I love driving. I never thought I'd say that. I used to enjoy driving when I lived in Manchester, but I endured driving when I lived in London. Now I love it. Why? Because where I live no long road comes without a tight bend but most of the roads come without traffic. That's not to say there aren't occassionally unexpected surprises. For example this Saturday on the way to Okayama when roadworks-traffic lights malfunctioned sending traffic from 2 directions into a one lane path. Oops. Or like those occassions when you drive home at night and forget to put on your full-beam headlights. This is particularly dangerous here because a) there is usually a cliff face rising up at one side of the road, b) there is usually a cliff face dropping down at the other, c) the road lighting is rather less than adequate and d) those really tight bends do creep up on you. So you see, every moment behind the wheel is an adventure. Of course I could take the expressway and avoid the bad lighting and bends, but then I'd have to drive at at least 120kmph and Efi's speedometer only goes up to 140. What happens after that?
It's been a surprisingly sociable few days largely due to the convenience of motoring. I met Christine in Wakaba on Thursday riding my newly repaired bike and we ate some gorgeous food (as usual at Wakaba). On Friday I went to dinner at Nao-chan's where she, Ojii-san and I discussed the important issues such as Islam, America and what colour non-Japanese pensioner's hair is.
Saturday came with a breath of spring and temperatures that verged on spring (10 degrees plus in the sun) and led me to walk around town in a short sleeved polo shirt all afternoon. I'd driven to the city to catch up with Fiona, and having met and headed to Starbucks, HMV and finally GAP we felt like we'd done Okayama and headed back to hers to chill. Except this meant I started to doze off, so I headed back out and met Julia, Nancy, Jayme and Liza for dinner in a rather lovely izakaya in the city. Nabe, sashimi, and a 10 flavour salad entertained our tastebuds while we caught up and gossiped about the lack of gossip there is from this year's Okayama JETs (I mean! We had 3 weddings and a baby from last year's lot, and there's not even been a quick fumble at a disco from any of the current crew. Most disappointing).
Well, if it was a fumble I wanted knowledge of I soon got my wish. I headed back to Katsuyama on Sunday night and decided to spend the day in town. It was another lovely one- 13 degrees in the sun, so I went out on my bike looking at temples in Kuse and Katsuyama and was definitely surprised by what I found. Not only did I find the pathway into the mountains that I'd been looking for for a while I also found an empty bag by a temple. And then another one. And as I carried on walking I heard someone spring up. As I looked a pair of trousers rose up and the owner started frantically doing up his fly and his belt. Busted! I did my very best to look the other way and pretended to be looking at birds for what seemed to be a long enough time, but when I carried on wandering he was still doing himself up. And his lady-friend was looking slightly sheepish.
Anyway, I carried on climbing up to the top of the mountain and over the road bridge that joins it to another mountain. And then cycled round town for a couple of hours until I decided that I was actually freezing and went home to doze under the kotatsu. This led to thoughts of laundry and I ended up drying laundry at the launderette and heading to Nickname Pending's for the evening to watch "my Beautiful Launderette" on DVD. After we watched the film we watched the trailers. Apparently "my Beautiful Launderette" is rambunctious. I shall check that word in the dictionary and let you know...
Monday, January 30, 2006
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Backwards and forwards...
Well, it's coming to that time of year where thoughts turn to the future. Our current work contract finishes in July and I won't be resigning, so I'm thinking of what to do next- run back to London, pimp myself in Tokyo or something completely different. And of course my thoughts take me back to mental health nursing and I wonder if I should go back. Actually, it's my laptop that makes me think of mental health nursing as it demonstrates that even things made of metal can have personality disorders. For some reason it's started working again despite my having done nothing different to before (It clearly "found" its' hard drive- why did I have to the sarcastic p.c.?) Perhaps perserverance has beaten it down, or maybe the fact that I showed it I didn't need it. Maybe it didn't like my having visitors at the weekend, or it envied my trips to JoyFull with Cheryl (formerly Nickname Pending), or perhaps it wanted to see more monkey pictures, but whatever it is, it's back (until tonight, when it'll no doubt conk out again).
Anyway, the weekend was a gem. Most likely an emerald with a bit of tipp-ex on it. After a second trip to Joyfull with Cheryl on Thursday, I decided that Friday should be a stay-in-and-clean night. Except that I got distracted and ended up in an Izakaya with Nao chan, Papa san and Oji san and ended up going to bed at around 10pm. Yay for early nights! So Saturday morning became frenzied cleaning morning as I rushed to hoover, wash and polish, cleaning the windows for the second time in 18 months and slamming my fingers in them for good measure. Ooh. Slice of finger-skin anyone? And it was all done just in time for the visitors. Cheryl (whose nickname may change again as Cheryl sounds a bit crap) rolled up to my ritzy mansion with Betsy, Bob and Adam in tow, and after dropping their luggage at mine we all set off to Yubara onsen, Okayama's famous outdoor onsen. Betsy and I were not wanting to take part in the outdoor nude frollicking, so we left the others in the company of 6 highly immodest male Japanese pensioners and their dried fruits and climbed a nearby mountain. We had to stop half way up as the snow was a bit too deep for our non-walking shoes and we were never quite sure how far underneath us the ground was...
