19th February 2020
The sky is grey, the prices are astronomical, people are loving Brexit, people are hating Brexit, people are predicting a boom, people are prophesying doom … and it is cold. It is very, very cold.
The view of east London, near the Olympic Stadium:
I arrived late Thursday 13th and spent most of the next day meeting my brother’s friend in his local (the nearest pub). At ‘Happy Hour’ a pint of Guinness was £3.50. Otherwise, it is a fiver (£5, that’s $6.50).
Sunday, I took the new express train from Stratford International 75 miles to Canterbury West (£35 single / $44), to meet up with some old friends, Carole and Pete. Carole met me, then we drove to a small cottage on the sea, at a place called Whitstable, famous for its oysters.
Next day, we met Pete at Broadstairs (see next blog), but back in Whitstable, we had the traditional fish and chips:
For my Vietnamese students, the above (three fish and chips and three mugs of tea) was about one million VND. I told you UK was expensive and this wasn’t even London ! However, in the UK one is never far from an Indian, Chinese or Asian restaurant. For example, in Broadstairs I saw:
Next Wednesday I’ll be back in Bangkok, so I can try the real McCoy (the real thing).
Thay Paul's Notes 