York and The Return to America

Before I dive into the last blog of our UK adventures, I have to give crazy mad props to the awesome people that helped make my year and a half in London be so awesome.  First off, I have to thank my extended family up in Huddersfield for letting me crash with them until I found a job!  Which luckily for my bank account only took a week.

When I finally moved down to London, I only had two weeks to find a place, and somehow wound up making friends for life through a Gumtree "roommate wanted" ad! I mean who else would have joined me for a spontaneous overnight bus trip to Paris?  Or would constantly feed me and show me around London?  Or secretly try to replace me with another Asian after I moved out (Though I'm not sure she was as pretty, or loved appletinis as much). And it was a ghost dangit, I never cried. Especially after watching Love Actually.  It was definitely a ghost!   Bee and Paolo, you two are legends!

To my travel friends Ginni, Anna, and Sharon for randomly meeting up with me and introducing me to new places and new friends. To Stine for showing me the Little Mermaid statue of Copenhagen and introducing me to Smørrebrød  To my boy Peppe!  From living in hostels, to giggling in Gili T, to playing pool with Thai hookers, to crashing a moped, to having no idea what happened that New Year's Eve or why we were covered in body paint, to both ending up in London... Life is too crazy dude, I wish we could have hung out more whilst I was there.  To Cathy and Bob, for inviting us up for our Rushden weekends!  To James and Jules for joining us on our little camping adventure, complete with S'mores!  And for hosting us when we had to make our final flights back to America... And for being so nice to us all of the time! To John for constantly getting drunk with me and introducing me to Gelupo's Gelato!  And for being so god damn handsome.  To Chloe for introducing us to all the best places to eat in London and demanding I wear 'The Suit' to her wedding!

To the softball team for letting me be part of the group once I started dating Sarah.  Although Sunny was probably a little too friendly... And he was always going on about how much he loved Neal's nuts, I just don't know what all that was about...  To Ian, James and Julin - You guys saved us.  If you didn't let us stay with you for those final two months, I don't know what we would have done. I would have had to re-open GigaLowe Inc. and sell my body in the night again.  Though, to be fair, I did give you my family recipe for Seantonio noodles, so even stevens.  And lastly - to my boys at work: Rambo, Manimal aka Mr. Mantastic aka Mantasia aka the Man of my Mantasies, Abs, Slutty Steve, and Captain Phillips.  I have five brothers in the US, but as far as I'm concerned, you guys are complete ass holes.  I never would have survived without you guys, you're family.  And Man, I'm sorry you ended up in the ED the night I left, for symptoms that could only be attributed to a broken heart... Or a rufie from Ram.  There's really no way to know... Until he confesses.  But anyways, to everyone listed and to those I forgot, thanks for making my UK adventure one to remember :)

And now that my rare bout of thankfulness and gratitude is over...on to York!

One of the coolest parts of York - there is still a castle wall that still surrounds most of the city center.

We are always running for the thrill of it, thrill of it.  Always pushing up the hill, searching for the thrill of it.  On and on and on we are calling out, out again.  Never looking down, I'm just in awe of what's in front of me...

Coming here was the last time we got to use our English Heritage passes!  Well worth the cost if you're into history and/or like to wander.

Technically our trip to Budapest/Lisbon was Sarah's Bday/Our Anniversary gift, but for her last weekend in the country, we figured we might as well take a cheeky last trip.  Ergo, we headed to Kings Cross one last time, so I could hop on a train that, once again, disappointingly I might add, did not leave from Platform 9 3/4... I mean J.K Rolwing literally based a character off of me.  Do you really think she came up with Seanold Weasley on her own?  You think the long, luxurious hair is just a coincidence? The hot girlfriend? The incredible skill at Wizard's Chess ( I mean, I'm Asian people).  And that's not even beginning to mention what I can do with my wand... (Don't worry if you've begun to feel titillated, it's just one of the many side effects of reading my blog).

York is kind of the atypical English city that I always imagined in my head.  It is filled with tons of little shops, big open squares, street performers, aspiring artists, pubs, a huge cathedral, and some random ruins.  I think England gets a lot prettier as you travel North, and once you hit Scotland, it's downright amazing.  If I ever move back to the UK, I would definitely live outside the hustle and bustle of London.  The nice thing about going to a place like York, is that you don't really need a plan and can see everything in a day or two.  So we wandered about, ate Indian food one last time, and randomly stumbled upon a train museum, which was actually really cool!

