After a short but fairly impressive drive (we were going straight into the wall of oncoming fog) we have arrived at the Half Moon Bay hotel. It's called The Beach House - http://www.beach-house.com/half-moon-bay-hotels.html - and it is very nice. We have a balcony looking out over the harbour, and we managed to spot a few dolphins this evening.
I've just got back from a meal at the Half Moon Bay Brewery - it's a restaurant too, apparently. Half of dad's work colleagues were there as well, somewhat amusingly. I have probably now consumed far too much pork (ribs, to be precise) than is healthy and I have hiccoughs, so I'm going to sleep.
Pictures will follow in the morning, as it was first too foggy and then too dark to take them today.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Big Ser
We went up to Big Ser yesterday. It's about 3 hours drive downwards along the coast - very scenic. Lots of mountains, cliffs, beaches ect.
So, pictures:
These two are the main "beach" bit - very pretty. Blue sea, white sand, ect. Lots of rocks around, too - mostly sedimentary, and so worn into interesting shapes.
There was another cove/beach, but the wind was coming off the sea so strongly that the flying sand made it difficult to walk around here for more than a few minutes without getting blinded.
This was part of the rock between the two coves, and the narrow opening was the only way the sea could get through, so the water levels in this bit fluctuated quite a bit.
I just liked this view because of the waves, though my camera isn't good enough to catch them when they're very high. You can see the fog rolling in in the background - it arrived just after we left, so we were driving back along the cliffs in the mist. Kinda scary.
There seemed to be a large number of natural arches along the cliffs - these are just the ones from the beach that we visited, but there were loads of them on the drive up the coast. These are the best ones - they were quite hard to photograph because of the bright sun coming though vs (relatively) dark rockfaces, but these are the ones that came out the best:
The best bit was trying to actually get photo, as there were large numbers of highly stereotypical americans climbing all over it totally oblivious to the 3 or 4 people with cameras who were trying to get pictures. We had this problem a few times, mostly with people walking or sticking their arms into shots when were were trying to take family photos. Kinda makes me wish I'd brought a gun. Or at least a fly-swatter.
I have some more random ones from Chico and elsewhere, and some I took with Dad's new SLR at the BBQ, but I can't find them now.
So, pictures:
These two are the main "beach" bit - very pretty. Blue sea, white sand, ect. Lots of rocks around, too - mostly sedimentary, and so worn into interesting shapes.
There was another cove/beach, but the wind was coming off the sea so strongly that the flying sand made it difficult to walk around here for more than a few minutes without getting blinded.
This was part of the rock between the two coves, and the narrow opening was the only way the sea could get through, so the water levels in this bit fluctuated quite a bit.
I just liked this view because of the waves, though my camera isn't good enough to catch them when they're very high. You can see the fog rolling in in the background - it arrived just after we left, so we were driving back along the cliffs in the mist. Kinda scary.There seemed to be a large number of natural arches along the cliffs - these are just the ones from the beach that we visited, but there were loads of them on the drive up the coast. These are the best ones - they were quite hard to photograph because of the bright sun coming though vs (relatively) dark rockfaces, but these are the ones that came out the best:
The best bit was trying to actually get photo, as there were large numbers of highly stereotypical americans climbing all over it totally oblivious to the 3 or 4 people with cameras who were trying to get pictures. We had this problem a few times, mostly with people walking or sticking their arms into shots when were were trying to take family photos. Kinda makes me wish I'd brought a gun. Or at least a fly-swatter.
I have some more random ones from Chico and elsewhere, and some I took with Dad's new SLR at the BBQ, but I can't find them now.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Creepy
I'm getting slightly creeped out now. I keep passing random teachers in the corridor, who then turn to me and say well done for my Cambridge offer. Apparently, there's a list up (presumably in the staff room) saying who's got what in the way of Oxbridge offers, since both Mrs Reilly and Mr Bullen-Smith knew and neither of them teach me.
Weird.
In other school-related news, I have just recieved a nice ton of work - Physics 4000-word essay, Biology assessed practical and both a Chemistry and a Maths end-of-unit test have all been announced within two days. Help.
On the plus side, I should be going horseriding with school tomorrow!
Weird.
In other school-related news, I have just recieved a nice ton of work - Physics 4000-word essay, Biology assessed practical and both a Chemistry and a Maths end-of-unit test have all been announced within two days. Help.
On the plus side, I should be going horseriding with school tomorrow!
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Wow
This stupid internet connections is really annoying.
