Day 3

Lesson 15: Steer clear of the late night Chinese food

I don't really know about anyone else, but after a few drinks all I want is cheap, disgustingly delicious and oily Chinese food. The bar we went to last night was right at the end of Chinatown, so we figured it couldn't be that bad. Clearly, we were wrong. When we walked in there was a sign saying that they wouldn't serve people without an ID.......we later found out they didn't even have a liquor license. Misleading bastards. Strike 1. Once we walked up the 3 flights of stairs to the seating area (they're lucky I enjoy feeling taller and superior to those outside while I eat) I started paging through the menu, only to find NO SESAME CHICKEN, NO CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI, and NO LO MEIN WHATSOEVER. Don't they know that these are the basic staples of the drunk American college student's post-bar diet??? Strikes 2, 3, and 4. I wound up having to get "egg fried rice" (scrambled eggs mixed with plain white rice) and 4 spring rolls which could have easily been someone's deep fried amputated fingers. Oh well.

Lesson 16: Subway sticks to its American roots

My 6 inch turkey on wheat with lettuce tomatoes pickles olives and mayo in London tastes exactly the same as it does at home. And it's still a 6 inch sandwich. Not a 15.24cm sandwich. Delicious. Jared/Michael Phelps would be proud.

Lesson 17: Workers here are not half as selfish as they are in the states, or maybe they're just shitty salespeople

Unlike the pretentious bastards at the Apple store who pretend there is no way to move your music from your iPod to your computer because they don't want you using someone else's freeware (even though they are huge nerds and I'm sure probably wrote that program before they sold out to Apple retail), the people in stores here are more than happy to direct you elsewhere to find something that better suits your needs. There were two different stores that weren't able to give me EXACTLY what I wanted for a cell phone plan. When I asked if there were any other stores that they thought could give me what I wanted, they just pointed me to another store--no attempt to convince me to try something a little different, no lies saying that no one would be able to give me what I wanted. I was NOT used to this. I was so ready for the used car salesman-esque attempt to convince me that what they were selling was what I REALLY needed.