Braintree!

awesome name : P

Today Vickie and I set out to do some shopping in a town not far from Colchester called Braintree. They have a big outlet mall there, much like Lighthouse Mall, and a cheap cinema (cheap here meaning 5 pounds instead of 8). First we shopped. I found a dress to wear to Summer ball for only 9 pounds ^.^ It is long and black - quite simple. The collar goes up quite high and looks rather Egyptian, lined with silver disks. Pictures will be forthcoming at a later time.

Vickie found a ceramic chicken.

We ate a late lunch at a place called the Chicago Rock Cafe : P I got a kick out of that. It was pretty similar to the Hard Rock Cafe; lots of movie and music paraphenalia, etc etc. I got some lasagna which was awesome and came with a great salad made of baby spinach, peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes with some manner of vinegarette dressing. Lasagna over here has a certain quality that I have not tasted before. Both times I've had it, there's been a sort of sauce in it, very light, cheesy, very delicious. Maybe they do this in America too and I just haven't noticed? Or maybe my love affair with British cheese is just getting a bit out of hand.

Next we headed over to the cinema. It was very nice, and quite large. It was certainly of Showplace quality, if not better. They had a snack bar where you could scoop your own assortments of candy and buy it by weight, just like in a candy store. I found banana circus peanuts and they were delicious : )

The seats in the theater had higher backs and were wider than your typical Showplace seats. They are also reclined more. They were quite comfortable and I didn't feel I needed to shift constantly throughout the movie. The movie itself was really really good. I quite enjoyed it. The only bit that bugged me was Pepper Potts. As soon as she let her hair down all her competence floated out the window with her brains. Oi. As for the post-credits bit, Vickie didn't want to stay and said we'd find it later on YouTube. Yeah... not so much. Ah well, I'll live.

Oh, and British adverts before the show? Pretty nifty : P I still have not got over the novelty of everyone in commercials having an accent. They're witty too, involving whole skits centered around the theme of turning your cell phone off : P

After the movie we went back to University. Driving anywhere in Britain is nice. The express ways aren't walled in, and the scenery is always doing something interesting. There are no bill boards either. When we got back to the tower, I borrowed Lucy's DS charger which works perfectly (YES!) and arranged a ride back from Canterbury next Tuesday.

Tomorrow I shall perform the landry ritual, and then sit around watching movies all day ^.^ It will be good.