Kid's Return

I walked to Amsterdam central station without using my map. I had to pay for my ticket to the airport using Maestro as I didn't have any change and the ticket machines didn't take 20 Euro notes. I found the Easyjet check-in desk and joined the queue. It was already quite long, even though check in had only been open for 10 minutes or so. I passed through security, and went to the departure gate.

Arrived at London Luton airport at 8:45am. It was the most pathetic airport I've ever seen. Took a train into central London, then took the tube to London Liverpool Street station when I could catch a train to Norwich. I noticed that several people on the train had portable DVD players. I might get one soon. My aunt picked me up from the station, which saved me from the hellish experience of getting a bus.

Ate pasta alla carbonara for lunch.

Had a long bath.

Listened to The Clash.

Dim Sum Buffet

I woke up several time during the night and the morning. I kept thinking about the fact that I have to go to the dentist in a couple of weeks. It will be the first time I've had to have dental work done for 15 years.

At 9am I decided to wake Mike up so we could go down to breakfast. The breakfast was
included in the price for staying the night and was pretty good. There was a lot of stuff including cheese, meat, cereal, various breads, fruit, cake etc. I saw a couple of German guys at the table next to us who were filling there pockets with food, enough to last them a few days.

At 10am we went back to our room and chatted for hours about computers, film, music, travel and more computers. At 3pm we were getting hungry so we went out in search of food. I had noticed a Dim Sum buffet restaurant which only charged 7.5 Euros for all you could eat. To our surprise it was open so we ate there. After lunch Mike wanted to go to a coffee shop so we spent some time sitting in the Bulldog coffee shop in Leidesplein. It's not the kind of place I would usually go but they served great hot chocolate.

Hairy Mary

Took the train to Amsterdam at 1pm. The journey takes about 30 minutes. When I arrived at Amsterdam Central station I decided to make my way to the hostel on foot, following the tram lines. It proved to be somewhat further than I had imagined, but at least I got to see quite a bit of the city. When I reached the hostel I realised that it was the one I had stayed at when I last visited Amsterdam 7 years ago with my good friend Dr Edward Bearskin. While I was about to leave the room to go for a walk, a youngish looking guy arrived. He looked Japanese so I started talking to him. He was in fact fifth generation American-Chinese. We got on well together straight away, and talked about computers for several hours. I haven't shaved since I left England so I'm getting rather hairy.