London 2005

I haven't been blogging the last 6-7 weeks. This is partly because I've been averaging 1 book or movie per day, but mostly because I ran out of things to say. I will start again soon. In the meantime, this is an announcement I heard when travelling on the Jubilee line. (The train had halted at North Greenwich.)

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're being held at this station for a while. This is because, you're not going to believe this, but we're slightly early! We're not due at North Greenwich for another 60 seconds. Once again, I apologise for the delay, which is because we're early.

I was travelling on the Jubilee line, just pulling into Stratford (the last stop), when I heard this announcement.

"The next station is Stratford, where this train terminates. Thank you for travelling on the Jubilee line, and I hope you have a very pleasant evening."

(pause)

"Unless, of course, you were the person who pulled the passenger alarm at Westminster, in which case I don't care what kind of an evening you have."

I had declared 30th May 2005 as my longest day. Air India proved me wrong. My longest day was 18 Feb 2006.

I didn't plan to fly Air India to Chennai in the first place. British Airways had more convenient timings and a similar fare. But I clicked on the wrong button, and didn't realise until a few days before the flight that I was on the Air India, and that the flight left at 8:45am.

4:30am UK. Wake up. Brush teeth. Bathe. All items packed previous night.
5:10am UK. Taxi arrives and calls. Great timing.
6:05am UK. Arrive at Heathrow Terminal 3. Good timing.
6:10am UK. Huge queue near Emirates counter. Can't be mine. Walk in.
6:11am UK. "Excuse me," says elderly lady. "The queue is back there." For my flight?
6:30am UK. Still in queue. Slow panic. I have 27 kgs of cabin baggage. 20 kgs permitted. Will they torture me with pins?
6:45am UK. Sardarji waves me in. I try a smile.
6:46am UK. Heave cabin baggage on to the ramp. 27.2 kg. Sardarji makes no comment.
6:47am UK. "I'm afraid there's some bad news, Mr Subramanian."
OK, this is it.
It costs 1,000 per kilo.
I'm not allowed on the flight.
I have to compensate by shedding 7 kgs on the spot.
"The flight is delayed by 4 hours."
Whew.
"Here is your boarding card, and a complementary coupon for breakfast."
7:00am UK. Call home and convey good news. The flight will therefore land at 7:15am at Chennai -- a more decent hour than 3:15am.
8:00am UK. Bored.
8:30am UK. May as well pass security check.
8:40am UK. "Sorry sir. This boarding pass says 19th Feb. Today is the 18th."
Huh? "But my ticket says 18th Feb."
"You'll have to go back to Air India and check with them, sir."
8:45am UK. Long queue again.
9:00am UK. "Excuse me, this boarding card says 19th Feb. I'm flying today."
Lady takes my ticket and vanishes.
9:15am UK. "Sorry sir, since the flight was delayed, the computer thought it was tomorrow already. Just take the pass, and they will accept it."
"Are you sure?"
"Certainly sir."
"Well, just to be on the safe side, could you call them and tell them?"
"I will, sir."
"Right now?"
"Yes, sir."
"In front of me, please?"
She gives me a funny look, and picks up the phone.
9:25am UK. At the security gate.
"Excuse me, I have a boarding card for tomorrow, but I'm actually flying today."
"Hey, Mike..." (... here's a nutcase?)
"It's an Air India flight..."
"Oh, OK. Get in."
9:45am UK. Clear security.
11:00am UK. Hungry. Have breakfast.
12:45pm UK. Flight should have taken off by now, but I'm still at Heathrow, waiting for a boarding announcement.
1:45pm UK. Still waiting.
2:45pm UK. Finally, a boarding announcement. So, flight is 6 hours late, at least. Call home and convey the good news.
3:00pm UK. "Fasten your seatbelt! Fasten your seatbelt!" Air hostess in stern tone.
Guy next to me mutters, "Fasten your seatbelts, please."
5:30pm UK."Any food?!" Same air hostess, same tone.
"Vegetarian, please."
"Open your tray!"
6:00pm UK. Food is lousy. No movies. No books. Laptop: low battery. Can't sleep.

