Bank holiday perfection

Hello beloveds!

I am very excited to be updating our blog again after four or so weeks of lying low and getting back into a routine. Work has been going really well and we’ve been keeping very busy on the weekends, socialising and exploring this crazy city, but we haven’t done any travelling as such to justify a new blog entry.

Brad started his new job last week, repping for Maxxium – an alcohol distributor renown for their whiskey and bourbon – Famous Grouse and Jim Beam to name a few. He headed up to Stirling, Scotland last week for a bit of an induction, and is off there again tomorrow for a few days. Some of you might remember that Stirling was one of our favourite places in Scotland – possibly my favourite, and has a great deal of historical significance as it’s the site of the battle of Braveheart. Anyway, he’s enjoying it so far and is looking forward to getting stuck in and making the role his own. I on the other hand, am looking forward to getting stuck in to the road trips in his Audi A3 hatchback!

Parking in London can be more than a little frustrating as you need a permit to park anywhere – even on the street outside your house. After getting up early and driving to the city council to arrange a car permit, Brad came out to find that he had a ticket for a whopping £60! As he needed a bit more information before they’d grant him a permit, he headed home to get a few bits and bobs. When he came back down to his car (ten minutes later) he not only had another ticket for £60, but he also interrupted a tow-truck who were literally just about to take off with his car! Needless to say he was less than impressed – something which he communicated very clearly to the tow-truck driver!

My job is going well. It’s very challenging but is exposing me to the most fabulous experience that I never even dreamed was possible. It will also involve travel as well which is a very nice bonus! Watch this space as I’ll be sure to keep you all updated via this very blog!

As I type this on a Monday evening, it’s the end of a very long, leisurely and fun bank holiday weekend – the last public holiday until Christmas! We decided to stick around London on account of flights being astronomically expensive and given we have Oktoberfest in just a few weeks. Suffice to say we made the right decision as we had a lovely weekend relaxing and exploring and also managed to avoid some of the airport strikes which are holding the city hostage at present.

Friday night I caught up with some girlfriends for dinner and a movie, before heading home for a Skype date with Dad and Kimi. Brad caught up on some much needed sleep after a hard week’s work with some very early starts (4am one day as he had a team meeting in Birmingham). He was also feeling a little under the weather so an early night was most definitely called for.

Saturday we headed into the city centre for brunch at a famous Kiwi-style cafe. Hearing those Kiwi accents and stuffing our faces with delicious food set the tone for the weekend. I just about cried with relief – you don’t get too many cafe type places around here, rather it’s just pubs and takeaways, so a nice brunch was a real treat. We then hit the shops for a much needed shopping spree, on account of the fact that I had just been paid for the first time in three months! The temperature is rapidly decreasing and the weather deteriorating and after feeling freezing and sorry for myself all week, it was absolutely necessary to pick up a few warmer clothes. It was a very successful mission and I walked away with two huge winter coats, with Brad picking up a pair of jeans, two pairs of work pants and a huge winter coat as well. We also picked up a world map and London map for our bedroom wall – great for the geography general knowledge! After wandering around for a solid six hours, we spent the night decorating our room with our new maps and watching movies – not to mention stuffing our faces with all sorts of goodies from Brad’s favourite London shop – Iceland. Imagine if you will a budget supermarket with ready-made meals, deep fried everything, bulk buys galore and all for just £1! That’s Iceland. After discovering this store, our freezer is never without a deep fried Yum Cha selection packet/ curly fries/ deep fried mini hot-dogs/ or mini Cornish Pasties!

