It's an Exciting World

Steph and I stayed in for Christmas, making sure she recovered in time to do some caving.

We headed out for the weekend and stopped by Birdland Park and Gardens, which had lots of amazing birds. They had a large overlap with the Honolulu Zoo, but there were also a number of unique birds, like several Emu and some British owls.

We then made our way to Gloucester Cathedral, which was impressive. They had a cloister that was gorgeous, and had been used a lot in film and TV. We also got to walk around the middle balconies, and the church itself was old and gorgeous. We had hoped to go to the waterways museum, but it was closed for the winter.

We then stayed at the Moonraker Hotel near Longleat. It was a cute hotel, and the restaurant was surprisingly good.

The next day we stopped by Old Sarum, an ancient hillfort that was William the Conquerer had all the English Lords swear to him. They focussed on the period 1100 to 1300, but the hillfort goes back 5000 years. Then we went to Salisbury Cathedral and saw the oldest mechanical clock, the Magna Carta, and gorgeous stained glass.

We then left for Longleat, a stately house that also has a safari park. This was the first manor to be opened to the public in England, and it has had the safari park for almost 60 years. They had all manor of creatures. Steph especially liked the ostrich that came up to our car and tried to eat the side mirror. Then the monkeys were interesting, climbing all over the car. The lions and tigers were neat to see as well.

After the safari park we went straight to the lights walk. It was a different style of lights walk than others we had done, as in this one they had fabric creations lit from within as the consistent style of the entire exhibit. They had all sorts of historical figures and buildings from all over the world. Some of them were anachronistic, but it was all well done.

The next day we went caving from the Wessex hut. We went to GB cave and I got to hang the ladder from the bottom. It was an interesting experience as I would clip the ladder up, climb it, then clip the other end of the ladder higher and climb that end. We went through some tight wet spots and got back to an area called bat passage with some really great formations. There was also a lot of bouldering style climbing involved with this trip, which I really enjoyed.

We drove straight back after cleaning our gear and had a quiet evening.

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Steph was sick most of this week, so we didn’t really do much. I went to work most days, and did my workouts, but otherwise we were home bodies.

I was feeling good on Saturday so I went to a string quartet performance of Christmas songs, which I really enjoyed. String quartet covers is one of my favorite musical styles. This was also in the Artists Church in Covent Garden, with fake candles spread all around.

She felt better over the weekend a bit, so on Sunday we went to a show from the creators of SIX called Why am I so Single? It was really good and the production was much bigger than SIX with lots of scene changes, backup dancers coming on and off stage, costume changes. I think I liked SIX more, but I liked this one as well.

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We got back from Egypt to some kitties that were hiding. Archer was under the blanket on the couch for quite a while after we got back. Once he got over it, he came out and I got a good nuzzle session. Lana also joined us in bed the first night and took her spot between us on the bed and asked for belly rubs.

Monday we had Paul and Yutong coming in from Egypt the day after us. They had an overnight layover in Heathrow, so we took them to the Kew Gardens Christmas lights walk. It was the best light walk we’ve done. There were exhibits that we liked more from some other light walks, but this one had multiple displays that were larger and more impressive than any of the other light walks. It also had some small and simple ones that were meticulously done. I was also amused by a few displays that really seemed phoned in, as they were just a lot of blinking lights, or the kind of wire shapes that you could get from Costco. The first we came across was one of those, and Yutong seemed so disappointed when she saw it, but once we could see the next few it was clear that they got a lot bigger and more impressive. I especially liked it when they synchronized to the music well.

For the walk we got some potent potables, and then started walking. The others got refreshes, and I grabbed some dinner. Yutong and Steph also grabbed some roasted marshmallows over some coals. It was a great time, and because it was so chill, we got to talk a lot while walking. We said our goodbyes and headed back to King’s Cross.

Kew Gardens Christmas Lights Song

The rest of the week was a lot of chores and catching up on work and personal things. I had a lot of calls to family, since I couldn’t really do that from Egypt. I also have really started ramping up my professional networking. I’m having calls with other London based AI company founders, as well as other AI StartX founders.

Steph got pretty sick this week, so I did leave work early a little to take care of her. Mainly buying food and drugs, but also boiling water to add to her baths to keep them nice and hot.

For the weekend we went to southwest England. We went with some of the CDG group to do some SRT caving. I wasn’t doing it well, and tired myself out pretty badly. The hike to the cave was gorgeous, with stone walls that you couldn’t see through the moss covering them. I love the mossy covered stones. The cave also had a few bats hibernating in it, which we had to avoid. It is amazing how close you can get to them and they just ignore you.

