Feb 22nd: Friday
I made sure to try and get ahead of everyone on the way to customs. I know how bad it sucks when a whole plane is in front of you. I followed the arrows and guides all around the airport until I got to the giant customs room. Words to describe the customs waiting line / room; long, hot, silent, humid. After waiting in line for about 45 minutes, I made my way up to a guy that didn’t even look at me. Just stamped my passport and pointed to his left.
My next task was to find the subway (aka. The Underground / The Tube) and make my way to the hotel. I got the subway stop on the internet before I left, so I had that going for me. Finding the underground was really easy, and even finding the right trains were a peace of cake. The way London labels their tracks and trains is great. I really wish nyc would learn from it. Also, they’re super clean. On top of that, the trains themselves are cleaner and more comfy. They have padded seats, flip-down padded seats, and even padded butt-leaning pads for people to lean against if they have to stand. The one down side (and it’s a big one), is that they’re tiny. There’s no way in hell I can stand in them. Actually, I think anyone over 6′5″ wouldn’t be able to stand in them.
When I finally got to the hotel, it was a little after 9am. So much for my 8am timeframe. I didn’t see anyone there that I recognized either, so I figured no one got my message. I decided to check in, drop my bags off, and then go romp around town to see what London has to offer. In theory, it was a great plan. Unfortunately I was so caught up with increasing my head-shots with an M16, that I forgot to call my credit card company and tell them I was traveling abroad. So I got to talk to Satish Abudala for a while on my cell phone (racking up who knows what kind of charges) to find out that by me trying to reserve my room, it froze my account due to fraudulent activity. Awesome. Now I had go through a ton of hoops to prove I am me, and I am definitely in London. At one point I got so frustrated that I stuck my phone out towards the lobby and then asked if he heard all the British people talking around me.
Card unlocked, I was checked into my room. She wrote room 675 on my card and pointed me towards the “lift”. I went to push button 6, but it only went to 5. I saw another elevator, so deduced that the other one went to the higher floors. I excused my way out and then waited for the other one. “Ding!”, doors open, I enter, and push button… ummm… 1-5? Ok… what the hell. Now I recall that she did say something about floor 4. Ahh, I guess they don’t number rooms the same way here, that was obviously my bad. So I head to the 4th floor. Rooms 400 - 450 to the left and 451 - 480 to the right. OH C’MON! There was a maid there, so I asked her if she knew what was up. Apparently, 675 = 475. Puzzle 1 solved! For puzzle 2, I didn’t even have to try. The maid showed me to the room telling me that I never would have found it on my own. I laughed and told her that I’ve stayed in a hotel before and I could manager. She insisted, so I went along just to placate her. Boy was I wrong. My room wasn’t even in the same building. I had to go across a walkway that joined up to another building.
The room was pretty nice. Had a little sofa in it, squishy bed, nice bathroom. Only two gripes; most of the ceiling was too low (couldn’t stand straight up), and the shower head came to about sternum high.
Now that I’m on a role in completing my new set of goals, it was time to finish the last one and proceed to romp. I grabbed my camera and headed out the door. I received a city map from the concierge and studied it for a minute, but decided to ditch it and just wing it.
What I tend to do every time I visit a new country / city, I like to wonder around until I’m really lost, and then try to figure out how to get back to my home base. With the crazy streets in London, I figured this would be a piece of cake. About an hour into my walk with many twist and turns, I figure it’s time to get back to the hotel and try to contact someone I’m supposed to meet up with. Also, I would like to figure out how to get to Big Ben (pretty much the only London landmark I’m aware of =). I see a street to my left full of guitar stores, so I figure I’d start my return trip that way. About 100 yards down the street I stumble onto my hotel. Maaaaannn… so much for getting lost and having an adventure. Oh well.
The first “odd” store that I noticed was this umbrella store that was established in 1830. First off, the fact that an umbrella store even exists is amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. Even in NYC. Also, the thing has been around for over 150 years! Crazy! I did make sense though. Given London’s weather, constantly drizzling, I would imagine that an umbrella can evolve as a status symbol that people carry around with them. Kind of like cell phones and wallets.
