2 - Central London, a Wolverine, and Burberry

Chris at Burberry!
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So...we took the tube picked up Harold at Acton Town.  We went back on the tube on our way to the Picadilly Circus to meet Ashleigh.  Ash arrived shortly and the first item on our agenda was...FOOD!  Although it was Thanksgiving in the U.S., and it would've been nice to have turkey with stuffing, mash potatoes, sweet potato pie, cranberry sauce, beans...well, you know the rest....we settled for Chinese in Chinatown.  Boy, there's  a Chinatown everywhere!  As I said we were starving so we settled for that.  Once we scarfed dinner down, we needed to take a stroll to walk off the MSG...LOL.  I then heard Ash say, something to the effect of "....want a fag?"  I turned around and said, huh?  Well, here's my first "Brit" lesson.  Cigarettes are also known as FAGS.  Oh, that was it...over.  I then started to say, "Oh so you are all going to drag on a fag!". Hilarious!  One more thing, in the winter it gets dark early.  This was weird because it was only 430 or so and street lights were on, the sun had almost completely gone down.

Chris and Ash at Beni's
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We're walking down this street that has very saucy lingerie and then we heard this obviously drunk gent talking quite loudly.  He claims in his British accent, "I'm taking Sexy Back! Hey you, you there, sex-pot, why don't you put on one of those outfits!"  The sex-pot he was referring to was Ashleigh!  While she was flattered, she wasn't sure if she should be! LOL!  I still think he was talking to Harold!

Central London, what a blast!

Rhina sitting by Picadilly Circus
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Anyhoo...we get to this theatre called Empire Theatre in Leicester Square(pronounced Lester) and apparently that is where they have the big movie premiers and all.  As we were walking we see this huge slide, you know the kind that kids slide on, and a few photographers.  There was music and a rather small crowd.  We asked what this event was for and that's when they told us it was the premier for the movie, Flushed Away.   Rhina and I were so excited.  We said, well, let's see if we can get a glimpse of Kate Winslett.  You know, how she looks like Becky G. and all...we wanted to get a pic.  Well, after standing for a while (and freezing), the stars started rolling in.  Most of them are british celebrities...and guess who was there!!! Come on, take a guess?  Okay...I'll tell you...Hugh Jackman.  I couldn't believe it.  We didn't expect him there at all!  He was so nice and so humble.  He sure is tall!  He came over to us and shook our hands (Rhina and I).  It was soo awesome.  Click here for some premier pics (I have my own to show you too!)A few moments later, Chris called to say that he finally made it to Leicester Square station, so Ash volunteered to meet him there (Thanks again Ash!).  Chris had a nightmare on the tube.  There was a fight and a teenager was pinned underneath one of the tubes.  So they closed the Picadilly line for a bit.  Chris had to divert (he was not a happy camper!) He vowed to take Heathrow Express always!  What was it that Chris would say, "Let's go to Paddington and take the Express!"  Chris was starved so we went to the Angus Steakhouse.  Rhina, Harold, and Ash stayed to see if they could catch Kate Winslett.  After about 1/2 hour, they finally joined us at the steakhouse because it was too cold outside and we were all ready for drinks.  We ordered some appetizers, had some wine, and some beer!  We talked for quite a bit, then decided that it was time to go strolling...onward to another pub!  After Angus Steakhouse, we walked around a bit more, and found the Crooked Surgeon.  Was anyone sick?  No...it was a pub.  It was very nice and cozy.  They were playing R&B stuff...mixed crowd.  Although it was quite early, we decided to have one more drink before we all went our separate ways.

Celebs at the Flushed Away Premier
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Friday, November 24

Today was just a chill out day for Chris and I.  Both Rhina and Ashleigh had to work.  Ashleigh was going to meet with us after work.  Rhina and Harold had a concert to go to that night, so we weren't going to see them.

We woke up, had a nice breakfast then headed for Knightsbridge.  That's the stop we need to get off to visit Harrods.  Harrods was definitely beautiful...a little intimidating but beautiful nonetheless.  We walked around a bit and decided to go to Burberry to look for a coat...a rain coat to be exact.  Somehow all the coats/raincoats we got here in the U.S.  is really not equipped to handle the cold in Nice or London.  Anyhoo...we found this really nice camel colored coat.  However, they didnt have it in Chris size.  We ended up going to 3 different Burberry stores.  We finally found the coat at the Burberry on Conduit and New Bond St.  It was funny because the sales man was like, "Sir, you can't try a rain coat without having a blazer.  You want to make sure you are completely comfortable with a blazer as well." With that, he got chris a blazer.  It fit so well, it looked so smooth.  That salesman knew what he was doing :-)  We took a rain coat one size larger to accomodate when wearing a suit.  We had to have the tailor reinforce the buttons because they were coming off.  Coat was not going to be ready until 6p, so we decided to, what else, walk around.  We walked up and down Regent St.  All the big names are on this street...Hugo Boss, Ted Baker...you name a brand, it was there.  At about 330p, my legs were killing me so we decided to grab a Starbucks.  Did I tell you that there are like TONS of Starbucks everywhere?  There are McDonalds, TGIFs, Subway just to name a few of the "American" restaurants.  Oh let's not forget Benihana's!  Finally, it was 6p, we pick up the coat, Ash meets us at Burberry and we are starving.  As we were wandering around wondering what to eat, Chris spots a Benihana right off of Picadilly St.  Yum, Sushi.  They were all booked up, but we sat at the tables by the bar.  We ordered California Maki, Prawn Tempura Maki, and Spicy Tuna Maki.  Man, oh man, oh man.  It was delicious.  Everything was great with the exception of the mixed drinks that Ash and I decided to get.  I ordered a Margarita and Ash ordered a Mojito.  Well, my drink didn't have enough ooomph and Ash's drink was just, well, green. It looked like a grasshopper.  The mint wasn't fresh and very little alcohol.  Of course I told Ash that the best Mojitos are in Miami, so she would have to come and visit us! LOL!