(Birth)Day in Review

Today was a productive day, and that makes it a good day by my standards!

Woke up early this morning to go to the US Embassy. I had to pick up tickets to see Tony Blair next week. When I got there, there was a long queue snaking along the side of the building (which is HUGE, by the way). I guess everyone is applying for a visa. The security guard put me in my own queue under a tree. I guess the security guard didn’t realize I was a queue, though, and I just stood there for a long time. Finally I went up and learned they didn’t have our tickets yet, and I’d have to come back sometime closer to the date. The guard wasn’t sure when, but gave me a rough estimate of Friday. So I guess I’m going back!

Caught the tube back to the library and picked up a peppermint mocha on the way. Got a lot of work done in the reading room. The only bad thing is that after drinking so much coffee I really had to use the bathroom, but 1) I couldn’t leave my stuff on its own and 2) the bathroom is all the way in the basement—this meant, I’d have to return the Ethernet cord I borrowed to retrieve my library card to exit the library to go down the elevator to use the bathroom. Whew! What an operation!

I went to Chinatown for lunch and had chowfun and this mango tapioca drink. Yum!

Went back to the library. Filled my backpack with books. Then walked to Chinatown for my birthday dinner. This year my parents gave me money to take my friends to dinner for my birthday. Xin was really awesome and helped me find a Korean-run Japanese restaurant. They gave us a long table upstairs. Huge portions and good Japanese/Korean food. What a lot of fun!

On my way back to the tube station, I stopped by at the Mary Poppins theatre to buy myself a program. Sort of a mini present to myself, I guess. Playbills in the UK aren’t free, and I just started collecting them halfway through the term. I saw Mary Poppins before I started buying them, so it was nice to add it to my collection.

And now I am sitting at my computer, having just finished a load of laundry. Now all I have to do is shower, read a little, and then off to sleep! Woo hoo!

All in all, a very happy (birth)day. Hurrah!!

Here are some pictures from the night:



Of course, as always, more pictures here.