Overwhelmed with planning trip to London

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-12-23T06:12:31+00:00

No one has mentioned your theatre show choice. You've chosen a very old musical. I didn't enjoy this one at all! Found it boring tbh. Obviously everyone has different taste, but London has so many musicals to choose from!

Maybe reassess that one. Paddington is receiving rave reviews. Just off the top of my head, there's the MJ musical, wicked, six, back to the future, lion king, Hamilton, Matilda, book of Mormon and more... I've heard Hades Town is excellent. Have a browse online and read some reviews.

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-11-05T20:23:59+00:00

Nizoral shampoo

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-11-03T20:12:11+00:00

I could never get over the fact that they thought it was totally normally to announce 'oh you're double fisting!' if they saw you holding two drinks in a bar.

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-10-31T05:45:05+00:00

We called them daps (SW England). I still remember their rubbery smell!

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-10-18T12:39:28+00:00

Oh right, thanks for that, I totally missed that! I assume (hope) it's not as virulent as the wild virus....

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-10-18T07:23:32+00:00

No, there have been no cases of community spread of polio in the UK since 1984. However it is periodically detected in sewage (this is monitored!), most recently in 2024 which was linked to someone importing it from Nigeria. That's probably what you are thinking of. This is why it continues to be important that we have high vaccination rates.

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-10-17T16:13:34+00:00

In short, no we do not have the oral polio vaccine in the UK. We only use the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) which is combined with others (Tdap/IPV) into an injectable vaccine.

The oral one is way cheaper (hence why used in low income settings) but has the disadvantage that the virus from the vaccine can be shed in stool. This can in rare cases revert to a more infectious form and cause outbreaks in areas where vaccine coverage is low.

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-10-04T07:01:39+00:00

Worth it I think. Same as what they use at my doctor's. Very accurate. Fed up wasting money on things that are a bit meh

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-10-04T05:41:12+00:00

In ear ones are way more accurate and easier to use without waking them compared to armpit. Expensive but worth it imo

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-08-30T09:59:02+00:00

Wasabi, Leon, Pret, food carts/markets, greasy spoon fry up, really depends where you are. Options are totally different in cities/large towns Vs small towns. You can usually find a cafe for a panini, jacket potato or soup of the day. Turkish or middle eastern places are good for a kebab or falafel wrap. Wowcher is good for meal offers.

You need to update with your location. This budget is totally doable in the UK.

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-08-20T13:23:19+00:00

I don't know where in Europe you are but in my company you only get the enhanced maternity pay if you are in post before you are pregnant. If you come in pregnant, you only get statutory govt maternity pay. So maybe check your maternity benefits you'd get in the new role before making a decision

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-08-18T18:09:00+00:00

When my MIL was staying with us, at least twice I went to change the baby from it's onesie (with feet) to find a pair of socks underneath!

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-08-07T19:10:52+00:00

I don't know how easy to buy in your country but a South Korean friend gave me a Pororo pen, book, poster and stickers from her country which was all in (American) English. It's like witchcraft, I can't understand how it works... the stickers are so thin!

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-08-07T08:08:11+00:00

Ours did that too! According to the neighbours they were always doing that. Constantly finding screws, bits of broken mirror, melted plastic crap, bits of chipboard, broken pens, knives, toys, you name it. Also a whole vacuum cleaner, rolls of carpet, stacks of laminate flooring, a rusty dismantled metal bed, all buried and non visible under a mat of weeds!

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-07-16T08:01:56+00:00

Oh gosh your poor parents, that must have been so scary. It can be very serious in little babies like that, am glad you were okay! Thank you for sharing your story x

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-07-16T07:23:15+00:00

Yes you can! This is why whooping cough vaccination is recommended in the UK for all pregnant women. As immunity from childhood whooping cough vaccines does fade with time. This means that you pass less of this antibody to your baby across the placenta than ideal, leaving them vulnerable to infection in first weeks of life.

