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I spent last week in London, living somewhat beyond my means. The dollar is rather pathetic against the pound, so every price here is doubled to get the price in American cash monies. For example, I had lunch at Vingt-Quatre, the only 24-hour diner, to my knowledge, in the city. I had a tasty club sandwich for £7.95. If you’re keeping score, that was a $16 club sandwich. Two nights ago I spent more than £100 on dinner and drinks.

Sisi was kind enough to house me for the week, which at least meant my primary expense was food. Her friend Anthony was also crashing in her spacious two-bedroom corporate housing apartment, and so the three of us spent many evenings exploring the neighborhood and sharing bottles of wine.

Jason Hung was also in town on business. We caught a bus to Oxford for lunch with Yong-Hwa. [An amusing and colorful anecdote has been removed at her request.]

She hosted Jason and I for lunch, which turned into afternoon drinks, which turned into high tea (a term that apparently refers to the elevation of the scones and cakes). It was lovely.

In larger news, on July 1st, the UK went smoke-free in all enclosed public places, including bars and restaurants. The change was dramatic and welcome. I missed the iPhone release, though it seems to have been a success despite my absence. I spent the 4th of July here in London, where I decided to wear a shirt my dad bought for me, which reads “i > u“. Sisi, Anthony, several of their friends, and I wound up at a bar that evening, where I pretended that everything happening around me was in celebration of throwing off Britain’s tyrannous reign. In retrospect, that may not have been the case.

After spending an afternoon at the Tate Modern, wondering how I could become famous by signing a fake name on a urinal, I went to Shakespeare’s Globe theater to see the Merchant of Venice. A few meters from the door, a gust of wind caught my umbrella, inverted it, and then ripped it off the handle completely. I was left with a curved piece of wood in one hand, a bemused smirk on my face, and rain pouring down on my bare head. I have since purchased a new umbrella, that I am assured will remain whole, even in the face of weather.

Now I’m in DC, and just gave a talk at a PI Meeting. It went well, even though I made the slides on the plane.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 10th, 2007 at 2:27 pm and is filed under Friends/Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.