More Trips

Japan10 November 23


Taiwan5 April 23


Korea5 November 22


Korea4 May 22


Cape Otway April 21


Japan9 October 19


Frangland July 19


Korkong April 19


Japan8 October 18


China4 April 18


Japan7 October 17


Taiwan4 March 17


Japan6 October 16


Europe May 16


Japan5 November 15


Korea2 March 15

Even More Trips

HongJapWan March 2014
Sichuan March 2013
Tokyo3 October 2012
China2 August 2012
Japwan March 2012
China November 2011
Korea September 2011
Taiwan March 2011
London3 June 2010
Japan May 2010
London2 February 2010
London September 2009
SE Asia December 2005

London - September 2009 - Page 4

Day 13 - Thursday, 17 September 2009

The science museum

Today I went to the science museum, the best museum I have ever been to. They have lots of aircraft inside the building, spitfires, rocket planes from world war 2, lear jets, cross section of a 747, harriers etc. Then they also have a rocket exhibit, with real lunar modules, a full sized rocket, v1 and v2 rockets from world war 2 etc.
Theres also lots of cars and other machines, a whole section on the history of medicine, too much to effectively see in a day.
Eventually my feet were sore so I came back to the hotel, but then headed straight out to the studio to play xbox and have indian food, got home quite late, thanks to bob for giving me a lift.

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Day 14 - Friday, 18 September 2009

Shopping, walking

I think im getting a cold.
So I walked for about 6 hours, and eventually found myself at edgeware road, which is the lebanese area. They have a lebanese mcdonalds looking chain store there called little beirut.
Im now drinking orange juice pretending im not getting a cold.

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Day 15 - Saturday, 19 September 2009

Sick, Markets, Relaxing

Without photos this website is sad and pathetic and sound like twitter and yet I have none.
Today Im certain I have some sort of cold, but it also seems quite minor. So I drank about 4 gallons of water and set off for the Portobello Markets. These were not really my kind of thing as it was mainly antiques, and about a million poeple. Then I discovered that London really doesnt believe in portable toilets at all, I asked a cop and he said theres none in the whole market, so I go back to the train station, nope, they removed them all. I really shouldnt have drank all that water.
In the evening I went for a walk around the west end and china town, again not taking my camera as I am sick of carrying it. There were lots of people and bright lights. Tomorrow there will be pictures I promise.
At some point, either today or yesterday I also went to the street with all the guitar shops called Denmark street, the range wasnt great, but there was a grown man arguing with his manager about his working hours and how its unfair to be told off for being late, in front of many customers, which I found quite amusing. Perhaps if you get upset about such things as trivial as that, thats why you work as a sales assistant in a cheap guitar store when you are 40 years old.

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Day 16 - Sunday, 20 September 2009

Last full day in London

In the morning I went to the national gallery. Its full of famous artists paintings, mainly impressionists.
When I came out most of the roads were closed and there were bikes everywhere, some kind of tree hugger event on a grand scale, as you can see below I took a photo of a celebrity more famous than the queen in london.
Then I went to the Victoria and Albert museum which is an impressive museum, its huge with modern and old things, huge things, along with the science museum, this is the best museum.
In the afternoon, gman (whos real identity is still a secret) agreed to meet me in London and show me all the sites. We visited various embassy officials, diplomats, spies, mafia heads, triads, and then had dinner at a diner.

London - September 2009 - Theres bikes everywhere!

Theres bikes everywhere!


London - September 2009 - More bikes, whats going on?.

More bikes, whats going on?.


London - September 2009 - The giant chess pieces didnt know.

The giant chess pieces didnt know.


London - September 2009 - Still more bikes.

Still more bikes.


London - September 2009 - Awaiting the king.

Awaiting the king.


London - September 2009 - Grand Chancellor Boris, Supreme ruler of London.

Grand Chancellor Boris, Supreme ruler of London.


London - September 2009 - Not sure who this is, she rode with boris, the media gave her a lot of attention.

Not sure who this is, she rode with boris, the media gave her a lot of attention.


London - September 2009 - Aftermath of bike fest.

Aftermath of bike fest.


London - September 2009 - My true identity revealed.

My true identity revealed.


London - September 2009 - ITS ME!

ITS ME!


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Day 17 - Monday, 21 September 2009

Heathrow

My flight left Heathrow at a very civil time of about 11:30 in the morning. So I left the hotel without drama at 9, walked across the road to the Earls Court tube station which is on the line that goes direct to Heathrow. Waited about 2 seconds for a train which was empty and I was at the airport in under 30 minutes.
Going through customs was also painless, I checked in at the first class counter and some ass kissing ensued from the Qantas concierge. As Qantas is moving terminals next month, they dont have a lounge currently, so you have to use the British Airways one, it was fairly basic, the coffee was terrible (from a machine) but they did have bacon sandwiches.
The plane for the return journey is an A380, and being a plane nerd I am quite excited, I am however flying economy class. The seats are much nicer than 747, the on demand movie thing is also quite a bit nicer. It was generally a much more comfortable flight to Singapore then on the way to England. I recall watching American Beauty which I had not seen, good film.

London - September 2009 - Here is my plane, also known as my tomb for the next 26 hours (longer than expected, read on!).