Vicki was waiting for us when we got back to Katsuyama, and after dropping some personnel at my luxury apartment (tm) we headed out to the supermarket for food only to be accosted by Nao chan who was bearing gifts of vegetables, chocolate and ichigo daifuku. She knows me well. So we stuffed our faces with nabe then headed out to Uenodan, the newest cafe in town, and enjoyed non-alcoholic beverages before being turned away from karaoke "because it was full". I have a sneaking suspicion that I may have confused them when I unintentionally asked for "karaoke, 60 people 1 year please!" as opposed to "6 people one hour please". It's a simple mistake to make. If you are stupid. One hundred d'ohs to me! Curses! So we returned to mine and ate and drank tea and wine and eventually passed out with plans set for the morning.
Sunday was monkey day as the group visited Kanba waterfalls and saw well over 100 monkeys- apparently they are macaques. Whatever brand they were they were looking desperate as they foraged for food in the snow. So we took the customary photos, viewed the waterfall and set off on our way. We rendezvoused (spelling?) in Takebe, some leaving and some staying for more Nabe, and then Vicki andI headed back to Katsuyama for her train via Rachel's and a chance to watch Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Always a pleasure, never a chore.
Anyway, this week's been fine. Eikaiwa on Tuesday coupled with the reincarnation of my laptop made for a special day, and a trip to JoyFull (this time in Ochiai) last night with Cheryl helped me to stay up past my bedtime again. So tonight I will get to bed early. After dinner with Christine in Wakaba that is...
Anyway, the weekend was a gem. Most likely an emerald with a bit of tipp-ex on it. After a second trip to Joyfull with Cheryl on Thursday, I decided that Friday should be a stay-in-and-clean night. Except that I got distracted and ended up in an Izakaya with Nao chan, Papa san and Oji san and ended up going to bed at around 10pm. Yay for early nights! So Saturday morning became frenzied cleaning morning as I rushed to hoover, wash and polish, cleaning the windows for the second time in 18 months and slamming my fingers in them for good measure. Ooh. Slice of finger-skin anyone? And it was all done just in time for the visitors. Cheryl (whose nickname may change again as Cheryl sounds a bit crap) rolled up to my ritzy mansion with Betsy, Bob and Adam in tow, and after dropping their luggage at mine we all set off to Yubara onsen, Okayama's famous outdoor onsen. Betsy and I were not wanting to take part in the outdoor nude frollicking, so we left the others in the company of 6 highly immodest male Japanese pensioners and their dried fruits and climbed a nearby mountain. We had to stop half way up as the snow was a bit too deep for our non-walking shoes and we were never quite sure how far underneath us the ground was...
Vicki was waiting for us when we got back to Katsuyama, and after dropping some personnel at my luxury apartment (tm) we headed out to the supermarket for food only to be accosted by Nao chan who was bearing gifts of vegetables, chocolate and ichigo daifuku. She knows me well. So we stuffed our faces with nabe then headed out to Uenodan, the newest cafe in town, and enjoyed non-alcoholic beverages before being turned away from karaoke "because it was full". I have a sneaking suspicion that I may have confused them when I unintentionally asked for "karaoke, 60 people 1 year please!" as opposed to "6 people one hour please". It's a simple mistake to make. If you are stupid. One hundred d'ohs to me! Curses! So we returned to mine and ate and drank tea and wine and eventually passed out with plans set for the morning.
Sunday was monkey day as the group visited Kanba waterfalls and saw well over 100 monkeys- apparently they are macaques. Whatever brand they were they were looking desperate as they foraged for food in the snow. So we took the customary photos, viewed the waterfall and set off on our way. We rendezvoused (spelling?) in Takebe, some leaving and some staying for more Nabe, and then Vicki andI headed back to Katsuyama for her train via Rachel's and a chance to watch Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Always a pleasure, never a chore.
Anyway, this week's been fine. Eikaiwa on Tuesday coupled with the reincarnation of my laptop made for a special day, and a trip to JoyFull (this time in Ochiai) last night with Cheryl helped me to stay up past my bedtime again. So tonight I will get to bed early. After dinner with Christine in Wakaba that is...
