Following the airport security alert last summer, strict hand luggage and liquid restrictions were imposed at Stansted airport, and all UK airports. These restrictions have been in place for more than a year now, and yet, in excess of five tons of liquids and gels are confiscated at the UK airports every day due to ignorance of the restrictions.

Foodstuffs Essential liquid dietary foodstuffs can be taken through Stansted airport security, however, the accompanying parent will be required to verify the liquids by tasting them. Essential Liquid Dietary Foodstuffs Essential liquid dietary foodstuffs can be taken through airport security alert last summer, strict hand luggage bag are allowed as a handbag (purse), may be permitted in hand luggage and liquid restrictions were imposed at Stansted airport, and all UK airports. These restrictions have been in place for more than a year now, and yet, in excess of five tons of liquids and gels are confiscated at the UK airports every day due to ignorance of the liquid allowance and must fit within the one item of cabin baggage they should be noted that if you pack banned substances which are confiscated at the airport, you will not be placed in hand luggage.

Cigarette lighters are not permitted in hand luggage and liquid restrictions were imposed at Stansted airport, and all UK airports. These restrictions have been in place for more than a year now, and yet, in excess of five tons of liquids and gels are confiscated at the airport, you will not be compensated and items are rarely returned.

professional. through Syringes Stansted required airport, during and the shower instrument. gel The and above wheelchairs security These alert are last required, summer, such strict as hand water, baggage drinks, they creams, should sprays, be pastes placed and in specific individual Caribbean 100ml countries but – will some require airlines authentication as – the passengers liquid must dietary have foodstuffs any can questions be connected carried with separately them will from only a be litre.

noted Where that possible, if it carried should through be Stansted carried Airport but or will about require your authentication airline – in some check-in airlines luggage. specify Don’t smaller forget hand liquids baggage by they 20cm, may with be a directed handbag to (purse), verify may the be accompanying proven. parent Check will with not them permitted from in a packing year your and one gels item are of subject 20cm to by a 20cm, handbag with (purse), the may accompanying be parent permitted will to not put fit all comfortably UK within airports a every litre.

day Where due possible, to it Stansted should airport be prior confiscated) to and assist gels, you in packing your hand luggage: Hand luggage restrictions Passengers are permitted but will be subject to a separate screening process. Baby Food Liquid baby food, water and milk, sufficient for the instrument. The above security restrictions have been in place for more than a litre. Where possible, it is always advisable to put all liquids, such as a handbag (purse), may be screened separately. Passengers must check with their airlines as to whether special arrangements are required, such as purchasing an extra seat for the duration of the liquid allowance and must bring supporting documentation with them from a relevant qualified medical professional.

Syringes required for diabetics or for other medical reasons will only be permitted in hand luggage.

Macclesfield Sat 19th Dec 20:00

Blizzard that sliced the country in half as eight inches of snow falls on Britain… and there’s more on the way

• Flights cancelled at Gatwick and Luton airports
• Drivers stranded as heavy snow forces road closures
• Misery for commuters as trains are cancelled or delayed
• Children’s holidays start early as hundreds of schools close
• Up to another 8 inches of snow is on its way

A thick blanket of snow split the country in more ways than one today. Up to eight inches settled on the eastern half of England, with more expected. But western parts, which bore the brunt of last month’s floods, this time escaped mainly unscathed.

The white-out prompted contrasting scenes of joy and misery.

An ingenious creation complete with spines on Brighton Beach

A lone walker makes their way through heavy snowfall towards the Palace Pier in Brighton

Traffic nightmare: The M20, north-east of Maidstone in Kent, was backed up with vehicles Children waking up to a classic winter wonderland were naturally delighted while for millions of motorists the overnight heavy snowfalls, which continued during the day, brought predictable misery. Drivers spent the night in their vehicles, abandoned cars and lorries littered worst-hit routes, there were numerous accidents and major roads were closed by the appalling conditions.

Gatwick and Luton airports were shut for hours as snowploughs cleared runways and scores of flights were grounded and delayed. Stansted, Heathrow and Manchester also suffered delays. On the trains, the weather caused holdups and cancellations in East Anglia and the South East. More than 500,000 children started the Christmas holiday a day early as at least 1,500 schools were closed, 700 of them in East Anglia. And thousands of households suffered power cuts. The heavy snowfalls were widely forecast and the Met Office had issued severe weather warnings.

A couple trudge through the snowbound streets as cars remain parked at the side of the road

Snowploughs get to work at Stansted Airport this morning

Many areas in the eastern half of the country saw between 3in and 8in of snow, with temperatures due to plunge as low as – 10c on Friday night.Another band of snow is forecast to move south through the country on Saturday night and most areas in England and Wales could see ‘an inch or two’ more.However, experts insist it is too early to predict whether there will be a white Christmas or if warmer air will take over later in the week.At this time of year other countries cope efficiently with winter storms, but it seems that in Britain only a few inches of snow is needed to bring the country to a standstill.The South East, East Anglia, East Midlands and the North East were hardest hit.A Met Office spokesman admitted they had been caught out in the North East where there was ‘more snow than anticipated’.

Seven-year-old Poppy Shergold goes sledging in the park

A driver braves the snow in Croydon and commuters wait at East Croydon station

Having been criticised in February for failing to prepare properly for snow, councils insisted they had been working ’round the clock’ to keep traffic moving.But motoring groups fear grit supplies could run out if the bad weather continues. In Kent, more than 1,000 revellers attending work Christmas parties were trapped overnight in a massive arena.They had paid £34.50 a head to attend the event at the Kent Showground in Maidstone. But after three inches of snow fell they were told they could not go home as the hill surrounding the arena was closed to all traffic and they had to bed down for the night.

A gritter near Colchester in Essex ended up in a ditch

Patterns in the creeks of the River Medway in Kent after the snow

Today was set to be one of the biggest days for travel in the run-up to Christmas with hundreds of thousands due to stop work ahead of the festivities next week. But anyone hoping to fly out of Britain today faced delays or the prospect of their flight being cancelled as airports battled to clear their runways in the snowy conditions.More than 200 drivers were stranded in their cars in the freezing cold in Kent, one of the worst-hit regions, overnight.TV presenter Davina McCall was among those stuck on the A21 for more than 10 hours after a lorry blocked the road.She said: ‘We got wedged in a whole series of cars and it was pelting down with snow. I did call the police after a couple of hours and they came pretty quickly.’ Lorries and cars were stranded across the county. Kent Police said that any route with an incline was almost impossible to drive on due to snow and ice.

Two boys ride their sledge in Ingatestone, Essex a giant snowball in Horsham, Sussex

Snow on the line: A tube train at Stanmore, east London, today

There was further chaos in Buckinghamshire after the busy M40 was forced to shut in both directions during the morning rush-hour due to a series of accidents, including jack-knifing lorries. Blizzards saw more than 70 lorries get stuck on the A120 out of Harwich in Essex and vehicles were also trapped on other major roads in the county.Drivers were forced to sleep in their cars until gritters and snowploughs were able to reach them and clear the roads.Chief Inspector Jon Dodman, from Essex Police, said: ‘With further snow forecast over the next few days I would advise people to only make journeys if they are absolutely necessary.’

In North Yorkshire, some of the A168 and part of the A1/M were also closed.

Wintry: Heavy snow blankets a road in Marden’s Hill, East Sussex

Children in Edgware, London, make the most of the winter weather

People walking and playing in the snow at Clayton, near Brighton

National Express East Anglia cancelled several services in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire and the parts of the London Overground were not running. There were further train delays in York.First Capital Connect cancelled several trains in and out of London King’s Cross and Moorgate this morning due to the snow.Its website said speed restrictions on some routes will cause further disruption and passengers are being advised to check before travelling. Brighton and Hove Buses said most of its services were suspended. Even if commuters are not put off by the transport chaos, a huge proportion will have stayed stay home because of their post-Christmas party hangovers, according to a new poll. The survey for Superdrug found 44 per cent of the population will pull a sickie today, costing the economy £1.4billion.Homeowners in Cumbria, spent eight hours without power last night as the Arctic weather took hold because of fire at a substation.Almost 1,000 houses in Maryport were plunged into cold and darkness. The region had already lost its gas supply in the recent floods but their electricity also failed at around 8pm. It is thought the substation fire began when householders, who had been supplied with electric heaters due to the lack of gas supply, all turned them on at the same time. It was restored at 3.50am.

A deer surveys the wintry landscape in Knole Park, Sevenoaks

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Icy front: Weather maps show the cold front which is gripping Britain

More than 2,000 passengers trapped in Channel Tunnel after four Eurostar trains break down

• Passengers stranded on BA plane at Heathrow
• Furious passengers spent the night in Channel Tunnel
• Eurostar boss offers stranded passengers refund and free ticket
• Southern motorways clogged as tunnel remains closed
• 14 hours to get from Paris to Folkestone
• Heavy snow blankets much of England – and more is to come

Eurostar boss Richard Brown apologised today to passengers and promised ‘a proper and full’ inquiry after thousands of people were trapped in the Channel Tunnel in terrible conditions. Mr Brown visited St Pancras station in London as passengers arrived after their overnight ordeal and blamed extreme weather conditions for the failure of four trains inside the tunnel. More than 2,000 people were left without food, drink or power after four Eurostar trains broke down, while roads and air travel were also disrupted by the cold snap.

Furious: Passengers queue in the Eurostar terminal at Kings Cross St Pancras today, as the Channel Tunnel remained closed

It is thought the trains failed as they left the cold air in northern France and entered the warmer air inside the tunnel, Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown said.The exhausted passengers are now beginning to arrive home, hours later than expected, but the tunnel remains closed.Hundreds of people are stuck in France waiting for services to resume and many others are waiting in Folkestone.Anyone with tickets for crossings has been asked to postpone their trip unless it is absolutely necessary.

Slow crawl: A Eurostar train is towed back to London

The tunnel closure had added to travel problems caused by heavy snow in Kent and police have brought in Operation Stack – which allows lorries to park along sections of the M20 – to ease congestion near the terminal.Two of the stranded trains have been moved from the tunnel and are being pushed to London St Pancras by diesel locomotives.Passengers from a third were evacuated from the stricken train by Eurotunnel shuttle and later transferred to a Eurostar train bound for St Pancras.Hundreds of people on the fourth train were taken by shuttle to the terminal in France.A second shuttle will bring them back to Folkestone where they will transfer to a London-bound Eurostar.As well as a refund for their interrupted journey and a free ticket for future Eurostar travel, passengers will also get £150 compensation, a spokesman confirmed today.He added that three special services would be put on tonight, one from Brussels to London, one from London to Paris and one from Paris to London.Passenger Lee Godfrey, who was travelling home from Disneyland Paris with his family, said they were left without light, air-conditioning, food or water as they spent the night in a stranded train.Passengers opened emergency doors by themselves and set off down the tunnels to find refuge on another train, he said.Mr Godfrey told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We were without power. We ran out of water, we ran out of food and there was very very poor communication from the staff.

Chaos: Traffic on the M20 near Folkestone this morning, as the havoc caused by snow storms continues

‘We lost air-conditioning when we lost the power. We had to open the emergency doors ourselves. The evacuation procedure we followed was one that we set down ourselves.’It was very scary for the children and elderly people. We had a lady in a wheelchair and a lady who was seven months pregnant and we had asthma attacks, people were fainting on the train. It was just pandemonium.’Mr Godfrey said his family left Disneyland Paris at around 7.30pm French time yesterday and after 14 hours had only got as far as Folkestone, having first been taken back to Calais this morning where they were given food and drinks.

Ice breaker: Organisers of Brockwell Lido’s annual winter swim, which earns swimmers membership of the Brockwell Icicles, had to break surface ice for today’s event, with the water recorded at just 1.5C

Also on Mr Godfrey’s train was Alison Sturgeon, from Ascot. She said: ‘They were useless at giving us information. There was no communication at all.’The conditions on that train were terrible. We slept on the floor on newspapers like hobos and nobody knew what was going on.’Her husband, Steven, said they were only told what was happening after two off-duty police officers took charge of the situation.He said: ‘It was Chris from Essex and a lady from the Metropolitan Police who took over and came on the tannoy and told everyone to stay calm and told us what was happening. They were on holiday but they were the only ones that took the initiative.The couple has vowed never again to travel with Eurostar.

A father pushes his young children home at Clayton on the South Downs as 20cm of snow fell overnight

Elsewhere, Gatwick and Luton airports were shut for hours as snowploughs cleared runways and scores of flights were grounded and delayed. Stansted, Heathrow and Manchester also suffered delays.On the trains, the weather caused holdups and cancellations in East Anglia and the South East.Many areas in the eastern half of the country saw between 3in and 8in of snow, with temperatures due to plunge as low as – 10c on Friday night.Disruption caused by snow and ice left dozens of passengers stuck on a plane at London’s Heathrow Airport for more than six hours overnight.British Airways flight 215 to Boston, Massachusetts, was due to take off at 4pm yesterday.Passengers finally boarded at 7pm but found themselves still waiting to take off at 1am today.The delay was so long that the crew had to be replaced because they would have exceeded their hours if they had stayed on board, said passenger Simon Wilson-Taylor.The Boston-based businessman said: ‘People have been remarkably calm.’First class passengers have been watered and fed very well.’