Here is my plane, also known as my tomb for the next 26 hours (longer than expected, read on!).


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Day 18 - Tuesday, 22 September 2009

Singapore

After the 14 hour uneventful flight you stop over in Singapore. I am excited to explore the airport in the 1.5 hours you get for stopover, however we are half an hour late. They still have to get everyone off and back on though, and clean the plane, pump the toilets, refuel etc. The actual real reason there are no direct flights from England to Australia is because the toilets on the plane cant cope, and neither can the crew (who like me, cant sleep on a plane).
I run around looking in the airport, I saw the rainforest but didnt have time to go on. Never did find the Qantas lounge though.
Reboarded the same plane to find the seats next to me empty, my previous seat mates had been found better seats, so that I could have some extra space for myself which was nice.
The only movie I can remember watching was no country for old men, another top film I had not seen. The food on this leg was terrible.
Now, the flight was scheduled to land in Sydney around 18:30, and I had a connection to Adelaide at 20:30, so plenty of time. However when we arrive near Sydney, theres too much crosswind to land, some other flights had been diverted to Newcastle, an A380 is too big to go there so we either had to wait, or divert to Brisbane or Melbourne. The pilot explained all of this so no one seemed particularly panicky about it. However after an hour he did attempt an approach, I looked out the window to see the lights to the left of the plane, ordinarily you dont expect to see them at all. The pilot was already well into executing a missed approach at this time so there was no real drama. He then explained this to the passengers who by now seemed to be worrying.
We circled for another hour and landed without incident, greeted by applause from the passengers.

The observant among you would notice this puts me too late to make my connection, theres 30 of us on this flight trying to make the same connection. As soon as we land we are informed they are holding the flight to Adelaide for us, dont collect your bags, run to the transfer bus, and your bags will be delivered to your home tomorrow.
I am a bit surprised at this, I just assumed I had missed the flight, so I follow jogging like a fool. Every step of the way we are assured the plane is waiting, no need to run etc.
So we arrive at the gate for the flight to Adelaide, to see it backing out. People go nuts, bang on the glass, screaming, swearing, it was awesome. Im trying hard not to laugh, and just observing the scene from afar. I really should have made a video. Within a couple of minutes a qantas lady comes over, and shes got her hands up as if to ask for calm, first thing she says is 'now I know you were told they were holding the plane for you'
First response I heard was, and I quote 'You fucking whore!'
She turned around on the spot, and people looked even angrier. A few minutes she comes back with some federal police officers (no doubt excited they actually have something to do).
We were escorted to the ticket desk and rebooked onto flights for the next morning, and put up in a good hotel in Sydney for the night, with dinner, breakfast, overnight bag things (as we couldnt be reunited with our own bags at this time).
So all this means, my trip is extended in to a bonus day, and what a day...read on!

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Day 19 - Wednesday, 23 September 2009

Bonus day

Its the end of the world.
I wake up at 6am, for my 7am flight, look out the window of the hi rise hotel, shut the curtains and sit down on the bed, then open them again for another look.
I wasnt quite sure what country I was in, so I turn on the tv. Yep, Sydney, worst dust storm in living memory.
It really was surreal.
I decide to go to the airport, but know full well that no plane will be operating.
Sat in the Qantas club all day, finally got a flight at 4pm once the dust had cleared, did a full days work in the Qantas club.

London - September 2009 - I should have taken more pictures of the dust storm. They made worldwide news so you can find them all over the internet My taxi driver was silent for

I should have taken more pictures of the dust storm. They made worldwide news so you can find them all over the internet
My taxi driver was silent for 20 minutes and then said, 'I think this is just what the world will be like from now on'.


The end

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David on 2018-02-25 said:

one of my great regrets is that I did not take more photos of the Sydney dust storm of 2009


Contents

Day 1 - Saturday, 5 September 2009
  Adelaide to London
Day 2 - Sunday, 6 September 2009
  Arriving in London
  Online
  Public transport
Day 3 - Monday, 7 September 2009
  Went to Brentwood for Work
  Pizza at Harrods
Day 4 - Tuesday, 8 September 2009
  Went to Kings Cross for Work
Day 5 - Wednesday, 9 September 2009
  Went to Kings Cross for Work again
Day 6 - Thursday, 10 September 2009
  Kings Cross, big meeting day
Day 7 - Friday, 11 September 2009
  St Albans
Day 8 - Saturday, 12 September 2009
  The studio visit
Day 9 - Sunday, 13 September 2009
  Harrods
  Thames festival
Day 10 - Monday, 14 September 2009
  Greenwich
Day 11 - Tuesday, 15 September 2009
  Museums and rain
Day 12 - Wednesday, 16 September 2009
  Oxford
Day 13 - Thursday, 17 September 2009
  The science museum
Day 14 - Friday, 18 September 2009
  Shopping, walking
Day 15 - Saturday, 19 September 2009
  Sick, Markets, Relaxing
Day 16 - Sunday, 20 September 2009
  Last full day in London
Day 17 - Monday, 21 September 2009
  Heathrow
Day 18 - Tuesday, 22 September 2009
  Singapore
Day 19 - Wednesday, 23 September 2009
  Bonus day
  The end