In the time that has passed since I last posted, I've had my Cambridge interview (It was fine, thanks for asking); had my Bristol interview (ditto); nearly been killed after I got a phonecall whilst in the car to say Bristol was going to make me an offer and told my mother, who was driving at the time and nearly swerved off the road; survived what must have been the coldest week of work exp ever (still interesting, though); managed to buy christmas presents for everyone before the day; had relatives (granmother and uncle) over; nearly died of shock after recieving an offer from Cambridge and finally dived back into schoolwork this week.
I really need to get this connection fixed. I also need to get a new phone, since my current one now doesn't tell me when someone rings me and displayed completly wrong amounts of battery.
Does nothing I have work properly?
In the time that has passed since I last posted, I've had my Cambridge interview (It was fine, thanks for asking); had my Bristol interview (ditto); nearly been killed after I got a phonecall whilst in the car to say Bristol was going to make me an offer and told my mother, who was driving at the time and nearly swerved off the road; survived what must have been the coldest week of work exp ever (still interesting, though); managed to buy christmas presents for everyone before the day; had relatives (granmother and uncle) over; nearly died of shock after recieving an offer from Cambridge and finally dived back into schoolwork this week.
I really need to get this connection fixed. I also need to get a new phone, since my current one now doesn't tell me when someone rings me and displayed completly wrong amounts of battery.
Does nothing I have work properly?
Monday, December 04, 2006
Worried
Only a few more days to go until my Cambridge Interview :-s
Starting to get just a little bit worried. Or a bit more worried, anyway. It somehow seems alarmingly closer than it did on Sunday. But I can't do extra work, because I have Physics Coursework (&*%!) to do. So I read New Scientist pile a bit at a time before bed, and browse the science news sites in my not-so-copious spare minutes.
But, other than that, life's not bad. Tiring, and I'm still ill, but I'm surviving. Famous last words, though. . . gimme a few days.
Starting to get just a little bit worried. Or a bit more worried, anyway. It somehow seems alarmingly closer than it did on Sunday. But I can't do extra work, because I have Physics Coursework (&*%!) to do. So I read New Scientist pile a bit at a time before bed, and browse the science news sites in my not-so-copious spare minutes.
But, other than that, life's not bad. Tiring, and I'm still ill, but I'm surviving. Famous last words, though. . . gimme a few days.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Eugh
I hate being ill. Especially if you can't take any time off school because you need a reference that doesn't say you "skive" regularly. Even though I am genuinely not well. Eugh.
Also, is there some unwritten law that states that every subject has to set an end-of-unit test in the same week? I have a Chemistry test on Friday, a Biology test on Monday and Physics test next friday!
Anyway, apart from the griping...
Actually, there's not much else.
Though I have got a Cambridge Interview :-) 8th December. One of my interviewers is an astrophysicist - not quite sure about that. Though she is the Vice-Mistress of the college as well. And one of my other interviewers (a Vet Bye-fellow) is french. So now I'm terrified she's going to talk to me in French :-S
Also, is there some unwritten law that states that every subject has to set an end-of-unit test in the same week? I have a Chemistry test on Friday, a Biology test on Monday and Physics test next friday!
Anyway, apart from the griping...
Actually, there's not much else.
Though I have got a Cambridge Interview :-) 8th December. One of my interviewers is an astrophysicist - not quite sure about that. Though she is the Vice-Mistress of the college as well. And one of my other interviewers (a Vet Bye-fellow) is french. So now I'm terrified she's going to talk to me in French :-S
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Whoof
It's been a long, long half term.
No wonder I've had no time to write on here - looking back, I've been bust virtually all the time. Getting in applications was fun, since I'm an early applicant, and that took me up til the end of september. After that, the teachers decided that we could start working "properly", so it's be extra homework and oxbridge classes in my free periods.
Still, there have been a few good things. firstly, TV always seems to improve when we go back to school, so at the moment I have Spooks (pretty good) on a monday, Extras, Mitchell and Webb and Mock The Week on thursday (Extras is still slightly naff, but Mtchell and Webb is brilliant, and Mock the Week only slightly less so), Have I Got News For You on fridays (superb as always), Robin Hood on Saturdays (Hilarious. Watch it just for the cheesyness factor) and, starting this Sunday, Torchwood (YAY!).
Wow. Because that list doesn't make me sound geeky at all.
Anyway, outside of that, I've brushed up on my HTML for Gothic Class ( website is at http://freewebs.com/gothicperse ) and am going to start learning Perl when my Dad gets back from Blakeney (he left with Mark this evening).
