Welcome home

The flight home was out of the top drawer as Celia and I managed to get an entire section of the plane to ourselves as they needed us to sit in the emergency seats. We only needed two rows, but the extra space made us feel all that more important.

I know it's been discussed before over and over again, but I cannot stress how much I have to hold myself back from opening the aeroplane door mid flight. I'm not sure if I'm just concerned I will trip and accidentally open it, but I physically have to lean the opposite way when i am walking past it...

When we touched down at Heathrow we had Claudio and Jen Jen waiting for us at the airport whisking us away to the heart of Essex. I must say it is the first time i have been there as my travel card never got me to zone 16.

I held off the urge to succumb to my jet lag and went off with Claudio to buy some beer and bbq equipment for the braai they were throwing for us the next day. Driving through one of the dodgy areas of north east London we stumbled across some Greek, Cypriot shops where Claudio immediately had his eye on a Foukou(left). Now a Foukou is a traditional bbq made in Cyprus, and its purpose is to cook meat and fish on a kebab or "souvla" on coal.

I somehow think that Claudio knew where we were going and we never just 'stumbled' on those Greek / Cypriot shops.. Although we were stoked with what we had just bought, the woman were averagely pleased with our purchase.

I managed to put my new running shoes into action down the paths of Epping forest which in some sections looks a fairytale with the beauty of Fallow deer and Autumn leaves. All that was missing were Lucy, Peter, Edmund and Susan.

We had a ton on friends around that day to enjoy our Saffer / English bbq. About 3 kg's of wors on the Weber and even more souvla on Claudio's new foukou.

Charlie arrived in his 'I are wearing a jean pant' shirt providing much amusement, but unfortunately for him, more interest was taken in the kilo of biltong he brought along.

Our little braai went well on into the night while we tried our hardest to finish all the beers on offer while we sat around the log fire in the garden telling our 'round the world' campfire stories.

Last Day Blues

Well today we bode farewell to NY, our family there and our 8 months on the run from real life. It’s obviously a bit sad for us, not that any of you have any sympathy. It was 'Da Bomb'(just for Michael). The day was just as hectic as you can imagine with the two of us trying our utmost to shove all the junk inside our trunk, into our tiny suitcases we started this trip with. Now not only have our waistlines expanded in the last two months, but so have our suitcases as we have much more sheeaaat.

Celia's new running shoes sadly did not make it on board, neither did my dads present I bought him as it was forgotten on the train last night.. Let's pray for honest people and the lost 'n found section.

So I sit here now at the airport typing away on my new uber cool Sony Vaio laptop, while they announce that our flight had been delayed due to electrical problems. Refueling rig is apparently shot which does not instill much confidence. It's nice in a way though as I am pretty reluctant for this trip to end so the longer we get to stay on US soil, the happier I am.

Celia and I almost took our camping gear with us today because we had grown so attached to it. It has been over 3 months of camping in those snug sleeping bags, under the cozy comforter in many US state parks. We will have to get another soon we can carry on our adventures back home.

Can't wait to see our friends in London though, go to Hillsong and see if life does actually go on without me...

Expansion

With a day to go, we were due another dinner and Flavio did not disappoint. Although the logical place would have been our all time favourite diner, but we stepped it up a notch and went to a great Teppanyaki place down the road instead. I think I have omitted my next insert in my previous posts, but only because it has become more relevant in recent weeks.

This actually brought about the title of this post, my waistline has been looking a little larger than usual with my mirror denial not really helping. It was the therapy that my denim jeans bring that really highlighted the issue as the pair of Levi's that were given to me by Tim in Singapore about 4 months back now need a bit of persuasion to close, and more than that at the end of of a good meal with a slight of hand a flick of the button bringing instant relief.

It was entertaining to watch this meal prepared and the chef pulled out all the stops, with his juggling and lobbing food into our mouths. Fortunately it tasted great too and by the end of the evening the button was released for that extra bit of comfort.

More flags, more fun

This is something I have not done in years, but i'll credit Michael with the brilliant idea. A bit of planning and we were off to Six flags amusement park. I had the chore of driving all the way to Jersey cause on Michaels 'little kids' drivers license, he cannot leave the state.

Now you can imagine the queues (or lines if you are American) at an amusement park in the school holidays, nevermind the fact it was passover, they are something out of my worst horror, and today did not dissapoint. We ditched the opportunity to buy our 'flash pass' tickets which would simply allow us to walk to the front of each ride queue simply out of lack of funding. This would see us only scream it out on 5 rides that day as the wait totalled an average of 45min a ride.

With rides named, Medusa, Nitro, Kingda ka, Batman and El Toro, there would be a fair amount of nausea and vocals over the duration of the day.