Friday, January 20, 2006
"Sayonara Kamikaze"...
is no doubt what I will be screaming on Monday as I throw my laptop off my fourth-floor balcony. It has decided it hates me and doesn't want to work. It really doesn't want to work. So much so that when I tried to format the hard-drive last night it told me that there wasn't a hard-drive installed. AAAARGH! and such like. Anyway, I am having a last ditch attempt to get it going again before I strip it down and sell the individual pieces as British artworks at a local craft fair.
It's been a funny old week really. Last Thursday I pulled a muscle or fifty in my back/ shoulder/ arm area so that I couldn't turn my head to the right, couldn't lie down comfortably and couldn't move in certain directions. Driving was clearly not an option so I stayed in watching episodes of "Lost" on my pre-death laptop and gorging on the chocolate I'd brought from England to give to schools (d'oh!). Until Sunday when the laptop died and I decided I had to venture out. I went to Tsuyama city which is increasingly a non-event. I struggled to fill 2 hours with activities. Indeed the highlight was going to a Lawson's I haven't been to before and it wasn't even that nice.
Monday was saved by the cleaning lady (a.k.a. the lady of no apparent job-description who does random things but is possibly the nicest person in the school) who brought in mochi (rice balls), cooked them and served them with shiruan (red-bean paste soup) and seaweed and kinako powder. Served them to me that is. I was full before lunch but still managed to eat on.
Our eikaiwa met on Tuesday at the brewery where *please remember I am not an alcoholic before you continue reading* we had a party and I got drunk. Oops. It was a new year's/ birthday party (for me) so I was entitled to drink lots, and they had Hoegaarden beer (yum yum YUUUUM) and lots of meaty foods which I couldn't eat. But the plaice was lovely...
Wednesday and Thursday were Joyful. With 2 'l's. Both evenings Rachel and I met in Takahashi's JoyFull (family restaurant) for dinner and unintended Japanese practice courtesy of the drink's bar tickets with games for the under 10s printed on them. We could understand 1 of the games! Yay! We couldn't understand the other 3. Boo!
Actually wednesday was a very good day courtesy of Kusakabe elementary school where the kindergarten kids were almost fighting during the games we played, I had a very interesting discussion about religion and science and "intelligent design" (dodgy new "scientific" theory to prove Adam and Eve as opposed to Darwinism which is being taught in some American schools) and then to top it all off we made- yes MADE- ichigo daifuku from scratch. It was amazing and they tasted great. I should know- I ate 5. Still that's 5 strawberries which means I had my five portions of fruit for the day (in fact I had orange juice for breakfast and a salad for tea, so I must be up to about 63 portions which means I don't have to eat any more until March).
And today I'm at school lamenting the fact that it's a new year, my hair needs re-perming, my laptop's buggered and either I have turned into a pre-weightloss Oprah and squished the seat on my bike or someone's been driving over it repeatedly while I've not been looking. I'll be spying from the window at the weekend...
It's been a funny old week really. Last Thursday I pulled a muscle or fifty in my back/ shoulder/ arm area so that I couldn't turn my head to the right, couldn't lie down comfortably and couldn't move in certain directions. Driving was clearly not an option so I stayed in watching episodes of "Lost" on my pre-death laptop and gorging on the chocolate I'd brought from England to give to schools (d'oh!). Until Sunday when the laptop died and I decided I had to venture out. I went to Tsuyama city which is increasingly a non-event. I struggled to fill 2 hours with activities. Indeed the highlight was going to a Lawson's I haven't been to before and it wasn't even that nice.
Monday was saved by the cleaning lady (a.k.a. the lady of no apparent job-description who does random things but is possibly the nicest person in the school) who brought in mochi (rice balls), cooked them and served them with shiruan (red-bean paste soup) and seaweed and kinako powder. Served them to me that is. I was full before lunch but still managed to eat on.
Our eikaiwa met on Tuesday at the brewery where *please remember I am not an alcoholic before you continue reading* we had a party and I got drunk. Oops. It was a new year's/ birthday party (for me) so I was entitled to drink lots, and they had Hoegaarden beer (yum yum YUUUUM) and lots of meaty foods which I couldn't eat. But the plaice was lovely...
Wednesday and Thursday were Joyful. With 2 'l's. Both evenings Rachel and I met in Takahashi's JoyFull (family restaurant) for dinner and unintended Japanese practice courtesy of the drink's bar tickets with games for the under 10s printed on them. We could understand 1 of the games! Yay! We couldn't understand the other 3. Boo!
