Things I miss!!
- the sun in general
- beaches
- pies
- scenery
- the sea
- actual weather (not just perpetual cloud)
- people that understand what vowels your pronouncing
- shops and banks that actually upgrade their counters every year. my bank has 50 year old marks in their wooden counters and tartan carpet.
- customer serivce! (instead of constantly improving customer service techniques these guys are in an effort to be the grumpiest and most uncaring)
- eftpos
- fresh fruit and vegatables
- farmbake cookies
- decent nz meat
- decent tv shows
- big modern supermarkets- here they are all like little 4 squares with archaic range of products and store layout
- westfield malls
- glassons and max
- not hearing anything about any other country except britain
- modern anything - buildings, carpet, concrete, any operating process.
OK now things I like about the UK:
- the tubes and trains and buses - the range and frequency of these services means that means 8million people can go anywhere at anytime, every minute and that is cool
- the way the city is built around advising you what tube or bus to take to an event, to work, to see your friends, to that restaurant - and no information about driving or parking.
- the proximity to europe and more countries in general
- theatres
- more shops, and way more funky and exciting range
- 24/7 'off licences' that sell anything you could need from your breakfast to your alchahol.
- how cheap everything is.
- a cosy pub and a stodgy feed on a freezing cold day
- countless pubs, nightclubs, restaurants, etc
- multiple happening areas of town that buzz with activity every night of the week
- the way theres books and magazines devoted to listings of whats happening in town every night - and there's a lot.
- more of everything- more niche industry magazines, more options, more stores, more companys than you can poke a big phone book at..
Things I find interesting:
- the feeling that everything is so old that processes and mind sets and buildings progress is generally slower than the fast changing, cutting edge, modern, NZ way of being.
- guys go shopping. by themselves, and willingly. and their clothes are as funky as the girls. and they're not gay.
- its still very much a cash society. every day people can be seen stopping at a 'hole in the wall'. many shops do not even have a card terminal. no-one pays by card here. feels like your constantly handing over cash left right and centre.
- tv adverts. british use cosy, pretty, warm feeling ads with cartoon characters or kids. no funky bravia adds for these guys.
- the labelling on packaging. our dishcloth is more than just a sponge - its an aerated lineament surface buffer scrub. really.
Friday, 12 September 2008
whuss bin happenin bro
well what a busy couple of weeks... im waiting for the weekend to come around so i can go to bed :0
Last week I was helping organise a company event for this week so working 8:30-6:30 every day madly organising things...
on the weekend i had to go to the laundromat again cos our washing machine has been broken for a couple of weeks. (Ed - its fixed now).
We had a big party on sat night for a friends birthday, they'd decked out their house with a strobe light, flashing disco lights, smoke machine, plastic gladiator fighting sticks, and a shisha tent out the back. their flatmate is a dj so he was providing us with awsome tunes all night. it was a great night! see my photos on facebook.
so its monday again, that came around too fast. Get into work with the rest of the organising team at 7:30 and setup. It was held on the 29th floor of our office building in a venue with views out over London in 3 directions...
Monday night I go with a friend to see Spamalot, the Monty Python theatre show at the Palace theatre in Leicester Square. Its a gorgeous old theartre with wood panelling walls, mirrors with curly gold borders, every surface of the theartre is covered in decorative design.
The show itself is absolutely fantastic!! We laughed through virtually the whole show, the actors were full of enthusiasm and very professional.. the costumes and set design and set changes were really well done. I would have paid £20 - the ticket was only £10. well worth it.
Tuesday night i went round to dinner with some family freinds .. was a really nice evening and had a sumptuous chicken risotto- the best food ive had since i left home :D
weds night i actually got home at a reasonable hour for the first time this week.
thursday night me and our posse of friends went to see the feelers at a kiwi/aussie pub in the antipodean quarter of london (shepherds bush eouw) where the whole pub is full of kiwi and aussie accents and they sell pies!!! (yay for the pies!) oh yeah the band was pretty good too. :P
and finally, its friday. :D
ps the title is spelt wrong purpously to represent the accent on letters that british people hear when we kiwis speak. yes becomes yiss. desk becomes disk. you get my drift.
Last week I was helping organise a company event for this week so working 8:30-6:30 every day madly organising things...
on the weekend i had to go to the laundromat again cos our washing machine has been broken for a couple of weeks. (Ed - its fixed now).
We had a big party on sat night for a friends birthday, they'd decked out their house with a strobe light, flashing disco lights, smoke machine, plastic gladiator fighting sticks, and a shisha tent out the back. their flatmate is a dj so he was providing us with awsome tunes all night. it was a great night! see my photos on facebook.
so its monday again, that came around too fast. Get into work with the rest of the organising team at 7:30 and setup. It was held on the 29th floor of our office building in a venue with views out over London in 3 directions...
Monday night I go with a friend to see Spamalot, the Monty Python theatre show at the Palace theatre in Leicester Square. Its a gorgeous old theartre with wood panelling walls, mirrors with curly gold borders, every surface of the theartre is covered in decorative design.
