Peachy Keen

Sunday, October 16, 2011

PKOV: Much Ado About London & Rome Day 8-9

Day 8 was a sad day indeed. London was so much fun. I loved the history, the shopping, the PLAYS. I would go back to London in a heartbeat. I almost wished, ALMOST, that we spent the whole time in London.

We arrived in Rome in the evening and spent ~~ridiculously stupid amount of time~~ a jolly ol' time lugging our bags around trying to find our hotel. Let me tell you after being in public transportation-friendly places like Japan and London, Rome was a hard pill to swallow. It's a good thing Rome is walkable.

Day 9:

We checked out The Spanish Steps first since it was close by. After our first lunch in Rome (heaaaaaven) we weren't really sure what we wanted to do, so we hopped on those hop on bus tours to get a feel for the city.

I swear after the bus turned and I saw this, my mind was blown away. Has to be one of my favorite landmarks in Rome.

Piazza di Spagna @ night

During the day we discovered there was going to be a huge event at the Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps for you non-Italian speaking folk). Apparently our first day in Rome happened to be the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. In that light, it's kind of interesting that unified Italy is younger than America. The event was pretty sweet: opera singers busting out popular(?)/famous pieces and dancers finished with a fireworks display. Not bad for a first night in Rome.

Tasties of the day: Limoncello (holy. crap.)

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Labels: 2011, family, rome, vacation

Saturday, October 1, 2011

PKOV: Much Ado About London and Rome Day 6 & 7

And so here is the wrap-up of my week in London. Day 6 and 7 was more last minute shopping, geek stuff and of course, the reason why we had this trip in the first place: Much Ado About Nothing. Day 6 was spent in the National Portrait Gallery, the Sherlock Holmes Museum and the Beatles Store. Honestly, having the Beatles store next to the Holmes museum was a bad idea. Well for me anyway.

We didn't really have any plans this night, so in the afternoon we bought tickets to Pygmalion. My cousin and I are huge fans of My Fair Lady (AUDREY I LOVE YOU), plus Rupert Everett as Mr. Higgins was too good to pass up. And yes, the play was amazing, though I didn't know about the ending. I suppose I'm happy since Mr. Higgins is a douche and kind of deserves it, but at the same time I did like Eliza and him together.

Day 7 was spent trying to get decent pictures of us crossing Abbey Road and geeking out in the Doctor Who Experience. It was nice to go to the exhibit as someone who used to watch the show. Although after seeing the stuff and getting hints of what I've been missing I have jumped back on the Doctor Who bandwagon. I honestly expected Abbey Road to be a bit wider and I felt bad that there was so many of us tourists trying to get this damn shot while drivers were just trying to go by. In the afternoon my cousin wasn't feeling so well so while she napped I went back to Picadilly Circus and shopped at one of my fav expensive designers: Desigual. At least they were having a sale. Anyway, we met up in West End to what we were waiting for all week: Much Ado About Nothing with David Tennant and Catherine Tate. Oh. My. God. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I loved how the play was set in the 80's. Drooled a bit with seeing men in uniform (especially Tennant). Oh, and hearing Tennant in his Scottish accent? YES PLEASE. Sadly, at the end we weren't able to get a picture with Tennant or Tate, let alone an autograph. We didn't know where to go to see them ^^;;

And so ends my trip in London. I love London. Money permitting, I would go back in a heartbeat and stuff myself with scones and clotted cream, explore more of England, watch more plays...the list goes on.

Tasty of the day: Fish and chips. Of course.

Next: Rome

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Friday, September 23, 2011

PKOV: Much Ado About London and Rome Day 4 & 5

Day 4:
Another jam-packed tourist-y day. I remember my cold being at its worst this day. Anyway, we started off with the Tower of London. Ignorant child that I am, I didn't really know much about the tower, so I found it really cool to see the bloody tower and the places where they tortured and kept prisoners. Seeing the crown jewels was a major plus too. Afterwards we headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral (holy moley the price to get in! Though if you go during mass it's free >_>), crossed the Millennium Bridge to go to the Globe Theater (another slightly expensive thing we cheaped out on. Shopped around the gift store though). Lastly we headed over to Harrod's. The main reason I wanted to go was for the food department. Japan has enough expensive department stores/malls thankyouverymuch.

Day 5:

This was our England-in-one-day trip with Viator. We took a bus from Victoria Station and went to Stonehenge, Bath, a drive through the Cotswolds towards Stratford-upon-Avon. For some reason, in my mind I expected Stonehenge to be bigger, not that it wasn't cool to see, it was. I think my highlight and also regret was Bath and Stratford-upon-Avon. I couldn't tell you how shocked I was to see Bath. One moment we're just driving through the Cotswolds, then after a bend you just see an amazing panoramic view of the town and it was just...magical. When I go back (notice WHEN not IF) to London, I'll definitely do a day trip of just Bath. It would've been nice to explore more of Shakespeare's hometown. We just had time for the Birthplace and a quick walk on the main street. The champagne and scones at the museum was a sweet bonus. When we returned we just had a pub dinner and I had my first fruit-flavored cider. Which was like drinking a chuhai.
The tour was jam-packed, but it was a nice way to see as much of outside London as you can in one day. It just made me want to see MORE.

Tasties of the day(s): afternoon tea. Again. XD

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Sunday, August 28, 2011

PKOV: Much Ado about London and Rome - Day 3

Today was the day we decided to hit Kensington Palace for the Enchanted Palace exhibition. Since the District and Circle lines were going under maintenance in that area, we decided to just walk it from Earl's Court.

