A very long trip home.
We got up at 5:30am and took a taxi at 6:30am to the central coach station in downtown Birmingham. (A coach is a British name for long-distance bus, sort of like the Grayhound in the US.) The coach was quite comfortable and had a nice toilet at the end. We arrived at Heathrow airport at 10:30, in good time for the 1:05pm flight.
After lunch, I went to foreign exchange to turn my remaining British pounds into US dollars. I was surprised to see how little I got back. We get really short-changed by exchanging money! Before you leave Europe, try not to have too much Euro cash remaining in your hand. You should spend all the coins as the foreign exchange does not take coins.
The flight from London was delayed by more than an hour. When we reached Philadelphia, we only had 40 minutes to go through immigration, get our baggage, clear customs, recheck in the baggage, find the next gate, buy our dinner, and board the next plane which started moving as soon as we stepped onto the aircraft. But we made it!
The rest of the journey was quite uneventful. Patrick's dad picked us up at the airport. We then picked up Kevin and Kenny from their home and drove home. It was strange that I wasn't sleepy while driving in spite of the fact I had been sleepless for more than 24 hours.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Trip to England (Day12)
We went to Shakespeare's hometown (Strafford-upon-Avon) today! 50 minutes' train ride and a lot of walking. We visited Shakespeare's birthplace and the houses of his relatives. I learned a few things I didn't know before: the great playwrite was the first surviving child of his parents (his older siblings all died in infancy); his wife was 8 years older than him; he became very wealthy later in his life and purchased many properties; he died at the age of 52 (my present age).
At the train station, I needed an urgent toilet visit, but the WC was not free. You have to deposit 30p (pence). I only had enough coins for 20p, but a passer-by had mercy on me and donated the other 10p. Well, no p, no pee.
At the train station, I needed an urgent toilet visit, but the WC was not free. You have to deposit 30p (pence). I only had enough coins for 20p, but a passer-by had mercy on me and donated the other 10p. Well, no p, no pee.
Trip to England (Day11)
Today is Sunday. We went to a Mandarin-speaking Chinese church for worship. (The couple we met were from Cantonese-speaking Chinese church. So we couldn't go to their church.) Apparently, the church is quite young and they are still learning. For one thing, their program doesn't have a part where newcomers are introduced. So our presence there remained undetected except by a few people sitting next to us who complimented on our singing. We still enjoyed the worship, though anonymously.
At 5pm, we were on the train again, this time from Manchester to Birmingham to visit my college classmate. He is doing his PhD at the University there. When he greeted us at the University station. I was bit shocked to see how much he had changed: he had lost most of his hair but his standard British accent was very impressive. He had been trying to study abroad since I came to the US, but for some reason his visa application always got rejected. Finally, in 2003, at the age of 45, he managed to come to the University of Birmingham to start his student life again, leaving his wife in China. (And he has no children yet.) Apparently, he really enjoys his studies here, though with a lot of stress, financially, academically and emotionally.
We were quite moved by his hospitality. He cooked dinner for us himself, paid for our first night's hotel bill, and insisted on us not paying him back. He talked on and on about the grand plan of his thesis, while I was worrying about his post-doc life. I tried to preach the Gospel to him, but he always managed to switch the topic back to his thesis. I also made some suggestions to his thesis, of course, hoping he will take my advice to make it less ambitious and finish it sooner.
At 5pm, we were on the train again, this time from Manchester to Birmingham to visit my college classmate. He is doing his PhD at the University there. When he greeted us at the University station. I was bit shocked to see how much he had changed: he had lost most of his hair but his standard British accent was very impressive. He had been trying to study abroad since I came to the US, but for some reason his visa application always got rejected. Finally, in 2003, at the age of 45, he managed to come to the University of Birmingham to start his student life again, leaving his wife in China. (And he has no children yet.) Apparently, he really enjoys his studies here, though with a lot of stress, financially, academically and emotionally.
We were quite moved by his hospitality. He cooked dinner for us himself, paid for our first night's hotel bill, and insisted on us not paying him back. He talked on and on about the grand plan of his thesis, while I was worrying about his post-doc life. I tried to preach the Gospel to him, but he always managed to switch the topic back to his thesis. I also made some suggestions to his thesis, of course, hoping he will take my advice to make it less ambitious and finish it sooner.
Trip to England (Day10)
A very tiring day for me and a very happy day for mommy. The conference was over but there were some workshops that I was interested in. The workshops were held in a different building on the campus which I had never been to. I got lost and had to walk around for about 20 minutes with my computer before I found the place. The talks at the workshops were not as good as I had expected. Besides, most of my friends had already left!