The show itself is absolutely fantastic!! We laughed through virtually the whole show, the actors were full of enthusiasm and very professional.. the costumes and set design and set changes were really well done. I would have paid £20 - the ticket was only £10. well worth it.
Tuesday night i went round to dinner with some family freinds .. was a really nice evening and had a sumptuous chicken risotto- the best food ive had since i left home :D
weds night i actually got home at a reasonable hour for the first time this week.
thursday night me and our posse of friends went to see the feelers at a kiwi/aussie pub in the antipodean quarter of london (shepherds bush eouw) where the whole pub is full of kiwi and aussie accents and they sell pies!!! (yay for the pies!) oh yeah the band was pretty good too. :P
and finally, its friday. :D
ps the title is spelt wrong purpously to represent the accent on letters that british people hear when we kiwis speak. yes becomes yiss. desk becomes disk. you get my drift.
Monday, 1 September 2008
Nike 10km Run 31st Aug
Wow, I did it- my first 10km run!!
Last night my flatmates and myself all did the Nike Human Race ('London against the world') from Wembly stadium.
We have been running regularly for a while but really only trained seriously in the last week, (not ideal) but we'd got up to running 7-8kms OK so we were fairly sure we could acheieve the last 2km's on the day.
We file into the stadium with a fellow army of people all wearing the red event tshirts. Pendulum and Moby put on a concert while everything got setup and people got ready. Then wave 1 set off.. then wave 2.. then wave 3 (thats us!) head onto the stadium to warm up then we're off! We follow a curvy course around the carpark and the neighbouring streets and then back into the stadium grounds. There were stewards and supporters encouraging us all along the way which was neat.
We did, infact, all do really well :D my fit-as flatmates got there 51-52min mark, my roommate got 1:02 and I got 1:12. I jogged along comfortably the whole way then sprinted to the finish yelling with my arm up waving at the spectators who were all yelling at us 'go! every second counts! come on london!'.
We got another free tshirt at the end which everyone put on for warmth (yee-ah two free tshirts! awesome) and there was a white army of tshirts on the return tube journey instead of the army of red that was arriving just a couple of hours ago. It was quite funny.. and some strangers on the tube came up to us and said 'what is happening? why is the whole city wearing the same tshirt?' you had to laugh.
Apparantly about 40,000 people took part in this awesome event - and a real mix of people took part, from the olymics Paula Radcliffe (she zoomed past in a flash and people in her wake were left gasping 'was that paula radcliffe? yeah it was!) and there were some army boys in their army gear and packs. Only a few people walked but mostly everyone pushed themselves the whole way.
Overall it was an exciting, fun, well organised event and mass run for charity.
Last night my flatmates and myself all did the Nike Human Race ('London against the world') from Wembly stadium.
We have been running regularly for a while but really only trained seriously in the last week, (not ideal) but we'd got up to running 7-8kms OK so we were fairly sure we could acheieve the last 2km's on the day.
We file into the stadium with a fellow army of people all wearing the red event tshirts. Pendulum and Moby put on a concert while everything got setup and people got ready. Then wave 1 set off.. then wave 2.. then wave 3 (thats us!) head onto the stadium to warm up then we're off! We follow a curvy course around the carpark and the neighbouring streets and then back into the stadium grounds. There were stewards and supporters encouraging us all along the way which was neat.
We did, infact, all do really well :D my fit-as flatmates got there 51-52min mark, my roommate got 1:02 and I got 1:12. I jogged along comfortably the whole way then sprinted to the finish yelling with my arm up waving at the spectators who were all yelling at us 'go! every second counts! come on london!'.
We got another free tshirt at the end which everyone put on for warmth (yee-ah two free tshirts! awesome) and there was a white army of tshirts on the return tube journey instead of the army of red that was arriving just a couple of hours ago. It was quite funny.. and some strangers on the tube came up to us and said 'what is happening? why is the whole city wearing the same tshirt?' you had to laugh.
Apparantly about 40,000 people took part in this awesome event - and a real mix of people took part, from the olymics Paula Radcliffe (she zoomed past in a flash and people in her wake were left gasping 'was that paula radcliffe? yeah it was!) and there were some army boys in their army gear and packs. Only a few people walked but mostly everyone pushed themselves the whole way.
Overall it was an exciting, fun, well organised event and mass run for charity.
Monday, 11 August 2008
Egypt 2-10 Aug 08
I'm back! In case you didn't know, Ive just spent one amazing week in Egypt - I've only waited 20years to do it - and now I've done it.
The trip was with Travel Talk, they were great, had a good itinerary and great tour guide. The other people on the tour were all really neat too - makes the trip that much better when your hanging out with good people.
The trip started in Cairo, Sat 2nd Aug (40 degrees) where we stayed at the Cataract Resort. we saw a lot the first day - the Giza pyramids, sphinx, tombs and the step pyramid of Sakarra. They are all really amazing and actually it's almost too much to take in - here you are standing in front of these 4000yr old colossal monuments that you've waited all your life to see... quite surreal.
There are vendors by the dozen at all the tourist sites. They wait in the shade then swarm to you with their souvenirs when you arrive, and get right in your face... some virtually drag you to their camel for a ride, others ask outright for 'baksheesh' (tip).
