Love Me Once Again

Twenty-one

The conference was done and over in the blink of an eye.

Day one, I literally did not know what I was doing. I was jet lag crazy and dozed off half of the seminars and presentations. I drank like ten cups of tea and still could not stay awake. I said hello to so many people, some even twice, to only forget them on day two.

Day two was slightly better. I managed to stay awake and even raised some questions of my own and caught the attention of some professors from the US who later invited me to do my research studies in their universities.

My presentation was on day three. Like Dr Park had anticipated, our work in Seoul attracted much attention because we were using a new technology on top of a new technique and, most importantly, with positive results. The Q and A session was so engaging that we ran out of time. Then, during dinner, everybody wanted to sit at my table to talk to me.

There was a strikingly handsome and young professor from Vancouver who chatted with me for the entire night. His name was Nicolas Chen. He was half Canadian, quarter Chinese and quarter Spanish, so he said. I think the mixture of different genes made him look so striking.

But what struck me was his knowledge and intelligence. He also had a similar case study in his hospital, and he had been following it for years. So, when my discussion raised similar points, he was very interested. He wanted to discuss it with me. And we did. The two of us spent the most time together during dinner.

We sat together on day four, and by day five, we were like best friends. We promised to keep in touch to continue our discussion. He was flying back on Saturday because it was his mom's birthday on Sunday.

I showed his picture to Mandy, and she said she totally approved him. She had stopped bugging me about Yesung, thank goodness.

Yesung and Jongjin were in Paris over the weekend for a fashion show. They actually asked me over to join them since I had never been to Paris. But precisely because I had never been to Paris, I did not know how to get there, though Jongjin swore that it was very easy. Anyway, Yesung was there to work. I did not want to bother him. So, I spent the weekend exploring London on my own.

It was like everybody said. It was totally easy to navigate around. The tube was very convenient, if not the buses. There were plenty of maps and information to guide me around. I would really be an idiot if I got lost because, at the worst, there were still Google maps.

I went to the Natural History Museum because it was free and number one recommended on many websites and travel blogs.

It was very interesting, but if I were to return for a second visit, I would definitely avoid the weekends. It was so crowded with families and children. I spent my whole afternoon at the museum before heading to Chinatown for dinner.

On Sunday, I took the boat ride and went down Thames to Greenwich, where I spent the day at the old royal naval college which was very interesting as well.

When Yesung came back to London evening time, he called and was surprised to hear that I was at Greenwich. It was too far for them to come and me to go back and meet them for dinner, so we agreed to have breakfast together instead.

I realised that even though our accommodations were both in Kensington, his was more to South Kensington, so we were still twenty minutes apart by foot.

But I really liked the boutique hotel that I was staying at.

The receptionist was very friendly. The hotel itself, even though it was aged, it was very clean and bright. The other tourists I ran into, who stayed in the hotel as well, were all very friendly too. When I asked the receptionist for directions, she was always very helpful to share. And of course, it was so much cheaper than the Ritz. This place was only two hundred per room per night.