Hello Kitty in London

Halitosis – quite a problem and I disagree that it is solely related to dental hygiene. One day on the bus two young gorgeous blonde women of apparent Eastern European decent were sitting next to me. They both had lovely teeth and smiles. Then one of them yawned and my gag reflex was almost uncontrollable. Not only was their breath unbelievably foul, it hung in the air for about ten minutes.
Street space – people will not get out of your way even if they are carrying nothing and you have three enormous suitcases you are wrestling up and down narrow sidewalks. The fascinating thing is if and when there is a collision, both parties immediately say “sorry, sorry”. Would it be easier to simply give way a bit?
Size - I am not petite in any sense of the word but I feel HUGE here. These are some of tiniest people I’ve ever seen in my life. Part of that is clearly the huge international influence but the native Brits are quite small. Is this somehow related to our early American struggles to survive?
More size - I just keep bringing in the big American men. I was the fortunate receiver of another 6 month US associate this week. Jeremy is about 6’4”. Two weeks ago (read previous entries) Steve arrived who is also 6’4”. One of my UK associates was standing with the 3 of us, she is barely 5’, and she looked up at the three of us and said “Blimey, you Americans are big” and I replied “I know…we’re huge, aren’t we?” I had on my 4 inch stilettos and my posture is very good from my yoga practice so I believe I appear taller than I am.
Venue - Last weekend Steve and I went to the Ghetto in SoHo. That is the name of the venue (bar) and the area of London. The label for this particular DJ night was the Cock. Fascinating mixed crowd, including many whose actual gender was impossible to outwardly determine, and excellent loud techno dance music. Oddly, Steve and I met a potential Cerner associate and I am currently in the process of recruiting her. She worked at a Cerner hospital in the Cayman Islands. It is a small world sometimes.
Big city life - The other night I had a few pints with Annette, a Cerner associate, and walked home in a down pour only to find I had no running water at my flat because of a water main break. It struck me as an amusing irony. Fortunately things were back in order the next morning.
Visitors - An old acquaintance came to visit the other night. I haven’t seen him in awhile but know him very well. He demands full attention and requires me to be very close to the loo. His name is Food Poisoning. Not my favourite visitor but I do bounce back quickly. I knew something was up with the crazy dreams I was having that caused an extremely restless night of sleep.
Walking…and walking…and walking. Good, comfortable shoes are essential. As a Brit in KC said to me, “you Americans drive to the end of the driveway to pick up the mail” and you feel that pain living in London. My feet are FINALLY getting used to it and although I wear all kinds of shoes at work and out on the town, I walk in trainers (athletic shoes) or my MBTs (Masai Barefoot Technology) shoes. Yesterday as I was leaving the office, a couple Fujitsu associates said to me, “you look like you are going on a hike” and I said “I am, hiking to the train station, up and down stairs, walking from Paddington and finally up the 4 flights of stairs to my flat. I call it urban hiking.”
Friends – Philip, a fellow Cerner associate, came to visit last weekend. He arrived via Abbu Dabbi (where he is working on a Cerner project) and came in from Copenhagen where he was visiting. He stayed for the weekend and flew to Glasgow to attend a friend’s wedding. How’s that for globe trotting? He is one the brightest young Cerner associates I have ever met. We went out for excellent Thai food and found a great brassiere on Portobello road the second night.
Food – the Electric Brassiere – a short walk from my flat on Portobello Road. Can you say delicious? I had a dressed Dungeness crab and duck salad. Very chic Notting Hill crowd in residence. Lovely menu with lots of fresh seafood items. Great service and atmosphere.
Museum – I am falling behind of this one but Philip and I managed to get to the Museum of London last weekend. Huge place with all kinds of fascinating stuff about London history. I wanted to go for the express purpose of seeing the special exhibition, Satirical London - 300 years of irreverent images. From the website…“Fancy poking fun at the filthy rich and famous? Eager to see egos pricked and pompous politicians get their comeuppance? Satirical London is an exhibition of visual satire produced in and about London over three centuries. In this period the form of satire has changed radically, from popular individual engravings to newspaper cartoons and television.” It was great!!!

The weather has changed in London and everything is in full bloom! I managed to get some air in the tires of my bike on Saturday. What is it with the Schrader valves? Those things are pain in the butt. I bought a pump and new helmet a couple weeks ago and finally put the pieces together. My friend and Cerner associate, Annette, came over to my neighborhood and we took off for Hyde Park. We were nearly run over in the first block by a taxi. The taxis here HATE bikes and we were pretty challenged early on trying to figure out if we should be on the sidewalk, left, or right side of street. It’s pretty much a free for all with the bikes you see around London, lots of weaving in and out of traffic and such. Annette arrived without a helmet so our first stop was the bike shop. I told her I would deal with any injury except her head. Annette is also a nurse and was easy to convince that a helmet was in order.

