Category: Diary

We have a Tuesday night tradition where we all get together at the guys’ house and Kristie and Emily cook us all dinner and we watch a movie and hang out. Kristie, Mayoor, me, and sometimes Darren go to Wanstead (two stops down from leyton…very close). Their house has Shane, Mart, Nigel, and Ben. This week we watched the Mummy Returns but no one really watched it cause we were all too busy talking. They made chili (for dinner (which has tomatoes in it so i had put some sugar in it plus it was pretty spicy). I left a little bit in my bowl and martin said he wanted the rest rather than me throw it out. he took a bite and was like “aggh this has sugar in it! ” and kept saying how terrible it was. i couldnt stop laughing at him.

Last night I found out that my cat, Frisky, had to be put to sleep on Friday. The tumor in her nose had spread through her body and collapsed one of her lungs. Steph said that the Xray pix were horrific. I couldnt stop crying when i first found out, but my best friend Lauren talked to me for a good hour or so until i was calm enough to go to sleep. today i spent all day in my pjs watching movies, i was so depressed. i did get up and go to the carvery with everybody (kristie, emily, mayoor, martin, and ben) for dinner and that made me feel a bit better.

Saturday kristie and i did the touristy thing and went to St James Park (across the street from where i work) and walked around the park. its really pretty there. you can stand on this bridge over the pond. to one side you can see the palace and to the other you see the london eye. then we walked down to trafalgar square and sat with about a billion pigeons. i couldnt find any old lady to sell me bird seed for tuppens a bag, though.

We went to the National Gallery there on Trafalgar Square. its free to get in but they request a 1-2 pound contribution, so i gave a pound when i walked in. then to get those headsets that do the audio tours its another request for a contribution. so i asked if it was then free since we had already given one at the door and she said no cause this was for the audio department. you couldnt get one *without* a contribution, which in my opinion isnt a contribution anymore if you *have* to give it! might as well just say it costs a pound to get one!

the early stuff was all religious works. we started playing a game to find a room that *didnt* have a piece in it depicting the virgin mother and child. the later pieces were more interesting. there was one i liked that was 4 paintings, and each one was a market scene meant to represent the 4 elements. a fish merchant for water, veggie merchant for earth, fowl for air, and roasting meat for fire.

youre not allowed to take pix in this museum, and theres an employee standing in every room, so kristie went over and started asking the little old man questions while i snapped some quick shots of Van Gogh (Fifteen Sunflowers in a Vase). Then we couldnt stop laughing and had to leave.

After the museum, we went to get lunch at La Madeline (yes the same little French cafe as in Marietta). We got lost trying to find it and ended up at St James Palace where a little soldier stepped out of a box, did a little march, and then went back in his/her box — like a little wind up toy soldier! We also saw girls out on a Bachelorette party with devil horns on their heads and carrying a blow up doll. Then a guy goes zipping around the corner on a motorcycle the size of a tricycle. Every time we get lost we always seem to run into some really funny/ interesting things.

After a hot cup of hot chocolate, steaming cheesy quiche, and a bowl of creme brulee, we were back on the street and heading for Piccadilly Circus (a recommendation by Sal) where I spent a grotesque amount of money on touristy souvineers and Christmas presents. They had banner of lights hung above the streets which made it seem quite Christmasy.

happy birthday lauren!! hope you had a great day.

Nov 6-7

Writing on the bus ride home from Wales. This trip has **definitely** been a Chasing Liberty type adventure (minus the romance with the semi-good looking English guy and the crazy hippie sticker guy). We got up at 6:30 Saturday morning for the Wales trip. The trip is through BUNAC so we were all supposed to meet at the hostel (ISH) at 8am. When we arrived at the tube station, we discovered that they had closed down the central line! They were providing alternative bus service down to Bethnal Green, which normally only takes about 15 minutes on the tube, but by bus it was at least 30, so it was already 7:45 when we got off at Bethnal Green. On top of that, the trains were delayed and the next train wouldnt be there for another 15 minutes. So we left the station and wandered around Bethnal Green looking for a cab company. We found one, but got another crushing blow…no cabs available for another 30 minutes!

