My Blue Heaven

One Step Back

Bad news. I lost my flat. Or rather, the room in the flat. The guy called me during work last Fri to arrange a time to meet to do contract stuff (but I have no mobile reception at work whatsoever, so he left a msg on voicemail). I was busy and out of london on the weekend, so I didn’t get back to him till Sunday night. And then he msgs me back and I find out on Monday that he’d given the room to someone else (who came to see it over the weekend and signed the contract on the spot).

Not. Happy. Jan.

I was pretty shocked/suprised. Didn’t realise it could happen like that. And that he could do that.. thought it was set that I would take it.. though I hadn’t given deposit yet. Was a bit upset at first.. but I’m ok now. *sigh* Anyway… guess I’m back to square one. It’s not so bad… I’ve seen some positives… I can save on rent for a bit longer for one. 😉 And it also gives me the chance to look around a bit more. I really didn’t do much research or looking around before deciding on that flat.. so perhaps its a good thing I didn’t get it. I can probably find something better – like a bigger room.. newer furnishings. There are so many different places to live too. So many suburbs in london I haven’t been to yet.

Weekend

So anyways. The weather today is absolutely beautiful. Very much summery weather… hot and sunny. Am wearing my havaianas and new H&M shirt dress. 🙂 I had a pretty good weekend in Canterbury. Visited the Canterbury Cathedral.. built by King Henry VIII (wat was his role in the reformation again? I can’t remember). It was beautiful and kinda freaky at the same time. They had a service on at the time, with a choral choir singing.. they sounded so perfect I thought it was a recording. It was kinda eerie.. gothic sounding, and added to the scariness of the place. I remember walking into the cathedral main hall (which kinda reminded me of the huuuge dwarven hall in the mines of Moria in LOTR FOTR.. you know with the huge columns and ceiling) to the sound of their choral voices rising up, filling the place with that gothic feel. Took some pics. But what’s with the gargoyles and scary statues and bones/skulls? *shudder* Anyway.. photos will err…. go in the queue behind all the other photos I still have yet to upload. My bad. I’ve been too lazy/busy.

Anyway, really need to do more exercise. I ate sooo much over the weekend. In the words of Cher from Clueless… I feel like such a heffer! And haven’t been to dance class for a while too, so am really missing that. Think I’ll go to Fusion Funk tonite. Yay!

New Toy

Oh and I have a new toy too. Well.. sorta… I have an Orange SPV M2000 pda/phone… for the next 6 months. I’m kinda looking after it for someone whilst they are overseas. And I can use it. 750 free mins a month.. plus the full PDA functionality. Yay! It’s got wireless capabilities, phone/video, mp3 player, microsoft office etc etc. I’ve been keeping myself amused trying to connect to random wireless networks about London. Hehe. So far I’ve managed to tap into next doors unsecure wlan. And briefly connected to some network in the square outside my work at lunch. I could sign up to TMobile and get connected at any Starbucks hotspots. But thats like £5/hour. Ouchies.

Current listening :: “She Left On A Monday” – Bic Runga

Thanks for the concern!

Just wanted to thank everyone for their concern in contacting me via this site or email or msn. Never had so many ppl asking me if I was ok!!! 🙂 Anyway, last night I managed to get home fine – caught the overland train home ok and my stations were open. Glad I don’t work in the actual city, where everyone had to walk out! Going into work this morning wasn’t too bad… a few delays.. they closed and evacuated a station (guess they’re being ultra cautious now) which affected one of the lines I catch so had to go an alternate route.

Anyway finally the weekend! Woohooo!! Looking forward to watching War Of The Worlds tonight, biiiig screen cinema at Odeon, Leicester Square. Hope its good, but I’ve heard its only so-so. Oh well, I’ll still enjoy it at least for the big cinema experience and special effects. Also am going to Canterbury (yes, as in Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales) this weekend, which should be nice. Gonna experience some English countryside. (Coz I still haven’t been outside London yet!!)

Final Step In Official Independance

Guess what! I found a flat! Woohoo! I’m gonna be officially independant as of next weekend when I’ll be moving out of my cousin’s place and into my new flat (a 3 bedroom, 2 story flat share with a couple and a guy). It’s in Canada Water, which is south east… very close to central london in Zone 2.. and VERY close to my work. Basically I’m just east of my work by 2 tube stops! 5 min tube journey! Or a bus takes me from practically door to door in about 20 mins!! 🙂 There’s even a night bus that stops just outside on the main road. The flat also overlooks the docks… yep.. I have water views. How sweet is that! The rent is really decent too… 125/wk including all bills, tax, wireless broadband internet, sky plus tv. Not bad at all. I have a small double room… which has a double bed, built in wardrobes and a bedside drawer… but no room for anything else really.