Back in my room, I flipped open my computer and thankfully Jenni was online. Jenni and Shelli were two chicks from northern england that I was supposed to be meeting up with. More importantly, they had Alex’s phone number, so they were able to get a hold of him. We talked for a couple minutes about where to meet up, and decided on a subway station close to the hotel about an hour and a half from now. Sounded good to me. I grabbed my camera, a map, and headed out to check out this giant ferris wheel called the “Eye of London” (well… it has the word “Eye” in it somewhere). The thing is massive.
Has to be the largest one in the world by far. Each capsule thing holds up to 25 people and takes 30-40 minutes to complete one rotation. I wanted to go on it for a great view of London, but once I got there and saw how long the line was, I didn’t have any time. I snapped a few photos of Big Ben and some surrounding architecture, and then hopped into the Tube to meet up with Shell and Jenni.
I arrived to what I thought was going to be an impossible situation. It wasn’t just a subway station, but a full-on train station. Like a smaller version of Grand Central. How the hell was I to find anyone…”Adam!” Never-mind, they found me! I should have figured that I stick out.
We exchange our “Hello”s and “Nice to finally meet you”s, and then I get onto the important stuff, “Where can I buy some red bulls? I’m fading fast!” I’m now into my third day with no sleep, and I’ve been walking around town all morning and afternoon. I was pointed to a nearby store that’s similar to Duane Reade (RiteAid), grabbed a couple liquid crack canisters and then headed back out to the waiting area. We were waiting for Jenni’s boyfriend Craig and the mysterious Alex. About 15 minutes in, Alex and Craig show up. We head back to the hotel for them to check in and then figure out what to do from there.
Alex lives in London, so he didn’t need to check into the hotel. So we hung out at the bar and waited for girls to come down so we could figure out what to do. About an hour later, the girls (and Craig) arrive and I have gotten to know Alex. Very cool guy. Good friend.
The decision was made, onto the pub that was right around the corner. Drinks and drinks. Except for the homeless man that stumbled in, the place was pretty cool. Very stereotypical english pub layout and feel. After that Alex had to take off. Had some work / school stuff to take care of. Shell, Jenni, Craig, and I headed out for food.
I was to have a traditional English dinner, Fish-n-Chips with mushy peas. Yes, mushy, that’s the word they use. Just think chunky mashed potatoes made of peas.
The bar we went to was pretty cool. Reminded me of Jekyl and Hydes in the city. After dinner and drinks there, it was back to the hotel. Mac had arrived and we were going to meet up with him. We talked briefly, and then decided to go onto the next pub in Camden Town. Craig told me that it was a really good metal bar. The place is called the Hobgoblin, was called the Dev. Mac and Shell opted out, so it was just Jenni, Craig and I. The bar was very cool (to begin with), then some live performance electronic music thing came on that was just horrible. Had to leave. Right before we bolted out the door, I saw someone that I recognized. Impossible I though. The only person in the entire country that I know, and they’re right in front of me? Yep! We said our hello’s but that I had leave. I was tired, pretty tipsy, and the music was unbearable.
On the way back to the tube, Craig insisted we stop at the noodle place. It’s this Chinese street vendor that sells a whole thing of rice, noodles, veggies, and chicken (well, says it’s chicken) for 3 pounds. I couldn’t bring myself to eat the chicken, but I did get some rice and noodles. I figured that they’d be the least deadly, and Craig wouldn’t let me leave until I got something. It was tasty, but I only had a few bites. I hadn’t built up an immunity yet, so I played it safe.
It was now sometime around 10pm and I was exhausted. I’d been up for 3 days, and drinking since I was on the plane. My body was tapping out.
On the way back to the hotel, we agreed to meet up around 2pm for Sushi and drinks before heading to the official BodyMod.org Meetup at 6pm. I figured I could get a good 12-13 hours of sleep. Good enough =)
A normal person would have passed out as soon as he hit the bed. I tried to watch a movie on my laptop first. One about the conditions at Guantonamo Bay. I think I got about 10 minutes in.