Tonight we catch the overnight train to Aswan. Its a huge tank of a train that goes fairly slow and steady pace.. seats pretty comfy, we are seated in cabins of 6, all our bags piled on the floor. we try and get some sleep during the 16hour trip. (tip - always take your own toilet tissue. and use the bathroom before 2am and after 10am.)
Next day we arrive safely in Aswan... (45degrees).. the city is right on the Nile and is cleaner and prettier and has a more laid back quieter feel to it. we are staying at Hotel Basma that has amazing views over the whole city and the Nile. we have 2 nights here and we make the most of the pool :)
The first day we visit the Aswan Dam and the High Dam, under which is a whole Nubian city and ancient temples. A few were saved by UNESCO (including Abu Simbel) Apparently all the crocodiles are behind the dam.. we'll believe you..
Then we visit the Philae temple, which is a really neat site on an island, 10min boat ride from shore. (quite a romantic story with this temple, about the goddess of magic who was waiting for her husband but he got killed. when she found out she turned herself into a bird and flew all over Egypt looking for him then gave him the magic kiss of life) Again this temple was moved from a smaller island not far away and they found a bigger island, extended it and rebuilt the temple on there.
This evening we go to a traditional Nubian dinner in a real Nubian village. we catch a motorboat up the river Nile and have a sumptuous dinner in a real Nubian house that has a straw roof and walls painted with pictures of camels. we get to meet their pet crocodiles and then get some traditional Nubian singing and music on the boat on the way home, we are all up singing and clapping on a little motorboat in the middle of the river Nile!
We now head south on the tour bus to Luxor, where we stayed at the Sheraton report. The temperature is around 48degrees. We praise the air conditioning every time we get on the bus.. The next day we wake up and are out the door by 4am to take a 3hour bus trip out to see Abu Simbel, the amazing temple with 4 huge statues at the front. It was moved up, and backwards, from the rising High Dam to save it. Its an impressive huge temple carved into a hill with lots of big offering rooms and huge columns. Its very hot here, we all shelter under the tree after an hour. I sleep all the way there and back on the bus. While the others all go off to their felucca cruise we have a half day to relax by the pool and take in a short felucca ride on the river. except it was too windy to sail so we got another motorboat ride! still really nice on the river though.
For our second day in Luxor we see the Karnak Temple and the Luxor Temple.
Karnak Temple is set on 64acres, and its has multiple temples and obelisks on it where Pharaoh's and leaders built over top of each other and pulled down each others stuff in order to be the most powerful & prominent.
Luxor temple has intact, huge statues at the front, and the road of sphinxes leading between this temple and Karnak temple. it also has roman painting of the last supper on one wall.
The next day when everyone has returned, we make an early start on the bus to see the Valley of the Kings and Hatchepsut Temple... we stop and have a donkey ride first (a few of us don't) then drive up to the ultra hot valley to explore some tombs!! we catch a golf cart train up the hill and have some time to explore 3 tombs - there are 64 tombs in this valley, some closed for maintenance, some still undiscovered. we go in king Ramses 2 and a couple of others. very impressive - the walls and ceilings are still covered with the original paint .. the sarcophagus lies in the chamber of each tomb. there are steep ramps/steps into each tomb and its stifling hot - its cooler outside, and its 48degrees! we head back down the hill with some vendors that are running and jumping onto our train, fleeing from armed gun men out to get them as selling is not allowed...
we then see Hatchepsut temple which is the queen (daughter of ....two VIP) and since a woman couldn't really rule the country she always depicted herself as a man. so Egypt thought she was a king.
we head back to Luxor to relax and say a sad farewell to all our new friends - some are off to Jordan, Dahab, and other places and a group of us are heading back to Cairo. we again catch the overnight train however the seats are comfier and its only an 8hour journey. In Cairo its noticeably cooler but humid.. we are back at the Cataract resort for the last day - we do a tour round the city to see the Coptic church and some original Egyptian markets... they are an experience. rubbish, stray cats.. dirt roads.. we got lost down little alleys with pita bread shops and the locals pointed to the way out for us :)
Tonight we get to see the pyramids again - this time for the sound and light show :) we are greeted by bag pipe playing men dressed as Egyptians (we don't know where they got this strange combination) then the pyramids lit up and powerful orchestra type music started and the sphinx told us the story of the pyramids and their kings....
A few moments on the tour that I will remember was going into the towns and talking to the friendly locals (who just wanted to practice their English).. going to the bustling, loud markets in each city where every one of us girls got at least one 'compliment' or 'marriage proposal' or even an offer to buy us. (how generous) The rides on the motorboats, and Nubian kids showing off in front of our cameras while swimming in the Nile. and eating some good food at local restaurants around town... and the feeling of staying in hotel resorts with huge pools and knowing an Egyptian would need to save a few months salary just to stay for one night. and not forgetting the plethora of donkeys everywhere towing carts of junk or grass or their owners..seeing the slums of thousands of mud brick houses and then the straw huts in the fields where the farmers live during harvest season.
