“On the road again”update

I ended up getting an upgrade to business class for my flat, so it wasn’t so bad after all. Love it when that happens.

If only I didn’t have to spend time in the jumped up shopping mall that is heathrow terminal 5 and it would have been perfect.

On the road again

I travel with work pretty regularly and often get to go to some interesting places, although I’ve been home for a while now and I’ve got out of the ‘groove’ of regular international travel.

This trip is not looking interesting, I’m not heading anywhere new or exciting, insteadI’m going back to a city I used to live in. It would be made a lot more positive if I was going to have the chance to catch up with old friends but unfortunately my days are looking pretty busy with work, and that’s what pays the bills.

I guess overall I’m not feeling that motivated for it, but then it’s 10pm on a Sunday night and the next 12 hours will be filled with trying (most likely unsuccessfully) to get some sleep whilst sitting in a chair next t a complete stranger.

Fun.

Yo sushi

I love sushi.

Thats the first thing you should understand.  The mix of rice, proteins and flavour delivered in little parcels of tasty goodness is brilliant.  Throw in some miso soup, gyoza, some udon noodles and any kind of hybrid dish that involves teriyaki sauce. Awesome.

Today I went to Yo sushi again for the first time in about 5 years, the absence of visits is down to the simple fact of location, as far as I know there are none in Canada, and when I am in Canada the selection of good sushi places (at least where I live) is great so I’ll normally try for something a bit more ‘local’ when on the road. Today though I was caught hungry in Heathrow’s Terminal 3 and thought I’d go for Yo.

Happy to say it was pretty good, and the restaurant model works really well for airports, quick and easy to get what you want pay and leave, and if like me you’re traveling on your own you can sit at the bar and not feel like a table hog taking up a table with 4 seats for no reason.

The little conveyor belts with their colour coded plates (for those not in the know the colour relates directly to the cost of the dish) keep me amused as I wait to see what comes along next, it almost feels as though Bruce Forsyth should be on hand to quiz you on whats already passed you by in the style of one of his family quiz shows.

If they did open one up in my home city, would I go?  Probably not as I would most likely stick to the none chain sushi houses I already like, but Its now my food stop of choice at heathrow.

Shopping with a dangerous twist

I’m glad I dont have to go to this market for my fruit and veg!

Apparently its in the Mae Klong market  in Thailand a hour or so drive from Bangkok

Airport security

The guard at the airport security check just told me I’d be “blown away” by what people could fit in laptops these days. I don’t think he realized what he said, I managed not to laugh, he just looked confused by face, but that happens a lot to me.

Dont eat chocolate at the airport

When you are tired from too much traveling and a coffee and a chocolate croissant seems like a good idea just dont. Otheriwse you may end up like me with melted bits of chocolate all over you jeans and still another 5hrs worth of flying to go.

Damn it.

I’m steadily beging to look like a bum not a business traveler…..

Airport lounge awesomeness

I am currently most of the way through my longest ever non stop journey, I’ve taken in a few countries, many time zones but not a single bed. I have one more flight, thankfully a short haul, to go then a taxi and finally bed.  What I have found from this marathon is that I love airport lounges more than ever.  I cant call them a sanctuary as their is currently some guy yelling at a TV screen (something to do with the New England Patriots) but free booze, easy internet access and no screaming kids mean that although I may nearly be a broken man, I’m somewhat content.

My current lounge in Toronto has glasses with pre seasoned rims for mixing up Caesars and in an Air New Zealand lounge I was in at some point I the last 48hrs they had a ‘make your own hotdog’ stand.  I didn’t have one, but the idea was good awesome.

Now I just have to stay awake long enough to make my final flight and I’m laughing, beer keeps you awake and alert right?

I’m busy. Kind of.

After my marathon 40 odd hours of non stop flying I did reach the other side of the world, but jumping between hotels, being busy with work, and trying out as many microbreweries as possible has left little time for blogging.  On the plus side I’m managing to hide from cold winter weather as I keep busy in the southern hemisphere, on the downside I like winter. Doh.

The other major issue is that my trip is over running already and unless I get some good fortune (and soon) I’ll be away from home over Christmas which wasn’t on the cards when I left. For me personally I don’t mind missing Christmas too much, but I hate the idea of leaving my other half home alone.

Maybe I should have been embracing the early Christmas fever this year, I don’t think I’ll see much of it on the Indian Ocean.

Little jaunt across the ocean

I find the more I head through the major hubs the easier it gets to just ‘ghost’ through them barely awake and just smiling and nodding at people when the moment requires it.

I’m a terrible sleeper and planes are certainly more difficult to sleep in than my bed, so I’m normally on autopilot. My last transatlantic flight heading back from Heathrow and got stuck beside an overweight woman with bad gas who promptly got drunk and then sang loudly at times during her 8 hour Sudoku session.

It’s the people who make it entertaining, not the touch screen TVs.

Home from 2 weddings, too many miles

At the start if the month I began an ambitious trip to see lots of family and friends and traveling thousands of miles in one direction and then thousands more in another.  Had a good time, plenty of laughs, but I’ll never do it again!

The timing was out of our control as we were hitting up 2 weddings as part of the trip, but we did then try and take the oppertunity to see as much family as possible, great in theory but now I’m a broken man.

Full of cold, shattered, and I’m supposed to be in the office in a an hour……..think I need some time off.