Flew over to London on Wednesday with three of my cousins. After a quick pizza, we went up to see Spurs play Chelsea in the league. We beat them in the Carling Cup final last month, so we knew they would be out for revenge, and as they’re chasing the league title, the points were far more important to them than they were to us. So I feared the worst -- I thought they might put 4 or 5 goals past us. And I was right -- they scored four times!!!! But so did we!!!!!! We went 1-0, then 3-1 down, then 4-3 down ... but we scored an equaliser a couple of minutes from the end, and could even have won it in the very final minute! It was an amazing match, football at its finest. I went through every emotion imaginable, from deepest darkest despair to unbelievable elation. It’s not a game I’ll forget in a long time ... and I don’t think any Chelsea fans will forget it either, though I’m sure they’ll try their best to!!!!! Heh heh heh heh heh!!!!!

Today we went to Thorpe Park for a few hours. It’s an amusement park about half an hour’s train ride out of London. It’s pretty good for the UK, though it’s no match for the amusment paradises of Florida in the USA!!! It was busy today, but we got there early and managed to get on all the rides we wanted, without waiting in line too long. I went to Thorpe Park many years ago when I was a kid, not long after it first opened to the public -- it had no rides back then, just recreations of old villages, Roman buildings and the like!!! I always like going back, as it’s a trip down memory lane, though Alton Towers is by far the best theme park in the UK.

In the evening we met my friend from Japan, Maiko, and my uncle Derek, and went for dinner in the Hard Rock Cafe on Old Park Lane (the very first to ever open in the world), then went to see the musical Wicked. I’ve seen it a few times before, including on Broadway with the original cast, but it was the first time for the others, and I’m pleased to say they all fell under its spell, even my usually quite cynical uncle!!! It’s a play with a weak second half -- pretty much all the good songs are weighted in the first half, and the political element is much more pronounced -- but that first half is so good that you come away not minding too much about the plot holes and the lack of a great closing song. But in truth it’s a pity -- Wicked is hugely enjoyable, as reflected by its success worldwide, but if a bit more care had been paid to the second half, it could have been an out-and-out classic. Oh well, it’s still one of the best shows around at the moment, even with its flaws, so if you haven’t seen it yet, and the chance arises, seize it!!!!