The Blob (1958)

This was not horror. This was sci-fi. It was refreshing to see everyone made rational decision about things they could not explain.

At 86 minutes, I still kind of got bored in the middle when they were trying to figure out The Blob. This showed I could not watch old-timey movies.

The Blob is due for a reboot or a sequel. The ending basically told us to do it. They couldn’t kill The Blob so they dropped it off at the Arctic. Now ice is melting, what happens to The Blob?

Hollywood, call me!

The Man from Toronto (2022)

An amusing movie. Not hilarious haha.  The plot was predictable.  It was a good enough movie to watch on DVD on a weekend night.  Some scenes could be cut because it felt long at one hour fifty minutes.

Siberia (2018)

Movie Studio:  Mr. Keanu Reeves, do you want to be in a movie where you dress like John Wick, talk like John Wick, pose like John Wick, sit like John Wick, stand like John Wick, walk like John Wick, minus the running and fighting and falling?  You also have four sex scenes with a beautiful woman.

Keanu Reeves:  I can do nothing while getting paid?  Of course!

For a movie titled “Siberia,” half of it was in St. Petersburg. The McGuffin was a missing blue diamond, but for one hour, no one was talking about it and searching for it.

Math Teacher gave up halfway through.  At the end Keanu Reeves died from ONE gunshot. Math Teacher was happy that he didn’t waste time watching this movie.

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Public Enemies (2009)

Meh.  There were too many people, too many names. I couldn’t keep up so I didn’t care much about any of them.

On the other hand, I loved how they dressed in that era. I also thought a car that I could stand on the side was cool.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

The dialogues were so cheesy, punctuated with dramatic silence or loud music.  The plot was so bad. The McGuffin was with the good guys or the bad guys, for the convenience of the story.

The action scenes were great.  Tom Cruise jumping off of a cliff on a motorcycle then opening up a parachute, priceless!

There were so many Marvel actors here that I kept calling them by their character names, Captain America, Mantis, Sue.  Then Mycroft from Sherlock TV show was here for thirty seconds, too!  He recently joined Marvel in The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025).  Is this Marvel actors reunion?

Summer Vacation in UK June 2025

We went for fifteen days.  We got lucky.  First week the weather was mild; not too cold not too hot.  The second week, however, the temperature shot up by at least five degrees.  I had mini heat strokes on two days.  Hydration!  Keep drinking!  Water, sports drinks, coconut water.  Bring hand towels to wipe away the sweats.  Apparently, air conditioning was not a thing in London

Look at the amount of people on London Bridge!  This was at one end.  We didn’t even try to cross because of the crowd.

London Bridge

The British Museum:  In addition to tourists, schoolchildren on field trips were everywhere.  Everyone crowded at the Egyptian exhibits and the Rosetta Stone.  It was so stuffy!  I should've taken a closer photo of the sword.  I forgot the name.  Was someone compensating for something?

Westminster Abbey:  Speaking of over-tourism, we were almost pushed off the sidewalks at Westminster Abbey.  So we gave up going inside the Abbey and other important places such as Buckingham Palace, the Big Ben, etc.  I guess we'd just have to go back to London again.  Was there a season where there were no tourists in UK?  On our way to the Abbey, we saw a statue of President Lincoln!

US President Abraham Lincoln

The Shard and The Gherkin:  what strange names for buildings in London, but they were great landscape backdrops at many angles.

On the way to Borough Market

The Shard

The Gherkin

Beautiful alleyway

Sights of London:

Original Globe Playhouse

The Monument

Natural History Museum:  beautiful inside and out.

Gold leaf dragon

St. Paul’s Cathedral:  choir service at 5pm and free entry!  We sat up close to the choir stand. What a wonderful experience.  The Cathedral was grand!

Tower of London:  The Tower of London was insufferable.  They had fans only!  Combined with a million tourists, I couldn't breathe!

Look at his mid-section!

The Shard in the background

The Shard in the background, again

University of Cambridge / 再別康橋

Wren Library in Trinity College, University of Cambridge, was uppity and snooty.  No air conditioning and no fans, yet they claimed students were working in the Library so they limited the amount of visitors.  I didn't believe the excuse.  How could they maintain old leather-bound books in a stuffy room without temperature control?  Those books were national treasures; if even one page were damaged due to humidity, that would be horrible.  Oh, and the Library was blocked off; visitors could step in less than a quarter of the Library between 10am and 2pm on certain days only.  If they really hated tourists, simply close the whole Library off.  Do not offer half-assed view.

Sir Isaac Newton’s prism

Sir Isaac Newton’s walking stick

Sir Isaac Newton’s hair

no access beyond this shelf

Train tickets from Kings Cross to Cambridge

The funniest thing was, all Chinese people visiting UK must go to Cambridge because a poet in 1920s wrote about punting in Cambridge. That poem was (is?) in every junior high school textbook. People were so influenced that they must do punting in Cambridge. The punting people in Cambridge have figured this out. So all punting advertising banners outside Cambridge Train Station are in English and Chinese only, no other languages! I’m shocked that the university has not plastered the poem on every wall just to make money off of Chinese tourists. While in London, I heard tour groups speaking in different languages. In Cambridge, the only tour groups are Chinese!

