Oxford Circus Indeed

Today was quite eventful!

Alison, Brooke and I decided that we were going to get mobile phones today, so after some discussion about plans and companies, we set off. (We are going to have very toned legs from all of this walking on uneven paving stones!) Brooke unfortunately lost her digital camera somewhere en route, so we stopped in an electronics store to pick her up a new one before heading to Oxford Street for phones. The guy who helped her get a camera struck up conversation, and apparently has friends in Canada, and has been to Gravenhurst and Barrie of all places. We talked to him for a little while until it was sufficiently awkward, and then continued on our way.

After a few minor detours, we walked all the way down Great Portland Street to Oxford, which was insanity. Going to a main shopping street on a Saturday may not have been the best plan of attack, however, we now know where to shop. In the small portion of the street we walked down, there was an H&M, Urban Outfitters, Top Shop, Selfridges, Aldo, Mango, Zara, and a million other stores. The cell phone stores were on the other side of Oxford Circus from where we were, so we got the experience of trying to cross the circus with hundreds of other people and about 30 double deckers. Add in several thousand taxis, bike rickshaws and actual bikes and you'll have some idea. I'll take my camera next time to capture the insanity.

So I got a really cheap phone at a shop called 3. Basically for £30 I got the phone (a little cute thing), a free SIM card, and a top up which allows for 200 minutes to non-3 phones, free calling to 3 phones, 500 texts, internet use, free MSN and skype. It's also only 3p/min to call home! It doesn't get much better than that folks. Forget Rogers...
Brooke got her phone at Orange, and Alison got hers at T-Mobile, so we're all different just to make things good and complicated... ha ha!
We walked down another street off of Oxford, promptly decided it was far too expensive for poor students, and went to another café for a lunch of salami, arugula (apparently called "rocket" here) and chili mayo paninis, which were just delightful.

After lunch we headed back to the Circus Tube station so Brooke and I could get our oyster cards. They're basically a reloadable smart card that you wave in front of readers to get on the Tube. The card knows how many times you've been on in a day and the fare decreases each time you use it, so you don't end up paying more than is fair. It's a pretty good system. So I had my first Tube ride down the Bakerloo line from Oxford Circus to Regent's Park, just down Marylebone Road from residence.

We stopped to get some veggies and snacks at the dining hall, and then headed back to the room after a very busy day, where I now sit, veggies devoured, catching up on blog posts.
You people had better be reading them.... ha ha!

<3