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Hail Brittania!
I kept a journal while I was with flidget so that I wouldn't forget all the awesome things we did or saw, and that later I wouldn't forget which big ornate white building I had in this picture or that picture. Looking back through them, I thought that really they weren't so bad, though they're no ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thorne_scratch posts.
But anyway, here's
April 19th/20th
The parking lot at the airport was absolutely packed, but hardly anyone was inside. I did the self check-in...or rather, my dad did. He barely let me even hit any of the buttons on the kiosk. It really made me feel all of 5 years old. I got in the wrong line going through security, and had to stand in one a machine where they check you for explosive residue. It's like a glaucoma test for your entire body. Very strange.
My gate was the first one in the airport, so there wasn't any walking. Instead I started reading my in-flight book 'Mr. Impossible.' 'Mr. Impossible' by Loretta Chase, is a ridiculous romance novel recommended by the 'Smart Bitches, Trashy Novel’s site. Flidget and I both decided it sounded like a fun book, so I decided to read it on the way there, and then leave it with her. I admit to second thoughts when I actually bought it, as it features a bright, shiny, magenta background with a male figure with a shirt open to the waist. I asked the clerk at Borders if they sold book covers, as I wasn't sure I wanted to be seen in public with it. I'm glad I overcame my snobbery, because it's awesome and hilarious and I highly suggest it to anyone.
The flight was pretty smooth, and shorter than I was afraid of. The only real emergency I had was that my ipod froze in midair. The only way to unfreeze it is to connect it to direct current, so I had to abandon it for the rest of the trip. It wasn't really a problem because there was plenty of in-flight entertainment, and I fully planned to sleep.
Planned being the operative word. Between the excitement and being uncomfortable, I barely got any sleep. However the in-flight entertainment more than made up for it. Everyone on the flight had a private TV screen and a remote control to choose from music, movies and games. My favorite was a trivia game, where you could compete against other passengers. The first round I did miserably, but after awhile I even managed to win a few rounds.
We landed earlier than expected, which was good because Immigration was Hell. I've been through immigration at Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Osaka....nothing, nothing compares to Gatwick. The room for immigration is immense, I'd say about half the size of the auto plant I work for, and it's like an ant farm where you loop around and back and left-right-left. The line filled the entire room, then back up the ramp into the room, out into the hallway, down the entire hallway, and then doubled back on itself. The line moved very quickly (foiling all my attempts to play Puzzle Quest on my DS) and still took about 40 minutes to get through.
I took the Gatwick Express to Victoria Station where I metflidgetjerome who was dressed in a sequined wine-red jacket and ruffled shirt. She is so awesome!
We took a labyrinth of tube stops (or at least it felt like that with my unwieldy luggage) back to Harrow, and her flat which is very tiny, cute and modern. Apparently it used to be office buildings. There were books and bookcases everywhere which made me feel very much at home.
After dashing off an e-mail to friends and family back in America that I made it safe and sound, and having a really good sandwich, Flidget took me out grocery shopping at Marks & Spenser. All I can say is that it was my kind of place, lots of pre-packaged foods. Her neighborhood is awesome. But it was weird now non-foreign it was. I'm used to nothing being in English.
There were American-Indian buskers out in all their feathered-leathered glory. Why didn't I take pictures!? So brain dead. According to Flidget they dress up as different kinds of American Indians, North or South as the occasion requires.
We put the groceries away and went up a hill to 'Harrow on the Hill' and saw the school and grave yard. Most of the architecture is early Jacobean, and you'd never know because it all looks completely modern.
The graveyard was in sad disrepair and very creepy. The inscriptions on most of the headstones have worn away with time. But it was very pretty too. The weather was beautiful and everything was very green.
After the walk we went out for some decent Chinese noodles and I ate something called Sesame Prawns on Toast, which is toast with shrimp paste and sesame seeds on top. Very very strange.
We went back to the flat where I read some Blue Beetles comic (awesome) and Flidget read some Mr. Impossible (awesome) and I had some trifle (awesome). We watched a little TV where there was a show where they had bizarre driving challenges, and I watched the 10th. Doctor from Dr. Who being a terrible, terrible driver.