We navigated our way to the bike shop through the mania that is the Portabello Road market on Saturdays. After a successful purchase and a bit of fitting we were off to Hyde Park. I don’t know how big Central Park in NYC is but Hyde Park is HUGE. The flowers are amazing and Annette is quite the botany buff and was able to educate me about many different trees, bushes, and flower varieties. We settled on a spot in the rose garden to eat our yummy sandwich, salad, and side dishes from Ottolenghi, a fab food spot in Notting Hill. After our ride we stopped at the Victoria pub and had a pint followed by desert and a diet Coke. A great afternoon in London.

Sunday evening was a little bit different venue. My friend and Cerner associate Steve just arrived from KC and is going to be in my clinical workstream group. He had quite a funny story about getting to his hotel. Steve is 6’4” and most things in London seem to be made for people about 5’4”. Many hotels have these incredibly narrow hallways and I could just picture him dragging three suitcases down the hall on a very warm day in London. I think everyone has some of those moments in international travel. I remember the day I was dragging my 60 pound suitcase up steps in the tube. Oh…not so fun.

I called Steve on Sunday afternoon to see if he wanted to go out and about a bit. My chosen excursion was Gauche Chic - a DJ party with the latest in ragga beats and electro nonsense (direct quote from TimeOut). So we took the bus to Oxford Circus. I had a pretty good idea where the place was so we walked in the right direction. As we were walking we noticed people in tuxedos and evening gowns. I thought…looking at Steve and me in our jeans…mmmmm…we might be a bit underdressed. But you never know so we went up to the door and were told the normal venue (as mentioned above) was not on this week due to a formal backgammon party. Well…that’s not something you see every day…ragga beats and electro nonsense replaced with a formal backgammon tournament.

The backup plan involved taking the tube to south London to the Horse Meat Disco, an alternative lifestyle club. The first tube car we got on stopped for an unattended bag but then just as we gave up and were walking away, it started. I think Steve hit his head in the tube about three times...I don’t think the tube is meant for anyone over 5’10”. By the time we got to the club it was about 10:30 and was PACKED with half naked men gyrating to really loud techno dance music. It was great! Steve was the tallest guy in the place. We danced and hung out till about midnight. Alas, Steve did not find his soul mate…maybe next time. We took the tube back to central London with the intent of taking the bus the rest of the way. We waited and waited for the N7 and I was tired and getting a little whiny so suggested we get on any bus that came going in the general direction. Not such a good idea. It started out OK but typical of streets in London they sort split off in different directions and this bus split off in the wrong direction. I think we ended up in South Kensington. By now my feet are just plain worn out and off we go walking again. We finally came to Kensington High St so at least I knew were I was even if it was going to be a long walk home. Then I saw the N28 bus and I said to Steve…RUN! We caught the bus and made it home by about 1:30. That was the first night I have been out past 11 p.m. A wild ride indeed. Note to self…when all else fails and your feet are killing you…take a cab!

OK, now I understand. I went to the America’s Cup museum yesterday and learned a great deal about the America’s Cup. It is all quite interesting. BIG $$$ and big sailboats.

The races going on this week are all part of the Acts leading up to the America’s Cup which will take place here in Valencia starting next June. There are 14 Acts leading up to the Louis Vuitton Cup which is followed by America’s Cup. I saw them practicing yesterday (Team BMW/Oracle and the French team…I think) out in the sea and it was fabulous! I tried to capture it on my camera but the pictures do no justice to the feel of seeing it in person. Well, maybe if I had a REALLY fancy camera with a huge telephoto lens. I had no idea how big those racing boats are and how far they heel. Wow! They also have all these little skidoo things running around that are how they judge. It is quite an operation. There are eight challengers and the defender which is Team Alinghi from Switzerland, the current holder of the Cup. Check out my pics at http://www.hellokittyinlondon.shutterfly.com/action/

Now it makes sense that the port here is a huge construction zone with new stuff popping up each day. I kept thinking they cannot possibly be ready for the final America’s Cup in a few days. I saw the plans and this will be one gorgeous port when they are done. I’m sure it will bring lots of attention to Valencia and surrounding areas. I think this would be a lovely area to have a vacation home. I understand you can still find some amazing bargains out in the country just a short distance from the city.

I love this part of the world and intend to come back…soon I hope.

Hasta luego Valencia!

