First Weekend in London

Yo,

On Saturday I woke up a couple of hours after my alarm went off. Didn't feel too guilty, however, since I'm still getting over the jet lag, and hadn't slept much on the plane the day (night?) earlier. Grabbed a quick bite and then set off for another part of the town called Camden Town. I'd heard that Camden is the more "alternative" district, so I thought it'd be a nice change from Canary Wharf.

Whoever told me that was not joking. Liked the area a lot - reminded me of South Street, Philly at night time. There were loads of random clothing shops and several (at least four) open-air markets where people sold a strange variety of stuff that can best be described as the offspring of chinatown (nyc), gothic garb and dime-a-dozen touristy treasures. The typical shop included a barrage of printed tees with witty/smarty remarks (the same tees you'd find four shops to the right and left), cheap sunglasses and watches (i.e. chinatown), neon bongs and shishas and tobacco, and punk/goth accessories. There was this one store, however, that was quite possibly the most well-branded apparel store I have ever stepped foot into. It's called Cyberdog. I don't want to try to describe it, cuz it'll take too long, but here's a link: http://www.cyberdog.net. Dang it, there aren't any pics of the store there. Here's one of the entrance: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3640/3294345244_e9bd81f9ba.jpg. Okay, here's a verbal shot. Take those statues times 10^4, stir in some cyborg (think seven of nine from Star Trek), add glowsticks and rave attire, top it off with a a healthy dose of LCD and lava lamp, and bake it all under black lights. That's Cyberdog.

It started raining after a few hours, but not before I had managed to complete the secret mission part of my trip to Camden Town: buying American peanut butter. They don't carry the stuff in most grocery stores in England! And even this place didn't have big or even medium-sized jars of Jiffy, only these baby-sized little buggers! So I bought four jars this time. They should last a couple of weeks. If you are out there and thinking of a holiday present to send my way, a giant bar of American peanut butter would be as good a gift as any.

Hung out in a Capoeira circle for about 45 mins; real cool. The dancers weren't great at it tho, haha, resulting in some great foot-to-the-stomach moves much to everyone's amusement. Music was solid, tho. The rain kicked us out, however, so that was that.

Checked out several phone carriers here, too. Vodaphone, O2 and Orange seem to be the weapons of choice, but this other carrier called '3' gives free Skype phone calls. Since this will come in SUPER handy for talkin to peeps from 'MERIKA, I think I'll be going with them.

It's late, gonna rush through the rest.

Roomie was hangin with his mum Saturday night, so I had a chill evenin sitting on my balcony (great view! pics to come soon) listening to Joanna Newsom and practicing blowing better O's. Mark Lester knocked on my door about 1am, surprise! He's on his way back from Israel.

Hung with Lester and Annabel today. Checked out Annabel's church, called ChristChurch London. Liked it, but gonna check out other ones next week. She said there's a church plant in Camden Town, and her friend told me about a smaller church that she goes to. Got a bunch of phone numbers and email addresses, and hopefully a bunch of mates with whom I can play futbol! Stoked about that :)

Okay, bedtime. Shalom,

- Josh