real dead people [even if they're mummified]. The terra cotta warriors went back to China :( But, GOOD LORD! Their majority of their Asian collection had something to do with BUDDHA! THERE ARE SO MANY BUDDHA STATUES!

So, while booking our coach tickets, I printed out the wrong page. When we got back to the coach station, the bus driver wouldn't let me on the coach because the page I printed did not have the ticket number [even if the other bus driver did]. So, I had to cross the street to the other terminal to use the internet to check my email. By the time I was able to check my email, the coach already left. I WAS STRANDED IN LONDON! Hahaha! No worries. It gets kinda funny.
So, apparently I didn't finishing booking my coach ticket because I didn't have the ticket number in my email or any form of email from the coach company. So, I got to go to London for free!
I just bought a one-way ticket back to Brighton at the station and I left an hour later.
Once I got back to Brighton, I barely missed the bus going back to the Universities, I wasn't that worried, there was another one coming in 15 minutes...THAT ONE NEVER CAME! So I had to wait another 15 minutes for the next bus. That was not fun. I was hungry and cold.

Yesterday, we went back to Primark. I bought 3 camis for 1 pound each and 2 more necklaces for 2.50 pounds each. They even gave me the hangers! We didn't know there was a parade going on so it was kind of hard navigating our way through the crowds.

We made it to Mock Turtle to have cream tea...I figured out the difference between Cream Tea and Afternoon Tea [ok wiki told me] ...both usually take place in the afternoon [between 3-5 pm]
Afternoon Tea: a pot of tea with milk and sugar, served with various sandwiches, scones and cakes

Cream Tea: a pot of tea with milk and sugar, served with scones [with clotted cream and jam]
I love tea time! I really want to learn how to make the Mock Turtle Scones and I want to bring home clotted cream [I'll milk a cow and learn how to make it myself if I have to!]

My final paper is due on Thursday. I have an outline, but I don't have a thesis. It's an opinion/philosophy paper on "must 'good' architecture be beautiful". UGH. I DON'T KNOW.

Greetings from England! Day 19

So session 1 ends on Thursday and I really want to go on a long week-end and planning is really hard and it's stressful. Everything is becoming too pricey!!! DAMNNN IT! I think i talked myself into wanting to go to Edinburgh. DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. EDINBURGH CASTLE. Food?
Or go to Dublin. I really don't know what I would do in Ireland...hahaha. Those 2 places are the closest "far places" to go to...but DAMN IT! It's getting expensive....looking for a place to stay is hard...There's just so much I want to do, but can't.

We went to a tea room today called The Tea Cosy. It was an intense experience. You HAD TO FOLLOW ETIQUETTE or else be kicked out. The owners LOVE the Royal Family. The menu is based on the Royal Family. The decor of the place is covered with memorabilia of the Royal Family. We were pretty quiet for fear of being kicked out. The tea was good. Some of the biscuits[cookies] tastes weird. The scones already had clotted cream and jam on it, but it was still very good. I don't think we'll be going back to that place... http://www.theteacosy.co.uk/

Then we went shopping at this place called Primark. It's pretty much a favorite! The clothes are soooooooo cheap and really nice quality!
So here's the damage: 22 pounds for one pair of jeans, one top, 3 scarves, 2 leggings, one pack of tights [3 in one pack], 1 necklace, 1 pair of earrings.
I think I might come back with a new wardrobe from shopping here. Their basics are very cheap...it's like 1 pound! Target doesn't sell basics for that cheap!!!
I also bought The Fellowship of The Ring! It's part of my LOTR set!!! yay! I couldnt find this version in the States [and it cost too much online]. My LOTR set is now complete :D [my cousin lost FOTR in Germany].

Wednesday:
My class went to an abandoned cement factory for a field trip [topic of discussion for the next class was decay and ruins]. It was kinda creepy at first because we were in a big abandoned place next to the motorway! It was like the setting for a gruesome murder! But it was kinda interesting seeing the inside of cement factory. Parts below ground were filled with water...but it wasn't murky, the water was really clear. Apparently, it's not that abandoned! The building itself was abandoned, but there are still people working in the that site. Long story short, we got kicked out of a cement factory. And the guy made sure we got out by driving VERY SLOWLY BEHIND US AS WE WALKED TO THE EXIT. I think that is the highlight of my class.

Thursday:
I presented in class today. Not that fun. OH WELL. IT'S OVER.
It was our friend Tiffanie's birthday yesterday. We bought her a bake in a box cake from the store. It turned out really good. 4 girls, one chocolate cake...that cake was destroyed!

We went gay clubbing as a social event with the school. WHOOOT!!! We pretty much took over one bus. The place we went to was called Charles Street. It's a bar downstairs and the club is upstairs. They were having drinks specials that night. Pretty much majority of the drinks were no more that 1.50 pounds. It was .... WOW. We took a birthday shot for Tiffanie with Samuco [it tastes like licorice, and goes down VERY SMOOTHLY] and we also had shots to Tequila Rose, which pretty much tastes like a strawberry smoothie [that can be a good or bad thing].
The club played techno all night...eh, TECHNO DANCE PARTY!

Got my ass grabbed twice. First time I thought it was one of the lesbians that were behind us, it ended up being my friend [she admitted it at the end of the night while I was freaking out about it]. The second time I was telling this gay guy at the bar about the ass grab and he grabbed my ass too! He's cute...and slightly pissed [drunk]. He also told me that if he were a lesbian, he'd totally hit on me... a good thing? But all-in-all, it was a good night: music, dancing, friends, alcohol. hehehe