Recovery + Culture

Woke up to Jimbo around 11, tried holding a conversation but passed out mid-conversation. Sorry about that...was in no mood to talk. So Jimbo let me sleep awhile longer after the long night.

Finally Jimbo woke me up around 1:45ish to get some culture in me. Apparently the Northerners DO have culture. :P I get up and Jimbo makes me some breakfast which I was surprised I could even eat anything. Stomach was feeling a bit rough. At least I didn't get sick last night or today. Had to represent my country for pete's sake! (who is pete by the way?) Jimbo made us a bowl of Wheatabits. Interesting choice.

 

They are basically wheaties but oval-shaped and you just plop them in a bowl of milk. Good to go. I figured i'd give them a go. They weren't bad...I just couldn't eat much at the moment. So we go off to see some of the culture and sights that Lincoln has to offer in a taxi. We walked about for a bit and I got to see the Lincoln Castle, Cathedral, and a few other odds and ends which were absolutely gorgeous. (Note: all the pictures are on my online gallery after the night out pictures from my previous post - in case you lost the link: here it is)

After the castle, we head over to the Cathedral. We stop off on the way to grab a nice Sausage roll. On the way to the Cathedral, Jimbo was telling me about this local tale of the Lincoln Imp which is apparently in the cathedral. After we get to the cathedral (which is immense by the way), he shows me the Imp. I'm thinking its going to be some huge statue of an imp or whatever. Turns out it is this small (maybe 8 inch) gargoyle-like thing that is 2/3 of the way up near a column and the roof. I was kinda surprised that there was all this publicity for this little guy which I could barely see. Apparently there are a few sporting teams named after this little guy. Impressive. Size apparently does not matter to the northern folk. I got a few other pictures of some other gargoyles that were cool lookin though.

Finally we go back to Jimbo's house and vegged out for awhile. He showed me that he has an iPod Touch (first gen) and I saw it was just the basic software where he couldn't have any games or mail or any of that good stuff. So I show him what he's missing and load up all sorts of games and apps for him and now he's like a kid in a candy store with it. Score one for Apple! :P

Had Spaghetti and bolonaise sauce for dinner. What an excellent choice! So good!! Jimbo, thank your mum again! Hung out for a bit more, saw some English TV and comedy shows and then got curry & poppadoms later. They are basically oversized Pringles (or as the UK calls them, crisps).

That's a wrap for the day. Time to pass out.

The man, the myth, the legend: The Yank

*Note: I have a load of pictures from the night and there were too many to post individually, please see my online gallery and view them there.*

After dinner, we got ready for the crazy night that Jimbo had in store for me. Jimbo's friend Damien (pronounced dam-ee-an) came over and was going to join in the festivities for the evening. He showed us his new pimped out bass in his car (for those of you who aren't the quickest, bass isn't just a kind of fish, its also a sound.)

So Jimbo's mom drove us to the bar (I know, cute, right?) where we were before - the place where he works. Had another pint of strongbow and met up with 2 more of Jimbo's mates, Steevy G & Shawn who seemed both seemed top notch. Apparently Steevy G was wining about having to go to school or something like that and we were all trying to convince him to come out with us tonight. It only took a pint or two to convince him. I finished my pint before Steevy G and obviously we gave him shit for it. Point for the Yank.

Shawn left and came back a minute later with some various fruity-icy shots to "get yer willy wet" (as were his words) so...Game on! Downed them and off we went to the next pub. Walkabout. As soon as we got in, there was a jagerbomb (these ones were shite though, the jager was already put in, no drop of the shot) for everyone in our group (some more people joined us, fat john being one of them). Followed by an orange strawpeedo. Easy. So far so good. Jimbo almost bitched out of the strawpeedo (something about his jaw being sore from the other night). Batty Boy!!

Had a drink or two more and then headed off to another pub, Essence. This one was a lot of fun. It had a stripper pole right in the middle of the dance floor where Jimbo simply dominated it. (I'll post a video of it later) Messed about and listed to Jimbo, Shawn, and a few other mates sing to some AWFUL karaoke.

Went back to Rev (the place where Jimbo works) and had a drink called a Jammy Dodger. It's not like the biscuits, it was a sweet, raspberry, girly drink but it did the body good. 

