Phew!

It's been really tiring! The family came down to London on Friday morning. I'd actually set my alarm to wake up so that I'll be able to receive any calls in case they were near my place. Turns out that immigration was very fast, as was baggage claim, so they were at my flat much faster than expected - they arrived before my first alarm even rang!

Anyway, they came, and got settled in before we went out for breakfast in Chinatown, although most places were closed. We went around Borough Market for a few hours before we went back to the flat because I needed to pick up my dry cleaning. The parents rested a little while Ling, Pot and I went to pick Pot's friend up from Tower Hill station. Pot and his friend then went to the pub across the street while Ling and I went shopping at Waitrose for cleaning stuff, then picked up my dry cleaning. Ling and I managed to clean up the kitchen before Patty arrived, then we all went for dinner at Royal China in Canary Wharf.

On Saturday, we went to Borough Market again in the morning, and shopped around at Covent Garden and Selfridges in the afternoon. That night we had a barbecue. Didn't feel much like a barbecue though. We ate alot!

On Sunday, we woke up at 4am to go to the airport and flew to Barcelona. It was a Sunday, though, so even though we walked around, practically everything was closed! There was only one clothes shop open that I remember (and we certainly did buy a few things from it! I love my new dress *heart*)We did manage to find this one restaurant, though, that served quite good food (gotta love the paella!) and a really good sangria. We had that for lunch. For dinner, we went to Peblo Espanyol for a flamenco dinner show. It wasn't bad - the food was alright. I loved the first course, which was a chickpea stew with creamed spinach. Yum!!

On Monday, we went to the food market near our hotel (we stayed at the Rivoli Ramblas along La Rambla) for breakfast, then we went to see the Sagrada Familia. After that, we went to Maremagnum for shopping and a lunch at this restaurant called Elx, which apparently was awarded a Michelin star. We had paella again, although we also tried one that was made with noodles (note: noodles = pasta in this case). Ling didn't really like it at first, maybe because it's a little blah, but I liked it very much.

While we were shopping, one of the salespersons at Massimo Dutti recommended a steak restaurant at my dad's request. We went there for dinner. Food wasn't bad. Don't really remember, though, so it isn't spectacular.

On Tuesday, we went on a day-long tour around Catalunya. First stop was the Torres winery for a tour around their vineyard and a wine-tasting. Very commercialized thing, cheap wine. For its price, I guess it's alright. We've been spoiled by good wines!

After that, we went to Montserrat. Weather was nice, but we spent 2 1/4 hours of the 4 hours we had there lining up to touch the Black Virgin Mary, which was reportedly carved by the hands of St. Luke himself. The rest of our time was spent eating lunch at the Cafeteria and buying souvenirs.

The last stop on our trip was to Sitges. We followed a walking tour for a little bit, then went to sit at a pub and have Cava. Dinner that night was at a fusion restaurant that was recommended in the hotel's guidebook. Good food. I had a duck and pear dish that was absolutely fantastic! The pears were lovely and sweet.

Wednesday, we went shopping a bit in the morning, then flew back to London in the afternoon. For dinner, Ling, Pot and I walked out to the Indian restaurant nearby and bought food back. Yum.

Today, we went to Kulu Kulu for a sushi lunch. After that we went shopping (I bought 3 pairs of shoes, which makes it 6 pairs of new shoes I have acquired in the last 3 days!) before Ling and I returned to the flat to dump bags and use the loo. We met up again at Lillywhites, where the guys were having a blast - they bought 48 pieces of clothing altogether!

After that, we went to HK Diner for dinner, then walked to Oxford Street, and picked up the tickets for Sound of Music, then went shopping a little bit at Liberty, where Ling bought yarn. Sound of Music was gooood. A little different from when my dad, Ling and I first watched it, though. That time, the Maria was a better singer (the winner of the competition... Connie I think her name is), but the children were better today. Also, the Captain von Trapp looked and acted kinda like Mr. Ellis, the Economics teacher from Concord! LoL.

Okay, I'm feeling really sleepy now, so I'm going to end the drying cycle of the washing machine and fold laundry then go to sleep. Night!