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Yes!! I have finished the mad dash that is known as translation!! Gor had said, "Why are you taking so long." and this was echoed yesterday by his flatmate. -__-; Excuse me...direct translation may be easy but with any proper translation, one has to reinterpret the lines so that it suits the English grammar, regular speech AND we need to ensure that puns etc aren't too lost in translation. Moreover, for manga, I've got to take note of the space of the speech bubbles plus manga tends to have loads of slang and sound 'words'. Complained to a friend who used to translate dramas/ anime and he completed understood my irritation.

Anyway...Vol. 14 of "Ouran High Host Club" is translated!! I've sent it to my editor and the editorial team will work their own magic on it. 皆さん、よろしくお願いします!いつも日本語を助かったの友達は本当にありがとうございました!!

Okies...update time!! Backlog...backlog....


Last Mon (omg...has it been a week already?), we went for a picnic with some of Gor's friends (soon to be subsumed by me as 'friends' too) at Regent's Park, which is near Baker Street. Mon was a bank holiday here in the UK, hence the crowd in the park.


I think I brought the sun with me because London has been rather warm for the past week. And by warm, I mean in the 20s...which is uncommon!!

The guys played frisbee while the girls laid out the mats and food (how typical). We were all crossing our fingers that it would not rain (forecast was thunderstorms) as we wanted a nice picnic AND some of us were going to watch "Much Ado About Nothing" in the open air theatre in Regent's Park.

We had bubbly! Nice...a little bit of posh to counter our spread of chicken rice, chips and sandwiches (Gor and I made egg mayo and tuna sandwiches!).

Sharon made the chicken rice and chilli sauce from scratch. Power!! Most of these people in this picnic have been living in London for more than 10 years...so they were really happily chomping on the chicken rice.

Such a nice day and I was the only one snapping pictures. =P

Dr. P was late (yes Gor, that's my nick for you-know-who). He came at 7pm when we had arranged to meet at 6. We were all shushing him because he had kept reminding us that the forecast was for thunderstorms and that it always rained on a bank holiday...

Guess what? He was right. We felt a drizzle but went, "Oh...it's a passing cloud." We were in total denial. Soon, the rain drops got heavier...so we had no choice but to pack up and seek refuge in the nearby cafe. Murmurs of "will they cancel the play?" started and Dr. P went, "Nope. This is not heavy enough. I have sat through plays where the rain was heavier than this." (-__-) Depressing to think of sitting in the rain to watch a play...

Luckily, the rain lightened and it was relatively dry throughout the play. There were gusts of wind and it was chilly though. It was quite funny how all of us opened our brollies when it started raining a little heavily, pulling it down so that it doesn't block those behind us and then promptly closing them once the rain lightened. Instead of thunderstorms, we had intermitten showers, which is much better I think.

I like the play!! It is as good as most Shakespeare plays are!! It's amazing how old these plays are but they're still a joy to watch. The actors were very good (although Gor kept muttering about seeing their spittle while they were saying their lines).

I spotted a duck on Sat at Canary Wharf!! Even saw a squirrel yesterday downstairs. There's wildlife in this urban centre!!

On Sat, Gor and I went to the Arts Academy to view the Kuniyoshi art exhibition. Kuniyoshi is a Japanese artist who lived during the Edo period and has produced many prolific woodblock artworks. I had bugged Gor about it for the longest period...so...we finally managed to do it on Sat!!

While we were walking to the museum/art academy, we actually passed by the house that Handel lived and died in. Gor thinks that he probably composed 'Messiah' in there. I'm in awe whenever I'm literally touching history. That's probably also why I liked visiting Rome.


I like this picture because there's a juxtapose between the Japanese art and the English architecture. I could go on about the artwork of Kuniyoshi...but I think I'll save it for another time. I might end up writing an essay. One shocking thing was that it was CROWDED. The only times I ever saw such a crowd in Singapore museums were when Singapore brought in the art from the Vatican City and when the Peranakan museum opened. If this exhibition was brought into Singapore, it'll be the perfect outing for us JS peeps. でしょう?