Now back in London and feeling absolutely relaxed, tanned, happy, and reflecting on this amazing trip. The first thing I notice is the smell - gone is the shisha pipe smell that permeates everything. now is the damp brick and concrete smell.. ah at least everything is in English and no-one is accosting me on the street to come look at his shop!
The trip was with Travel Talk, they were great, had a good itinerary and great tour guide. The other people on the tour were all really neat too - makes the trip that much better when your hanging out with good people.
The trip started in Cairo, Sat 2nd Aug (40 degrees) where we stayed at the Cataract Resort. we saw a lot the first day - the Giza pyramids, sphinx, tombs and the step pyramid of Sakarra. They are all really amazing and actually it's almost too much to take in - here you are standing in front of these 4000yr old colossal monuments that you've waited all your life to see... quite surreal.
There are vendors by the dozen at all the tourist sites. They wait in the shade then swarm to you with their souvenirs when you arrive, and get right in your face... some virtually drag you to their camel for a ride, others ask outright for 'baksheesh' (tip).
Tonight we catch the overnight train to Aswan. Its a huge tank of a train that goes fairly slow and steady pace.. seats pretty comfy, we are seated in cabins of 6, all our bags piled on the floor. we try and get some sleep during the 16hour trip. (tip - always take your own toilet tissue. and use the bathroom before 2am and after 10am.)
Next day we arrive safely in Aswan... (45degrees).. the city is right on the Nile and is cleaner and prettier and has a more laid back quieter feel to it. we are staying at Hotel Basma that has amazing views over the whole city and the Nile. we have 2 nights here and we make the most of the pool :)
The first day we visit the Aswan Dam and the High Dam, under which is a whole Nubian city and ancient temples. A few were saved by UNESCO (including Abu Simbel) Apparently all the crocodiles are behind the dam.. we'll believe you..
Then we visit the Philae temple, which is a really neat site on an island, 10min boat ride from shore. (quite a romantic story with this temple, about the goddess of magic who was waiting for her husband but he got killed. when she found out she turned herself into a bird and flew all over Egypt looking for him then gave him the magic kiss of life) Again this temple was moved from a smaller island not far away and they found a bigger island, extended it and rebuilt the temple on there.
This evening we go to a traditional Nubian dinner in a real Nubian village. we catch a motorboat up the river Nile and have a sumptuous dinner in a real Nubian house that has a straw roof and walls painted with pictures of camels. we get to meet their pet crocodiles and then get some traditional Nubian singing and music on the boat on the way home, we are all up singing and clapping on a little motorboat in the middle of the river Nile!
We now head south on the tour bus to Luxor, where we stayed at the Sheraton report. The temperature is around 48degrees. We praise the air conditioning every time we get on the bus.. The next day we wake up and are out the door by 4am to take a 3hour bus trip out to see Abu Simbel, the amazing temple with 4 huge statues at the front. It was moved up, and backwards, from the rising High Dam to save it. Its an impressive huge temple carved into a hill with lots of big offering rooms and huge columns. Its very hot here, we all shelter under the tree after an hour. I sleep all the way there and back on the bus. While the others all go off to their felucca cruise we have a half day to relax by the pool and take in a short felucca ride on the river. except it was too windy to sail so we got another motorboat ride! still really nice on the river though.
For our second day in Luxor we see the Karnak Temple and the Luxor Temple.
Karnak Temple is set on 64acres, and its has multiple temples and obelisks on it where Pharaoh's and leaders built over top of each other and pulled down each others stuff in order to be the most powerful & prominent.
Luxor temple has intact, huge statues at the front, and the road of sphinxes leading between this temple and Karnak temple. it also has roman painting of the last supper on one wall.
The next day when everyone has returned, we make an early start on the bus to see the Valley of the Kings and Hatchepsut Temple... we stop and have a donkey ride first (a few of us don't) then drive up to the ultra hot valley to explore some tombs!! we catch a golf cart train up the hill and have some time to explore 3 tombs - there are 64 tombs in this valley, some closed for maintenance, some still undiscovered. we go in king Ramses 2 and a couple of others. very impressive - the walls and ceilings are still covered with the original paint .. the sarcophagus lies in the chamber of each tomb. there are steep ramps/steps into each tomb and its stifling hot - its cooler outside, and its 48degrees! we head back down the hill with some vendors that are running and jumping onto our train, fleeing from armed gun men out to get them as selling is not allowed...
we then see Hatchepsut temple which is the queen (daughter of ....two VIP) and since a woman couldn't really rule the country she always depicted herself as a man. so Egypt thought she was a king.
we head back to Luxor to relax and say a sad farewell to all our new friends - some are off to Jordan, Dahab, and other places and a group of us are heading back to Cairo. we again catch the overnight train however the seats are comfier and its only an 8hour journey. In Cairo its noticeably cooler but humid.. we are back at the Cataract resort for the last day - we do a tour round the city to see the Coptic church and some original Egyptian markets... they are an experience. rubbish, stray cats.. dirt roads.. we got lost down little alleys with pita bread shops and the locals pointed to the way out for us :)
Tonight we get to see the pyramids again - this time for the sound and light show :) we are greeted by bag pipe playing men dressed as Egyptians (we don't know where they got this strange combination) then the pyramids lit up and powerful orchestra type music started and the sphinx told us the story of the pyramids and their kings....
