SLC - Day 4 (Continued)
I've got one and a half days left in America to enjoy, there's no wrestling left to be done, and I've managed to save quite abit of money, despite the food shopping and going out to eat nearly everynight. I'm being driven by Jake Shannon (of scientificwrestling.com (one day I'll be paid to advertise)) and after one final goodbye and thankyou to Billy, we headed towards my hotel. On the way, the sundance film festival is brought up. Why? Because it's taking place in about three days and was being held within driving distance of where I was staying. On one hand I'm glad I didn't know this prior to booking my flights and hotel because I didn't end up spending all my money and staying in America for the festival, on the other hand a part of me wished I'd ended up spending all my money and staying in America for the festival. I wasn't going to dwell on this though because Jake suggested going up and looking around, with the day I had left in America, to see if I could find any actors or directors who'd turned up early. This sounded appealing. Although I hadn't commited the date and location of the festival to memory, I did know a film called Red State was opening at Sundance. Written and directed by one of my favourite writer/directors Kevin Smith (or as some people know him, Silent Bob). I didn't think there was a huge chance I was going to bump into the man himself, but if I didn't at least give it a go I'd always wonder, wouldn't I?
At my hotel I give another final thankyou and goodbye, this time to Jake. Grab a much needed shower and go out for what was to be my last dinner in Salt Lake City. Don't worry I'm not going to blab on and compare the food to the stuff in Manchester, because this time I had something I'd never seen on a menu in England, sweet and sour tofu. Quick review: amazing. Name of the restaurant: Thaifoon. There, a quick and painless amatuer review to end day 4 with, because after eating there really isn't anything worth of note, unless you want me to start a book review section in this blog too.
SLC - Day 5
I've got the whole day to myself, money in my pocket, and an ipod playing The Beatles. Time to hunt for Silent Bob.
Park City has a very strange mix of tourist gimmicks. First, there's this big theme of skiing and snowboarding on the majority of souvenirs. Okay I get that, it's a pretty logical idea considering the snowy mountains. The second thing you'll notice is alot of new age merchandise e.g. dreams catchers, books on tarot cards, etc. Still on track, I suppose. Being one with the land and the land being quite beautiful around here. The third and final thing really doesn't fit when you consider the first two. Cowboys. Specifically alot of shops selling boots, hats, jackets and belt buckles, all designed to make the statement "No I don't like to ski or have my palm read and yes John Wayne is my hero. " Every shop sold something to do with one of the above, or was a bookshop. This ment that if you visit four shops, you've pretty much seen the majority of what's on sale in Park City. Unlike Salt Lake, this place obviously relied on tourism as a main source of income.
Apart from the repetitive shopping experience, there was a good selection of cafes and restaurants, as well as a sweet shop that looked like something from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (the first and easily superior film, incase there was any confusion). I did still need to grab a gift or two for my parents, because I knew the first thing my dad would say would be something along the lines of "Did you get me anything?" So a quick trip to the local sweet shop seemed like a good idea. Although I did toy with the idea of getting him a ridiculous looking cowboy hat for awhile, I think the price difference between a selection of treats and a hard wearing hat might've been key in how I made my decision.
After grabbing some sugar I was pretty much stuck for things to do inbetween lunch and dinner so I ended up spending time in a cosy cafe, eating banana bread, drinking coffee, and reading a book. There was no sign of anyone famous to harass for pictures and autographs, but I was glad to have made the trip down, even if it did inspire me to formulate and disregard a plan that'd allow me to stay in Utah for Sundance. It'd been a miniature adventure within the large one I was already having and, if nothing else, I got visit sushi bars for lunch and dinner. There was plently of them, so much so I felt spoiled for choice.