I liked the Enchanted Palace exhibition. It had that eerie, fantasy setting. It reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Mirror Mask, even the poems in the rooms written by Mercedes Kemp reminded me of one of Gaiman's short stories. Afterwards we went towards the Orangery to have our very first afternoon tea. Let me tell you, it wouldn't be our last.

I will never eat a scone outside London again. It was so good.

Afterwards, my cousin and I indulged our geeky sides and found Forbidden Planet in Soho, then went to Leicester Square and watched the last Harry Potter film. What? I still haven't seen it at the time. DON'T JUDGE ME. I really liked it too!

Man, if it weren't for that whole, watch-your-weight thing, I'd SO have afternoon tea. Every day.

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Labels: 2011, family, london, vacation

Saturday, August 27, 2011

PKOV: Much Ado about London and Rome - Day 2

The day started with my cousin and I finding this right outside Earl's Court station:

As far as I was concerned, that was it, I could go home happy.

Of course that wasn't the case, so I continued my adventure by going to Buckingham Palace and seeing the State Rooms. We didn't know the tickets were timed, so we decided to go to the British Museum and kill time there before our scheduled tour at the Palace.

The Rosetta Stone. Pretty much the reason why I wanted to go the museum in the first place.

After eating at a pub on the road to the Palace, we headed over. It started to rain pretty hard while waiting, but we eventually headed in. Damn, the weather in London is as fickle as it is in Japan! Anyhoo, the State Rooms was...amazing. Everything you imagine of royalty and those big fancy rooms? Yeah, that's what the rooms look like. I can't even imagine living in a place like that. And the crazy thing is we were only looking at just a *portion* of the state rooms. I have to say while walking around I kept imagining myself as a princess or something and prancing around in a princess-y dress. DON'T JUDGE ME!

Afterwards we ended up walking past Hyde Park. Since we were sick and had a pretty full day we called it an early night and watched some British TV.

I shall leave you with my fav (one of them anyway) things in the world: FOOD.

Vegetarian Falafel Burger @ Gourmet Burger Kitchen. I thought it would just be a normal dish, but alas it was still a burger. REALLY good though.

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Labels: 2011, family, london

Peachy Keen on Vacation: Much Ado About London and Rome

Day 1 August 6:

It started off as a joke.

Cousin FB post: who wants to go to London to watch Much Ado About Nothing with David Tennant?

Me reply: I DO!

Cousin reply: ...I was joking

Me reply: I WASN`T

Cousin: ...do you want to?

Me: ..um yeah!

Cousin: ...ok.

And that`s what brought me here...

We didn`t really have a set plan, so today we started off just bumbling around Westminster. We got to see: [pics of parliament, big ben, beiber freaks, rode the london eye (which was really slow) westminster abbey, yorkshire pudding]

Parliament and Big Ben!

Rode the London Eye! Which was really slow!

Saw a bunch of Bieber ~~freaks~~ fans try to spell something!

Westminster Abbey!

My first British meal, Yorkshire Pudding! (never again)

Despite London`s summer weather (warmest my Californian ass) and a cold, it wasn`t a bad start to the trip.

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Labels: 2011, family, london

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Celebrate good times come on! ....no seriously come on!

March is a time of great change in Japan; not only the changing of the seasons, but for the students and teachers as well. Students graduate and some teachers get transfered to another school. I was invited to my high school's graduation since it was on a Saturday. Not really sure what I was expecting, but what I experienced really wasn't what I had in mind for a high school graduation.

First of all, the only people allowed to the graduation is immediate family, teachers, and students of the school. Yes, it is mandatory to see your sempai off (that would kinda suck in my book to HAVE to go to my senior's grad). Students just wear their school uniform (and pretty much look how they would like a normal school day) while teachers/parents wear the awesome celebratory color black. Everyone filed in like it was a military drill: teachers and the lower years were first, then the graduating class, then the teachers from colleges/middle school to show support which I thought was kind of cool. Oddly enough the presentation of the certificates is the FIRST thing; then are the speeches from the officials and student reps. I kept getting antsy in my seat because I couldn't really move: apparently I wasn't allowed to even cross my legs. I was wearing pants too!! Weird. During the speeches the silence was broken by the sniffles of classmates and parents. Mean of me, but I was kind of amused by this. I guess it was because it was so *quiet* that the sniffles were so obvious and *loud*...

It was the most somber graduation I have ever been to. I think I prefer the gaudy loud graduations back home.

That was Saturday. March 3rd was Hina Matsuri so I really wanted to go someplace that displayed a lot of the dolls. Sadly I couldn't go to Katsuyama due to the lameness of the train schedules, but me, Rachel and Jessica decided to see the Bikan district in Kurashiki instead. Totally worth it, despite the rain. I definitely want to see the district on a sunny day and when the flowers are blooming.

The Bikan district is a historical preservation district of what used to be the merchant quarters in that area. Now it has a whole bunch of restaurants and unique boutiques of course, but the architecture really takes you back in time.

Personally it was a Hina Matsuri well spent. Now off to read my Sailor Moon manga.

Also, tried the last burger of the America 2 series in McDonalds, the Manhattan Burger. I really think it's my favorite, next to the Idaho. Burger Challenge complete!

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Labels: matsuri, okayama

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