After caving we headed to Thornbury Castle for a Tudor Feast. It wasn’t nearly as Tudor as we were hoping. We’d watched some of the period based cooking shows to prepare, and nothing like those dishes were served. It was a feast for sure, and there were to large company groups with us there. One group showed up in Tudor styled costumes, which was great. They also got pretty drunk and both groups were social with us. I was put in a corner of the table with nobody across from me near the speakers, so I didn’t have a change to really talk to anyone past Steph. I still had a great time, especially when we all sang Christmas songs together, and got up and danced.

A storm came through with strong winds that cancelled the caving plans Steph had for the next day. We then got another night at Thornbury, and had a nice day at the castle. It is a magical place. We were in the Mary Queen of Scotts suite, which is a huge room that you climb a tower to get to.

We had a lovely afternoon tea the next day and explored the grounds a little.

I hung out at Thornbury as Steph went to the caving club meeting, and we headed home the next day.

Thornbury Castle Tudor Feast Song

This is the tail end of week 100 and week 101 in London.

We got back from the US trip, and the flight back was rough. We were both having pretty terrible jet lag for a whole week. I managed to still get everything done at work, which was a really long list.

On the day we got back I went to choir to make sure I didn’t miss another week. I was a little out of it, but still was able to sing most everything off book. The Christmas songs are a ton of fun.

Thursday morning was the follow up vet visit for Archer and Lana to get their second round vaccine. I carried Lana on my head again, and she got the royal palanquin treatment. She was still very unhappy the whole time. She didn’t seem to hold a grudge this time, however.

Thursday and Friday were pretty much days of going to work, doing chores, and sleeping. I did play some video games once I finished all the chores. I got back into Hades, and played through it a few more times.

Saturday evening we went to Radha’s birthday party at a pub near her. She hasn’t gone to pubs so she was asking a lot of questions of Mike, the Englishman who came. We also saw Alex and Rachel again, which was nice. Radha showed us around her place, which has an amazing view. The pool was small, but she also has a hot tub and sauna which looked nice, if broken.

Sunday we didn’t do much. We made it to the gym, but that was pretty much it besides chores at home. Monday was a long day at work preparing for a UXR study.

Tuesday was the highlight of the week, where I took off work early to go to Big Ben. We had made reservations months ago to go up into Big Ben. The tour was about two hours long, and we climbed up the small stair to get to the top. It was cold and windy, but we got to see the mechanism run the quarter bells, and then at the top we saw the bells strike 4pm. We then went into the clock faces, and got treated to the lights turning on as we were inside the clock face. It was somewhat magical to be inside the clock face, and I wonder if someone saw my shadow walking in front of the lights on the clock face. Before and after the tour we were in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of Westminster. It was constructed in the 1300’s and still has the original timber roof. It is a massive open hall, and I loved seeing it for the history.

Tuesday evening we went to Little Georgia, an amazing Georgian restaurant near our house. We got two of the big cheesy breads and shared a bottle of wine. It was a lovely romantic dinner, and something we should do more often.

Wednesday was Choir again, but I made it to dive club. Steph wasn’t at dive club as she was meeting with her company’s CEO who was in town from Zurich. I told them about our freediving in Hawaii.

Thursday and Friday were focussed on work, making sure everything will run smoothly while I’m out.

Steph was also gone for those days, so I did a lot of AI fun work.

Over the weekend I caught up on paperwork, as well as more AI fun times, packing, and chores.

Steph got back late on Sunday and we watched Bake Off and Lower Decks.

I went to Pittsburgh for a week to meet with people from the new team. This would be London week 96.

I had a long layover in Boston on the way there, and a short one on the way back.

Pittsburgh was a nicer city than I was expecting, with the wooded hills and rivers it was picturesque with a decent downtown area. The conference center was nice and I got to listen to a number of good talks on the new team. There was a bird stuck in the conference center, but we were able to let it out which really made my day. I got to talk to so many great people and see so much cool tech on the trip. I also really appreciated seeing the people I had known from before and I hope to be able to work with them. I went to a really neat building called the Cathedral of Learning. It was in the style of medieval cathedral, but most of the classrooms on the first three floors were given really elaborate themes around different cultures from all around the world. It was very well done and amazing to see.

Saturday morning I got back and it was a long and rough flight. I got home at 8am and spent the day relaxing.

Sunday we met up with Radha and went to a Spanish Galleon that was on show near the tower of London. It was impressive as it is still a working ship that is sailed from place to place. We then had a great discussion over drinks and hopefully we can work out a project together.

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This week my parents were in town. They got in early on Tuesday and we had them come to our place. I showed them around the Kings Cross area. It just happened that the British Library was closed that day. But they were able to see it on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday I took them to breakfast at work.

Thursday we had a nice afternoon tea at the Lanesborough, where my parents Irish friends joined us. The tea was really well done, and they had a cute cat named Lilibet that just relaxed around the hotel.

Saturday We walked by the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, then we took the ferry to the Cutty Sark.