Valencia, España

Off to Valencia for some sun and relaxation. I saw that EasyJet was having a sale so I starting looking around to see where I could go that it would be warm. A few days later I was off to Valencia for 72 GBP round trip. I arrived on Friday and I am staying until Wednesday. I’m so spoiled.

Valencia is where the America’s Cup is going to be starting in a couple days. I had no idea of that when I decided to take my trip here. I am also staying right next to the port where all the stuff will be happening. I’m sure you won’t be able to get a room in the lovely hotel where I am staying in a couple days. The construction is still going on and every day there is new tent or building that pops up.

Valencia is also a huge port town and the birthplace of paella or paelle as they call it here. The traditional Valencia paelle has rabbit and sausage in it. I have not had any yet as most restaurants require you to order for two. You were right Mom. I have had delicious gambas (shrimp) and calamar (squid). My hotel is steps from the beach and the weather is perfect.

The hotel has the most fabulous breakfast with fresh Valencia orange juice and piles of pineapple, mango, watermelon, blood oranges, and kiwi. YUM! Not to mention the fresh beignets with tuna and cheese inside. Piles of pastries, eggs, bacon, smoked salmon, and many other meats round out my morning opportunity to be stuffed and not need to eat again until evening.

I haven’t really done anything touristy and I might not as I am just loving lazing around on the beach and looking at the Meditterrean sea. Life is good! Do what you like and like what you do.

May Day 2006

This week flew as I was very busy at work and spent a couple very long days in the office.

Friday night I returned to the Yoga CoOp for class and had the good fortune to have the owner of the studio as my teacher for the evening. It was a good class and we worked very hard on upper body strength. On my way home from yoga I stopped at Rodizio Rico for dinner. I have been quite curious about this restaurant as a few other times when I passed it, it was quite crowded and had a very festive atmosphere. It is a Brazilian BBQ and the meat was FABULOUS! They walk around with these huge skewers with meat on them and give you a piece of two of whatever you want. They keep coming around with many different types of meat and you can have as much as you want. There is also a huge selection of veggies, salads, and other side dishes that are self serve. The pork ribs were my favorite and the filet was also delicious. I couldn’t figure out what these tiny little things on the skewer were as they were gone before they arrived at my table. When a skewer did make it to my table I was told they were chicken hearts to which the lovely blonde at the table across from me said, “Oh, the chicken hearts are the best.” I did take one and even cut a piece off of it but as soon as I saw the aorta running through the middle, I could not eat it. It must be a nurse thing. So, if you love chicken hearts, you know where to eat in London.

Saturday I made some very good progress getting all the stuff from my crate put away. I didn’t think I brought that much stuff but I have realised it is still too much for the amount of space I have. Stuff, how does one accumulate so much stuff?

Saturday night I went to my first theatre production. It was quite far in East London and I imagine would be akin to off-off Broadway in NYC. The musical was “The Harder They Come”, a theatre adaptation of the movie which was originally released in 1972. I do believe this production is the first live theatre staging of the story. It was a superb show. The cast all had very strong voices and could also dance and play music. Many of my all time favorite reggae songs are in the soundtrack which I believe I first purchased in 1976 or 1977. This production mixed things up a bit and did not include all the tracks from the original movie. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the production and stayed after to listen to the exceptional band play a couple more reggae tunes after the stage performance was over. It was a most enjoyable evening.

Sunday I went to Bodies – the Exhibition. This is truly something to see. Check it out at www.bodiestheexhibition.com An edit from the web site: A human specimen is first preserved according to standard mortuary science. The specimen is then dissected to show whatever it is that someone wants to display. Once dissected, the specimen goes through a process to permanently fix it as it was and it never decays. There are 22 full body specimens and hundreds of organs, body systems, bones, and muscles displayed. It is amazing how much stuff we have packed into the middle of our bodies and it just works. Wow…how cool is that? One comment on the audio that really stuck with me was after the speaker was talking about how much stronger tendons and ligaments are and how muscles can only contract. The comment was “if we only had tendons and ligaments we would be super human in strength but would not be able to move and would be like a marionette needing some outside effort to move.” I thought that was fascinating.

Sunday night ended with a fabulous dinner at a lovely French restaurant called The Ledbury just a couple blocks from my flat. Four of us, all ladies, spent 3 hours enjoying our 3 course Prix Fixe dinner which seemed more like 6 courses as we kept getting little additions to the 3 courses. The presentation of the food was a work of art. It was so beautiful you didn’t even want to eat it but, of course, I ate every single bite from the first paper thin cracker with poppy seeds and cumin spiced goat cheese with truffle oil down to the last bit of feathery light chocolate mint macaroon. YUM!!!

Happy May Day!