4:00am India. Flight lands at Mumbai. Haven't slept. Totally bored.
4:30am India."All passengers are requested to leave the aircraft."
"But I'm going to Chennai."
"You still have to get off, sir."
5:00am India. "Excuse me, which way for the flight to Chennai?"
"Your flight has already taken off, sir. Please collect your baggage and clear immigration."
Right.
5:30am India. No luggage yet. Slow panic.
6:00am India. No luggage yet. Rapid panic.
6:10am India. Luggage arrives. Check tag: yes, it's mine.
6:15am India. "Excuse me, where should Air India passengers for Chennai go to?"
"Why are you asking me? How should I know? Everybody is asking like this only!"
"But..."
"Go! Go there! Stand with everyone!"
6:30am India. Huge mob shouting at Air India staff, who have no clue what's happening.
7:30am India. Air India staff has vanished.
8:30am India. Rumours that we're to be put on to a Jet Airways flight.
Chennai passengers are OK, actually. Bangalore passengers only have flights in the evening.
9:00am India. "Go! Take this form and go to the other airport!"
"Is my ticket confirmed on this Jet Airways flight?"
"How do I know? Everything you ask me only. Go! Ask Jet!"
9:30am India. "Excuse me, am I confirmed on the 11:30am flight?"
"Sorry, sir. The flight is booked."
"Look, I've been travelling for a whole day. I'm tired. Can you please do something?"
"I'll see what I can do, sir."
To her credit, and Jet Airways', she got me on that flight.
11:30am India. Jet Airways takes off. On time.
1:30pm India. Flight arrives.
2:00pm India. No luggage. Did Air India transfer it at all?
2:15pm India. Ah, there it is. Pick up luggage from conveyer belt.
"Wait! Sorry, this is my bag."
Middle-aged man with glasses and thick moustache.
"Um..."
"See? Here's my yellow tag. I always place a yellow tag for identification."
"Oh, OK. Sorry. It looked like mine."
Just to be on the safe side, may as well verify the number...
But he's gone.
2:30pm India. No luggage. All other bags have arrived.
"Hello sir. Waiting for luggage?"
"Yes. Are there any more bags left?"
"No sir. Only one bag left here. See, is this yours?"
I check. "No."
"No problem sir, you talk to Jet Airways counter."
2:40pm India. Jet Airways counter still empty.
2:45pm India. "Sir, this must be an exchange of bags. Does this bag look like yours?"
"Yes, sort of. In fact, someone picked up what looked like my bag."
2:50pm India. "We have the number of the owner of this bag, sir. We'll call him."
"Let me call him as well."
Mobile is engaged. Leave him a message.
Hi, I think our bags got exchanged. I am still at the airport. Anand.
3:00pm India. Rrring.
"Sorry, sir. I took your bag by mistake!"
"No problem. You wouldn't have wanted a bag full of diapers anyway."
"I got confused by the yellow tag."
"My mother uses a yellow tag as well."
3:15pm India. We exchange bags.
3:45pm India. Reach home, after nearly 30 hours.

My flight back to the UK was (relatively) uneventful, thanks to having tied pink, yellow and white bands to my luggage this time.

Had tea at the Ritz today. Initially, after reading that "Gentlemen are politely requested to keep their jackets and ties on during tea", my reaction was rather like Calvin's.

But the tea (Earl Grey) was outstanding. So were the scones, sandwiches and desserts. Although most people were ladies above 60, the younger ones were among the most beautiful I've seen in London.

Innocent in London.

LONDON (Reuters): - A London underground train station was evacuated and part of a main east-west line closed in a security alert on Thursday, three weeks after suicide bombers killed 52 people on the transport network, police said. A Transport Police spokeswoman said Southwark station was closed and Jubilee Line services suspended between Waterloo and Canary Wharf in the east London business district.

This Reuters story was written while the police were detaining me in Southwark tube station and the bomb squad was checking my rucksack. When they were through, the two explosive specialists walked out of the tube station smiling and commenting nice laptop. The officers offered apologies on behalf of the Metropolitan Police. Then they arrested me.

ALL MEN ARE SUSPECT. BUT SOME MEN ARE MORE SUSPECT THAN OTHERS. (with apologies to George Orwell)

I need to get used to the British way of responding with "No" when they really agree with you. For example, in response to "The weather's not looking good," I would say "Yeah." The British say "No." (No, it isn't.) It's a bit jarring -- feels like they're disagreeing. For instance,

"London isn't expensive." "No." (what? you're saying it's expensive?)

"I don't have a ticket." "No." (what? you're telling me I have a ticket?)

