I was on my best game EVER of Chuzzle!! Level 11!! And the internet restarted on me for no reason. I hate AOL. :(

Brighton Pier:



So, yes, this is the final batch. I have decided to come home, and will hopefully purchase the tickets tomorrow to fly out on Tuesday! I will only be home for winter, though. Spring time I am goin' to the continent.

Bath:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Bath/

Stonehenge:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Stonehenge/

Brighton:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Brighton/

Harpenden:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Harpenden/

plus, I added my picture of Helena Bonham Carter and the Autograph to the London album, so check it out again : http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/London/

So I went into London today, to see the Wallace and Grommit movie (which I did, and it was quite good). Then I walked around a bit blah blah blah boring stuff, but then I headed back to Leicester Square, because they have the nearest public toilets.. and saw this huge crowd outside the Vue Cinema with Corpse Bride posters, so I figured I'd check it out. Turns out it was the UK Premier of the movie, and I somehow got jostled to the front part of where I was standing, so when Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter came and walked around, I got her autograph (He kinda waved me off..but who cares, really). But she was extremely nice, even took pictures with people. :) It was really neat. Oh, and I saw the back of Christopher Lee for about .05 seconds, he went in pretty fast. No Johnny Depp, though. It was still really neat seeing those two in person, and that they made the effort to go to every part of the crowd and give autographs. Quite nice.

Anyway, that was a fun little experience. :)

Okay, so I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and here's an idea that I've come up with.

This whole trip was never meant to show to myself or anyone what I can withstand or perservere through. It was about enjoying myself and seeing amazing things. But I've stopped enjoying myself, and even the amazing things aren't helping. I think I've really realized that its just not fun being alone for such a long period of time. I had fun the first while... but then I just began spending too many nights alone in my room, bored and lonely. I didn't go on this trip to prove anything to anyone, so if I did come home early it wouldn't be a let down. I imagined it to be much more glamorous than it really was. And I don't see a point in continuing this trip in this same vein, if I'm not having a good time.

So I've been thinking of coming home. Not for long, but just for a few months. Like through the holidays/winter. And earn whatever money I can, take the rest from my college fund, and go again. But this time, with a friend that I want to go with, and with a much different view. Go around March-July (not sure exactly when, but around those times.. probably for about..3 months) and do the backpacker thing like normal. See the big cities, plus a few small ones. Not see every single city in the country. But just... go from country to country, and with a friend, and actually enjoy it.

I could afford to go to the continent and see it right now, but I don't want to go there and not enjoy it. I don't want it to be ruined. Plus, so many things are closed durring the winter, I don't want to miss something I would want to see.

So that's my idea. Come home now, leave again in spring: more prepared, and not alone. I'm just curious on people's opinions. And please nothing mean or judgemental, even as a joke.. I'm not exactly in the right state of mind to brush it off easily.

So, what say you?

Okay, so to update those who don't know, I no longer work for Deli Mania. Long story short, they were HORRIBLY managed, and every time the guy told me something, I would get introuble with his wife for doing it, or vice versa..nooo communication. So, when she said to turn in my shirt the next day, I didn't even argue I was so through with it. Though, the sandwich guy was nice.. but the owner guy treated him like crap, so its sad.

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot lately. I think I'm slipping into some form of depression (I mean, come on, spending the last like.. 4 days doing nooothing but watching tv). I'm okay at the moment, but truthfully I've never felt so alone and miserable in all my life. I mean, I seriously just cannot find ANYONE that I would care to get along with. I've just.. not connected to a single person. And then this whole job thing..

But I talked to my parents last night, and I told them I just wasn't ready to come home yet, because it just didn't feel right to give up like that. So they told me, that I can dip in some into my college fund (Since, its my money technically) and I went to junior college for 2 years, so I won't be in Uni for 4.. But I told them I want to try another job first, give it another 2-3 weeks to see if I can find a job, and actually like it, and find good people. If not, I can just take the money and go off and see the continent for a month or two.

So, it's reassuring to have that as a cussion. No matter how this goes, I'll atleast be able to see some Europe. I don't think I want to do it alone, though. But, we'll see how things go in the next month, I guess.

Anyway, just posting this to let everyone know what's going on with me. I don't need any advice or words of encouragement or anything like that. I'll get through it, because I can. And I'll just see what happens.

Okay hi, update. I still work at Deli Mania in St. Albans (Though, only on weekends. So, if that doesn't change in the next.. 1-2 weeks, I think I shall go looking for a weekend job.) Everything got figured out, don't ask, i'm too tired with it to explain. But I made £100 in wages for Fri-Sun, and £25 in tips (which is good for britain).

My feet hurt so bad I could cry, though. I worked for 8 hours today. But.. there was a lot of walking involved to get to/from work.