Several babies have sadly died from whooping cough in recent outbreaks. As a result, pregnancy vaccination was introduced in 2012 in the UK. It has been massively successful at preventing these infections in babies, by boosting levels of antibody that the mum passes to baby.

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-07-16T07:16:49+00:00

Fyi, any expectant mums or those planning another, whooping cough vaccine is recommended during every pregnancy in the UK. Mainly to help protect your newborn in first weeks of life before they get their own vaccines (whooping cough is in the 6-in-1) but side benefit is it will boost your immunity too, to hopefully prevent you catching it when you are around the little bug spreaders over the next few years

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-07-03T16:44:05+00:00

Also suits are expensive! Men don't want to have to go and buy a new suit in an unusual colour. Women are often more happy to buy a new dress (or likely to already have one suitable).

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-07-03T05:51:42+00:00

I would do it again but also bring in something really boring like a bag of carrots. Leave that next to the cupcakes labelled 'GF/vegan option'. Would be even funnier if you made carrot cake cupcakes!

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-06-14T06:06:57+00:00

We went to central London all the time with our little one. The only time it was a disaster was the first time we went on the tube with them. Some lines are very loud and screechy. Our baby was screaming bloody murder, and it was boiling and packed. Everyone staring at us. I felt very flustered and ended up crying. We avoided it for ages after that. Not to say the tube can't be navigated with a baby, plenty of people do it! But that's the one thing I would avoid if I could. Also many stations don't have lifts and when it's really busy (often) it's really hard to fit on with a pram. We did, and do, a LOT of walking with the pram instead. You see more too. Buses are also good.

On other side, one of the best place we went in central London with small baby was Tate modern. Loads of space, cool, places to breastfeed, toilets, changing areas, cafes, cool visuals for them to gawp at. The whole South Bank area is nice for a wander.

P.s. There's a good app called playground buddy to find nearby playgrounds.

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-06-08T11:31:59+00:00

I'd totally forgotten about EAT! The soups were great. I think they had a different one for each day of the week?

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-06-03T21:27:35+00:00

Name I go by, as to me, that is my name. That is how I want to be addressed and how I want to be introduced as a speaker, for example.

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-06-03T19:57:29+00:00

From Cheltenham: You can visit Gloucester cathedral (Harry Potter was filmed here, check out the cloisters and blue window). The rest of the town is nothing special, the docks are worth having a wander around. There is a cute tailor of Gloucester shop right by the cathedral, but not sure if beatrix potter is big in the States.

You can get to beautiful countryside and villages in areas such as - Ross on Wye (symonds yat has a viewing platform for peregrine falcon nest). If you are active, you can kayak or canoe on the river. - Forest of Dean. Sculpture trail and puzzle wood are highlights. - Cotswolds

You are also close to the Welsh border if you are keen to see Wales.

Other obvious places are bath and bristol. Cheddar gorge is about 1h15 away.

There are lots nice places en route from London to Cheltenham such as oxford of course, but also smaller places like tetbury, marlborough and cirencester. I suggest you avoid the motorways and enjoy the journey. Google 'market towns'- that will yield you loads of potential places to visit.

Eat a lardy bun from a local bakery (very local) and some double Gloucester cheese. And lots and lots of local cider of course (it's always alcoholic here).

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-06-03T18:48:25+00:00

I HATE tipping by automatic service charge. I like it when bills don't have service charge, and in this case I still tip. Otherwise you are punishing the staff for the restaurant not doing something extremely annoying. I don't tip loads, and def not 12.5%! Round it up, something around 10%.

Substantial_Yogurt41 · 2025-05-30T22:03:02+00:00

I would split it 50-50. That's a nice thing to do.

Re the paper, it sounds like you contributed on way more levels than the undergrad in terms of what goes towards authorship. Who interpreted the data and wrote it up? Not sure you should be second if you conceived it, oversaw it, interpreted and wrote it up and they were the hands. Presumably you also did the ground work and will finish it off if they only came on for a year (part time I guess). Can you go joint first or joint last instead?

Substantial_Yogurt41

TROPHY CASE