How cold is cold?

So just yesterday my mother convinced me that my father was going to buy my air ticket for me. I'm pretty reluctant for him to do that but that would greatly ease my financial burden. I was also itching to buy a ticket with my own money right there and then and safely say, "See? I can fly to London now no problem. Nothing's stopping me." Yeah, right. That's not true. I don't have a ticket. Originally, my plan was to purchase a flight from Singapore to KL and then to London Stansted after. My mom frowned upon "Stansted" when I said it. It still is an airport, isn't it? It's for most budget airlines. When I take my Ryanair flight to Sweden, that's how it will be.

Oh, did I say I was skipping Oslo? Yes, indeed. It's too expensive a night and I just had to schedule the trip to be over the weekend. Weekend accommodation is much more expensive undoubtedly. Great job. So I canceled it. This means I am going to spend a week in London with Ashlee and CJ and hopefully we can take a trip up north to York and catch a game of football or two! I would love to watch Liverpool or Chelsea play a game. All I can hope now is that neither Ashlee or CJ would object to it, or to the idea of paying a hundred bucks to take a train to and fro York. York is amazing. It's got a lot to offer and a friend from York, Emily, is willing to take us around. I'm sure she's not going to take us in. Three strangers? Okay, maybe two strangers since she knew me. I don't like imposing on people but sometimes, it's an advantage. Anyway, like I said, I hope we can visit York and the haunted locations and have tea with Emily.''

Back to the idea of tickets. Most likely, dad will get me the ticket directly to London Heathrow via Qantas. Right now it costs almost SGD$1000, no more, but mom convinced me there will be sales by summer. I'm not too sure. All along, my parents were the ones buying my tickets whenever we traveled. Hopefully, they're right. The ticket could go up to SGD$1600 by the time summer comes. I don't want to know I could have saved €300 by booking earlier. With €300, I can drink a dozen mugs of beer at the Oktoberfest in Munich where I could stay for at least four days. Isn't that amazing? As long as my dad will buy me a ticket, I will try to worry less.

Saving is going on quite well. Soon, I will make a list of things I want for Christmas and my 19th birthday (which are just a week apart). Hopefully, I get what I want and good ones at that. I'm planning to ask for a good backpack but is buying a backpack seven months before too early? I hope not. I'm also asking for a money belt, a day pack, walking shoes, winter wear and thermals. Ashlee told me I would need a hell lot of clothing since we're going to tour in fall/winter and I'm already saying 25 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) is cold. Having lived in the tropics since forever, I obvioiusly call that cold. It's still slightly stuffy and warm but it's cold enough. This year end, I will be traveling to Macau and Hong Kong, near China, and will experience 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) on average. It will be the temperature of what Paris is right now in mid-November. And that's the period I will be visiting Paris and the rest of France. A good time to get used to the weather, right?

I hope I get a direct flight to London. I don't feel like laying over for two and a half hours in Doha or any part in the United Arab Emirates. I want to be on a plane knowing when I get off, I am in Europe. In the Europe. In the London Heathrow and that Ashlee and CJ are waiting for me on the other side of the gate, awaiting to start a journey of a lifetime. That's what I want. What do you want?