It is so cold right now. Mee and I went to London last Saturday and it was very cold indeed. Right after we alight from the bus, we desperately tried to find an indoor area. We might even go back to the bus if it was colder. Unfortunately, the nearest place was Winter Wonderland. We stayed close to each other and we walked around the Winter Wonderland. Well, it did not impress us much despite the fancy advertisement as well as fancy website suggested that there will be hours of entertainment. The only thing that interested us on that day was curly fries, but then we were told the wait for 20 minutes as they had only just opened the stall. We could not wait, so we left. In fact, we left Winter Wonderland about 20 minutes after entering.

Most of our time was spent in Oxford Street and Chinatown. We did go to Covent Garden briefly but there were not much exciting things to see. Bear in mind that our purpose of going to London was not for shopping. While walking around Oxford Street, we received free gifts from various high street outlets. We got free coffees with cinnamon flavour from Starbuck which we both agreed that they were not nice. Body Shop was giving our free shampoo and conditioner samples and some stores were giving out acne cream samples. American Express were giving out free recycle bags and Coca-cola were, of course, giving out Coca-cola.

Almost the whole stretch of Oxford Street was closed on that day. It helped a lot as shoppers got more spaces to walk without having to worry about the traffic. However, towards the end of the day, Oxford Street was extremely crowded and I believe most of the crowds were just there to join in the fun.

The weather is getting colder and colder now. For the past couple of weeks, I have to scrap the ice that covered my car’s windscreen if it wasn’t raining. As the weather gets colder, my skin gets drier. I am now using a combination of moisturiser and eye wrinkle cream as I have finished my Garnier Eye Roller. Well, it’s not exactly an eye wrinkle cream, it’s a kind of serum which I think is good for wrinkle. Anyway, they are free items and I don’t think there is any harm in using them. Of all the moisturisers that I used before, I believe that Nivea Intensive Moisturising Cream is the best. My already oily skin after a long day work did not get very oily when I was using it. You might think that I am talking rubbish now as I was talking about dry skin earlier and now I am saying that I don’t like oily skin. Well, I just think what moisturiser is suppose to moisturise rather than making my skin oily. So, moisture does not mean it has to be oily.

This Saturday, Mee and I will be going to London. This time, we will be going by bus. It is a trip organised by a committee group in our workplace. It only costs £7 per person and the bus will stop at Marble Arch. The bus will pick us up at the same place too. It is suppose to be a shopping trip but I think most of us are just going to skip the shopping part. Some of my colleagues will be having a nice lunch while for some, it will be their family day. The next exciting thing for me would be attending a Microsoft Technology Day at Reading next Thursday. And a couple of weeks after that, our Christmas lunch.

Nowadays, my inbox is full of Christmas sales advertisement, especially from Amazon, Play.com, Misco Deal and Buy.com. I don’t remember buying anything from Misco Deal or Buy.com but I just keep receiving their newsletters. Some of the deals are just crazy and you wouldn’t even believe the prices. I am a gadget fan and I don’t really mind these newsletters as they keep me up to date with the latest gadgets in the market with the pricing. If the price is right, I might even make my move. Come Monday, there will be a save up to 50% promotion on Buy.com called the Cyber Monday. Every now and then, they have crazy sales items that got sold out very quickly. Well, I don’t even remember if there is a day when they are not doing any sales. If I were to browse the website now, I wonder if I could still wait until Christmas sales. A quick peek wouldn’t do any harm though.

When I first started working in UK, one of my colleagues asked about my birthday. She then proceeded to her desk and added my birthday to a list of all colleagues’ birthdays. After that, she printed the list, photocopied it and gave it to all colleagues. Every now and then, the list will be updated. I suppose Mee will get added to the list soon. There will also be a collection when anyone reaches their thirties, forties or fifties. One of their favourite ideas when comes to purchasing these 1 year gifts is vouchers. In my opinion, vouchers are much better gifts because we never know what the receivers really like to have for their birthdays. Next year, it will be my thirtieth birthday. I wonder what they have in store for me except for the usual trick; sticking photos around the corridor and doors leading to our office. Honestly, my birthday will be a headache for them. I don’t talk a lot usually, so they probably don’t know much about me though we are in the same office for more than three years now. Anyway, it’s good experience and I will cherish every moment when it comes.

Since Mee and I came to UK, we consume vitamins almost everyday. In the beginning, we just bought whatever brands that we thought the price was right. But now, we simply stick to one brand and that’s it. The truth is, we do not even know whether or not the vitamins that we take, help us in anyway. However, if we stop taking the vitamins for a week or two, we definitely feel the effect of it. That makes us wonder if we had relied to much on the vitamins that we consume. For example, I have to have vitamin B to boost my energy during the day. In addition, I need vitamin C to keep my nose from running (if that’s the correct way of saying), and vitamin E to keep my lips from breaking into pieces. And just recently we started taking glucosamine because I think we exercise too much. Anyway, www.vitamins.net is one of the good websites where you can check the information on the types of vitamins. If you like, you could order directly from them, saving the hassles of ordering vitamins from different retailers.

On Sunday, I got my hands on the latest God of War: Ghost of Sparta game. Having played the previous version of God of War: Chain of Olympus, I have high expectations in its next series, God of War: Ghost of Sparta. I loaded the game and it was nice to see that my old phat psp is still holding up very well. Once started playing the game, I expected weeks of gameplay. However, it all ended last night. God of War: Ghost of Sparta only lasted three days for me. Strictly speaking, only 8 hours of gameplay. I thought God of War: Chain of Olympus lasted quite a while when I first played it. To be honest, there were not much changes on God of War: Ghost of Sparta. It was just a continuing story except that there were more moves and collectibles. Maybe it was the familiarity that had given me the advantage over the game. But then again, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands has even longer gameplay even though I had finished Prince of Persia: Revelation and Prince of Persia: Rival Swords previously.

Anyway, I reckon that God of War: Ghost of Sparta is still one of the best games. The graphics and the movement of the God of War are just incredible. I just wish that the gameplay could be a lot longer. Maybe it’s time to move on.