I'm also far too exicted about going to see Mitchell and Webb live with Tom in Coventry in November. Parents were a bit funny (they weren't terribly keen on me staying the night with Tom) but they've agreed. Nothing they can do, now, anyway - we booked tickets yesterday :-)
I'm off to babysit for the Chapmans in a bit, but before that...Chemistry revision. Joy.
No wonder I've had no time to write on here - looking back, I've been bust virtually all the time. Getting in applications was fun, since I'm an early applicant, and that took me up til the end of september. After that, the teachers decided that we could start working "properly", so it's be extra homework and oxbridge classes in my free periods.
Still, there have been a few good things. firstly, TV always seems to improve when we go back to school, so at the moment I have Spooks (pretty good) on a monday, Extras, Mitchell and Webb and Mock The Week on thursday (Extras is still slightly naff, but Mtchell and Webb is brilliant, and Mock the Week only slightly less so), Have I Got News For You on fridays (superb as always), Robin Hood on Saturdays (Hilarious. Watch it just for the cheesyness factor) and, starting this Sunday, Torchwood (YAY!).
Wow. Because that list doesn't make me sound geeky at all.
Anyway, outside of that, I've brushed up on my HTML for Gothic Class ( website is at http://freewebs.com/gothicperse ) and am going to start learning Perl when my Dad gets back from Blakeney (he left with Mark this evening).
I'm also far too exicted about going to see Mitchell and Webb live with Tom in Coventry in November. Parents were a bit funny (they weren't terribly keen on me staying the night with Tom) but they've agreed. Nothing they can do, now, anyway - we booked tickets yesterday :-)
I'm off to babysit for the Chapmans in a bit, but before that...Chemistry revision. Joy.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
More Photos
Link to previous photos
This set are all from the boat trip we went on round the San Francisco bay with the James family. I should note that all these pics are posted in exactly the same state as they were taken, though I have said beneath them if there's any tweaking I'd like to do. Enjoy!
This is the one I actually have currently set as my desktop background - for some reason, it doesn't look too bad when streched. That's the Golden Gate Bridge to the left, though the top is hidden by cloud/fog. You can also see the afternoon fog rolling in across the hills to the left (Left is out to sea) which is very dramatic to see in person. This is one of my favourite shots of the whole holiday - the bridge support is exactly in line with the side of the photo, and the bridge coming towards you is quite dramatic.
This is the island/prison of Alcatraz. This is the only photo I too of it that actually came out nicely - I had some closer shots (we went right round it, staying fairly close) but the sun was coming from behind the island so the pictures were all very dark. Still, this is a nice picture, if a bit tilted (IIRC, the waves were hitting the side of the boat at this point - not hugely, but enough to rock it quite a bit)
I took these two panoramic ones with a view to using them as desktop backgrounds - they're shots of the San Francisco waterline from the boat, but especially in the second one, I left a lot of "blank" (sky) that I could easily cover with desktop icons. Unfortunatly, the smallness of my memory card means that I was only taking smaller photos (I think they're something like 800x600) and so it wouldn't really fit on my desktop.
These were some pretty zippy sailing boats that followed us out of the harbour. They're terribly cute - single-hulled, but with extended platforms on either side that you could stand up on and trapieze off. When they passed behind us, both of the people in each boat were right up on the edge - it was pretty windy that day! You can also seee San Fran in the background again, but that's less interesting.
These were some of the sealions that populate San Francisco Warf. There are loads of them - I couldn't fit in the rest off to the left. Our boat acutally moored almost beside the two you can se in the background, but I took this photo on the way back into the harbour after the trip, mostly because I was sitting in the middle of a whole pile of people on the way out.
This is my brother (Peter) wielding the communal digital camera (The one I'm using is actually mine. I won it in a competition - it's a long story). I think there's another photo somewhere which is the one Peter took while I was taking this one, but I have no clue where it is and it's probably awful anyway.
This is (from left to right) Laura James, Tom James' girlfriend (Also called Laura, somewhat confusingly) and Tom James. I took this picture from the upper balcony of the boat we were on - hence the angle!
I nabbed this one whilst the trio weren't looking - I have a feeling that Alcatraz was off to the left of the photo, so they were probably admiring that. It was pretty spectacular! I'd probably crop this if I wanted to give it to anyone (excess up top, mostly containing the feet of random other people, which I don't really want) but it's too much time and effort, and I'm feeling lazy right now.