Super Sushi Boy Section:
Lunch
Restaurant: Yaki Arashi
Dinner:
Restaurant: Oishi
Dish of the Day: Tamago Sushi (Yaki Arashi)
SLC - Day 6 - The Journey Home
My time in Utah and the US of A had come to an end. It was time to head home. I'm terrible at wrapping up stories, but this blog has taken far too long to write (because of real life) so I must try my best. In short, the trip back was good, great, and other tautologies. It was two plane trips, as opposed to the three I had taken getting there, and without the fear of flying I actually quite enjoyed the whole experience. There is one finally little story that, if nothing else, justifies me actually adding a Day 6 to these blogs, rather than just saying "and I got home safe and sound." Before my second flight, the one that would take me back home sweet home, I picked up what my mum would describe as a "healthy portion" of chicken and rice. This, of course, in no way reflects the quality of food, merely quantity. I brought this onto the plane with me, as either a pre-dinner or a post-dinner meal, depending on how I felt, due to the flight being so long. I get settled in my seat and just as I'm opening the styrofoam lid a stewardess asks me "Excuse me, are you having a vegetarian meal?" I'm not a vegetarian, but I do diet. When you're traveling and you're being given your food, there's no guarantee it'll be something you can eat according to your diet. Two things I don't have is cows milk and red meat, so when I was sorting out my tickets online I made sure to choose the vegan meal option, which essentially means the healthy option. However, if the stewardess had been five seconds later with her question, she'd have found me tucking into sweet and sour chicken, making my airplane dining choices seem like a very strange one. Luckily I shut the lid in time, smiled, and told the kind lady I had indeed ordered the vegan meal. However, after she had gone, I was left wondering if I'd get strange looks from my fellow passengers, who'd just heard that I don't eat meat, if I started to do the exact opposite. This is when I realised I don't know any of these people and they don't know me ("yet!" added my narcissism) so who cares if I get strange looks, at least I'll have a full stomach.
The rest of the flight went perfect. The plane wasn't full so I was offered to move to a pair of empty seats and enjoy the rest of the flight away from strangers and strange glances at the man who orders vegan food and snacks on chicken. I fell asleep after dinner and woke within a few hours of landing. I'd gained six hours on the flight back which ment that I'd left on a Tuesday and landed on a Wednesday, and Wednesday was the day I went to Wigan to train. "What better oppotunity to practise the moves I'd been taught this weekend?" I thought. I arrived home, unpacked my case, packed my training bag, and headed out to Aspull. When I arrived I told Roy (my coach) that I'd just been to see Billy Robinson and Roy replied, with a smile, "Did he show you any suplexes Jack?"
Too bloody right he did.
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Sunday, 13 February 2011
SLC Volume 2: Jack Gallagher vs. The Sushi
SLC - Day 2
"This isn't my bed. Oh yeah, I'm in America. Weird."
It's about half seven in the morning and, as per usual, I'm hungry. I remember that the hotel did a free breakfast until eleven, so I swing myself out of bed, slip on my jeans and go out to see if anything decent was on offer. There was. The breakfast consisted of a humble range of breads, bagels, coffee, fruits, and juices. I grab abit of everything I pull out my mental to do list. First I had to contact my parents and let them know I'm safe (because my mobile doesn't work internationally and I couldn't figure out how to make the pay phones call Manchester either), second I had to get a general idea of what was within walking distance of my hotel i.e. food, and finally, I had to make a phone call to Jake Shannon, the guy who ran scientificwrestling.com, and double check all the details for training tomorrow.
After something whole grain, I slipped into the lobby to see if I could use the computer set up there. Somebody was already on it. Great. So rather than stand there, staring at the guy at the guy like a stalker, I figured I'd just head out and see what kind of food I'd be living on this week. My first impression was alot of fast food. I'd walked up the main road, for about twenty minutes, to see what shops there were and apart from the numberous fast food places there was a dollar store and everything else was car centric. Everything apart from one 7-11. Which ment there was one place I could use to stock my fridge (I made sure to get a room with a fridge). I grabbed some supplies and trekked back through the snow to the lobby to see if the computer had freed up. Oh yeah, snow. I'd traveled hundreds of miles from a land whose weather consisted of regular showers and cold temperatures, to one that I had assumed would be a little warmer. It turns out Salt Lake City was just as cold as England, but they have snow instead of rain. Anyway, I got back to the lobby and used the now free computer to tell everyone not to worry and to reframe from planning the funeral.
