It was a 20-hour trip from Manila to England -- nine hours to Doha then a three-hour layover then lastly, a seven and a half hour flight to Manchester. For the first time in my life, I had a tough time sleeping. During the entire flight, I think I only had like five hours of sleep. Maybe even less. During the last leg of the flight -- to England, I didn't sleep much thinking I should just catch my zzs when I arrive so I will easily acclimate myself to the local time.
So I spent my time watching movies since I have missed a lot in the past few months -- The Martian, Sicario, and The Intern. I even watched an old classic -- The King and I!
I loved the Martian! But then again, I always enjoy Matt Damon's films! Liked The Intern too and seeing this old school new school thing play out. While I am far from Robert De Niro's age, I understand him and how it's different with this new generation. Of course, I watched for Anne Hathaway. Sorry, just love watching her!
The Intern was wrapping up as we taxied into Manchester International Airport. It was 12:22pm. The last time I was here in was late in the evening so I couldn't appreciate a lot of this. Introduced myself to Paul Draper who was wearing a Liverpool FC shirt. Figured he was going to same way so I asked if I could tag along. He's an Australian who has been living and working here for the past five years. He just got back from holiday in his home country.
We took the train to Liverpool but switched to the Picadilly Manchester station where an earlier train was coming through (the one that we had to originally wait for was to arrive 40 minutes later so we took the Picadilly train).
On the train, a lot of people were reading the newspapers with the late David Bowie on the cover. His untimely passing was among many other topics I overheard as well while at the train station or on board.
On the train, a lot of people were reading the newspapers with the late David Bowie on the cover. His untimely passing was among many other topics I overheard as well while at the train station or on board.
It sure is cold. Before I disembarked from the plane, I put on a wool sweater over my shirt with a jacket on. It was still cold.
I am staying once more at the Britannia Adelphi Hotel (where some of the passengers of the ill-fated Titanic stayed). I had on okay stay last time. I have seen the reviews and it's all bad. Nothing good. Now am staying in a much better room. It even has wifi! Wonderful. Sadly, the trade off is, the television doesn't work and there's no power in the sockets. So if I want to charge my laptop and other devices, I have to go down to the lounge. Twice I complained last night about the television set and the sockets and each time got no response. Merely an acknowledgement.
Went out for a while to Worlds Apart, a comic book store that is just a minute's walk from the hotel, and HMV before the rains and cold weather forced my back. I have an umbrella but the wind just turns it inside out.
Because of the cold, I wanted to have some hot soup so I went to My Pho, a Vietnamese restaurant along Raleigh Street. It sure was great to have some hot soup! And a filling one at that. Pricey though as it cost eight quid.
Fell asleep around 7pm. Woke up thinking it was daylight. No chance. It was right before one in the morning and the wind was howling and the rain rapping on my windows.
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