Props to My Peeps in London

I can hardly believe 15 months have passed since I first moved to London! Even though I had planned on it being just a one-year stint, it almost feels too soon to leave. Almost. No offense London baby, but I am ready to go home!!!.. but not before I give props to my peeps that kept me afloat while I was here (I'm not gonna' lie - when I made the decision to move, I was nervous. And when I actually arrived, I was scared as hell).

Michael came along for a few days to help me settle in. Look at us sight-seeing as if we were on vacation! We looked way young then. I think London has aged me :)

Joanna, my first proper English friend (who I actually met when she visited New York) and her brother Lebby took me under their wing. To ease my being homesick, she took me out. We partied. We danced. We gossiped. We ate (lotsa crispy duck). She let me cry. She understood. I love you Joanna!

**Kariley, my closest friend in New York, had just so happened to have move to England 7 months earlier, though she lived over an hour away from me in a city called Bristol. I visited her one weekend and she took me to Bath, to bathe in their natural hot springs pool.

**I've been to more continents with Kariley than I have with anyone else - 5 to be exact! Obviously the U.S. (she took me Vermont to snowboard for Thanksgiving one year when it was too expensive to fly home); Europe (another obvious); South America (she took me to her home in Brazil); Asia (I took her to my motherland Vietnam); and Australia (we met up there for New Years Eve 2006)!

My Singaporean and Polish bad asses, Sun and Juliuz - the only reason I ever go to edgy East London :)

Michael and Momo on Team Night Out.






After all the invites we made to ensure our friends and family would visit, they only decided to come after they realized we were moving home in a month! And when they came, they all came at the same time!

Both mine and Tran's first traditional English afternoon tea time was at a not-so-traditional venue, Alan Yau's Yauatcha who presented with a colorful spread of delectable sweets.





Another first for Tran - smoking a shisha in a Middle Eastern hookah bar.









Butt-buddies!!!!








Michael Le & Sandino. Another pair of butt-buddies!!!

Our crazy Aussie friend Ali, who can't be in the sun for too long :) and her crazy Aussie beer.

Out of everyone, I know Joe misses us most. I mean, check out that pout!

This is Earl, my plant that kept me company when Michael hadn't moved over yet. I've never kept a plant alive for this long, so he means a lot to me. So instead of throwing him away when I moved, I let Joe adopt him, but apparently, Joe changed his name to Harry! Because of that, I'm sure Earl's dead now.


There were plenty crazy, emotional moments for me here, but in hindsight (and hindsight is a beautiful thing :), I'm grateful for the opportunity. I wouldn't have done it any differently. I've learned so much. I've met some wonderful people, made some fantastic friends and had a blast traveling through Europe. But alas, it's time for me to go home. Afterall...