Actually wednesday was a very good day courtesy of Kusakabe elementary school where the kindergarten kids were almost fighting during the games we played, I had a very interesting discussion about religion and science and "intelligent design" (dodgy new "scientific" theory to prove Adam and Eve as opposed to Darwinism which is being taught in some American schools) and then to top it all off we made- yes MADE- ichigo daifuku from scratch. It was amazing and they tasted great. I should know- I ate 5. Still that's 5 strawberries which means I had my five portions of fruit for the day (in fact I had orange juice for breakfast and a salad for tea, so I must be up to about 63 portions which means I don't have to eat any more until March).
And today I'm at school lamenting the fact that it's a new year, my hair needs re-perming, my laptop's buggered and either I have turned into a pre-weightloss Oprah and squished the seat on my bike or someone's been driving over it repeatedly while I've not been looking. I'll be spying from the window at the weekend...
Friday, January 13, 2006
Do you see? DO YOU SEE? (Apparently the schoolgirls did today at a school we visited. I disagree though. For a start the glasses are nothing alike. And I wasn't even wearing them...)
Actually looking at that picture I think I need to be touched up- no, no NO! I mean as in airbrushed. You dirty-minded people.
3 points:
1) I should NEVER be employed as an ambassador to England. At one of my elementary schools yesterday, I was asked to do a conversation class. They wanted to practice listening and comprehension and asked me to talk about my Christmas holiday. Firstly I led them to believe that I am a raging alcoholic which is blatantly untrue. A binge drinker maybe, but an alcoholic, no. Secondly, I told them Henry the 8th invented protestantism because the Catholic church wouldn't let him have a divorce (kind of true...) and somehow made them think that Catholics and Protestants were at war in England (oops) and then (possibly by telling them that I'd spent £650 on booze and food in the two weeks at home) made them think that the UK is unreasonably expensive. This is Japan! Land of expense!
2) Possibly the funniest thing that happened at Christmas was at midnight mass when the priest (a) lied and (b) was quite hilariously cruel. The lie came in thanking the choir for their beautiful singing which was beautiful in the sense that poo is pretty and smells nice. I.e. it wasn't. Now, the priest is Polish so his English isn't quite perfect. But I think he knew what he saying when he wished a veneral disease on the parishioners who decorated the church: "and also to the parishioners who decorated the church we should give the clap". Indeed.
3) On Wednesday at elementary school a man came to the external teachers' room door. This is not strange.
He was wearing a security guard type outfit. This too is not strange.
He wanted to speak to the headmistress and was clutching a pink and black gift bag. This seemed slightly odd.
He appeared to be wearing red lipstick, eyeliner and have used an eyelash brush thing. This was very strange.
Everyone went "aww" as he handed over the bag, and I sat there wondering if I'd bought the wrong mushrooms at the supermarket.
That's all.
2) Possibly the funniest thing that happened at Christmas was at midnight mass when the priest (a) lied and (b) was quite hilariously cruel. The lie came in thanking the choir for their beautiful singing which was beautiful in the sense that poo is pretty and smells nice. I.e. it wasn't. Now, the priest is Polish so his English isn't quite perfect. But I think he knew what he saying when he wished a veneral disease on the parishioners who decorated the church: "and also to the parishioners who decorated the church we should give the clap". Indeed.
3) On Wednesday at elementary school a man came to the external teachers' room door. This is not strange.
He was wearing a security guard type outfit. This too is not strange.
He wanted to speak to the headmistress and was clutching a pink and black gift bag. This seemed slightly odd.
He appeared to be wearing red lipstick, eyeliner and have used an eyelash brush thing. This was very strange.
Everyone went "aww" as he handed over the bag, and I sat there wondering if I'd bought the wrong mushrooms at the supermarket.
That's all.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
All change!
Well, it's 2006! Exciting! Fresh! New! What's the best way to start the new year? If you choose to follow my life-plan for a lethargy and booze filled new-year there are some easy steps you need to follow.
1) Manage to scupper all plans for going out on New Years Day and end up not leaving the house.
2) For the rest of the week: Eat everything you see (except for the wallpaper. If you eat the wallpaper you've got a syndrome. Get to the doctor's NOW!)
3) Drink. Drink like there's no tomorrow. Drink so much that there may well be no tomorrow.
4) Hand over cash, credit cards and debit cards whenever asked without question. It's only money!!?
This summarises the last week. A scheduling nightmare was avoided although no time was allocated to make phone calls. Indepent investigations are ongoing, and this will be included should such a schedule be required again.