We had tickets for South West Four on Sunday – a music festival in Clapham Common, which is our local park and the site of my morning run. Tickets sold out weeks ago, but thankfully Brad had the good sense to book well in advance as Fat Boy Slim, Armand Van Helden and Carl Cox were playing – some of his favourites. We meet Donna, Rebecca and Vicki at a local pub for a good old fashioned English breakfast of fish and chips, served with ice-cold cider. I was more than a little apprehensive of the weather on account of it having poured for the past three weeks with a temperature which was more than a little fresh, but thankfully it managed to hold off from completely pouring down until we were safe inside... albeit safe inside a portaloo! After holding off leaving the little cubicle for as long as possible, I made a run for it and thankfully managed to spot Brad in the distance, taking refuge underneath one of the circus tents. Needless to say, we were all soaked to the skin! I’ve never seen such a downpour and the fact that it happened in the middle of an outside music festival in summer, was oh so typical! Not to worry as it didn’t last long and we managed to get a reprieve from the storm later in the day. Admittedly, I spent more time wandering around chatting and riding all the rides than dancing to the DJ’s, but Brad more than made up for my lack of commitment and was on his feet at the front of the stage the entire day. I’d drift by and visit him every half hour or so, but on one occasion when I popped over I was told on no uncertain terms from one of Brad’s new ‘friends’, that there was no way I could be his girlfriend as I wasn’t good-looking enough for him! The cheeky beggar! To make matters worse, Brad took one look at me and turned to his new BFF saying ‘I’ve never seen her before in my life’! To get him back I spent the rest of our ‘beer money’ on rides! This went down like a lead balloon, so it was straight to the back of the very-long cash machine queue for me! The best thing about the festival was that it ended at 9pm, but by this stage we were both so shattered having been partying since 10am, that we headed home for an early night.

Today we woke up feeling relatively healthy (must have been the McDonald’s consumed the night before) and we were up, dressed and out the door by 10am, off on our way to Notting Hill for the annual, world-famous Notting Hill Carnival. We’ve been told that the carnival can get quite rough, and is a bit of a hotspot for London gangs, so we decided to head there earlier rather than later. Wise decision I’d say, as already at 10.30am the place was packed and the music was so loud it shook your rib-cage! It was such a great experience and interesting to see the different Caribbean cultures partying it up in carnival-dress, but definitely one of those things you don’t have to spend all day at.

Given our close proximity, we then popped over to Westfield London – which the more attentive amongst you will remember is Europe’s largest Westfield mall. After a huge traditional English breakfast with an extra side of sausages for Brad, and a salmon and spinach omelette for me, we were ready to hit the shops again. Thankfully we were only there for an hour and again it proved to be very successful – we walked away with three pairs of boots amongst us and a larger than life map of London for Brad’s car, which will be more than helpful when navigating the streets of London when out in the trade.

The remainder of the afternoon has been spent napping, catching up on television and drinking cup after cup of herbal tea. Don’t even get me started on the herbal tea selection here – delicious! I work right next door to a huge whole foods and organic supermarket, and the herbal tea selection could keep me enthralled four hours! I’ve got quite the little selection building up, so no matter what the mood, I have a tea to counter it!

I’ve also been getting back into the baking which is good, although I’m sad to say I don’t have a lot of materials to work with. After whipping up my mixture in a pot, I decided it was time to splash out and buy myself a bowl. Needless to say our cake tin selection is next to none, so my baking experimentation only extends to cookies. I’ve been mixing up the old classic chocolate chip though, which I’ll be able to show you all in a few years 

Missing you all like crazy and the homesickness has definitely kicked in big time. It’s especially bad when the weather is dark and dismal and on week days. Work is so hard out that it’s easy to get nostalgic when I’m feeling a little stressed and frozen solid. Hopefully my new winter jackets will put a curb to that!

I’ve discovered the key to dressing in London is layering – more is always more. Even though you look 3kg heavier, you’re always too warm to care!

We’re off to Munich for Oktoberfest in a few weeks (mid-September), then Prague and Berlin with Cara in October. We’re also going to lock in trips to Norway, Russia and Sweden over the next few months too. The key is to book them in early so you get cheap flights and have time to plot out annual leave. There are so many amazing things to see, so planning is key!

Love to all back home and will blog again soon!

Cheers ears!

xxx

Good times and good friends, now it’s back to the nine to five game!

Hola!

Well it’s been a few weeks since our last update, but let me assure you we have been keeping very busy in London-town with job interviews, catching up with friends and plenty of good times – perhaps too much fun if anything!

Since arriving back from Basel a fortnight ago we’ve been on the go each and every day, living and enjoying every second of London life – although now things will be settling down a bit, as I’m back in the working game. Yes that’s right – today was my first day and while it was great and I really enjoyed it, a part of me is sad to say goodbye to my life of travel and doing exactly as I please, whenever I please. Of course, there comes a time when we all have to face reality and for me it has now smacked me in the face. This morning when my alarm went off my first thought was “oh dear – I don’t remember it being this difficult!” Not to worry as I’m sure after a week or so I’ll be back into the routine and my days of lying in the sun will be a distant memory...

