4 whole days in London.

Day 1 - Thursday

Camden Market

Like last time, I headed up to London the day before with my parents.

Despite being a popular tourist destination, we’ve never actually been here before.

Saw Korean hot dogs. Got Korean hot dogs.

It was fine, pretty much what I expected a corndog to be like, not sure what the hype is about.
This is from the Uh K-Dogs n Juicy stall but my sister said we got ripped off here and that we should’ve gone to Bunsik instead where it’s half the price.

They had a selfie corner and ahh, I see why the hype now.

Chin Chin’s nitrogen-frozen ice-cream. Pretty good.

BEAUTIFUL L O N D O N

The famous umbrella street at Camden Market.

Camden Market is known for its music scene and alt-fashion stores.

Like this ninjawear store featuring this $400 hoodie.

Cyberdog (2009) by Fenvoe, via Wikimedia Commons

Or this cyberpunk ravewear store.

This place is worth checking out even if you don’t plan to buy anything. Surprisingly big inside.

tfw no Anubis emoji 🗿

Camden Market, home to the Amy Winehouse statue.

And also the Tomb Raider statue…

…sponsor of this market. Coming this June to PS5, Xbox, and PC.

Also a couple anime shops around but nothing of note.

If we had the time we might have taken a stroll along the canals to Little Venice.

See you again someday?

Chinatown

Some shopping before meeting up with my sister for dinner.

#TiredOfWalkingAlready🌈

Picked up some cakes from WA Cafe to pay for tonight’s rent.

Aww, this comic store we went to before closed down.

Oxford Circus

Kintan Japanese BBQ

First time eating yakiniku.

🐙yaki

Yo, this slaps. Would recommend.

Smores

Very traditional Japanese dessert.

They also sell a green tea tiramisu cake that they claim is exclusive to them but it looks exactly like the one sold at WA Cafe. Hmmmmm.

Oishii 🐮!

Sister’s Aparto

Staying the night at my sister’s apartment. We watched old Disney TV shows and ate cake.
First time trying a Mont Blanc, kinda hyped after seeing it in anime so often but it’s just alright. Kinda tastes like a red bean dessert but also chestnut-y.

As I was picking up some drinks from the konbini a shoplifter ran out with an armful of stuff.
Sis: Yeah, that happens everyday here, welcome to London.

This internet speed though ⚡⚡⚡

I slept on the sofa by her desk and her keyboard would randomly light up throughout the night.

Day 2 - Friday

Had no problems with oversleeping. The living room is furnished with floor-to-ceiling windows and there are no curtains. I woke up bathed in the Sun.

*cracks open the balcony door*
Ahh, the fresh morning sound of London construction. *sips tea*

Leicester Square

Jollibee

Switching out my family for Rokodo. We’re gonna try out the Filipino staple.

Pretty meh. The chicken was dry and the spaghetti tasted like a kids meal.

I liked this Peach Mango Pie though.

Art installation near Tottenham Court Road displayed on these gigantic screens.

MCM Comic Con

Riding the Elizabeth Line is always a pleasure. So smooth~ So air-conditioned~

A “Japanese Anime” restaurant near Tottenham Court Road.
Maybe we should check it out sometime? though I doubt the food will be very authentic.
And uh, do they have the rights to use Naruto in their branding?

They did give us a handheld fan which was nice in this weather.

Cute plates from Doki Japanese Tableware.

VR dodgeball but nobody moves because everyone’s too scared of crashing into their teammates.

Rokodo: That Darlek has boobs.

Holographic posters

Oh

The Naruto x Sasuke pants stay ON during sex.

Pretty cool acrylic panels by Gallery Panda.
Use promo code “convention” for 10% off!

Love the use of fansubbed screenshots.

Phibonnachee is back 😭

I got a sticker.

Bocchi

Bocchi the Glock 🔫

Rokodo visiting his favourite stall, Darling Despair, and oh hey, Bocchi pin.

Bocchi and in-character Ryo who zoned out and wandered off and needed to be wrangled back.

Very cool sociable and definitely not an introvert Bocchi

Oh God, having my own Bocchi moment, I keep hitting the wrong buttons.

BOCCHI

Yo, it’s Ichigo! First time seeing anybody cosplay Aikatsu here.

No dominant theme in cosplays this year but there were a lot more Marios than usual thanks to the recent movie.
The guys with the koopa shell armour (left side under the trees) were the coolest though.

Oxford Circus

A bit of time before our reservation so we’re checking out Oxford Street.

Hide the pain, Charles.

Samsung Store

I didn’t know Samsung were making laptops again and wow, this trackpad is huge.

They had the entirely wrong applications to show off these monitors.
They had a mobile game capped at 60 fps to show off their high refresh rate gaming monitor.
And they had a FPS game to show off their wide monitor.
If anything these two should have been swapped round.

I did learn of the existence of Samsung’s tracking tags thanks to this store though and picked up a couple.

Soho

Eat Tokyo

Tonkatsu Curry to share

The smug pleasure of walking past the queue when you have a reservation.

Do you normally have to squeeze your own juice?

Rokodo got tempura udon.