Monday the 2nd of January was planned as a 3 visit day, but due to Megan's bad hangover things were changed and I ended up meeting Mandy in Oxford St for shopping and coffee and self-help tips (how to get your man, how to lose weight and eat healthily and why he just isn't that into you). We went to meet Megan and give her birthday presents and ended up eating and drinking more in a pub in Herne Hill, and a few pints later I was slightly smashed and on my way back into town to meet Mark on Oxford St (the centre of my London life). We headed to Old Compton street and hit up a few bars (Friendly Society, Village) without actually hitting anyone (that wouldn't have been popular) and after catching up and drinking some more I was staggering back to the tubes for that perfect last-train experience.
Tuesday was half family day, half drinking experience, although you could argue that visiting Romford increases your desire to drink and that therefore it wasn't my fault. Ma and Pa and I headed out in the rain to visit the sales in Romford and had a good wander round the shops and a big Pizza Hut buffet lunch. I managed to avoid the sale racks in H&M, being drawn immediately to the full price merchandise (being high class as what I am). But then full price in H&M is still only barely above jumble sale prices.
The evening was spent satisfying my desire for Japanese food as I met Paul, Kasumi, Juliette and Kay and we visited TenTenTei, a marvellous Japanese resturant in Soho where Kasumi and I gorged on Sashimi and she asked the million dollar question- does it taste as good as in Japan, and I could answer like a knowledgeable man/ smug buffoon "oh no, in Japan it is much tastier." It was true though, but it was still gorgeous. And after dinner we hit the pub- yay for drinking- and talked about Japan and Christmas and holiday plans. A lovely evening. And thanks again Juliette for the big box of Thornton's choclits (I inhaled them in approximately 15 minutes. Mmm)
Wednesday was another busy one with a quick trip to my last job to say hello and then lunch with glamorous Silvana. This was noteable as we actually managed to not drink alcohol (very rare for a meet-up in this short holiday) and we talked about plans for the future, chemical hair straightening and men. All the important issues. And then I headed off to Lyn's to catch her before she starts her trip to Australia (very exciting- I am just slightly jealous) where I was surprised by a visit from Christina. It was like the Benetton family reunited once again. After clearing her out of cakes and biscuits I buggered off back to Ilford to meet Neil, Rachael, Roland, Katrina and Simon in Jono's an Irish pub (which doesn't seem to have an Irish theme, just Irish customers) and guess what? We drank. Quickly. We had to- we were going to a Lebanese restaurant where they didn't serve drink. Through the course of the meal I was offended by the fact that no-one liked Girls Aloud ("bunch of slags" was the term used if I recall correctly), Simon was offended when I stated the Take That reunion was better off without that *insert expletive* Robbie and Katrina was offended when we all said Angelina Jolie was way hotter than Jennifer Aniston. After eating tonnes and having the usual laughter-filled conversation about Stephen Hawking it was time to go. Boo!
The shopping continued in earnest on Thursday with a family trip to Bluewater for me and Ma, John and Sarah and baby Amelia (who was amazingly good and didn't cry the whole day- and it was a long shopping day). It was a day of great company and good bargains as I found out that Monsoon sold men's clothes and proceeded to buy half the store (kindly assisted by John and Sarah who bought me a lovely coat for my birthday). Ma treated us all to lunch (which, of course, was big) and Amelia gurgled and cooed through most of the shops.
That evening I headed back up west to -you've guessed it- Oxford Street to meet Rachel for a drink and a bite to eat where once again I ended up sloshed and she told me she also didn't like Girls Aloud. Boo! But we had a great night and I regretted not putting my finger to lip to cover my crater like cold-sore when I asked someone to take our photo.
Friday was my 30th birthday and it marked the first time I organised a do for myself. It also marked a new benchmark in gluttony as after a breakfast of chocolate and crumpets it was soon time for lunch and we headed out for a family meal to the Terrace, a very nice but expensive restaurant in Hornchurch. I hadn't been planning a three course lunch, but it was sooo delicious. Squid, swordfish, lemon torte... Mmm... But with only 3 hours between meals I was wondering how I'd fit the Turkish in later. And I needn't have. Meeting Mandy, Lizzy, Kofi and Emily on the way we were soon at Grand Bazaar on James Street (near Bond St tube) with Megan, Matt, Eugene, 2 of his Japanese friends and a very swish looking Verity. It was great to see Emily again- she is always well-turned out and funny, and Verity proved worthy of her umpteen nicknames (although she too doesn't like Girls Aloud. What's wrong with you all?!) The food at this place is gorgeous, served in big, big portions and more than reasonably priced, so we gorged again. And then headed on to Revolution in Soho (very expensive bar) where we would meet Kofi's girlfriend who was also celebrating her birthday, and my friend Mark. After a few drinks I was once again sloshed and people started heading off. Mark and I walked Verity to the tube station and then headed to GAY bar (hmm, what type of bar is that?) where we drunkenly danced to old pop music and sneered at a fat bird who kept getting in the way. And the only way to folloow that is to head to GAY club (hmm, what type of club is that?) where we danced to old songs and I demonstrated my lack of cool by preforming accurate dance routines for Whigfield's "Saturday Night" and also "the Macarena". We left at 2 as I had a long bus journey home (1 hour 15mins on the bus and then a half hour walk- boo! But I had a good 30th birthday and strangely feel no different to how I did when I was 29...
