Packing and prep
Friday, 21 April 2023 14:27![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elusivekI'm kind of elated that I'm flying in less than 5 days. The weather here is terrible now. Muggy. Hot. Humid. Ugh. That, and the tendency here to have the A/C blasted on, so it's like, you'd think to dress light because it's so hot and stuffy outside, but then you go anywhere indoors, the office, the mall, a shop, and the A/C is at full blast, so you are freezing, so you HAVE to take a jacket with you, but with the outside being to hot you'd think "Nah, it can't be that bad that I need a jacket", and then wham! YES, you DO NEED a jacket.
And then you get sick.
I've been careful. I have a cardigan at the office, so I can go to work and out and around without taking a jacket with me. But sometimes if I go somewhere without dropping by at the office, then I'll be caught out cold.
The forecast for London says it will be in the teens and low-teens for the duration of my stay. But I don't know why I've got a sneaky suspicion I'll die of overheating while there, especially during the noon times when the sun is out. Did I mention I actually got a tan while in London in May 2006? In the London Eye too. We were roasted alive in there. It was brutal.
All pertinent tickets are in place. I've paid off all my credit cards so I have full credit limit on all of them. I've got the old cash ready. But. Now that I think about it, should I keep some of the Queen silhouette notes? Since now it's King Charles, they'll eventually change out the cash notes again................? But even if I keep one each of the Queen notes, it's a.... "For what?" I'm no collector, I'm also no reseller etc. And apparently London is trying to go "cashless", I've booked 2 restaurants that states "We are cashless. Bring your credit cards."
I guess I should write up a list of souvenirs to get. Because a colleague gave out Panadol tablets as "souvenir" a few months back, it sounds like my colleagues are expecting me to bring the same. And this is why I hate getting souvenirs or announcing to the office that I'm going on holiday. The expectation for souvenirs.
Not to mention those that have the audacity to ask you to help them buy stuff. "You're going to Europe? Help me buy this and this and this and this!" The thing is:
- That means I have to allot some of MY holiday time to run THEIR errand.
- Most of the time they don't give me the money for that, which, since they are asking for a favor to buy stuff, I'd say it's best if they give the money first, but then, it's actually BETTER that they DON'T give me money, because then I'm not OBLIGATED to run that errand for them.
- Say I do go about and do that, then I have to leave space in my baggage to carry that stuff for them.
I think I'll just buy 2 boxes of Turkish Delights at the airport on my way back and consider the souvenirs done. They can go into the pantry snack cupboard. And as to why I consider Turkish Delights as souvenir from the UK... it's been ingrained in my brain.... I actually had a colleague who's from Turkey, and he would sometimes go on holiday and visit his daughter in the UK. He'd bring a particular brand of Turkish Delights that's more chocolate than the gel candy and it's actually good. I remember him saying that it's not because he's Turkish, it's just because that particular brand is just that good, and that he buys it at the Heathrow airport on the way back. Granted, I don't remember the brand LOL, neither the box design, but it's now in my head "souvenir from the UK = Turkish Delights". I'll see when I'm there.
And then you get sick.
I've been careful. I have a cardigan at the office, so I can go to work and out and around without taking a jacket with me. But sometimes if I go somewhere without dropping by at the office, then I'll be caught out cold.
The forecast for London says it will be in the teens and low-teens for the duration of my stay. But I don't know why I've got a sneaky suspicion I'll die of overheating while there, especially during the noon times when the sun is out. Did I mention I actually got a tan while in London in May 2006? In the London Eye too. We were roasted alive in there. It was brutal.
All pertinent tickets are in place. I've paid off all my credit cards so I have full credit limit on all of them. I've got the old cash ready. But. Now that I think about it, should I keep some of the Queen silhouette notes? Since now it's King Charles, they'll eventually change out the cash notes again................? But even if I keep one each of the Queen notes, it's a.... "For what?" I'm no collector, I'm also no reseller etc. And apparently London is trying to go "cashless", I've booked 2 restaurants that states "We are cashless. Bring your credit cards."
I guess I should write up a list of souvenirs to get. Because a colleague gave out Panadol tablets as "souvenir" a few months back, it sounds like my colleagues are expecting me to bring the same. And this is why I hate getting souvenirs or announcing to the office that I'm going on holiday. The expectation for souvenirs.
Not to mention those that have the audacity to ask you to help them buy stuff. "You're going to Europe? Help me buy this and this and this and this!" The thing is:
- That means I have to allot some of MY holiday time to run THEIR errand.
- Most of the time they don't give me the money for that, which, since they are asking for a favor to buy stuff, I'd say it's best if they give the money first, but then, it's actually BETTER that they DON'T give me money, because then I'm not OBLIGATED to run that errand for them.
- Say I do go about and do that, then I have to leave space in my baggage to carry that stuff for them.
I think I'll just buy 2 boxes of Turkish Delights at the airport on my way back and consider the souvenirs done. They can go into the pantry snack cupboard. And as to why I consider Turkish Delights as souvenir from the UK... it's been ingrained in my brain.... I actually had a colleague who's from Turkey, and he would sometimes go on holiday and visit his daughter in the UK. He'd bring a particular brand of Turkish Delights that's more chocolate than the gel candy and it's actually good. I remember him saying that it's not because he's Turkish, it's just because that particular brand is just that good, and that he buys it at the Heathrow airport on the way back. Granted, I don't remember the brand LOL, neither the box design, but it's now in my head "souvenir from the UK = Turkish Delights". I'll see when I'm there.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-21 12:06 (UTC)I was there the year they had a real heatwave. We were in Broadway, staying in a little B&B. Our room was on the top floor (what once must have been the attic,) and it was brutal. One small window that didn't open up very wide. I'd wet my pajamas down and sleep soaking wet. After a couple of hours I'd dry off, wake up, and have to do it all over again. There was one restaurant in the entire town that had A/C. Everyone was eating there!
no subject
Date: 2023-04-21 18:56 (UTC)Oh wow, I could never imagine just outright asking anyone to go and buy stuff for me while on holiday! Maybe it's a cultural difference but to me that just seems rude.
Turkish Delight is so good! ♥