A few moments on the tour that I will remember was going into the towns and talking to the friendly locals (who just wanted to practice their English).. going to the bustling, loud markets in each city where every one of us girls got at least one 'compliment' or 'marriage proposal' or even an offer to buy us. (how generous) The rides on the motorboats, and Nubian kids showing off in front of our cameras while swimming in the Nile. and eating some good food at local restaurants around town... and the feeling of staying in hotel resorts with huge pools and knowing an Egyptian would need to save a few months salary just to stay for one night. and not forgetting the plethora of donkeys everywhere towing carts of junk or grass or their owners..seeing the slums of thousands of mud brick houses and then the straw huts in the fields where the farmers live during harvest season.
Now back in London and feeling absolutely relaxed, tanned, happy, and reflecting on this amazing trip. The first thing I notice is the smell - gone is the shisha pipe smell that permeates everything. now is the damp brick and concrete smell.. ah at least everything is in English and no-one is accosting me on the street to come look at his shop!
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Little Venice 19th July
Once again its the weekend and I'm keen to get out there and explore somewhere new. I head off to Maida Vale in west London to see 'Little Venice' with the London Walks company. Theres a group of at least 20 people gathered, and off we go our pack of sheep behind the tour guide. We stop at lots of spots along the 2hour walk where they explain the history of a house or a certain spot. We walked down the road where Kate Moss lives and where the guy out of Pink Floyd sold his house to Diana Spencers brother for 8mill and gave 4mill away to 'Shelter' the charity. We walked along the canal and got shown the spot where Richard Branson once lived in a long boat on the canal with a girlfriend and where he ran his Virgin Records business from. One night a drunken mate flooded his boat so that was the end of that! We walked up tow paths where people used to cover the horses hooves in sacking and try sneak past the toll-masters house without success. its really just a semi-rich leafy suburb with a canal running through the middle that has long boats on it with flower pots on them. Very cute though.
Saturday night, myself and my flatmates went round to a friends place for a 'quiet' BBQ, everyone was there and we ended up going home about 2am after a mixture of home-made snakebites and punch and a variety of other drinks were made and consumed..
Spent sunday on the couch with my roommate watching outrageous fortune... another NZ-tv show-omnibus.. eeeexcellennnnt. The show is so much cooler now I am not in new zealand - I think its the same patriotic instinct that make you miss pies as soon as you leave home. Crazy.
The thing I see every day and really dont get is people who run for a tube and then leap through the closing doors - sometimes getting jammed- getting on just before the train pulls away. omg, why do this!? In any one tube station there is always another train 1-3 minutes behind it - even if your late, 1min is not worth running for. I always wait and get a seat on the next train - which is usually much emptier, and full of the calm people who waited instead of crushing onto the first train full of busy people and no breathing space. *Thankyou, come hear my full rant at Speakers Corner on Sat morning!*
Saturday night, myself and my flatmates went round to a friends place for a 'quiet' BBQ, everyone was there and we ended up going home about 2am after a mixture of home-made snakebites and punch and a variety of other drinks were made and consumed..
Spent sunday on the couch with my roommate watching outrageous fortune... another NZ-tv show-omnibus.. eeeexcellennnnt. The show is so much cooler now I am not in new zealand - I think its the same patriotic instinct that make you miss pies as soon as you leave home. Crazy.
The thing I see every day and really dont get is people who run for a tube and then leap through the closing doors - sometimes getting jammed- getting on just before the train pulls away. omg, why do this!? In any one tube station there is always another train 1-3 minutes behind it - even if your late, 1min is not worth running for. I always wait and get a seat on the next train - which is usually much emptier, and full of the calm people who waited instead of crushing onto the first train full of busy people and no breathing space. *Thankyou, come hear my full rant at Speakers Corner on Sat morning!*
Sunday, 13 July 2008
Stonehenge & Bath 12th July
Yesterday was my first day out of London since I arrived! It's actually quite easy to spend all your time in the city having a ball doing so many different things all over the place and then you realise you havn't left town in months....
Anyway this day tour to Stonehenge and Bath was recommended to me by my flatmate. Its with Anderson Tours for less than £50. Jumped on a bus at 8am with spainish, russians, asians... think I was the minority. We head out of town and the tour guide tells us lots about the archeological finds and construction and history of stonehenge and the people that lived there - I eat every word but most people on the bus are sleeping cos they cant understand english. We go to stonehenge first and jon the crowds of colleges and schools and spend an hour having a good look at the rocks. It was what I was expecting, no bigger or smaller, and I did learn some interesting facts and history about it which I didnt know before.
We carry on out to Bath through the gorgeous english country side .. we catch glimpses of Bath through the trees before we drive down into the valley. The tour guide had lots of history and archeological info about the original roman town and how they were there for 300 odd years before the saxons came in - they didnt understand the roman way of life or what they're architecture meant and let their buildings crumble and built another town over top... Then how the king with leprosy came to the town to be healed in the waters and made Bath the capital. Then how queen anne was sick and came to the healing waters .. they say there were 3 people to follow her to the town - an events planner (PR guy who organised events and got all the rich people to come to bath and made it fashionable again) and 2 architects who built up the roman buildings again and kept the roman architecture of the town intact.