After Rev, we went to the final Pub of the night where Jimbo goes straight up to the bartender and just goes mental and orders an ungodly amount of drinks. Turns out there was a final surprise in store: The Lady Boy. Now what is said Lady Boy you ask? A pint of lager, gin & tonic, and a double of baileys. 3 separate drinks. Rule is: you have to drink them in a row - sip of lager, sip of tonic, and sip of baileys. Repeat.

Fat John couldn't handle it and just combined all 3 in one glass and downed it. Awful idea!! Mixing all those together resulted in an almost immediate curdling of the drink. UGH! After downing the drink, he made a mad dash to the toilet to boot. I don't blame him! After maybe a half hour, Jimbo, myself, & Damien all finish our Lady Boys. WHEW!!!

Went downstairs for a little bit and decided to call it a night. We got some pizza and took a taxi back to Jimbo's place. Got back to Jimbo's place, ate the pizza, and finally passed the %#@$ out!

All in all, a proper night out! Fan-Freakin-Tastic evening. 

CHEERS BLOKES!!

On the road again

So Tom and I woke up early for our new adventures ahead of us. I had packed my small bag and left the majority of my stuff at John's so that I can be a bit more mobile while up north.

John drove both of us to the tube station and said our goodbyes. While waiting for the train, I saw this itty bitty car in the parking lot.

It's ridiculous how much smaller the UK cars are than the US. On the way to Kings Cross we passed by Wembly Stadium, which is apparently a really nice football (soccer) stadium. 

Anyway, Tom and I make it to King's Cross where we were to part ways. He's off to visit some other friends and then to Brussles & Amsterdam. Crazy Israeli! 

Bye Tom!

So I make my way to the train station to go up north and see Jimbo. I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda nervous to find out what he's got in store for me. The train on the way there was really nice! I found out that my "first class" seat on the train is actually the exact same as the standard class except you get complimentary tea/coffee. Eh, it was still nice. What was cooler yet though was that the train had free wi-fi! So cool! I know places like Boston and such are actually trying to do it on their public transportation systems too. I'd love to see that become more mainstream.

The train was actually 2 trains. I had to get off and transfer in Retford and wait for about 45 min for the next train. They had a real nice sandwich and coffee stand so I got me a lil snack. Large Hot Chocolate & this really nice Brie & Cranberry sandwich - toasted panini style. Ugh! Quality!

Before the train shows up, I had to use the men's room. I didn't see any signs for it so I politely asked one of the train staff where the "restroom is". He points me in a direction, I thank him kindly and head off in that direction. Lo and behold, he just sent me to the rest-room (aka, waiting room)....where I just ate my sandwich and spent the last 30ish minutes. Finally I realized we had a little misunderstanding. Asked another person where the toilet was and they just point in a different direction and off I go. Kinda funny how in the US, "toilet" is a bit more vulgar term for the bathroom and our polite term is something completely different to the brits. Anyway, I digress.

Got on the train to Lincoln which was significantly smaller than the other train I took. It was only about 2 cars long. What's worse though....NO WI-FI!! I got spoiled! humph. At least the scenery on the way up there (through the Highlands) was absolutely gorgeous!

As soon as I get in, I see the over-sized egghead, Jimbo, waiting for me. He hasn't changed at all since I last saw him 2 years ago. After a quick 'allo 'allo, him and I stopped off at a little pub for a bite to eat and a drink. He's a bartender and he actually works there (surprisingly, its not a gay bar -- sorry Jimbo, I'm not like that :P). I get my first Strongbow while in England. I haven't had it in ages. It's a nice cider that my dad introduced me to. Got a little pizza and met up with one of Jimbo's buddies, Fat John (it was merely how he was introduced, not my name for him!) who seemed like proper fun.

Jimbo briefly showed me around a bit and made me walk up this ungodly steep hill which had to be at least a quarter mile long and at a 60% or more incline. ridiculous! Jimbo's mom picked us up and we headed back to his house. 

Right before we turn into the driveway, there is a kid in the middle of the road with an upturned bike, him standing around all confused and juice boxes scattered along the ground. He is rambling something to me that was clearly supposed to be English but I only heard the number 5 and that he needed a new bag in there. Apparently his bag holding his precious juice boxes broke and everything just went...boom. I later find out that I officially met my first "special" English child. The kid tried following us back to the house until Jimbo gave him a stern "Jog on!" off he went.