Brad’s job hunting is still going strong and he’s had a few offers, although nothing that has really taken his fancy. He has a few options on the horizon so I’m sure it won’t be long before he’s racing the rats with me – god knows it will make it easier for me. It’s hard leaving for work, when one of you is tucked up in bed, brainstorming the countless things they are going to do that day!

Before I get too stuck into the routine of daily life, let me get you up to speed on what we’ve been up to for the past few weeks.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Daniel came over from Sydney and we spent four days exploring London – mostly the shopping district, as suffice to say, Daniel doesn’t care much for sight-seeing! This suited me fine though as I’d just found out I had a job and needed to pick up a new work wardrobe.

We’ve also been spending as much time as possible with Shady and Emily, who, in a week’s time, will be embarking on a three month tour of Europe before heading back to New Zealand. While we’ll definitely be catching up with them in all sorts of exotic locations on random weekends, we’ll miss them terribly, and have become more than a little attached to the wee beggars! In fact, we have barely thought about them leaving as we just don’t want to, but sadly the time has come (almost) for us to say goodbye. Yuck!

As I knew I was starting work, I’ve also spent as much time as possible with my fellow unemployed friends, which has been lovely. My good friend Julia arrived from New Zealand last week and spent a few nights on our couch. I’m so lucky in the fact that I have a lot of my friends over here, so there’s always plenty of people to share the excitement of London with. Despite not knowing many people, Brad is making friends at a rapid rate and is having a whale of a time. On Sunday morning (more about that later), he didn’t get home until 11am as he was having that much fun with his new friends!

My last weekend of freedom was absolutely brilliant. It was Donna’s (Shady and Emily’s flatmate) birthday, so she had organised a day trip to Brighton, followed by a round of pub golf. It proved to be one of those days that, despite the build-up and hype, absolutely lived up to, if not exceeded, expectation. We set off for Brighton at 9.30am with a group of about 12 and spent the day exploring the town, playing games and making use of the rides on the pier, followed by a hearty pub lunch of course.

Brighton is beautiful and was exactly what I expected – stony beach, grey ocean, bustling pier – brilliant! Shady and Brad set their sights on winning us girls a soft toy or two, but sadly Brad’s game wasn’t quite as he expected. Needless to say, Shady ended up winning a prize for both Emily and I – much to our amusement! Brad came through in the end though, winning the birthday girl a nice stuffed whale. The whole episode brought back bitter memories for poor Brad, as he hasn’t had the best luck with these sort of games in the past. In fact, I recall one occasion where I actually one Brad a prize, which he moodily refused to accept!

The day was nicely topped off with a game of pub golf, which, as the name suggests, involves visiting nine different pubs dressed in golfing attire, with the aim of drinking each drink within the required amount of sips – for example, a glass of wine is a par four. A couple of my girlfriends came along, as well as our flatmate Ryan, and by the sounds of it everyone had a great time, and there were plenty of funny stories to be told the next day. A highlight of the night was running into a group who were out on a round of ‘pub tennis’ – something that Emily and I particularly appreciated, given everyone kept accusing us of getting the theme wrong on account of us looking like tennis players!

Another highlight was meeting so many new people - more 'friend' notches to add to our belts. Might sound a little creepy, but when you're setting up shop in a new country you need all the help you can get!

Needless to say Sunday was a bit more low key and was mainly spent retelling tales from the night before, over countless slices of pizza and bars of chocolate!

Well I must be off – working in London is an entirely different kettle of fish to working in New Zealand. They start later and finish later, so even though I’ve only been home two hours, I now need to head off to bed. I’m going to get up early tomorrow morning and go for a run as there’s no way I’ll be able to manage running after a long day’s work and commute home. As I’m an early riser, I’d much prefer to get into work earlier, but it’s unheard of here – in fact, I was told to not even think of getting in before 9am (and even then the office is deserted)!

Love to all and apologies for the slackness on the email front. This weekend I’m going to sit down and power through the emails so expect a reply from me quick smart!

xxx