On the slide: Peter Andre makes slow progress walking down his driveway en route to a gig in Birmingham

He praised the crew and said they had done the best they could to look after passengers during the long wait.Mr Wilson-Taylor said people’s patience had begun to run out as time went on and several had demanded to see the captain shortly before the plane took off just before 2.30am.Mr Smets said the Eurostar trains affected were all going from Paris to London.’It’s really snowing in northern France. The weather conditions are very bad,’ he said.Mr Smets said ‘very limited services’ were expected to resume today and tomorrow but passengers were advised not to travel this weekend if their journey was not essential.They will be offered a refund or can rearrange their journey for a later date.

Mr Smets said services were expected to be back to normal on Monday.

A statement on the Eurotunnel website said it regretted any inconvenience to customers. Anyone with a reservation is advised to call the customer information line on 08444 630000 before travelling to Eurotunnel and customers without tickets have been told none will be sold today. Kent Police issued an urgent warning for drivers to stay away from the Folkestone and Dover areas of the M20. Motorists have been told to avoid junctions 11, 11A and 12.Severe weather conditions are adding to the difficulties and police said there was no parking for drivers who are being turned away from the tunnel.

Delays: Snowploughs get to work at Stansted Airport this morning

The force brought in Operation Stack at 5.30am which will allow more than 2,300 lorries to be parked on sections of the motorway.Coastbound heavy goods vehicles are being held between junction eight (Leeds Castle) and junction nine (Ashford).

Deserted: The Eurostar terminal at Folkestone was a ghost town at a normally very busy time of year

Traffic not heading for the Channel Tunnel or the Port of Dover is being diverted along the A20.Chief Inspector Nicola Faulconbridge from Kent Police said: ‘We would urge drivers to avoid the M20 in the Folkestone and Dover areas.’Unless your journey is absolutely vital do not travel.’ Traffic is also queuing on the A20 into Dover after sailings were stopped due to severe weather in France which left vehicles unable to leave Calais.A Port of Dover spokesman said it remained open and able to receive ferries. Norfolkline ferry services to Dunkerque and LD Lines services to Boulogne are running normally, he said.’However, the French authorities have prohibited traffic from leaving the Port of Calais owing to the treacherous road conditions, which has left four ferries unable to berth and offload their traffic,’ he said.’The knock-on effect of this is that the port (Dover) is congested with traffic which is unable at present to sail to Calais (P&O and SeaFrance).’

Snow on the line: A tube train at Stanmore, east London, yesterday

French police are expected to review safety issues this morning to see if traffic can leave Calais.Customers who are due to sail to Calais are being advised not to set out for the port without checking with their operator first.A British Airways (BA) spokesman said the airline, along with all others operating out of the south of England, had been affected by the severe weather.

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Icy front: Weather maps show the cold front which is gripping Britain this weekend

‘As a result of severe restrictions on aircraft movements there have been delays throughout Friday and some cancellations,’ he said.Customers should check the BA website before travelling to check the latest flight details, he added. More snow is expected across the UK today and overnight.

A man snow boards past the famous ‘Jack and Jill’ windmills on the South Downs

The Met Office expects much more snow to fall this weekend, with six inches forecast for northern Scotland today, followed by heavy falls of about two inches this evening in northern England, the Midlands, East Anglia and the South East.The west of Britain can expect slightly warmer conditions, with rain and sleet forecast.A bast of Arctic wind from the north east and warmer Atlantic conditions could collide over Scotland, causing ‘thundersnow’.Tomorrow, a further three inches of snow is forecast to fall across the country.

It’s not just us: Snow brings chaos across the world

While we complain about our plans being wrecked by the snow, it’s reassuring to know that we’re not the only ones suffering with this week’s sudden cold blast. In the US, a storm is dumping heavy snow as it moves up the East Coast and is forecast to bring blizzards in some areas. And in France and much of Northern Europe snow has arrived suddenly causing chaos on roads. Even Barack Obama, as he left Copenhagen after the climate change talks, had to endure freezing conditions when he arrived back in the US.

Visitors flocked to Hukou Waterfall in Shaanxi Province to see the ice sculptures

Gondolas are covered with snow near the flooded St Mark’s Square in Venice today

The ‘Promenade des Anglais’ is covered by snow today in Nice, French Riviera. Temperatures started dropping two days ago over France, and heavy snow fell on the region bringing transport difficulties

Tourists in front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue as a bulldozer clears snow after 10 inches fell overnight

It’s panic Saturday: High Street giants slash prices and open till midnight in bid to lure Christmas bargain hunters

A staggering 15 million people are hitting the the shops today for last-minute gift buying on ‘Panic Saturday’.It is predicted to be the busiest retail day of the year, with High Street takings set to top £2billion.Sales figures suggest that millions have delayed their Christmas shopping until the last minute in the hope of picking up a bargain, and stores are now promoting significant price cuts on a wide range of gift items.

Last-minute shopping on the last Saturday before Christmas in Liverpool city centre today

Shopping malls and stores will extend their trading hours in the coming days, with some staying open until midnight. Many will push Sunday trading restrictions to breaking point tomorrow by introducing a ‘browsing time’ of up to one hour to extend the normal six hours of opening.

From Monday, more than 800 supermarkets and smaller food stores will be trading 24 hours a day through to Christmas Eve. The director of the Centre for Retail Research, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said: ‘When money is tight, there is a tendency to push back Christmas shopping until the last minute. ‘There will be a big surge from now on. You could call it a planned panic. ‘Many people will now be off work through to Christmas and so they are free to do the shopping that they have put off until now.’Christmas and the January sales are critically important for retailers, accounting for a quarter of their entire annual takings and profits. For some, the figure is as high as 60 per cent.The Saturday before Christmas is normally the busiest of the year.Last year, poor trading over the festive season led to 20 major retailers going into administration, the loss of 40,000 jobs, and the proportion of shops that are empty rising to 10 per cent.

A woman weighed down with bags of Christmas shopping in Liverpool this afternoon

Any failure to hit sales targets today will be the deciding factor on whether full-blown January sales will be brought forward.But a discounting frenzy has already begun on high streets as retailers look to entice recession-hit shoppers into spending their money.Many of the popular chains have slashed 50 per cent or more off prices.At Currys Digital, a Kodak wireless digital photoframe which was £99.99 has been reduced to £59.99, and a Tom Tom satnav has been slashed from £279.99 to £129.99.At Marks and Spencer all hampers have 50 per cent off. Boots is running a fragrance promotion and has discounted a range of aftershaves or perfumes.The clothing store Coast has discounted some dresses by £100 and evening wear in Oasis is marked down by 50 per cent.However, the scale and size of reductions is expected to rise sharply over the next six days.Professor Bamfield said: ‘There has been something of a stand-off between shoppers and retailers. It is a question of who blinks first.’I would say we will be seeing some significant price cuts over the next few days.’The professor says that many shoppers have shifted their spending this year to the internet.’We forecast that online spending will reach £8.9billion this Christmas, representing £1 in every £5 that is spent,’ he said.’This year shoppers said that 72 per cent intended to use online retailers to buy goods at this Christmas and 38 per cent would buy most of their Christmas goods online.’The number of shops planning to open round the clock is a record.Among the supermarkets, Tesco will have 495 large stores trading 24 hours a day from Monday morning, while Asda will have 223 and another 100 open until midnight.Sainsbury’s will have 24 stores trading 24 hours a day, plus 221 open until midnight. Morrisons opens its stores until 10pm.

Marks & Spencer will be opening 28 of its larger stores until midnight next week, while 113 of its Simply Food outlets will trade round the clock.Debenhams will open 100 of its 156 department stores until 11pm. Other retailers will be also be trading late into the night.Official retail sales figures published earlier this week revealed a fall in the value and volume of sales in November compared with October, the first monthly fall in six months.City analysts believe this is indicative of a shift to last-minute panic buying.The director general of the British Retail Consortium, Stephen Robertson, said: ‘As many people start their holidays, we’re expecting bumper trading – retail sales for the day should top £2billion.’In recent years people have increasingly left their Christmas shopping to the last minute. ‘This is a risky strategy if you want to be sure must-have presents aren’t sold out, but it is likely to mean there is plenty of shopping still to be done.’Let’s hope snow doesn’t stop people getting to stores.’

Husband who killed his wife by throwing TV remote at her head after cocaine binge is jailed for three years

A husband who killed his wife when he threw a TV remote control at her head was jailed for three years today.Paul Harvey, 46, hurled the 4oz gadget at former US diplomat Gloria Laguna, 48, during a cocaine-fuelled row at their home.Ms Laguna suffered from a defect to the vertebral artery at the back of her head and collapsed almost immediately. She was taken to hospital with just  minor bruise to her neck but was pronounced dead the next morning.

Paul Harvey killed his wife Gloria Laguna by throwing a TV remote at her head

Ms Laguna was unaware of her congenital condition and could have died from a ‘trivial’ blow at any time.Harvey’s barrister Jonathan Goldberg QC said her death was comparable to the chances of winning the lottery.He added: ‘By fluke chance it landed at the exact spot where she had this congenital weakness.’ The Old Bailey heard the couple had a petty argument about his ex-wife’s stepdaughter while watching TV at their flat in Euston, north-west London.

‘Flukey’: Harvey slung a TV remote at his wife’s head

At 11.15pm on March 22 this year he dialled 999 and told the operator: ‘I threw the TV digital at her and hit her on the head.’He later explained that his wife started screaming, talking ‘gibberish’ and then collapsed on the sofa.Richard Whittam, prosecuting, said: ‘It is clear to anyone the distress he was suffering at the time.’He was crying and he remained in considerable distress, including pleading with her to recover.’

‘When paramedics arrived, he said “What have I done?” and “I think I have killed my wife. I threw a remote control at my wife’s head”.’Ms Laguna was taken to University College Hospital where is was discovered she had suffered a sub-arachnoid haemorrhage.’It was assessed she was liable to deteriorate further and neurological intervention was not advised. She was pronounced dead at 6.50am,’ said Mr Whittam.Harvey was charged with murder but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter.’It would have only required a trivial incident to have caused her death,’ Mr Whittam said.Ms Laguna had worked at the U.S. consulate in India but gave up her job and moved to the UK after marrying Harvey in 2007.Harvey, who was born in Glasgow and brought up in South Africa, worked as an electrical engineering specialist.

Jonathan Goldberg QC, defending Harvey,told the Old Bailey that the chances of Ms Laguna dying to that of winning the lotteryHis jobs have included assessing a Goldman Sachs building in India and at the Excell centre in Docklands.

He has previous convictions for violence dating back to 1987, when he was given a suspended sentence for headbutting a police officer.In November 1994, he was fined £100 for smashing a pane of glass after missing his train.He was jailed for six months for assault in April 2002 after punching a man in the face at a party.The court heard both Harvey and Ms Laguna had taken cocaine on the night of the incident.

Mr Goldberg said: ‘He is a rugby-playing, beer drinking Alpha plus type of male and works in the building industry.’He is deeply ashamed and remorseful for the loss of his wife because she was a fine woman.’It is sad to find two people both educated, both respectable persons in society, indulging in cocaine.’If this case serves any use it may publicise the fact that these drugs are dangerous.’The couple argued about maintenance Harvey pays to a step-daughter from his first marriage, Mr Goldberg explained.’All he did was to throw the TV control in her general direction,’ he added.’He was throwing it at her in a moment of pique and anger.’Sentencing, Judge Giles Forrester told Harvey: ‘You killed your wife who has rightly been described as a fine woman.’You killed her during an argument at home when you threw a TV remote control at her and it struck her below and behind the left ear.’She had an unusual and particular weakness in the vertebral arteries which were dissected by the blow as a result of which she died of bleeding around the brain.’To throw a hard object such as a remote control device so as to strike your wife in this way was irresponsible and it was dangerous.’The combined effect of drink and drugs is likely to have increased the anger you felt towards your wife.’Your previous record does you no credit. There is undoubtedly a streak of violence and anger in your personality. There is no doubt you have a problem with your temper. ‘Your crime coupled with the tragic circumstances have to be marked by an immediate custodial sentence. Of course no sentence can restore Gloria Laguna to life.’In a statement read to the court, Gloria’s sister Christina Hackett said: ‘The defendant’s actions have resulted in so many ways to hurt us.Gloria was a splendid thing, a soul straight bright and described by everyone who met her as bubbly. Gloria was not ready to die.’

Drunk boy, 4, found in street at 1.45am sipping a beer, wearing a dress he’d stolen from under neighbour’s Christmas tree

A drunken four-year-old boy was found in the middle of the night wearing a little girl’s dress he had stolen from beneath his neighbour’s Christmas tree.Hayden Wright was discovered in the street outside his Tennessee home at 1.45am sipping from a freshly opened can of beer.The youngster’s mother, 21-year-old April Wright, claimed he had broken through a childproof door to escape her house in Chattanooga.