Jimbo and I played a little catch-up, I talked to his mom for a bit and then she was going to start making dinner. I was absolutely knackered (tired) so I took a nap to prep for the long night ahead! When I woke up there was a shmorgisborg ready. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, string beans, carrots, Yorkshire pudding, brussel sprouts, and all toppled with gravy galore. Let it be noted that his mom is a legend!

Let Me See Your Game Face

Today was pretty easy. Tom and I slept in and got up late-morning. Luke, Jenna, & Matt cooked breakfast which was simply put, fantastic. Eggs, toast, bacon, & milky tea. Simple.    

Had breakfast with the 3 and tom (Jenna seems to be significantly calmer...but has some weird Hindu towel wrap on her head).

Tom and I hung around most of the day while Jenna & Matt went out. Luke was going to meet "a friend" so Tom and I decided to make our way to see John "Loggy" Robb. So Luke drops us off at the station and make our way to Moor Park where Johnny Boy lives. 

  

Nothing big planned with John. He said we're just gonna lay low tonight and get some drinks and go meet up with some of his mates to play some poker. For those of you who have never played poker with me (probably all of you), I'm actually horrible at it. I barely know the rules...no joke.

We get to the party and John does the intros. Really nice guys. But now its game time. Game face. Here's the deal. $10 (rather, 10 pound) buy-in, you get 3000 in chips. Real official-like. We decided that 1st place gets about 70% of the pot and 2nd to last eliminated gets the rest (that's 30 for those of you who aren't math majors like me)

There were some real ballers in the group. Not gonna lie, I was intimidated. I mean who am I? Just some silly yank who keeps asking silly questions and making silly mistakes throughout the game. Well, turns out that the guys who we were playing with, couldn't decide if I was actually an absolute newbie at this game or if I was absolutely hustling them. Newbie fellas. Although I wasn't gonna give up my one edge on them. Turns out that it paid off. I actually tied for first because we had been playing for over 3 hours and the other dude asked if we could just call it a stalemate and split the pot 50:50. DEAL!!

Tom and I had decided earlier that tomorrow we are going to part ways and do our own thing. He is going to visit Nick from this past summer and I'm gonna go up north to see Jimbo (athletics '07) in Lincoln for a few days. I had booked my ticket online for the train which cost 37 pound. First class seats. We'll see how luxurious these first class actually are. It was 2 pound for the upgrade, might as well!

Anyway, the winnings paid for my train ticket tomorrow. (Count it!!) It was close to 3:30 a.m. by the time we finished so John, Tom, and I went back to john's place and passed out. Gotta get up early tomorrow for the train.

lilah tov!

As Promised

Ladies & Gentlemen, without further adieu, I present to you Miss Jenna Duncan's rendition of the Sicha Time song (newly invented) as well has her superspeed rendition of the Hamotzi prayer sung at Camp Harlam. For those who do not know what either is, just laugh at her. 

Featuring: Jenna Duncan & guest appearance of Lucas Windsor

And of course a lovely duet by, once again, Lucas Windsor and Jenna Duncan singing some song which i'll give the first person (who wasn't involved at this evening) a prize if you can determine what on earth they are singing. Best of luck to you all :P 

Starring: Lucas James Windsor & Jenna "Mams" Duncan

Some still shots of the night:

 

(this just about sums them up in a nutshell: jenna - absolute nutter, luke - scorns at the world)

(Luke thinking he's some early 90's DJ with the speakers on his shoulder. News flash luke: its 2009 now)

(no need for this one other than for others to see how much Matt loves his girlfriend - he's the one ducking from the camera/jenna)

(Natasha's reaction just about sums up the night...wtf)

----

Anyway, sorry I haven't wrote anything in a little bit, much more to come!

Peace up, A town down!

So I'm fully recovered from new years. It was loads of fun to see everyone. Marc's parents warmed up to us (Tom & I) and offered for us to stay another night be we politely declined. Marc took us to a nice Caribbean Jerk restaurant where we got a quick bite to eat. We didn't want to stay too long because there was a football (soccer for all you yanks tuning in at home) match going on that was just about to get out and once it ends, the roads become crazy.

Tom and I are going to spend the night back in London with Luke. He's got a full house so we're gonna have to rough it a bit on the couch and that is more than okay with us. For those of you who don't know of Luke & Jenna, they are legends at Camp Harlam. Luke had gone to camp in '03, '04, and '05 while Jenna was there '04 and '05. Lynn Cowie also lives with them but shes been MIA for some reason.

I think it's Lynn's birthday on the 4th. So Lynn, if you're reading this, Happy Birthday and get your arse back home!