Its a gorgeous town, all the buildings are made from honey-coloured limestone out of a quarry not far away. The streets are cobbled with hanging flower baskets, there are cutest little antique shops and tea shops and beautiful little gift shops... I saw the royal circle (the architect John Adams snr. was fascinated by stonehenge and the entire design and placement of the roads and houses reflects the design and placement of everything at stonehenge!) The roman baths are the best preserved/most intact structure of its kind in northern europe and its the only hot springs in england. It was a sunny afternoon and town was buzzing with crowds of sightseers and locals alike and buskers performing to crowds in the town squares. Had 2-3 hours there, left at 3:30 and did a drive by some other points of interest on the way out and headed back to London. everyone slept on the way back and I was pretty tired at the end of the day!
Anyway this day tour to Stonehenge and Bath was recommended to me by my flatmate. Its with Anderson Tours for less than £50. Jumped on a bus at 8am with spainish, russians, asians... think I was the minority. We head out of town and the tour guide tells us lots about the archeological finds and construction and history of stonehenge and the people that lived there - I eat every word but most people on the bus are sleeping cos they cant understand english. We go to stonehenge first and jon the crowds of colleges and schools and spend an hour having a good look at the rocks. It was what I was expecting, no bigger or smaller, and I did learn some interesting facts and history about it which I didnt know before.
We carry on out to Bath through the gorgeous english country side .. we catch glimpses of Bath through the trees before we drive down into the valley. The tour guide had lots of history and archeological info about the original roman town and how they were there for 300 odd years before the saxons came in - they didnt understand the roman way of life or what they're architecture meant and let their buildings crumble and built another town over top... Then how the king with leprosy came to the town to be healed in the waters and made Bath the capital. Then how queen anne was sick and came to the healing waters .. they say there were 3 people to follow her to the town - an events planner (PR guy who organised events and got all the rich people to come to bath and made it fashionable again) and 2 architects who built up the roman buildings again and kept the roman architecture of the town intact.
Its a gorgeous town, all the buildings are made from honey-coloured limestone out of a quarry not far away. The streets are cobbled with hanging flower baskets, there are cutest little antique shops and tea shops and beautiful little gift shops... I saw the royal circle (the architect John Adams snr. was fascinated by stonehenge and the entire design and placement of the roads and houses reflects the design and placement of everything at stonehenge!) The roman baths are the best preserved/most intact structure of its kind in northern europe and its the only hot springs in england. It was a sunny afternoon and town was buzzing with crowds of sightseers and locals alike and buskers performing to crowds in the town squares. Had 2-3 hours there, left at 3:30 and did a drive by some other points of interest on the way out and headed back to London. everyone slept on the way back and I was pretty tired at the end of the day!
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Shihad and F.O.T.C - 5th & 6th July
On saturday my flatmate and I were intending to go on a 'London Walk' where guides take you to explore parts of the city you dont normally see. We took the bus, and that same day the Gay Parade was on and all the streets were closed so we were diverted and now half an hour late, we jump off and go shopping down oxford street. the streets are packed and everyone is wandering down the middle of the roads. I buy some more things I maybe didnt need and the Flight of the Concords DVD of season one which I've been hanging out to get for a while.
Sat night, Shihad is playing at the Temple in Shepards Bush (South West London where all the antipodeans flock) we all get ready and head out early evening, there's a group of 12 of us going. We have a 'meet at this place and time' drink while we wait for the bus. We catch the bus and have a mission ride (bout half hour) through suburbs just like Otara and Rewa and finally get there... we have a pre concert drink at the Walky next door to the Temple. I order a snakebite but didnt specify I only wanted 1 glass (isnt that assumed!?) so I got a whole jug of 6 pints!! It was only £5 mind so that was OK i shared it around and it was gone in no time.
Then we head next door to the concert and squash right up the front of the floor well near the front. Of course when shihad came on the mosh pit started, the head banging metal heads raged and we got pushed around like washing in a tumble dryer... It was fun for the first 1/2 hour while you really get into the excitement of it but it got old quick when my feet got stood on about 15 times, my flatmates got smaked in the face, ribs, arms, feet, well whatever body part you werent smacking somelse with at any given moment took a hit. So i stood just behind the mosh pit in the calm rows of people while everyone going mad at the front pushed and swayed and moved like wheat in the wind while crowd surfers had their moment of glory before being dropped unceremoniously onto the wooden floor.. Good Times :P Shihad was awsome though and we all had a good time.
Then we all migrated next door back into the walky for some more snakies and some 'real aussie pies' until they closed then we got taxi's to another bar closer to home called 3one7 which was 100% british paying pool and listening to garage. Stayed there for a drink or two then caught the bus home where our group and some more drunk people yelled and laughed all the way home much to the dismay of all the other bus passengers... then we took the party back to our house and drank some more till sometime between3-4am we all went to sleep.
