WSC trip

Now that I am back. Quick report on my WSC trip before I reformat my memory for word study.

November 10: Checked in early on my flight, noticed that Ganesh missed me in the airport lounge while boarding the flight. Arrived in Heathrow 3 and hope on the tube into town and our hostel.

November 11: Ganesh and I finished settling our trip out of London for the next few days before rushing off to Buckingham Palace to catch the changing of the guards at 10.30am. Ceremony lasted for an hour and we set off through St. James Park towards Westminter Abbey (We saw just about everyone, including Oliver Cromwell, Elizabeth I, Mary I, Sir Issac Newton, Charles Darwin, Walt Whitman, etc) and Westminter Hall next to the British House of Parliament. Head towards Trafalgar Square before getting lost in the National Gallery and heading back to the hostel.

Novermber 12: Ganesh heads off to Manchester while I spend the day with Cheah Siu Hean at Forbidden Planet (Neil Gaiman was autographing copies of Anassi Boys but the queue was long so I passed up the opportunity to get Ricky a christmas gift, turns out that Terry Pratchet was also there on November 26th to autogrpah THUD! while I was away at Milton Keynes for the Winter Matchplay) before taking a jaunt with Cheah down his favourite stretch of road, Oxford St, Regent St with a few detours here and there.

November 13: Met up with Cheah and his sister at the British Museum, checked out the Reading Room and the Persian exhibition (for free since his sister is a member of the museum). Cheah's plan to have lunch at the Criterion in Leicester Square got scuppered when we found it closed so we hurried off to Wong Kei for his free treat (I owed him one from the Malaysian Nationals). At least I can brag that my Beef Brisket Hor Fun was bigger than his Beef Brisket Noodles. Spend the afternoon at Marble Arch, Edgeware Road before returning to the National Gallery.

November 14: Set off for Berwick-Upon-Tweed to spend 3 days in the company of Helen and Paul Gipson. Rendezvous with them at the train station and we drove straight into Scotland across the border. Her country house is absolutely fantastic and we spend the evening planning our day trip to Edinburgh.

November 15: Set off to Edinburgh. The castle was fantastic and house plenty of exhibits and I tried to lift one of Mon Meg Cannonball (almost becoming a casualty before the WSC even started) and saw the 1 o'clock gun firing ceremony. We hunted for the Witchery (which Cheah Siu Hean recommended. Much to my dismay, no Haggis) So we end up in some pub lunching on Haggis before strolling through Edinburgh new town and the shopping district before heading back.

November 16: Journeyed back into London and we caugh Paul Allan on the train. Settled some accommodation problem with Andy Kurnia (I missed most of the reception) and prepared for the WSC.

Will cover the WSC in the next post.