徐志摩「再別康橋」(Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again)

輕輕的我走了，
正如我輕輕的來；
我輕輕的招手，
作別西天的雲彩。

那河畔的金柳，
是夕陽中的新娘；
波光里的艷影，
在我的心頭蕩漾。

軟泥上的青荇，
油油的在水底招搖；
在康河的柔波里，
我甘心做一條水草！

那榆蔭下的一潭，
不是清泉，是天上虹；
揉碎在浮藻間，
沉澱著彩虹似的夢。

尋夢？撐一支長篙，
向青草更青處漫溯；
滿載一船星輝，
在星輝斑斕里放歌。

但我不能放歌，
悄悄是別離的笙簫；
夏蟲也為我沉默，
沉默是今晚的康橋！

悄悄的我走了，
正如我悄悄的來；
我揮一揮衣袖，
不帶走一片雲彩。

Eating My Way through UK June 2025

Harrods Cafe might be the most expensive meal I've had while in UK.

Shakshuka £20

Pistachio Spanish latte £11.50

Caffe Nero:  We saw this chain coffee shop everywhere in UK but didn't try it.  We the two dumbasses couldn't plan anything.  So we jumped onto the train at Kings Cross at 10:10 and the train left at 10:12. We couldn't find seats.  We stood one and half hours on the train.  When we finally got out of the Cambridge Train Station, we were both exhausted.  When we saw Caffe Nero right there, we knew it was a sign. My verdict:  exactly like every other chain coffee shop.  Math Teacher's verdict:  Starbucks is a teensy bit better.

San Carlo Knightsbridge was a good Italian restaurant.  The tagliolini crab was creamy; every bite was full of crab meat.  I forgot the name of the drink, but nonalcoholic adult juices in UK were all delicious!

Passion fruit something...

tagliolini crab £23.95

Le Chocolat Alain Ducasse in Borough Yards:  I liked Borough Yards more than Borough Market.  The architecture was interesting; the design was fun.  And 90% fewer people!  The lemon macaron filling was delicious, but the structure was a little bit soft.  The gelato was good, too.  The chocolate was the best!  However, I have had better macarons, gelato, and chocolate elsewhere in UK.  Or maybe my palette was not refined enough for Alain Ducasse.

Borough Market crowd

Borough Yards light & dark contrast

Lemon macaron, chocolate, gelato

Pizza Pilgrim Cardiff:  after hearing SortedFood raving about this pizza shop, when I saw it in Cardiff, I must give it a try.  It's right outside Cardiff Castle; the view was spectacular.  It was good pizza; the crust was so awesome!  Was it great?  I don't know.  There are so many different variations and techniques to make pizza in any country now; every one of them is delicious.

Pizza Love

another delicious nonalcoholic adult juice

Hotel Chocolat Cardiff:  We walked through Queens Arcade, which looked abandoned.  We were a little bit scared.  Then it was connected to St. David's Shopping Centre, which was hopping busy.  We were relieved that Hotel Chocolat was still in a popular mall.  So Hotel Chocolat has always been my favorite.  It did not disappoint.  So rich in chocolate and so silky smooth.  However, I didn't like Queen Vic sponge.  It was dry and crumbly.

Receipt

Cardiff Market:  It was dirty and sticky, and the food was over priced.  It was the first time I had curry with chips and naan bread all in one box, being soggy.  At least there was one giant star anise.

Cardiff Market curry with chips and naan

Hampton by Hilton Bath City:  I've always enjoyed staying in Hampton Inn.  I'm glad to learn that Hampton outside of US still lives up to the expectation.  The room was spacious, bright, clean, and quiet.  The free breakfast was good.  I'm surprised to learn that I like British baked beans.  Was it because it was sweet?  I don't eat enough baked beans to know.  Highly recommend this hotel to anyone traveling to Bath.

Hampton by Hilton Bath City breakfast

View from the hotel room to outside

Sagar:  a vegetarian/vegan Indian restaurant in the West End.  Delicious, quite spicy for Math Teacher.

Sagar

Salt & Pepper:  the smoothies at this cafe were so good that we went back three times.  Extremely popular because it was right outside The British Museum.

Salt & Pepper

Starbucks at Baker Street Underground Station:  on the way to The Sherlock Holmes Museum.  Math Teacher insisted he must try Starbucks in UK.

Five Guys in UK had the best locations.  I don't know how they managed the rent.  I didn't take a photo, but there was also one directly in front of St. Paul's Cathedral.  Five Guys in my hometown is in a strip mall facing a parking lot.

Five Guys Windsor

Five Guys Bath