5 days from Hell...

Ok. That title is really misleading. I just couldn't think of what else to call it. The last 5 days have actually been the funnest (yes, I know that's not a word), since I got to London.

My friend/birthday buddy from NY, Puneet, arrived in London on Wednesday morning. I've always known Puneet to be a fairly energetic guy - the type that wakes up early even after a long night of drinking, and expected him to be even more energetic given a) it was his first trip to London, and b) he has been doing absolutely no work for the last several months (kinda like me - though I at least have to show up and put in 10-12 hours a day at the office). So I was expecting a pretty busy few days of both daytime sightseeing, and nighttime partying.

However, I was utterly shocked at the amount of activities (save the gay jokes, please) we ended up doing. It really hit me yesterday evening, after coming back from the train station where I bid Puneet adieu, when I looked at the sofa in my living room. It's a really crappy, uncomfortable couch - the cushions literally sink in after one lies down for more than like 5 minutes. When I looked at the sofa at around 7pm on Sunday night, the cushions were completely intact. Neither Puneet or I had sat on the sofa for more than a few minutes at a time in the previous 5 days. Ok, that's not completely true. Puneet did fall asleep on the couch on Thursday night - sitting up, though, not lying down. I woke up drunk/hungover at like 9am to get some water, noticed he wasn't in the bed with me (queen-sized bed, so, again, save the gay jokes), and then found him sitting there, on the couch, completely asleep. Absolutely hilarious. Especially considering he was the one who was relatively sober on Thursday night.

So anyways, back to the weekend. I'm really too tired on this Monday morning to go through step-by-step everything we did. Nor do I think anyone wants to actually read that. But to summarize - between Thursday night and Sunday evening (when Puneet unsuccessfully tried to leave, showing up at Heathrow 58 minutes before his flight - unfortunately, 2 minutes to late to check in):

- we hit up Oxford (beautiful town) where we "punted" (the Oxford/Cambridge version of rowboating) and realized that going to Oxford isn't as intense as one might think. Puneet has a friend there who's a Rhodes Scholar, and he described his day-to-day life as "waking up around 10 or 11, checking email, getting lunch, working for a few hours in the afternoon/evening, and hanging out/coffee/movie with his friends or girlfriend". Hardcore.

- Checked out other London sights, such as St. Paul's Cathedral (with the most annoying tour guide I've ever seen - complete with his gay love/admiration for Sir Christopher Wren, the architect who designed the building), the London Eye (giant Ferris Wheel type thing along the Thames that gives you some great views of London), and the London Tower (which is really a Castle, so why it's called a Tower neither Puneet or I could figure out).

- Went to a couple of really nice restaurants, including this trendy Indian place called Mint Leaf. I made the comment when we first got there that it seemed like a really good date place (which I'll keep in mind in the off-chance I ever get a date while I'm here). Then we looked around and noticed that every table had exactly 1 guy and 1 girl - except for the table that had 2 guys and 2 girls, and, of course, the table that had me and Puneet. Good times.

- Hit up 5 bars/clubs in central London over the 3 nights. Despite the fact we were 2 guys, we generally didn't have many problems getting into places, thanks to this website that lets you sign up for guestlists for a lot of the trendy spots. Highlights of the evenings included:

1) Meeting an Iraqi girl who said she was happy about everything that's happened to America over there

2) Puneet falling asleep sitting upright on the sofa (I know I mentioned it earlier, but I felt like it also belonged in the "nightlife" highlights)

3) Puneet and I getting into a club only AFTER we ditched the one female with us - that's how drunk she was

4) £11 Patron shots. That's $20 for you non-Finance people.

5) Meeting a big Indian group at one of the clubs who were celebrating a birthday. One of the guys was real friendly with us, gave us some of their champagne and basically invited us to party with the group. His girlfriend then said to me "you need to get down right now" as I was dancing on one of the tables with some of them, and generally uninvited us from the party - for which the guy apologized. Kinda backwards, huh? Oh, and I think one of the other girls whose boyfriend had yet to arrive invited Puneet out the next night. He probably should've followed up on that.

6) Me getting followed down the street after getting denied from a club, and being slapped - with an ice pack according to Puneet (I couldn't remember if it was with his hand or some object) - by a bouncer. I'm not joking.

One hell of a weekend. Glad you came Puneet. Please add/amend for anything I've missed or misrepresented.

Goddamn I'm tired.