Sunday I sleep in till bout 1pm with my snakebite hangover (i never get hangovers, and I'm not drinking snakies again!) and me and the flatties sit on the couch all day and do the 'Flight of the Concords omnibus' of the entire season one dvd. ahhh... fine end to an awsome weekend!!!
Sat night, Shihad is playing at the Temple in Shepards Bush (South West London where all the antipodeans flock) we all get ready and head out early evening, there's a group of 12 of us going. We have a 'meet at this place and time' drink while we wait for the bus. We catch the bus and have a mission ride (bout half hour) through suburbs just like Otara and Rewa and finally get there... we have a pre concert drink at the Walky next door to the Temple. I order a snakebite but didnt specify I only wanted 1 glass (isnt that assumed!?) so I got a whole jug of 6 pints!! It was only £5 mind so that was OK i shared it around and it was gone in no time.
Then we head next door to the concert and squash right up the front of the floor well near the front. Of course when shihad came on the mosh pit started, the head banging metal heads raged and we got pushed around like washing in a tumble dryer... It was fun for the first 1/2 hour while you really get into the excitement of it but it got old quick when my feet got stood on about 15 times, my flatmates got smaked in the face, ribs, arms, feet, well whatever body part you werent smacking somelse with at any given moment took a hit. So i stood just behind the mosh pit in the calm rows of people while everyone going mad at the front pushed and swayed and moved like wheat in the wind while crowd surfers had their moment of glory before being dropped unceremoniously onto the wooden floor.. Good Times :P Shihad was awsome though and we all had a good time.
Then we all migrated next door back into the walky for some more snakies and some 'real aussie pies' until they closed then we got taxi's to another bar closer to home called 3one7 which was 100% british paying pool and listening to garage. Stayed there for a drink or two then caught the bus home where our group and some more drunk people yelled and laughed all the way home much to the dismay of all the other bus passengers... then we took the party back to our house and drank some more till sometime between3-4am we all went to sleep.
Sunday I sleep in till bout 1pm with my snakebite hangover (i never get hangovers, and I'm not drinking snakies again!) and me and the flatties sit on the couch all day and do the 'Flight of the Concords omnibus' of the entire season one dvd. ahhh... fine end to an awsome weekend!!!
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
This is London! 23-27 June
One farewell is enough for most people but not our Brooke :P
We have another farewell dinner for her on Monday night at the Shakespeare pub in the big beer garden... have great pub dinner but they serve my dessert and dinner at the same time - I humour the pub and eat both at once. (The dessert is hot chocolate self saucing so I gotta eat it before it goes cold) What do you know, chocolate sauce on chicken ceaser salad isnt bad at all!
we all head home through the dark hamstead heath forest and walk all the way home (20mins) then we stay up and chat to Brooke as she leaves tomorrow... :( we have a final night of having 5 chickies in our room and chatting late into the night despite having to work the next day...
tuesday evening Brooke is gone and we all stay at home and commiserate.
Wednesday I go out after work and catch up with some kiwi friends of mine at Leicester Square then go to dinner in china town at Wong Kei (wonky) restaurant as it was one of the guys birthday. The restaurant is apparantly known for its bad service however the funny old chinese waiter came over and sung happy birthday with us and brought us over a free plate of spring rolls! what a champ. by the time we'd eaten and talked and talked and eaten it was time to go home to bed :)
Thursday I met a friend and went shopping on oxford street and I bought a couple of things.. again...
Friday I went to Hyde Park after work with a couple of flatmates and friends to have a picnic and listen to the nelson mandela 90th birthday concert... we saw will smith - who sung the fresh prince of bell air theme with his 'hitch' song and the crowd all sang along, amy whine-about-the-house with a quieter low energy rendition of her songs (*cough emphysema*) and then mr mandela himself came out! The whole crowd sung happy birthday too him and he did a speech then he went again. we had a great picnic then left when about 9:30, it was cold and dark by then.
very exciting week and every day I felt totally buzzed to be here and excited by meeting so many new people and the amount of fun things to do all over the city... :)
We have another farewell dinner for her on Monday night at the Shakespeare pub in the big beer garden... have great pub dinner but they serve my dessert and dinner at the same time - I humour the pub and eat both at once. (The dessert is hot chocolate self saucing so I gotta eat it before it goes cold) What do you know, chocolate sauce on chicken ceaser salad isnt bad at all!
we all head home through the dark hamstead heath forest and walk all the way home (20mins) then we stay up and chat to Brooke as she leaves tomorrow... :( we have a final night of having 5 chickies in our room and chatting late into the night despite having to work the next day...
tuesday evening Brooke is gone and we all stay at home and commiserate.
Wednesday I go out after work and catch up with some kiwi friends of mine at Leicester Square then go to dinner in china town at Wong Kei (wonky) restaurant as it was one of the guys birthday. The restaurant is apparantly known for its bad service however the funny old chinese waiter came over and sung happy birthday with us and brought us over a free plate of spring rolls! what a champ. by the time we'd eaten and talked and talked and eaten it was time to go home to bed :)
Thursday I met a friend and went shopping on oxford street and I bought a couple of things.. again...
