the christmas sales. whatever you do, avoid london’s oxford street. when i arrived at 11-ish, the shops around covent garden had just opened. a few hours later, when i descended on oxford street, the crowds appeared out of nowhere. 99% of the shoppers were tourists. i guess real londoners shop elsewhere. wherever that is. haha. gila lah, macam barang free, as my ayah would say. some of my friends have woken up at 5am for the sale at next [oh, saya tak shop di next *dengan nada hidung tinggi*]. hahahaha. i just woke up, so don’t take me seriously. please.

when i was a student, i had to really plan on what to buy in the sales as i receive a paltry amount of monthly stipend (duit untuk makan, bukan untuk shopping). when i started earning, i was like hell, yeah! lemme at ’em. as i get older (and hopefully wiser), i learnt the errors(?) of my ways and became more selective and get things only worth buying. to the point that yesterday, i only came back to sheffield with one small item. paid at a pathetic sale price that only had 20% off. i’d call it a token purchase. there you go.

covent garden in the morning was really nice. since most of the tourists were at oxford street (i’m sure), the place was almost deserted. the cafes had started to open. there was a string quartet followed by excellent operatic singing (familiar tunes but don’t ask me which opera the songs were from, i’m not that cultured). the smell of waffles were drifting in the cold winter air as i wandered along the apple market section. just outside, a loud street performer was cracking jokes in front of a small audence. ted baker, diesel, and camper were open and the absence of a maddening crowd just made browsing so pleasant. one thing about the winter sale is the price actually gets lower by january time. the problem is, sometimes, what you really want would have been taken by then. it’s only in the recent few years that i started to come to this part of town for the odd bargain at this time of the year. you have floral street, neal street and long acre in the vicinity. and if you are lucky, you get real good quality for cheap (with the brand to boot!). an example i can give is that i once bought a woolen black duffle coat from muji for £20 (original price £200 and no, there wasn’t a large gaping hole in it) at their long acre shop.

met up with a couple of friends and headed off to bloomsbury for makan and borak. it was after lunch that we had to wade through a sea of shoppers. i had to seek sanctuary in places with less people (like borders) while my friends were busy checking out stuff i can’t wear/can’t buy/don’t look good in at MNG. regent street was pretty with the lights which for some bizarre reason had a the incredibles theme to it. it was then i was lured by the bright lights of apple’s flagship store (they were still in MNG then… women! hehe). checked out the various iPods available. call me mad (or someone who experienced some kind of divine intervention), but after fiddling around with it, checking out the sound and so forth, i wasn’t tempted to get in the queue to get one. i was tempted when i entered the store, sure. it’ll only get outdated in time and then the 5th gen comes out. just like a mobile phone, only i don’t wanna buy an iPod every year (it’s not like you get a free upgrade)! i think i can wait until i am happy with the features they offer (ok. i actually would like a colour screen – read my comment in the previous post). went into a few more stores at the oxford circus area and carnaby street, but i wasn’t impressed with the selection. just wanna say this: how many guys with W40 and L36 are there walking around? damn you. had a quick coffee then sadly had to part company as they had a prior engagement. off to cabut to st. pancras. and on the way, i took some pics of the rides they had at leicester square.

and a quick detour to the shops on long acre. again. hehe.

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quick rant: on the train, i had to put up with these two passengers talking on the cellphones. i know there’s a quiet coach that i can go to. whilst i don’t really mind people talking on their phones, i just don’t understand why they had to talk so loud. hey, don’t give me any crap about “i’m in a train, they won’t hear me”, ‘cos it’s bull. reminds me of the dom joly sketch with the large handphone and that irritating nokia ringtone. damn i hate that ringtone!