songkran, miracle shoes & the soul destroying highlighters

Where else but London can you buy a 4 pack of ugly mini highlighters in a supermarket and end up paying more than if you had bought 6 pretty ones from a boutique book store! Every time this place gets under my skin with just a little touch of charm, something happens to remind me that London will always be like the charming guy who starts the night buying you drinks and ends it puking on your new shoes. It starts off all friendly with the chilled out customs and the cute accents, but three hours later you walk out of a shop and realise that while you weren't looking London has stolen not only your wallet but also YOUR SOUL.

The beauty of being a traveller with no plans is you seriously do have the time to start a train of thought at 4 mini highlighters and end it philosophising in the vicinity of The Divine Comedy.

By some weird coincidence, Paul (who I am staying with tonight) has recently moved into a place just a few streets away from where Chris lived when I visited him 2 years ago. Consequently, I rocked up at a tube spot I know well, knew which way to turn, and with Paul collecting me the whole arrival thing was a cinch. (OK - I must admit I got slightly lost but my pack is comfortable and the little walk did me good.)

This afternoon was spent returning to places that I remember better than I expected to; the pub where I drank with Chris on my last night here, the shopping mall where I decided not to buy a cool jacket (which in retrospect I now realise was quite hideous - good decision), the supermarket that once graced me with cheap wine but today ripped me off with the highlighters. Knowing where everything is makes it all feel strangely familiar; I keep meeting my own ghost. I wandered down a street today in my new Miracle Shoes (more on these below) and suddenly remembered walking down it two years ago, on a fresh quiet morning headed for the train station.

So. Onto more important less rambly things - the Miracle Shoes. They are from Singapore and I have named them thus for three reasons. One - they were instantly comfortable. Two - they are extremely light, can be folded in half and stuffed into a bag, making them perfect for toting around the world. Three - On shaky directions from a friend we searched four floors of a Singapore department store before Kate found them for me a moment before I decided that I was going to give up. She truly was the perfect host. The shoes are even black and red to match my colour coded travel gear. For $20 they are awesome. Mental note: Singapore is better than London.

My last day in Singapore was Songkran, the Thai New Year. An ancient tradition of sprinkling water over each other as a symbol of cleansing and renewal has evolved into a giant waterfight. There are some pretty funny photos of me being doused by a crazy dripping wet Thai girl, I'll flickr them soon. After lunch by the river we embarked on our successful Miracle Shoe Finding Mission, bought some groceries and then, after a wildly rushed packing adventure (managed to forget my bikini bottoms, think the Euros will notice if I am bottomless instead of topless? It's all the same, surely...), Kate, her flatmate Callie and I had a picnic by the pool.

Then, to the airport for check in which took an HOUR and involved being swapped among three different flights, politely reminding the lady behind the desk that gate 25 was too far away for me to make it there in only three minutes and making her book me on a more realistic flight, 11 hours on the plane, arriving, Heathrow customs always make me laugh and the duty free was a joke. To Paul's, shower, wash clothes, wander out for lunch (AUD60, jesus!) and then into Borders, memory lane and now back here. Tired. Yep, this post is terribly disjointed. Forgive me.