SM TOWN x Paris

This is such a late update but here is my post on my recent travel to Paris and my attendance at the SM TOWN LIVE concert on 10th June! =))

Paris was a MUCH needed break after my exams ended! I literally couldn't wait to get out of the country as soon as I left Leeds! Although I did get off on a risky foot before I left London though.. thinking that the Eurostar is like any other train you get on in the UK, I booked my train tickets to London with the arrival time 20 minutes before departure of my Eurostar journey! (you're meant to check-in at least 30 minutes). Speaking as an Economics student, I'm ashamed to say that I didn't calculate any externalities which may have deterred me from missing my train, i.e. tube breakdowns. long queues etc. BUT, luckily, I literally JUST made it and I'm glad my friend didn't travel without me! haha -- so in short, it was pretty stressful having to deal with the fact that I could have possibly missed out on my chance to visit Paris and ultimately.. seeing Korean Celebrities in their flesh and skin!

The hostel that my friend and I stayed out was not really what I expected, and I don't mean that in a good way..  First of all, we had to share a room with 2 other strangers (luckily they were girls), 2) we had to sleep on flimsy bunk beds -- and we had the top bunks, and 3) the staff were pretty unhelpful, especially when we asked for more toilet paper..
I guess in my mind, I was expecting the same kinda service and room that I had when I went to Berlin.. but yea, I wouldn't recommend anyone staying in that place (which I'm going to leave out the name).

First Day

After dumping our stuff.. my friend Charli and I headed for dinner to the restaurant right next to our hostel. We had such a good meal! yummm

Since it was still quite early, we headed for a night view of the Eiffel Tower.

The River Seine 

Second Day (SM TOWN CONCERT!)

L'Arc de Triomphe 

Charli and I decided to visit the L'Arc de Triomphe and make our way down Champs Elysees (the famous shopping street in Paris). 

Walking down Champs Elysees wouldn't mean anything if I didn't visit their LV store! xP

A posh high-tea place

French Macaroons 

Playing around with my art filters xP 

The queue to get into the venue for the SM TOWN concert! 

Charli and I =)) 

F(x)

3 members from Super Junior

MINHO walked past me and I didn't even notice! To be honest, I'm not a big SHINee fan.. but wow, the exhilaration of knowing the fact that a KOREAN CELEBRITY was less than a meter a way from you!!

Girl's Generation

Super Junior

SHINee

My childhood dream come true... 

DBSK were the first band that got me into K-pop, and that was when I was 11 years old!! (a good 8 years ago) I remember being their BIGGEST fan for at least 2 years before they headed to Japan and during that time, I've always wished to see them -- and it seems my wish came 2/5ths true. It would have made my life if all of them were still together. T_T 

Third Day - DISNEYLAND! 

You are NEVER too old to go to Disneyland!! xP Too bad I forgot to bring my camera charger while I was in France.. so I don't have many of my own photos! >_< 

Fois Grais -- a must try! Really good stuff!! 

Steak and "burger" xP 

Fourth Day

Le Louvre

Notre Dame

More Macaroons

Wining and Dining at a posh restaurant in Le Champs Elysees! xP 

Unable to choose at Hagen Daaz! 

Calorific but SOO good! 

Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower

Fifth Day

Visiting a local market 

Gare du Nord - Home time! ><

Overall, it was such an amazing trip! Last time I went to Paris was when I was about 7, so didn't much of a recollection of it. I was surprised to learn that I still had some basic French buried at the back of my mind! hahha, so we didn't get completely lost! 

Sorry for the major photos spammage.. theres more, but I only chose the most relevant ones on my blog! xP and.. here is my video montage of the SM Town Concert. Enjoy! =)) 

A Breath of Fresh Air

Exams are finisheddd and I'm back home now! =)) Although I'll only be back home for 4 days max before I head off to Paris and Hong Kong after! Life will hopefully go uphill from here! haha! 

These pictures were taken on a little stroll our with my cousin and sister with my new Olympus XZ-1 Cam! AMAZING! ;) So watch out for more updates! 

Pictures from the SM TOWN concert will DEFINITELY be blogged about!! ;) Can't waitt! 