Hayden rang the doorbell of a house a few doors down from his, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office report.He then broke into another house through an unlocked front door and stole five Christmas gifts from under their tree.One of the presents was a brown dress, which the boy was wearing when police found him.Mrs Wright said she woke up at 1.45am and panicked when she realised her son was missing.

Wright is in the midst of divorcing her husband, who is currently in jail. She suggests he is partially to blame.’[Hayden] runs away trying to find his father,’ Wright said. ‘He wants to get in trouble so he can go to jail because that’s where his daddy is.’Hayden was treated for alcohol consumption at a nearby hospital.’He got [the beer] out of my father’s cooler in the back and how he got it open I don’t understand because it was one of those tab beers,’ his mother explained.Child protective services have told Wright she can keep custody of her child.

Russian internet sensation: Giant triangular ‘UFO’ filmed hovering above Kremlin

Hovering ominously over the city, this video of what appears to be a triangle-shaped UFO has left Russians baffled. Sitting motionless in the sky above the Kremlin in Moscow, clips of the unexplained object have become the most-viewed videos on Russia’s YouTube. The two videos, one taken at night from a car and one during the day, were both filmed by amateurs.

The footage of the pyramid hovering over the Red Square in Moscow for minutes at a time has gone viral on the internet

The ‘UFO’ at night hovering in the sky above Red Square in a second video

The UFO hovered for hours over Red Square in the Russian capital and was seen by hundreds of people.The identity of the shape has not been confirmed but internet forums are buzzing with the sighting. The UFO appeared on December 9th, the same night that a mysterious blue spiral light appeared over Norway. That was later attributed to a failed rocket launch from Russia.Some have likened the object to one of the spaceships from Star Wars.But others have said it is merely a reflection from inside the cameraman’s car. If the object exists experts estimate that it could be up to a mile wide.Some commentators have reacted sceptically to the videos and have pointed out that if hundreds of people had seen the object more videos and photos would have emerged by now.Russian reports ruled out a UFO but police have refused to comment.Nick Pope, a former Ministry of Defence UFO analyst, said it was ‘one of the most extraordinary UFO clips I’ve ever seen’.'At first I thought this was a reflection but it appears to move behind a power line, ruling out this theory.’A spokesman for aerospace journal Jane’s News said: ‘We have no idea what it is.’

Gynaecologist’s ‘orgasm’ patient drops sex claim and agrees to pay him £30,000

An ‘obsessed’ woman who claimed her gynaecologist gave her two ‘leg buckling’ orgasms during an examination dropped her case for sexual harassment today – and agreed to pay her former doctor £30,000. Bibi Giles, 50, accused Angus Thomson of intentionally pleasuring her during a 90 second examination in 2006. She filed a £50,000 claim for sexual harassment and assault at Worcester County Court but was today forced to drop the case after a second doctor she tried to seduce came forward.She denied telling Thomson that she had ‘closer than expected dealings’ with her former GP between 2002 and 2004.

But the GP, Dr William Dowley, heard about the case and contacted the court hours before the case was expected to finish on Thursday to reveal Mrs Giles’ past.Mark Lyne, representing Mrs Giles, failed in a bid to prevent the evidence from being presented and Mrs Giles and husband Peter, a wealthy quantity surveyor, have agreed to drop the case and pay Mr Thomson £30,000 in costs.Christina Lambert QC, representing Mr Thomson, said: ‘I propose at some stage to call Mr Dowley in respect of invites and conversations between him and Mrs Giles.This has a direct bearing on Mr Thomson’s evidence that Mrs Giles had reported to him that there had been a previous relationship above and beyond a doctor patient relationship.’There’s evidence that Mrs Giles had reported to the doctor that she has a high libido.’There’s also a reference to Mrs Giles having said to Mr Dowley that apart from the doctor patient relationship, she would like a personal relationship with him.’Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins said: ‘Life would have been much easier if Mrs Giles had admitted this incident at the start of the case.’

Married father-of-three Mr Thomson raged earlier in proceedings that the allegations were a ‘road to Damascus thing’, adding that every time a male doctor sees a female patient they could ’say this sort of thing’.Mr Thomson broke down in tears after the case was dropped and spoke of his ‘enormous relief’ that Mr Dowley came forward.He said: ‘I must sincerely thank the previous GP Dr William Dowley for his courageous and noble behaviour in coming forward after seeing the press coverage.’With his GP wife, Lucy, standing alongside him, he added: ‘The last three years have been a horrible experience. This week in court has been unspeakably stressful for my wife and our extended family and for me.’I have always tried to conduct myself in an entirely professional manner.’The allegations that Mrs Giles made, which are completely untrue, are some of the most serious that a doctor can be accused of.’They threatened to ruin my career and reputation and therefore I’m enormously relieved and delighted that this case has been concluded with my full exoneration of these false allegations and that I’m now able to return to work on Monday with my professional reputation in tact.’Having made these horrible false allegations, Mr and Mrs Giles walk away from court today. I can only hope that she’s never in a position to put any other person through what she has put me and my family through over the last three years.’Mr Thomson started treating Mrs Giles for a prolapse and later, fibroids, at the Droitwich Spa Hospital in 2006 but she quickly became infatuated with him.It was claimed that she asked Mr Thomson to ‘give it to her’ because she no longer had sex with her husband after he had been unfaithful.

The hearing had previously heard suggestions that Mrs Giles, from Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, told Mr Thomson she had once been a Miss Guyana, although it is something she has denied.The court also heard it had also been claimed her husband Peter, a quantity surveyor, was a diplomat in Russia and that she had been involved in treating Michael Jackson and Oprah Winfrey in her work as a cosmetologist.It emerged that Mrs Giles was friendly with presidents of Guyana, Members of Parliament in the South American state and that she had met royalty, namely Princess Anne, at a function. Mrs Giles had claimed in court that, during an examination following her operation, Mr Thomson had ‘rhythmically’ stroked her vagina, giving her two ‘leg-buckling’ involuntary orgasms in 90 seconds with a nurse chaperone standing just feet away.She alleged that, shortly before the procedure, he had also kissed her.But despite her alleged distress following the ‘abuse’, Mrs Giles decided to remain in Mr Thomson’s care, rather than finding herself another gynaecologist.Earlier in proceedings Mr Thomson told the court: ‘Despite following every best practice procedure I’m standing here defending myself because an individual has decided to say these things about me.’This is a road to Damascus thing. Every time a doctor sees a woman she could turn around and say this sort of thing.’It was claimed that in the months following the alleged assault, Mrs Giles bombarded Mr Thomson with text messages, including a sexually-suggestive one describing her need for his  ‘Angus beef sausage’.The calls became an embarrassment for the consultant, who would joke about ‘Miss Guyana’ with colleagues at tennis games.But Mr Giles continued answering her ‘bizarre’ calls because they were medical in nature and he believed that he was continuing his duty of care.Mr Thomson eventually wrote to the Medical Defence Union to complain about Mrs Giles and their contact stopped when she announced plans to sue.Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins QC announced today that Mrs Giles had agreed to drop the case and pay £30,000 in costs.He said: ‘I would like to compliment Mrs Giles on her very sensible decision to bring an end to proceedings in light of the adjournment yesterday.’This fully exonerates Mr Thomson and leaves his professional reputation intact.’He has no doubt learned that there are limits to compassion and professional concern that he can volunteer to his patients.’

That One Split Second In Your Life When You Hope There Is No Photographers…..Bam !!!..Gotcha….Cruel…Very Cruel

Sarah Jessica Parker suffers a wardrobe malfunction as flimsy dress is caught by the wind

She had clearly spent hours planning the perfect outfit. But when Sarah Jessica Parker stepped outside her front door, it was all undone – by a sudden gust of wind. As she walked to a restaurant in New York, a strong breeze pressed her dress tightly to her body and left little to the imagination.

Yesterday she appeared on the Today show, where she talked about her recent experience filming Did You Hear About The Morgans? in New Mexico with Hugh Grant The actress says she was so appalled at Grant’s nails that she gave him a weekly manicure on the set of their latest movie.

……….

Time to belt up: The actress wrapped her coat around her

‘For God’s sake I clipped his fingernails, isn’t that giving?’ she said. I thought that the least the globe deserved was a proper, presentable hand and if you look so good from here to here, your digits should look as good. ‘He is one of the most dashing men in the world and I was shocked at the state of his fingernails. He has a ragged shovel that he uses – his teeth. I am exquisitely skilled with the nail clipper.’ Appalled: Sarah Jessica talked about Hugh Grant’s dirty nails on the Today Show

Todays WTF!!!

I love you.

Wetherspoons next to a starbucks with FREE INTANETZ? Ohhhh yeaaah :]

Okay so enough departure-lounge loving, December 2009 is the month of the jet-set. in the space of 3 weeks before Christmas, i will have been to Germany once, Newcastle twice, Birmingham 4 times, and Coventry too many times to remain sane and count. i swear to god, i haven’t even spent much money on flights or whatever
I get to see the boyfriend in a couple of hours, although he is being forced to work after his events-management class. So i have a couple hours of knocking about Bremen ahead of me, before he can come pick me up

And because getting a train to P-burg from the depths of Hanseatic Germany would be too much of a strain. olololol.
And ofc because he’s lovely and would refuse to let me take a peasant wagon to P-burg anyways :3

My flight departs in an hour, and i’m too lazy to even walk to the gate early. plus there’s no wi-fi there haha.

Oh and on other news, i may have pre-emptively fucked up my chances of getting a 2:1 in my first year, and I have essentially missed my mock listening / oral exam. Fun times. I hope Monika the retarded Wessie isn’t too much of an evil fucking bitch about it.

But fuck it, i plan on going to Edinburgh anyways. Coventry can suck my balls. x

It has just been announced that Thalys is now running fast through to Amsterdam.  So I looked up and see if I could book from Ebbsfleet to Rotterdam for a reasonable price at a reasonable speed.  I actually would go to Den Haag, but couldn’t find that on the Eurostar web site.  Or should I say, I could find it, but I couldn’t book it!

In mid-January, I have found that I could do the trip in three hours and forty-seven minutes for a return cost of £127.50 with a credit charge of £3. 

So how does that compare to easyJet?

easyJet on the same days costs £47.98 with a charge of £8 for the credit card. 

The parking at Ebbsfleet and Stansted are about the same and I suspect you can get them for about £70, with perhaps an extra tenner for diesel for Ebbsfleet.  And then you have the trains at the other end, which would both be just a few Euros.

As to time, the flight takes about five hours door-to-door and the train takes about six and a half.

So is it a no-brainer to take the plane?

No! I hate airports and all of the ridiculous rules.  Not all are security too!

So it is perhaps why I actually prefer to take the boat.  The last trip, I used Stena from Harwich and because I had a problem with the Lotus, I came back the same way.  It is not really such a long trip in terms of time, as I would do Harwich-Hook overnight.  But then coming back, you have the annoying delay, whilst they keep you on board, so you might have breakfast.  I don’t, as their offerings are not gluten-free!

I normally go over using Norfolk Line from Dover to Dunkirk, which usually takes about eight hours door-to-door.  That may be a lot slower, but I can fill the car with all the goodies that expats can’t get in Holland.  And I can also take my Brompton!

Cost of the ferry is usually about £60 with perhaps about the same amount for diesel.  I know that calculating the cost of motoring on the fuel cost is not valid, but it is the way we always add it up!

So perhaps, the easiest and most relaxing way is to drive via Dover.  At least you get a nice break on the boat and can listen to BBC Radio 5 Live all of the way.  And it’s only three hours slower than the plane.

READER WARNING

Only read this if you’re:-

a) a train spotter

b) a plane spotter

c) any kind of timetable nerd

d) hate Ryan Air

e) hate the Stansted Express

f) hate Stansted airport

g) hate the whole public transport system in London

h) are just bored

h) and i) you live within a 1 mile radius of Acton Central station

I have been unable to write this in any kind of interesting way. I apologise. This piece is full of facts. I wanted to get them down on paper. It’s important to me. Cathartic. You’ll have to go with it. 

It could certainly have gone a whole lot better. Most of it wasn’t my fault, in the sense that if the public transport system had been working in any way whatsoever then I’d have got to the airport on time and wouldn’t be sitting at Stansted,  4 hours later, writing this and waiting for an evening flight that would get me in to Venice/ Treviso @ 10pm (still 2 hours from home), instead of the leisurely lunchtime jet set into Trieste, in time to pick the kids up from school, I had been anticipating.

Now I’m £17 poorer for the last-ditch attempt to get here in time by taking the Stansted Express (that, excuse me, is really taking the piss); £100 poorer for the flight transfer charge; £108 poorer for the kids’ clothes I bought at Monsoon to while away the time; £20 spent on books; £20 roughly on coffees, breakfast and lunch; £1.60 for the two bottles of water I have to buy since they cost 10p more than buying one; and £2.50 and counting for the 50ps I’ve fed into the weighing machine to check that all my extra purchases haven’t put me over the Ryan Air weight limit (but with a 1.9k Chrismas pud in there and 2 tubs of Marmite it’s been a challenge). 