Back in my room to stock the fridge and finish my up with my to do list. Double check training is still happening (because I'm always paranoid of things being elaborate practical jokes) and how I'm getting there. "Yeah we'll pick you up from *such and such a time* in the morning. Your hotel is on the way to Billy's," says the voice down the phone. "That's cool," I think "I'll be able to meet the man himself before we have to train." Sorted. Actually a problem did develop. With my to do list done, I had nothing to do (obviously) until tomorrow and I had plenty of the day left. Then again I'd yet to look downtown. I'd walked up and down the main road but I hadn't ventured into downtown yet because the bridge, that would've ment it was a straight walk, wasn't there and I'm not the best at finding my own way. It's always best if I get directions first and a map. I got both and set off.
I won't bore you with the what essentially me browsing shops for a couple of hours, instead it's time to introduce a new section to these blogs:
The Adventures of Super Sushi Boy
Yeah, I like sushi. Scratch that. I love sushi. It's easily my favourite food on the planet. So when I saw there were a bunch of japanese restaurants in SLC I knew where I'd be eating every night.
In Manchester visited I've pretty much every japanese restaurant there is, so I'm a pretty decent judge of the stuff even if it is only in comparison to my hometown favourites. So let's get ready for:
Manchester vs. SLC *Round 1*
Representing the Salt Lake, in this round, will be the Happy Sumo. The contest will be fought with nine pieces of spicy tuna and a miso soup.
The first restaurant of the trip was a good one. You could sit and watch the food being prepared at the bar, or attempt to distract yourself with the sports channel. Since watching the sports would've been like attempting to understand japanese, I decided to focus more of the food infront of me.
First up was the miso soup, and it was in a very friendly sized bowl, meaning large, which automatically gained the place some points. That, and the soup being really good, ment the Happy Sumo was off to a good start. The problem was the tuna wasn't anything special. It tasted good, nay great, but then again all sushi tastes great to me, so the main meal didn't really stand out. Where Salt Lake fell short though, was in the lack of inarizushi and red bean mochi.
Inarizushi is sushi rice wrapped in fried tofu and it's a must for any sushi place because it is nothing short of amazing. Something else that equals amazing is mochi. Mochi is a rice cake that can be filled with numberous things to add flavour, red bean paste being the best. With both of these key components of anyones sushi experience missing, I'm giving this round to Manchester.
I pay my bill and head back to what had quickly become a home for me. I'd decided the best way to spend the rest of my day was reading and day dreaming about double underhook suplexs.
In the next post I finally meet the man himself, Billy Robinson
Jack G.
"This isn't my bed. Oh yeah, I'm in America. Weird."
It's about half seven in the morning and, as per usual, I'm hungry. I remember that the hotel did a free breakfast until eleven, so I swing myself out of bed, slip on my jeans and go out to see if anything decent was on offer. There was. The breakfast consisted of a humble range of breads, bagels, coffee, fruits, and juices. I grab abit of everything I pull out my mental to do list. First I had to contact my parents and let them know I'm safe (because my mobile doesn't work internationally and I couldn't figure out how to make the pay phones call Manchester either), second I had to get a general idea of what was within walking distance of my hotel i.e. food, and finally, I had to make a phone call to Jake Shannon, the guy who ran scientificwrestling.com, and double check all the details for training tomorrow.
After something whole grain, I slipped into the lobby to see if I could use the computer set up there. Somebody was already on it. Great. So rather than stand there, staring at the guy at the guy like a stalker, I figured I'd just head out and see what kind of food I'd be living on this week. My first impression was alot of fast food. I'd walked up the main road, for about twenty minutes, to see what shops there were and apart from the numberous fast food places there was a dollar store and everything else was car centric. Everything apart from one 7-11. Which ment there was one place I could use to stock my fridge (I made sure to get a room with a fridge). I grabbed some supplies and trekked back through the snow to the lobby to see if the computer had freed up. Oh yeah, snow. I'd traveled hundreds of miles from a land whose weather consisted of regular showers and cold temperatures, to one that I had assumed would be a little warmer. It turns out Salt Lake City was just as cold as England, but they have snow instead of rain. Anyway, I got back to the lobby and used the now free computer to tell everyone not to worry and to reframe from planning the funeral.
