Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Greetings from England! Day 10

Holy crap! It's day 10!?!?!?! It feels like we've been here longer than that....

Yesterday:
We had class under a tree. It was kind of nice because it was hot indoors. I started a new korean drama called "Marrying a Millionaire." Premise: Joe Millionaire-type tv show. Girl ends up on the show because her step-sister got her in. Girl also knows Boy is not really a millionaire...he was her first love...I've only seen the first episode. It's ok so far...

We went to the Brighton Pier in the late afternoon. FRESH DOUGHNUTS ARE SOOOO GOOOOD! KRISPY CREME GOT NOTHIN'!We bought three for 1.65 pounds [they didn't sell them individually]. They were warm, and soft....sooo goood! I also had a BELGIAN WAFFLE on a STICK with vanilla icing. I can't eat any other kind of waffle anymore...IT WAS FRESHLY MADE...WARM....SOFT...NO CRUNCHY EDGES....they icing was not too sweet...dare I say it--better than a funnel cake?

So, the pier is kinda like a boardwalk, except it's actually a wharf that goes into the ocean and the rides are actually over the ocean. There are gaps between boards they used for the floor, so if you look down, you can see the Atlantic Ocean! Tiffanie dropped 50p and it fell into the ocean. After that I clutched everything for dear life! RIDES ARE EXPENSIVE! it's like 1pound per token and the good rights are 4 tokens each...THAT'S 8 DOLLARS! THE MOST EXPENSIVE RIDE AT SANTA CRUZ BOARDWALK is 4 DOLLARS! But I really wanted to try one of their rides, so Tiffanie and I rode this ride that looked like the Dumbo ride at Disneyland, except on crack! It was really bumpy and there was one part that just kept dropping us and it kinda made me feel a little queazy. But...it was still kinda fun.

We ate at a Pub called Varsity. Women's bathroom sold assorted vibrators for 3 pounds...interesting.

I finally had an ENGLISH BREAKFAST! SO MUCH FOOD! Contains toast, hash browns, egg, grilled tomato, ham[or bacon], fried mushrooms, sausage and baked beans. The baked beans taste like the pork and beans beans. SAUSAGE IS SOOO GOOOD! According to wiki, it's either pork or beef [but it takes like chicken] with herbs and spices. Man...it was hard finishing that much food!

Later on, we went to Campus Karaoke at the East Slope Bar on campus. I still can't get over the fact that there is full bar on campus! hahaha

There were A LOT of people there and it got really hot inside. I finally had Pimms because I saw everyone drinking at Wimbledon but didn't want to spend more money hahaha....[makes me kind of sad because it's the staple drink at Wimbledon aside from Champagne]. IT'S REALLY GOOD! Pimm's is made of gin and a secret mix of spices [according to wiki]. The drink is made with one part pimms and 3 parts "lemonade" [tonic, or sprite] with orange, lime and lemon slices. It's soooooooooo gooooooood!!! Can't even taste the alcohol. They don't sell it at home because it's not found outside UK or the Commonwealth.

The karaoke they were using was MAGIC MIC! A part of me felt like I was at a Filipino party! I was looking through the song list and there were tagalog songs! LOL! Even the background was the Philippines! It didn't have the duet mic though...

Some people should not sing songs they do not know....there was a couple who sang the Diana Ross/Supremes version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and it was AWFUL! I mean, it was just bad. Only time I actually thought people were awful singing karaoke.

I sang "Wake Me Up [Before You Go Go]" by Wham. It's always a fun song to sing...especially with drunk people! hahaha. Ended up with the highest score of the night...97! whoooo! Jeany sang "Final Countdown".It was great coz everybody sang along too!

Today:
I woke up feeling like crap. I started hacking and coughing all morning! At least my throat isn't as swollen anymore.

My class had a field trip to the Chattri War Memorial for the Indian Soldiers who fought for the British during WWI and WWII. GOOD LORD! THAT WAS A TREK! From the bus stop at this village called Patcham, we walked 2.5 miles uphill...this normally wouldnt bother me as much, but we weren't walking on a trail ,but we weren't! WE WERE WALKING ON THE SLOPE OF THE HILL!!!IT WAS RAINING!!! COWS AND THEIR POOP!!! I WAS GETTING REALLY WARM IN MY SWEATER AND WANTED TO TAKE IT OFF! I just hope I don't get any sicker.

The war memorial is really nice. It's on top of the hill looking over Brighton and is surrounded by green. It's really peaceful up there. It's far away from the noise of the highway and the city. You can hear birds [and occasional shot gun firing from the firing range at the bottom of the hill]. The memorial site was where they cremated the bodies of Indian soldiers who died in the war hospitals in Brighton. The architecture is very Hindi and made of very nice imported marble from India. The trip down the hill was MUCH EASIER and the sun came out :D

I met up with Jeany, Margaret and Kathie in Brighton for some AFTERNOON TEA at the Mock Turtle. It's a really cute shop...the interior had a cottage-feel to it, with decorative plates all over the walls. Our tea was very very good [and hot]. Very good with milk. We loved how the milk mixed with the tea...it looks so cool! It mixed so smoothly. I loved watching how the white of the milk and dark brown of the tea mixed...it was like watching smoke swirl and disappear.

THE SCONES WERE DELICIOUS! I can never had scones at starbucks ever again! The top and the bottom were kinda hard but the middle was soooo flaky and soft. We had our scones with butter, whipped cream and strawberry jam. It was like the trifecta of pastry spreads! IT WAS HEAVEN! Their butter was very creamy and unsalted. The whipped cream was very light and fluffy. Their cream just tastes like cream. Not sweet at all. AND THE JAM! It was home-made!

<3 We each had one scone, and we finished the butter, whipped cream and jam! WE FELT LIKE FATTIES! SOO SOOO GOOOD!
I bought a bottle of Pimms for 10 pounds to take home. I think i'll share with my dad while we watch the US open together. TEEHEE.

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