It's a monsoon out here!
OK, so I've packed badly for the first part of the trip. I was working on being in exotic temperatures for the majority of the time so have come very under-prepared for the monsoon season. 5 days of incessant rain and temperatures close to 5 degrees was not what I had in mind. In fact it's so wet that they've had flooding in this part of the world fairly recently. We're not talking Katrina-esque conditions but it's pretty miserable hearing nothing but rain lashing the windows.
So activities in Seattle have been confined to indoors as a result. Friday night was a hoot as the three of us went for a Mexican and then saw the new Sacha Baron Cohen film, Borat. For those not familar with his comic genius, you really need to see this. It's possibly the funniest 2 hours you'll spend this year and some of the film will go down in cinematic history as some of the most jaw-droppingly funny moments ever. I know the Yanks are prone to over-reaction, but this literally had people rolling in the aisles with the poor chap behind me sounding like he was going to need medical attention.
Saturday's plan to see Seattle's newest tourist attraction, essentially a museum of modern music, was abandoned as a gas leak in the area prevailed. So I spent an enjoyable afternoon in the Science museum, particularly impressed by the showings on the IMAX screen of the discovery of Tutenkhamun's tomb.
Back to Andy's for a paella party that was thrown in my honour and it was lovely to see all of her friends, a few that I hadn't seen for a number of years. I was impressed with the ease that she was able to put on a dinner party for 13 without breaking sweat, and the traditional paella was superb. Everybody made me feel very welcome although I really wasn't sure if the young lady who was trying to encourage me to buy a sarong for the fijian leg of my trip was taking the piss or not. I mean can you imagine the ridicule if I turned up in a Becks like wrap-a-round? My research on the south pacific has found that homosexuality is generally frowned upon, so this course of action may not be too wise. Apparently men look great in sarongs...yeah and women look great in dungarees with mohican hair-dos.
Sunday morning was taken up with my second baby shower of the month. Those of you who know may well will know that I'm not one to look out of place in this bastion of feminity, so it wasn't a problem to get down and talk leaking breasts and pelvic floor muscle exercises. Lila told me to buy Andy a nice present from the two of us and I think she was really pleased to receive a bottle of "Butt cream".
Again it was great to see so many of Andy's friends, about twenty dragging themselves to a ludicrously early start of 10:30. I had a really interesting chat with a couple who had just come back from a proper world tour, taking in 25 countries in a year, and got a recommendation that I would be best taking in Tahiti rather than Fiji if I wanted to avoid the bloodshed. He was waxing lyrical about a fountain where naked chicks go for the purifying effects of the water. I'm still waiting my travel agent's response to how much it would cost to take in this particular wonder of the modern world.
The news from Fiji is still a little sketchy, so still no decision on wether it is safe to go there still. I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on developments of the Foreign Office website as the most recently published news there is for British nationals not to travel there. Ho Hum!
So this morning I head back to SeaTac airport for the shorter flight down to LA to see Mickey and friends. Not so much the Disney characters but a crack dealer that I was recommended from South Central from somebody I met on Saturday night! Unfortunately it's a sad farewell to Andy & Paul who have opened their house and life up to me this week. It was great to see you guys again and I know that you'll be terrific parents to Ben & Sam. Come visit once the boys are old enough!
Thanks for all the food, lifts, stories and accomodation. I really appreciated you starting my trip off on the right note. However can you sort your bloody weather out. If I want rain I'd have gone to Skegness.
On the sporting front, a terrific late winner from Oakesey saw off Oxford in the cup. It's amazing how excited you can get watching a computer screen and seeing the vidiprinter results coming in on the BBC website. Shame I won't be there for the Charlton 1/4 finals. It's about the best draw we could have asked for. Good to see that KP and the boys have had a good day and we might be getting into some kind of form for the first test. May be it was worth it after all
Up the Monty
So activities in Seattle have been confined to indoors as a result. Friday night was a hoot as the three of us went for a Mexican and then saw the new Sacha Baron Cohen film, Borat. For those not familar with his comic genius, you really need to see this. It's possibly the funniest 2 hours you'll spend this year and some of the film will go down in cinematic history as some of the most jaw-droppingly funny moments ever. I know the Yanks are prone to over-reaction, but this literally had people rolling in the aisles with the poor chap behind me sounding like he was going to need medical attention.
Saturday's plan to see Seattle's newest tourist attraction, essentially a museum of modern music, was abandoned as a gas leak in the area prevailed. So I spent an enjoyable afternoon in the Science museum, particularly impressed by the showings on the IMAX screen of the discovery of Tutenkhamun's tomb.
Back to Andy's for a paella party that was thrown in my honour and it was lovely to see all of her friends, a few that I hadn't seen for a number of years. I was impressed with the ease that she was able to put on a dinner party for 13 without breaking sweat, and the traditional paella was superb. Everybody made me feel very welcome although I really wasn't sure if the young lady who was trying to encourage me to buy a sarong for the fijian leg of my trip was taking the piss or not. I mean can you imagine the ridicule if I turned up in a Becks like wrap-a-round? My research on the south pacific has found that homosexuality is generally frowned upon, so this course of action may not be too wise. Apparently men look great in sarongs...yeah and women look great in dungarees with mohican hair-dos.
Sunday morning was taken up with my second baby shower of the month. Those of you who know may well will know that I'm not one to look out of place in this bastion of feminity, so it wasn't a problem to get down and talk leaking breasts and pelvic floor muscle exercises. Lila told me to buy Andy a nice present from the two of us and I think she was really pleased to receive a bottle of "Butt cream".
Again it was great to see so many of Andy's friends, about twenty dragging themselves to a ludicrously early start of 10:30. I had a really interesting chat with a couple who had just come back from a proper world tour, taking in 25 countries in a year, and got a recommendation that I would be best taking in Tahiti rather than Fiji if I wanted to avoid the bloodshed. He was waxing lyrical about a fountain where naked chicks go for the purifying effects of the water. I'm still waiting my travel agent's response to how much it would cost to take in this particular wonder of the modern world.
The news from Fiji is still a little sketchy, so still no decision on wether it is safe to go there still. I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on developments of the Foreign Office website as the most recently published news there is for British nationals not to travel there. Ho Hum!
So this morning I head back to SeaTac airport for the shorter flight down to LA to see Mickey and friends. Not so much the Disney characters but a crack dealer that I was recommended from South Central from somebody I met on Saturday night! Unfortunately it's a sad farewell to Andy & Paul who have opened their house and life up to me this week. It was great to see you guys again and I know that you'll be terrific parents to Ben & Sam. Come visit once the boys are old enough!
Thanks for all the food, lifts, stories and accomodation. I really appreciated you starting my trip off on the right note. However can you sort your bloody weather out. If I want rain I'd have gone to Skegness.
On the sporting front, a terrific late winner from Oakesey saw off Oxford in the cup. It's amazing how excited you can get watching a computer screen and seeing the vidiprinter results coming in on the BBC website. Shame I won't be there for the Charlton 1/4 finals. It's about the best draw we could have asked for. Good to see that KP and the boys have had a good day and we might be getting into some kind of form for the first test. May be it was worth it after all
Up the Monty
posted by Ant | 3:13 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home