Back in my room to stock the fridge and finish my up with my to do list. Double check training is still happening (because I'm always paranoid of things being elaborate practical jokes) and how I'm getting there. "Yeah we'll pick you up from *such and such a time* in the morning. Your hotel is on the way to Billy's," says the voice down the phone. "That's cool," I think "I'll be able to meet the man himself before we have to train." Sorted. Actually a problem did develop. With my to do list done, I had nothing to do (obviously) until tomorrow and I had plenty of the day left. Then again I'd yet to look downtown. I'd walked up and down the main road but I hadn't ventured into downtown yet because the bridge, that would've ment it was a straight walk, wasn't there and I'm not the best at finding my own way. It's always best if I get directions first and a map. I got both and set off.
I won't bore you with the what essentially me browsing shops for a couple of hours, instead it's time to introduce a new section to these blogs:
The Adventures of Super Sushi Boy
Yeah, I like sushi. Scratch that. I love sushi. It's easily my favourite food on the planet. So when I saw there were a bunch of japanese restaurants in SLC I knew where I'd be eating every night.
In Manchester visited I've pretty much every japanese restaurant there is, so I'm a pretty decent judge of the stuff even if it is only in comparison to my hometown favourites. So let's get ready for:
Manchester vs. SLC *Round 1*
Representing the Salt Lake, in this round, will be the Happy Sumo. The contest will be fought with nine pieces of spicy tuna and a miso soup.
The first restaurant of the trip was a good one. You could sit and watch the food being prepared at the bar, or attempt to distract yourself with the sports channel. Since watching the sports would've been like attempting to understand japanese, I decided to focus more of the food infront of me.
First up was the miso soup, and it was in a very friendly sized bowl, meaning large, which automatically gained the place some points. That, and the soup being really good, ment the Happy Sumo was off to a good start. The problem was the tuna wasn't anything special. It tasted good, nay great, but then again all sushi tastes great to me, so the main meal didn't really stand out. Where Salt Lake fell short though, was in the lack of inarizushi and red bean mochi.
Inarizushi is sushi rice wrapped in fried tofu and it's a must for any sushi place because it is nothing short of amazing. Something else that equals amazing is mochi. Mochi is a rice cake that can be filled with numberous things to add flavour, red bean paste being the best. With both of these key components of anyones sushi experience missing, I'm giving this round to Manchester.
I pay my bill and head back to what had quickly become a home for me. I'd decided the best way to spend the rest of my day was reading and day dreaming about double underhook suplexs.
In the next post I finally meet the man himself, Billy Robinson
Jack G.
Monday, 31 January 2011
SLC Volume 1: Jack Gallagher vs. The Sky
As I've mentioned before, my style of wrestling stems from the Lancashire style of Catch Wrestling and I regularly train with Roy Wood (not the lead singer of Wizard). I have failed to mention previously, due to a terrible slip of the mind, that the first real exposure I had to the style was through a wrestler by the name of Billy Robinson. A few years ago, before I'd stepped a foot in Aspull, I happened across a video on youtube of an old pro wrestler (Billy) torturing two poor MMA fighters with what he called "the double wrist lock." He broke every part of the move down into such detail, knowing what to do and what not to do, as well as why. I was amazed. During the whole video "scientificwrestling.com" was shown at the bottom. I typed it in and found an American based site, which ment the training was American based and there wasn't much chance that the old wrestling coach would be wandering down my street anytime soon. Too bad. Although not long after that I rediscovered UWFi and that lead me to Kazushi Sakuraba, which is what finally got me on a train to Wigan.
It all started with Billy Robinson and that double wrist lock.
Flash forward about 2 years and you've got me, sitting at my laptop, fresh from a flight back from Salt Lake City Utah. Head filled with a gravelly voice shouting "Do it again! Do it again!" I'll be waking up for weeks hearing that voice. I've just got back from seeing Billy.
