Wednesday 10 November 2010

Livin' Large: La Figa and Linkin Park, baby!!!

Family,

And a good evening to you from across the Pond after two FANTASTIC days in the Mother Country. Okay, so first off, apologies for no blog last night. However, as we’re in the midst of another EPIC week, Sammy’s age has caught up to him, and so now at the tender age of 33 I needed a night to sleep.

So when I left you it was Tuesday, and the Land’s End Challenge FINALLY clicked forward into the 600 KM club. I logged 20 km on the bike in about 35, and it felt SO GOOOOOOD to finally burn off a few of the calories that I put on this weekend. It should be noted that the weather is still NEGATIVE FIFTEEN THOUSAND DEGREES, and so might outdoor runs might have finally come to an end.

After work, we rolled to a pub we’ve never seen before – The Cat and Canary. There, Sammy the Bull continued his rediscovery of real ale (Fuller’s Porter - #2 in their catalogue in my opinion) whilst the Hitman continued his vehement protest against and refusal to drink Honeydew. In addition, Hitman has now announced that, after reviewing Byron Burgers vs. GBK: “Meat quality is better, yet portion size is smaller” for Byron. I mean, you can imagine the number of comments that followed that…

Once Muffin Puffin met Hitman, Brother Morgan, and myself, we then rolled to the Mecca of all things Italian: La Figa, baby!!!! That’s right – the smallest contingent of the donkey convention to date rolled over to Limehouse, where I’m happy to report the following:

1. The wait staff STILL hates us.

2. They STILL shake their head at our pronunciation.

3. Hitman still has to wait 45 minutes between Peronis.

4. The food is still RELIGIOUS.

I attacked the lamb shank (it never stood a chance), and JT devoured her plate of pasta. It was an impressive showing. I’m hopeful that we’ll get one more round there before we roll, but we’re running out of days!

After that it was a nightcap at the Narrow, where I actually ran into a fella I know! He works in my building and is also a chef at the Narrow. Consequently, he gave us a free round (which was extra awesome), but we were so stuffed I had to let some brew go to waste (which was less than ideal). But hey – it felt cool for a second to “have a connection.”

Wednesday was another great one as well, as lunch was a burrito the size of my TORSO from Tortilla. Also, I learned the greatest fact EVER. I mean, I’m just sitting on the Tube, minding my own business, when I see the following headline (how can this NOT catch a dude’s attention):

CRICKET HAS BIGGEST BALLS ON EARTH

My first thought is: “Make a note of this country, because this cricket has to be FOURTEEN FEET TALL AND MUST EAT PEOPLE.” However, upon further review (translation – reading the paper of the guy in front of me – people LOVE that), I found out that it’s just 14% of his body mass. And whilst relieved, I am considering suing them for misleading advertising.

We had a few pints at the cat before making out way to the featured event of the evening: LINKIN PARK AT THE O2, BABY!!!!!! JT and I had always wanted to go to the O2, and Linkin Park was HIGH on the “bands to hear” list. This crossed off 2 birds with 1 stone!

So first off, the O2 is an AMAZING facility. Built on a former sewage site, I had visions of mutants and zombies wandering the grounds. However, I am happy to report that it’s a SWEET facility, complete with clubs, bars, cinemas, and then the feature space – the O2 Arena. It was REALLY cool.

What was NOT cool, however, was the food and drink counter, as we waited TWENTY BLOODY MINUTES for a hot dog that wasn’t, well, HOT. Hitman used the phrase “ice cold,” and the dog looked like a popsicle dyed neon orange. Worth every bit of 5 quid, right?

As for Lord, he couldn’t even ATTEMPT to eat his ice dog, so he sent it back. However, to get your money back, THE DUDE AT THE COUNTER HAS TO ASK FOR THE MANAGER…WHO WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.

All good, however, as we got in right as the show started (we skipped the opening band, some group named “Do I offend you, yeah?” - Really? That’s your band name. Chances are you will ALWAYS be an opener boys – just sayin’…). And from that moment on, it was AWESOME.

Seriously – LP gave a GREAT show. They played for about 100 minutes, and the sound quality was AWESOME. The guitar solos were OFF THE CHAIN, and they did a GREAT mix of old and new. The crowd was awesome (even if the mosh pit was subdued), and it was a VERY cool experience.

After the show, we rolled home, where Lord G is spending the night with us. As a “courtesy” to us, he just finished off a pair of Guinness that (I think) we’d stolen from Fizzy’s house back in April (yeah, Lord – sorry we didn’t tell you the age on those, but hey – they have a nitrogen core so it’s all good, right?).

Okay, that’s all the news that’s fit to print. Chat tomorrow!

Love,

Sam and Jenny

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