This is a nice one of Laura (James) on her own - I think the boat trip was underway by this time, so she's probably admiring the view. Again, this one should be cropped before displaying, as there's extra seat and railing that I really don't need. Sadly, my zoom isn't great, and I didn't really want to lean over the side of the rail too far.
Another good one of Laura. I took this one at the beginning of the trip, while we were still waiting to leave - hence the other boat in the background. Acutally, I'm annoyed I didn't get a picture of a large Catamaran-Yacht thing that was moored near us, but I guess I forgot. It was pretty cool - very narrow hulls and a huge sail. I bet that went really fast.
I still have a bunch more (from Santa Cruz and elsewhere) but I'll do them later.
This set are all from the boat trip we went on round the San Francisco bay with the James family. I should note that all these pics are posted in exactly the same state as they were taken, though I have said beneath them if there's any tweaking I'd like to do. Enjoy!
This is the one I actually have currently set as my desktop background - for some reason, it doesn't look too bad when streched. That's the Golden Gate Bridge to the left, though the top is hidden by cloud/fog. You can also see the afternoon fog rolling in across the hills to the left (Left is out to sea) which is very dramatic to see in person. This is one of my favourite shots of the whole holiday - the bridge support is exactly in line with the side of the photo, and the bridge coming towards you is quite dramatic.
This is the island/prison of Alcatraz. This is the only photo I too of it that actually came out nicely - I had some closer shots (we went right round it, staying fairly close) but the sun was coming from behind the island so the pictures were all very dark. Still, this is a nice picture, if a bit tilted (IIRC, the waves were hitting the side of the boat at this point - not hugely, but enough to rock it quite a bit)
I took these two panoramic ones with a view to using them as desktop backgrounds - they're shots of the San Francisco waterline from the boat, but especially in the second one, I left a lot of "blank" (sky) that I could easily cover with desktop icons. Unfortunatly, the smallness of my memory card means that I was only taking smaller photos (I think they're something like 800x600) and so it wouldn't really fit on my desktop.
These were some pretty zippy sailing boats that followed us out of the harbour. They're terribly cute - single-hulled, but with extended platforms on either side that you could stand up on and trapieze off. When they passed behind us, both of the people in each boat were right up on the edge - it was pretty windy that day! You can also seee San Fran in the background again, but that's less interesting.
These were some of the sealions that populate San Francisco Warf. There are loads of them - I couldn't fit in the rest off to the left. Our boat acutally moored almost beside the two you can se in the background, but I took this photo on the way back into the harbour after the trip, mostly because I was sitting in the middle of a whole pile of people on the way out.
This is my brother (Peter) wielding the communal digital camera (The one I'm using is actually mine. I won it in a competition - it's a long story). I think there's another photo somewhere which is the one Peter took while I was taking this one, but I have no clue where it is and it's probably awful anyway.
This is (from left to right) Laura James, Tom James' girlfriend (Also called Laura, somewhat confusingly) and Tom James. I took this picture from the upper balcony of the boat we were on - hence the angle!
I nabbed this one whilst the trio weren't looking - I have a feeling that Alcatraz was off to the left of the photo, so they were probably admiring that. It was pretty spectacular! I'd probably crop this if I wanted to give it to anyone (excess up top, mostly containing the feet of random other people, which I don't really want) but it's too much time and effort, and I'm feeling lazy right now.
This is a nice one of Laura (James) on her own - I think the boat trip was underway by this time, so she's probably admiring the view. Again, this one should be cropped before displaying, as there's extra seat and railing that I really don't need. Sadly, my zoom isn't great, and I didn't really want to lean over the side of the rail too far.
Another good one of Laura. I took this one at the beginning of the trip, while we were still waiting to leave - hence the other boat in the background. Acutally, I'm annoyed I didn't get a picture of a large Catamaran-Yacht thing that was moored near us, but I guess I forgot. It was pretty cool - very narrow hulls and a huge sail. I bet that went really fast.I still have a bunch more (from Santa Cruz and elsewhere) but I'll do them later.
Grr!
I havn't been able to log on here for about a week - I think it's a problem at my end, not with this website, but it's still annoying :-(
School is as dull as ever - we had the school photograph taken today, which consisted of standing in a line for about an hour and a quarter waiting for everyone else to line up (Sixth form are first in and last out) and then spending about a minute actually taking the picture before waiting for another quarter of an hour before we could get out. Understandably, that wasn't a lot of fun.