So we walked back to the station it would be 19 mins before the next train came and we had to be there to meet BUNAC in like 5 mins (even once we caught the train itd be a 30 min ride so we were essentially still an hour away). Kristie and I are about ready to cry. Kristie called Karen (the BUNAC lady) and told her we wouldnt be able to make the trip cause there was no way wed make it in time. We left the station and got on the bus to go back home. On the bus, Karen called us back and suggested that we take a train (like a real, above ground train) to Wales and meet them at the first stop of the trip — a castle in Chepstow. We’d never used the train system before (aside from the express that brought us from the airport to London). So we went to the station and bought a ticket to Chepstow (36 pounds, wouldve been 23 if we had had time to apply for a student card but the train came in 5 mins and the next one wouldnt be coming ofr an hour). The train didnt go straight to Chepstow cause its just a tiny little village, but Karen said take the train to Cardiff (capital of Wales – known as a great place for night life) and change to a local change there. The train was packed full of South Africans on their way to Cardiff for a rugby match (american football but without any padding and the aggression of an Iceland hockey team). The train was so full, we were all smushed in standing like on the tube. The trip to cardiff was 2 hours long but it wasnt too bad cause everyone was talking and joking.

when we got to cardiff, we asked the train staff where to go to catch a train to chepstow. to our dismay, the next train didnt arrive in cardiff until 1:05 and BUNAC was leaving chepstow at 1:15!! so yet again we would miss them. we were faced with a couple of choices: skip chepstow and figure out how to make it to their next stop (haye on wye), or go to chepstow and explore the castle on our own and try to find them at the hotel that night. kristie called karen and told her the sitch, and that we wouldnt be in chepstow until 1:45. luckily, karen said they were running late and they wree sposed to meet at the bus from the castle at 1:45 instead of 1:15. she said to head to chepstow and the bus would come pick us up from the station at 2.

Feeling a little bit better, we decided to walk around Cardiff for half an hour while waiting for the train to come. Without any agenda, we stepped out of the station onto the square. Overhead seagulls were cawing and brightly colored crowds milled about. Carts of rugby paraphernalia stood on the corners selling shirts, hats, etc to the rugby fans arriving for the game. Everyone in the square was dressed to display their team’s colors — bright red and green for Wales, green and yellow for South Africa. People wore face paint and jester hats, blowing plastic horns and shouting. The whole wharf was filled with energy. We swung right, following a sign directing us to McDonalds for lunch. Overhead, banners of Christmas lights were strung across the street — I bet it would look great lit up at night. We went to MickeyDs for a quick lunch and then headed back towards the train station (we certainly didnt want to miss another train!).

The train to chepstow was the short bus train — it only had two cars. This one wasnt crowded at all and we easily got seats. The 40 min ride from Cardiff to Chepstow was great. On both sides we passed rolling green hills sectioned by small shrubbery and dotted with tiny stone churches, centuries old. At 1:45 on the dot we arrived in Chepstow.

Outside the train station at Chepstow was drastically different than that of Cardiff. We faced a small village as picturesque as the puzzles I had as a kid. We were the only ones left outside the station and the street was quiet. I felt like Anne Shirley waiting at the station when she arrived in Avonlea. While we waited for the bus, I took movies of the area and Kristie talking about our adventurous day. We were really nervous about getting on the bus cause we were sooo embarrassed about holding up the whole trip and having to be picked up special. We got on and found two seats together at the back of the bus in the second to last row — also a could spot for hiding. Karen had them give us a round of applause for finally making it, but other than that no one even mentioned it and we were on our way. Kristie started talking to the two girls behind us, Jacqueline and Charmagne.