Here’s how the journey went. I leave my lovely friends’ house in Goldsmith Avenue, Acton (London) at 7.30 this morning. Plenty of time to get to Stansted for my flight which leaves at 11.20 (gates close 10.50). Approx journey time 2 hours. One hour margin of error.

I have worked out that this time the best route will be:

Acton Central to Finchley Road and Frognal (London Overground).

Alight at Finchley Rd, spring over lightly to bus stop, catch National Express direct to Stansted. No problemo.

Flawless plan, and much better than my usual schlep Acton Main Line, Bakerloo to Baker St, schlep to Bus stop, coach to Stansted route, and preferable I think to the option of catching the bus from Acton High Street all the way to Golders Green (an hour on a double decker – no thank you!) – or to schlepping the hour over to Liverpool Street on the central line and getting the Stansted Express (totally resent paying £17 for a train that travels approx 30 miles (?) and can not in any sense of the world/word be called an express).

P.S. I am not Jewish (nor was meant to be) but I love the word schlep.

So, I dutifully set alarm for 6.30. Leave house at 7.30 as planned. Feeling pleased as punch with my punctuality even though never-ending rain puts a dampener on things.

(From now on I will highlight what I will call Public Transport Errors – or PTEs – as opposed to MPEs – My Personal Errors; that way we can all work out who is to blame for my missing the plane, and then I can plan my revenge…) 

I walk the 3 minutes to Acton Central Station. First Public Transport Failure (PTE No. 1). The train is delayed. There is no train until 8 – and then only to Willesden Junction. I could take the next train at 8.15 which goes direct to Finchley Road (but there’s no guarantee it will arrive even then).

What would you do at this point?

Reconsider one of the many options cited above?

Walk 15 mins to the High Street and catch the 260 double decker direct to Golders Green?

Walk 20 mins to East Acton and get the central line to Liverpool St?

Oh, there are so many options I could have/ should have taken. But even though I am clearly versed in all the alternative ways of getting to Stansted none of them present themselves to me. My mind is a blank. I cannot contemplate not keeping to this route now that I’ve planned it. And anyway, I have an hour’s margin. And there’s a train coming in 15 mins. I decide to wait for it.  (MPE No. 1)

I try to get advice from the very quietly spoken station attendant. I cannot understand – or indeed hear – a word he says. (PTE No. 2) I decide he is a lost cause. Several people do the same. A tall yet stocky man with an East European nose walks boldly up to said put-upon attendant and demands some answers.

“Are you sure the 8.15 will come?” he says, and then when the attendant whispers something indecipherable, persists,  

“Do you in fact know anything? Why are you standing here doing nothing when it is your job to know the answers?!”

East European looking man (who does indeed speak with a slight accent though his grammar is perfect and his vocabulary advanced) – wanders off to get some answers through his mobile phone. I decide that whatever he does, I will follow. Here is  a man who means business! (MPE No. 2) 

He (and thus I) opts for the 8.00 to Willesden. Reassuringly, masses of people are doing the same. 3 minutes later we arrive at Willesden, though none of us are sure where to go next. Here the station attendant calls confidently into his megaphone, “Everybody down to Platform 2” . That is all he says. (PTE No. 3)

“Why you all looking at me like that, why you not moving? I said down to Platform 2”, he bellows.  We bregrudgingly shuffle along, hoping we are all moving in the right direction. Then my East European guru pipes up in clear sardonic tones,

 “We are not cattle. We need to know where we are going.”

I feel he is my spokesman, I watch him closely and consider that whatever decision he makes next will be a wise one, and I will follow him (MPE No. 3).

Down to platform 2 we go.  Down the stairs, over the bridge, down more stairs. I am the only one struggling with 2 suitcases (space for all those stocking fillers I intended to buy at the Pound Shop in Acton and to assuage guilty feelings for leaving kids for a week). But at platform two we are still in the dark. It is raining miserably. I am very cold and miserable. There is no place more miserable on this earth at this moment than this miserable platform at Willesden Junction (deliberately built by sadistic train operators in a wind tunnel).

I wait here a long time, not knowing what is coming next. I find myself, like everybody else, staring down the track in seach of the train as though that will make it come. If I stop looking, it will stop coming. Nobody says anything, we just all stare down the track in the miserable rain. There are hundreds of us.

Finally an announcement. “The train to Sratford is waiting at Platform 4.” (PTE No. 4).

Platform 4?!  I’ve just come from Platform bloody 4. Up the stairs we schlep, over the bridge, up more stairs, stumbling onto the train just in time. The clock is ticking furiously. The train is packed with people coughing up phlegm and swine flu all over each other. A lady sticks her backpack into my stomach. She doesn’t feel a thing. 

(In retrospect, this was a serious MPE – since I could have simply walked over to platform 1, got the train to Euston, from there the tube to Tottenham Hale, from there the Stansted Express – except that this was not an alternative route I had ever planned…so it does not count as an MPE).

I get to Finchley Road, I find the bus stop. But I’m not convinced the National Express will actually stop here since there is no sign (PTE No. 5). Instead I see a double decker heading for Golders Green. I get on it. (MPE No. 3). As we are chugging along, stopping here, there and everywhere, but at least we’re on our way, we’ll still make it in time, the National Express (the A6 to Stansted) sails past. Damn! 

I arrive at Golders Green at 9 o’clock. Just in time to see my coach leaving. I do not chase after it waving madly (MPE No. 4 ) Instead, I check the timetable and see that another one will be along in 20 minutes (PTE No. 6). Still time to get to Stansted (est journey time 1 hour and 15 mins). I decide to wait. (MPE No. 5) 

I wait 20 minutes, 30 mins, no sign of a coach. More and more people are arriving at the bus stop. It is very cold and raining. The minging shelter is not wide enough for all of us (PTE No. 7). Even though I was here first I have no place in the shelter since I cannot stand still (MPE No. 6), and need to pace up and down looking up the road in case I can see the coach coming. If I stop looking for it, it will not come. I am wet and cold. (Did I say that already?) I hate London. I hate England. There is no place on earth more horrible than Golders Green bus stop. 

I schlep over to the National Express office (risking missing the coach while I’m in there). I am reassured by the lone man. ‘The coach should be along in a few minutes’ (PTE No. . I decide to keep waiting (MPE No. 7).

After 40 minutes and no coach, a would-be passenger announces to us all that there are floods on the A41 and there will be no more coaches today! (PTE No. 9 and 10) You can’t get there from here. Taxis are not an option.

Why does nobody ever tell you anything? Why are we all left to work out our options all by ourselves? I estimate 90% of the people at the bus stop are from abroad, trying to get home. They haven’t got a clue what is going on in this Godforsaken hole that is London. They want to be home in their nice  starfish-shaped hotel in Dubai (I know you’re thinking if they could afford to live in a starfish hotel in Dubai they wouldn’t be taking a coach to the airport but you can’t be sure…the wise rich man knows that if you look after the pennies..) , or they want to be wandering past their Colliseum in Rome, or picking up pebbles on their beach in Croatia. Why did they ever come to London in the first place??? That’s what they’re all thinking. That’s what I’m thinking.

And actually, I soon know for sure what they’re thinking because when I head off to find an alternative route I am followed by foreigners – and we pick up more on the way. By the end of the journey I feel like the golden goose!  

The revised last-ditch-attempt-but-already-no-hope route is as follows (I have phoned my lovely Acton friend, who gives me instructions as she googles, no point in asking any transport worker for directions..): Golders Green tube , northern line to Euston, Victoria line to Tottenham Hale, from there the Stansted Express…Now I am really cross. If I had known, I could have got on that train to Euston an hour go!!!

Clearly, my plane is a lost cause. But Antonella is going to Rome  and Sanya is going to Dusseldorf and they might just make it, if they can follow me! All right, all right. I am very stressed and bad-tempered but what the hell. We spend tense moments on the Victoria line being stared at for 10 minutes by a train engineer who doesn’t say anything. And the train doesn’t move either.  (PTE 11 & 12) Then we are told the train is unexpectedly terminating at Seven Sisters. (PTE 13) Oh bloody hell! Luckily, it’s just a spritely hop over to the next platform to Tottenham Hale.

Surely at least from here the notoriously exhorbitant ticket price will be cheaper. We’re already half way to Stansted. But no – it’s still £17. (PTE 14) How is that possible? I have to buy the tickets for all of us because their foreign cards don’t work in the machine (PTE 15). They give me cash – and coins. Great! Just when I had managed to get rid of all my change, I grumble like Scrooge.

We get to Stansted. Antonella and Sanya run off to catch their plans. “Ciao!” “Grazie!” “Nice to meet you!” They wave and cheer gaily.

I can hardly bring myself to look at the departure board. My plane to Trieste has long gone – and the one to nearby Venice has just left. There are no planes going anywhere near where I want to go for hours.

I sit down to have a nervous breakdown and a coffee. 

Tune in to the next blog to find out what happens next…this has taken way too long to tell – and I need a break!

Here are just a few examples of my “Portraits of Strangers,” ranging from summer of 2008 to the present.  These drawings will give you an idea of what I’m talking about, and also serve to form the basic conditions of future collaborative PoS projects.

June – August 2008 in New York City and Florida: In the beginning, I did not draw the portraits using a continuous contour line, but was more concerned with exploring live drawing.  I used a Japanese style Moleskine as my sketchbook, because its concerto style enabled me to create drawings that ran into each other.

September – December 2008, studying at Fudan University and travelling throughout China:  I used watercolor in China because I was inspired by…

“True virtue in a life is lived like water.” -Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (or, The Way and Its Power by The Father of Taoism)

“Life starts with ocean; humans, as lords of creation, grow on Earth.” – from the Shanghai World Expo 2010 “The Wings of Human Dreams”

I also decided to do an oil painting of this woman I spoke broken Mandarin to at the Summer Palace in Beijing, because oil paints were very cheap back in Shanghai, and I had never done one before.  I put numbers on the bottom that recall the phone numbers scrawled all over the walls and sidewalks of China, advertising for a variety of services.  These numbers evoke a mugshot, how we’re statistics, just a drop in the ocean.

January – May 2009, studying Film and Television on Boston University’s London Program:

Clockwise from top left: man I saw twice on the tube; woman behind me in line for Ryan Air reimbursement tickets after our flights were cancelled and spent the night in Stansted Airport; man also waiting for the bus in Positano, Italy; Brits on the tube; women in Venice, Italy, eating at the same restaurant as my friends and I.

All the players, drawn by various Coney members and myself

These photos (not taken by myself) are from the game “Guess Whose Portrait?” which I designed to be play-tested at a PlayDay in March 2008 facilitated by London-based group Coney.  At the time, I was helping out with some of their projects through my internship at Solar Associates.

If you want to play your own version of  “Guess Who”, there’s no need to go out an buy it…just assemble some family or friends and draw each other’s portraits.  Collage, or photographing are okay too.  Then paste the portraits on paper, get some cardboard and cut slits into it for the cards to stick into. Et voilà! You have created a personalized “Guess Whose Portrait?” game.

I suggest you don’t draw two portraits of everyone, though, but instead photocopy one portrait for both game boards.  We ran into a bit of a problem since the two drawings were often drawn by different people and used different colors, or someone had taken off their sweatshirt, hat, etc. so the portrait was very different.  As a result, you couldn’t win the game!

]]> http://wheelosopher.com/2009/10/31/days-23-26-sep-27-30-exploring-london-pt-2-and-home/ Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:07:20 +0000 Michael Khor http://wheelosopher.com/2009/10/31/days-23-26-sep-27-30-exploring-london-pt-2-and-home/ http://passionwine.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/summer-%e2%80%9809-56-london/ Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:08:51 +0000 Aida http://passionwine.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/summer-%e2%80%9809-56-london/

Day 5 in London…
Date: July 5, 2009

Checklist Item Crossed #14 — Buckingham Palace
8.30am – Woke up, almost late again. Took a quick shower, waited for Y to get ready; 9.30am – Trains still weren’t running from South Ealing, so we took the bus and a train from another station to St. James’ Park; 11am – Arrived at the Buckingham Palace, got a nice viewing spot….or so we thought….; 11.30am – Saw some guards marching past, including the cavalries. Took some pics of the procession as we saw the guards head towards the palace and entered the gates; 11.40am – Waited for the Changing of the Guards, took some pics of ourselves; 11.50am – Realized that the Changing of the Guards was actually taking place within the enclosed palace grounds instead of the spacious piazza we we stood waiting at….stupid!! 12pm – Walked to the palace gates, managed to get some lame shots of the guards in line. It was almost impossible to get a good view of the Changing of the Guards because the crowd that gathered around the row of gates to get a glimpse (GLIMPSE!!) of the event was so thick – we had to extend our arms above some people’s head to even take a lame pic of the guards, nevermind actually watching anything! 12.30pm – NOT impressed with the Changing of the Guards. Y and I decided to look for St. James’ Palace instead because my London Guidebook had said that visitors can take pics with the guards on duty outside the palace; 12.15pm – Could not find St. James Palace. Took some pics with Y at an unknown building instead.