They're being nicer to us in lessons because it's the start of term, but our new maths teacher seems slightly overenthusiastic - she's giving us homewok every night to be handed in the next day, which is tedious. I don't think anyone told her assigning homework isn't mandatory every lesson.
I've got a mostly homework-free evening tonight, so perhaps later I'll upload the other pictures from the trip to California.
School is as dull as ever - we had the school photograph taken today, which consisted of standing in a line for about an hour and a quarter waiting for everyone else to line up (Sixth form are first in and last out) and then spending about a minute actually taking the picture before waiting for another quarter of an hour before we could get out. Understandably, that wasn't a lot of fun.
They're being nicer to us in lessons because it's the start of term, but our new maths teacher seems slightly overenthusiastic - she's giving us homewok every night to be handed in the next day, which is tedious. I don't think anyone told her assigning homework isn't mandatory every lesson.
I've got a mostly homework-free evening tonight, so perhaps later I'll upload the other pictures from the trip to California.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Sleeeeeepy
Well, actually, I'm not. Which is the problem. Because it's 1:15AM and I can't go to sleep.
Grr.
So, Buffy-watching time. Anything out of season 6 should put me right to sleep.
Grr.
So, Buffy-watching time. Anything out of season 6 should put me right to sleep.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Home again
After an exhausting day and a half traveling (I worked out that I'd been awake for 30 hours straight) I'm finally home to grey old England.
Yay.
I did get my AS grades, though, which were pretty good.
Physics - 94% (A)
100/100 (a)
106/110 (a)
75/90 (a)
Chemistry - 86% (A)
86/90 (a)
69/90 (b)
104/120 (a)
Biology - 91% (A)
99/105 (a)
103/105 (a)
72/90 (a)
Maths - 98% (A)
100/100 (a)
100/100 (a)
94/100 (a)
General Studies - 90% (A)
108/120 (a)
I'm a little annoyed that I didn't get a better mark in chemistry (I know I shouldn't complain, but I don't feel that's the best I could have done) but other than that, I'm very pleased. I really didn't expect to do quite that well in physics...
My birthday was interesting...techincally (according to Dad) it started when the plane detached from the boarding gate, so I only technically lost 4 hours of my birthday (by that time it was 4AM in England). I got a few small things - stationary, memory card for my camera and some money for songs off Itunes - but my main birthday present will obviously be driving lessons.
Speaking of which, I went for a drive today - just round a large carpark by the railway station. It's kinda weird trying to do all those things at once, but I guess I'll get used to it.
Yay.
I did get my AS grades, though, which were pretty good.
Physics - 94% (A)
100/100 (a)
106/110 (a)
75/90 (a)
Chemistry - 86% (A)
86/90 (a)
69/90 (b)
104/120 (a)
Biology - 91% (A)
99/105 (a)
103/105 (a)
72/90 (a)
Maths - 98% (A)
100/100 (a)
100/100 (a)
94/100 (a)
General Studies - 90% (A)
108/120 (a)
I'm a little annoyed that I didn't get a better mark in chemistry (I know I shouldn't complain, but I don't feel that's the best I could have done) but other than that, I'm very pleased. I really didn't expect to do quite that well in physics...
My birthday was interesting...techincally (according to Dad) it started when the plane detached from the boarding gate, so I only technically lost 4 hours of my birthday (by that time it was 4AM in England). I got a few small things - stationary, memory card for my camera and some money for songs off Itunes - but my main birthday present will obviously be driving lessons.
Speaking of which, I went for a drive today - just round a large carpark by the railway station. It's kinda weird trying to do all those things at once, but I guess I'll get used to it.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
I just went out for the most amazing meal. The restaurant advertises itself as "Steak and Seafood" but that really doesn't even begin to cover it.
It's a japanese-style place, but most of the food is done without sauces, so it's hard to notice. You order from a selection of different combinations of meats (including steak, chicken, fish, scallop, prawn, calamari and tuna), and the rest of the meal comes included in that. One table can seat up to eight people round it - we had seven round ours (my family, and another couple). You're arranged in a semi-circle round the centre of the table, which is basically a large grill.
You start off with a soup - ours was onion and mushroom, which doesn't sound terribly appetising, but the soup was intensly flavourful. Then the chef arrives with a trolley full of interesting things. After being given an impressive display of dexterity with the chef throwing several of his implements round each other at alarming speeds, the first dish to be cooked is the fried rice, which everyone gets. It consisted of chicken, eggs (the chef obviously had a sense of humor, as he threw the eggs down onto the grill in such a way that he could draw a chicken with them), vegetables and, obviously, rice. Some soy sauce and garlic butter got thrown into the mix someplace as well.. We also got served with salads at this point, which had a very interesting (nice!) sauce on them.
