Jason's Daily Notes

My mom and uncle, as promised, called me at like 9am and came to my flat by 10am. We were supposed to visit Kew Gardens, properly this time! But I was not in a good condition. I had them sit down (they also had to change their bags) as I forced myself to get ready, which took like an hour. (I also had to wash my sheets and my clothes.) Somehow Mike woke up too and he got ready as we left the flat. We all met up at Stockwell station.

We got to Kew Gardens, walked in, and explored the grounds somewhat thoroughly. It's a big place. We spent a lot of time in the glass houses. I was still really hungover, but I bought 2 litres of water and tried to finish as much of it as possible. I felt bad about basically dumping my mom and uncle onto Mike. I should be better than that.

The weather brought showers throughout the day. We finished the Gardens around 15:30 and were really hungry. I bought a chicken pasta salad from Tesco Express, and then we all had food at a nearby pub right by the station. My mom and Mike and I had mulled cider. Mike's burger looked good; my chili con carne wasn't.

Went back home. But my mom and uncle needed to move their things to the new hotel in Greenwich. Why did I choose such a place for them? It was ordeal to get there, because of the tube closures. No Northern Line, so we took the 133 bus to Bank. There, in the station, I learned that there was no DLR service from Bank to Shadwell! Damnit! Frustrated and exhausted, we gave up and took a taxi. I didn't want to deal with taking the Jubilee line and transferring to the DLR. The taxi cost £20.

We rested in the hotel room, watching some lottery game. I was totally exhausted. I walked with my mom and uncle to the DLR station and said bye - I let them get dinner on their own.

Mike returned!!! He was obviously tired, but we decided to go to Kew Gardens (and use the free tickets anyway).

We met my mom and uncle at Knightsbridge, where my mom had bought a handbag from Burberry. (They had also visited Harrods - on their own! Impressive). Mike had forgotten to bring the printed tickets with him, so we had to find a place to print them out. We walked to South Kensington. Hungry, my mom and uncle ate at a creperie while Mike and I printed out the tickets. They were still finishing their food. We randomly saw Helene there with 2 of her friends visiting from France. Mike and I went to a nearby pub and got mulled cider (which wasn't good).

By the time we left South Ken, it was already past 15:00. This was not good, as the last entry to Kew was at 15:45. Nevertheless, we persisted west on the train to try to make it. We got to Gunnersbury at 15:35 and realized that we would not make it in time, so we turned around. What a waste!!! We had to wait 15 minutes for the next train back. Poor planning! Oh well.

Returned home. Mike and I were tired; I took a small nap. But Mike unpacked and vacuumed his room (Julie had been sleeping there for the last few days). Then, he started napping.

Kayleen had planned that we all have a big night out that evening. She and Julie returned around 20:30 and begun the pre-drinking with a coconut/pineapple punch. I started to join them, and Mike awoke and joined us. For some reason I made myself a triple vodka energy drink. (This would come back to haunt me.)

We went out in Clapham. We had a beer along the way. The pubs were alright, but not packed. We ended up at 4 bars, but I don't remember much at all after the 3rd. But Mike does have all the memories. Either way - not good! I do remember running back to the flat by myself.

Obviously I did not feel good when I woke up in the morning...

Woke up in my mom and uncle's hotel room. We got ready (I didn't shower, whatever) and had breakfast at McDonald's. We went to my flat in Brixton, where Julie and Kayleen were. They apparently went on a Christmas Day tour that took them to many of the same places we were - Stonehenge, the Cotswolds, and Stratford-upon-Avon!

My uncle and I searched for the extra mobile phone (for my mom and uncle to be able to call me), but to no avail! He did have his other phone from the Philippines, so we decided to just buy another SIM card and put it in that phone.

I went to the nearby post office depot to pick up a package that couldn't be delivered to me. (It was my end-of-year cards). We bought a SIM card from the nearby pharmacy. We got on the bus, when my uncle realized that he left the umbrella at the pharmacy. So we got off, walked back, picked up the umbrella, then got on the next bus (133 - because the Northern Line's Bank branch was closed). It was already after 12:00.

We got off a stop before London Bridge, and I walked them around Borough Market. There, we bought several types of food - paella, a duck confit sandwich, an OJ/mango smoothie, and a minced beef skewer baguette. Oh, and my mom got a mulled cider. We spent over £20 on this lunch. Afterwards, I walked them onto London Bridge, and then along the south bank of the river, through Hay's Galleria and past City Hall to Tower Bridge. We took pictures and crossed the bridge to the Tower of London, where I left them to fend for themselves (which they needed; they were relying too much on me and weren't really experiencing London for themselves).