It didnt take long to arrive at their second (And our first) stop, a ruined abbey. Nestled in a valley by a small village, the tremendous stone abbey rises out of the valley in front of the mountain on each side. The mountain behind it is thick with trees in their brilliant fall colors that peek through the roofless abbey with its glass-less windows. Looking over the abbey wall (we didnt go in it cause of time and an admission fee), you can see a small courtyard with small arched doorways and tiny staircases leading up into the upper floor of the abbey. You can easily imagine small, robed monks scurrying up the stairs or nuns strolling across the courtyard.

The second attraction of the town was an old church up on the mountain side. To get to it, you walk up a steep brick road covered in wet leaves The slip factor was high and it was a little scary when we went back down it cause I could totally see myself falling on my ass. The church was burned down in 1977 by a group of teenagers trying to practice Wiccan rituals of some sort inside the old church. Rumor is that they were burned alive inside the church and now it is haunted. Call me a loser all you want, but exploring the church was kinda like exploring ruined structures in horizons :P. There was a small room off to the right that I think may have had an underground burial crypt because the ground had caved in, and below ground was what had been a small room since the sides had stone walls, and in all the vampire books churches have stone crypts below them.

The next stop was a small village called Haye-on-Wye. The bus ride there was really great. The Welsh countryside is beautiful! The sun started setting, creating colorful blue streaks in the sky to mirror the greens, browns, yellows, and reds on the ground.

The village’s claim to fame is its narrow, winding streets of 39 book shops. Used and new, cheap or regular, it has practically everything. The book shops didnt interest me too much though because they were all typical books you could find at Barnes and Noble, so while browsing was kinda neat, a book from there held no novelty. There was a New Age shop selling jewelry made of all kinds of stones and a fudge shop that Kristie and I just couldnt pass up.

An hour later we were on the way to the hotel. The hotel was like a large manor house and pretty nice. The rooms in the brochure were really pretty, but we didnt get the fancy ones of course. We were in a wing that was like a hostel with dorm rooms. Our room was one long room of bunk beds and held 16 of us girls! We werent in it long enough for it to matter though. After dropping off our bags, we went downstairs to the pub for dinner. We were starving, but the pub staff wasnt equipped to handle 29 orders, so we had to wait an hour to get food. The food was surprisingly good for pub food. I had chicken shish kebab (tasted like tender teriyaki chicken) with Chinese style noodles. We sat with Jacqueline and Charmagne, along with Emily (different Emily than the one we usually hang out with) and Diane. We had met Emily on a couple of occasions but never really talked to her, and it was our first time meeting Diane. We ended up spending the whole rest of the trip with the two of them. After dinner we sat around the table and talked for hours. Then we decided to go check out the club that the hotel had outback that the locals from the other villages got bussed in on the weekends to go to. Kristie and I only stayed like 20 mins though because we were sooo exhausted!

The next morning we had breakfast of sunny-side up eggs, toast, and sausage — my lucky day! Then it was off to the stables for horse back riding.
We were split up into 3 groups of ten. I had kristie, Emily, and Diane in my group. They very briefly reviewd how to ride the horses and then we went in to get our horses. It took me forever to get up on the stupid thing. The horses were some kinda Welsh horses or something. They were kinda squat and had longish hair. Unlike most public horseback trail rides, we were riding English style instead of western (which makes sense I guess since we were in England (well sorta England) and not in texas).

The horses were lemming horses (meaning all they do is follow the horse in front of them, regardless of what you tell it to do). We rode up through Breckon Beacon park, a famous national park in Wales. Once again, the landscape was gorgeous. It was a trail ride up a mountain through a forest. Fall is definitely a great time of year for a forest trail ride since everything was so colorful. Parts were a little scary cause it was rocky and the horses would lose their footing, but most the walking was fun. The not so fun part was the trotting and esp the cantering. Whos bright idea was it to take a bunch of kids that have never ridden before and take them galloping through a forest??? We had slight instruction on how to trot, and no instruction on how to canter (a canter is kinda a loping run but not a full out gallop). I used to love cantering when I was a kis, but this was simply terrifying. The horses being lemming horses do not react to a single command you give them no matter how hard you pull on the reins (and vice versa they dont speed up no matter how hard you kick them). They simply do not change pace until the instructor does. I thought it was so scary racing through the slippery leaves with zero control over my horse. I finally just dropped the reins and clung to the saddle. I was also mostly worried cause my right foot had come out of the stirrup and I couldnt slow my horse down to fix it. I think if I hadnt ridden *real* horses before in my like and knew how much fun it could be when youre on a stallion and not a donkey, this experience would make me never get on a horse again.

