Here are some photos from Thanksgiving and our trip to London...

Emily and I had a cool, interactive dinner on our last night in London. The table had a computer screen projected on it from above. Each person had a touch-pad built into their side of the table. Using the touch-pad, you could browse the menu, order food, play games, watch a live stream of the kitchen, and customize the display. When you looked at each dish on the menu, a picture of the food was projected onto your plate. The food was even timed to come out 15 minutes after you ordered it, so you could precisely coordinate your meal. The entire table had a wallpaper, which you could change and customize. Even with all the effort put into the tabletop, the food was really good.

Yesterday, we finally had some time to be tourists. We spent most of the morning at the office, but we left around 11:00am to see the sights. It was a quick walk from the office past Downing Street, to the waterfront. We walked over the bridge for the famous view of Parliament and Big Ben. We passed Westminster Abby, but admission was £12 each, so we passed. After wandering around for a while trying to find the palace, we headed back to catch our flight.

Emily and I are in London! We arrived Thursday morning, after an uncomfortable overnight flight in goat class. Our hotel is near Paddington Station and the office (yes, we are here for work) is near Oxford Circus. We have spent most of our time at the new FSN bureau, trying to wire everything up and make the gear work. So far we have done a pretty decent job, but we won't know for sure until the ISDN lines are turned on tomorrow.

We have gotten a bit of time to see friends, shop and sight-see. Friday night we met up with David and Peter (from the Sudan Volunteer Program) and had a nice dinner in Chinatown. Tonight we are going over Peter's house. The food has been decent, but not spectacular. The one really good meal we had was at an Italian restaurant a few doors down from the office. We got some amazing multi-cheese pizza with a really nice deconstructed salad. Last night we got over to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. They were interested, but we only stayed about 10 minutes. How long can you really spend looking at a bridge?

Thursday the wheels for my fixed gear bike arrived. I was worried about the spacing and chain line, but it came together perfectly! I was off work on Friday, so I had plenty of time to ride it around. Fixed gear bikes are such a pleasure to ride. There is only one gear and it doesn't allow you to coast. Whenever the wheels are moving, the petals are turning. You can resist the movement of the petals to slow down or stop. I had to work on Saturday, so I rode my bike to the office. It only took 15 minutes, which is less than it takes to drive or take the metro.

Saturday Malcolm, Manalisi and I got an interview with the president of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe, who was in town for the G20 meeting. We conducted the interview in a suite at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Security was tight and the room was flooded with South African officials and Secret Service. Despite the heavy security, they didn't actually check us or any of the gear. Usually we are kicked out of the room for 15 or 20 minutes while they search the equipment. This time they just stood around watching us and talking amongst themselves. The interview seemed pretty uncomfortable. Manalisi kept pushing an issue that Motlanthe knew nothing about. The whole thing lasted less than 10 minutes.

That night, Kat, Emily and I went to Jessi's house to watch UFC 91. Kat and I had been debating for days the possible outcome of the Lesner, Couture fight. Kat bet on Lesner and everyone else bet on Couture. During the fight we were standing, yelling at the screen and cringing every time Couture got hit. After the first round, Jessi lost her voice and Emily had a headache. Lesner ended up winning the fight, which made everyone (including Kat) sad.

We are resting up after election day. November 4th was long and exhausting. I was at the local polling station at 7:00am with Kat. She waited in line, while I filmed the crowd and signs. Emily joined us a bit later and we all voted. Afterward, we headed to the office to finish testing the video equipment for our live coverage. By mid-afternoon, all the guests arrived, Emily left for the Post and we started the show. Channel News Asia kept the FSN coverage going almost the entire time. Simon did a great job of reporting the events and balancing it with in studio analysis. Miraculously it went off without a hitch. Everything worked as planned and no one tripped over the wires linking our office back to Singapore. We did our last live hit at 1:30am, then headed to the bar until it closed 30 minutes later.

The rest of the week was slow. There were the typical reaction pieces to Obama's win, but that was about it. Emily and I spent plenty of time resting on the couch this weekend. I also got some time to work on the fixed-gear bike I'm building. It should be done this week (when the wheels come). I will post pictures soon.

I'm busy with election coverage today, but I have a bit of exciting news. I finally have my own IMDB page!

Emily and I spent most of the day building a studio in our office. On election night, Emily is working at the Washington Post and I will be running the Channel News Asia coverage from our office. There will be a CNA host and guests doing commentary and interviews. For the studio build, we got three new risers, set up cameras for full coverage, lit the entire office and ran wires for mics, cameras and talk-back. My job on election night will be a lot easier than Emily's. We only have to fill 15 minutes per hour. Her show is live for at least eight hours straight! So if you get a chance, head over to Washingtonpost.com on election night and watch her show.