GUTEN TAG BERLIN

**This was meant to be posted during Christmas 2010, but it seemed I never ended up finishing blogging about it! Since I spent so long on it, I think it's fair that I post it up now before my memory fails on me!**

Late update.. but I'm currently back home for christmass! It's beeen a while since I've been in the comforts of my abode! University has made me realise that home is definitely luxury, despite arguments over the TV remote, doing the dishes, and walking on eggshells with my sister every time she's in a room with me.. etc, I can truly say I miss home and my car (!!) (although I do prefer living the university life) xP.

Anyways, having said that... I was only home for a short while, because right after the weekend I came back, I jetted off to Berlin with my cousin! =)) Which I have to add.. was sort of an impulse trip! Planning of where to go, exchanging money was all done very last minute! However, we still managed xP

TAG 1 

Had to get up at 3.30am in order to catch our 6am flight.. knowing me, who sleeps at 3-4am nowadays, trying to get to bed at 12am was just not happening, so consequently, I only had about an hours sleep max!

Sunrise from above the clouds (^^)

Arrived in Berlin at around 9am, and walked to the S-bahn (which is a suburban train that runs on land within the city) to our Hostel. Now, if you're planning to go to Berlin, I should warn you the trains are immensely complicated. When you buy your ticket, you need to 'validate' it.. I didn't know what that meant at first, but when you get to the platform, theres this small red box which you need to insert your ticket into to confirm the use of your ticket and it basically stamps a time and place of where you got it -- as shown at the top of the ticket.

An all-day travel ticket which can be used on the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn

A random photo of inside the S-Bahn

It took around a 30-40 minute train ride and about 10 minutes walking to get to our hostel. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect in Berlin... I mean, I heard about its history, but having dropped history in year 9, I never learnt anything beyond WW1. But anyway.. the story goes.. 

Town painted in graffiti 

Outside the Hostel (swimming pool and sauna included!!)

You see a lot of these sausage makers around! xP 

BEST falafel I've EVER HAD! <3 <3 

One of manyy Christmas German Markets

View of the Alexanderplatz Tower

Pretty Cathedral

Despite being tired as HELL, we still managed to fit a museum visit in our itinerary! 

TAG 2

Second day, we decided to do some shopping by visiting all the good shopping places. We stumbled upon Potdamer Platz which had a shopping centre. However, on the way to the shopping centre for some warmth, we came across a part of the Berlin wall that still remains.

Next, we headed to Kufurstendamm which is basically the equivalent of Oxford Street. Personally.. I think Oxford Street is better xP.

Making Crepes! 

Another Christmas market

Tag 3

Walking towards Parliament! 

___________________

Shame I didn't manage to finish this!! Maybe in another post, I'll post up the remaining pictures that I have. I don't think I can possibly recall a lot after what happened on day 3 now! >_< 

Strawberries and Cream

It's been one of those lazy days where the sun would just peek through occasionally while the clouds would empower the sky. It's clear to say that the weather plays a major role in determining my emotions and motives of the day, and today, with the clouds floating heavy above me, I knew not a lot (revision) would be done. 

So I headed towards town today to return a few things I bought over the past couple of weeks because I realised how dry my bank account was running. Considering I'm going on two holidays next month, I thought it only made sense for me to return things that I'll probably never wear more than once. So as the wind picked up, it only made me feel more rational than before. xP 

However, simultaneously as the sun beams scattered, they tickled my taste-buds and this was when I opted to get a Strawberries and Cream Frap from Starbucks. It's been a while since I've had one of these so it tasted like sips of heaven before I realised just how calorific one of these things are. But its ok, since the wind and the sunbeams were literally chasing each other, it was only fair that I had one of these to make up my rationality. HAHA 

I don't know what has gotten into me these days, but I'm in such a creative mood!! If it wasn't for exams, I could literally spend ALL day taking photos, photoshopping and making more wallpapers! 

Next month is proving to be an incredibly busy month, but hopefully, I'll still have the chance to spare some time doing things that I love. Art. 

(Click to enlarge)

A panoramic view of the place that I'm living right now in Leeds.

My new found love: perfect wedges for summer <3

and now... back to more reading and revision. See you all at the end of this disastrous tunnel of exams.