"There's not enough room." "No."

etc. Quite disorienting. I guess it's also a little more hard work. You have to keep track of when to say "Yes" and when to say "No".

I got on to a taxi at the station. As usual, I sat in the front. When the engine was turned on, it started making loud siren noises.

"Oh, you have to put your seatbelts on, you see," the driver said. So, I did.

"It's really annoying," he continued. "You'd think it'd shout a few times and then shut up, but no, it just goes on and on."

"Well, good isn't it," I countered, "if it's the law to have your seatbelts on if you're sitting in the front?"

"Actually, you've got to have seatbelts on even if you're in the back. But funny, they haven't got any sirens if you don't put your seatbelts on in the back!"

"Pity," I said.

"Yeah. It was driving me mad. I had to buy a second-hand seatbelt and plug it in to my clasp, to stop the sound."

I noticed, at that point, that he wasn't wearing a seatbelt. I didn't notice if any other taxi drivers wore them. So after considerable deliberation, I ventured.

"You don't have your seatbelt on."

"Yeah. That's right."

He said it with confidence. I didn't want to debate it with him, but I was curious.

"Why?"

"Well, because you might assualt me!"

A beat.

This was after the London bomb blasts. And I do look Asian. But surely!

"I mean, it's tough enough having to drive, without having to worry about passenger assault."

He proceeded to explain the seatbelt laws to me. "I don't need to wear a seatbelt when I'm with a passenger, you see. When I'm not, I need to -- except mostly people don't do that if it's short trips. And if I'm going outside my area, even if I'm with a passenger, I need to. Of course, I'd like to anyway, because it's safer. But lorry drivers, for example, don't need a seatbelt. That's downright unsafe, with their low steering..."

Which is all very fine, but I wonder why he thought I would assault him.

I cross the prime meridien almost every day. I live 0 degrees 5 minutes east of the prime meridien. I travel to Liverpool Street usually, which is 0 degrees 5 minutes west of the prime meridien. The station closest to the meridien, on my route, is Stratford, which stretches from 7 seconds to 17 seconds west of the meridien.

Of course, crossing the prime meridien has no time-zone related significance like the international date line. But it does mean that I travel to the western hemisphere and back every day.

There is a place near Stratford station called Meridien Square. Should visit it some time.

I went to Waterstones at Oxford Street to see the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. There was a party the previous night, with all the fanfare associated with a previous night. But things seemed fairly quiet when I was there. The usual crowd at Oxford Street, and the usual crowd at Waterstones.

I already knew who dies in the sixth book. I couldn't help spotting it as I was reading some blog. Since the suspense was already spoilt, I opened to the last few pages, and ended up learning who the Half-Blood Prince was.

I met Leonard Payne, The Priest, Andrea Casalotti and Scott Caplan at the London Marketing Soiree. Quite a diverse bunch of people. Leonard quoted Seth Godin on something neither he nor I will never forget.

They say, if a website is well designed, people will find what they want. That's not true. Think of the visitors as monkeys, wearing a 'Big Red Fez', going itchy on the keyboard. What's the one thing on the monkey's mind?

Where's the banana!?

We had a conference call planned at 8:00am. Reva was to join in from India. We got on to the call, and were done by 8:40am.
9:10am: SMS. Waited in conference now off to lunch
9:56am: Mail. You didnt initiate the call!
10:03am: Reply. I guess you dialled in at 9am UK time. We had the call at 8am.
3:17pm: Mail. I dialled at 8 GMT = 13.30 IST ? Correct?
3:19pm: Reply. Ah, no. We're 4.5 hours ahead.
3:25pm: Mail. Great Britain is one hour ahead of GMT during summer!
3:53pm: Reply. Yeah, you're right -- most people don't realise Greenwich isn't always on Greenwich Mean Time :-)

There are explosions all over London. We are fine.

The public transport reacted beautifully to the damage. I had to take Bus 259 from Finsbury Park to Tottenham Police Station. As I waited at the bus stop, I saw a 259 double decker pull in. Followed by another. And another. And another. Four double-decker buses following one after the other -- and they ended up getting filled. Almost felt like a train, except without rails and a floor above.

If it weren't happening to me, I'd appreciate the British sense of humour.
I was at the King's Cross station, buying tickets for the next week at a counter.
"Hi, um... I already have a zone 1-5 pass..."
"Con-gra-tu-LAY-tions!"

The next London Geek Dinner is on July 11th. I've registered.