Plus side is, unlike cheapo Islands, they give us free food. So I can have pastrami sandwiches or cappucinos or ice cream whenever i want without paying. so, helloo free lunch. I had lox and cream cheese on bagel today, and it was soooo good.

anyway, peace out yos.

That's right.

Okay, so I don't even know what the hell happened today. And I really don't feel like talking about it. Just to say, I went in and worked, everything seemed fine, then I got a call back, and was told not to come in, except to pick up my wages and turn my shirt in. And it was a call from some woman I didn't even meet yet.. Apparantly I offended the girls, but no body said anything to me. I don't know what the fuck went on.. it just pissed me off. So, I called her back and I said its not fair to do that, and it was my first day, she should give me a chance, etc. And so she told me to come in at 3 tomorrow and we'll see. I really fucking need a job, but I don't want to work with fuckin' douche-y ass girls who say shit behind my back without saying anything to me. It was my first day for christ sake, and they don't even have any TRAINING. the restaurant was deader than dead though, so its not like i was slowing anyone down. Bloody hell this pissed me off. So I'm gonna go in tomorrow and see how it goes, in the meantime I'm gonna continue lookin for another fuckin' job.

I knew it had been too easy.

Okay, so I may kinda sorta have a job already.

It's in St. Albans, at a new New York style deli.. He hired me like, right away, seemed to like me a lot, and called me tonight to tell me to come in tomorrow at 10 am to start working. ..He didn't mention anything about work permits, so I didn't either.. I didn't know how to bring it up. So... I'll mention tomorrow that I'd like to be paid in cash, I guess.

I reeeally hope he doesn't throw me out. So... if all goes well, I now have a job.

Okay, so I have a home now. I live in Harpenden for a few months, (assuming I can find a job..).

But I went to London today, and had some funny things I saw...

Like on the Underground on the Picadilly line, the sign said "This train is for COCKFOSTERS" which made me crack up.. I mean, the final destination stop was cockfosters... but just.. the all caps of it, and i dunno.. it was funny.

Then walking back home from the the train station, I passed by some house, and the name of the house was "Carlton Bank" and it made me crack up, because I'm sure british people wouldn't get the reference... hahaha. its not unusual to be loved by anyone...yeah.

I hope people hire me sans-permit. I'm just glad I have a place to stay for a while.

That's all for now, ya cockfosters.

Ooookay, so hi everybody. I am in Brighton at the moment (by the sea!) and am okay. Tomorrow I leave for Harpenden, to LIVE and get a JOB in London. I am not looking forward to looking.. but anyway.. had a nice time with my cousin, but am now back by myself. Yesterday I saw The Royal Pavillion.. which I have to say, had one of the most beautiful interiors I've seen since I've been here. and I've been in plenty of castles, but this one was just breathtakingly gorgeous. Huge domed roofs with giant gilded dragons holding giant crystal chandeliers in their claws.. everything was just amazing. Then I went to the Brighton Museum thing and saw some interesting pottery exhibit, called Sleep of Reason, kinda based on Goya's same named piece.

I then went to the Aquarium, and I saw sharks (though, teeny ones, compared to like.. sea world and shit) but it was still pretty, and neat, and a fun something to do.

I went to the movies too, and saw the new Guy Richie film, Revolver (which you americanos don't get for like.. 2-3 months, sluts). It was really...odd. Very different from his other stuff, kinda fucked with your mind a bit at the end. But I still enjoyed it. Saw a lot of movie previews that I now want to go see...

I also now officially have more money charged on my credit card than I do in my bank account. Thank god for minimum ballance pay, eh? Good thing I'm going to get a job now.

Couldn't sleep at all last night.. problem with finding a hostel in the city center, is it's really loud when everyone gets out from clubs/pubs at 3 AM. so yeah, sleeping didn't really happen. I was real uncomfortable too.

And last night I finally left a shitty tip. I was so horribly ignored in this busy restaurant... I was so pissed off (I know, I still have to get used to the service here), that I left like.. £1.30.. which isn't too bad, considering normal tips that are given here.

Anyway, don't know what the hell I'll do today.. probably waste it away being lazy. The pier looks neat.. but going on rollercoasters by yourself doesn't sound very fun to me..

This cat is snoring. I mean, like a person, actually snoring. its creepy.

so... i've uploaded the rest of the pictures, yay!

I went to Bath, but my camera keeps fucking with batteries, so had none, so i have no pictures of the roman baths.

I'm in Verwood now, visiting my cousin who's visiting from the states. We went to Stonehenge today, and are doing a daytrip to London tomorrow.