Guess what? Found out that the Reynolds Room in this Royal Art Academy is the same room where Charles Darwin presented his famous paper on evolution!! Wanted to take a picture of that plaque but was wondering whether I'd be caught...especially when there were so many cameras around.


Oh, check this out. I took this picture at 4.30pm. Look how bright the sky is, how cloudless and...there's the moon! *Gasp*

After the exhibition, we were walking along and we happened to pop into this Japanese tea/ traditional sweets shop called Minamoto Kitchen. I felt like I had gone to Ginza. The staff were all Japanese, dressed in kimono. There was a table and bench with a large red paper umbrella where you could sit and drink tea/ eat snacks. Really a taste of Ginza...at Ginza prices too. The average price was GBP 2 (about SGD 4.50) per piece.

We walked to Carnaby Street again and I went into shoe heaven at Irregular Choice. The shoes are sooo unique and I had loved them since the first time I saw them in Singapore. They're sold in some shops in Haji Lane as well as Isetan (I think) but each pair is sold for around SGD 300. Over here, the average price is GBP 60-70. So do let me know if you want any!! Drop me an email at melissa.fann@oopsiwannasay.com with the model no. and shoe size once you've viewed their website (link is given above, just click on 'Irregular Choice').

Ok...I'm pooped...I'm gonna chill and shower and then catch on sleep. Adios for now!!
Before I write about stuff that happened chronologically, let me say that we saw a FOX!! An urban fox!! So exciting!! We were walking home from the movies at around midnight and we saw this animal trotting. At first, I thought it was a cat because of its pointy ears but Gor went, "An urban fox!"

It was about 20m from where we were. All of us (fox included) stopped in our tracks and looked at each other. I was scrambling to take my camera out from my bag but the vixen decided to run away. Gor asked me why I didn't run after it. -_- Siao. Like I can outrun a fox. Goodness knows whether the fox will scratch or bite me and if it has rabies. Ok...fox encounter over.

Yesterday was a mad dash of going to buy groceries, rushing home to keep groceries before heading off to church. We ended up being 15 mins late and the priest was already saying his homily. =P The communion wafer was brown (hmm)....but we got to drink the communion wine too!

After church, we walked towards Chinatown for dinner and we had to walk through Carnaby Street. Look at the sun. This was taken at 7.15pm. Yesterday hit a high of 26 deg C but the wind was cool and the humidity was low. Such nice weather....


Check out the funky store Diesel store display!! This is new and isn't a permanent feature.


All shops were closed by then (most shops close at 6pm) so...it was just window shopping. Literally...through the windows. For those who love shoes, I found the brand "Irregular Choice" here. Will check out the prices and let you know whether its cheaper here or not. I remember a pair of them going for over SGD 200-300 in one of those shops in Haji Lane.

Anyway, after dinner, we walked towards the West End to check out the screening time for "Angels & Demons". That particular cinema wasn't showing "Angels & Demons" so we walked to the tube to catch it at the cinema near home.


Another tourist was snapping shots within the tube, so we decided to do the touristy thing too. I blame the photographer for this blur shot. No second shot possible because the train was already approaching as this picture was being taken.

About the movie "Angels & Demons" - I quite liked it. My bro was saying how unbelievable it is etc....but let's put this into perspective. It's a piece of fiction despite the borrowing from actual fact and scientific theories. And its an entertaining piece of fiction. That's enough. There are other works of fiction out there that don't even entertain. So yes...I liked it. I find it less rubbishy than "Da Vinci Code". Wished Pope Benedict looked as good as the 'pope' in the movie too. Muahahaha...

On a more sombre note, I received a call from Jen at 4am this morning informing me that Em has been hospitalised due to complications with her pregnancy. Em - I wish that its nothing serious and I pray that you and your baby are all right. Hang in there babe and just stop working. Rest lots!!

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