King's Cross station. 6:20pm. I'm rushing along to catch the next train to Liverpool Street, when a jacket and suitcase step in front of me.
"Salaam alekum."
This has happened to me before. 5 years ago. My response hasn't changed.
"Huh?
"Salaam alekum?"
"Huh?
"SALAAM ALEKUM?"
"Huh?
"Aap Pakistani ho?"
"No, India actually." (smile)
"I just lost my wallet, and I don't have a ticket. Could you please help me?"
I had all of 5 pounds in my pocket. And I needed that.
"I don't have cash on me, just a card." (I meant my travel card. I didn't have a credit card then.) "Have you tried the Information desk, there? They could help you out, perhaps."
"Oh, I asked them. But they said I needed a ticket. Even if you have a credit card, that's fine." Hmm, that's being pretty leading...
"Well, if you go over to the Information desk, they can direct you to the nearby police station. And I'm sure the police will find you a way to get home."
No response.
"OK, let me take you to the Information desk. We'll ask for the police station."
"No, no, no. That's OK. I'll find my way. Thanks. Bye!"
Vanishes.
Not only am I becoming more socially astute, I'm even beginning to become smart.

Among the various technology gizmos I've seen at the UK, this is the best. Our flat has a security system that does not allow anyone without an electronic key to enter. As with most flats, there is a panel on which you can dial the flat number and speak to the owner. Usually this is connected to an intercom in the flat. I was initially surprised that there was no intercom in our flat.
It turns out, you can program the system to dial your mobile phone or land line. So when I'm at office, I get a call from the "House Door Panel", as it identifies itself. I speak to the person at the entrance, press 0 on my phone, and the door automatically opens! In fact, this is how I let myself in when I don't have keys.

I'm fairly stingy. When it comes to books, I've always taken it to extremes.
For example, I've read several Asimov novels at Landmark (Chennai). I'd walk into the stoor, pick up an Asimov, just stand there (no seats) and read for 4 hours. After the neck-ache becomes unbearable, I'd leave and come back the next day.
I got pretty tech-savvy once I got a laptop and a mobile phone. I would walk over to bookshops, note down the names of interesting books on my mobile, and download books in digital format. I've a pretty large collection now.
Last week, I went over to Waterstone's at Oxford Street. Armed with a cameraphone, I had the ability to even take pictures of books I wanted to read.
A few days ago, I discovered the Redbridge Council Libraries. Council libraries are free. Well-stocked. Well-spread. I casually walked in to one of them, and as I strolled through the aisles, I had more goose-bumps than I've ever had in a long time. The collection is excellent!
A few minutes ago, I've perfected the art of stingy book reading. Here's my six-step process.

After a long time, things started going right for a change.
7:15pm: Get out of office.
7:22pm: Walk into train platform exactly as the train arrives. The right train.
7:40pm: Long walk to change trains at London Bridge. Once again, the train arrives bang on cue.
7:47pm: Another change of platform at Bank. Train to Newbury Park arrives almost immediately.
8:15pm: Out of Newbury Park station.
That was easily the shortest ride I had from Croydon to Newbury Park. Probably will continue to be the shortest ever.

For a long time, I thought the problems associated with getting an American visas was mainly for Indians. Today, I met someone at a Lebanese restaurant near Marble Arch. (It's called Maroush III. There are at least a couple of other Maroushs in the area.) He's a consultant, and has been travelling around the globe for over 20 years.

He recently flew from Boston to Bangalore. Without a visa. Why? Because he would be issued a visa at the port of entry, of course. Stands in the queue. Hands his passport to the officer. The officer leafs through the pages. Halts. Studies each page very carefully. Gets puzzled.
"Where is the visa?"
"I don't have one. So please issue me on."
At this, the official is startled. "Come this way, please." And they go into a room in some corner. Left alone for a while. Two officials come back with lots of forms.
While patiently filling the forms, one of the officials says, "You'll have to go back, you know?"
There must have been a faint smile as he said it. "No, you're just kidding me!"
"No, no. You must go back on this flight to London."
Disbelief. "Ha, ha! Quite funny. You're just pulling my leg. Now, just give me a visa."
"No, really. You must return by this flight immediately.
Having travelled for 16 hours from Boston, he heads back to London spending another 8 hours on the flight.
He is, incidentally, the only person I know (Indian or otherwise) who would have to tick "Yes" to the question "Have you ever been refused entry at the port of disembarkation?"
P.S. He DID get an Indian visa later. It was a painless process -- apply in the morning, collect in the evening.