SLC - The Preliminaries
Whenever I have to make a decision which takes me out of my routine, and therefore out of my comfort zone, I have to make it as soon as possible otherwise I'll procrastinate and over think the situation and it'll never get done. I was spending some of my, increasing sparse, free time watching wrestling videos. Specifically watching Antonio Inoki get belly to belly suplexed over the top rope, for maybe the seventh time, when I started thinking about my training and where I was going and goals I'd set and so on. I always try and keep myself moving foward, and moving towards somewhere that I'd want to be. I felt like I needed a change. Something to kick me in the arse and get me running again. So after rewinding and watching Inoki go over the top rope for the eighth time, I looked to his opponent, Billy Robinson.
I knew Billy had been doing Catch wrestling certifications every five or six months (the certifications are to modern day Catch what the grading systems are to Eastern martial arts i.e. to stop any old idiot running around claiming he's a master) for the last few years. I started thinking that what I needed was a pseudo holiday. Get away from everything for a few days, change of scenery, and meet and train with one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Sounded like a good plan.
SLC - Day 1 - Travel
A few months after I make that decision I'm sat in my kitchen, at about six in the morning, double checking every I need is packed. Clothes (check), training gear (check), books (check), protein power ((God, I hope they don't think it's drugs) check), I'm ready. I've given myself more than enough time to get to the airport and check in. Everything runs fine. I check in, grab a snack (my first of what was to be many servings of sushi), and read a book, whilst keeping a constant eye on the board telling me when the airplane's ready.
I'd previously flown, but it had been years since I'd been on a plane and since my last international trip I felt I'd gotten a better grasp of the concept, and fear of, death. As a kid I never really thought twice about the plane crashing. As a twenty year old it seemed like the only thing I could think about. It didn't hit me until that first intial jolt of the engines, but once it did I felt my heart racing. Obviously everything went fine, because I'm typing this right now, but I'm just glad that no one was sitting next to me on that take off because my eyes were wide and my breathing didn't sound healthy. In short, I looked like I was having a panic attack. My mind flicked to that scene in Fight Club where Tyler is explaining that the reason they give you oxygen masks on an airplane is to get you high on pure air, which allows you to accept death easier. This didn't help. "Try to focus on something else," said some part of my mind, then another part of my brain decided that Final Destination was an equally good movie to remember at a time like this. Honestly I'm my own worst enemy. I imagined running up to the cockpit to ask the pilot to land the plane and let me off, but in my mind's eye the person who appeared on the otherside of the door wasn't me, it was Leslie Nielsen. He swung his head in and said "Good luck. We're all counting on you." Okay, that thought made me relax a little.
After a couple minutes of being in the air and a surprisingly nice meal, I relaxed a little more, but not much. I was trying not to fall asleep because I knew I wouldn't be dreaming anything comforting. Luckily I needed the tiolet. I say luckily because when I was stood in the bathroom I realised as long as I don't see an open window I'm fine with being in the air. I could just convince myself I was on a train. That made the hours alot easier to pass by and let me get some decent sleep. The first flight took me from Manchester to Las Vegas, after that I was going from Vegas to Atlanta, and then, finally, Atlanta to Salt Lake City.
Arriving in Vegas was weird. I was in America but I wasn't really going to get to see it properly for another few hours, because I had to stay in the airport. I'd have to wait until Utah before I got to look at anything other than airplanes and fast food. The next few flights went fine. I'd gotten over the near heart attack on the first trip of the day, so the remaining two were easy to deal with. Apart from forgetting I had a bottle of water in my bag and only realising after the bag was scanned ("Please don't think I'm a terrorist. Please don't think I'm a terrorist.") the rest of the day past without much interesting happening. I arrived in Utah near midnight, got to my hotel, and fell asleep by one. I'd gained seven hours traveling. I remember thinking that back in England people were probably leaving their front doors on the way to work, whilst I was just about to fall asleep in America.
On the next post I spend my first full day in Utah, getting the lay of the land, double checking training details, and begining what would become an adventure into as many sushi restaurants as I could find.
Jack G.
It all started with Billy Robinson and that double wrist lock.
Flash forward about 2 years and you've got me, sitting at my laptop, fresh from a flight back from Salt Lake City Utah. Head filled with a gravelly voice shouting "Do it again! Do it again!" I'll be waking up for weeks hearing that voice. I've just got back from seeing Billy.