Sunday I walked my parents over to the British Museum, and we met up afterwards for dinner.

I had breakfast with them Monday before they headed to the airport.

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Yutong visited us this week, but that is later in the week.

Tuesday we had a last lunch with Irene and were joined by Nancy and Punit on their first outing in a while without Atlas. They wanted a sit down meal, and it was pretty good. The issue was that Irene only had one thing on the menu that she could eat.

Wednesday I joined coworkers at The Constitution, a bar along the canal, for Bijoy’s going away drinks.

Friday Yutong was in town and up for hanging out. We met up with her for dinner. We went to Gunpowder Indian. Then we went to see Slave Play, an interesting take on interracial relationships. It was a very strange play. It had Kit Harrington, and we waited after the play so Steph and Yutong could get pictures with Kit.

Saturday we had breakfast with Yutong at Half Cup, then headed to The Tower and did the Gunpowder Plot experience. It was unique and interesting, but had a lot of things that detracted from the experience. I had a good time analyzing their use of VR.

After lunch at the St. Katherine Docks, we met up with Yutong at the Sherlock Holmes museum. It was interesting as they semi presented it as actually having the items from Sherlock Holmes, but they did have a lot of interesting editions of the books and period antiques. Then we walked through Reagents Park, down the canal, and had dinner in Camden Market. We then walked the rest of the way down the canal to King’s cross and had Yutong over for a bit. She was clearly tired, as she broke 30K steps on Saturday.

We met her for lunch on Sunday near Russel Square, then we walked around the National Gallery for a few hours before it was time for her to pack and head to Zurich.

That evening Steph and Radha did some knife training. Then we went to dinner at Bao, a restaurant that has been on our list for a while. It was good, but not amazing for the price.

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Wednesday I went to SIX with Grace, Carla, Radha, Jessica, and a coworker. Grace, Carla, Jessica and I went to Seven Dials before the show. I had a great time, and was glad I was able to fill the seats that people backed out of at the last minute.

Wednesday I met up with a person who makes terrariums in London. They posted their terrariums on Instagram and they are gorgeous. I got one that is more of a wall, and another that is a semi-aquatic one that has duckweed. They are so nice.

Thursday I went to meet a cat in Highgate that I’ll be catsitting named Henry. He was a cute long hair that was really friendly and enjoyed head scratches, but didn’t want any pets along his back.

Saturday was pretty chill, as I didn’t do much at all. Sunday however was a full day. I met Irene and Radha at the sound studio. It was an amusing setup, where they had a sound booth studio on a busy street, and the underground went below it as well. Every five minutes I could feel and hear the deep rumble from the passing trains. It was not the right place for a sound bath studio. There was also very little in the way of guided meditation and the sounding bells were played pretty softly. I was relaxed, but it wasn’t the full sensory experience I was hoping for. Then we went to dinner in Shoreditch.

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Monday we took the train back from Edinburgh. It was a nice train ride and I stopped by the office afterwards. Irene was in town and she organized a dinner at Coal Office which was amazing. We finally met Radha, as well as Cyn, one of Radha’s other friends. The dinner was lovely and the conversation was lively.

Tuesday after work Irene, Steph, and I had dinner at Hoppers, which was amazing. Then Irene and I headed to Wicked and met Andrew at the theater. I really enjoyed it and there was a lot that I’d forgotten since I’d seen it over a decade ago.

Wednesday was the start of the XR Hack hosted at PwC in London’s Embankment station. I had a great time, but over the three days of the hack I was mainly dealing with all the hardest problems from each team, which made it an intense three days. I was impressed with the teams I was helping and the person I was most impressed with won best hacker, so that was great to see.

Wednesday evening Nancy and Punit were hosting a dinner and I joined them, Irene, and Andrew. The food was amazing, as usual with their cooking. We played around with some of the AI tools, then played a round of a party game. Atlas woke up, and it was already pretty late, so I headed out.

Friday was also the book launch party for Radha, who uses the nom de plume of Anat Deracine. The party was amazing, with book signing, readings by the author, and great people to talk to. I really enjoyed the conversations and hope that the people there will become friends. I did drink to much…

Saturday was a lot of hangover recovery. I listened to books and slept in. Then I cleaned the apartment top to bottom. Steph got back that evening and we spent time together, watched some Alone, and relaxed.

Sunday was more relaxing. I went to afternoon tea at Cake and Bubbles with Steph for our anniversary. Then we walked around Covent Garden for a bit and got some food to go. I decided to take a hike around Hampstead Heath to pick some blackberries, and it was FULL of blackberries. I ate my fill and then some. Book club was nice, and we had a great discussion on the book. It went in some unexpected directions, which I enjoyed. I tried to watch Moulin Rouge at the King’s Cross canal screen, but it was packed, so I watched the first bit over some shoulders, then headed back to cuddle with Archer.