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Tori-kun comes to...
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...London! (I know you hoped to read 'Japan' or something, but this time again a trip with my English course to London to watch a lot of Shakespeare!)
Ok, so I will be in London from 02.10.2011-06.10.2011. I will be staying here:
Palmers Lodge Swiss Cottage-Boutique backpackers
40 College Crescent
I know that aphasiac used to be in London, but you're in Taiwan now as far as I know, so.. unfortunately no meeting this time 
I'd really like to get to know some of you great guys, so if you happen to live in London/around, perhaps we could arrange something and have a beer somewhere. (Shakespeare will be so dull for me, oh, I can foresee it, I will be reading キノの旅 the whole time in the theatre, ugh. Just cannot find anything appealing in this old English language, but anyway.)
じゃあ、またね！
[Edit]
On Thursday the 5th of Octobre I will be visiting Highgate Cemetry (where Marx is burried and also Douglas Adams!) with a Chinese friend of mine. All in all, the 5th will be the only day I will really have for myself without any course appointments.
[Edit2]
I'd be grateful to get some adresses where I can buy Japanese books (not only textbooks, but also some novels) more or less cheap, as I suppose a city as big as London must have a shop where I can get these, hehe. I'm living in a village here, so that's why I'm asking. Thanks in advance!
Last edited by Tori-kun (2011 September 28, 10:18 am)
I live no where near London, but I hope you have a great time. And give Shakespeare a
chance; Some of it's pretty funny.
Edit: Yeah I did expect that to say Japan lol
Last edited by Splatted (2011 September 28, 10:29 am)
You've been to Bulgaria? Wow! How was it from a tourist point of view? (cause it's actually awful 
)
Tori-kun wrote:
Well, you might have the advantage you are a native speaker and have a really broad knowledge of what the words mean, so you can easily even guess in case you don't understand the (old) grammar used, right? I can say I'm fluent in English but not in Shakespearean English, hehe
Yeah, but I do the same sorts of things with Japanese all the time. I think half the time, getting fluent at a language is learning to guess from context. Besides, picking up on some Shakespearean English might help with modern English in the long run (and for the record, I'm not "fluent" in Shakespearean English either). Just like how in Japanese they use old ways to say things like 知らぬ and おのれ when they are trying to say things in "mock-Classical Japanese", in English you'll sometimes run across older words from English (i.e "Dost thou mock me?" ), used in a sort of mock-old way. So it might be helpful for English study.
Hey, yeh sorry not available to meet due to move East - otherwise would be beers all round!
Anyway, as people have said, you want to go to Central London, and visit Mitsukoshi Department Store. There's a huge Japanese bookshop in the basement that has manga/books/magazines; look for the sale section/bin for bargains! All the sales staff speak to you in Japanese, which is fun.
Also few doors down is Japan Centre, which is mostly food, but again has books, magazines and a sale rack at the back.
The final place to visit, a short 10min walk away from the above in Soho is Adanami, aka the 2nd hand manga bookstore. It looks pretty weird from the outside (it's an old launderette) but MASSIVE selection of cheap (£1-£3) Japanese books and manga! you *must* go here, it's great!! Just be careful in Soho, don't go into any dodgy strip clubs lol 
Wow, I see! I'm really glad you had a great time ^^ And yeah, vodka's way better
have a great time in London Tori!!!
the best place for Japanese literature is by far the shop with the laundrette sign in Soho... you can get a ton more books there for your money.
They don't sell textbooks though, for that your best bet is to look in the Mitsukoshi store, though they aren't cheap. If you can find someone selling them 2nd hand online, you'll get a better deal, but Mitsukoshi's good for finding some interesting Japanese learning books that you might not have found if you just searched online. (e.g. that ambiguous sentences book i wrote a review of).
For English books, my favourite bookstore is Foyles between tottenham court road and leicester square, but waterstones also has a few good branches, the biggest being the Picadilly road one, and Gower Street is good for academic books (though neither are good for Japanese textbooks).
While you're there, definately check out brick lane (try one of the bagels if you're a meat eater), and the tate modern, and there's a really good Japanese restaurant (proper Japanese food!) just down from mornington crescent station. You can also eat food with a different country of origin for every meal, it's great!!
p.s. Shakespeare is really good once you get past the old english, so give it a chance!
Last edited by IceCream (2011 October 02, 11:39 am)
definately!!! It's a big enough selection for me to be able to spend hours happily browsing
oh, the restaurant is here: http://www.qype.co.uk/place/121263-Asak … ant-London
i used to live just a few doors down from it at one point ^_^
there's also Tokyo Diner in Soho for Donburi which is also nice, but definately the mornington crescent one is the best! http://www.tokyodiner.com/
if you're looking for something cheap, you can also get fresh sushi for a couple of pounds, but i forgot the name, it's between picadilly and leicester square though.
p.s. the ice cream shop in Soho is also amazing!!! Look out for it as you wander around, (it's the one where the serving desk is all up the left hand side) their flavours are like, the platonic form of that flavour or something!! (i recommend the caramel!；)
Last edited by IceCream (2011 October 02, 1:54 pm)
Tori-kun wrote:
OMG!!!
I met Lady Gaga in McDonalds >DDD
I know pacing helps keep story tension strong, but this is ridiculous! Did she sign something for you, a napkin, cup, or sth. else? And what else was happening in London?
Ich habe dir übrigens zwei Mails geschickt, aber mysteriöserweise werden diese ständig retourniert. Hast du mich etwa auf block gesetzt? Korrektur. Eine Mail, die ich versuchte, zweimal zu schicken. 
Last edited by Nagareboshi (2011 October 10, 4:07 am)
Tori-kun wrote:
@Nagareboshi: Usually hush.ai only had 2Mb space for free users, so perhaps the space is occupied right now, but I see in their news, that the space for free users was extended to 25Mb.. I will check it out once I'm home and give you notice. Why should I set you on "block"?
Not on purpose, of course. But you know how mail-providers can be. So I thought I ask you.
Tori-Kun wrote:
P.S. I went NOT on purpose into the red-light district somehow (don't ask me how, i was tired and hungry and thirsty and my oyster card was empty, darn) BUT found finally after a long walk ADANAMI!!! OH MY ******* GOD! Bought Japanese books and went to Mitsukoshi, too, and spoke my first two sentences in Japanese, which where questions. Wow, that gave me motivation!
Ha, ha, well done!