Falling Behind Again! A Full Update Of The Week Post-Dublin (Days 36 - 40)

A couple exams and a pretty typical week punctuated by seeing Wicked!

(Being the brief summary of:)
FEBRUARY 7 - 11, 2011

After the awesomeness that was Dublin, the next week just kind of passed in a blur. Actually, it went by so fast that I didn't even have time to update the blog. So this is going to be a quick update/summary of the past week up to Friday the 11th.

Monday, February 7
A boring 9am lecture is not the way to start off a week after an excellent time in Dublin. Especially after also staying up to study/watch the Steelers lose the Superbowl. After lectures, I went and grabbed a burger at McDonalds since it was quick and cheap, then came back to go over my notes one last time before my first Abstract Algebra quiz. It wasn't bad at all - pretty simple yes/no questions in response to some logic, linear equations, and prime number problems. Hung around back at the apartment for a while and just relaxed. Eventually met up with some people to find dinner. The first place we tried closed their kitchen at 7:30pm, which was ridiculous, but we ended up getting some good kebabs from a local place around the corner. Afterwards, some pre-gaming and Moony's for our regular Monday night out! Hit the pillow around 3am. Good night!

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Tuesday, February 8
Slept in until around 12:30pm, went out and bought some groceries for the week. You gotta love Iceland. Staying under budget and still eating for a week = Awesome. Did some work and organization, nothing too crazy. Eventually had to head to my only class of the day: Thermo lecture at 5pm. Some pics of the beautiful London sunset on the way:

Nice.

Gotta love it when the sun starts going down at 4:30pm

After lecture, grabbed a quick dinner before making my way to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to see Wicked! It's a nice 30-minute stroll down the Strand towards and past Buckingham Palace so I took some pictures along the way:

Admiralty Arch near Trafalgar Square

Buckingham Palaec

The Mall, the stretch of road that passes through St. James Park toards Buckingham Palace

Some crazy neat building. No idea what it is.

The Victoria Palace Theatre playing Billy Elliot. Sorry about the blurriness..

Victoria Station

One side of the Apollo Victoria Theatra

The other side of the Apollo Victoria

Inside. All greened-out for Wicked!

The stage

The set

Neat theatre

A closer look at the show's map

Shhh a secret, illegal shot of the show!

The show itself was very good! The lead two women had amazing voices that really stole the show. Everyone else was subpar, but played their parts well. Having never seen the show or listened to the music, I went in with an open mind, but I liked it a lot! Very good music - I'd love to see other shows while I'm here in London as well.

Then the walk home, a different route to see the sites:

A closer look of Big Ben at night!

The opposite view of the London Eye from the Westminster Bridge instead of the Waterloo! That's the London County Hall on the right, really pretty with the lights on the water.

Parliament from the bridge

Just hung around that night to save money. Did a bit of studying and got some sleep. Goodnight!

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Wednesday, February 9


10am lecture and a quick lunch before hopping the train to another football match with the KCL 4s lads! We played a home game ('home' is still a 15-minute train away to Berrylands) versus Royal Holloway - the same team we lost 1-0 in my first match. This game we didn't fare so well, although we did go up first about 15-minutes in. After having a goal called back due to a suspiciously close offsides, we came back a couple minutes later and out one in off a cross that made it through the 6 to the back post. 1-0. It was pretty back-and-forth after that, until there was some drama between our second striker (I was the other) and one of their defenders in the form of a lot of pushing and shoving. In the aftermath, our offense was limited, and they were able to beat our defense a couple times with a streak down the left, and a little later, a volley past our keeper on a hail-mary pass. 1-2. I had a couple good looks at the net and set up some nice opportunities in front, but we just couldn't put anything in. Eventually they put a third goal in, although it was another suspiciously offsides call that went in their favor this time. 1-3. The last 10 minutes or so of the game, we dominated, but just couldn't find the net. Game.

After getting home and showering, I studied for a bit before meeting up with some people for pizza and a movie - two of my friends had a 2-for-1 pizza deal for Pizza Express so we got 4 pizzas and went to their place to watch Despicable Me. I only got to watch a bit of it before I had to head home for a couple Skype dates, but I thought it was funny and I'd love to see the rest of it!

Skyped with the parents, and Brittney for a bit, then called it a night. Cheers!

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Thursday, February 10


Lectures 10am-1pm started the day off. Afterwards, came back, ate lunch, and got to studying for the Thermo exam coming up on Friday. That's pretty much all I did. Watched a little of the Pens game that night - a surprising and gritty win over LA in the midst of our current injury troubles. Jesus.
Lights out!

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Friday, February 11


Busy day: Lectures 9am-12pm, studied for a bit, exam at 4pm, followed by a lecture until 6pm. The exam went pretty well - 12 problems: 8 multiple choice (some definition-based, some requiring calculations), 4 free answer. Wasn't too bad at all! Came back, ate dinner and relaxed. That night, went and grabbed some beers and the local CostCutters, then just hung around one of our flats for the evening. A good, relaxing night!

However, while catching the Pens game is usually a good thing, the Pens game tonight pretty much ended the day on a terrible note. A 9-3 loss to the Islanders in what I can't even call a 'game', but more of a grudge match. Disgusting. Islanders showing their true colors in getting 'revenge' against Talbot and Johnson for cleanly kicking the crap out of them in the last game. Cheap shots, brawls, fights, injuries, over 100 penalty minutes. Oh man, just absolutely horrid play from the Islanders. The Pens still struggling through injuries as it is. Did I even mention Malkin's out for the season requiring surgery on his knee? Things are looking dim. Hopefully everybody, including Crosby, can come back soon.

With a day trip to Hampton Court Palace and Windsor Castle in the morning, I headed to bed. Goodnight!

Good music of the moment:
Bright Eyes - "Four Winds", off their fantastic album "Cassadaga"
Another gem from one of my favorite writers of all time, Conor Oberst. One of several great albums, this one with a beautiful folk feel.

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Almost there with the update! I figured I'd stop before the Saturday day trip as there's a bunch of pictures from that to go up. Pretty good weekend though, so keep posted for the update!
Cheers!