So… the final step. Very excited am I! 🙂 Pics to come after I move in.

Ok gotta go… its nearly 6pm on a Friday eve and I’m still at work! I’m outie! Gonna head to the pub for a drink with workmates. 🙂

Current listening :: “Gone Going” – Black Eyed Peas

I’m ok!!!

Just letting you all know I’m ok, if you’ve heard the news about London. If you haven’t heard… there’s been bomb blasts all over central london transport… in 6 tube locations, and 1 bus. Its chaos in central london. Half our office wasn’t able to get in.

We’ve been watching sky and bbc news on tv here keeping up with the latest news as it happens. Its pretty scary…. we got in touch with one of our clients who was actually on the first of the tube trains that exploded. Coming into Edgeware Road from Kings Cross. He was in the back carriage and the explosion happened in the front 2. Apparently the blast was so strong the roof of the trains blew off, soot and smoke everywhere and they were waiting there for 30 mins not knowing what was happening. Finally when they were able to get out, they had to walk over people/bodies(?) to get out.

Also a girlfriend of my workmates friend was at Camden stuck, and overheard military people (who are drafted in to help) saying that they’ve actually defused another 4 bombs around central london, but aren’t announcing this fact. I really hope there isn’t going to be any more repeats of this later today..

Anyways… its pretty chaotic in central London… diff reports coming in from all over the place. No idea about number of fatalities yet. I’m sure it will all become clear over time. At this stage, I’m just dreading trying to get home from work this evening….

Rare item for sale on eBay!

“12 hours with my flatmate Bruce. Don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity for fun excitement and life affirming inspiration. Features: Matured for over 23 years. 6.4 ft tall. Energy efficient stomach. Dual fuel system runs on beer and pizza. Opposable thumbs (on both hands). Knows over 4000 of the worst jokes in Britain. Good Xbox skills. Plays the piano and clarinet (he claims at the same time). A fine product of Wales. Has good sheep contacts. Plays Rugby (naturally). Holds world record for fastest text message writer. Several previous careless lady owners. Comes with full service history, medical and dental records. Collection only. Dare you?”

LOL. This is my work colleagues mate. So.. any takers? You don’t wanna miss out on such a rare opportunity with such a fine specimen. 😛

PS. Big shout out to Tom and Jo… and James and Mark if you’re still reading this too. 🙂

Current listening :: “Into You” – Fabolous feat Tamia

These aren’t the droids you’re looking for..

People at work found my blog. Including my boss. How embarrassment. Err I mean… hey guys! *waves hello dutifully* Hrm I wonder if those jedi mind tricks would work here… *passes hand through the air* Nothing to see here. Move along.. move along..

So apparently someone did a google search on “A.d.g.i.s.t.i.c.s” and my site came up. Damn google ranking my site so high. How do I go about err… making my site less searchable? Then again maybe it’s not such a bad thing.. maybe I should take advantage of this and try make some money or something… just so that the site can pay for itself. Hosting this ain’t that cheap. Hrmm. But then, would I be compromising the integrity and purity of my site if I put those evil banner ads up? Hrmm. Although, those google adsense ads don’t seem as bad as the ugly banner ads you normally get.

So what do you, my readers (and lurkers), think? (Note my subtle attempt to draw the lurkers out of the shadows..)

Current listening :: “She’s Like The Wind” – Patrick Swayze (Hm… think I feel like watching Dirty Dancing again.. both of em! “Nobdy puts baby in a corner!” Hee! :))

(more…)

Weekend update

I. Am. So. Sore. At least my back muscles are. I dunno what was different about the Fusion Funk class I did on saturday, but damn my muscles got quite a workout. I suppose it was a VERY energetic class… which I really enjoyed. I was absolutely dripping sweat by the end. Not a good look coz my khaki cargos change colour when wet.. so I had these huge, very obvious darkened sweat patches around the butt/legs… ewww. I need more discrete cargos. Perhaps next time I’ll go with black.