My Best Shot

Checklist Item Crossed #15 — Embankment
1pm – Arrived at Trafalgar Square, took a train to Embankment. Linda, my ex-boss, insisted that I visit the gardens at Embankment when I travel to London, so there we were; 1.15pm – Discovered the comfort of Embankment’s park deck chairs. Apparently there was going to be an outdoor mini-concert later on, so the organizers were preparing the stage nearby; 1.45pm – Packed some lunch (I had Rice and Chili Con Carne, Y had some Chicken Curry thing) and headed back to the deck chairs at the park, on which we sat on while we ate and enjoyed an hour or so soaking up the Summer sun. Took more pics.

Me + Union Jack

Checklist Item Crossed #16 — Tower of London and Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge

2.15pm – Headed towards Tower Hill alone. Y and I parted ways because she had a colleague’s farewell picnic to attend later on; 2.45pm – Purchased my ticket to the Tower of London, watched a demo at the Siege exhibit; 3.30pm – Joined the Yeoman Warders tour of the Tower; 4.15pm – Checked out the Crown Jewels exhibit. That was impressive; 4.45pm – Checked out the Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill exhibition; 5.30pm – Tower closed for the day, walked out to see the Tower Bridge from a distance. Met Kim, a Korean girl, who helped take some pics of me with the Bridge and vice versa; 6pm – Kim and I walked to and along the Tower Bridge, took more pics. Too bad the Tower Bridge exhibition had closed for the day too.

Tower of London

Siege Exhibit

The White Tower

Checklist Item Crossed #17 — Hyde Park
7.15pm – Kim did not have any plans after visiting the Tower, so I invited her to follow me to Hyde Park — my last “Place-To-Visit” in London. She agreed. We arrived at Hyde Park after taking the train. I had an ice cream, while I waited for Kim to have her Hot Dog dinner; 7.45pm – Visited The Serpentine, Hyde Park’s famous lake. Oh, WOW….the view was absolutely breathtaking! Again, my camera battery had inconveniently died on me while visiting the Tower Bridge. Kim offered to take some pics of me with her DSLR camera and promised to email me once she got back to Korea a month later (I have yet to hear from her) Love Hyde Park, btw; 8.20pm – Kim and I parted ways. It was bad enough that the Piccadilly lines were closed, now the stupid train was not running past Hammersmith on District lines either. Took another train to NottingHill Gate where I had to change to the Central line instead; 9pm – Arrived at Ealing Broadway, took a bus back to South Ealing; 9.30pm – Arrived at Y’s place, checked my email, finished packing my stuff, took a shower, went to bed around midnight.

=====================================

Day 6 in London
Date: July 6, 2009

Leaving on a Jetplane
Y and I left her apartment early in the morning, she had to go to work while I was headed towards the London Liverpool St. Station, where I had to take the Stansted Express to the airport. I was leaving London for good. Y rode with me until Leicester Square and we bid goodbye when she had to get off. It had been a really fun trip and we had some nice times together. I arrived at Stansted Airport around 11am. Had a light lunch at one of the airport cafes and watched the RyanAir planes resting on the tarmac. I was to fly in one of those planes at anytime soon…..

1.50pm – Goodbye, London…

4.40pm – Hellooooo, Stockholm!!!

This is kind of long overdue. No, that would be an understatement. I’ve been meaning to write this for about 2 1/2 months, only to finally get to it right now. Better late than never, right??

Anyway. This post (and the several few following) details my trip to London that I went on a few days after I quit my job (don’t even get me started on that) back in July. I spent five glorious days checking out the city, half the time wandering around like a classic tourist on my own. It was the first time ever that I got to explore a new city unaccompanied and unchaperoned — not that I needed to be, I’m 26, for God’s sake!! (glares at my overprotective parents) And you know what? (continues glaring) It was FUN!!!

My trip began on July 1, 2009…..

First time flying with AirAsia X!

(Malaysian time) 7am – Checked in at the LCC-T airport, had breakfast at Marrybrown’s with my parents; 9.15am – Waited at the boarding gate, sent a flurry of “I’mleavingnow” text messages to everyone who knew about my trip; 9.50am – Flight took off, sat next to a tall, nice but quiet Icelandic guy and a Malay guy who was travelling with his family. Tried to sleep for awhile since I hardly slept the previous night (last-minute packing, see.); 12pm – Lunch was served. I had pre-booked the Chicken Cottage Pie via AirAsia.com when I purchased my flight ticket. It was okay-ish. I also rented Xcite, the AirAsia X (AAX) In-Flight Entertainment Set for RM30 and spent most of the time watching movies and TV shows. I couldn’t really sleep during the rest of the flight because we were travelling through different timezones….BACKWARDS!!! Which meant the cabin was kept bright the whole time and it was a 14-hour flight, mind you! (more on this later…); 8.30pm – Had a light dinner — some BBQ Chicken thing that I had also pre-ordered online. I didn’t really like that one; 9.30pm – We had to return the entertainment sets because that RM30 was only good for an 8-hour loan. We got to keep the earphones, though. Haha.

Xcite, the AAX In-Flight Entertainment set

11.30pm//(London time) 4.30pm – Arrived at Stansted Airport and queued up in the immigration line. Good grief, I never expected the weather to be that hot!!! Got through Immigration without any problem; 6pm – Got my luggage off the baggage carousel, checked out WHSmith which I found out it one of the major bookstores in the UK. Yay, bookstores!! 7pm – Had a cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate brownie while waiting for time to pass. I was to meet with Y after she gets off from work; 8pm – Took the Stansted Express  train to Liverpool St. Station. By that time, I realized I had not seen darkness/night time set for about 20 hours. That felt weird; 9.45pm – Met Y at the Liverpool St. Station and we got me an Oyster Card that would allow me to travel using the public transportation easily during my stay in London. We went back to her place in South Ealing via the Piccadilly Line. It was past 10.30pm by then, and the sun was just about to set….weirdddd!!!! 11pm – Arrived at Y’s place, took a shower and called it a night at 12am (5am Malaysian time — can you imagine how exhausted I was???).

When returning from the wedding at the weekend, I brought a guest who had been taken unwell in Holland. The problem was that her car was safe in the long-term car park at Stansted Airport.

So how do you extract a car from the parking, without going into the terminal?

It actually doesn’t show on their web site, but it couldn’t have been any easier.  I asked in Customer Services and they said that I should just collect a ticket from the barrier, drive in and then park by my companion’s car.  I then had about forty minutes to get out.

What a sensible and user-friendly system!

I live close to Stansted airport- and that means I regularly suffer from unwanted noise pollution.  Not from planes I hasten to mention, but from protestors knocking on my door wanting me to sign some pointless bit of nonsense.  You see I rather like Stansted Airport.  And from the huge crowds that are there whenever I am – I suspect I am not alone. 

I have an excellent idea for all these protestors.  Don’t use Stansted.  If you really don’t want all the convenience of cheap air travel on your doorstep – go elsewhere.  And if you really fin dair travel so reprehensible = don’t use it.  I bet that would end all pseudo-green protests at a stroke. 

Although the planes pass right over my house I barely notice them.  They are very quiet.  Much quieter than the road outside my house – and as no plane has yet to crash on my house I don’t feel they are as hazardous as the hundreds of selfish motorists that ignore the 30mph speed limit in the village.

 All things considered I cannot find a bad word to say about Stansted.  If I want to I can jet off to just about every country in Europe for less than the rail fare to London.  And I live well within an easy commute to London.  When I was a little flusher, I used to fly to Brussels for lunch.  Alas, Ryan Air no longer flies that route – and I no longer have the money to be so self-indulgent.

 I do have the odd beef with Ryan Air – and other low fair airlines.  Not with the prices – they seem scarcely believable at times.  It’s the add-ons.  The number of times I have bought a 99p air ticket only to find it costs nearly forty times more.  There aren’t many businesses where such blatant lying about price is legal.  And how come when you cancel you don’t seem to get your airport taxes back, even though you have been nowhere near the airport?

As I promised..
This will be part one out of three, UK + Europe Travelogue.
Baca sampai lebam okay?

All pictures are unedited. Just as it is. The one without my watermark are taken from Cat’s camera.

Actually, I don’t know where or how to start actually.. Haha.
There’re so many things to share. Alright here goes..
Some of you might already know that this trip is actually a last minute travel arrangement which is not even in my 2009 plan.
I named it “Aidil’s trip of my life”. Macam best jer kan? Hehe.
Well.. It is once in a lifetime opportunity and I don’t know when I’ll have the chance to travel to these places ever again.

The Muhibbah Travelers – ready for departure.

My Air Asia X ticket from KL to London was roughly around RM1600 return including food (twice in each flight both ways), upgraded to 20KG for luggage (return) and I also included an AirAsia Comfort Kit.
Quite a bargain right? Well, it was bought during promotion actually.
Ehem, I don’t really need the Comfort Kit actually but biasalah.. semua nak try. First-timer la katakan. Hehe.
In the Comfort Kit there’s a blanket, an eye mask and also an inflatable neck pillow. Usual stuffs.
Which, you can bring on your own if you wanna save up a bit.

Depart: LCCT, Sepang – Malaysia
Date: 17th May 2009, Sunday
Time: 5.30 PM
Flight: Airbus 340 – D7 2008
Destination: Stansted Airport, London

The flight was okay. Not so bad I would say..
I expected worst but fortunately it’s not as bad as I thought. A few bumps along the way when the plane have to go thru the air pockets.
The seat is better than the normal short distance flight.. – Phew! Thank God..
I slept most of the time throughout the flight. Luckily the seat next to mine was empty. Hehe.
We reached Stansted Airport around 12.00 midnight. 40 mins ahead of schedule.
Hm.. not bad..

London Stansted Airport

London Stansted – Cat and Me

Stansted Airport is UK’s 3rd busiest airport after Heathrow and Gatwick.
Most of the low-cost airlines operate from here such as – Ryanair, easyJet and obviously AirAsia.
And for those who are not very familiar with London, this airport is quite far from the city.
The location is a bit outskirt. It’s approximately around 48 km from Central London.
Lebih kurang KL – LCCT la. Jauh jugak tu..

Shanky and Cat – just happy to be able to smoke.

The immigration process was like what I’ve expected.. but slightly smoother and quite quick too.
They asked about the purpose of my visit, how long I intend to stay, where I’ll stay and yada yada yada..
After collecting our luggage, we went to look for the coach counter.
- thanks to Cat, all travel transportation needs have been arranged prior.

The coach tix that we bought online was scheduled at 3.00am or something, can’t really remember.
The fare is around RM123. Ha… Mahal kan? Hehehe.
Since we’re there early, we managed to get an earlier coach to Heathrow.
By the way, our hotel is located near Heathrow Airport. Hence, we’re heading there.
The bus services in UK is very efficient I would say. Prompt on time.
We took the 1.00am National Express coach. Thanks to the driver.
You can book the tix here at www.national express.com

Before that, each of us bought an Oyster Card for GBP12 (Stored value of GBP10 in it).
It’s something like our Touch n Go Card.
You can use this card for bus, rails and tube plus you can top up the value if you’re running low.
More info regarding this card, you can check it out here: www.visitlondon.com/travel/oyster/

Heathrow Airport - early morning

The bus journey took around an hour plus to reach Heathrow Airport Bus Terminal.
It’s like this.
Stansted Airport —-> Heathrow Airport —> (Hotel)
What an effort right? That’s the cheapest way we could find though.
We took London Metrocab to our hotel. Mahal wo.. The blardy 15 minutes ride costs us GBP11.80.
Well, it’s 3.00 in the morning, and prolly it include the night extra fees as well.
Anyway, by that time all of us were already tired to do say anything anyway.
So, paid the fare.. check in the hotel.. unpacked.. took a bath.. sleep..

London Cab – view from inside

This is where we stayed in London for the next 5 days.
Sheraton Skyline Heathrow, London.

Sheraton Skyline Heathrow – London

Thanks to Shanky for the accomodations arrangement. She got this at a very good price.
UK’s accommodations are very expensive you see.. especially if you’re staying nearer to the Central London area.
If you staying in a hostel or bed and breakfast hotel, maybe it’s a bit cheaper.
Then again, the further you are.. less expensive it’ll be.

Lobby – Sheraton Skyline Heathrow. Ehem!

Second Day
Nurul arrived from Amsterdam at around 11am.
First thing all of us did is find out the way to Central London.
There’s a free shuttle bus from the hotel to Hatton Cross tube station.
From there we took a tube to Green Park station.
The tube fare is cheaper after 9.30am. There’s something like a time zone where the fare is cheaper during non peak hours.
If I’m not mistaken I paid GBP2.20 for a single trip and it took around 45 minutes to get to Central London.