I got back to my hotel room and threw myself on the bed. Just then, mommy came back with a lot of excitement. The church people who took us to dinner the other day (the wife only) took mommy to a shopping spree! While I was half-dead on the bed, mommy showed me her trophies one by one. Well, I'm glad that at least she is happy.
I got back to my hotel room and threw myself on the bed. Just then, mommy came back with a lot of excitement. The church people who took us to dinner the other day (the wife only) took mommy to a shopping spree! While I was half-dead on the bed, mommy showed me her trophies one by one. Well, I'm glad that at least she is happy.
Trip to England (Day9)
I ran away from the conference and took mommy to the famous "lake district" which is supposed to be the most beautiful area of England. We hopped on a train, and had to change train somewhere, and reached Windermere in about two hours. Well, the place is very beautiful, though not breathtakingly so. It's a long, long lake with a lot of grean hills around it, sort of like Lake Chelan. We cruised on the lake and then had a bus ride around the lake. This is a very peaceful and relaxing place. It will be nice we could camp here for a few days and explore a few places everyday.
We saw some peope eating French fries, which made us hungry. Mommy went to store and asked for French fries. "We don't have French fries here." "But what are you aking over there?", mommy asked, "Aren't they French fries?". "Oh, those!" said the sales girl, "They are chips". Of course! How come we forgot about the "chips" in "fish and chips"!
The train ride back home was more complicated, We had to change trains two times (three hops). Mommy would be very nervous without me :-)
We saw some peope eating French fries, which made us hungry. Mommy went to store and asked for French fries. "We don't have French fries here." "But what are you aking over there?", mommy asked, "Aren't they French fries?". "Oh, those!" said the sales girl, "They are chips". Of course! How come we forgot about the "chips" in "fish and chips"!
The train ride back home was more complicated, We had to change trains two times (three hops). Mommy would be very nervous without me :-)
Trip to England (Day8)
There are many "to let" signs on the UK streets. Mommy wondered why there are so many toilets in Britain and all these words are missing an "i". :-) It turns out "to let" is the British English for "For Rent" or "For Lease". Actually it is not as easy to find a toilet in Britain as to find a restroom in the US. It's impossible to find a "restroom" here, of course, but "toilet" or "WC" also takes some search.
A couple from the local church here came and took us to a very nice Thai restaurant. We got to know them through Jonothan and Sherry of the Olympia church who visited here before. We went to their church after dinner, but we were not able to get in: they didn't have the key and the young people inside were singing and drumming so loud that they just couldn't hear the door bell. We had to give up. Instead, we went to Manchester Union which is most famous football ( = US soccer ) stadium in England.
A couple from the local church here came and took us to a very nice Thai restaurant. We got to know them through Jonothan and Sherry of the Olympia church who visited here before. We went to their church after dinner, but we were not able to get in: they didn't have the key and the young people inside were singing and drumming so loud that they just couldn't hear the door bell. We had to give up. Instead, we went to Manchester Union which is most famous football ( = US soccer ) stadium in England.
Trip to England (Day7)
Today is the excursion day of the conference. We went to Tatton Park which has a magnificent mansion and a huge garden. Very pretty. We then went to a small town called Chester which is supposed to be the only walled city in Britain. We walked on the wall a bit, of course. We actually got lost. Mommy and I wanted to go in opposite directions twice. Mommy was actually right the first time and I was right the second time. Two heads are better than one! And we obeyed the right person each time.
I will post some pictures later to show you the places.
I will post some pictures later to show you the places.
Trip to England (Day6)
I went to the conference and mommy went shopping, of course. Manchester has one of the biggest shopping centers in Europe. The name sounded like "traffic center". Wow, there must so many people going there that the traffic is quite heavy. We later found out that the real name is "Trafford Center". The Brits speak so fast we just can't catch every syllable. Especially with the Manchester accent, which is more exotic than the standard London accent. "Bus stop" is "boos stoop" and "much" is "mooch". We had to do a lot of phonetic translation while listening to them, thus taking more processing time.
We discovered Chinatown is only a few blocks from our hotel. No problem for dinner then. Hmm, the food was much better than we had expected. Much better than the Chinese restaurants I went to before in France, Sweden or the Netherlands. We just don't know how to tip here. The bill includes a service fee which looks like 10%, but they still ask you if you want to put in a tip. (And they won't be mad if you don't add a tip.) Confusing ...
