Double Decker Bus Ride!

So, I hopeed on the bus earlier to get to an Apple store and grab an ethernet to USB adapter, who;d have known that there was something like that? I have been having a heck of a time trying to track down wi-fi hotspots to stay in touch, now I have the inter webs right in my room!

Anyway...

I am on the bus reading some Sherlock Holmes and waiting for my stop, the next thing I know it's the end of the line and I have to get off and figure out where I am and how to get back, ha ha! Well, I walk around a bit and see what's going on in this little area, the end of the line for the 281 from Kingston to ... Wherever I was, ha ha! Well, I end up feeling like I should be getting back to my errands and homework so I head over to the bus stop and start trying to figure things out. Right in the nick of time (where did that phrase come from anyway? Anyone know?) I figure it out and hop on the bus pulling toward me. This time, I figure I might as well pay attention so i just wait it out and plan my day. I finally arrive at the Bentall Centre, which is a 4 story mall with an Apple Store in it. This is how I finally went to my first Apple Store in my first overseas adventure in the most amazing story of my life! Aren't you privileged to have seen this first? ;) Anyway. Here are some of the fun and pretty sights on the way back to Surbiton from the Bentall Centre at the top of a double decker bus. For some reason, these front seats are always open. I wonder if it's like a sign from the locals that us silly tourists are actually welcome here? I'd like to think so! Dear me, I just keep going on and on! Here's a bunch of pretty pictures. Quite a few duplicates at the end but that's a technical issue I was working on  and then I just decided to post all of them and you could decide what was going on. Those who do, yeah, you've been here too huh?

Hmmm, I'm thinking Karaoke tonight and Henry V tomorrow for my birthday. What do you think? Yeah, I thought it sounded good too!

My Flat

Location:Burney Ave,Surbiton,United Kingdom

Day 2

So, after my strange traveling and whatnot, I've been getting up at 5am. I like it! Hopefully I can make a habit of it since i gives me time to get a nice shower, a shave, and time to make myself breakfast and run down and get myself a tea from Café Nero and update my blog. :) All this and my flatmates still haven't gotten up yet! Ha ha!

So my flat is pretty cool! I thought I would be in something akin to a townhouse with a flatmate, two bedrooms and a communal kitchen; Nope! It's a lot closer to a dormitory save that every room has its own bathroom! Speaking of which, there has been NO hot water since I've arrived... Makes showering a little more like trying to bathe while standing under a waterfall from the Bozeman Creek or something like that. Very cold.
Anyway... We had a tour of Kingston today, I thought that would mean the University of Kingston but apparently that meant the town! We all, the Study Abroad students, got together and saw our introductory lecture and then went out and saw the campus really briefly before checking out the city. Mostly how to get to the downtown shopping area and which pubs had cheaper meals. Fun stuff!
Right! I'd forgotten to add this! When we were at the intro lecture the phone upgrade peoples had made some kind of error and so my account had been credited for the £10, but I hadn't gotten my numbers to give my family. This was rectified by standing in the ridiculously long line to go through the whole process a second time.
And back on track...
After the Kingston tour we went on a scavenger hunt of sorts but taking pictures! We had to navigate every type of London transport and hit most of the major sights to take pictures. The best pictures win a prize at the final dinner! Those pics were taken on someone else's camera but here are some I took for me. If possible I will get you those from the tour later.
Enjoy!

After the Photo Tour, I'm just going to call it that, we met up at a pub and everyone got drinks. I was dehydrated so I just stuck with water. After that we split up and us stragglers ended up trying to get to a different pub in Kingston as opposed to London proper to watch the last half of the football (soccer) match. From there I was hungry so I left that group and tried to find my way back to Surbiton on my own. I almost made it too! Almost. I ended up popping in to a little corner shop and getting directions. Getting back on track I was accosted by a giant bug! It turns out it was a Flying Stag Beetle that looked just like this:


FREAKING TERRIFYING! This little guy is about the size of a humming bird! Blech!

Anyway... I finally made it back to Surbiton but all the shops were closed so I just checked the menus on several of the restaurant windows there and then headed back to the flat.

What a day!

Location:Café Nero