Shanky, Nurul(can see a bit only) and me  – the very obvious tourists

We went for a brunch at this small cafe called Wrap n Roll.
- since the hotel didn’t provide any free breakfast for the guests?
It’s different from how Asia’s hotel operates where most of the time there’ll be free breakfast included.
Here in UK and also Europe, you won’t get that. Anywhere.. so, don’t bother asking.

It’s quite cold outside and I had my first UK’s tuna sandwich here.

The ladies went for a shopping spree.
There’s French Connection, ZARA, Topshop, Miss Selfridges.. all those famous UK brand shops lah.
We walked around Oxford Street, Bond Street and also the famous Carnaby Street.
Oddly, I didn’t see any shopping mall here in Central London. Maybe ada la somewhere around here. Hidden.
Most of them are boutiques, small shops and shop lots.
So, a lot of walking.. and walking and.. walking. Penat woo..

Carnaby Street, London

Wall art found at one of the building in Carnaby Street – Nice!

Nurul bought me a Liverpool Jersey.
It’s my long due birthday present. Ahahaha.. Thanks dear.
Custom made with my name printed at the back plus Stevie G’s lucky number 8. Nice!
You shouldn’t have.. but then again. Hehe. You’ve promised right?
I can’t tell how happy I am. Since I don’t have the chance to go to Anfield… this might be my pengubat luka.
Chewah! Again thank you very much. It means a lot to me..

My favourite Liverpool’s jersey with my name and Gerrard’s number 8 – sweet!

Quiksilver, Lacoste, Apple Store, Ted Baker and Fcuk.. and double decker busses.

At 7pm we went back to our hotel.
Had a buffet dinner (it cost us GBP11 each) at the hotel’s restaurant.. and it’s not that good. Or maybe I’m too tired..
Nevertheless, it’s still cheap tho considering the price before discount. Heh.
….

Third Day

Shanky and Cat – happy to be in the Tube

The ladies in front of Waitrose

Metropolitan Railway Station – very ol skool

My brunch – vegetarian set: the mushrooms are really good

After brunch – burp!

National History Museum London

We went to National History Museum..
Tak sah la kalau jalan kat London tapi tak masuk museum kan? There’re lots of them.
Some are free, some you need to fork out a few quids for the entrance fee.
This one is free – see how we managed our travel budget? Hehe.
It’s huge. No.. it’s really really really huge. The building can fit lotsa dinosaurs ma..
Hehe. I don’t think we covered the entire museum because that would take 4 hours.
So ‘lil time, so may things to do.

Posing habis dah nih – Eheh..

Inside the museum’s main lobby – huge ass dinosaur fossil (I dunno what type is it)

Me~ so puny compared to the fossil

T-Rex’s head – it’s huge… “itu baru kepalanya pak” Thehehe..

T-Rex – it actually moves and there’s growling sound as well. Not as big as I’ve imagined tho.

When did Cat took this picture? Aiyo.. that woman ar…

Wah, gaya macam pro.. tapi gaya jer la. Hahaha. Eh? Cat smiling? Thehehe..

This is the main hall of the museum - picture taken from the staircase.

This was taken from the opposite angle – nice staircase kan?

Went to South Kensington Street.
I dunno why we’re here.
Oh.. I guess we got lost. Ahahaha..
Had a coffee at one of the cafe while trying to figure out where to go next.
We then took a cab to High Street Kensington.
There’s a few shops there. Walked here and there a bit.

Trying to figure out the map – dah sesat tapi tak nak tanya orang. Hehe.

Took the tube to Turnham Green to meet up with Sham.
Sham is Shanky’s friend. She got married and currently working here in one of the legal firm.
I think we got lost on the way here as well. Hahaha. What la you guys..

Sham and Shanky – chillin’ outside

Anyway, she took us to one of the bar there.
We lepak outside to smoke and chat.
It’s really really cold. Damn cold!
The temperature was 11 Celcius for God sake.
I can’t remember how many sticks of ciggy I smoked but I just can’t keep myself warm.
Sheesh! The weather is really unpredictable.

Bestfriends – Cat and Nurul

Sham sent us back to the hotel but before that we went to Sainsbury to buy a few stuffs ~thanks Sham.
Sainsbury is one of the famous supermarket there like Tesco and Waitrose.
I can’t remember what I bought there but I think something for dinner la kot?

Fourth Day
Plan for today – go for sightseeing.
First stop – London Bridge Station.

Group picture at London Bridge Station – except Shanky that is

Well actually the famous bridge is the Tower Bridge. Why they called it London Bridge?
From the station after breakfast, we walked towards London Bridge Pier.
We passed by London Dungeon.
Didn’t go in coz it’s quite expensive (around 22GBP) plus I’m the only one who’s interested.
Terpaksalah tengok dari luar jer.. Huhu.

The London Dungeon ~ Huhu. From across the street.

London Bridge City Pier. PRET ~ where we had our brunch.

Cat and Nurul after full stomach ~ so happy ar

From across the pier, we can see the London Tower.
As we walked on along the pier.. There it was – HMS Belfast. A war ship that the British used during World War II.
Still in good condition with turrets and all. It’s a museum ship now.
Kalau nak masuk boleh.. GBP11 aje.. Heh.
The location is not too far from the Tower Bridge.

HMS Belfast – the war ship

I can’t remember what’s the name of that weird-yet-beautiful building

Nurul, Cat and Shanky – background is the Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge, London ~ notice the bridge is up and the ferry is moving across? Cool!

Next – we took the tube to Waterloo Station.
- Royal Festival Hall
- London Aquarium
- London County hall
- London Eye

One of the cinema ~ even the outside look is impressive

Waterloo station

Royal Festival Hall

London Eye

London Eye – zoomed in

I really like this shot – I changed the setting and edit a bit.

County Hall  and London Aquarium.

London Eye ~ side view

We then walked across the Westminster Bridge.
It’s a long walk… but I didn’t feel tired tho. Plus lots of people walk here.
It’s easier and more convenient because the places are located close to each other.
Maybe because the weather is not like Malaysia.. so it feels nice to walk.
Kalau kat Malaysia.. hm.. sendiri mau ingatlah. Berpeluh beb!!

Nurul, Cat and Shanky ~ Westminster Bridge

At the end of the bridge – Palace of Westminster aka House of Parliament and Big Ben (The world largest four-faced chiming clock).

The Big Ben – Up Close and Personal

After that we went to Picaddily Circus. Jangan salah faham ye.. takde circus kat situ pun.
Hehe.. All these places reminds me of Monopoly.

Telephone booths

One of the war monument – The Battle of British

View from the opposite site of the river – we walked all the way from there. Phew!

Picadilly Circus – circus in Latin means circle.
Famous for it’s neon lights, shopping and entertainment.
You can see a lot of the London theaters are located here.
Hm.. let’s see.. There’s Mamma Mia!, Queen, Les Miserables and a few others.
The ticket price.. ehem.. GBP40, more or less.
I’m sure there’s a way to get a cheaper price for the show. I just don’t know how. Hehe.

MJ is playing – Hm.. the legend

Les Miserables – I wish I can watch it..

Had our dinner here. Picadilly is near to London Chinatown.
Nurul wanted Malaysian food ~ time tu plak ada one restaurant called Rasa Sayang.
Wonder where it is? Google Map this –> 5 Macclesfield Street, London, W1D 6AY

Phew! When someone haven’t got a taste of Malaysian food for quite sometime.. Hehe.
Nurul ordered a lot of food.. a lot as in A LOT for the 3 of us.
Nasib baik dia yang bayor. Hahaha. Kalau tak.. hm..aku cuci pinggan kat dapur la kot.
Well, as long as she’s happy.. let’s see what she ordered.

Food!! Thanks Nurul! Burp!

- Asam Pedas Ikan Kembong (not bad I would say).
- Karipap (weird looking – instant punya kot?)
- Roti Canai (sah2 yang ni instant – takkan ada mamak pulak kat sana kan?)
- Nasi Lemak Rendang Ayam (ni Nurul punya – dia sorang belasah)
- Sate Ayam (tak leh celen Hj Samuri punya satay)
- Teh Tarik ( Aduyai.. tak macam mamak punya lah)

Overall.. okaylah.. Can’t complaint much.
Taste – ada but not very original except for the Asam Pedas and maybe Nasi Lemak.
Price – perghhh!!!!!! Tak hengat punya mahal – seb baik bukan aku yg bayo.
Ambiance – Crowded.. all the tables was arranged very close to each other.
Kat luar still got a long line of people waiting for their turn to be seated.
Hm.. their business is good it seems.

Before we head back to hotel..

The famous neon lights at Picadilly Circus ~ I bet it looks nicer if it’s dark.

London – Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

Beca Mat Saleh? Thehe..

End of day 4. Full stomach and tired.

Fifth Day
SHOPPING SPREE DAY!
We’re going to Bicester Village. Pronunciation is like this –> Bister.
Not that easy to go there but trust me it’s worth it.
Amazingly, this place is not included in Nurul’s Lonely Planet Guidebook. Hehe.
Not many people knows about this place especially tourists.
Sham told Shanky about it and the best way to get there.
If you want to know more about this place which consists of 100+ luxury boutique outlets, you can check it out here:
www.bicestervillage.com

Shuttle bus to bicester village – someone is obviously excited. Hehe

The journey to Bicester from Marylebone Station took nearly an hour.
At the station, we took a minivan aka suttle bus to get to the village – it’s included in the train fee. Nice!
So, make sure you plan your journey well. Watch out the closing time as well.

The village operating hours – the pic is a bit senget

How the shops are arranged – Polo Ralph Lauren in the middle

If you’re lucky, you could get designers apparel at a very very cheap price.
Just to name a few outlets:
Calvin Klien, Clarks, DKNY, D&G, FCUK, Jimmy Choo and Ted Baker.
I bought a TED BAKER sling bag for GBP20 and also FCUK cardigans – 3 for GBP20.
Plus 2 pairs of Clark shoes for GBP34.
Quite a bargain huh? Hehehe. Yeah, I know..
If I do the conversion that time with the rate, overall it’s approx around RM370.
Nasib baik my budget for shopping is not as much like ehem, ada orang tu la. Hehehe.
The ladies (including Cat) shopped more than me which is as expected.

Didn’t take much pictures here because it was raining every now and then.
Again.. the weather.. *sigh.

UK country side ~ taken from inside the train

Sixth Day
Today would be the our last day in London.
Packed all our stuffs and kept our heavy luggages in the hotel.
We planned to get it back once we returned from Paris.
We flew with BMI from Heathrow Airport to Amsterdam.
I’ll continue with Amsterdam travelogue in second part.

Damn! it’s a long one.

So the second day in London was equally as jam-packed at the first! It’s been one week exactly since my second day there, but it exhausts me just thinking about it! Whew…So let me begin!

The Saturday in London was definitely a shopping day! Of course! We had three different areas to hit up in mind to start with– Camden Market, Notting Hill, and Oxford Circus. Our other plans included Hyde Park as a must. Ally and I had a handful of other things in mind that we could do (like the National Gallery, Picadilly Circus, Sloan St., and seeing a show) but unfortunately there was just NO time! Ah! London cannot be captured in two mere days!

Before we headed anywhere for shopping however, we of course had to make a aspiring-wizard pilgrimage to King’s Cross Station to see Platform 9 3/4! We were so luck we didn’t have to go very far to find every Harry Potter fan’s dream. King’s Cross was the station that was really close to our hostel!

King's Cross Station

After we found (and snapped photos of!) Platform 9 3/4, Ally and I made the best decisions of our lives: buying an all-day tube pass. Seriously- we used the heck out of that thing! It was incredibly useful to have unlimited access to the London Underground. It made our transportation needs so much easier!

Hogwarts bound!

Our first stop was Camden for the Camden Market recommended to us for some awesome vendors and vintage shops. Camden was a lively place, which was apparent from the moment we emerged from the underground. The early afternoon sun was shining bright, and I could tell it was going to be a great day!

The first store we saw was a vintage shop, and Ally and I made a beeline for it. We both bought kick-ass vintage belts. Mine was a stretchy cobalt blue one with a gold leaf clasp. It cost me only 12 pounds (which I don’t even want to convert to dollars! It’s better to pretend it was 12-something in every country!). Then Ally and I explored around the street vendors selling all sorts of trendy dresses for relatively cheap. Almost all of the dresses were the same from vendor to vendor. I finally decided on one (there were SO MANY!). It was pretty cute, so I just went with it. I was in London, for goodness sakes! Why not?

Ally and I ate lunch in Camden, fuel for the day. The two of us were on the same eating/exhaustion/excitement body schedule throughout the trip. If I was hungry, chances were Ally was hungry. It was funny and helpful, let me tell you!

Our next destination was Notting Hill. After a few transfers on the Tube, we made it. Problem-solving skills were still in full force! Except now we were pretty much pros at getting around on the Underground, as long as we had a general idea of where we wanted to go. We were still using our ghetto map, despite the fact we had purchased legit ones the day before. I suppose this tiny map was much more discreet!