We discovered Chinatown is only a few blocks from our hotel. No problem for dinner then. Hmm, the food was much better than we had expected. Much better than the Chinese restaurants I went to before in France, Sweden or the Netherlands. We just don't know how to tip here. The bill includes a service fee which looks like 10%, but they still ask you if you want to put in a tip. (And they won't be mad if you don't add a tip.) Confusing ...
Trip to England (Day5)
We had our first train ride in England, from London to Manchester. This was much more pleasant than taking trains in China. No lines, no check points. Just walk into the station, find your platform, locate your coach, and step onto the train. No hassle at all. Oh, the prices can vary a lot depending on how much in advance you purchase the tickets. We booked them on line while we were still in the U.S, which saved us almost 50%.
Oh, some small incidents. I was not able to find my glasses when we were checking out of the Hotel in London. We searched high and low, even looking under the bed. Where could it go in such a small room? Well, we can't miss the train and we have to leave. Hopefully it was hidden somewhere and didn't get lost on the streets. Hey, you know what? They turned up as soon as we checked into the hotel in MancheIster!
In our hurry to leave for the station, I forgot to give the room key back to the hotel. We were already at the train station when I discovered it. I had to quickly figure out how to use the public phone in London to call the hotel. The owner of the hotel said we could mail it to them when we got to Manchester. One more thing to learn: how to use the post office in UK. But we lost the learning opportunity: when we told this to the hotel staff at the Manchester Hotel, they said they could mail it for us. What a relief!
Oh, some small incidents. I was not able to find my glasses when we were checking out of the Hotel in London. We searched high and low, even looking under the bed. Where could it go in such a small room? Well, we can't miss the train and we have to leave. Hopefully it was hidden somewhere and didn't get lost on the streets. Hey, you know what? They turned up as soon as we checked into the hotel in MancheIster!
In our hurry to leave for the station, I forgot to give the room key back to the hotel. We were already at the train station when I discovered it. I had to quickly figure out how to use the public phone in London to call the hotel. The owner of the hotel said we could mail it to them when we got to Manchester. One more thing to learn: how to use the post office in UK. But we lost the learning opportunity: when we told this to the hotel staff at the Manchester Hotel, they said they could mail it for us. What a relief!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Trip to England (Day4)
No shopping!
After a few days of extensive walking, my back/leg started to hurt. I had to take frequent rests to prevent the pain from developing into some serious condition. When exiting the National Gallery (which is free!), I was kind of exhausted, but mommy wanted to do some shopping. So we took the bus to an shopping area. I refused to go into the shops. I let mommy go and I stayed on the bench of the bus station. There was nobody else sitting on the bench, so I use it as an aparatus for stretching my legs this way and that way. It was a strange sight to the parsers-by, but it did do my legs some good. And I was ready to walk again when mommy came back from her shopping skirmishes.
Fish and Chips
The fish and chip in London is the best I've ever had. Big and tasty. One order as lunch for both of us. 5 pounds, Good deal. This gave us enough strength to visit the Tower of London, a huge castle.
Cruise on the Thames
From Tower Bridge, to Greenwich Village and finally to Westminster Bridge. Mainly to see all the bridges over the river. There are so many bridges!
Dinnder at Chinatown
Our last dinner in London was a good buffet in Chinatown. I overate a bit and had to walk a lot afterwards for disgestion. Now it started to rain. Rain was forecast for everyday when we were in London, but every day turned out to be a nice sunny day! Until our tour was over! Thanks to the Lord for having mercy on us!
After a few days of extensive walking, my back/leg started to hurt. I had to take frequent rests to prevent the pain from developing into some serious condition. When exiting the National Gallery (which is free!), I was kind of exhausted, but mommy wanted to do some shopping. So we took the bus to an shopping area. I refused to go into the shops. I let mommy go and I stayed on the bench of the bus station. There was nobody else sitting on the bench, so I use it as an aparatus for stretching my legs this way and that way. It was a strange sight to the parsers-by, but it did do my legs some good. And I was ready to walk again when mommy came back from her shopping skirmishes.
Fish and Chips
The fish and chip in London is the best I've ever had. Big and tasty. One order as lunch for both of us. 5 pounds, Good deal. This gave us enough strength to visit the Tower of London, a huge castle.
Cruise on the Thames
From Tower Bridge, to Greenwich Village and finally to Westminster Bridge. Mainly to see all the bridges over the river. There are so many bridges!
