Glad to be Back

So, Friday was my last day over in the UK. It wasn't very eventful but the folks in the office did pull together rather nicely and organise a last lunch out ... me thinks they knew the bosses weren't around and all wanted a beer in the pub ;) Anyway, it was as good an excuse as any and we headed to The Banker.

Lunch was quite good actually ... although a bit of a strange system. You decide what you want off the menu, pay for it and then queue for it to be dished up before heading back to your table. It just means with a table as large as ours, some people have almost finished eating as others start. No biggie. I had some yummy Cod in honey & coconut crumb stuff - tricky to explain, but it was good :)

And then it was back to the hotel to reclaim my luggage and off to the airport for some serious duty-free shopping :) Got dad his requested Dom Benedictine B&B and I got Varen & myself some smellies. I got him Diesel's Fuel for Life and myself Marc Jacob's Daisy. So far they are smelling divine :)

And then it was time for my 11 hour flight back to Jhb. Didn't sleep much, watched two movies tho ... first Bee Movie and then Stardust.

Born to bee wild.
Bee Movie is a comedy that will change everything you think you know about bees. Having just graduated from college, a bee by the name of Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) finds himself disillusioned with the prospect of having only one career choice – honey. As he ventures outside of the hive for the first time, he breaks one of the cardinal rules of the bee world and talks to a human, a New York City florist named Vanessa (Renée Zellweger). He is shocked to discover that the humans have been stealing and eating the bees' honey for centuries, and ultimately realizes that his true calling in life is to set the world right by suing the human race for stealing their precious honey.

This was quite cute, but I'm glad I didn't waste a perfectly good big-screen viewing on it. It was cute enough but only pretty average with a poor ending. I'm sure the kiddies loved it tho :)

Tristan Thorne (Charlie Cox) is the son of Dunstan Thorne and Una, a captive princess. The couple met only one night and fell in love instantly. Unfortunately, when Tristan was born, Una was not allowed to keep him and instead sent him to live with his father. She put in his basket a "Babylon candle", and a letter to Tristan explaining everything. The story then jumps to Tristan as a young man, in love with the prettiest girl (Victoria) in a small English town (Wall Village). He is desperate to bring her a newly fallen star by her birthday. He uses the candle to fly to where the star landed, which is not in England but a magical land called Stormhold. But then he discovers that the star is not what he expected. It is actually a beautiful, young and spirited woman named Yvaine (Claire Danes).

I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this 2 & half hour film ... it hadn't really appealed while showing on big-screen. And even tho I don't especially like Claire Danes, it was very well cast. I had a good laugh at Robert de Niro's character :) I'd recommend this if you're in the mood for light fantasy (I think I just made up a new genre!)

And finally at 7am on Saturday morning, I arrived back in Sunny South Africa. I eased thru passport control (this is honestly the only time I've been thru when there have been more than 2 people working there!) and hung around waiting for my luggage before breezing thru customs - shoo!

Varen was waiting with a smile :) Boy was I thrilled to see him ... the sweet boy had been there an hour & half already, eager for my arrival. And so we headed home where I proceeded to unpack my bag sufficiently over the bedroom floor to get our all the gifts (which he loved) and then passed out for the next few hours (while he played his new Pony Slaystation games) :)

Saturday was very hot for me and I could barely manage being outside or without the fan. But by Sunday I had re-adjusted to the comparative "heat". We grabbed some Ghazal's take-out for lunch and stocked up at PnP and spent the rest of Saturday lounging around and watching series.

Sunday was equally lazy, although while Varen was off drooling at mph, I properly unpacked my bags and sorted thru some of the other stuff I'd moved but had yet to unpack. Mostly I wasn't in the mood for much.

And now, I'm back at work ... adjusting to being back in traffic instead of enjoying the brisk walk between the tube and the office and trying to decide exactly what I want to do about my job. Should I stay in the same company but move to a different department or make a move right out of this place? Ummm ...