Then I was so very jetlagged that I went to bed. Goodnight.
thorne_scratch posts. But anyway, here's
April 19th/20th
The parking lot at the airport was absolutely packed, but hardly anyone was inside. I did the self check-in...or rather, my dad did. He barely let me even hit any of the buttons on the kiosk. It really made me feel all of 5 years old. I got in the wrong line going through security, and had to stand in one a machine where they check you for explosive residue. It's like a glaucoma test for your entire body. Very strange.
My gate was the first one in the airport, so there wasn't any walking. Instead I started reading my in-flight book 'Mr. Impossible.' 'Mr. Impossible' by Loretta Chase, is a ridiculous romance novel recommended by the 'Smart Bitches, Trashy Novel’s site. Flidget and I both decided it sounded like a fun book, so I decided to read it on the way there, and then leave it with her. I admit to second thoughts when I actually bought it, as it features a bright, shiny, magenta background with a male figure with a shirt open to the waist. I asked the clerk at Borders if they sold book covers, as I wasn't sure I wanted to be seen in public with it. I'm glad I overcame my snobbery, because it's awesome and hilarious and I highly suggest it to anyone.
The flight was pretty smooth, and shorter than I was afraid of. The only real emergency I had was that my ipod froze in midair. The only way to unfreeze it is to connect it to direct current, so I had to abandon it for the rest of the trip. It wasn't really a problem because there was plenty of in-flight entertainment, and I fully planned to sleep.
Planned being the operative word. Between the excitement and being uncomfortable, I barely got any sleep. However the in-flight entertainment more than made up for it. Everyone on the flight had a private TV screen and a remote control to choose from music, movies and games. My favorite was a trivia game, where you could compete against other passengers. The first round I did miserably, but after awhile I even managed to win a few rounds.
We landed earlier than expected, which was good because Immigration was Hell. I've been through immigration at Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Osaka....nothing, nothing compares to Gatwick. The room for immigration is immense, I'd say about half the size of the auto plant I work for, and it's like an ant farm where you loop around and back and left-right-left. The line filled the entire room, then back up the ramp into the room, out into the hallway, down the entire hallway, and then doubled back on itself. The line moved very quickly (foiling all my attempts to play Puzzle Quest on my DS) and still took about 40 minutes to get through.
I took the Gatwick Express to Victoria Station where I met
flidgetjerome who was dressed in a sequined wine-red jacket and ruffled shirt. She is so awesome!We took a labyrinth of tube stops (or at least it felt like that with my unwieldy luggage) back to Harrow, and her flat which is very tiny, cute and modern. Apparently it used to be office buildings. There were books and bookcases everywhere which made me feel very much at home.
After dashing off an e-mail to friends and family back in America that I made it safe and sound, and having a really good sandwich, Flidget took me out grocery shopping at Marks & Spenser. All I can say is that it was my kind of place, lots of pre-packaged foods. Her neighborhood is awesome. But it was weird now non-foreign it was. I'm used to nothing being in English.
There were American-Indian buskers out in all their feathered-leathered glory. Why didn't I take pictures!? So brain dead. According to Flidget they dress up as different kinds of American Indians, North or South as the occasion requires.
We put the groceries away and went up a hill to 'Harrow on the Hill' and saw the school and grave yard. Most of the architecture is early Jacobean, and you'd never know because it all looks completely modern.
The graveyard was in sad disrepair and very creepy. The inscriptions on most of the headstones have worn away with time. But it was very pretty too. The weather was beautiful and everything was very green.
After the walk we went out for some decent Chinese noodles and I ate something called Sesame Prawns on Toast, which is toast with shrimp paste and sesame seeds on top. Very very strange.
We went back to the flat where I read some Blue Beetles comic (awesome) and Flidget read some Mr. Impossible (awesome) and I had some trifle (awesome). We watched a little TV where there was a show where they had bizarre driving challenges, and I watched the 10th. Doctor from Dr. Who being a terrible, terrible driver.
Then I was so very jetlagged that I went to bed. Goodnight.
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Looking forward to your day by day reports!
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The buskers sound... intriguing.
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The problems only really start when people are expecting to pick me up in return.