He cares about fashion very much. He usually wears stylish clothes. I couldn’t believe he wanted to get these, so I thought he must have been joking. However he told me, “That’s the T-shirts I wanted to get.” I told him, “Well, if you like it.”
What do you think?
“The Lion King” show was finished at 6:00pm. My bus back to Manchester would leave at 7:00pm. I thought I had enough time to go to Japan Centre which was the biggest Japanese shop in the U.K. I wanted to buy a book written by Haruki Murakami. His novels are popular not only in Japan but also all over the world. My friend, Belle recommended me to read “The wind-up bird Chronicle”, ねじまき鳥クロニクル. She told me, “The main character in the story quit his work and the situation is just like you.” It sounded interesting to me.
I should have known the directions to Japan Centre because I went there in April. Although it was not smooth, I found the shop. The book was priced more than double compared with the Japanese original price. However I needed the Japanese edition. When I bought the book I heard the announcement in the shop, “Now all sushi is 50% off.” It was a good idea to have half priced sushi and have it on the bus on my way back. However, there was a LONG queue for buying shushi. If I waited it, I might miss my bus. I was fascinated by 50% off priced sushi, but I gave it up and went back to Victoria station. It was the same bus terminal where I got off the bus from Manchester that morning. I tried to remember the way from the bus terminal to Victoria station. It did not work. I could not find the way to the coach bus terminal. I asked people how to get there. They were kind and told me the way to go. I followed the directions but I just found the local bus terminal. I asked some other people. Everybody pointed to the same direction. So the directions should have been correct. I did not ask about the distance, but I thought it was not so far away. I started to think what should I do if I miss my bus?
It was 6:45pm. Anyway I kept running in the direction where the bus terminal should be. Finally I saw a National Express bus coming out from the corner. The bus terminal must be over there. I felt shame. Nobody was running around Victoria station except me. When I got to the terminal, I was very happy. I checked terminal number of the Manchester departure on electric signboard. The terminal number was 18. All I had to do was go to the terminal 18 and get on the bus. Yes, I made it!
It was 6:55pm. It was better to go to the toilet before the long trip. So I went to the toilet and went to the terminal just before departing time. I saw the destination of terminal 18. It was shown “Rochdale”. WHAT? It should be “Manchester”. I was in a panic. I checked the destinations of terminal 17, 19 and 20. I could not find Manchester. It was almost departing time. The electric signboard for all the destinations was in the main entrance. It was a big bus terminal. If I went back there to check the terminal number, I would not catch the bus. I read Manchester was terminal 18.
Why it was shown Rochdale?
Where is Rochdale?
I came closer to Rochdale sign. And I found small letters written “via Manchester”. Oh, my goodness. I made it!
In many cases British transportations are behind schedule, but this bus left on time. I came back to Manchester on time.
I had a nice chat and lunch with my friend. There were so many things to talk about, so as always, we were behind the schedule. Actually my friend needed to go back to the conference. And I was planning to go to watch a musical “The Lion King”.
We got on the underground together. I thought I could change the line at Euston where my friend would get off. However I could not change the line at the station. I needed to stay on one more station to Kings cross. After I said good bye to my friend, I got on the same line and got off at Kings cross. I was planning to buy a half priced ticket. So my first destination was “Tickets”, a discounted ticket shop. I should have transferred to the Piccadilly line at Kings cross station. I checked the direction to the South and got on the tube. However, I arrived at Euston again! What happened? I could not transfer to the Piccadilly line at Euston. This meant I did not get on the Piccadilly line. I got on the Victoria line. Why did this happen to me? I really checked it before getting on it. Oh, no. It was all my fault.
Anyway, the direction to the South was not wrong. So I could change to the different line at the different station. In London, the underground system is convenient.
After taking much longer time, I could arrive at “Tickets”. It would be closed at 3:00pm on Sunday. I arrived there at 2:40pm. I thought yes, I made it. I asked “Is there a ticket for The Lion King?” The clerk said “You should go to the theatre.” I was surprised and asked, “Are there tickets at the theatre?” He said, “I don’t know. Anyway, The Lion King starts from 3:00pm. So you should be in a hurry.” I knew it.
I had no choice and run to the theatre. I arrived at the theatre and found a queue there. Yes, this must be a queue for the tickets. So I followed it. A gentleman came to ask us, “Do you have tickets?” I felt it was a silly question. If we had tickets, we would not be in a queue. Everybody answered, “No”. And he said, “I’m sorry, but all tickets were sold out.” I did not know why people did not stop queuing. I asked, “Is there any chance to get a ticket?” He said, “If you don’t mind standing, you could get a standing ticket. It costs 13 pounds. The other person asked, “Is it possible to have a seat with a standing ticket?” Everybody laughed. I arrived here after a long journey, so I really wanted to watch it. I did not mind keep standing, so I bought the ticket and watched it.
After I started to watch it, I remember, The Lion King is from America. It was not London original musical. I thought I should have chosen British original one. Anyway I enjoyed watching it.
Animals were peaceful.
Some people enjoyed mountain biking.