Dinnder at Chinatown
Our last dinner in London was a good buffet in Chinatown. I overate a bit and had to walk a lot afterwards for disgestion. Now it started to rain. Rain was forecast for everyday when we were in London, but every day turned out to be a nice sunny day! Until our tour was over! Thanks to the Lord for having mercy on us!
Trip to England (Day3)
Inside Buckingham Place
This is truly magnificent. All about being royal. The queen of England definitely has a much more elegant and healthier lifestyle than any of the emporers of China. The banquet hall is huge and the tables are arranged meticulously. The 4-course meal (meat, fish, pudding and dessert), which is considered the highest ranking one, doesn't sound so impressive, though, compared with the 8+ course meals that the Chinese are used to.
The London Bus
I love the bus in London. You pay 3.5 pounds to buy a day pass and you can ride on any bug at any time for as many times as you want. So we don't have to worry about taking the wrong bus. Just hop off and hop on another one. If I had the time, I would take random bus rides to see all parts of London. Those double-deckers offer very good views.
A Vegetarian meal
We were getting very hungry and were trying to find Chinatown for a good meal. For some reason we wandered off in the wrong direction and ended up in the Soho district. There was a buffet place at a street corder which looked pretty inviting with good prices. We went in, failing to notice all the "veg" signs. We took a bunch of what looked like meat, only to be greatly disappointed when we got the unexpected taste. Too late to escape. The other dishes are tasteless, too. Well, at least there were a lot of vegetables. After eating eggs and bacons for breakfast everyday, this was a very healthy change.
Olympics at Trafalgar Square
There is a huge TV screen at the square show the Beijing Olympics 24 hours. The 2012 Olympics is going to be in London and the Londoners want to get warmed up. Trafalgar Square is famous for its large flocks of pigeons, but apparently they evacuated due to the big screen, the louder speakers, the the big audience at the square.
This is truly magnificent. All about being royal. The queen of England definitely has a much more elegant and healthier lifestyle than any of the emporers of China. The banquet hall is huge and the tables are arranged meticulously. The 4-course meal (meat, fish, pudding and dessert), which is considered the highest ranking one, doesn't sound so impressive, though, compared with the 8+ course meals that the Chinese are used to.
The London Bus
I love the bus in London. You pay 3.5 pounds to buy a day pass and you can ride on any bug at any time for as many times as you want. So we don't have to worry about taking the wrong bus. Just hop off and hop on another one. If I had the time, I would take random bus rides to see all parts of London. Those double-deckers offer very good views.
A Vegetarian meal
We were getting very hungry and were trying to find Chinatown for a good meal. For some reason we wandered off in the wrong direction and ended up in the Soho district. There was a buffet place at a street corder which looked pretty inviting with good prices. We went in, failing to notice all the "veg" signs. We took a bunch of what looked like meat, only to be greatly disappointed when we got the unexpected taste. Too late to escape. The other dishes are tasteless, too. Well, at least there were a lot of vegetables. After eating eggs and bacons for breakfast everyday, this was a very healthy change.
Olympics at Trafalgar Square
There is a huge TV screen at the square show the Beijing Olympics 24 hours. The 2012 Olympics is going to be in London and the Londoners want to get warmed up. Trafalgar Square is famous for its large flocks of pigeons, but apparently they evacuated due to the big screen, the louder speakers, the the big audience at the square.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Trip to England (Day2)
The breakfast
The free breakfast at the hotel was great: everyone can have to two fried eggs, bacons plus all the usual stuff. We never have such big breakfast at home. This big meal kept our stomach from complaining until 5pm. This is very good because the food here is so expensive that we can only afford one meal a day :-)
The Royal place
We went to Buckingham Palace to view the change of guards ritual. We arrived an hour ahead of time but there was already a big crowd there with all the strategic points taken. I wonder what would happen if the Queen were going to come out. We didn't see the Queen, of course, but did go to the Queen's Gallery to view her personal possessions. The gallery was a disappointment. It was so small that it is definitely not worth the 15 pound ticket. We should have used the money to have a good dinner.
The Parliament, the Big Ben, the Westminster Abbey
These are magnificent buildings. We finally saw them 30 years after we read about them in our English textbooks. The weather is great today. (Yesterday was too cold.) We were able to take some good pictures.