Today was relatively uneventful, Tom and I got off the tube at Blackwall (Luke's stop) and decided to get some drinks and bring them back for our fabulous hosts. No luck though. I found the curry place that destroyed me when I first got there, Tandori Nights, and even the Papa John's pizza place but no liquor store. So we just stopped off and picked up some soft drinks. Couldn't help but notice a Ginger beer. Didn't try it but it looked...interesting.

I told Luke that I knew the way back to his house so not to worry about it but for those of you who know me and my great sense of direction, I obviously got lost. I called Luke and he's like "STAY WHERE YOU ARE! WE'RE COMING TO GET YOU! DON'T MOVE!" ...uhhh, ok. Does he know something we don't? Turns out we were over a street from his place and he was just 5 bottles of wine in (Not just for him, shared amongst Jenna, Matt, Luke, & Luke's friend, Natasha). So Luke and Matt found us and brought us back, joined in the wine festivities. Hung out for a few hours and watched Jenna just freak the F*@)$ out (video will be posted shortly). Then her and Luke had some sort of singalong (mainly Jenna, but Luke had some nice falsettos - and it wasn't even Tuesday!) meanwhile Tom, Natasha (who was so much fun, but is an absolute nutter!), and I took pictures and laughed at the duo. Matt just hid. It was all good fun.

Finally everyone decided to call it a night and watched Powerthirst 1, 2, & 3 (yea Blue!! shout out to 950 awesome-gate) and then Don't Mess with the Zohan. All in all, a quality low key night.

(I got a camera but haven't uploaded any pictures, maybe tomorrow)

The Aftermath

Phew. What a night! So I was one of the first ones to wake up but was too freakin cold to move. Sophie's house was quite nice but apparently the Welsh have never heard of a novelty called...heat. Jesus. I woke up on the couch (somehow the ham and cheese paste magically disappeared, apparently i cleaned it off at some point).

Anyway, after everyone woke up, Marc went to the store around the corner and picked up some eggs, sausages, pork roll, and bread and proceeded to make a breakfast made for a king for all of us. Legend! We all just kinda hung around for most of the day and recovered. Retold stories of last night to find out exactly what happened last night to fill in the blanks. Reminisced about camp. Tom decided to knit (kinda funny for an Israeli who was in the army to knit). Told embarrassing camp stories. Made fun of McBride a bit.

After all was said and done, we left Sophie's place and tom joined the group. Back for the long haul back to London. about 3 hours. About a third of the way there, we stopped for food at a KFC. I must say, i've never really had fast food in the States that much but it isn't nearly as greasy and gross as in the States. I had my heart set on one of their Twista Wraps but they were out. Heart broken.

After we got back to London, Hannah dropped us off at Marc's place and Tom joined us. We hung out for a bit and Marc, Tom, & I went down the street to meet up with some of his mates. They were really cool. A bit gangsta (understatement) but it was fun. Drank a little, came back late and Tom and I watched Role Models and finally passed out to call it a night. 

Happy New Years everyone. Wish you all the best!

This is why I'm hot

*WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE OF AN INCREDIBLE NEW YEARS IN WALES.*

note: in no particular order between new years eve and new years day

                        
             

Crem de la crem

After a bit of a drinkup, I find out we're going out to a club called the Cardiff University, Student Union Club...that's a mouthful. Anyway, its tickets only and luckily one person who was supposed to show up for the party in Cardiff didn't end up coming so there was an extra ticket. So I took the extra ticket. Didn't really think that one out. Would have sucked if I'm like "Surprise! Oh, a ticket? well uhh...I'll wait till you get back. boo" so it all worked out. I just threw on a nice button down, my snazzy watch, and a dash of Cool Water. Game time.

Around 11ish, we head to the club which was only like a 10 min walk, tops. Huge line and with a decently-sized group, it was a bit of a challenge to keep all the ducks in a row. Eventually we make it in, head over to a place to stash our coats, I go and get a round for everyone. Me being the silly yank that I am, ask for 8 glasses of champagne...none to be found. So I hear the dude next to me order some stuff called VK vodka. Sure, I'll take 8 of them. It was kinda like Smirnoff Ice - Sour Apple Do you know how freakin hard it is to carry 8 bottles by yourself?! Good god. My hands were wrenched. Well worth it though.