The last full day of the holiday was spent buying souvenirs in Ilford and then heading to Megan's for dinner with Megan and Mandy before going to watch that gay cowboy film ("Brokeback Mountain") which was actually quite depressing and tragic. But dinner was great and it's been ages since I've been to the cinema. And after rushing to get the tube back to London Bridge I took a leisurely stroll around the City of London (ie the financial district) and took lots of photos of buildings to cement my tourist status.
Sunday was spent packing and visiting Sarah, John and Amelia and flying back to Japan. Boo! but Yay also. A bit. I miss you all, so bloody well email me!
1) Manage to scupper all plans for going out on New Years Day and end up not leaving the house.
2) For the rest of the week: Eat everything you see (except for the wallpaper. If you eat the wallpaper you've got a syndrome. Get to the doctor's NOW!)
3) Drink. Drink like there's no tomorrow. Drink so much that there may well be no tomorrow.
4) Hand over cash, credit cards and debit cards whenever asked without question. It's only money!!?
This summarises the last week. A scheduling nightmare was avoided although no time was allocated to make phone calls. Indepent investigations are ongoing, and this will be included should such a schedule be required again.
Monday the 2nd of January was planned as a 3 visit day, but due to Megan's bad hangover things were changed and I ended up meeting Mandy in Oxford St for shopping and coffee and self-help tips (how to get your man, how to lose weight and eat healthily and why he just isn't that into you). We went to meet Megan and give her birthday presents and ended up eating and drinking more in a pub in Herne Hill, and a few pints later I was slightly smashed and on my way back into town to meet Mark on Oxford St (the centre of my London life). We headed to Old Compton street and hit up a few bars (Friendly Society, Village) without actually hitting anyone (that wouldn't have been popular) and after catching up and drinking some more I was staggering back to the tubes for that perfect last-train experience.
Tuesday was half family day, half drinking experience, although you could argue that visiting Romford increases your desire to drink and that therefore it wasn't my fault. Ma and Pa and I headed out in the rain to visit the sales in Romford and had a good wander round the shops and a big Pizza Hut buffet lunch. I managed to avoid the sale racks in H&M, being drawn immediately to the full price merchandise (being high class as what I am). But then full price in H&M is still only barely above jumble sale prices.
The evening was spent satisfying my desire for Japanese food as I met Paul, Kasumi, Juliette and Kay and we visited TenTenTei, a marvellous Japanese resturant in Soho where Kasumi and I gorged on Sashimi and she asked the million dollar question- does it taste as good as in Japan, and I could answer like a knowledgeable man/ smug buffoon "oh no, in Japan it is much tastier." It was true though, but it was still gorgeous. And after dinner we hit the pub- yay for drinking- and talked about Japan and Christmas and holiday plans. A lovely evening. And thanks again Juliette for the big box of Thornton's choclits (I inhaled them in approximately 15 minutes. Mmm)
Wednesday was another busy one with a quick trip to my last job to say hello and then lunch with glamorous Silvana. This was noteable as we actually managed to not drink alcohol (very rare for a meet-up in this short holiday) and we talked about plans for the future, chemical hair straightening and men. All the important issues. And then I headed off to Lyn's to catch her before she starts her trip to Australia (very exciting- I am just slightly jealous) where I was surprised by a visit from Christina. It was like the Benetton family reunited once again. After clearing her out of cakes and biscuits I buggered off back to Ilford to meet Neil, Rachael, Roland, Katrina and Simon in Jono's an Irish pub (which doesn't seem to have an Irish theme, just Irish customers) and guess what? We drank. Quickly. We had to- we were going to a Lebanese restaurant where they didn't serve drink. Through the course of the meal I was offended by the fact that no-one liked Girls Aloud ("bunch of slags" was the term used if I recall correctly), Simon was offended when I stated the Take That reunion was better off without that *insert expletive* Robbie and Katrina was offended when we all said Angelina Jolie was way hotter than Jennifer Aniston. After eating tonnes and having the usual laughter-filled conversation about Stephen Hawking it was time to go. Boo!
The shopping continued in earnest on Thursday with a family trip to Bluewater for me and Ma, John and Sarah and baby Amelia (who was amazingly good and didn't cry the whole day- and it was a long shopping day). It was a day of great company and good bargains as I found out that Monsoon sold men's clothes and proceeded to buy half the store (kindly assisted by John and Sarah who bought me a lovely coat for my birthday). Ma treated us all to lunch (which, of course, was big) and Amelia gurgled and cooed through most of the shops.