Fun Fact for HP nerds... This area, with all the buildings jutting out, is called The Shambles.  It is believed to be J.K. Rowling's inspiration for Diagon Alley! Accio Seantonio!

I'm going to miss all the old buildings in Europe.  The oldest building in Kansas City was constructed in 1850... Practically a spring chicken compared to this thing.

This owl does not look like he's having a hoot

Ahhh the good old days, when only rich people could ride the train.  It's good being better than everyone else.

After leaving York, we spent one last night in Huddersfield, so I could see my cousin, aunt and uncle one last time before coming home.  And Sarah forced me to get a haircut as a birthday gift, whilst she went out to lunch with her friends!  Uncool.  The missus flew back home a few days after we got back from York, whilst I had to wait another month, but luckily I was able to get back home before Thanksgiving and see some of my siblings!  Moving continents is always crazy, but luckily my mom was able to put us up whilst we house hunted!

We are pretty awful at the whole not traveling thing, so before we knew it we were already off to Connecticut to spend Christmas with Sarah's family.  We even took a trip into New York City on Christmas day!  Sarah's sister, Candice, and her boyfriend Eric, also came to visit us the following weekend to celebrate New Year's, so moving back definitely didn't put a damper on the chaos maelstrom that is our lives...And things were only going to get crazier as we hunted for our first house, but that's a story for another blog....

Random GoPros

York Minster in all it's GoPro glory

Apparently putting a super creepy baby doll in the train makes for a better exhibition.

You might sail across the sea, set up camp beneath this tree. Or climb a mountain, spend your time in heavenly surroundings watching down.  And my heart keeps beating and I'm still dreaming of me and you, me and you.  Well my heart keeps beating and I'm still dreaming of you...

 Sarah and Sean's Sensational Stockpile of Snappy Snaps

I walked accross an empty land, I knew the pathway like the back of my hand.  I felt the earth beneath my feet, sat by the river and it made me complete.  And if you have a minute, why don't we go somewhere only we know. Somewhere only we know...

Go home into your blue jeans, have some chicken and some baked beans.  Pick a backyard football team and not do much of anything.  That's what I love about Sundays...

I miss Costa!  It's completely ruined Starbucks for me.  Don't even get me started on a cheeky Nando's....

And all the things we did still fill me up with butterflies.  Cus I still flatter, I still shine, whenever I remember your sweet smile.  My heart keeps beating and I'm still dreaming of me and you, me and you. Well my heart keeps beating and I'm still dreaming of you...

Belgium, Stonehenge, and Normandy

There comes a time in a man's life, in which he has to meet the parents.  Now does a man give hugs, does he bow, does he give his girlfriend's mother a signed, framed photo of himself, does he discuss the many indicators that he is the reincarnation of Enrique Iglesias?  No.  A man plays it cool.  A man keeps his shirt on, a man pretends to be normal.  I mean, can you even imagine introducing your parents to this. Yeah, all of this (motions up and down body).  This is the unfortunate task that Sarah was faced with, when we met her parents in Belgium.  Sarah's parents spent a few days in Paris with her aunt and uncle ahead of meeting us in Bruges, so Sarah had a few days to kibosh my idiotic ideas.

If you take the Eurostar to Belgium, you are required to pass through Brussels.  From there, you have up to 24 hours to catch a train to any other city within the country.  Since we got a free day in Brussels, we decided to stay there for a night and view the city before heading to Bruges.  Upon arriving, we ventured out to the main town square and found a beer festival!  Talk about stereotypes.  We weren't allowed into the main section however, since we had a backpack.  No doubt that was due to the terrorist attacks that have occurred recently.  If only we lived in a world where people didn't resort to violence...

There's a bone in my hand that connects to a drink, on the crowded streets where the glasses clink.  And I'l buy you a beer and we'll drink it in deep, because that keeps me from falling asleep!

In case you were unaware, The Smurfs were created in Belgium!

Similar to Prague, Brussels has a giant clock with interactive figurines.

The door that incepted itself.  A door within a door within a door.