After the rice was done, prawns were fried in garlic butter. We all got given a small portion as an appetiser, and then those who had ordered prawn as one of their main course meats got given a larger portion. Then, the rest of the meat and fish was cooked (in no particular order that I could see) along with some courgette and onion rings. Were were also, at some point, given two different sauces (one for seafood and vegetables, one for meat and chicken). I only tried the seafood one, but it went very well with the prawn appetisers and the scallops that I ordered.
The other meat I had was steak, and I think it's not hyperbolaic to say that it was the best steak I have ever had. It was first cooked as a whole, then it was sliced up into chunks and fried further in garlic butter. I have no idea how they did it, but it was tender, juicy, delicious...I'm drooling at the thought of it, and I ate it less than an hour ago.
We had ice-cream to finish up - I went terribly conventional and had chocolate.
As far as drinks went, we got served water (obviously!) and I had what was effectively a Pina Colada, but with mango instead of rum/vodka. More like a fruit smoothie than anything else, I guess, but it was very good, if a little over-sweet. We also got served some very good Green Tea at the end of the meal (before the icecream) but I got a mouthful of the dregs by mistake and had a bitter taste in my mouth for about ten minutes afterwards.
The other "fun" thing was Dad mentioning to the waiter that it's my birthday on friday. This resulted in me being sung "Happy Birthday" in English and Japanese, and getting a nice cheesy photo to take home with me.
Off home tomorrow...feels a bit weird. We've been here for so long it almost feels like home. And I'll have an 11-hr flight :-(
It's a japanese-style place, but most of the food is done without sauces, so it's hard to notice. You order from a selection of different combinations of meats (including steak, chicken, fish, scallop, prawn, calamari and tuna), and the rest of the meal comes included in that. One table can seat up to eight people round it - we had seven round ours (my family, and another couple). You're arranged in a semi-circle round the centre of the table, which is basically a large grill.
You start off with a soup - ours was onion and mushroom, which doesn't sound terribly appetising, but the soup was intensly flavourful. Then the chef arrives with a trolley full of interesting things. After being given an impressive display of dexterity with the chef throwing several of his implements round each other at alarming speeds, the first dish to be cooked is the fried rice, which everyone gets. It consisted of chicken, eggs (the chef obviously had a sense of humor, as he threw the eggs down onto the grill in such a way that he could draw a chicken with them), vegetables and, obviously, rice. Some soy sauce and garlic butter got thrown into the mix someplace as well.. We also got served with salads at this point, which had a very interesting (nice!) sauce on them.
After the rice was done, prawns were fried in garlic butter. We all got given a small portion as an appetiser, and then those who had ordered prawn as one of their main course meats got given a larger portion. Then, the rest of the meat and fish was cooked (in no particular order that I could see) along with some courgette and onion rings. Were were also, at some point, given two different sauces (one for seafood and vegetables, one for meat and chicken). I only tried the seafood one, but it went very well with the prawn appetisers and the scallops that I ordered.
The other meat I had was steak, and I think it's not hyperbolaic to say that it was the best steak I have ever had. It was first cooked as a whole, then it was sliced up into chunks and fried further in garlic butter. I have no idea how they did it, but it was tender, juicy, delicious...I'm drooling at the thought of it, and I ate it less than an hour ago.
We had ice-cream to finish up - I went terribly conventional and had chocolate.
As far as drinks went, we got served water (obviously!) and I had what was effectively a Pina Colada, but with mango instead of rum/vodka. More like a fruit smoothie than anything else, I guess, but it was very good, if a little over-sweet. We also got served some very good Green Tea at the end of the meal (before the icecream) but I got a mouthful of the dregs by mistake and had a bitter taste in my mouth for about ten minutes afterwards.
The other "fun" thing was Dad mentioning to the waiter that it's my birthday on friday. This resulted in me being sung "Happy Birthday" in English and Japanese, and getting a nice cheesy photo to take home with me.
