Day 47 9/5/06 - England

London -> Oxford -> London

Highlight

• Slokky always get paranoid and make me anxious. He stuffed up and made us get off at the wrong stop for the bus ANYWAY like he usually does.
• The buses are so slow because of the bad traffic that it's quicker to walk sometimes.
• Oxford - it's pretty much as I imagined it, the town is full of different unis, all sandstone front and very grand, with quirky cafes, second-hand bookstores, and the ubiquitous chain stores filling the town. It does have the uni town feel, just by the international students wandering around.
• Christ Church college is the most famous of them all, with the Great Hall used for the Harry Potter films and a very grand cathedral which was conveniently closed when we visited. (costs 4.5 pp)The gift shop lady also told us off for visiting 'cos the shop was "closed", even though there was still a sign pointing to the gift shop and there were heaps of people still in there.
• Can't believe it but I actually bought some boots in the most expensive country we are visiting. After walking through almost the whole of Italy searching for the perfect pair of cowboy boots, I finally found some at the Oxford Boot Shop in Oxford!! Yes, they were very, very expensive, but they were what I was looking for. It was on special from 175p to 70p. Now the problem will be trying to get them home...
• I tried to buy some stuff from Topshop (for those of you unaware, Topshop is famous for copying designer catwalk collections at a very fast pace and releasing it to the mass market) but after browsing for like 20 minutes, and just when I was about to try on my finds, I was told the change rooms are closed. I really don't understand English thinking on commerce and retail... how can you open the shop and just close the change rooms early?? I guess they don't want any business.
• Another Cornish pasties day, this time we tried the Oxford Pasty Cafe (the worst pastry we had but the filling was good) and the West Cornwall Pasty Co (the best so far, with flaky pastry and really yum filling with ample sauce.
• Dinner party at home with Aileen, Joelle and Wendy. Aileen and Slokky were passing on their finance knowledge on 'cos both Joelle and Wendy have interviews with GS. All I can say is I am not going to let Slokky teach any kids we have anything! He just confuses the hell out of you. I can see myself having a lot of fun in London though.

Food

• Whetgerm levain with sundried tomatoes and oil.
• Cappaccino.
• Cranberry juice.
• Taro porky.
• Pernicotti 3 flavoured chocolates Giandujotto, latte, cereal.
• Steak and Guinness Cornish pasty. (2.50)
• Oxford blue and steak Cornish pasty. (2.95)
• Dinner party:
  • stir-fried cucumbers
  • stir-fried chicken and beans
  • stir-fried pork
  • five spice chicken wings
  • leftover chinese dishes