nezuko | Entries tagged with uk

I'm home! It was arduous, and next time I fly internationally I'd like to be wealthy enough to fly first class. Now on to the post, in which there will be ( Welcome Rests, Forgotten Sandwiches, Gay Scotland Yard Detectives, Unattended Luggage, Angry Seatmates, Dubious Immigration Inspectors, Imaginary Friends, Smuggled Biological Imports, and Other Sundries of International Travel )

Current Mood: jetlagged

Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?
I've been to London to visit the Queen.
Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you there?
I frightened a little mouse under her chair.

Big Ben

We went to London on Sunday, and it was brilliant. We had a great time. By "we" I mean of course DK and myself. We took a crack-of-dawn, six-hour coach journey down from Huddersfield, on tailbone torture seats, but we slept much of the way. Once in London we studied our map, found our hotel, then met up with my cousin Josh and his wife Sheneem and their 22-month old daughter Zara. It was my first time seeing them since I was at their wedding in Glasgow in 2003. Sheneem is as lovely as I remember her, Josh as fun, and Zara is completely adorable. We had a pub lunch at a place on the Thames, then walked up the river to the Houses of Parliament, and rode on the London Eye. It's an insanely giant ferris wheel built for the Millennium celebrations, and you can see 25 miles from the top on a clear day. It was just dusk when we got on, so we got to see the sun set and the city lights come on. As tourist attractions go, I'd give it a solid 10/10.

London Eye

The next day DK and I slept in, then took a double-decker bus across town to meet Josh in the financial district where he works, for a latish lunch. It took forever figuring out how to get the bus (we wanted a number 11, so waited at a stop marked 11, except it wasn't actually a stop for the #11 bus, but "stop number I1, or something stupid like that. Sans-serif signage for the lose.) We got to sit in the top front seat, and see lots of sights as we rode, including the horse guard at the Royal Mews, Trafalgar Square, and St. Paul's Cathedral.

Nezu and DK

Owing to the bus confusion, we were too late to share lunch with Josh, who had to got back to work, but he walked us through Leadenhall Market and showed us where to get cheap (and very good) moules frites (steamed mussels and french fries). Then we went to the Tower of London, but found it was too late to take the tour, so caught a ferry boat back down the Thames. We saw the big draw bridge, passed under London Bridge (which was not falling down,) saw the Globe Theatre (Shakespeare's theatre) and several other awesome sights, arriving at Big Ben in time to hear it chime five. We also saw 10 Downing Street, though no sign of the Prime Minister, chatted to Mark the policeman on guard there, laughed at an unsecured gate at the Ministry of Defense, and bought gloves and a hat from a street vendor, because it was insanely cold!

Dragons at Leadenhall Market

That evening we went to see Wicked! I'd seen the preview production in San Francisco back in 2003, and it was interesting to see how the show had evolved. It's a much tighter, better production than I remembered. We'd gotten cheap tickets on a discount ticket site, so were in the nosebleed section because of that. It was still pretty awesome. After the theatre we found a really atmospheric little pan-Asian restaurant and had a fantastic dinner.

Tower Bridge

Next day we met up with my cousins again for breakfast at an authentic 1950's-era diner (think the "spam, spam, spam, eggs and spam skit from Monty Python), a quick spin through part of the Tate museum of art, and then a return to the Tower of London to go on the tour. Wow. So much history. We saw the crown jewels, Henry VIII's armour (and a lot of other armour), the graves of Henry's beheaded queens (and a lot of other headless offenders of the king), the house where Lady Jane Gray was imprisoned before her execution, the tower where Richard III lived above the dungeon into which he cast the young princes Edward V and his brother the Duke of York.

Tower of London

Man, am I glad I read all those Shakespeare history plays now.

We made our way back across town via London Underground to Victoria Station, where we had tea (scones! clotted cream! marmalade!) with Josh before we had to catch our coach home, on which we plotted Fallen Leaves ideas for the entire journey.