I was feeling really cold (I only wore my ski jacket instead of my usual sweater + coat). I returned home and snuggled up. I decided to relax but somehow also wanted to make use of my travel card, so I ended up past Wandsworth, near Roehampton. I returned to Earl's Court in good time to meet my mom and uncle for dinner at the nearby Filipino restaurant (Sunrise Cafe). They enjoyed talking to the volunteer employee and chef there. I felt like going home, so I did.

We awoke (warm this time; I had turned up the heater) and started packing up to leave the Cotswolds. We tried to finish the leftovers from last night's dinner, but there was simply too much.

With the day ahead of us and London not too far away, I suggested that we got to Stonehenge instead. So we did. Of course, I drove :) It took about 1.5 hours, and I was tested with parking the car in a busy lot as we arrived at the stone age attraction. It was cold, windy, and showery (aka typically English). We paid £7 each, but the admission gave us an audio guide, which helped color the experience. However, the weather was relentless, and being battered by cold rain showers discouraged us from staying longer. We took our pictures, looped around the stones, returned our audio guide and stopped for some hot coffee to warm us up.

I drove us into London (getting out from Stonehenge was also a challenge, as I had to merge onto a busy road while stopped on an incline. I did it, though!). We made it to the M25 easily, but then we hit a wall of traffic, and switching over to the M4 was even worse. The motorway had come to a complete stop. It took maybe 40 minutes to get into London (it's maybe a 5 mile drive). Oh well, we stayed positive; after all, being stuck in stop-and-go traffic is really good driving practice for me.

I dropped my mom off at the hotel by Earl's Court. It's a good-located hotel, but of course the room is tiny, and oddly, you have to leave the room key at the front desk every time you leave the hotel. Then, my uncle and I left to return the car. However, the traffic was also insane. It took 45 minutes just to leave Kensington. We were at a near stop (inching forward) for maybe half an hour! The traffic was almost certainly due to everyone going to the Westfield in Shepherd's Bush for Boxing Day shopping. I drove on the N Circular, skirting around London, and dropped the car off at the rental place.

We were going to take the train back, but soon found out that there were no trains running at all! (There was also a tube strike going on.) So I had to figure out a bus route to take us back to Earl's Court. We ended up taking 4 buses (through Edmonton Green, King's Cross, and Oxford Street/Marble Arch). Luckily we didn't have many bags with us, because the last bus leaving Oxford Street was completely packed with people! It was a very "welcome to London" experience for my uncle.

Exhausted, I decided to just stay over at the hotel room that night (which also saved me the trouble of having to travel back there in the morning anyway).

Christmas day! And we woke up very cold. Apparently the heater hadn't come on. But I was too sleepy to do anything about it; I just snuggled up tighter in my blankets.

We didn't exchange gifts or anything this year, and it was great - less to worry about anyway! :)

We had some breakfast (coffee and pastries) and then set off. Our goal for today: Give me enough practice driving so that I can drive comfortably. It really bothered me that I couldn't drive a stick shift. I had tried it twice already (and failed both times), and it really bothered me that I couldn't get it. I mean, so many millions of other people can drive manual cars, but I can't?! That was simply unacceptable to me. (If you know me well enough, you know that I do not like missing out on things or not knowing things.) The most insulting thing was that everyone told me "it's so easy; it's so fun; I can't believe you prefer automatic Jason." It really taunted me and bothered me. So, I was determined: Even if it would take all day, I would learn how to drive.

It was our first full day in the Cotswolds. We started the day by going to Tesco, stocking up on essentials for our Christmas meals, including steak. (We couldn't buy everything at the Cooperative the day before, as they were closing and already asking us to leave!)

We brought the food back to the house, and we had some lunch, consisting of leftover pasta (half of which I made into a nice carbonara).

Because the days are so short, we had to make the most of the few daylight hours we had. So we rushed out around 12:00 to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. We got there in good time, but there was some traffic as we entered the town itself. We managed to park in a parking structure (on the 3rd floor, in a tight space) and headed directly for the Shakespeare birthplace, which was just a block away. We paid, went through a little exhibit about Shakespeare's life story, and then went outside to the actual house where he was born and raised. There were helpful guides in each room to give us information about what happened in each room. Shakespeare's father was a pretty successful glove maker who sold gloves and other leather goods from a window in their house that opened up onto the street.