I got a sushi bento.

Oishii 🍣 but not like REALLY oishii iykwim? The Covent Garden branch was better.
Also we were in a small box room and it was REALLY loud in there so we left as soon as we could.

Gelato from Amorino while Rokodo had a smoke. It’s like I’m really in Italy. Oishii 🌹!

Passed by Presotea on the way to the hotel. The bubble tea tasted of regret.

Hotel Ibis Whitechapel

We’re old. We’re done walking for the day.

I’ve stayed in Japanese hotels bigger than this. TV remote was missing. My bed was sagging.

Paint me like one of your French girls

Rokodo has this superpower where he will fall asleep within 5 minutes while I suffer all night.

Considering staying outside Zone 1 next time. Maybe we can get more for less?

Day 3 - Saturday

London Bridge

O.H (Oh Hey), it’s The Shard

Damn, never seen London so empty.

Borough Market

We just left whenever Rokodo woke up. Didn’t realise it was only 8:30am, explains the empty roads.

The market is still setting up so starting off with some #MorningCoffee

We actually got lucky that it’s Saturday.
The market normally doesn’t open till 10am and today is the only exception.

Market now open for business.

Damn, this is a fat sausage roll. I’d have to unhinge my jaw to eat this.

Oishii 🐷!

It’s a dog eat world.

Please, sir, may I have some more mushroom risotto?

Chocolate strawberries have got to be the most lucrative tourist bait.

🍋

Didn’t see this part of the market last time I was here.

Karaage and ginger pork rice bowl from Pochi. Oishii 🐔!

Cannolis from Gastronomica Market. Oishii 🥜!

🦆!

Bread Ahead Bakery

Got a doughnut. Oishii 💦!

Nothing else planned and it’s nice out so we’ll go for a walk before Rokodo’s train.

London’s Walkie Talkie, Gherkin, and the HMS Belfast

Tower Bridge

Ooh, it’s the scene I always see in tourist vlogs.
Did you know Tower Bridge is actually newer than the London Bridge we were on earlier?

Tower of London. We should go someday.

This place is a lot cooler up-close and in-person.

Yoooo, remember Maisy?

Shad Thames Historical Wharf Bridges

A R T

Cute roomba

Soho

Rokodo went home and I would have too but my mum got jealous of those cakes I got for my sister so… #LivingMyBestLife🌈

“Ok, now I’m going home…..ooh, gelato, one please!”
I have discovered I like gelato more than ice-cream. My new love.

Too hot to ride the underground, taking the bus.
To think London was so peaceful and quiet a few hours ago. Absolutely packed now at lunchtime.

They’re protesting the monarchy, and the anti-protest bill, and black lives mater, and oil…

Cakes from WA Cafe! Oishii 🍰!
Hey, that cake looks suspiciously a lot like Kintan BBQ’s “exclusive” cake. Hmmmm.

Got a Mumei sticker from Phib. Onto the sticker pile it goes because I have commitment issues.
MCM badge this year is uggo.

Day 4 - Tuesday

And… I’m back in London for a thing. My London events always seem to cluster up.

“American Breakfast” from Love Walk Cafe. Oishii 🦅!
My parents got jealous of me going to Borough Market so they wanted to come up too after I was done with my thing but their trains got cancelled a bunch so guess I’ll just hang out here for a few hours.

Borough Market

It took them so long to get here that the market is starting to close.

Paella from Bomba Paella. Ooh, this is good, oishii 🦐!

Photo taken the first time I was here.

Their raw oysters were also good.

The oysters from the stall opposite them, not so much. You could tell they’re inexperienced from how slow and clumsy their movements are compared to the guys at Bomba, they made a real mess of them shellfish.
Today was my first time eating raw oysters. Not as bad as I had imagined but I still probably wouldn’t ever order them by myself.

Lamb kebab from the stall opposite The London Cider House.
Different style to my own local shops but still oishii 🐑!

And…market’s closed. Shame my parents didn’t get to see much but there’s always next time.

Liverpool Street

It’s train peak time now so guess we’re stuck in London for a few more hours. We headed up to see if Spitalfields Market is still open. You’d think not but Google Maps says they’re open till night?

Art

Yep, they’re closed.

What is open till night are the restaurants.

Marugame Udon

Looking at the Map to see what’s in the area and oh hey, I’ve heard of this place from somewhere.

It’s like an Udon Subway. Where there’s a lot of options and your meal is highly customizable and there’s this strong pressure to hurry up as the queue grows behind you. Intense.

We got a:

• Kake Udon, which is the traditional style I remember eating in Japan
  
• Kamaage Udon, which doesn’t have as strong of a fish dashi flavour
  
• Pork Tonkotsu Udon, which comes with char siu pork and an egg
  
• A random selection of fried food that we rushed onto our trays as the crowd surged behind us

All this (and a bottomless drink) for less than £40, for 3 people, in London, which isn’t too bad. The udon tasted pretty good but I wouldn’t recommend grabbing too many of the fried stuff.
Would come again if there’s the opportunity (they’re also in Oxford Circus and Leicester Square).

And that’s another year of my life done.