March 28, 2005
Weekend of the Parents
My Mum and Dad came down to London for the weekend a wee bit ago, and we indulged in a vast range of varied and interesting activities - the first of which, was an evening in B&Q; getting the items required to build me two beautiful shelves in my room.
This may sound simple enough, but the bewildering variety of choices in wood, screws, rawl plugs and brackets made this excursion a bit like the Krypton Factor. Luckily I had a 'shelf expert' on hand (my Dad), and a mere couple of hours later we had accomplished the mission.
The next day we went to Wisley Gardens. They were REALLY lovely, and I highly recommend them even if you're not bothered about gardening. If you like gardening there is a giant shop there too, where you can buy tons of plants.
The following morning was set aside for putting up the shelves, which according to my Dad would take 'about an hour', and according to my Mum would take 'all morning'. It turned out that my Mum's prediction was more accurate, especially when my Dad discovered that he didn't have a drill bit the right size. We asked at the local shops and were told twice to 'try the chemists', as they 'have everything'. My Dad was not impressed by this suggestion and off we went back to B&Q; for a new drill bit.
Action shot of shelf building.
After this slight setback the shelves were up fairly speedily, and they were nearly finished before my Dad discovered that he actually had had the correct size drill bit the whole time. The blame was placed on the metric system and inconsistent labelling of the bits.
We then set off for the South Bank where we ventured into the Tate Modern, and my Mum and Dad actually quite liked the place - although some of the things in it were 'not art'. Apparently 'anyone could have done that rubbish'.
Action on the South Bank
We rounded the evening off with a pilgrimage to South Croydon and the Kelong Restaurant, where my Dad had eaten a nice crab a decade earlier, and was keen to relive the experience. Luckily for us, the restauarant had a really nice buffet, and not only that, the crab with chilli sauce was still on the menu.
The crab was served with various picking and crushing utensils, and a good supply of napkins to wipe up all the debris. The scene afterwards would best be described as 'total carnage'. According to my Dad they 'expect it to be a bit messy when you eat a crab'.
This may have been the crab my Dad ate - but it's not likely.