We were staying at the Croydon Park Hotel, on the second floor. There were two elevators, and one of them was down for maintenance. I was walking into the other elevator as the maintenance man stepped in as well. He started pressing the elevator buttons: one, two...
"Oh, sorry sir. I was doing some maintenance on the other lift. I didn't want this lift to come down for some time. You go right ahead."
He stepped out, with the first and second floors lit up. I thought I'd help him a bit. Pressed 3, 4, 5, ... every button there was in the lift
I got out at the second floor. A tall, well-dressed man got in to the elevator. Turned around. Looked at me.
"Is this going down?"
Before I could answer, the doors shut.
Hope he enjoyed the view of every floor in the hotel.

I always wondered what cuisines were famous other than the ones I knew (Indian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Italian, Lebanese, Continental). I'd heard of Ethiopian food from Rajeev Ved, but never of Argentinian and Spanish. I spotted a couple of menu cards while walking down Croydon.

There was a geek dinner at London yesterday. Pity I didn't know about it.

We were looking for houses for rent in the Ilford area. The most striking thing, apart from how old the houses were, was that all of them had just a single bathroom. No separate toilet. I learnt the importance of having multiple toilets several years ago, and was only reiterated early in the morning this weekend where one toilet and one bathroom were shared by six of us at Swindon.
The reason, I was told by a very courteous young Punjabi, is that the Councils used to tax buildings based on the number of their toilets. So you would find three bedroom buildings with one toilet, four bedroom buildings with one toilet, ...
Which still doesn't explain why most of the houses have toilets only on the first floor.

Here's how expensive London is, in terms of clothing.

Item	London (GBP)	India (Rs)	Costlier by
Socks	5	100	4X
T-shirt	10	350	2.3X
Reversible jacket	30	2000	1.2X
Formal shoes	25	1500	1.3X
Cooling glasses	10	150	5.3X
Suitcase	56	1500	3X

Nothing's less expensive than in India.
Similarly for groceries.

Item	London	India	Costlier by
Curd 1/2 kg	0.45	18	2X
Cucumber (one)	0.49	3	13.1X
Beans (250g)	0.99	20	4X
Baby corn (125g)	0.99	18	4.4X
Carrot (kg)	0.45	24	1.5X
Cabbage (kg)	0.52	18	2.3X
Cauliflower (one)	0.69	25	2.2X
Spinach (kg)	4.3	??	0X
Onion (kg)	0.46	10	3.7X
Chilli (kg)	4.39	8	43.9X
Cashew (kg)	15.9	360	3.5X
Apple (kg)	1.29	60	1.7X
Milk (litre)	0.6	18	2.7X

Time: early in the morning, waiting for office to open.
Location: public phone booth.
Situation: calling a mobile number in London.
Insert coin
20p goes in. Press button to push coin in.
Credit: 20p
10p goes in. Press button again.
Credit 30p
Call mobile number...
07xxxxxxx
"Hi Malu, this is Shobana."
Credit remaining: 20p
"We..."
Credit remaining: 19p
"...just..."
Credit remaining: 18p
"...got..."
Credit remaining: 17p
"...here..."
Credit remaining: 16p
"...last..."
Credit remaining: 15p
"...night..."
Credit remaining: 14p
"...and..."
Credit remaining: 13p
"...are..."
Credit remaining: 12p
"...staying..."
Credit remaining: 11p
"...at..."
Credit remaining: 10p
"...a..."
Credit remaining: 9p
"...hotel."
Credit remaining: 8p
"OK..."
Credit remaining: 7p
"...I..."
Credit remaining: 6p
"...will..."
Credit remaining: 5p
"...call..."
Credit remaining: 4p
"...you..."
Credit remaining: 3p
"...back..."
Credit remaining: 2p
"...later..."
Credit remaining: 1p
"...bye."
Credit remaining: 0p