A tower of Blarney Castle

There are more blarney pics to upload, but they dont seem to like me right now, so here's what i got:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Blarney/

Athlone (Shannon River pics):
http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Athlone/

Kilkenny:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Kilkenny/

So, I'll post the rest of the blarney pictures later, plus pictures from liverpool, bath, and stonehenge.. but not for a while! hooray!

So, hello all, I'm in Bath now, and it's quite a nice city. I got here the day before yesterday and have had a pretty nice time. My first night I went up to the common room and we watched some movies (Big Fish, Snatch, Event Horizon) and talked. Then me and these two other american girls and this australian guy and these two british guys got into a big debate about whether or not all criminals are stupid. It was interesting and fun and all. And I was up til like.. 1:30 am..

Then at like 8 in the morning I wake up to hear someone saying "Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!" and I was like "Oh good, a room full of Americans..." And they were really loud while getting up and stuff, so I figured I may as well just wake up. Talked to them a bit, and they invited me to be touristy with them that day. So we went to the Roman Baths, and the Costume Museum, and the Royal Crescent and such.. and it was a lot of fun, nice to have people to talk to and laugh with, but it tooooootally reminded me why i didn't come in a group, especially of girls, hahahah. I'm glad it was only for one day.

Then later that night we all went out drinking to a pub/club called RSVP and it was a lot of fun. They were 7 girls and one guy from Penn State, and they were all interested in talking to me, so that was nice, hehe. Drank a lot and laughed a lot and had a good time. Then it turned more night clubby, and they were playing HIP HOP music, with narry a black person in sight, it was quite strange! seeing a whole bunch of british white guys dance to hip hop like they're the coolest, hahaha.

So we got to bed at around midnight, and at about... 2 am-ish i was awoken by this big commotion. It was outside our door, and it was reeealllly loud yelling and pounding and just craziness going on. So I get up, because I want to sleep, so I figure I'll tell them to fuck off and go home, when suddenly I hear this chick yelling threateningly "I swear to god if you don't leave us alone i'll call the fucking cops!!" and i was like "oookay, more's giong on than I though, I'll stay inside.." then it got quieter after about five minute, so I went out to go to the bathroom, and I see the door next to us is completely shattered. I mean like all the wood just torn off and broken apart.. and all these scared girls were standing around. They sad that some drunk guys were looking for somebody, thought she was in there, and kicked in the door trying to get her. How fuckin' scary, man! I'm sooooooo glad it wasn't our door, and just one over...Goodness me...

So today I decided to stay an extra day rather than go to Salisbury, 'cause i'm tired (Not much sleep was had, after the commotion my roommates phones kept ringing.. and they answered them and talked on them!! some people really don't know hostel-etiquette) and I'm just gonna have a lazy Sunday afternoon I hope. Then tomorrow its off to Verwood to see my cousin for 3 nights. :)

Oh, and my purse broke!! ;_; slut.

I'M SCARED. My roommate is a middle aged plump greyhaired british woman. This is a fraction of our conversation

Her: I'm being stalked by a young man from the states.
Me: That's awful
Her: Yes, it's been going on for 6 years. Ever since he saw me outside his concert.
Me: Oh? Concert? What's his name.
Her: Trent Reznor
Me: as in.. from Nine Inch Nails?
Her: Yes, he's crazy.

She believes he's even IN LIVERPOOL following her in a black car, and that for SIX YEARS no police have been able to find him.

I'm not kidding, I'm honestly scared, this woman is obviously delusional... What if she kills me in the middle of the night?!

TRENT. FUCKING. REZNOR. stalking her.. and breaking into her home and all that! SHE'S INSANE.

Loch Ness


Okay, so seriously, have spent the past TWO AND A HALF HOURS uploading fucking pictures (Probably costing me a fucking fortune, too..) Never again will I wait til I have 500 pics to upload.. x_x.

Anyhoo, I have pictures from:

Newcastle:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Newcastle/

Glasgow:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Glasgow/

Scottish Countryside:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Scotland%20Countryside/

Loch Ness:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Loch%20Ness/

Aberdeen:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Aberdeen/

Edinburgh:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Edinburgh/

and Dublin:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v11/RachoniBalonie/Dublin/

Still to come are Athlone, Kilkenny, & Blarney Even though it's only 3 cities.. it's still about 51 pictures to upload, so yeah. It can fucking wait, hah.

You better like those pictures and appreciate them and me for my hard work!! ;_;

Oh, and after thought, I kissed the Blarney stone today! I can now speak eloquently!

In Kilkenny at the moment, extremely tiny town.. pretty though. Leaving for Cork today (waiting for the bus at the moment, actually), then flying to Liverpool on Wednesday.

