August 6-8. New Malden and Other Places

We set a new goal yesterday - to find a Polish deli, Polski Smak. After wandering through some non-interesting residential neighborhoods for several miles we found it in New Malden. It is nice but Lithuanian Papa Karlo was better. We kept going and were rewarded with finding the whole little Korea. There is a slew of restaurants that offer traditional Korean delicacies, an absolutely gorgeous supermarket Seoul Plaza, and some travel agencies and TaeQuonDo studios. Alas it may be far for us to take Georgia classes here. But we will definitely definitely come back for dinner. As discoveries go, you may set out to find this one thing, and then you find a whole world out there.

We hopped on the 2-story bus to get back to Kingston. Kids rode on those before, but it was the first time for Dan and I. Awesome vantage point to enjoy the scenery. And yes, bus driver's job sucks and I think they know it! It is scary to watch them navigate the narrow street, and light poles, and tiny cars below.

In the evening we went to see Red2 @ Odeon. Very nice. They still did not fix A/Cs so I fell asleep toward the end but it was really good! On second thought, John Malkovich has ripened up to pay touchy feelly roles. He and Mary-Louise Parker stole the show. Bruce Willis just like Johnny Depp do not add value any more. And I would see brilliant John Noble replace tired old old old Anthony Hopkins at any time.

Romik and Polinka are really coming early in November!! Hurray!!

Some other observations in no particular order. Thanks to electric wheelchairs and other similar devices, handicapped and elderly are able to get around much easier so there are more of them that we typically see in other cities. On one hand it is sad to see some of the children with special needs out there but on the other it is great that they are able to enjoy the nice weather and partake in the celebrations around just like everyone else and not be cooped up at home somewhere. I even saw an elderly guy in motorized chair with full rain canopy so that he can be out and about in any whether.

We thought it was unusual seeing a full kitchen with the microwave and fridge right in the middle of AllSaints church some weeks earlier, but since then we had seen many more churches feature eating areas right inside the church. St. Thomas' in Salisbury went further and even had children's playing area there. I guess it could be either a way to keep parishioners warm and coming back. And make guests feel at home too.

Last final bit of moving joy

As we did our planning for going to Ireland we found out that you need to fill out special paperwork to take the car out of the country and some brands, ours included, could not be taken out. "We know that you went to Belgium without the paperwork" told us the rep from the car rental company. I bet he also personally knows what we ate that day. So we had a few tense pre-vacation moments when we watched hotels availability disappear right before our eyes and could not get a definite answer from the rental company "who had customers they were helping." In the end, we just did some bookings of the hotels for the first few days and got a ferry from Hollyhead to Dublin. And according to our HR found out today we are OK to go as is. They've sent us a copy of company car insurance and that is supposed to be the magic salve that will open up the way for us.

Dan and kids went to see Despicable Me a day before. They had a blast. Isabella kept talking asking lots of questions about the cartoon. Georgia was trying to answer those questions and also tell me various details about it. The variety of concessions offered by far exceeds ours. I guess if one adult and two kids had splurged $35 to go see a movie, it would be best to try to offer as many options as possible to get them to continue the trend.

There are a lot more bicyclers and runners around. We even saw one at close to midnight last night, but its the opposite side of the spectrum seems to be filling the streets. I can't blame them. With fresh crispy buns waiting for us @ Tesco nearly every morning, and fresh fruit market always open across the street, and Patisserie Valerie greeting our every trip outside like Odysseus siren, it is a challenge everyday to not give in and fall into the sweetly beckoning arms of gluttony.

We got kids school uniforms today. At St. Lukes they are supposed to wear navy skirts or pinafore with blue blouse, navy cardigan, black shoes, and grey or white socks. There are several department stores that sell those things. They are inexpensive and there are several designs of each available. Georgia was very excited. Isabella did not care for hers.