hello from london! :)

had trouble finding internet access till now (at dearest friend lynn's place... say hi to the world lynn..Lynn: Hello! Boo hoo I've got exams so I can't go out to play with Huiling! so that was Lynn... :p) so that explains the long delay in updates.. the gloomy weather, the unpredictable rain, the brisk-walking glum-faced londoners, the wonderful second-hand bookstores along charing cross and the ever-crowded and musky smell of the underground tube stations and trains... the feel of london hasn't changed a bit since i was here five years ago... the grubby little alleys are still as grubby, st pancras station still amazes me with its grandeur.. and the london air is still as piercingly freezing when it hits your face as you walk out of your house in the morning....still, i see new buildings..the new british library and the shopping mall along tottenham court road.. and i see that starbucks and muji have sprouted up everywhere around london.. when i walk into LSE, i see they have built a new library, bought over and refurbished a couple of new blocks around the area and cleaned up some of the older lecture theatres and the cafeterias..

the feeling of nostalgia wasn't as strong as i expected... i didn't remember the streets as well as i thought i would.. and when i went to the apartment i stayed in in my second year of university, i realised how grubby the place is.. something i don't remember ever noticing when i was here then...but i still love full english breakfasts.. i still love walking through the quiet streets bordered by identical edwardian apartment houses.. and i still find the craft stalls and buskers in covent garden interesting and the books in Waterstones irresistable... and find camden market the most amazing street market in the world..

i'm glad i still love london as much as i did before....