What a day. It took me an hour and a half to find the customer's place this morning. The Tom Tom led me directly into a residential neighborhood. I think I went through the same roundabout at least 20 times. Of course, the beautiful thing about roundabouts is that they make it easy to turn around. I'm proud to report that the car is still intact and I haven't killed anyone or broken any traffic laws. (At least, none that I know about) I consider this a success.

You might remember the last time I was in Port Talbot. I wrote about a fish and chips place down the street that claimed to have the best fish in chips in all of Wales. This is an incredible thing. It would be similar to offering the best tea in China or the best pizza in Italy. This is not a claim to be taken lightly. This shop has been in the running or has won the "Best Fish and Chip Shop" prize for several years running. I remember this from the last time I was here and I've been longing for this ever since.

I've spoken previously and at great length concerning my distaste for British food. I'm afraid this hasn't

changed very much. Most of it is fairly bland. However, this shop has lovely fish and chips and it should not be missed. As you can see on the right, the portions are huge. Cod is the default fish of choice in Britain, but this restaurant also offers Haddock and Hake. Chips need to be soaked in malt vinegar and lots of salt to become edible. The staff doesn't seem to encounter many Yanks. They were very I'm catching a cold which is making my accent even harder for the Welsh to understand. Oh well... Tomorrow night I'll go back to the pub. Tonight I had to treat myself after putting in a long day at

work and managing to drive myself home.

Another surprise awaited when I turned on the TV tonight. The Brits version of "American Idol" is known as "Pop Idol" and it is the predecessor of the same show in the states. In fact, that idiot Simon Cowell stars on the British version as well. I've known this for a long time, but I was stunned to learn that "American Idol" is now being broadcast here on ITV2. I wasn't ready for this. Many Brits get upset about the plethora of American shows on the "telly". All "humour" is culturally relative and sometimes, they consider ours to be over the top. What's more, there are frequent inferences to American culture which go ignored due to lack of a common reference. For example, Ryan made a joke about the new four judge panel being like "The View"; a show which most people here have never heard of. I'm not sure I understand it, either. They complain all the time but the shows stay on the air. Somebody must be watching them???