That evening I headed back up west to -you've guessed it- Oxford Street to meet Rachel for a drink and a bite to eat where once again I ended up sloshed and she told me she also didn't like Girls Aloud. Boo! But we had a great night and I regretted not putting my finger to lip to cover my crater like cold-sore when I asked someone to take our photo.
Friday was my 30th birthday and it marked the first time I organised a do for myself. It also marked a new benchmark in gluttony as after a breakfast of chocolate and crumpets it was soon time for lunch and we headed out for a family meal to the Terrace, a very nice but expensive restaurant in Hornchurch. I hadn't been planning a three course lunch, but it was sooo delicious. Squid, swordfish, lemon torte... Mmm... But with only 3 hours between meals I was wondering how I'd fit the Turkish in later. And I needn't have. Meeting Mandy, Lizzy, Kofi and Emily on the way we were soon at Grand Bazaar on James Street (near Bond St tube) with Megan, Matt, Eugene, 2 of his Japanese friends and a very swish looking Verity. It was great to see Emily again- she is always well-turned out and funny, and Verity proved worthy of her umpteen nicknames (although she too doesn't like Girls Aloud. What's wrong with you all?!) The food at this place is gorgeous, served in big, big portions and more than reasonably priced, so we gorged again. And then headed on to Revolution in Soho (very expensive bar) where we would meet Kofi's girlfriend who was also celebrating her birthday, and my friend Mark. After a few drinks I was once again sloshed and people started heading off. Mark and I walked Verity to the tube station and then headed to GAY bar (hmm, what type of bar is that?) where we drunkenly danced to old pop music and sneered at a fat bird who kept getting in the way. And the only way to folloow that is to head to GAY club (hmm, what type of club is that?) where we danced to old songs and I demonstrated my lack of cool by preforming accurate dance routines for Whigfield's "Saturday Night" and also "the Macarena". We left at 2 as I had a long bus journey home (1 hour 15mins on the bus and then a half hour walk- boo! But I had a good 30th birthday and strangely feel no different to how I did when I was 29...
The last full day of the holiday was spent buying souvenirs in Ilford and then heading to Megan's for dinner with Megan and Mandy before going to watch that gay cowboy film ("Brokeback Mountain") which was actually quite depressing and tragic. But dinner was great and it's been ages since I've been to the cinema. And after rushing to get the tube back to London Bridge I took a leisurely stroll around the City of London (ie the financial district) and took lots of photos of buildings to cement my tourist status.
Sunday was spent packing and visiting Sarah, John and Amelia and flying back to Japan. Boo! but Yay also. A bit. I miss you all, so bloody well email me!
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Reunion!
It was 10 years ago last September that we started university in Manchester, so our group of friends decided to have a reunion to mark the occasion. Unfortunately Dhanusha couldn't make it, but we muddled on as you do. After all, whether it's an Argentine model, 20 year old botox clinician or a waiter in an Indian restaurant who gives you vimto lollies with the request that you think of him "whenever you suck one", Manchester ALWAYS guarantees a good time.
Now, I went up early to see old work friends and spent Tuesday night with Sara, visiting Emma and finally seeing her new son Jake. Sara took me for my first ever Salford precinct shopping experience where we saw two slightly feral people going at it in the exchange and refunds queue in Argos. Britain is marvelous. And we spent the evening catching up on gossip and getting googly-eyed over videos of Take That.
On Wednesday Cathy, Kofi, Meg H, Lizzie, Matt, Jo and Megan and Nico made their way to the city centre for the start of our 2 day booze-orgy- sorry- reunion. Seeing as three snowflakes had fallen across the country (well, 10cms of snow in some places) transport was up the creek a bit and it took some time to gather everyone together, but pretty soon we were in Canal street's Velvet enjoying fine food and conversation. The alcohol unfortunately flowed too quickly and certain persons (ie me) were drunk rather quickly. But it was for the best as we headed to Via Fossa and danced and drank and I made new friends with a man who worked in a botox clinic and still thought I was 23 (Mediterranean skin, what can I say...). The not nice part of England is sometimes things are appropriated by other people, and some girls decided they liked Nico's coat, so unsurprisingly he wasn't best pleased and he, Megan, Matt and Lizzy headed off back to the hostel leaving the rest of us to bar hop. So it was off to Spirit, then for me and my botox-friend Manto's and finally Cruz 101 for a dance and some more.
