07.15.05

Over the Pond

Posted in Uncategorized at 11:14 pm by GaZ

I’ve been back in England for almost 2 weeks now so I guess it’s about time I wrote about the trip because, as Paul McCartney (or John Lennon… whichever you prefer) once said: “the more you stir a turd, the more it’s gonna stink”.

So…. one fine English day back in June I packed my bags, kissed my lady good bye, and made my way to the bright lights of London town (using the no-frills megabus… you get what you pay for: not much! :-\). My brother put me up for the night in his shanty-house, giving me ample time in the morning to get over to Gatwick. I arrived with a couple of hours to spare (as is recommended for long-haul flights) so when I got to the check in line I was pleasantly surprise to find only a short queue. As I checked in my bags the hostess lady informed me that regular economy was fully booked, so I was to be upgraded to economy-plus (like economy, but with a few extra inches for the legs and sides) for free. Woohoo! So I milled about in the departure lounge for an hour or so then made my way to the gate, where I was informed that I was to be upgraded AGAIN to business class! Yeeeeeeeeeehaw! In case you haven’t ever seen British Airways business class, it looks like this. And it was awesome. I even managed to get a few hours of sleep, which I hardly ever do on planes anymore (ever since I grew too large to sleep on the floor beneath everyone else ;-)).

Hesam met me at the nicely refurbished terminal D of IAH (Houston Intercontinental Airport), and operation “Surprise Lina” was underway. She still didn’t know I was coming to Houston, so the plan was for her and Hesam to go out for dinner to one of their regular Sushi bar haunts, at which point I would make my surprise arrival. The surprise went off without a hitch, and hopefully Lina was pleasantly surprised. With the shenanigans out of the way we got down to the main business of the holiday: eating and drinking! I can’t name all the restaurants, bars, and eateries we ate in over the following 9 days, but they all shared one thing in common: oversized servings of Texan proportion (note to self: the Cheesecake Factory is NOT the place to order Chicken & Biscuits!). One of the cuisines I do miss dearly over here is decent Mexican food! So Hesam took me to Pappa Sitos a couple of times, and Taco Bell. We also got some decent BBQ from Pappas Bar-B-Q… boy, that Pappa sure gets around.

When we weren’t stuffing our faces with grub Hesam was kind enough to drive me around various shops, stores and malls to get a few new shirts, jeans (wayyyyyyyyy cheaper over there!), shoes, electronics (Hanne got a blue mini-iPod and some accessories), and salt-water taffey (by request from Nikolai, though I can’t promise I won’t eat it before he gets his arse back from Russia in September! Sorry dude!). We also managed to go running a couple of times to try and shed some of the weight I was rapidly gaining. There’s a really nice track near his house in Sugar land, known as Oyster Creek. They even have real wildlife, something I rarely see in central Brum anymore, unless it’s on the end of a shish-kebab. We even managed to swing by our old high school, which has seen a fair few changes (for the better) since our day.

After the days came the nights (thank you, Captain Obvious). The day after I arrived in Houston Hesam, Lina, Jacques, and I went to see Ferry Corsten live at M-Bar in downtown Houston. He played some awesome choons (”nice set, Ferry!” *thumbs up*) and the crowd was heaving (in a good way). That had to be one of the most enjoyable nights of my sojourn. We also visited quite a few other bars which I had not had the chance to visit when I lived in Houston, due to the funny drinking laws over there (who hasn’t had a drink by the time they’re 21?!). Two bars I really liked are the Flying Saucer, and the Ginger Man. Both had a large selection of beers (both foreign and national) and friendly atmospheres, as well as the customary pub games such as darts! Unfortunately we’re all way too light (as in “not heavy”… not “white”) to be any good at darts. One night we went to… uhm.. some bar down town, and I even managed to meet up with Ariana and Nikole (and Ariana’s fiancee, Dillon)! Although it was only one night it was great to see them again and catch up. On the night before Lina’s birthday we went to Drink Houston. Hesam & Lina had never been there before, but Hesam’s DJ Friend (DJ Mike Anthony) was playing live and broadcasting on 104 KRBE, so we decided to check it out. All I can say is $1-you-call-its are a dangerous thing. It’s no wonder that many pubs in the UK are cutting down, or even banning happy hour drinks promotions. I think I even started dancing, which is NEVER a good thing. I apologise most sincerely to all the people I stepped on or stumbled in to as I bumbled my way around. *sigh*.

The following night was Lina’s birthday (and also July 4th, but who cares about that, really? :-P), so she took Lisa, Hesam, and me out for dinner to a nice restaurant down town. The excellent food was matched only by the beautiful wall decorations and fast’n'friendly service Hmmm sarcasm doesn’t translate that well when it’s just written down. But really, I kid. It was a very nice meal and the company very pleasant. By the time the meal was over we had just missed the fireworks display (doh!), and as it was a Monday night, and both Lina and Lisa had to go to work the following morning, Hesam and I decided to head back to Sugarland for some casual beers and late-night Texas Hold ‘Em (I now see what had Trond so hooked during that time I spent with the Norwegians in Leeds).

The next day I packed up my bags (now several pounds heavier from all my purchases) and we headed back to the airport, stopping on the way for a quick “martini lunch” (minus the martinis) with Lina. Upon check-in I was again upgraded to economy plus, however I didn’t make it all the way to business this time… bah. I also had the misfortune of sitting next to an extremely odorous man, which meant I didn’t get any sleep AND I was on the verge of throwing up for most of the way.

And so I made it back to London and back up to our foxhole of an apartment in Brum, where I promptly fell asleep for the rest of the day, waking just before sweet Hanne got home from work. I had a wonderful vacation and I cannot thank Hesam and his familiy enough for their hospitality, as well as Lina, Jacques, and the others for showing me a great time. Next time i’ll be sure to drag Hanne along with me so I can show her how great it is in “the promised land”, which will hopefully convince her to follow me around the globe some more

The gallery of my pictures from this trip can be found here. There’s pitifully few, but I kept forgetting to take my camera everywhere and even when I brought it I forgot to take lots of pictures. Bleh.

Hesam will be coming to Europe in 8 days! Hopefully I’ll be able to return the favour and show him the sights, sounds, and tastes of Britain. Mmmmm spotted dick!

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