The next morning, we wandered around for a few hours to see some of the main attractions and buy  chocolates for our work friends.  They're so needy!  After completing our shopping, we hopped on a train to Bruges, where there was a cheese and wine festival upon our arrival...I really don't know how we time these things out, it's like the universe wants us to be alcoholics!  However all the old people were scrounging through the cheese tents, like bottom feeders around a dead whale carcass.  Some greedy, old bastard cut in front of me and took the last two pieces of cheese.  These old people have no rules, they don't understand the queue, and they don't respect the cheese.  #StillBitter

After succumbing to the realization I was never going to get any cheese, Sarah and I decided to drown our sorrows in a couple of pints and play some pool.  We had a pretty low key dinner, before retiring back to our hotel for the evening, as I needed my beauty sleep before meeting Sarah's mother.  I mean let's be honest, I need my looks.  All it takes is reading a few lines of this blog to realize I wasn't going to impress them with my personality or charm.

Thank you James and Jules for introducing us to the movie "In Bruges".  If you ever come here, you have to watch it, it's hilarious.

Definitely a tourist town, but it's clean and pretty...And full of life's most important things: Beer and Chocolate.

 I'm so wrapped up in a daze, hoping this is just a phase.  But when all is said and done, I know you are still the one.  You're the only one.  Cupid's bow, it stung.  And now you're the only one...

Sarah's mother had never met a former male model before, so after recovering from her initial daze, we were on our way.  We'd already met via FaceTime, but it was nice to finally meet in person!  We didn't waste any time in getting our tourist on, so we headed to the Historium to get a little history about life in Bruges and soak up the views of the town square.  We spent the rest of the day wandering around, sneaking in cheeky pints, and enjoying the cuisine.  Sarah's parents were also excited to catch up on sleep, as they were staying in a hotel outside of the latin quarter in Paris, where the music blared all night long!  They're lucky I wasn't there with them, because I would have thrown down on those dance floors, and there are some things you simply cannot unsee.

Day two started with a boat trip along the canals and ended with a trip to the chocolate museum, as Belgium, of course, is famous for it's chocolate.  We learned that Belgian chocolate is regulated, based on the percentage of cocoa beans that are used vs. other ingredients, which is likely the reason Belgian chocolate is considered to be some of the best in the world.  I like to mix in these facts from time to time because as many of you know, my blog stands for two things: Providing educational information and respect for women.  Our time in Bruges was limited, however, so after leaving the chocolate museum, we had to make the train journey back to London.

Probably one of the favourite night shots I've taken.  Still can't believe I've had my camera for 3 years now.  It's captures so many amazing memories, it's almost like a travel companion.

This is how you get all your ducks in a row...

I got my eye on you, what you gonna do?

Upon returning to London, I had to go back to work, but Sarah had taken the entire week off to show her parents around.  We also took Sarah's mom to Book of Mormon for her Birthday, which is a must see for anyone!  Now, I'm sure most of you consider me to be a manly man, both for my love of Appletinis and my incredible facial hair, so you can probably understand my tentativeness about how enjoyable a musical was going to be.  But I was dead wrong.  Book of Mormon is effing hilarious, a must-see!  I will never lack faith in a musical being entertaining ever again.  I absolutely loved it.  Sarah also got us all tickets to do a tour of the Buckingham Palace State Rooms, which are only opening during the summer months.  

Often confused for being London Bridge, this is actually Tower Bridge

Taking a sunset cruise along the Thames

It was a good year and a half London.  I shall miss you.

Have I spent at least 30 hours of my life watching some dude with crazy hair talk about Ancient Aliens?  Absolutely I have.  So there comes a time in a man's life when he needs to search for things, Loch Ness Monsters, Bigfoot, Aliens.  That time is always.  Thus we took Sarah's parents on a trip outside of London to Stonehenge, a mythical place created by druids, with a lot of conspiracy theory indicating extraterrestrial assistance.  Now you probably picture Stonehenge as being this really spooky rock structure in the middle of the woods.  Let me reset that picture.  You can literally see cars zipping by a few hundred meters away on the giant highway that runs parallel to it.  It's cool to think about how it was created, but it just wasn't what I imagined.  It also may not have helped that it was bucketing down rain!

