Sleepy, unshowered us. I have a new sympathy for homeless people.
We exited the crowded car with slight difficulty at Green Park station and set out for our hotel, which apparently masquerades as Awesome. The doorman in a wool coat and bowler hat instantly made us self-conscious about our fur-lined Hollister hoodies and scrubby jeans. What's new... But our new digs are so swanky, they deserve a post all their own so I will get around to that.
Olivia apparently thinks ~50-degree rainy London in March is comparable in temperature to, I dunno, New York around Christmastime or something.
Like I told Olivia earlier today, maybe some other girls manage to pull off glamorous jetsetting... we only ever seem to take the wackiest, silliest photos. ^_^
Look how bright and sunny!!
This was my first real chance to experience city traffic patterns, and I was surprised to find London drivers way crazier/more intense than I expected. I don't know what I thought I'd see, but it was crazier than whatever I imagined. I've seen multiple delivery courier trucks hop up over the edge of the curb as they turn, people are super speedy on a wide variety of vehicles... and I must say, the "look left" and "look right" notices on the ground are probably what's kept me alive so far.
We finally found Wagamama, which is a Japanese/Asian-inspired global eatery chain. My first visit - but it's apparently a big thing in the UK.
We felt like total newbies because we walked in, didn't know if we were supposed to seat ourselves in the cafeteria-like atmosphere (just now realizing I should've taken a photo), took tons of pictures, are tiny Asian girls... etc. etc. (This size thing really is bugging me here - I feel dwarfy) We were really excited for ramen, so I went with chicken and Olivia got the Wagamama ramen special.
While we waited for it to arrive, we made ourselves obnoxious with constant photo-taking so we could push through as much jet lag as possible. Dear London, we apologize for being so American. :|
Our food finally arrived.... it looked so, so good.
Olivia's
UNFORTUNATELY... it was not!! OMG. Nothing about it was good. The broth was bland, the noodles ridiculously floury (they tasted uncooked, seriously), the bean sprout things were lackluster and the chicken breast was dry. Olivia's broth was slightly better, but I'm not a huge seafood-flavor fan so it didn't do me much good. We didn't finish our food, and we told the waiter it was because we were full. I don't think I've ever found myself physically incapable of eating a bowl of noodles before (for reasons other than fullness). It was a very sad moment... Noodles have been one of my very top favorite foods since childhood. :(
DISAPPOINTING, I SAY.
This about sums it up. We walked home very sad.
I found this sign that advertises the world's most exciting nightclub or something. I've been working at IJM too long, because it just reeks of sex slavery to me. ^_^
On the way home, we stopped at Boots for some cold sore cream for Olivia. I'm sorry that I compare all of my travel experiences to one another... but Boots is exactly like Watson's in Asia. If you've never been to one of these pharmacy/drugstore/household good stores before, they're not quite like Walgreen's or CVS. They're usually a little cuter/hipper, with kitschier design, and characterized by tons of little organizing bins and shelves selling very categorized items. (Now I think I should take some photos of this for visual illustration... We'll work on it)
We also stopped in at the Tie Rack, which was disappointing in terms of neckwear offerings. I did, however, pick up some birthday gifts of awesome.
After an spontaneous and accidental nap due to jet lag and some rolling around/uploading photos/bumming on the Internet, we set forth for The Only Running Footman, a pub which apparently garnered pretty decent reviews on Yelp. We were not so fortunate with the directions this time around, which resulted in us wandering about on Regent Street for a while.
We gave up after a while and ended up here instead.
I refer you to my earlier comment about us never having normal photos.
It was good times! Olivia had been instructed to try Doom Bar beer, and I went for an Amstel Light. Pretty delicious for beer.
It took us forever to find a table! We couldn't order food until we had one, too. Lame. We ordered steak/ale and cauliflower mini pies, and also had fish and chips. Then we met these eight Belgian guys who apparently get together every time one of them turns 40... The guy in the leather jacket had come up to London for a concert... and when he came out, the other seven of them were outside waiting to surprise him. Isn't that awesome?? Anyway, we had a great time talking with them, even though they told terrible jokes. :(
We stole his poser glasses for some nerdy photos.
After we got home, we danced to a Journey music video on TV, in our hotel room, for a really long time, amongst [many] other things... Such as, um, attempting the Ab Ripper track of Olivia's P90X. Also, we are never going to our hotel bar again... The bartenders were total jerks, and the drinks were RIDICULOUSLY PRICY. £25 for a white Russian and a screwdriver! Not going back.
The rest of the evening is not fit for public consumption. :| But oh, it was epic. :(
We woke up today and can't stop laughing over the awful videos.
So that is the story of our caloric consumption for the day, and where it led us.
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