mmm Sunday Roast

I had a great day. I started off skyping with my parents and then with Bee & the kids so that was nice. I headed down to Bromley for the day to visit Rachel’s best friend Tracey and her family. They moved here earlier this year. They have 2 gorgeous kids, Daniel (7) and Caitlyn (3). Dan already has a bit of an accent. I went to their church with them and then to their place for lunch. It was lovely to have a home-cooked Sunday Roast. 

The Bridge

I thought I’d go to the Museum of Natural History at opening time to avoid the queues. Should have learnt my lesson from the Vatican City years ago. Everybody else has the same idea. Since I have loads of time to go back on another day I saw the queue and walked away instantly. Chelsea played Norwich in the EPL so I was kitted up in my cardi and scarf and headed to Fulham Broadway to mingle with the crowd and hopefully find a pub to watch it in. Aiming a little high maybe – everywhere was reservation or members only. Feeling a little “meh” (probably due to boredom from being my own company all week) I couldn’t be bothered so I just came back to Ally & Matt’s to listen to it on the radio. Actually I fell asleep for a bit. UK’s X Factor has just started last week and I’m actually really into it. It’s hard not to be because it’s all over the news.

Stepping back in time

I enjoyed today. I sat in and relaxed for a good while. Probably didn’t head out until about 11:30am. I went to South Kensington. Walked into Harrod’s and had a look around. It was too crowded for my liking. I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum, which I actually found pretty boring. I suppose with a friend or guide it might have been a little more interesting. For lunch I ate lasagne at an Italian restaurant and it was lovely. Then I headed to the area where my dad used to live – 15 Cranley Place. It was so cool walking around his old area. I had booked to see a show called Potted Potter so I headed to Leicester Square and had banana & chocolates crepes for afternoon tea before the show at the Garrick Theatre. The show was pretty funny actually. It was a Harry Potter parody showcasing all 7 books in 70 minutes. After the show I headed back to Ally & Matt’s, stopping at Tesco on the way. I’ve just been relaxing in front of the TV with the Argos catalogue all evening.

What a Thriller!

Because I had been walking non-stop since I arrived I decided to take it pretty easy. Lounged around for a while before I had to see Naheed in Hammersmith and collect my keys and pay the rest of my deposit. I did a little shopping in Primark. I had booked to see Thriller Live at the Lyric Theatre on London’s West End so I headed into town and had a dinner of BBQ ribs at Adam’s Ribs before the show. The show was brilliant! There was a little black boy sitting a few rows in front who was probably about 4 years old and was dancing so enthusiastically! It was really cute and funny. I found myself watching him as much as the show!

Ships & Shards

I headed out first to O2 where I visited the Titanic Exhibition. It was quite interesting. The most fascinating thing I found out was that 3^rd class had 2 showers to share between 700 people! However in that time people were only bathing once a week so it was not a problem. I then headed into the parliament area of the city and wandered around and took some photos. In the evening I met Keith after work and went to his & Cat’s place for dinner. A mirror fell off the bedside table and smashed on the floor! It just happened out of the blue. It freaked me out a little because earlier that day a black cat had walked past me. I had a nice chat to the bus driver on my way back to Wimbledon station.

More shopping!

It was a rainy day so I went to Westfield. Then I went back to explore more of Oxford St. I visited the Britain tourist office on Regent Street and got loads of brochures on travel around the UK.

Interview day!

Today was an absolutely crazy day! I had my bank appointment at Lloyds TSB on Oxford St. It was a nice way to open an account. The guy sat with me and chatted and explained the account. My interview with Red Carnation was at 12:30pm at the Rubens Hotel. I met Liz, Suzie and Richard and it went well I thought. Well, I hate interviews so it was ok. They said they’d give me a call. So I headed back to Oxford St and shopped ‘til I dropped! Actually I didn’t buy loads, but did get a nice jacket and duvet cover. Suzie called me to offer me the job while I was on Oxford St. Of course I accepted and the best part was that they decided the start date would be Monday 5^th September so I have an extra week to explore and settle in before I start. At 7pm I met Naheed at the house I’m moving into and paid her a £350 deposit. The room is lovely and the house is beautiful. It’s on the market just so she can get an idea for the market at the moment, she says she’s not selling. I had a little peak around the net and found it's worth £1.45million! My rent is inclusive of all bills, council tax and internet which is good.

Curtains Up!

I was supposed to go down to Bromley with Bek and see Rachel’s friend Tracey but ended up postponing as I had 4 inspections come through at different times. The 4pm one was really nice, in Sands End but the room was tiny! The 7pm was ok, not blown away by it. Couldn’t see myself being too connected with the housemate. The last one was gross, no living room, the guy didn’t say anything, just pointed. I headed back to a pub in Barons Court – Curtain’s Up – where Bek was catching up with her friend from her TTC London days. It was nice meeting some people and Nikki took my number and said she’d invite me along to girly nights that she organises.

Saturday 20th August 2011

Bek and I had some brekky at the local café. I had woken up at 2am! We went into the city and wandered around before she went to visit friends and I inspected 2 places. The 1st was ok but a bit messy and not available until 10^th. The 2^nd was in a council estate, I felt like I was walking into an episode of the bill. After that I just wandered around the area and relaxed. Bek and I got Pizza Express for dinner and had some cider before we went to bed. We also watched Britain’s X Factor.

 

A new chapter

Thursday 18^th – Friday 19^th August 2011

An emotional day, farewelling my family and friends. So glad to have flown over with Bek. We wanted to claim our tax on our cameras but by the time we went through the gate and got through customs it was final call for our flight! The flight was fine, Virgin Atlantic were pretty good, no complaints at all. We got upgraded to a more roomy section thanks to work contacting the rep for me. Watched Black Swan (disturbing) & Just go with it (some funny bits but mainly rubbish). Had a little scare at Hong Kong airport because my working visa is valid from 22^nd and so they were worried I’d be denied at the border. I think they were more worried than me. Bek now has an expired working visa in her passport and she has had no problem.

We got to LHR and started to make our way to Ally & Matt’s place. I realised it’s all well and good to have loads of luggage when you have people to help you load it in the car and get it to the airport, but once you get to the other end you’re on your own. Bek and I had to wait until the real estate agent opened so we could get the key to the flat so we sat in Starbucks and invented the life stories of the people passing by. Then we were deciding who out of each group crossing the road was the best looking. It was very entertaining.

Went to 1^st contact office to collect my welcome pack and then headed out to Westfield where we met up with Keith for lunch. We also bought some towels because we hadn’t brought any with us and all I could find at the local shop was face washers. Then we went back and sat in Kensington Gardens and then walked back to the flat. Stopped at TK Max, a brilliant shop! Literally 100’s of scarves. For dinner we had Thai and some cider and went to bed at about 9pm.