After leaving Stonehenge, we headed to the Roman city of Bath, which is known for it's natural hot springs.  It's one of the prettiest cities in England, so it's a must see for anyone that wants a day trip out of London.  Since we were there on a combined bus tour for Stonehenge and Bath, we had about three hours to grab lunch and wander around the city before we had to head back. 

Ancient Aliens baby!

Bath is amazing, definitely one of my favourite cities in England

I convinced Sarah there was a ghost in this photo... It may or may not have just been a projection on the wall...

This is basically what I used to picture when I thought of England.  Now I know better.

After Sarah's parents returned to the U.S., we spent the next four days selling all of our furniture and moving all of our belongings halfway across London, as we had to move out of our flat.  We were on a four day time crunch, because we were going to our friend Chloe's wedding in Normandy that weekend!  There's never any time for rest with us.  Luckily our friends Ian and James were willing to let us crash with them between the time our flat lease ended and when we moved back to America.  Talk about having amazing friends to bail you out!  I owe them more gin and tonics than they can ever consume!

After the wedding, we had no more trips planned... But there comes a Thursday night before your girlfriend's last day at work and it just seems like you should fly her to Budapest afterwards.  But that's a story for another blog...


Random GoPros

The view from the Historium

It's definitely worth taking a canal ride

I didn't realize they were using my calves as moulds for these statues...

 Sarah and Sean's Sensational Stockpile of Snappy Snaps

How you doin?

I just have to say you look so god damn good, I give ya crazy mad props, cus I know should...

Such a diva, with the hair flip

If you find a wishing well, something as dreamy as me might just appear.  But I won't wish you well, I'll just give you hell.

It's too close, it's just disturbing.

Listening to the audio guide and getting drenched with Sarah's parents.

My sleepy lady

To wander the world next to you, is all that I could ever do.  So rain, rain go away.  Come again another day.  All the world is waiting for the sun.  Rain, rain go away.  Come again another day.  All the world is waiting for the sun.  

I'd like to think I have everything I want from this life...

I Ain't Got A Home, I'll Forever Roam

A few people have asked me to start writing again, so I'm finally giving in and typing away.  So what have I been up to in the past year?  Well after backpacking across various parts of the world, I basically realized I could never live in the midwest again, so I applied for a British passport, and set my sights on moving to London.  Now a few things to note when applying for a British passport.  If your brother wants to piggyback off your application and get his passport as well, make sure his reading aptitude is higher than that of a loaf of bread. If not, he might just send you the wrong forms, or take the wrong sized passport photos, or fill out the section of the application that indicates he is mentally retarded and needs a co-signer, or all three of those things.  Such things may delay you from getting your passport by a month... Yup.

In order to avoid winter in KC, I road tripped (without a cell phone or GPS) to Orlando and passed my days by walking my sister's pugs with my bro in law, Craig.  Nothing weird about two dudes taking two pugs out on a walk.  Or having Broga sessions.  Or watching WWE.  I also helped my friends, Skylar and Jamie, renovate their house, since they moved to Sarasota during my time abroad.  Our nights were passed with vodka sodas, microbrews, and using power tools.  Probably not the safest combination, but I can now say I've used  a jackhammer and wet saw, installed toilets and kitchen cabinets, tiled an entire house, and successfully wired a three-way electrical switch.  But finally, after four long months, my passport arrived!  Thus I drove back to Kansas City to manny my niece, who is my favourite (whoaaa British spelling) little human in the world, whilst preparing for my move to the UK.  And yes, I love saying whilst.

Pug life!! 16 hours of sleep per day.  That's the dream.

My sister had the pleasure of running a 5k with the Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man Randy Savage... However, I'm not sure how much pleasure she derived from watching me run it in a speedo.

Super Baby!! Oh how I miss listening to the Frozen soundtrack on repeat...

Long story short: After a month or so in KC, I sold my car, bought a one way ticket to Manchester, got offered a job in London 5 days later, spent two weeks with my cousin, aunt and uncle up in Huddersfield, flew back to America for two days of training, flew across the Atlantic a third time that month and then had two weeks to find a flat in London.  In the end, I found my flatmates on Gumtree (i.e. Craigslist) and now live in the Shoreditch area of London, where I eke out a meager existence.  Coincidentally if you are on Gumtree and see and ad for a GigiLowe... I mean that's the best 7 quid you're ever gonna spend. Just saying.

