A mostly relaxed day, generally, but strangely not a boring one. I awoke to the sound of my roommate leaving for the airport, but then returning as his flight was delayed. When he left I slept some more, waking up at about 09:30. I then got up and got ready. I went to check out and asked if the hostel would hold my stuff for a couple hours. They said they would at a rate or fee of 1.50. To that I replied it was ridiculous, so I left the hostel and headed to Hyde Park, for one glimpse of my beloved city before I left it for a month. There were surprisingly many people there. After a short visit to the northern edge of the park, I left to Paddington, but headed too far up Sussex Gardens, when I turned myself around and walked back to Paddington, there was a plaque that this was the place Ian Fleming discovered penicillin. It, what I discovered, was St. Mary’s Hospital.
I soon found myself at Paddington on the Heathrow Express. I didn’t need to wait long at all and the train was moving. We got to Heathrow very quickly and I was soon on my way through checking in and going through customs and so on. The airport was (and is, for thence I write) relatively vacant. Only about half the shops were open, with mostly Moslems and Hindi behind the tills. I bought some food and the enormous South African adaptor from WH Smith’s. I walked around and watched a few of the Simpson’s episodes and most of Shrek in a waiting area in the lobby. I also called my parents with my credit card to wish them a Merry Christmas. Afterward I wrote and sent them a letter. I also got my VAT receipt in to the post and bought a pocket guide to South Africa, again from WH Smith. Otherwise, I wrote this entry and intend to conclude it on the plane.
So this is actually written during and after the plane landed, but I’ll conclude this entry as well as I’m able for half the flight until I get a few hours sleep. After I completed the last paragraph, I called Alyssa and wished her a Merry Christmas, and then paced the airport at having been there for eight hours. Eventually they called the boarding number so we knew where the gate was. At the gate, I read my Jack the Ripper book until we boarded the plane. On the plane, take-off took longer than expected because the plane flew in through, or rather from Tokyo, and picked up ice on the wings. It was a 747-400 with individual seat monitors and quite comfortable. I had the whole row to myself (three seats anyway), and when we took off, had 18 tv channels to choose from. As it happened, I watched Tim Burton’s “Willy Wonka”, which was enjoyable, and later “Batman Begins”, which was also good, decidedly that, excellent in fact, and far better than the other Batman films. After this one ended, I fell asleep about at the southern edge of the Sahara, in my estimate.