UK Update 2

I honestly have no time to write blogs. I am either out, drinking, playing futbol, eating, reading, sleeping, or travelling around drawing. Somehow I squeeze time here and there and put up some photos. So here we go, here's what has happened since the last time








































































From finding out what GMT finally means (Greenwich Meridian Time), to going to the Prime Meridian, to going up to the London Eye, to the Thames Festival, to Saratoga people in London, to going all around the outskirts of London to finally being able to watch my first Premier League match, to going out almost every night, I doubt I will finally have a time for when things settle down. Which is great, although I will probably lose a couple years of my life doing this. But everything has been fanastic, besides the obliteration that my wallet has taken as a result of it. Gone to the craziest places (IceBar London, Maya London), to the most historically exquisite (St. Paul's Cathedral, Church of St. Bartholomew, Kew Gardens), to the suburbs and areas in which I normally wouldn't go to as a normal London tourist. I am trying to take everything in and really try to experience life as Londoner, along with meeting new people along the way. It has been a fantastic time. I wish I was back in New York, there are elements that I miss - Lamb and Rice, 24 Hour Subway, the US Dollar, DSP - but there are some things that are just so much better out here. Short list:

1. The Chips, or Crisps, out here are just astronomically better. Walkers > Lays, all day.
2. Beer is better, even the Natural Ice equivalent out here (Carling, Carlsberg) is still better.
3. Pubs - enough said.
4. Salt and Malt Vinegar over Chips (Fries) is the best idea ever.
5. The metropolitan atmosphere is amazing - with old history blending with modern, its just not comparable to any other place.
6. Tipping - you don't have to tip as much. At the bars, you don't even need to. If you're at dinner, 5-10% is customary. Awesome.
6. Football, football, football, football. I love the sport, and every day is a new story about football. It is just so easy to play a pick up game at the park, its a beautiful thing where the fields are lined for football, not baseball or American Football. And I've taken a liking to Rugby, which is just crazy those guys.

Well last time I had a list of to do's, here's an update:
- Watch a Premier League match - DONE
- Get at least some kind of soccer going on a real pitch with my boots on and group of people
knocking the ball around. - DONE
- Find that "go to" restaurant - TOO EXPENSIVE TO EAT OUT
- Find chopsticks for eating - DONE
- Get some kind of Fall Break intinerary punched out. - DONE, WALLET R.I.P.

Here's the new list:
- Get those Manchester United tickets and go to Old Trafford
- Find that go to club/bar lounge
- Try the London Curry (I know, its pathetic I still haven't done it yet)
- Have dinner on the Thames.
- Find time to go to Paris for one weekend.


'till then.

It Costs Twice as Much to Play in the UK

Okay, so I've finally got some time to get back to this after a whirlwind two weeks of traveling and getting used to living across the pond in the UK. Classes just started this week and I can definitely feel that these classes are going to challenge me in much different ways. Equations have been replaced by essays, problem sets with readings. Poop is going to hit the fan unless I'm on top of it. Its nice that all my classes are in the afternoon so I don't have to wake up early, considering that the walk to class is ridic - 30 minutes at California pace. And with me carrying my gym stuff its just exponentially heavier and sucks. But to recap, basically these last two weeks have been spent with my family and with new people and trying to set my feet down in a new environment.

I arrived into Heathrow and instead of doing the tourist-y stuff that you would normally do, me and my dad just tried to get acclimated to the London atmosphere in the terms of a Londoner, how to live, how much prices are, the cost of living. After buying a rice cooker and sim card I knew that it was going to be a rough semester in terms of the funds. But, things look good and I feel comfortable in London. Its completely unlike New York, its got a character of its own that I can't describe right now, but I'm sure I will be able to in a few weeks. After doing all that, it was to Scotland in Edinburgh where it was just me and my dad. It was great, it was rare for me to spend so much time with my dad one on one, and it was truly a fantastic experience to share with my dad, and definitely a good "bros hanging out" sesh. Because my sister and mom weren't around, we even got to steal a day and sneak off to St. Andrews to play golf at the home of golf. Here are some pics to recap:

After spending time with my dad it was time to move into NIDO and start my life at NYU again. It was a whirlwind of activities and little sleep as I was meeting new people, going out, doing orientation, sleeping little, spending lots, and doing it all over again. Its been nice, meeting some NYU kids that I didn't meet before and kind of getting in touch with the guys that I didn't talk to over the summer that I knew before. The next step now is to step out of my comfort zone even more, to go beyond the familiar and into the new. I'm looking into joining some competitive football (as they call it here) clubs and seeing if I can meet people that way. And then maybe meeting some new people in the classes that I'm taking. With all this and planning for weekend trips, football games, signing up for gym memberships, groceries, other intangible costs, and you can see that its been a wild ride for the first few days. But now that I've got the routine down hopefully things will slow down a little bit. I'm just afraid that I won't - and I probably won't - have enough time to really do all the things that I want to do. At least I got tickets to the Manchester United/Arsenal match at Emirates on November 8th, super wicked. Anyway, first week of London with NYU pictures:







































































Lets hope the next time I'm back on here I have made some kind of progress in the goals that I have set before you:

- Watch a Premier League match (planning on going to Fulham vs. Bolton)
- Get at least some kind of soccer going on a real pitch with my boots on and group of people
knocking the ball around.
- Find that "go to" restaurant
- Find chopsticks for eating
- Get some kind of Fall Break intinerary punched out.



As always, have fun and stay classy.

Initial Impressions of Life in London

London is hella expensive. That is all.