Off home tomorrow...feels a bit weird. We've been here for so long it almost feels like home. And I'll have an 11-hr flight :-(
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Back again
Got back from Yosemite Park yesterday (http://www.yosemitepark.com). That was an amazing weekend - the scenery is incredible! I think I just about filled up my camera with pictures - I'll put the best ones on here:
This one's actually about 4 photographs that I pieced together to make one big one. It's the view from one of the millions of lay-bys we stopped at on the way to the hotel. You can see my sister's head on the far left of the shot - I didn't realise it was there until I got the images onto my computer. It didn't come out quite perfect yet - there are still some lines and changes in brightness between the different photos - but I'm too tired to do any more. If I get a better version I'll post it here.
This one's an upward shot of some trees near one of the stops in the park I took whilst I was bored and waiting for a bus. I didn't get it quite right - the angle's off by a bit - but it's not bad. The pine trees were really impressive - I thought theres were tall at the time, but we visited the giant sequoia grove the day after and I got to see what a big tree REALLY loooked like.
This is Yosemite Falls. It's actually two waterfalls - an upper one and a lower one - but the lower one's in shadow, so you can't see it as well. I'm really annoyed with this, actually, becuase I took about 4 shots of this and in all of them, the upper falls are slightly to the right of the centre of the gap between the trees, but it would have been difficult to get it right without losing the lower falls into the trees.
There were hundreds of these little squirrels running around all over Yosemite. They were fairly tame, so I managed to get quite close to them. I thought this shot was particularly cute.
We went swimming in one of the river-pools - I swear, this one was filled with melted snow. It was absolutly FREEZING - my feet were numb (literally) by the end of it, and really quite sore when they defrosted. But it was definitly worth it - for one thing, it was about 36 degrees centigrade on the day and the water was kinda theraputic in that it seriously cooled you down.
I've got some more photos from other trips I've been on since I last posted, but right now it's 11PM and I'm going to sleep. The pictures can wait.
This one's actually about 4 photographs that I pieced together to make one big one. It's the view from one of the millions of lay-bys we stopped at on the way to the hotel. You can see my sister's head on the far left of the shot - I didn't realise it was there until I got the images onto my computer. It didn't come out quite perfect yet - there are still some lines and changes in brightness between the different photos - but I'm too tired to do any more. If I get a better version I'll post it here.
This one's an upward shot of some trees near one of the stops in the park I took whilst I was bored and waiting for a bus. I didn't get it quite right - the angle's off by a bit - but it's not bad. The pine trees were really impressive - I thought theres were tall at the time, but we visited the giant sequoia grove the day after and I got to see what a big tree REALLY loooked like.
This is Yosemite Falls. It's actually two waterfalls - an upper one and a lower one - but the lower one's in shadow, so you can't see it as well. I'm really annoyed with this, actually, becuase I took about 4 shots of this and in all of them, the upper falls are slightly to the right of the centre of the gap between the trees, but it would have been difficult to get it right without losing the lower falls into the trees.
There were hundreds of these little squirrels running around all over Yosemite. They were fairly tame, so I managed to get quite close to them. I thought this shot was particularly cute.
We went swimming in one of the river-pools - I swear, this one was filled with melted snow. It was absolutly FREEZING - my feet were numb (literally) by the end of it, and really quite sore when they defrosted. But it was definitly worth it - for one thing, it was about 36 degrees centigrade on the day and the water was kinda theraputic in that it seriously cooled you down.
I've got some more photos from other trips I've been on since I last posted, but right now it's 11PM and I'm going to sleep. The pictures can wait.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Yay!
My Buffy DVDs arrived yesterday! :-) Havn't had much chance to watch them yet - we spent all of yesterday with the Jameses in San Francisco. I'll post some of the pictures on here later, but basically we went on a cablecar, had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then went on a boat tour of the bay. I'm now slightly frazzled on my face and neck as a result of no suncream, but it's not bad.
Kinda had a lazy day today. . .didn't get much sleep last night and so lay in 'til nearly noon. We went to Santa Cruz this evening, and had a picnic on the beach. . .seagulls stole some of the grapes and there were a few amusing incidents with sand blowing around, but it was fun to eat outside when it wasn't roasting hot. We think we saw a sea otter, too - just swimming around between us and the pier. Very cute.
Only downside to today is that with the half hour car journey back from Santa Cruz, I've been listening to music all evening and have That's All (Genesis) going round my head.
Kinda had a lazy day today. . .didn't get much sleep last night and so lay in 'til nearly noon. We went to Santa Cruz this evening, and had a picnic on the beach. . .seagulls stole some of the grapes and there were a few amusing incidents with sand blowing around, but it was fun to eat outside when it wasn't roasting hot. We think we saw a sea otter, too - just swimming around between us and the pier. Very cute.
