May 7, "Don't just count your years, make your years count." - EM

Free breakfast at the Holiday Inn! We decided to eat breakfast in pairs - two eating, while two getting ready. Must strategize, seeing as it would take hours for four girls to get ready in a hotel room with only one bathroom. Our first stop: Trafalgar Square, where we would meet E to show us around London. The weather was crummy that day, but what else is new in London? Rain poured as we took photos in the square. Next stop: Westminster, where we would meet A, visiting London to see me for my birthday! He gave me a mini birthday cake, to which he spelt out "HBD Erika" with cut up skittles. A sweet gesture, I'd say. It was also accompanied by a plastic rose that A was given from a random woman on the street. E exclaimed it was a cursed gypsy rose. Thanks, A. Thanks.

We took the tube to Oxford Circus, passed Carnaby Street, where E would take us to The Diner for lunch. The girls had the amazing chilli cheese fries with milkshakes, while A and I had onion rings with water. We're boring, I know. But A did buy me a delicious Malibu and Pineapple! Once we had finished eating, we headed to Oxford Street to do some shopping for a while. We then said our goodbyes to A, as he had to catch a train back to Leicester in the late afternoon. We continued to do a little more of some shopping. We walked into several souvenir shops, one of them persuaded by E to give me something for free since it was my birthday. We were all given pins/buttons, except E received one without an actual pin. We have a theory that she was given this handicapped pin because she's English. Prejudice against the non-tourists! Rude. Later on, we visited the British Museum where we looked at old ruins and creepy mummies. We entered a Starbucks after, which, to our disappointment, did not have free wifi. Oh the deprivation we had to endure without the online world.

We went back to the hotel to rest for a bit, then we got ready for a night out to Leicester Square. It was beautiful at night time with all the lights. We were approached by several promoters, one of them winning us over a lounge called Ruby Blue. It was only 5 pounds to enter, it came with a free shot, and we were told they would play pop and R&B. So why not! But our plan was to eat dinner at TGIF first. It was my first time going there, since none exist in Canada. The food was amazing! Definitely not the cheapest you'll find, but I'd say it was well worth the money. We then walked over to Ruby Blue which was a lot tinier than we expected. We didn't even have an option of what kind of free shot we wanted. We were given something that tasted disgusting. We found a table to sit at, and laughed at the fact that we didn't know why we were there in the first place. What were we doing at a lounge? We didn't end up drinking - we didn't want to end up drinking. And we didn't end up dancing since none of us had the balls to be the only ones on the dance floor. Instead we danced in our seats and laughed at all the other tourists who were also fooled into coming to a such a lame lounge. We left quite early. By 11:25pm, we were on our way to the underground - mainly because the tube closes by midnight, and we had a pack-filled day the next day that we needed a lot of rest for. While walking to the Leicester Square Station, a promoter asked if he could come home with me. I was so disgusted that I wanted to throw up that nasty shot all over him.

We finally got back to the hotel, with journals waiting to be written in, with pajamas ready to be worn, and beds ready to be slept in, the next day awaiting new adventures! But before all that, we feasted on my birthday cake :) Couldn't believe I celebrated my 21st in London. Not too shabby ;)

Ps. I will never forget the "jacket incident" of that night. In the life of Liatrice.. never a dull moment.