Friday I went to Hyde Park after work with a couple of flatmates and friends to have a picnic and listen to the nelson mandela 90th birthday concert... we saw will smith - who sung the fresh prince of bell air theme with his 'hitch' song and the crowd all sang along, amy whine-about-the-house with a quieter low energy rendition of her songs (*cough emphysema*) and then mr mandela himself came out! The whole crowd sung happy birthday too him and he did a speech then he went again. we had a great picnic then left when about 9:30, it was cold and dark by then.
very exciting week and every day I felt totally buzzed to be here and excited by meeting so many new people and the amount of fun things to do all over the city... :)
Brookes Farewell 21/22nd June
after a week of working full time again and getting hot and squashed on the tube it was time to get ready for the party of the year!! :0 Brooke's Farewell Party...us girls spend Saturday cleaning up our flat and getting stuff ready. The boys are off swanning their stuff at Ascot and have left us to fend for ourselves which meant we had to try chop wood, sus out the BBQ and tie the tarpolin up in the trees... we got the tarp up - just- and left the rest to the boys to do when they got home. If you saw Brooke trying to chop the wood you'd understand why :P
Fantastic party was had by all - big turnout.. had 3 or 4 'official photographers' who got a bit snap happy and we ended up with just under 200 odd photos...most of them we don't remember taking or being in. You can see about 100 of the best ones which i uploaded to FaceBook.
The boys eventually did get home - too late, as aussies and a kiwi got hold of the bbq and wreaked braai blasphemy by piling on the coal and lavishly pouring on excellerant and seeing how high they could get the flames - they went as high as the tarp actually, and it looked great with the sparks rolling off it - (no it didnt burn but thanks for trying) as for actually cooking anything, well I'm glad mum told me charcoal is good for me cos I ate a lot of it that night. The boys did rescue the fire later and cooked a beauty steak on it :D
Apart from people catching tubes and some who went to bed early dreaming alcaholic dreams we partied to 2:30am.. we'd started about 5 so I call that a pretty decent effort!
The next day with hangover's quashed by a good dose of tea, us girls went out shopping in Covent Garden and did a big kathmandu shop - I got a fantastic 75ltr back pack that can be reduced down to a 50ltr and has all the bells and whistles and straps and zips that any self respecting back packer could dream of! only £120 pounds.
Home again go the weary shoppers - cant believe thats another weekend over ...
Fantastic party was had by all - big turnout.. had 3 or 4 'official photographers' who got a bit snap happy and we ended up with just under 200 odd photos...most of them we don't remember taking or being in. You can see about 100 of the best ones which i uploaded to FaceBook.
The boys eventually did get home - too late, as aussies and a kiwi got hold of the bbq and wreaked braai blasphemy by piling on the coal and lavishly pouring on excellerant and seeing how high they could get the flames - they went as high as the tarp actually, and it looked great with the sparks rolling off it - (no it didnt burn but thanks for trying) as for actually cooking anything, well I'm glad mum told me charcoal is good for me cos I ate a lot of it that night. The boys did rescue the fire later and cooked a beauty steak on it :D
Apart from people catching tubes and some who went to bed early dreaming alcaholic dreams we partied to 2:30am.. we'd started about 5 so I call that a pretty decent effort!
The next day with hangover's quashed by a good dose of tea, us girls went out shopping in Covent Garden and did a big kathmandu shop - I got a fantastic 75ltr back pack that can be reduced down to a 50ltr and has all the bells and whistles and straps and zips that any self respecting back packer could dream of! only £120 pounds.
Home again go the weary shoppers - cant believe thats another weekend over ...
Sunday, 15 June 2008
Drinking trumps Queen
Saturday morning and I'm up at 6am to go drinking and watch the All Blacks with a couple of my flatmates and some friends. We had pancakes at a friends house then went down the road to the local rugby club where they had a projector screen set up and couches .. A fair amount of people turned up and we all have a few beers and cheer every time NZ scores a try... good game overall.
we were meant to all go home after that but somehow we ended up staying there drinking snakebites outside in the sun all day.. the boys got some meat and cooked a BBQ in the afternoon. I had a great day talking to everyone and meeting new people.. and we held up rather well considering we were drinking from 8am till 5pm... when we finally got kindly chucked out as there was a private party starting. Super day overall, and as my first foray into patriotic AB's watching and all day drinking, I'm quite pleased with myself and cant wait to do it again.
oh yeah the Queen - Trooping the Colour was on the same day and I had the best intentions of going but as you can see I ended up being entertained elsewhere..
we were meant to all go home after that but somehow we ended up staying there drinking snakebites outside in the sun all day.. the boys got some meat and cooked a BBQ in the afternoon. I had a great day talking to everyone and meeting new people.. and we held up rather well considering we were drinking from 8am till 5pm... when we finally got kindly chucked out as there was a private party starting. Super day overall, and as my first foray into patriotic AB's watching and all day drinking, I'm quite pleased with myself and cant wait to do it again.
oh yeah the Queen - Trooping the Colour was on the same day and I had the best intentions of going but as you can see I ended up being entertained elsewhere..
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