Only downside to today is that with the half hour car journey back from Santa Cruz, I've been listening to music all evening and have That's All (Genesis) going round my head.
I could leave but I won't go,
though my heart might tell me so,
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes.
so why does it always seem to be
me looking at you, you looking at me,
s'always the same, it's just a shame, that's all...
Monday, August 21, 2006
On the up again...
Finally stopped feeling ill :-)
Still tired, though. Probably because I'm staying up every night watching films we're rented from the complementary DVD library we just discovered we can use. So, we're watching a series of action/comedies at the moment - watched Men In Black 2 tonight, Showtime last night and probably A Knight's Tale tomorrow night. Currently, I'm watchin Ice Age becuase it's on TV.
Not really been doing very much - had a look round the mall today, found some jeans I want and some cheaper converses that I might get as my current ones are starting to look worn. No luck finding proper shoes of my size, though. I'm also miffed that my Buffy DVD set hasn't arrived yet, but that's life. Should be turning up in the next few days.
Still tired, though. Probably because I'm staying up every night watching films we're rented from the complementary DVD library we just discovered we can use. So, we're watching a series of action/comedies at the moment - watched Men In Black 2 tonight, Showtime last night and probably A Knight's Tale tomorrow night. Currently, I'm watchin Ice Age becuase it's on TV.
Not really been doing very much - had a look round the mall today, found some jeans I want and some cheaper converses that I might get as my current ones are starting to look worn. No luck finding proper shoes of my size, though. I'm also miffed that my Buffy DVD set hasn't arrived yet, but that's life. Should be turning up in the next few days.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Bored now.
Being ill sucks. I get to sit (or lie, actually) in a bedroom (not mine, since I'm sleeping on the sofa while we're in America) and be bored. The only consolation is that I have my laptop, so I can re-watch Firefly and Buffy, or just mess around online. Which I am currently doing.
One of the nicer things about our apartment is that just outside (well, out and down about 3 storeys) is a restaurant/bar/whatever that has live music most night. So last night, I got a musical version of Hotel California, and I'm currently being serenaded by a jazz saxaphone.
On the bad side, Tom's gone to Cambridge. Which means
a) I miss out on seeing him. Again.
and
b) I have no-one to talk to for 3 days.
But we're off to the beach tomorrow, so if I'm not still feeling ill, I can drown my sorrows in sun, sea and sand.
One of the nicer things about our apartment is that just outside (well, out and down about 3 storeys) is a restaurant/bar/whatever that has live music most night. So last night, I got a musical version of Hotel California, and I'm currently being serenaded by a jazz saxaphone.
On the bad side, Tom's gone to Cambridge. Which means
a) I miss out on seeing him. Again.
and
b) I have no-one to talk to for 3 days.
But we're off to the beach tomorrow, so if I'm not still feeling ill, I can drown my sorrows in sun, sea and sand.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
First Post...
..whoo. Actually, I'm not feeling particularly ecstatic at the moment. I'm mostly fed up, on account of my school and/or local post system screwing up, meaning that I was supposed to have my A-level results e-mailed to me while I'm out here in America, but they so far have failed to materialize. Which is, to say the least, annoying. And I'm also feeling sick, probably on account of eating under-cooked burger last night.
Other than that, I'm still feeling a bit weird about being in America. No offence intended to any Americans - it's just slightly surreal to be sitting in an apartment when it's 30 degrees outside and I can see a palm tree out my window. It's not really something I ever thought I'd be doing in the near future. But then, life's full of surprises. And benevolant companies willing to pay for their employee's families.
I went to an Imax cinema yesterday to see Superman Returns - it was awesome. Probably the combined effect of a very good (visually stunning) film and an 8-storey wrap-around screen. The title sequence alone was probably the most amazing thing I'd seen all week. Until I saw the rest of the film, that is.
Other than that, I'm still feeling a bit weird about being in America. No offence intended to any Americans - it's just slightly surreal to be sitting in an apartment when it's 30 degrees outside and I can see a palm tree out my window. It's not really something I ever thought I'd be doing in the near future. But then, life's full of surprises. And benevolant companies willing to pay for their employee's families.
I went to an Imax cinema yesterday to see Superman Returns - it was awesome. Probably the combined effect of a very good (visually stunning) film and an 8-storey wrap-around screen. The title sequence alone was probably the most amazing thing I'd seen all week. Until I saw the rest of the film, that is.
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