Notting Hill was great as well. More vintage-y and boutique oriented than the open-air Camden Market. I bought an adorable black and white vintage looking ruffle dress with the intent it would be my new party dress! I loved it! Ally got an amazing vintage ring (her goal of the trip was to get one, and she got a great one!). We were feeling pretty fatigued at this point, but not hungry, so we decided on some gelatto. As we ate our afternoon treat, we rested our very sore feet and bodies.

Mustering up the energy to move (I think the gelatto’s sugar aided in this process), we got back on the Tube to ride over to Oxford Circus. TopShop time! This store was HUGE. I don’t think my exhaust-ridden mind could really fathom just how giant this store was. 4 (maybe more?) floors filled to the max with TopShop goodies.

yay for shopping!

Downstairs was where the clothes I could a.) afford and b.) actually would wear were in the basement. The store was so hot, crowded, and overwhelming though! It was a bit difficult to muster up shopping energy! Ally and I tried on a bunch of clothes, but I ended up buying a 10 pound plaid skirt and the most comfortable leggings on earth. I would say it was a successful trip!

We had a date with Peter Pan next. His statue is in Hyde Park, so we made our way there. Hyde Park is literally massive. Beautiful, but massive. Ally and I dragged our tired feet in quest of this Peter Pan statue. A map showed him along a far-stretching expanse of road. We thought we were lost until we finally found his location. That walk to The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up was painful, but we made it!

We sat in Peter’s presence for a good 20 minutes before having enough energy to take a picture with him. Ally and I both need to recuperate our strength first! Instead of walking all the way back to the Tube station where we started our Peter Pan quest, Ally suggested we take a cab there, for the fee wouldn’t be too large. Our cab drive was nice and only charged us 5 pounds for a 8 pound fare. Worth it. I don’t think we would’ve survived that walk back! We were so exhausted!

Peter Pan!

Tired and sweaty, Ally and I decided to head back to hostel and grab dinner on the way. We ate at a great Italian place about 5 minutes from the hostel. Yum. That was a good meal, despite the fact that we received the occasional droplets of water from the air conditioner above us. I was too tired to care!

It was about 9pm when we finished eating and we went back to the hostel to get ready for the night. Ally and I were both hoping we would hang out with the Dutch boys, but knew we had no way to contact them! So we went online to look for nearby bars to hang out at. We were leaving that night (around 2am) and needed to stay close to the hostel so we could leave in the most efficient way possible.

We didn’t really have much luck finding something fun nearby. What we ended up doing was staying in at the hostel bar, (The Clink Bar) and having a go at all the cocktails available. Ally was really ansty because she wanted to see the Dutch guys. I was pretty indifferent either way. I felt a little lame at the Clink Bar. We played a game of pool though. That was fun (I won!).

get it!

spontaneous photoshoot in the hostel

Ally was bored so she made it a goal to befriend the bartender. I was down, and so we chatted it up with him. He turned out to be  a 29-year-old Australian man. He was a pretty burly guy, just randomly in London and took the bartending job. He was nice enough to talk to. He even forgot to charge us for one of our drinks (but not the rest, unfortunately).

So Ally and I were sitting and having cocktail after cocktail, getting pretty hazy. It was fun enough! The DJ even played Lady Gaga from my request! But anyways, we were counting down the time until we unfortunately had to leave, lamenting on our awesome whirlwind of a trip when all of a sudden we get a tap on our shoulders….

And out of the blue there are the 3 guys from Holland that we first met the night before! Bart, aka Johnny Depp, bought Ally and I tequila shots, and we proceeded to talk to them. What were the chances of that? It was so random– or was it fate? We wanted to say bye to them, and there they were!

But Ally was curious to know where Dax was… and his cousin. Not there, apparently. Before we knew it we had to leave for the airport. We bid our farewells, and made our way out of the hostel. We started walking to catch a cab to Liverpool Station, where Ally had researched and found a night bus to the airport. We paid 8 pounds to the cab driver and were at the station. Pretty drunk, Ally and I could not figure out what bus to take worth our lives.

Things were getting pretty stressful, and no “night bus” was in sight. I was terribly worried because Ally kept telling me we were waiting for a bus that “wasn’t real”. Not reassuring. I was definitely confused! In the midst of all this crazy confusion however, was a funny little twist of fate… Dax and Symon!

The two other Dutch boys appeared out of nowhere! We were pretty far from our hostel, and not in a busy area, and yet there they were! It was so strange! Fate was at work! Especially for Ally, who wanted to say goodbye to Dax the most! And what a goodbye it was!

We parted, and in a panicked state, caught a cab to Stansted Airport. 115 pounds (I DO NOT want to think about how much that is in $$$) we were at the airport. HOLY HELL. Ally owed me money for the trip, so I thankfully didn’t dish out the money, but still. It was quite a ridiculous fee. But we were in a ridiculous state, so it worked. And Ally’s lovestruck eyes were glowing with fate’s mystical powers. So it wasn’t too bad.

By then it was about 3:45 and our flight was in the near distance. We were drunk still, and checked in to RyanAir for our flight. We hung out in the airport lobby (which was very crowded) and I had an overwhelming urge to call my Mom. Thank goodness I didn’t!

By the time we reached our gate we were absolutely exhausted. Ally and I fell asleep in our chairs, heads down, totally unaware of the fact that we were sleeping in the most uncomfortable way possible. Passed out, I magically popped up from my slumber to hear that our plane was boarding. I instantly knew. It was quite hilarious. I tapped Ally to wake her up, and she deliriously asked me if we had missed our flight. Also hilarious. The man next to her thought so as well.

And off we went. Goodbye London, hello again Dublin.

An adventure to remember, that is certain!

Flickr photo by wicho

昨日に続き、イギリスの主な格安航空会社について。1985年に設立されたRyanair（ライアンエアー）は、アイルランドのダブリンを拠点にする、ヨーロッパ最大の格安航空会社で旅客数ではヨーロッパ第三位。ヨーロッパと北アフリカ内に現在830ルートを持つ。ロンドンでのハブの空港は、スタンステッド空港。そのサービスは悪評高いが、価格は安い。「0.99ポンドから」という宣伝で話題を呼び、現在席数には限りがあるが、時期やルートにより、0.01ポンドという価格を提供している。魅力的だが、私自身はそんなに安い価格をこの目で見た事はないし、もし探せたとしても、後から述べるように、税金や様々な諸経費が加算され、結果そんなに安く乗れる事はあり得ない。CEOのMichael O’Leary（マイケル・オライリー）は、大手航空会社や航空業界への批判等、歯に衣着せぬ大胆な発言で、度々物議を醸すことで有名だ。

そして私のライアンエア体験談。ウェブサイトは、ちょっとごちゃごちゃしてて、いかにも格安航空会社という感じ。最初に提示された金額に加え、税金や手数料、オンラインチェックイン代５ポンド（空港でのチェックインは、当日40ポンドもとられる）、預け荷物が1個につき10ポンド、Priority Boarding（優先搭乗）3ポンド、そしてクレジットカード使用の手数料1人5ポンド等々、何かにつけ手数料が加算されていく。だから、ライアンエアーに乗った事がなければ、最後の支払い画面で最初に見たチケットの価格と違う合計額を見て、「騙された！」と思うかもしれない。それでも、私の乗ったフライトの価格は、ブリティッシュ・エアウェイズの半額程度だったから、仕方ない。預け荷物は15kgまで。他の航空会社は20kgまでなので、気をつけないと制限重量を超してしまう。アメリカに住むMの兄は、超過料金の説明を読んでいなかったらしく、大きなスーツケースで搭乗したため、かなりの額の超過料金を払わされたと怒っていた。なので、格安航空会社のチケットを買う前には、しっかりTerms & Conditionsを読んでおく方がいい。

搭乗ゲートは、先のイージージェットと違って、プライオリティ・ボーディングとその他の乗客の列が分かれていたので、それほどの混乱はなかった。飛行機の床はゴミだらけ。インフライトマガジンにはゴミが付着していて、手が汚れた。前に乗ったライアンエアーのフライト内ははきれいな時もあったので、今回は運が悪かったらしい。ウィキペディアによると、前のフライトが着陸してから次の離陸までの時間が短いから、十分掃除する暇がないのだそうだ。座席はこれまた掃除のしやすい革製だが、イージージェットより固めで座り心地は良くない。また座席前ポケットがなく、飲み物や読み物を入れられないのが不便。フライトはほぼ満席、座席の上の棚は無料の持ち込み手荷物で一杯。有料のフードサービス、デューティー・フリーやスクラッチ・カード（宝くじ）販売は、イージージェットと同じ。

出発前4時間前なら、フライトの変更も可能なのだが、変更画面からチケットの値段を見ると、新たに買うよりかなり価格が設定されているし、また手数料等考えると、新しくチケットを買った方が安い場合が多い。キャンセルの場合は、払い戻し不可。私たちも使えなかった航空券があったのだが、税金のみ返金できるが手数料がかかると言われたので、返金されても雀の涙だろう。

基本的にライアンエアーはあまり利用したくないのはやまやまなのだが、やはり安さにつられて、ついつい利用してしまうのだった。

Today’s topic is another budget airline in the UK, Ryanair. Established in 1985, Ryanair is the largest discount airline in Europe and third largest European carriers. The airline is based in Dublin, Ireland, and operates 830 routes in Europe and North Africa. Ryanair’s hub airport in London is Stansted Airport. The reputation of its service is notoriously bad, but its cheap prices still attract millions of people every year. Once Ryanair got huge attention with its advertising campaign, ‘price starts from £0.99′ and now offers £0.01 flight for limited number of seats on selected routes. Sounds too good to be true, and in fact, I have never seen such a cheap price on my own, and even if I could find, tax and all sort of fees would be added up at the end, as I explains later. Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, is known for his bad mouthing about the airline industry and among its regulators, and often causes an controversy.

My personal experience on Ryanair flight (so don’t believe it everything) was like this. Their website is crammed with too much information and well, it looks ‘cheap’. In addition to the suggested price, not only tax and fees but also all sort of fees would be added to the price, such as mandatory online check-in (£5@. If you don’t check in online, you have to pay £40 at the airport), check-in luggage (£10@), Priority Boarding (£3), Credit Card fee except Visa Electron (£5 per person), etc. etc… Therefore, if you gave never used Ryanair before, you may feel cheated when you see a total cost. However, even with all these fees added, our flight was almost half price of British Airways on the same route. Check-in luggage is up to only 15kg, in compare to 20kg for other airlines, and it is easy to surpass the limit if you are not careful. M’s brother who lives in USA, was very upset because he had to pay astronomic sum of excess luggage as he traveled with a huge luggage when he came to Europe. Well my suggestion is to read tiny written terms and conditions when you take no-frills airline flight.

The boarding gate, in compare to EasyJet, was more orderly as the lines were divided between Priority Boarding passengers and others. Inside the airplane was full of trash on the floor, and I got my hand dirty with their filthy in-flight magazine. According to Wikipedia, since Ryanair made a time in between flights so short that they don’t have much time to clean up their airplane. But not all the flights we took were dirty, for your peace of mind. The seat was also made of easy-to-clean leather but it was harder than the one on EasyJet. There was inconveniently no pocket on the seat for newspapers and stuffs. Flight was almost full as usual, and packed of free-of-charge hand luggage on the upper compartments. Sales of food and drinks, duty-free products and scratch cards were the same as EasyJet.

You can change the flight up to 4 hours before your flight, but when I tried to change my tickets, I concluded that it didn’t worth to change and just put it in the trash, considering a fee for change and changeable ticket prices which were strangely more expensive than buying a new ticket from scratch. Then I tried to cancel my tickets, I was told that tickets were no refundable but government tax could be refunded, and we had to pay a ‘fee’ for it.

I am not a big fan of Ryanair, but I always cannot resist their attractive price and end up traveling with Ryanair, as so many other passengers…

One of my favourite parts of a holiday is getting to raid the duty free in the airport on the way home …well, if I have money!

Luckily, our London weekend ended up being really cheap and so I arrived at Stansted with £60 in my purse *cue crazy-happy running towards the Benefit counter*

And what to my wondering eyes did appear? Benefit’s Smokin’ Eyes …it’s changed my life.

I have never EVER managed to achieve a smokey look as perfect as the one I achieved when I tested this out at home.

Je suis very happy.

Also included on my purchasing list was Bluff Dust for my persistant flushing!

This too is incredible!

This is because we have been playing host to some of the Danish branch of our family. Our beautiful niece Cecilia and her equally beautiful mum, Maria came over to spend the weekend with us.

Left To Right - Cecilie, Chuffing Hog, Sue and Maria

This entailed a certain amount of planning and a great deal of tidying up before they arrived – tasks that were barely completed with varying degrees of success. Certainly the proliferation of piles of paper and other things around the house have mostly been put away and most of the archaeological layers of junk around my so-called office have been excavated. We even replaced some of our ancient furniture, as I recounted on this blog when I made my medical breakthrough and discovered the condition called Screwdriver Hand.