Now every ride there has some world record to its name. Kingda Ka (to the left) is the fastest at 128mph and tallest at 458ft roller coaster in the world. The ride is only 59 seconds, but I cannot even begin to explain how much of a thrill it is. I was freaking out every second and realised then how little I actually enjoy these things. The speed is not so much the issue. It's the falling out I am concerned about.

Celia managed to strain her neck as the she was turning back and talking to me when the ride started, as they count down from 10, but start at a random number which was ulimately her downfall.

She was out of the running for the rest of the day, but still joined Michael and I in the line for 'El Toro'. Now this ride features the steepest drop of any wooden roller coaster in the world at 76 deg. and was by far the most fun ride we went on all day. The top speed is only 70mph, but felt just as fast running over those rickety wooden tracks. The upside was the nausea experienced on Kingda ka did not show its ugly little head.

Celia did however join us on the ride as when we got to the front she found it too irresistable to watch us enjoy it without her. The photo we picked up from the automatic ride camera shows her screaming with pain, and she vowed to not go on another ride.

I will quicky add before I carry on that she did join us on Medusa (the world's forst floorless coaster), agonising neck pain and all, but this was to be here last as when Michael and I carried on to Batman and Nitro, Celia slipped off to see the more tame Dolphin show.

My highlight of the day was however none of the ridiculous rides we went on, but the wait in the line at Kingda Ka. Watching all the Jewish kids her on passover holidays lose their yarmulke's when the ride was upside down at top speed, was something out of Americas funniest home videos and had everyone (maybe only me) in stiches.

Times Square Church

Our last Sunday in the US and A and we had the opportunity to visit the renowned 'Times Square Church' which was phenomenal. We were fortunately enough to get a seat that was not in the rafters, with half the leg room of your average budget airline, so seating was tight to say the least. The choir however made up for it and the renditions of the songs we knew were a bit special.

The church location could not be more perfect. Right on Broadway, a stones throw from Times sq., and it makes your average Sunday in Manhattan a bit more exciting than a good bargain.

Good times

We were so lucky that we finally managed to catch up with Billy in NYC as we had missed the opportunity in Boston. His company had put him up in the Hyatt in a great suite which he invited Celia and I to share with him on one evening. We had a truly grand time with dinner at a phenomenal restarant and a few drinks, kindly all on the company. My only charge whould be the cab ride back to the hotel.

It's always a little strange for me to spend time with friends in a foreign place when you are so used to seeing them day in, day out at all your familiar haunts in London. It was the same when Billy was in SA for our wedding and now in NY (not for his) in his backyard.

He was in his element too, knew all the places, who to call and where to go. Good times! BTW, just found this picture of him onine. Wooooohoooowaaahaaaaahhaaaaaa. Waaaaaaaaahhhhahahahahahahahaha. God bless Google.

Still moseying around New York

With not an awful lot to to and only a few days to kill, day's were mostly spent watching the 60 inch plasma and drinking Flavio's Pepsi stash and home made biltong. after a few days of more than 100 channels of cable, you settle on your favourites, and then your favourites run out of shows, so it's mostly 'The Girl Next Door', Kardashians, and "The Deadliest Catch' reruns. I was going to add 'The Family Guy' to that list, but Peter Griffin does not get grouped with anyone.

We somehow managed to find time to rip ourselves off the couch and head into the city to do the Natural History Museum. Now I sadly never got to go to the one in London, I know, pathetic. I was only there for six years...

The museum was pretty good with the animal exhibition (mostly African) being my favourite by a long shot. I think it's maybe because looking at the dinosaur skeletons does not really invoke many emotions in me. Possibly the lack of imagination, which in itself is hard to believe with the amount of day dreaming I usually do.

I must say that the exhibition here was not dissimilar to the ones at Cabela's hunting stores around the US. The stuffed carnivores all set up in attack position ready to devour the defenceless prey in their path. Some of them are excellent, like you are stuck in a real life freeze frame, and if I had to show you some of the pictures I took you would thing I was somewhere in the African Savannah or the North American plains.

With all the game viewing we had there, there was sadly not enough time to go to the National Portrait Gallery which was Celia's pick for the day. I thick you might need a day for that on it's own if it is anything like the Louvre or the Smithsonian in Washington (you see how I've listed the only two art museums I've ever been to).

We managed to fit in a couple more walking hours in to the day and went for some great coffee and cakes at 'Le Pain Quotidien' just off central park as well as a world famous hot dog at "Gray's Papaya'. It was a good hot dog, but you understand what I mean when I say how different can you be from your competitor when you are selling a wiener in a roll.. Michael being the the only true American among us, assured me it was a great hot dog.

I did manage to spot the Chris Elliot who famously played Dom Woganowski in 'Theres something about Mary' adding to my celeb spotting total in America to a satisfying '2'.