Hampstead, London, UK

Another eventful week in cloudy and cool London. Cousin Benny arrived for a brief visit last weekend and we had an enjoyable couple of days with him, wandering around the street fair in Hampstead and the Freemason's Arms and then an amusing play at the Haymarket. I went to the Little Ship Club on Tuesday for their club night featuring Sea Shanties with Roger and Ted who will be my crew for the cruise from Singapore to South Africa next year. An enjoyable evening was had by all.

We met with some old medical schools pals on Wednesday for dinner and Thursday again to the theater to see the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, which was very well done.

The weekend was spent with Jessica and Ben and little Sydney in Kent and Jennifer joined us after completing her cookery course on Friday. We had a combined Thanksgiving and Hannuka celebration on Saturday and the time passed quickly playing with the baby.

We are now back in Hampstead getting me packed up  for the trip back to Malaysia tomorrow.

Thanksgiving in Kent

Sydney with the Admiral's boots

Sydney making gingerbread men

Princess Sydney with tutu enjoying a tea party with her dolls

Lighting the candles

Cousin Benny and the Admiral in the pub

The Little Ship Club with a view of the river at Southwark Bridge

Hampstead, London, UK

We got back to London last Thursday and then spent the weekend in Kent with Ben and Jessica and Sydney. We went to a local farm with a small petting zoo and a playground and Sydney ran around enjoying feeding the creatures. We met with Phil and Sandra, Ben's Mum and Dad at the farm and then went back to Jessica's house for lunch.
Evenings were spent on an epic Downton Abbey binge viewing and we watched the entire recent season almost back to back. We await the Christmas special.
Back to London on Monday and a huge curry dinner with my brother and his girlfriend. Out to Ealing on Tuesday to visit with cousin Ann over a very pleasant pub lunch.
I went to Royal Academy on Wednesday to see an exhibition of Australian Art and a Daumier exhibit and had lunch with yet another cousin, Steven.
Yesterday, we went to the Thai Embassy to get our visas for our time in Thailand in January, February and March and then spent a pleasant afternoon in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

sydney driving

sydney and goats

sydney feeding the lambs 

swinging sydney

chihuly lights at the V & A

Rochester, Kent,UK.

We have had a weekend of doting.

Here are some wedding photos. We will get some professional ones in due course

London,UK.

In many ways it was difficult to leave the comforts and  beautiful weather of San Diego but it was time to get going again. Our flight to London was quite good as the plane was half empty and we were able to get three seats each and I managed to get a few hours of snoozing.
The London gloom was a bit of a shock but to be expected at this time of year. Jennifer and Josette arrived on the following day and then it was full on preparation for the wedding of my niece Lisa.
I'm not usually mad keen on huge gatherings but it was great to get all dressed up and have three of the kids in one place at the same time. Ann, Jessica, Jennifer and Josette all looked beautiful and the wedding itself was meticulously planned and most enjoyable.
I don't know how much jet lag was involved but I managed to stay awake until the wee hours of the morning.
On the following morning, we got to see baby Sydney in the flesh for the first time in six months. Even though we see and talk to her on Skype almost on a daily basis, face to face interaction was much better. I think she knew who we were but she seemed a bit confused as to why we weren't talking to her via an electronic device.
We went to Amersham on Tuesday to visit with the Admiral's mum and dad and also had  a very pleasant visit with Helen Southwood, one of our good cruising friends at her new home in Chorleywood .
Photos to follow

San Diego, CA

I am very happy to have finished my 4 1/2 weeks of radiation and I feel so lucky to have avoided chemotherapy, my only side effects being somewhat tired and localized itchy skin! I have now started anastrozole, a daily oral medication for the next 10 years ,as long as there are no serious side effects....fingers crossed. Lifestyle wise I have decided to change my vegetarian diet slightly and I have cut out ALL dairy products! And a max of 3 drinks per WEEK ( this is stated as the safe amount) as studies show that drinking 2-3 glasses of alcohol per day can increase the risk of breast cancer by 20%! We have continued to visit new sites around San Diego, and have been twice to my favorite ,this being the Salk Institute in La Jolla,this is a private research institute, began by Jonas Salk ,who along with Louis Kahn envisioned in the 1960's an exceptional environment for laboratory discovery.Using 5 components ,concrete, steel, travertine ,teak and glass this wondrous piece of architecture is maintenance free and ever evolving. It is located on the cliff side overlooking the Pacific Ocean .Walking through these serene surroundings where many Nobel prize winners have pondered is very calming and inspiring. Last weekend was also very inspiring for me ,it was the American Cancer association Breast Cancer walk, there were 30,000 walkers! Mostly dressed in pink.827 teams.Our team was called " Keep Calm and think pink " ranked 33 rd in fund raising with a total of $3990 ! Thank you everybody who sponsored me, and walked by my side,I felt truly loved. We had a lovely weekend with James and Katie from San Francisco, Josie from Portland and (10 days )with my sister Sue from England.Other activities have included The captain having his obligatory infrequent haircut,in preparation for his nieces wedding, Saturday walks at the local farmers market and trying some local restaurants. In 10 days we will travel to London and slowly kick start our journey again...with family visits and then back to the boat in Langawi ( Malaysia) in December.

Salk Institute

Salk Institute

Breast Cancer Walk Our Team

The admiral with all of her regalia

Ringing the bell at the end of treatment at UCSD

Bubbles at the Prado

San Diego, CA

All done with treatment!
Yesterday was the last radiation therapy treatment and today the Admiral visited with her oncologist and was given her next appointment for six months. All went well with the radiation therapy thus far but she may suffer from some ill effects over the next two to four weeks. We will have to wait and see. Also, she will start an estrogen blocking drug tomorrow and we hope that there will be no problems with it, as it is recommended she take this medication for 5- 10 years.
She is most relieved to have finished treatment and is now involved with much retail therapy with her sister, Susan who is visiting from England.
We have not been idle since my last post. We had a very pleasant celebratory lunch at the Prado restaurant in Balboa Park yesterday and last weekend was the walk for Breast Cancer.
A four mile stroll with about five thousand of our new best friends. Lots of noise and rah-rah but a very uplifting and emotional experience. We had Josette and James and Katie down for the weekend and we spent some quality family time together
The Admiral did well to raise more than $2500 for the ACS and again we would like to thank all those who contributed.
Photos to follow.

San Diego, CA

Nearly Half Way There

I am now  2 weeks into my radiation, so far so good.

When I am lying in the machine( called a linear accelerator) each day it seems so

 surreal, as if this is happening to someone else and I'm a spectator .The only bad

 thing last week was a couple of episodes of vertigo which is unlikely to be related.

We have been busy exploring San Diego each day after my treatments, trying to 

incorporate some nice long walks and new sites. Every Tuesday rotating museums

 are free for residents, luckily for the Captain it was the automotive and air and space museums this week, hopefully it will be art and the Zen gardens next.

Last week was also the opening of the new downtown SD 8 floor library complex ,lots of space to lounge and good fast wifi.

Julie and I have also been busy with online fundraising for the ACS breast cancer fund and organizing our team to walk on October 20 th. See the link below

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=34858349&pg=personal&fr_id=55649&fl=en_US&et=PvKxvZQ6Yf2y1eglg3CpWw&s_tafId=1204955

For those of you who may be wondering how the Captain has adjusted to so much 

land time,you will be pleased to hear that he has

been keeping his feet wet 'beer can racing,' every Wednesday afternoon, at CCYC.

reading room new library

Automotive museum at Balboa Park

.