DAY OUT AT WINDSOR CASTLE

Spent day out at Windsor Castle (where the Queen lives), and around the gardens.
It was quite an impressive walk (approx 15 kms) .. and got killer blisters to prove it.

DAY TOUR

We decided to do a day tour on Monday to Loch Lomond (don’t ask me why all the drowned boats) , Stirling Castle, and into the Highlands. The air is fresh, and countryside quite spectacular.
We drove through Glasgow, which did not look that interesting, and if I was ever to return to Scotland again, it would be to rent a car for 3-4 days, and just meander though the windy roads.
The bus driver (we think his name if Fred … he introduced himself numerous times, but we didn’t get the name) was equivalent to a Scottish “Borat” … and he was definitely the highlight, and had us in stiches all day .. and this was the highlight of my whole Edinburgh trip… any tour that gives away bottles of Scotch early in the morning (to guys who are hung-over from the night before) has potential for good fun.
Fred’s classic lines were:

• I think I’m lost here … give me few minutes to work out how to use the GPS
• Scotland is 50% low-lands, 85% high-lands (what the??)
• My left, your right (that doesn’t make sense when we are all facing the same way in the bus)
• Im 53 years old …. I was born in … Shit .. Shit … what year was I born??

EDINBURGH

I didn’t like Edinburgh as much as I expected I would.
Visually it is quite spectacular, but there was just something, which I expected from European cities which wasn’t there. It seemed that by dusk, all restaurants started packing their out door chairs/tables away, and all action moved inside the pubs … which is usually the opposite in continental Europe, …(Maybe it was just me jet-lagged??)
Don’t get me wrong, with all the bars serving 100’s of varieties of Scotch, we kept busy.
Also, we got really lucky with the weather … the whole weekend was amazing, whilst in London it rained!!

GETTING TO EDINBURGH

After 10 weeks on-site (in OC), my longest continuous spell in USA, I returned to UK via Edinburgh. It was a long weekend, and we (myself, Damian and Mate) decided to journey into Scotland’s capital.
I decided to fly from LAX via Heathrow, and meet Damian after work on the flight LHR – EDI. (Mate flew in on Saturday)

Heathrow opened a new terminal at Heathrow, called T5, and I thought 3.5 hours was more than enough time to transfer from T3 to T5 … WRONG .. not when your flight from LAX is 2 hours delayed, and one has to clear immigration, customs, and transfer between terminals in one of the busiest airports in the world.
So I missed the flight … but luckily was able to get on as standby on the next one an hour later … keep in mind that it was a Friday night of a long weekend in London … so it could have been a lot worse…. well actually it was .. BA also lost my luggage, which was delivered to the hotel the following day ….. but that just added to the experience of getting there … never mind …. a glass or two (or six) of Scotch sorted that out that night .

BTW – T5 is quite an impressive terminal … and up there with some of the most impressive I have been through.

SCOOTER

Ok .. so its been a busy few months, particularly work.
One exciting event in the household is the addition of another room-mate … Michelle decided that Bodie needed a playmate, and bought another hairless sphinx … called Scooter.
So one day we drove to Palm Springs, and picked him up.
Scooter is very playful, and quite cute to watch .. and after few days (where Bodie was really pissed at disruption to her life), the two of them get along together

MY NEW CRUISER

On my return to OC (and 20 degree sunny weather), my first priority was to get a Beach-Cruiser…. a one speed, and breaks when you paddle backwards – as old-school a bike as you can possibly get.

Now for those of you saying why not a “Racer or a Mountain Bike ??” .. well the point of a Cruiser is not to go any great distances … but rather casually ride down to the beach (I only live about 2km from all the action), end up in some random drinking establishment, spend a lazy Sunday afternoon there .. and at the end of the night, ride back in various stages of sobriety, hoping to make the trip back without doing too much injure from falling-off.

A Beach Cruiser is as OC as fake-boobs, clinically white perfect teeth (be it veneers), botox, lipo, and fake tans….. Being a guy … non of the previous apply to me (yet) .. so this is my way of saying … OC, here I am, one of your new residents…. (I guess a Porsche is next on the list?)

I have been told that during Summer (May - July), Newport Beach gets packed, and trying to drive down to the peninsular is nearly impossible (as is trying to find a car park) … so this is where the Cruiser comes in.

ANOTHER STAMP IN THE PASSPORT

OK … so its been a busy month … I have flown back to London for 10 days, mainly to re-organize my US VISA, secondly to catch up with friends (Sully, Mate, and Gasper), and thirdly … to do some work.

Yes I did renew my Visa (till March 2010), and with Sully we caught a train to Manchester and saw a Manchester United lose to Portsmouth … in a pretty ordinary display of football…. Manchester was a great place to go out on the piss!

BTW – London was cold, raining, and pretty miserable … but with a pub around every corner, its easy to forget the weather .. and enjoy a beer with old friends!

NESCAR – AUTOCLUB 500

I have to say .. I was very excited to go to the Nescars … a 250 lap, 500 mile race … where the cars drive around an oval track at 180 mph. (On the way there was a truck mounted as a sign, 50m up in the air .... only in America).

But it seems that the race stopped every time someone got bumped .. and with inclement weather .. only 78 laps were completed (in 4 hours)…. Before we decided to leave.
I would compare the race to Gridiron … where the time-outs overshadow the actual game itself… if only they let the cars race .. it would be so much more interesting.

NEWPORT BEACH - MY NEW HOME

Its been a busy few weeks … I moved into a new place near Newport Beach with 2 roomies … Michelle and Bodie.

Michelle is good fun.. a Manchester(UK) girl … who also works as a consultant … so she understands what its like to be on the road, and in a new city… she works in Seattle Mon-Thur … so we actually have a lot of similar work/travel/life experiences (That’s her last weekend when she went away skiing, and got snowed in).

And then there’s Bodie … the cat, who keeps me company when she is away … and in exchange I get to look after her.

The home is extremely comfortable .. and I have found my spot on an extremely large U shaped couch…. Michelle has renovated most of the house …. And it didn’t take me long to settle in … and in hindsight …. I realized how much I have missed the comforts of a home base.

ADAM & JASMIN'S WEDDING

I had the honor of being Adam’s Best-Man … and it was a great day.
Jasmin looked beautiful …and the whole day was very laid back.

As part of the wedding party, we had photos taken before and after the ceremony … and of course we played up during the shoot….. and whenever we could to make the day as much fun as possible.

Once the speeches were all done, we let our hair down and hit both the bar and the dance floor ….. and ironically, Pamela caught the bouquet … which allowed plenty of ammunition for the guys to stir me up!