Emotion Jumble

So, the six fast weeks back home in California is now over. I gave up on doing the salad-a-days, junk food just tasted too good. Work was good, the sun was great, besides the one hiccup of getting sick for a week and my gym routine getting sort of thrown out of whack, it has been a great summer. Its really crazy to see that four months have nearly passed since I walked out of my last final in Econ and breathed a sigh of relief in what was the most busy semester thus far. I'm hoping to take that semester and flip it upside down and have an easy going semester in London, and not worry too much about the humungo thrashing my wallet is going to get. As I get packing for my three months abroad I feel exactly the same way as I did in New York. Miss it, had a blast, felt good to be in a different place, had to leave right when I begin to settle down and get comfortable.

The feelings that I had when I left New York now evolved to my longing to leaving California. I was getting used to the quiet life, running outside in the hills, driving wherever with the window down and enjoying the fresh air. It was nice to be home, to sleep on my own bed, to have home cooking, to have good Mexican food, to have the things that make home so ....home-y.

I had a deal with myself to try to finish playing GTA IV before I leave for London, but I don't think I can finish it. I think I have about six or so hours left of gameplay in the game and I'm just not in the state of mind to finish it. I've spent the last thirty minutes just looking outside, looking at the green trees, the blue sky, the cool wind blowing through my window. It was so weird, a few weeks ago I was not used to such quiet, and now I have finally gotten back around to enjoying the nice, slow-paced, quiet life.

Realistically speaking, I'm only going to be in London for three months. I am hoping that I have a blast and get opportunities to travel and watch some English Premier League matches. I shouldn't get too emotional about it, but I think its a knack I have for places that I get comfortable in, I don't want to leave. I didn't have this same feeling last year when I spent the summer back home, probably because I spent four months back home and was ready for the hustle and bussle of New York. I was only here for six weeks, and I was just hitting the groove in really just loving the suburban life all over again. The round of goodbyes and "lasts for a few months" have come and gone, all I can do now is look forward to the UK and Europe. Flight is tomorrow afternoon, time to pack more. Hopefully I remember socks.

Time to Retire the Storage Box

This weekend marked the retirement of my 300GB Maxtor One Touch external hard drive. This guy has served me for 4 years without ever missing a beat and going through all the torture I put it through, whether it was editing videos, playing music, putting games on it, editing photos. I've dropped it, carried it around the world, tripped power chords and it has still stayed alive. It was time, I needed more space to put in media and I had an inkling that he was feeling tired and was about to blow any day. And with the given deals at the local computer supply store I couldn't resist getting a new one.


So this weekend I bought the new baby, a new external storage unit. Basically when my suitemate last year had 3 1TB Western Digital drives stacked above his computer, I knew that my hard drive felt insignificant. It was time for an upgrade and I finally got the time this summer to get myself a new Seagate FreeAgent. I was really looking forward to getting a 1TB drive myself, but the marginal price difference between 750GB and 1TB was staggering, and I felt the 250GB I can sacrifice. Anyway, I wonder if this guy can last the 4 years that the Maxtor has. We shall see. After finally reformating the entire thing (shitty OEM software) to FAT32 so I can use it on my notebook and Windows PC's, I'll let you know when I fill up the drive.



PS. I promise to write a serious post, I just haven't gotten around to finding the time. Too encompassed in getting Niko Bellic out of the drug game and making his own straight cash.

Musical Reconnaissance

Update on what I've been listening to lately. Mostly stuff picked up on the radio and stuff that is catchy. And by catch I don't mean M.I.A "Paper Airplanes", I can't stand that song. Any chorus that doesn't have words and has sound bytes instead does not deserve to be on the radio. Anywhere, here are some good stuff that you should bless your ears with:

The Raconteurs

Jack White lends his vocals to this band, really cool, different kind of rock sort of.

Flobots

One of maybe three "rap" type music artists that I have on my iPod. Highly political, but very good.

Rebelution

These guys are from Santa Barbara and bring in that Ska music ala Sublime, Less Than Jake, Slightly Stoopid that bring in that Long Beach punk rock flavor. Really good stuff.

Weezer

This song is so catchy I can't get it off my iPod. Weezer's new album is rocking, not bad at all.

And in light of my latest revisiting of Ska music I've started listening to much more Rebelution and Sublime. Man, even though they've been gone for so long their stuff still rocks. I love their songs, have some great stories behind them. Any Sublime collection is not complete without What I Got:

Authority Evasion and Intervention

So basically last night, as I was just strolling around at night trying to find something to do I realized that I was just burning through gas and decided that it was time to call up one of my friends and see what's good. I called up my buddy Jacob and decided that we should go to a strip club, which was halfway across town. Ridiculous I know, but I was bored and needed some excitement. So to save gas I picked him up from his place and we went together. Got to the strip joint, had a decent time, splurged on some cash and got a private dance in the back room. Jacob was just hanging out and after a while it got late so I decided to just go home.

As we were going home I kind of got the itch to drive relatively fast so I started barrelling down the straightaway streets, basically going through every yellow. All of a sudden a big hill comes down and I push the pedal and fly, only to find below there were 4 cars waiting at the light. I slam hard on the breaks but it was too late, I slid into the cars and smash into a cop car in front of me. Freaked out, I jet out of there and go through the intersection, with Jake holding on for dear life.

Basically, the cops start going after me and I realize that my car is getting beaten up and I don't know how much longer it could take. That question was answered when I went over a fire hydrant and sent the car flying. Now the car is upside down and I pull out my SMG holding off the cops as they come in waves. Jacob was getting upset that he has to pull out his gun and help, because he was just expecting a chill night. Anyway, SWAT teams come into our position and we were cornered - behind us the pier and nothing below but water. Running out of ammo, I realized that I was stuck and Jacob was slowing running out of bullets. Without much other choice, the cop throws us to the ground and cuffs us - all from a traffic crash. Should have never drove fast, should have just called up Michelle and went out and played pool.









- Niko Bellic