I pass out the rounds, we head over to the dance floor for a bit and i get my whiteboy groove on. Do some more dancing. Now I gotta pee. I tell Jake and he gave me a brilliant idea: I go outside and pretend I'm on the phone (obviously with an English accent...to the best of my ability, which is poor at its best) and as I'm talking to a fictitious person, I do my thing on some out-of-the-way wall. No name spelling or anything fancy, strictly business. Finish up, end my phone call politely, and rejoin the group.

20 min till New Years. One last round for the group. I head over to the bar thinking I can get in and out real quick, apparently others had the same idea. Of course. So to be honest, I spent the majority of the remaining time in line for drinks. Wished the lad next tome a Happy New Year, took a shot with him, and bought my VK Vodka Apples back to the group. Handed them out and we go into another room of the club where apparently they missed the New Years memo and we had the countdown yet again. So I'll count that one as the official New Year.

Anyway, toward the end of the night, Jake, in his incredible creativity of ideas, placed the idea in my head that dancing on the tables without my shirt would be a grand idea. Before he even finished the idea, I was already on the table, doing my thing. I've got pictures that I need to get from Sophie's camera that I'll post later. I'm gonna pick up a cheap digital camera in London later. So yea, lost my shirt, found my shirt, lost the group, found the group, bought another round which my hands just couldn't take it anymore and in the process of finding the group, dropped like 5 or 6 of them. Meh. (speaking of meh, did you know it was recently adopted into the dictionary)

Finally, we go back to Sophie's place for the night, Marc being unsuccessful in his lady attempts, heads back as well. Back at the house, we hang out for a bit and I'm just dead tired. I am the first to pass out (mind you its around 3:30 or 4 a.m. at this point) but I make the dreaded mistake of leaving my shoes on. What a rookie mistake. I'm normally SOOOO careful about this at parties even in the worst cases of inebriation. Jake, being the only other American, obviously knew about this rule and went looking for a Sharpe marker. With no Sharpe to be had, the next best thing was (5 points if you guessed it), yes, the Ham & Cheese paste in the tube. Lucky boy. Obviously pictures to come. After me being the center of humiliation for a bit, everyone got tired and passed out in a respective bed/couch.

I hope everyone had a fantastic new years. Email/comment and tell me what you guys did for new years. I'd love to hear it. Speak to you all soon.

SURPRISE!

New Years in Wales! How freakin sweet does that sound?! I'm so excited. We got out of the car and were immediately greeted with all the "Oh my god!" and "I can't believe you're here" shouts of excitement. They guessed right. Musta been the "smile like sunshine" that tipped them off. (Actually, they said my facebook gave it away. Thanks Alizza) oh well.

It was so nice to see them all. Met up with Sophie & Jake who are still together after camp, Danielle Andre, and Tom David (security '08). Needless to say, the night was destined to be an absolute blasty blast.

Anyway, we got there and of course cracked open a few to celebrate this joyous occasion. After playing some catch-up, Marc tried teaching us a drinking game called Snaps. It was a bit complicated for our simple little heads, so then Kerry (Marc's cousin) tried teaching a game called Ping Pang Pong which I just couldn't get the hang of for the life of me even though the rules were simple: Going in a clockwise direction, one person starts off and says "Ping", the person to their left says "Pang", the next-left person says "Pong"  and has to look at somebody in the circle. Whoever they look at has to start it up again with "Ping" and then it repeats. Obviously if you fail to "ping", "pang" or "pong" on cue, you have to drink. Quite simple...for everyone else.

So me being the sly dog that I am, I change the direction of the game and suggest another game...with nothing in mind, Jake suggested the well-known card game of "Kings", "Ring of Fire", or "Circle of Death" (all the same game, different names). Sophie being the excellent host she is, gets the required deck of cards. Except these cards are special to say the least. Each card is a different sexual position. An interesting choice Sophie. I had trouble focusing on the game at hand with such vulgar images in front of my virgin eyes. But I obligingly played the game.

We didn't make it a full game before all our ADD kicked in after the double-double rule (courtesy of yours truly), Kerry's thumb rule, the classic "in my pants" rule, and some other rule which eludes me right now. I'm not sure how but then I noticed a tube (yes, a tube!) of Ham & Cheese. Silly Welsh. So Tom takes a bunch of pictures of him eating this amorphous ham and cheese...paste. I put a bit on my finger to try and needless to say, absolutely awful. As if I expected otherwise. I still blame it on the Welsh.