London

I had to go to London yesterday for a meeting.  As I booked my train tickets a few weeks ago, I could hear Roger's voice lugubriously telling me that I hadn't left enough time to get down to town and then to get across town for the meeting.  But Roger - the train is due in at 12:30.  The meeting is at 1.  It takes ten minutes.  TEN MINUTES to get from Kings Cross/St Pancras to Houndsditch.  Ten minutes.  Bags of time.  I booked the tickets.

As I got to Chesterfield Station yesterday, I could hear Roger whispering - you haven't built in any time for delays.  It'll all go horribly wrong. You'll be laaaaaaaaaate.

I wasn't late.  For once all the trains ran beautifully and smoothly to time.  I wish I could say as much for the wifi which I paid £7.50 for a day's access to.  Took from Chesterfield to beyond Derby before I finally got logged on. And at no point either going or coming did it ever actually work.  In both directions I turned it off and relied on the 3G network, which might be intermittent but which at least works when it is there.

Still.  The trains ran on time and I got to the meeting in good time.  It was an interesting and productive meeting.  They provided a sandwich lunch with cakes and fruit to follow.  It finished in good time and off I headed to Piccadilly to have a play in the Japan Centre's new location.

I like the Japan Centre. It has a supermarket which sells Japanese things (as you might expect).  I can get some Japanese things at Tai Sun in Sheffield but that is an Oriental supermarket and sells mostly Chinese things, along with Korean, Japanese, Malaysian and other Oriental countries.  You get a lot more choice in the Japan Centre.  Also, there are associated ramen bars dotted around Piccadilly and Soho.  I had a really nice bowl of curried chicken ramen for tea after spending my money in the Japanese supermarket :-)  As I finished and went to pay for my ramen bowl I was asked rather anxiously by a couple of the staff if I hadn't found it perhaps a bit hot and spicy.  No, not really.  It certainly was spicy but there wasn't a lot of chilli in it.  It was very tasty.  I will have it again.

Generally when I go to London for these meetings, it's after 10:00 in the evening when I get home and even later when I go to bed.  If I can, I take the following day off.  So I arranged to take today off - and then booked myself onto a train that got home at 9 rather than 10.  So here I find myself with an authorised day off and I am not especially tired.  Excellent!  I shall find lots of things to do.  Indoor things, I suspect.  I think it's supposed to rain for quite a bit of the day.