UK Nov' 11

The hotel Darren had booked for us, The Burlington, was really close to the train station, which was something I was deeply grateful for. Of course, my main reason for making this trip home was to attend Kate's wedding but I was most excited about seeing Darren. I walked into the hotel room and straight into his arms, it doesn't get much better than that, I was so happy to see him, he is awesome. We relaxed a little bit before heading into town and doing a bit of shopping, Darren was looking for my Christmas present and I wasn't complaining. I was hoping to find a present for him but I wasn't holding my breath, he is really difficult to buy for. Nine times out of ten if there is something he wants, he'll buy it for himself. We also stopped by the Apple store, which I love as I can check my email, Darren's thinking of buying a Mac. Birmingham was colder than it had been a couple of days previously, I really felt it when we went to the restaurant for dinner. At my request we went to an Italian restaurant, the food was good and so was the wine. I enjoy sharing a meal with him, sitting and chatting, he relaxes me. Although I came over all hot when we were there despite the cold outside, so I wanted to walk back to the hotel, it was a beautiful walk. The Christmas lights have been put up in the city and everything looked magical. Darren has a new camera and played photographer to my model, he took some good photos of me and the city. I went to sleep easily enough but woke in the middle of the night, as did Darren. While I stayed in bed, Darren went out for a walk around the city. When I got up we went for breakfast, it was another cooked English breakfast. I was certainly eating really well on this trip. Afterwards we went for a walk, with me just in my T-shirt and pants with no jacket, Darren bought me my "Sunday Times" so I was very happy. We went back to the hotel, picked up our bags and went to the train station and caught our train to London. I was glad we were in first class, it was very empty and comfortable. The train journey took a couple of hours and then we caught the underground to the nearest station to the hotel. The walk to the hotel was a lot shorter than it had looked on the map, fortunately. We checked in straight away and went up to the room, which was beautiful, if oddly shaped. It was also behind the lifts so every now and again we would hear a whirring sound, I hoped it wouldn't disturb me during the night. One thing I was excited about was the huge bath, I definitely saw a bath in my immediate future. We got our things together and went out for lunch, Darren took me to an izakaya, a Japanese restaurant. We both had a beer and some good yakitori, it was a great start to the London leg of my trip. We headed to Oxford St and some shopping. Darren suggested that he buy me some jewellery for my present but we didn't see anything we both liked. We went into Selfridge's to buy some coffee for Darren, but it wasn't available until the next day so we couldn't do that. On the way out we looked through the jewellery dept. and found this concession that specialised in diamonds. Darren bought me a beautiful necklace and some earrings. I am a very lucky girl. We went back to the hotel, had a bath and a nap, if there is a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon, I haven't found it. It was a struggle to motivate myself to leave the room for dinner, but we did it as we had a good incentive. We walked to Bodean's, a Texas BBQ restaurant, which could almost have been opened with Darren in mind. Darren is a meatysaurus, he loves meat and hates vegetables.He doesn't eat vegetables, ever and this restaurant is not a place for vegetarians. The restaurant was busy and we had to leave our names and we went for a drink in the nearest pub. I totally enjoyed sitting there with him having a drink. When I'm staying at his in Coventry we tend to be home bodies and don't go out very often, so this was a real treat.Dinner was great, I didn't really need to eat, but that's never stopped me before and it didn't stop me now. I totally enjoyed dinner and am so glad we went. We walked back to the hotel, slightly the wrong way as my sense of direction let me down. It wasn't a late night and we went straight to bed and to sleep. It had been a perfect weekend, I couldn't have planned it better. Darren had to get up early the next morning, I got to stay in bed a bit longer before I headed out to go and buy his coffee. Around 8am is definitely a good time to wander around Oxford St., far fewer people than in the evening. I'm not very good with crowds and hate having to dodge people. Although I don't really mind it when I'm cycling in traffic. I guess I just don't walk that often any more, it's pretty much always a bike ride now. I picked up my bag from the hotel and walked towards the City, where Darren works. My walk took me past St. Paul's Cathedral, there is an "Occupy" camp there at the moment. It seems fairly well organised and calm. However some businesses and buildings had closed some of their entrances to keep the protesters from spreading. Initially I know the cathedral had been closed as they had been worried about access and stuff, I don't know if it's reopened now. And I don't know what the protesters want, I don't think their goals have been articulated very well. If the London protester's goals are the same as the goals of the "Occupy Wall St." then no one has the faintest of what they want. Also I don't know if there is a designated leader for either group. If the goals aren't clear and there isn't one person as a point of contact to negotiate with, how is this ever be resolved? From that point of view the protest seems pointless and if people say that they just want to demonstrate, then that's selfish. I guess I'm not an activist in that case. I met Darren for lunch. He looked so professional, and totally fits in with the rest of the "City" crowd. I am a little in awe of him, he has a real job and is an adult with a mortgage and everything. I sometimes feel as if I am playing at life, that I don't have the relationships or things I should have for someone of my age. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending how you look at it, I don't want many of those things. I rarely think about it but I'm .... Not sure how to express how I feel about taking a different path through life to that that most of my contemporaries have taken. I sometimes spend time with my friends, see what they have and think "maybe, I want that.", but I don't, not really. I'm fully aware of how society expects me to live, hell, it's exactly how I expected to live. I think the word I'm looking for is lonely, I feel lonely sometimes. Don't get me wrong. I am not sorry for myself, just aware that how I live is not the only way to live and that in taking this path I am forgoing some other experiences that could have potentially brought me joy. Plus of course, there is the fact that a lot of my life is solitary and I miss an awful lot of my friends' lives. Which is why it was totally the right thing to do to come home and attend Kate's wedding. There was nowhere else I should have been then. It's so rare for me to be able to say that I was in exactly the right place at the right time, but I was. Awesome. Lunch with Darren was good and he walked me back to the Underground station and we said goodbye. It is always a struggle to leave him When I have him before me, I can only think of reasons to stay with him. I forget all the reasons why I left England in the first place and all the other reasons why I continue to live overseas, none of which have anything to do with Darren. Although he should come and visit me now that I finally live in a hot country.The trip to Heathrow was uneventful and smooth, check in was no problem and then I was through security, which took a little time. I always seem to end up behind the person who acts as if they have never gone through security before and they are always super surprised that they need their boarding ticket and/or have to take off their belt and empty their pockets. What a nightmare. Since I hadn't bought anything I had wanted to before I got to the airport I was looking forward to some shopping. The airport shops were out of stock and I didn't get anything that I'd wanted to, except my newspaper. This always happens to me, for some unknown reason I delay buying something and then I can't buy it when I finally do decide to buy it. Will I ever learn? I suspect not. The flight to Istanbul was quick, my transfer even quicker, I barely had time to walk between the two gates and then it was straight on to my flight to Saigon. I was one of the first off the plane in Saigon, I bypassed the queue at the visa window and went straight to the front. Queues can be optional in Vietnam, even at immigration. It didn't take very long to get my new visa, and then I was through immigration and out of the airport. I have to say, I love travelling with just hand luggage, Darren was so right to question me when I said I was going to bring a suitcase. He was right, I didn't need it and it made my trip so much easier. I got a cab to the bus station and despite rush hour traffic made it on to the 6pm bus back to Phan Thiet. During the bus ride I got talking to this guy, Doan, he lives in Saigon but was going somewhere for business, I gave him my business card. I got in to PT around 10pm and got a cab home. It felt so surreal to be going home less than a week after leaving. Very bizarre. I was glad to be home and so happy that everything had gone as planned, in fact, better than planned. Luckily the next international wedding I have to attend is not until September 2012 so I have some down time.