Wow, it's been a long time since my last post. Almost a month in fact. I have been so busy with work and getting ready to move etc, that I just haven't got round to it. I also need to apologise for the NOT so interesting pictures. I was on a bike ride when I took these and it was the ONLY time I remembered my camera. I have just been less interested in taking pictures recently, as my camera has been less than reliable recently... I think I'll replace it soon.
Anyway, as I mentioned before, I planned one last trip to Los Angeles before I move over there in May. The purpose of this trip was really to move some of my stuff over there, so I wouldn't need to do it all in one go in May, and to generally get my bearings out there. I will have a couple of months when I get out there, before I can get a job, so I needed to be able find everything I would need. You know boring, mundane stuff like banks and stores etc. Of course Steve would have shown me all of this stuff, but he was at work most of the time in the week. Also, I kind of like discovering all of this stuff myself. :-)
Steve did take March 1 and 2 off work though, as March 1 was my first full day and March 2 was my birthday. On March 1 we kind of chilled out since I was still fairly tired from my flight. However, the next day we went shopping for my birthday present.
Birthday Present from Steve!
He loves riding his bike at the weekends and has done the
Rosarito to Ensenada and the
Solvang Century rides. As I do spinning classes at my gym threee times a week, he figured I would enjoy riding bikes outdoors too. He was right and there wasn't a day I didn't go out on it, even when he was at work. :-) I have never really ridden bikes outside (as an adult anyway) as the weather in the UK is too unpredictable. Even in the summer, it is prone to raining without any warning. On the night of my birthday, we went and had really yummy Mexican food at
Pancho's in Manhattan Beach.
That weekend we rode up the coast to Hermosa Beach and sat outside Hennessey's Tavern and had drinks (Steve is always a happy camper when he has a beer in his hand. :-)). It was a 35 mile round trip and a great way to test out my new bike. The weather had been unusually rainy and cold, but that day was beautiful, so we were very lucky!
I got back to England on Wednesday March 15. It was wonderful to see Steve again and I was so sad to leave him.:-( I can't wait until I am back there permanently, in about 7 weeks time. This whole visa process in almost over. Thank God!
Speaking of going to Los Angeles permanently, there has been a slight change of plan. I initially thought I was going to go straight out there when I finish up at work at the beginning of May. However, my parents have just moved out to Singapore, so I am going to fly out there and visit them for 2 weeks first as it may be a while before I see them again. Could I be going more out of my way!? I think not... It is a 15 hour plane ride to Singapore, then 2 weeks later, it'll be a 19.5 hour plane ride to LA from Singapore. I have to change planes in Tokyo, so it is 7.5 hours from Singapore to Tokyo and then 9.5 hours from Tokyo to LA. I'll be very tired but it'll be great to visit my parents and see Singapore. :-)