Funny thing is, Kristie didnt mind the cantering much at all, although I know Emily seemed pretty scared, too. So we spent 2 hours of riding, then we all went to a nearby pub for lunch. Then it was back to the stable for 45 more mins of riding. After that, we piled on the bus to go home!
Three of the BUNACers lived in Oxford so we stopped in Oxford for 45 mins to drop them off and get dinner. Naturally, K and I hit up McDonalds :). We pretty much just walked down the main street and back, but it seems like a pretty neat place.
Weary, muddy, and reeking of horses, we made our way home and *collapsed.

Everyone asked me if I had fun in Wales. I dont know how to answer other than it was a true adventure. Parts were great, parts were upsetting, and a few parts were even a little scary, but I think the whole experience overall was a good and exciting and interesting event.

Sunday morning kristie and i decided to go to Camden Market on the recommendation of Yvey (“E-V”, a girl i work with). we’re pretty sure that its the plave that amanda bynes went in What a Girl Wants. its kinda like Portebello Road. there are regular stores along Camden High Street that were similar to downtown Athens, and then there was one part that was indoors but kinda like an exhibit at the Civic Ceneter where you have all different merchants at stands. then there’s Camden Market thats like a flea market of outdoor stands. all the merchandise at these places are the type of stuff youd see see at Hot Topic, Gadzooks, etc (punk rock, goth/skater stuff) plus a lot of hippie stuff, Indian stuff, some designer stuff, etc. they sold jewelry, clothes, t-shirts, scarves, etc. the whole place was soooo much fun!! i bought a bunch of london touristy souvineers, some blue stud earrings (kristie and i are thinking about getting our ears pierced) and a blue scarf with designs in silver thread. no idea what im going to do with the scarf, but its pretty. kristie bought a Beckham football jersey to wear at games and a Gucci watch.

When we got home, Martin came and picked us up and we went to this pub/restaurant/inn type place for a “Carvery”. There were 12 of us there: myself, kristie, emily, martin, mayoor, darren, shane, ben (this was the first night we met ben), nigel, and 3 guys wed never met. the tables held 8 and 4 so nigel and the other 3 guys were at a different table we never really even spoke to them. so a carvery is a big sunday dinner where they havea whole turkey, ham, and roast beef and they carve off large slices of the meat, accompanied by balls of stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots, roast potatoes, cranberries, gravy, and yorkshire pudding (which isnt pudding at all, but acutally a light-weight bread). Sound familiar? Swap the yorkshire pudding for rolls and you have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. it was a great meal and great company.

On Saturday night, Kristie, Emily, Darren, and I went to the ice skating rink in leyton. kristie and i both **love** skating but hadnt been in several years. emily and darren had both only been once before a long time ago so they didnt really know how to do it. emily picked it up pretty quickly and could even almost keep pace with kristie and me, but darren couldnt get the hang of it. he kept trying to pick up his feet and walk instead of glide. they had the lights off with just some colored and side lighting and had hip-hop music playing — it was a lot like Sparkles roller rink when we were kids. there were these guys there that were dancing to the music on skates! it was really neat to watch cause they were really into it and were jumpin’ around and everything on skates.