SLC - The Preliminaries
Whenever I have to make a decision which takes me out of my routine, and therefore out of my comfort zone, I have to make it as soon as possible otherwise I'll procrastinate and over think the situation and it'll never get done. I was spending some of my, increasing sparse, free time watching wrestling videos. Specifically watching Antonio Inoki get belly to belly suplexed over the top rope, for maybe the seventh time, when I started thinking about my training and where I was going and goals I'd set and so on. I always try and keep myself moving foward, and moving towards somewhere that I'd want to be. I felt like I needed a change. Something to kick me in the arse and get me running again. So after rewinding and watching Inoki go over the top rope for the eighth time, I looked to his opponent, Billy Robinson.
I knew Billy had been doing Catch wrestling certifications every five or six months (the certifications are to modern day Catch what the grading systems are to Eastern martial arts i.e. to stop any old idiot running around claiming he's a master) for the last few years. I started thinking that what I needed was a pseudo holiday. Get away from everything for a few days, change of scenery, and meet and train with one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Sounded like a good plan.
SLC - Day 1 - Travel
A few months after I make that decision I'm sat in my kitchen, at about six in the morning, double checking every I need is packed. Clothes (check), training gear (check), books (check), protein power ((God, I hope they don't think it's drugs) check), I'm ready. I've given myself more than enough time to get to the airport and check in. Everything runs fine. I check in, grab a snack (my first of what was to be many servings of sushi), and read a book, whilst keeping a constant eye on the board telling me when the airplane's ready.
I'd previously flown, but it had been years since I'd been on a plane and since my last international trip I felt I'd gotten a better grasp of the concept, and fear of, death. As a kid I never really thought twice about the plane crashing. As a twenty year old it seemed like the only thing I could think about. It didn't hit me until that first intial jolt of the engines, but once it did I felt my heart racing. Obviously everything went fine, because I'm typing this right now, but I'm just glad that no one was sitting next to me on that take off because my eyes were wide and my breathing didn't sound healthy. In short, I looked like I was having a panic attack. My mind flicked to that scene in Fight Club where Tyler is explaining that the reason they give you oxygen masks on an airplane is to get you high on pure air, which allows you to accept death easier. This didn't help. "Try to focus on something else," said some part of my mind, then another part of my brain decided that Final Destination was an equally good movie to remember at a time like this. Honestly I'm my own worst enemy. I imagined running up to the cockpit to ask the pilot to land the plane and let me off, but in my mind's eye the person who appeared on the otherside of the door wasn't me, it was Leslie Nielsen. He swung his head in and said "Good luck. We're all counting on you." Okay, that thought made me relax a little.
After a couple minutes of being in the air and a surprisingly nice meal, I relaxed a little more, but not much. I was trying not to fall asleep because I knew I wouldn't be dreaming anything comforting. Luckily I needed the tiolet. I say luckily because when I was stood in the bathroom I realised as long as I don't see an open window I'm fine with being in the air. I could just convince myself I was on a train. That made the hours alot easier to pass by and let me get some decent sleep. The first flight took me from Manchester to Las Vegas, after that I was going from Vegas to Atlanta, and then, finally, Atlanta to Salt Lake City.
Arriving in Vegas was weird. I was in America but I wasn't really going to get to see it properly for another few hours, because I had to stay in the airport. I'd have to wait until Utah before I got to look at anything other than airplanes and fast food. The next few flights went fine. I'd gotten over the near heart attack on the first trip of the day, so the remaining two were easy to deal with. Apart from forgetting I had a bottle of water in my bag and only realising after the bag was scanned ("Please don't think I'm a terrorist. Please don't think I'm a terrorist.") the rest of the day past without much interesting happening. I arrived in Utah near midnight, got to my hotel, and fell asleep by one. I'd gained seven hours traveling. I remember thinking that back in England people were probably leaving their front doors on the way to work, whilst I was just about to fall asleep in America.
On the next post I spend my first full day in Utah, getting the lay of the land, double checking training details, and begining what would become an adventure into as many sushi restaurants as I could find.
Jack G.
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