So here's the deal. Now that I'm a professional business man again, I've got to keep this blog somewhat respectable.  That means no writing about Swedish girls, recreational drug use, pooping in the ocean, or getting a phosphorescent boner.  Of course, there are a few things this blog will continue to feature: Providing factual information and respecting women.  Unless that woman is Canadian, we all know how I feel about those filthy hosers.

So how is life as a professional business man?  Well, not working for 2 years was basically the greatest decision I ever made, so going back to work has been absolutely brutal.  My team is all dudes, so I have no one to flirt with or play pranks on.  It's awful.  What the hell am I supposed to do all day? Work?  I need to find a job where I get paid to travel or write... Or both since those are the two things I'm passionate about!

Now, some people think that because I have a good job and wear $6000 suits that I should stay in hotels and take flights... WTF?!  Do I look like I'm made of money to you? I mean I'm only wearing a $4000 sweatsuit as I write this blog. When I travel, I take buses and I stay in hostels.  The less luxuriously you travel, the more you can travel, and I've got mountains to climb in Africa and penguins to dance with in Antarctica.

I've visited quite a few places in the UK, but I am way too lazy to blog about them, so here's a bunch of photos:

Edinburgh, Scotland

If I was king of the castle, I'd reflect on the fact that it's now Autumn.  And then I'd watch my enemies fall like leaves. 

It doesn't get much better than Scotland - Rolling hills, ocean, mountains, friendly people.  It's paradise.

Not counting England, I've been to 8 countries in my first 5 months here... Not too shabby

Cardiff, Wales

All I am is a man, I want the world in my hands. I hate the beach, but here I stand in Cardiff with my toes in the sand.  Use the sleeves on my sweater, let's have an adventure.  Head in the clouds, but my gravity's centered....

Lake District, England

I'm just an animal in fancy clothes...Or am I?

When I walk away from people I frequently hear things like "What a bum" or "What an ass".  I think this picture makes it clear why.  #Bootylicious #BeyonceWishes

Brighton / Seven Sisters Cliff, England

That sun really knows how to Brighton up your day.  Eh, eh??  Bwahaha, my terrible puns are back with a vengeance

Never in my life would I have imagined England looking like this.  Beautiful.

Peak District, England

Spooky

I ain't got a home.  I'll forever roam.  Said I ain't got a home.  I'll forever roam.  No, I ain't got a home.  I'll forever roam.

So yeah, that's my life.  Whilst I've been good about exploring the UK, I'm pretty much the worst tourist of London, as I have yet to take any pictures with my Canon or GoPro, but I'll get there :)

I've also randomly been to Denmark, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, and Paris.  But I'll save that for another time ;).   Cheers


Random GoPros

York is amazing, despite the fact they make a shit peppermint patty

My favorite thing about the GoPro is never knowing what the photo looks like until you plug it into your computer.  So much fun.

So I guess I am now officially Eurasian, but if you play your cards right, I might just be your Asian ;)

At least half of me wants to steal one of those boats and take off again.  Want to run away with me?

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground.  Try this trick and spin it, yeah.  Your head will collapse, cus there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "Where is my mind, where is my mind? Where is my mind?" 

My number one spot in the UK so far.  Lake District is where it's at.  This pic is surreal, it's almost like a painting.

A lot of people will tell you how to live your life, explain to you what you're doing wrong, what you should be doing... When this happens to me, the only thing that goes through my mind is "My life is pretty awesome, so you can go fuck yourself" ;)

 - William Wordsworth (Famous poet from the Lake District)

Not quite a white sand beach...but I'll take it!!!

My little escape a few hours South of London

WHY DID I CUT MY HAIR?!?!? This is why you shouldn't let me make decisions sober, they're always terrible.

So envious of this dude's hair.  It's majestic.  It's everything I once had.  I'm just a shell of myself without my hair. Why? Why would I cut it? Why would I get rid of my best feature. It was just idiotic. I don't even know what I'm doing with my life.  I don't know where it all went wrong.  I just, I'm just feeling really vulnerable right now. I mean like one or two Appletinis and you could totally have your way with me.

I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference

If you want to see these places for yourself, then how about we play a little game of red rover, and you send yourself on over...

Damn you Justin Bieber.  Why do you always get the exact same haircut as me, like 3 months before I do.  It's so frustrating.