Well great start to the holiday with Qatar staff giving me a bum deal telling me that it was a 40 minute walk to the terminal which only took 15 minutes and ruined my chances to have dinner with Joanne and Nick.

Bonus though that I got three seats to myself for the first leg of my journey which meant I could sleep on the plane. This was a blessing for the 13 hour flight. When I got to Doha they wouldn't let me on my connecting flight because the plane landed 30 minutes late, grrrr. So I decided to have a cigarette in the airport smoking room. OMG what an experience. You have this room with no ventilation and full of men. One step in the room and you didn't need to light up as there was so much smoke billowing around you could just inhale the air.

So I hop on my next leg of the flight which was only seven hours but full of screaming kids. Joy Oh Joy... But i did get to watch six movies while flying over - Pirates! Band of Misfits; Journey 2 - The Mysterious Island; Mirror, Mirror; This Means War; The Lucky One & Salmon Fishing in Yemen.

As soon as I got of the flight I got ripped off by airport Express train in a completely innocent way. A lovely man offered me a ticket for the Heathrow Express as soon as I got out of customs. He then asked if I would be returning in 30 days. I said yes, so he informed me it would be cheaper to buy a return. I hand over my £34 and took my ticket but because I was wearing my contacts I couldn't read what the ticket said and proceeded to the train. Once on the train and I could get my glasses out I noticed the ticket was for a single ride. The conductor on the train was very nice and told me to see the office at Paddington Station. Once at the office I saw the manager, who was surprised that I was laughing about it, and he very nicely gave me a complimentary ticket for my returns and hoped that I had a lovely time in London.

So my next adventure was experiencing the Underground... Let me tell you here and now I hate the Underground - it is small, hot, and you feel like a sardine. Absolutely no air-conditioning on the damn thing and very confusing. I purchased an Oyster card (English version of the Miki Card) and put £20 on it and found my way to Piccadilly Circus.

An amazing tourist place full of tourist and no pigeons, I think the tourist scared them away. I proceed to get my camera out to take the usual photos to find my UV lens had broke and I couldn't unscrew it so I decided to go and get an alcoholic drink at Thank God It's Friday and promptly lost my Oyster card. Yay having so much fun so far.

Due to being late on arrival my timing was not going as planned and before I knew it was time to meet Jessi. This was an adventure in itself. Of course the train I had to catch was upstairs an no elevator in sight. After dragging my cases up the stairs I caught the train in peak hour. Let's just say the British aren't very happy or considerate after a full days work. Finally got to Liverpool St Station and up another set of stairs to wait for my niece.

Found her fairly easily and we headed to Highams Park where Chris was waiting for us. We went straight to The Carvery, Chris & Jessi's favourite restaurant. I can see why this was a favourite, you can get a choice of 4 roasts, a yorkshire pudding and as much vegetables as you want for £6.95 and for another £1.50 a bottomless glass of soft drink. We had to wait for a table so I asked Chris to buy me an English beer and guess what he came back with - a Fosters!!!! WTF....

All in all a good day be it a long day...