Hey guys! Hope you all had a marvelous weekend and a not so terrible Monday. I sure did, and it’s because…

The sun came out!

I swear it has been about 10 days since I’ve seen it, probably the longest amount of time we’ve ever spent apart. I’m from Las Vegas — sunny, up-to-110-degrees, never-below-40 Las Vegas. Then I moved to LA, so you could say the sun and I have a pretty close relationship. I really used to value those cloudy days because they seemed so cozy and rare, and I used to say that I liked the rain, too, perhaps because the average annual precipitation in Vegas is about 1 inch per year.

But guys, the grass is always greener.

I’ve been having a hard time waking up here in London, and I’ve finally pegged my sleepiness down to one thing: it is always dark outside. Gloomy weather really does make you feel gloomy, so as you can imagine, I was thrilled to have the sun back for a couple days this weekend. It doesn’t even matter that I can stand directly in sunlight and feel zero warmth. I missed ya, big guy.

And for the record, it’s not that I dislike the rain now that I’ve essentially lived inside a rain cloud for all of two weeks. I still like it. What I do not like is rain + wind + 30 degree temperatures + me walking + getting splashed by tidal wave of gutter water when a bus drives by you (This scenario actually happened. Ask my roommate Vanessa and my friend Kathy).

Anyway, besides enjoying the nice weather, I walked around Portobello Market in Notting Hill on Saturday. It’s a very cute, trinket-y, antique-y market that is literally enormous and packed with people. I liked it, but next time, I think I’ll try to see more of Notting Hill itself — and also watch the movie Notting Hill before I go.

After that, I FINALLY ATE FISH AND CHIPS. The experience was everything I ever dreamed of, except for the fact that the pub we went to ran out of fish and chips right after I ordered mine, so my friends were fish and chip-less. Don’t worry, Mom, I shared mine. Also, you had to be 21 to drink there! What is this? America? Despite all the hassle, I got to see what all the fuss was about.

Sunday was Chinese New Year, so we walked around Chinatown for a bit, but the crowds were a little too overwhelming. There was time for a pork bun, though!

Then it was time for school, which was admittedly hard to sit through, and I said my goodbyes to the sun. Rain for the foreseeable future! More to come.