The free breakfast at the hotel was great: everyone can have to two fried eggs, bacons plus all the usual stuff. We never have such big breakfast at home. This big meal kept our stomach from complaining until 5pm. This is very good because the food here is so expensive that we can only afford one meal a day :-)
The Royal place
We went to Buckingham Palace to view the change of guards ritual. We arrived an hour ahead of time but there was already a big crowd there with all the strategic points taken. I wonder what would happen if the Queen were going to come out. We didn't see the Queen, of course, but did go to the Queen's Gallery to view her personal possessions. The gallery was a disappointment. It was so small that it is definitely not worth the 15 pound ticket. We should have used the money to have a good dinner.
The Parliament, the Big Ben, the Westminster Abbey
These are magnificent buildings. We finally saw them 30 years after we read about them in our English textbooks. The weather is great today. (Yesterday was too cold.) We were able to take some good pictures.
Trip to England (Day1)
US Airways -> British Airways
We were supposed to board the US Airways plane headed for Philadelphia when a mechanical problem was found on the aircraft. The flight was delayed and then cancelled. Oh, no, we are going to miss our connecting flight from Philly to London! Shall we cancel on our first night for the hotel there? Well, we had to be patient and wait for the rebooking. After standing in the line for more than three hours and praying (mommy did the standing because of daddy's back problem), we were finally rewarded for our patience: they switched us to a direct flight of British Airways which departed 5 hours later than our original flight but arrived in London slightly ahead of the original one. God always has a good solution to every problem (see the Daily Bread for Aug 13).
The Hotel
The Heathrow Express train took us to Paddington station where we planned to take a taxi to our hotel (since we didn't know exactly where the hotel was). When we told the cab drive where we wanted to go, he told us that the hotel was only two blocks away and no cab was necessary. (Probably he didn't want to take a such a short distance after waiting in the line for a long time.) So we wheeled our bags along the street and ventured in the direction he pointed to us. The map I printed from Google was totally useless, but after asking three people on the way, we finally arrived at our destination. The hotel is truly within walking distance from the train station. This also explains why we hear the rumbling of the train all the time. We thought a thunder storm was coming when we heard it the first few times. The hotel room is tiny and our luggage took all the floor space besides the bed. The TV is tiny, too, but at least we were able to watch the Olympics. What's more, it has free internet access, so that I can do this blog.
Hyde Park
To prevent us from falling to sleep prematurely (it was only 4pm and we were very sleepy), we went to the nearby Hyde Park which is famous for its Speaker's Corner where anybody can make a public speech there to air their political views. In China, this park is also famous for being the burial place of Karl Marx (the father of communism). The park is huge with a lot green space and a beautiful lake. We did find the Speaker's Corner, but Marx's tomb was no where to be found. And nobody else knows Marx, not to mention his tomb. He is obviously dead in England.
We were supposed to board the US Airways plane headed for Philadelphia when a mechanical problem was found on the aircraft. The flight was delayed and then cancelled. Oh, no, we are going to miss our connecting flight from Philly to London! Shall we cancel on our first night for the hotel there? Well, we had to be patient and wait for the rebooking. After standing in the line for more than three hours and praying (mommy did the standing because of daddy's back problem), we were finally rewarded for our patience: they switched us to a direct flight of British Airways which departed 5 hours later than our original flight but arrived in London slightly ahead of the original one. God always has a good solution to every problem (see the Daily Bread for Aug 13).
The Hotel
The Heathrow Express train took us to Paddington station where we planned to take a taxi to our hotel (since we didn't know exactly where the hotel was). When we told the cab drive where we wanted to go, he told us that the hotel was only two blocks away and no cab was necessary. (Probably he didn't want to take a such a short distance after waiting in the line for a long time.) So we wheeled our bags along the street and ventured in the direction he pointed to us. The map I printed from Google was totally useless, but after asking three people on the way, we finally arrived at our destination. The hotel is truly within walking distance from the train station. This also explains why we hear the rumbling of the train all the time. We thought a thunder storm was coming when we heard it the first few times. The hotel room is tiny and our luggage took all the floor space besides the bed. The TV is tiny, too, but at least we were able to watch the Olympics. What's more, it has free internet access, so that I can do this blog.
Hyde Park
To prevent us from falling to sleep prematurely (it was only 4pm and we were very sleepy), we went to the nearby Hyde Park which is famous for its Speaker's Corner where anybody can make a public speech there to air their political views. In China, this park is also famous for being the burial place of Karl Marx (the father of communism). The park is huge with a lot green space and a beautiful lake. We did find the Speaker's Corner, but Marx's tomb was no where to be found. And nobody else knows Marx, not to mention his tomb. He is obviously dead in England.
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