We got up, packed up, and left Neath, Wales by 10am. We couldn't find our umbrella. Apparently I had left it at the restaurant/pub last night, but there was no sign of it anywhere.

We packed up our stuff and hit the road again. We didn't get breakfast, though. The plan was to buy some lunch in Cardiff, on our way. My uncle drove, and the driving was easier today, because we had a shorter route and most of it was on the motorway.

I chose a cafe in Cardiff that looked not too central (so as not to intimidate my uncle with difficult driving/parking). It was called Cafe Calcio, a trendy student-focused cafe that was highly rated for its breakfast/brunch offerings. We parked the car (with a little bit of difficulty) about 2 blocks away and walked there. I had "eggs brenedict" - a full English put into the form of eggs benedict. After some confusion, my mom ordered the salmon.

We then walked around the (quiet) area before returning to the car; we all agreed that the houses in that part of town at least reminded us of San Francisco. We then drove out of the city, headed on the M4 east back into England. The weather was cloudy and breezy, with only a few passing moments of showers. We switched over to the M5 headed north and then got off the motorway to head to the Cotswolds. The views were really nice, so we stopped at a turnout to take a few pictures.

Before long, we had arrived at our new home, Bourton-on-the-Water. The key was left under the potted plant by the door, and we quickly settled in.

Since things were bound to close for Christmas, we soon headed out to the nearby Cooperative supermarket to stock up on food (so we wouldn't starve over Christmas!). We got to the store about 10 minutes before they closed for the day (it was Sunday after all, so they closed at 4)!

We spent the evening in the house, watching some TV and preparing a dinner of pasta (bolognese). Uncle really liked the block of English cheddar that he bought.

Woke up in Porthmadog, Wales. I slept pretty well (but I always sleep well when I travel, and generally most other beds are better than mine in my flat in London). My mom, uncle, and I went downstairs to get breakfast. We were the only guests staying in the hotel that night. My uncle and I each ordered a full English breakfast, with my mom getting some fried fish thing. The workers were just cleaning up the pub and getting ready for the day. By 11:00, we were out of the hotel and on our way.

We drove south, stopping by  Harlech Castle. The weather was not cooperating, however: It was foggy, drizzly, windy, and chilly. In such conditions, it was nearly impossible to enjoy the good views of North Wales. Nevertheless, we parked the car, walked over to the castle, and took some pictures. [Note, at this time, several parts of the UK were under flood warnings as heavy rain pelted the region.]

We continued the drive, with rain showers sputtering on and off the whole way. We bypassed Aberystwyth, only stopping for petrol. My uncle was still pretty uncomfortable driving, especially starting and stopping in a busy area. Driving on the opposite side of the narrow country roads was also difficult: The car tended to drift over to the left side, and so I constantly had to yell that we were about to hit the curb or go off the road! Additionally, we wanted to get all our driving done before nightfall, which came very early, around 16:00.

We drove a bit through the interior of Wales, which was hilly but not too noteworthy nonetheless. We were soon in South Wales, on the M4, arriving at our hotel in the small town of Neath by 15:30. The hotel was in the town centre, but luckily there was a car park just for hotel guests a block away. We checked in and moved our stuff into our second-floor room. The room was spacious, with three single beds, one for each of us. We settled in, watching some TV (US X Factor) for a little bit. I also took the time to organize/ my entire email inbox, archiving emails from several years ago!

We were soon hungry, however, so we walked around the town center at 18:00. Everything was already closed, and it was dark and quiet. Rain continued to shower down, so I had to shield my camera from getting rain drops in the lens. We walked around and found another castle overlooking the Morrisons parking lot! (The castle was closed, though.) Eventually we settled on having dinner at the restaurant connected to the hotel. But all the tables were reserved! We just sat in the pub and ate there, while watching Liverpool win 4-0 against Fulham. I had the most amazing burger - it is definitely in the top 5 burgers I have ever had, if not the best ever! It was just the patty, with cheddar on relatively plain bread, but wow, it was delicious. I'll credit it to the restaurant using only Welsh ingredients. Also, I ordered Tatrs and Caws (taters and caws?), which was basically potatoes drenched in a creamy cheese onion sauce. Amazing! My uncle had a steak and my mom had some chicken, neither of which was that great.

Full of beer and food, we settled in to our room and fell asleep relatively early.