ok ive been naughty. i havent touched the site all week. this week was my first week of work. i really like my job. i take customer orders on the phone and mail. i respond to customer letters (requests and complaints and stuff), and i help fulfill the orders and send them to the customers. the company itself sells a lot of products, but theres only like 4 we ship and deal with in house. the biggest seller seems to be the great train ride serious which is complete crap. its a video of a train ride. why on earth would you pay L20 for that?? everyone i work with is really nice. im in the room where the catalog developers are. theres david (about 22), craig (about 20), linden (about 35), and ravi (about 35). theres a girl yvey i havent met yet cause she was sick the whole week. then theres some others in the other rooms, but most of them are older cept james. hes my age, from calif, and also here on bunac.

on tuesday night after work kristie and i went and hung out with james and his friend anthony thats visiting him from calif. we went to a bar and just sat out on the patio and hung out. it was really fun. too bad anthony is only here for another week, but im sure well at least hang out with james some more.

today i went to lunch with dave, lindon, and craig. we went to a pub across the street from work. it was funny cause they went to get a beer. i had a coke and lindon asked me didnt i want anything stronger and i said no cause then id be buzzed when i got back to work and he laughed and said theyd done it before. i cant believe they go to a pub and get beer in the middle of a work day.

craig lives out near me a few stops down so he showed me a faster way to get to and from work. now it only takes me like 45 mins to get there which is good cause then i can sleep until 8 😛

hey everybody! ive had several complaints that there was a lack of diary entries all week. well seeing as how i was in bed sick last sat – weds and barely left my bedroom, there really wasnt much to tell. so heres the updates since then.
last thursday i had a job interview. its an hour away in west london for a small company that does catalog sales. ya know like those TV ads for Best of the 60s CD compilations and stuff? they send out catalogs with stuff like that. id be taking customer orders over the phone and then entering them into the computer. it starts this monday and its 9-6 (hour lunch break) mon-fri. plus it pays L7.50/hour ($15/hour).

friday i just chilled at the house all day and played horizons. kristie went out to a pub with that girl laura for a few hours. i think they just hung out there. not much to report for friday 😛

saturday during the day we lay around the house with chris and mayoor and darren most the day just chatting and whatnot. then saturday night kristie, darren, and i went to this bar at Piccadilly Circus (neat area) called Tiger Tiger. I put up a few pix of us from when we went. The bar had neat decore – walls and ceiling are sorta cavernous but painted dark blue – it was too dark to get any pix of the actual bar. It was a ton of fun cept this one point when these two guys, one Greek and one French, came up to talk to kristie and me. they were gross and we couldnt make them go away so kristie had this guy standing next to us pretend to be her boyfriend to get rid of them. we were annoyed at the time but now its kinda funny. then when we got home we wanted to run in and be loud and wake up the guys like theyve done to us the past two weekends, but i start banging on mayoors door when kristie realizes theyre not even home! hehehe. they spoiled our plot. 😛

so then today, sunday, kristie and i went with mayoor down to the pub to watch a football match (soccer). afterwards, kristie, mayoor, darren, emily, and i went to this indian restaurant for dinner. ive never had indian food before. apparently curry is a HUGE thing in england. i had something called chicken kurma which wasnt spicy at all, it was chicken with some kinda sauce that had cream and a very slight coconut flavoring. it was sweet and way yum. there was also this fried onion patty thingy that was sorta like potato latkas but it was pretty spicy. there was also nan bread that was like a soft pita bread. the whole meal was super yummy and super cheap (about L4).

im sick so im going to keep this one short – dont feel much like typing. we didnt do anything over the weekend so nothing to report there.

monday we went to the Electric cinema on Portebello Road to see Wimbledon. its a one room movie theatre thats all fancy inside. you sit in leather recliners with foot stools and can buy wine and food at the bar. it was soo much fun and only cost L7.50 ($14). ill post a pic up of it later on.

id like to clarify something thats been confusing everyone. the shower in the living room is not our only shower. theres one upstairs in the bathroom just like a normal bathroom. thats the one we actually use, so no we do not stand naked in the living room 😛