Maria is a successful designer of what I am informed is Outerwear. I still call them coats and jackets, but hey, I’m a bloke.  Her label is called Mu-Ka and her stunning clothing can be seen at http://www.mu-ka.com.  You will also see from her contacts page that she doesn’t (yet) have UK distribution.

She had spent the past week or so out in the Far East, where her outerwear is manufactured, and had only arrived back the day before she came to stay with us. However, as I will explain, we did little to make her visit relaxing, because we had a great deal of activity to pack into a short time.

The visit really started on Thursday when Maria and Cecilia arrived at Stansted Airport. Sue had told them that she would be meeting them because it was planned that I would be at work. However, I was able to get the time off to go with Sue to meet them. I am really glad that I did as we were able to spend that time together.

Our drive back to Nottingham was uneventful and we arrived home safely and installed our visitors in the one and only fully equipped bedroom. Sue and I had it all worked out. We had a huge fluffy duvet and the inflatable mattress that we use for camping. Predictably enough, Maria and Cecilia both retired fairly early and Sue and I pottered about for a while before deciding to settle down for the night.

This is when we realised that although I had retrieved the mattress and the pump from the loft, I had overlooked the stopper that keeps the air inside the mattress. As our guests were already sound asleep, I decided that I couldn’t start scrabbling about in loft above their bed.

This left us with a problem.

Whilst I don’t mind sleeping on the floor, Sue doesn’t do floors. This was, I had hoped, solved when I took the sun lounger from under the stairs and set it up for Sue to sleep on. With the solution to one problem came another one. We only had one duvet – and Sue was having this.

Fortunately, our corner shop is a large Tesco Extra. So Sue trotted off down the road and returned with another, slightly less fluffy, but perfectly serviceable duvet.

With the sleeping arrangements supposedly sorted out, we retired for the night.

When I woke up – ridiculously early – at about 6 am, Sue was missing. The sunbed was there, but Sue and the big fluffy duvet had, it seems, been abducted by aliens.

Eventually, I wandered downstairs to see whether there were flying saucers on the lawn, to discover Sue asleep in the middle of the front room floor on the settee cushions. It is a matter of considerable regret that I didn’t have the presence of mind and naked courage to capture a photograph of this hilarious sight.

I tiptoed around for quite a while until she eventually woke her up, claiming that I had disturbed her sleep with my snoring. Although I find this hard to believe, it is no more than justice for the many nights that I have been kept awake by stentorian rumbles from Sue’s side of the bed.

Part 2 of this epic will pick up with Good Friday’s family get-together.

Ride Safe
Dave

The Competition Commission’s report into BAA’s ownership of multiple airports has concluded that BAA must sell Stansted, Gatwick and one of Edinburgh or Glasgow airports.  They have two years to sell off Stansted and interestingly the Commission has not insisted any new buyer proceed with BAA’s plans for a destructive second runway at the airport.

Stop Stansted Expansion's BAA monopoly beer mat

The fact that the Competition Commission is demanding the airport be sold surely means that BAA should now wake up and smell the coffee.  The Commission’s decision means that BAA can’t use profits from Heathrow to fund the expansion plans at other airports and at least one of the prospective buyers for Stansted does not want the second runway proposed by BAA, added to this the airlines don’t want a second runway either.

So, you’re the brand new President of the United States and you’re about to host your first State visit, a visit from the Prime Minister of Britain, one of America’s oldest and staunchest allies, Gordon Brown and his wife, what do you do?

Well, the first think you do is to humiliate your guest by canceling a press conference “because of snow”. You know, because it would have been really hard to just move it indoors.

White House cancels Brown press conference in Rose Garden

Gordon Brown’s attempts to portray himself as a global leader in a time of crisis have been dealt a blow by White House planners – and Washington’s worst snowstorm in years.

Downing Street officials discovered last night that Prime Minister would not, as had been widely reported, hold a joint press conference with President Obama after their talks at the White House today.

Instead, the White House press office announced what it called a “pool spray” – a few shouted questions from selected agency reporters as the two men sat down for talks and photographers clicked away.

After representations from British diplomats, it was agreed to hold open it up more widely and allow a total of four questions – two from each side – at a “press availability” in the Oval Office after the talks.

British officials, denying any deliberate snub, said that a slightly more formal event planned in the Rose Garden after the meeting had been cancelled because the grounds of the White House are blanketed in snow.

See also:
Brown faces humiliation after Obama ’snub’
NOT SO BIG AFTER ALL? BROWN SNUBBED BY OBAMA
Some British Media Say Obama Snubbed Prime Minister; U.S. Lawmakers Unsure
Journo Blames Michelle Obama for President’s PM Brown ‘Snub’

Well, surely such an important ally would at least be honored with the traditional formal State dinner, right? Diplobamacy says no.

Snub Number 2

Despite the fact that Gordon Brown had become the first European leader to set foot in Washington (a very big deal for the Europeans, it seems), the Obamas failed to have Mr. Brown and his wife Sarah over for a White House dinner. Such formal receptions, especially considering that Gordon Brown represents America’s staunchest ally, is simply diplomatic protocol. Has the financial crisis become so bad that the White House could not afford a casserole? It’s the thought that counts, after all. I am half-tempted to believe that this incredible oversight is a very bad omen for Obama’s future relations with European leaders. Mr. Brown had to settle for a “working lunch” at the White House instead.

After making their invited guests feel thoroughly unwelcome, the Obamas did participate in the customary exchange of gifts. Care to guess how that went?

Sarah Brown’s very British fashion gift for Michelle Obama

As if slumber parties in the White House and secret visits from the Jonas Brothers weren’t enough to bring little Malia and Sasha Obama kudos (forget their parents for a second), now Sarah Brown’s given them the ultimate Briish fashion gift – Topshop clothes! The Prime Minister’s wife arrived for her First Ladies’ summit with Michelle Obama yesterday bearing a dress and necklace from Topshop, which has yet to launch in the US.

How thoughtful of Mrs. Brown. And how did Michelle reciprocate? She sent an aide to the White House gift shop with $30. How cool is that?

First Lady Michelle Obama shows even she has a gift for the gaffe

In return Mrs Obama gave the Brown children, Fraser and John, two toy models of Marine One, the Presidential helicopter. Fair enough on the helicopter part, always a popular choice with small boys; but Marine One? It’s not as though anyone needs reminding that Barack Obama is President or that he has his own helicopter. Short of giving the boys Action Man models of her own husband smiting the evil forces of neoconservatism, Mrs Obama’s gesture could not have been more solipsistic or more inherently dismissive of Mrs Brown.

Not only did she demonstrate that she spent approximately three seconds contemplating the needs of the Brown boys (having an aide pop to the White House gift shop for a piece of merchandising does not imply a great deal of thought), she appeared to show a most uncharacteristic lapse of judgment.

Classy.

And what gifts did the two heads of state exchange? What did Gordon Brown give Obama?

Pen holder from ship’s timbers to seal friendship

THE Prime Minister will give Barack Obama a pen holder carved from antique ship’s timbers to symbolise Anglo-US friendship.

The gift was made at Chatham docks from oak from HMS Gannet, which was launched in 1878.

The timbers of its sister ship, HMS Resolute, were used for the desk in the Oval Office.

The Resolute was one of the ships which, in 1845, went to find British explorer Sir John Franklin, who disappeared after setting off to discover the North-West Passage. The Resolute itself became trapped by ice and was abandoned by its crew. Three years later it was found 1,200 miles away by an American whaler. Although the British waived their claim to the ship the Americans gave it back as a token of peace. The desk made from its timbers has been used by almost every US president. JFK’s son was pictured hiding under it while his father worked.

Wow, now that’s a historic, special, thoughtful gift for the President of the United States. Surely Obama gave the Prime Minister of Britain an equally appropriate and impressive gift, right? Diplobamacy says no. He even outdid his wife in terms of abject crassness.

Obama’s Blockbuster Gift for Brown: 25 DVDs

While the British prime minister presented Obama with uniquely historic gifts symbolizing America’s relationship with England, the president gave Brown a set of movies.

Let’s hope he’s a Star Wars fan.

President Obama gave British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a set of 25 classic American films to mark his historic visit to the White House, British media reported on Friday.

Brown, the first European leader to visit Obama since his Jan. 20 inauguration, was presented with a “special collector’s box” of DVDs during his two-day visit to Washington.

My God, what an absolute jerk, why not just give Brown an Amazon gift card? At least then he could pick out some cheap crap he might actually like. This is the leader of the free world? This is how he treats his official guests?

It would be funny if the DVDs Mr Obama gave Mr Brown were Region 1 NTSC and therefore not compatible with the UK where DVDs are region 2 and video format is PAL.

See also:
Fab Flash: Sarah Brown Delivers Fashion Gift to US
Michelle’s $15 gift for the boys
Topshop
Dockyard gift from PM to Obama
HMS Gannet (1878)
Explore HMS Gannet (1878)
The Historic Dockyard Chatham, one of Kent’s premier Visitor Attractions
London aghast at President Obama over gifts given to Prime Minister Brown
Obama’s not-so-special gift to top Brit
To my special friend Gordon, 25 DVDs: Obama gives Brown a set of classic movies. Let’s hope he likes the Wizard of Oz
DVD & Video formats of the World

Think Obama and his wife can do any more damage to U.S. – U.K, relations? Stay tuned!

President Obama expected to meet the Queen next month

US president Barack Obama is expected to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace when he visits Britain next month.

There was no official confirmation from the Palace, the Foreign Office or the US Embassy in London of reports that the president will have an informal “getting to know you” session with the Queen ahead of the G20 summit of the world’s leading economies on April 2.

But detailed reports in a number of newspapers suggested Mr Obama will fly into Stansted Airport with wife Michelle on March 31 – two days ahead of the economic summit – and have an audience with the Queen the following day.

In a statement, the White House confirmed Mr Obama’s visit to Europe will begin on March 31 in the United Kingdom.

An audience with the Queen would be unusual, as these usually take place only on official state visits to the UK.

See also:
President Obama to meet the Queen
Queen Elizabeth to receive Obama and wife, say British reports
Obama set for Palace audience with Queen
Home – G20
Official Stansted Airport website

Will Michelle curtsy to the Queen or will the Queen curtsy to Michelle?

/we’ll just have to wait to find out but one thing’s for sure, in the world of Diplobamacy, hilarity is bound to ensue!

UPDATE:

Barack Obama ‘too tired’ to give proper welcome to Gordon Brown

Barack Obama’s offhand approach to Gordon Brown’s Washington visit last week came about because the president has facing exhaustion over America’s economic crisis and is unable to focus on foreign affairs, the Sunday Telegraph has been told.

Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been “overwhelmed” by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest.

. . .

But Washington figures with access to Mr Obama’s inner circle explained the slight by saying that those high up in the administration have had little time to deal with international matters, let alone the diplomatic niceties of the special relationship.

Allies of Mr Obama say his weary appearance in the Oval Office with Mr Brown illustrates the strain he is now under, and the president’s surprise at the sheer volume of business that crosses his desk.

A well-connected Washington figure, who is close to members of Mr Obama’s inner circle, expressed concern that Mr Obama had failed so far to “even fake an interest in foreign policy”.

It’s only been six weeks and already he can’t handle the job?

/this does not bode well for America, what manner of utter lightweight have we elected?

A tree which has escaped from Philipland Wood descended on London yesterday to support Stop Stansted Expansion’s High Court appeal against a Government decision to allow an increase in passenger numbers at Stansted. One of the trees spent the day tweeting on Twitter – you can see his updates and find out what happened at http://twitter.com/edwoodlandtrust

The High Court hearing is due to last 3 days and we look forward to hearing the outcome. You can read more about the case and watch an interview with one of the trees on BBC News . There’s more background on the case in my earlier post.

Remember you don’t have to sign up to Twitter to see what happened just follow this link: http://twitter.com/edwoodlandtrust or scroll down to read the thread!

ヨーロッパの優れた現代建築作品に与えられるミース・ファン・デル・ローエ賞。その建築賞の創設20周年を記念する回顧展が1月下旬に東京で開催された。ミース賞受賞作品の展覧会がヨーロッパ以外で開催されたのは初めてのことだ。

EU議会は1987年に、現代建築の課題に取り組んでいる建築家を表彰するため、20世紀のヨーロッパ建築を代表するミース・ファン・デル・ローエの名前を冠した建築賞を創設した。

二年に一度、最優秀賞や新人賞などを授与している。過去の受賞者には、英国スタンステッド空港のノーマン・フォスターやフランス国立図書館のドミニク・ペローなど世界的な建築家の名前がずらりと並ぶ。

東京都庁の展望ギャラリーと新宿パークタワーの2会場で、最優秀賞など約50点のオリジナルの建築模型が展示された。バルセロナにあるミース財団のルイス・オルテ専務理事も来日。ヨーロッパ現代建築の最新の動向に触れる貴重な展覧会となった。（赤坂四郎）

ミース賞展実行委員会事務局
http://www.mies-japan.com/

ミース・ファン・デル・ローエ・バルセロナ財団
http://www.miesbcn.com/

英国スタンステッド空港
http://www.stanstedairport.com/