Yesterday was not so good a day.. By like... 3:30 I had nothing to do (told you, reeeal small town), so I went in bed and read.. planned some o' my portugal trip, and basically did nothing until 6:30-ish, when I decided to get some food/drink. Went down the street to some bar that was real crowded, only place to sit was by myself in a corner, felt thoroughly ignored by the waitress (she didn't even remember to bring my drink..) and felt basically alone. While waiting in line to pay the check at the bar I just started crying, and the whole way back I was crying, and then I layed in bed and cried under the covers til I felt okay enough to read, then did that for a few hours, listened to music, and fell asleep at like... 9:15.

This is just ridiculous. Half the people I meet, I could really care less about becoming friends with.. I think I need a travel companion, but I don't want to travel around with someone from home, because that would defeat the meeting new people thing.. But so far I haven't met anyone alone, or who I'd wanna travel with.. I was thinking of just finding some random person, maybe on some like.. "find people to travel with" site, if that exists.. but I really don't want to give up my solitude.. I like being the one who plans things, I like having the final say on where I go, what I do, how long I stay there, etc. I like being able to walk through a place for hours and be completely silent. The day time is fine. Its at night, when everyone goes out with friends, that I feel alone. I mean, sure, I can meet nice people, but it only lasts for a few days til i have to move on and try all over again. I just don't know what to do, if I should give up the solitude for some company, or if i'll end up hating it. blah.

OKAY. SO. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. my hands are fucking FREEZING right now. It's sunny out! ;_; where's the warmth?!?! I think I'm just gonna find a starbucks and melt myself into a couch all day..

So, yesterday I took a little day train ride, and saw some nice irish countryside. Seriously, I've never seen anything such an INTENSE shade of green before, it was blinding!! I've never SEEN grass that colour!

Oh, and the night before, met some french guy, was supposed to go out with him last night (I gave him my number) turns out, I'm outta minutes and can't top up here! ;_; so no french guy... ended up going to a pub, talking with a cute bartended, and thenhaving some OLD GUY move in on me. So I talked to this old guy I could barely understand (though he did buy me drinks) and he was really nice, and such.. but come on, I can't be rude and shun him to talk to the other guy again, but i wanted to!! x_x Anyway, old guy lives in Cork, so i promised to meet him in some pub there when I go.. hooray.

Hiii everybody again. So, today I was busy. I used Luas, which is the public transport here! Yay! Non-bus system, so I can understand it! Walked around old town dublin, saw the old gates and walls, christ church cathedral, dublin castle, and st. patrick's cathedral.

and here are some new favorite things:

1. meat pies. Oh my god. chicken pies, steak pies... all so good... beats our microwave chicken pot pie hands down. man oh man.
2. Hazelnut Cappucinos. sooooooooooo good.

bad things:

1: guacamole. WHO THE FUCK DO THEY THINK THEY'RE KIDDING. Jesus CHRIST, what these people consider guacamole doesn't even RESEMBLE avocadoes.. oh god it was nasty. I miss mexican food. :(

I wish I had someone here to show me which pub to go into... i always choose the wrong one! Oh well.

There were some nice girls in my room last night thatI talked to some, so that wasn't bad..

oh, and why is it that when you're feeling shitty and such, things keep going bad? like how i found it physically impossible to find a cafe when I wanted one. And when I finally found one, their espresso machine was broken. So then walk all the way upstairs with my coffee, realize i need milk, so go all the way back down stairs, where i make a fooooooool of myself, because i couldn't figure out the milk cannister.. until i finally understood it, and squirted milk aaaaalll down myself. hooray!!

anyway, tomorrow i'm taking a special day trip to a nice rural-type spot. LETS HOPE ITS FUN. and that it's stopped raining..

Okay, so, seeing how Ireland is not the UK, I just got a message from Virgin mobile telling me that all outgoing calls are 75p a minute (as opposed to 7p), and all incoming calls are 40p a minute (as opposed to free). And texts are 35p.

So..yeah, I fly out of Ireland on the 21st. So if you had wonderful plans of calling me, wait til then... 'cause I won't answer. I mean, I like all you guys... but not enough to pay almost a £1 a minute.

Oh, and lethargic feeling loney depression seems to have set in for a few days. Hooray!

So, actually... I've realized being down the street from a riot is kind of neat. Not in the "yay! riots!" way, but in the "oh my god, riots 1 minute from me" way. I stayed up for hours last night in my hostel room reading my book, and listening to the close-by sounds of police sirens, helicoptors, gunfire and explosions. It was intense. Suddenly, you'd just here a loud boom! or something, and you think "ooo, petrol bomb" or something like that. but yeah, there'd be short bursts of gunfire and whatnot. One time, it was even so close i could hear the police radio through my window.

This'll be a story for the kids, eh?! :D I read that 10 policemen were injured last night, I can't believe that not only could I hear it all out my window, but it was only a few minutes away!