The longest day.
We relocated to London on 30th May. This was one of the longest days of my life.
5:30am India. Wake up. Brush teeth. Bathe. Shave. Pack toiletries.
6:25am India. All set. Leave the house.
6:26am India. Forgot spectacles. Rush back and get them. Forgot many other things, but ignore them.
7:15am India. Long queue outside the airport to get an entry ticket.
7:25am India. Long queue in front of the security machine.
7:35am India. Very long queue to check into Emirates Air.
7:55am India. "Sorry sir. Your luggage is 38 kgs overweight."
"Can I pay for the excess baggage?"
"Sure. That will be Rs. 1,107..."
"No problem."
"... per kilo."
(long pause)
"OK, I'll take some things out."
8:00am India. Unpack bags. Remove pickles -- about 5 kilos. Go back to security counter. Seal bag again.
8:10am India. Back at check-in counter.
"Sorry sir, you're allowed only 40 kgs. I can stretch that to 60. You'll have to pay for the remaining 13 kgs."
"Could I pay for 5 kgs, please? That's all I have money for."
"No, sorry. If you were flying to Dubai, that might've been fine. But you're heading to London, and there might be problems on that sector."
"Please?"
"Can you pay for 8 kgs?"
8:20am India. Scrape all the cash available with relatives. Rs. 9,000 available. Barely.
8:25am India. Stand in queue to pay Rs 8,856 for excess baggage.
8:40am India. "Sorry sir. Excess baggage is to be paid in the next counter."
8:45am India. Finally pay for baggage. Back to check-in counter. Wait in queue
8:50am India. All settled. Say "Goodbye" to everyone. Walk over to immigration.
8:55am India. "Sorry sir. You need to have filled these forms. You can't fill them up while standing in the queue."
9:00am India. Forms filled in. Stand in another long queue for immigration.
9:15am India. "No, sir. You don't need a customs document for your digital camera."
"OK, but can I please have one? Just to be safe... It's been a tough day so far."
9:20am India. Customs cleared. Walk over to security.
9:25am India. "Sorry sir. The customs seal isn't on your boarding passes."
9:30am India. Walk back to customs, get stamp, go through the security machine.
9:32am India. "Sorry sir, no scissors allowed."
"OK." (dump scissors)
"Are you carrying any spoons?"
"No... why?"
"Can you please unpack this bag?"
Long search for spoon reveals some puja items. Duly entered and signed for.
9:43am India. We board the flight. Flight departure time is 9:45am.
10:10am India. "What would you like to have, sir?"
"Apple juice, please."
"Sorry, sir. We're just out of apple juice..."
10:40am India. "Could you please ask the person in front to sit straight? We can't eat!"
12:15pm Dubai. We land. Long queue for transit security.
12:45pm Dubai. Beep. Security alarm goes off. "Sorry sir. You'll have to take off your shoes."
1:15pm Dubai. Try calling a relative at Dubai. Credit card doesn't work.
1:30pm Dubai. Try again. This time, the number doesn't work.
2:00pm Dubai. "Excuse me, but are you boarding my seat number now?"
"Yes sir. Please go right ahead!"
My best moment of the day.
2:45pm Dubai. "Excuse me, the movies aren't working on my screen."
6:40pm UK. Flight lands without further incidents. Long queue for immigration.
7:30pm UK. "I'm afraid I have to detain you for health control, sir, since you're staying for more than 6 months."
8:00pm UK. Realisation that we don't have a chest x-ray.
8:30pm UK. "Sorry sir. You'll need a chest x-ray. Please wait here with the others."
8:40pm UK. "Sorry sir. You'll need to take off your shirt."
8:45pm UK. "Sorry sir. You'll have to take off that white thread as well for the x-ray."
9:00pm UK. Clear immigration, and pick up baggage. Walk to foreign exchange.
9:05pm UK. "I need to make a call. Could I have change for 10 pounds, please?"
"Sorry sir, all I have are one pound coins. You'll lose a fair bit if you use these for calls."
"Excellent."
9:10pm UK. Call car company. "Sorry sir. The driver waited until 7:00pm and left."
9:15pm UK. Very hungry. Walk over to coffee shop. "Could I have that casserole, please?"
"The ham & cheese, sir?"
"Oh... no. Anything vegetarian?"
"That will be 3 pounds 10, sir."
I pass him a five pound note.
"Sorry sir. These are old notes. You can get them changed at the travel counter."
10:00pm UK. Driver arrives. We leave for Jurys Inn.
10:05pm UK. Driver's parking pass doesn't work at the machine.
11:00pm UK. Jurys Inn. "Can you please help us with our luggage?"
"Sorry sir, most of our staff have left..."
11:15pm UK. Sleep. Almost instantly