DK and Nezu, with Houses of Parliament in background

Alas, once back DK had to go to work... Or so we thought. Off ze went to work Wednesday morning, only to find someone had stolen the license plates from hir car, making it illegal to drive. Ze reported the theft to the police, then walked home (ze has to park about a mile from the flat) and we went about sorting out getting replacement plates (done at an auto parts store, surprisingly!) and then had a late lunch and goofed around watching anime I'd brought to share. We have watched all of Cowboy Bebob and are most of the way through Samurai Champloo.

Red Doors in Huddersfield

DK's had to work, and I've come down with a fresh cold on top of my aging bronchitis, so we haven't done a lot since we got back. I went out walking around in Huddersfield yesterday while DK worked, but today it's raining, so I've stayed in, tidied a bit, and spammed this massive update, which is insanely long. Also I've uploaded photos, of which a few samples here, but you can see more if you click on one.

Huddersfield Open Air Market

Current Mood: calm

I might be the world's most sad tourist. When I went to Japan a few years ago, I was sick for most of the trip and did a lot of just hanging around in bed with media and friends. Here I am in the UK, and I had all these plans to do walking tours of Huddersfield while DK was at work, and instead I've been sick, hanging around in bed reading and farting around on the internet.

The hanging around with DK while he's not at work has been brilliant, and to be honest that's the real reason I came to England in the first place: to see the people I love here, not to see the place. But I do want to see the place. Maybe tomorrow will be better. Today was the first day I felt really wiped out by this illness, which I suspect has something to do with me not resting enough, so all I've done today is rest. And cough. I've about run DK out of "Chesty Cough" medicine and will have to go searching for more.

Apropos of nothing, why do English salt and vinegar potato crisps taste so much better than American salt and vinegar potato chips? Also, mini Scotch Egg Bites are NOT the same as Scotch Eggs. Next time I'll get the big ones.

DK and I do have a plan to put an end to the Tourism fail, though. On Sunday, at OMFG Early o-clock, we are boarding a motor coach (i.e. bus) to London! It's a six hour ride, and we're hoping my laptop battery will last that long. We'll stay in a B&B for two nights, which my cousin Josh has said he'll send me recommendations for, and visit my cousin and his family, and see London. London! And go to the theatre in the West End! We haven't decided what to see yet, but there are several tempting possibilities.

And then the following weekend we're going to see our friend Sna in Edinburgh, which will also be brilliant.

The tattoo has pretty much stopped hurting unless I bump or scratch it, which I'm trying not to do. It feels a bit like a healing sunburn, and it's only very faintly pink and warm. Also it's awesome. Also, catching sight of it having forgotten I have it is momentarily alarming, because the brain registers the red ink as blood.

I did manage three minor accomplishments today: I took the damp laundry out of the washer and hung it to dry, I did the dishes, and I answered my dad's math puzzle. My dad, if I haven't mentioned before, likes to quiz his children. Today he sent this:

Here is a question my secretary sent to me. Top honors goes the first correct respondent.

HOW DOES THIS WORK??
This coming year, 2011, we will experience 4 unusual dates.... 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 ......... NOW go figure this out.... take the last 2 digits of the year you were born plus the age you will be in 2011 and it WILL EQUAL .... 111.

("Top Honors" consists of my sending you first the answer I gave to my secretary after spending 5-10 minutes on it.)

My answer was:

it seems to me that adding the last two digits of your birth year to your age achieved in that year will always result in the last two digits of the current year, since the age you are turning is the difference between your birth year and the present year.

For years prior to 2000, you get simply the last two digits of the current year. Cross the 2000 threshold, and if you were born before 2000, you get 100+last two digits of the current year. If you were born in 2000 or beyond, you get simply the last two digits of the current year. Calculating the difference across any century barrier would do the same, so a man born in 1867, turning 44 in 1911 and doing the same calculation would also get 111, since there is a divergence of 100 between the two century markers.

If you used all four digits of the birth year, then adding your age in the current year would simply result in the current year:

birth year=B
age turning in current year=A
current year=C

B+A=C

If using only the last two digits of the birth year:

birth year=B
birth year last 2 digits=b
age turning in current year=A
current year=C
current year last two digits=c

b+A=c+(C-B)

Math geeks amongst my readers may commence applauding or mocking me as they see fit.