Christmas in the UK

So i was off back to the UK for Christmas and NY. As i was having a bit of an extended holiday which i wasn't expecting was also hoping to be able to stop off in Bangkok for a couple of days to get in a bit of sun and lounge around a swimming pool, anyway that thought was lurking somewhere in the back of my mind.
I flew back to the UK on Lufthansa you can't beat good old German reliability, no seriously there was no special reason to fly with them just the schedule had fitted well when i booked it back in July. Since then though i have actually got myself a Lufthansa credit card so in theory i can earn miles as i buy things, haven't used it yet though.

So i get on the plane at Narita, it's about 12hrs flying to Munich, change plane there then another two hours to Birmingham. I total 14 hours flying but with all the waiting around and getting to and from the airports it takes around 24hours door to door, was not really looking forward it.

On the other hand I was looking forward to seeing everyone back home but not to the actual trip. The trip was pretty uneventfully and i arrived back at Birmingham on schedule and my son Ben was picking me up at the airport, when he arrived he was Ill and could hardly talk, felt sorry for him. Think i upset him a bit on the way back to Loughbrough as i thought it was a cold as I was probably not very diplomatic in the way i said "hope i did not catch it". Sorry Ben did not mean it and it, was probably a combination of traveling for nearly 24 hours being old tired and grumpy, not sure what order but honest i didn't mean it Ben.

Turns out it was a lot worse than a cold he'd had a throat infection for quite some time and typical of Ben had just sort of ignored it and thought it would go away. Actually a bit like we all did especially when we were younger, turns out though it didn't go away and turned into something called, actually i can't remember what it was called something like a Zavi but that's a music shop so it's not that, had never heard of it before but it just sounded real nasty. Poor old Ben he went to see the doctor who immediately put him on a double dose of antibiotics and said that if he didn't notice a marked difference in a couple of days he might need to have a operation, so that made me feel real bad for getting on at him, possibility of a opp at Christmas is just what we all need. The good side is that almost the next day when on the anti- bi's he felt a bit better so the chance of an opp went away as well.

So I'm back in my little house for the first time in a bout 5 months, it was cold and damp to say the least but it was home. Got my self settled turned on the gas got the central heating chuffing away even though i need a new boiler and tried to warm the place up that was pretty much it for my fist night on UK soil. The next day it was to be shopping for prezzies which i am not very good at so i guess it will be DVD's and Chockies again.

Was up at my mums for Christmas, went up for Christmas eve as we were all going out for a meal, we have done this for the last few years and it has become a bit of a tradition. My sister Linda was doing Christmas dinner, she's done this for quite a few years now, and i've go to say she does a really good job, foods great so thanks Linda, she made me a little Christmas cake for my prezzi as well how good is that.

Found a pound in my Christmas pudding which i gave away, much again my better judgement i might add. When i was a kid it was a thrupnee (threepenny) bit or maybe a tanner (sixpence) if you were lucky, for everyone that doesn't know what they are the equivalent money for a thrupnee bit is about 1 n 1/2 p and for a tanner 3p

Christmas sort of came and went and along with it new years eve, went out for the night with some old friends for a few beers, had a good night and it was nice to see everyone but probably would not go to the same place for another NY's.

Anyway that was my holiday back in the UK almost over as i said at the beginning was hoping to be able stop in Thailand for a couple of days on the way back to Japan but that was definitely out as just did not have time, ah well maybe next time.

It was good to be have been back but did notice that the economy was going down the tubes, i knew from hearing the news over here that obviously things were not great and that some the Banks had basically been part nationalised. I know it's the same in Japan but I'm pretty much immune from a lot of it as i can't understand Japanese. Back in the UK on the other hand i could understand what was going on, just the sort time i was there Woolworth closed its doors for good, Zavvi the record shop announced to was closing along with a few other high street names, not good. Was in WW myself looking to see if there was anything worth getting, by the time i got there think almost everything had gone and to be honest I felt a bit like a scavenger picking at the bones of a dead or dieing animal and i couldn't really be bothered to keep looking.

Anyway thats all for now the next blogs should actually be about the months i post them in.