Thursday was another good day, starting with the necessary shopping and continuing with food in Wagamama's (yes, I am missing Japanese food) and then more drink in the Northern Quarter where we entertained ourselves with crosswords and puzzles and Jo and I invented the "MossWord" which we really should have kept for posterity, but as it was rather obscene Meg H decided we should dispose of it...
Our plan for the evening was more food, so we headed off to Rusholme for more drink in Hardy's Well (an old pub we used to go to) and then headed to an Indian restaurant where we ordered too much food. I think my declaration of love for dahl may have led to the waiter asking me to remember him when sucking lollies. If I had any class I would feel dirty.
After curry everyone headed back to the pub except for Meg H and I who wandered back to the hostel taking in the University, our would halls and old haunts and marveling at the change since we left 6 years ago.
On Friday we parted ways, and after some time shopping, I headed to Stretford to meet Susan for the last rendezvous of the trip. And what a rendezvous. Susan wanted to go out in Chorlton but I whined like a child about wanting to go out in town, so after some gin and tequila at theirs we did both. We headed to Chorlton and met Penny briefly in Bar and then headed to the Wetherspoon pub, then to Iguana bar (where a certain person made nasty comments about the night's performer) and then we got a cab into town, heading to Essential, Manchester's big gay club, and I started dancing like a maniac while Susan and Lyndsey drank and Susan intermittently stated she wanted to go but would then forget and buy another drink. Yay! for alcohol.
So on Saturday I headed back to London with the marvel of trains running on time and reaching their destination early, just so that I could sit in on New Year's Eve watching telly with Ma and Pa. Except being almost a pensioner myself I fell asleep at about 10:30 and was most grumpy when I awoke shortly after...
Happy New Year!
Now, I went up early to see old work friends and spent Tuesday night with Sara, visiting Emma and finally seeing her new son Jake. Sara took me for my first ever Salford precinct shopping experience where we saw two slightly feral people going at it in the exchange and refunds queue in Argos. Britain is marvelous. And we spent the evening catching up on gossip and getting googly-eyed over videos of Take That.
On Wednesday Cathy, Kofi, Meg H, Lizzie, Matt, Jo and Megan and Nico made their way to the city centre for the start of our 2 day booze-orgy- sorry- reunion. Seeing as three snowflakes had fallen across the country (well, 10cms of snow in some places) transport was up the creek a bit and it took some time to gather everyone together, but pretty soon we were in Canal street's Velvet enjoying fine food and conversation. The alcohol unfortunately flowed too quickly and certain persons (ie me) were drunk rather quickly. But it was for the best as we headed to Via Fossa and danced and drank and I made new friends with a man who worked in a botox clinic and still thought I was 23 (Mediterranean skin, what can I say...). The not nice part of England is sometimes things are appropriated by other people, and some girls decided they liked Nico's coat, so unsurprisingly he wasn't best pleased and he, Megan, Matt and Lizzy headed off back to the hostel leaving the rest of us to bar hop. So it was off to Spirit, then for me and my botox-friend Manto's and finally Cruz 101 for a dance and some more.
Thursday was another good day, starting with the necessary shopping and continuing with food in Wagamama's (yes, I am missing Japanese food) and then more drink in the Northern Quarter where we entertained ourselves with crosswords and puzzles and Jo and I invented the "MossWord" which we really should have kept for posterity, but as it was rather obscene Meg H decided we should dispose of it...
Our plan for the evening was more food, so we headed off to Rusholme for more drink in Hardy's Well (an old pub we used to go to) and then headed to an Indian restaurant where we ordered too much food. I think my declaration of love for dahl may have led to the waiter asking me to remember him when sucking lollies. If I had any class I would feel dirty.
After curry everyone headed back to the pub except for Meg H and I who wandered back to the hostel taking in the University, our would halls and old haunts and marveling at the change since we left 6 years ago.
On Friday we parted ways, and after some time shopping, I headed to Stretford to meet Susan for the last rendezvous of the trip. And what a rendezvous. Susan wanted to go out in Chorlton but I whined like a child about wanting to go out in town, so after some gin and tequila at theirs we did both. We headed to Chorlton and met Penny briefly in Bar and then headed to the Wetherspoon pub, then to Iguana bar (where a certain person made nasty comments about the night's performer) and then we got a cab into town, heading to Essential, Manchester's big gay club, and I started dancing like a maniac while Susan and Lyndsey drank and Susan intermittently stated she wanted to go but would then forget and buy another drink. Yay! for alcohol.
So on Saturday I headed back to London with the marvel of trains running on time and reaching their destination early, just so that I could sit in on New Year's Eve watching telly with Ma and Pa. Except being almost a pensioner myself I fell asleep at about 10:30 and was most grumpy when I awoke shortly after...
Happy New Year!
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