Anyways, I had a good weekend. Relaxing and fun. Also went to Salsa class again on Friday night, which was great! I’m really loving salsa atm… I’m gonna stick with it for a while, make sure I go every week, so I can progress and get that solid basic foundation. I think next Fri I’ll move up to level 3. 🙂

*sigh* I love dancing. There actually is not much else in the world that makes me as happy as dancing does. I am always on such a high after a dance class. There’s nothing quite like it. I may not be an awesome dancer, and I know I’d never “make it” as a dancer… but I still love it.. plus its great exercise too. I was pondering about it the other day… why I like it so much. I think its the dual combination of movement/physical expression/exercise… and music. Coz I love music.. and listening to music. And I also love exercise.. I love the feeling of pushing yourself physically, and of expressing yourself physically through movement… the intensity of dance. And then combine those two together… its a winning combination! 🙂 And its natural.. listening to upbeat music naturally makes you want to move.

Ok I’ll stop ranting about dance. Methinks I’ve exhausted the topic for now. 😛

Ooh yesterday I made myself the yummiest lunch! I bought some tortilla bread, in which I wrapped up some baby cos lettuce, tomatoes, grated cheddar cheese, marinated tomato & basil chicken strips with this yummy tomato & roasted onion sauce/dressing. Soooooo nice. I’d been craving a wrap for ages… and decided to go make my own coz I didn’t like what they put in the pre-made ones – they always use too much cream based sauces. Anyway, I only used half the ingrediants yesterday, so I brought the rest in to make myself lunch at work today! Yay! 🙂

Also, there is one food in the UK that kicks Australia’s arse…. the STRAWBERRIES. They are soooooooo nice here. Soooo sweet and succulent. Mmmmmmm. I looooove strawberries!! Been buying em almost every day to eat at work. I even have it down to the type of strawberries I like. The ones from Kent are really nice… either Elsanta or Jubilee variety. Yummm. 🙂 And 400g for £1.99 at Marks & Spencers. Not bad pricing.

Oh I got this email from a friend. Ok so I normally just delete forwarded emails… but I thought this one was rather sweet…

Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will stay awake just to watch you sleep. Wait for the guy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in your sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends. Wait for the one who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares about you and how lucky he is to have you. Wait for the one who turns to his friends and says, “…that’s her.”

Current listening :: “Don’t Lie” – Black Eyed Peas (The new Black Eyed Peas album ain’t bad….)

Never thought I’d say this in London..

But I’m actually wishing the temps would drop a little! It’s been really hot this whole week.. even at night. I don’t mind the heat during the day.. its nice to have decent summery weather.. plus I’m in air conditioned offices. But trying to go to sleep at night in the sauna of a room that I’m in is really hard (these british houses are TERRIBLE – they really keep the heat trapped in – which is good for winter, but sucks for summer.. and no such thing as air conditioning either!) Last night I really didn’t sleep very well, tossing and turning and waking up the whole night coz it was so stuffy and hot.

But other than that minor complaint, I am enjoying the nice weather we’ve been having here. Am making full use of my singlet tops and skirts and havaianas. 🙂 I hear this summer in London is going to be a warm one! So in preparation, I went on my first shopping expedition last night. 😀 I haven’t shopped since I arrived here in London.. thats like… a whole MONTH AND HALF of NO shopping!!! :O Anyway, almost every girl I’ve encountered has raved about The Top Shop on Oxford Street.

I finally decided to take a trip there after work.. and its pretty cool. The latest fashions in one big store (which is PACKED full of girls!!!) and the prices are quite cheap too. I bought myself a pair of sunnies for £10. Not bad eh. They’re rimless aviator/J.Lo style sunnies… medium filter with that gradiant shading thing.. in a brown-gray tone. I likey. 🙂 The only thing that sucks is that I’ll have to wear contacts to wear em… ah well. They sorta look like the 2nd from the top, in the picture to the right. Very similar shape & style, but a slightly darker brown/grey shade. And the sides have a double, not single err.. metal thingy.

Anyways. Getting close to end of the day now. Woohoo.. almost the weekend! I get to sleep in tomorrow. Woohoo! 🙂 Gonna go to Salsa class again tonight, the first time since the ankle sprain. Hopefully I should be fine to dance. Coz tomorrow I’m going to go to Zoonation (hiphop) class as well. And thats much more intensive than salsa! Gotta get back into dancing… have slacked off a bit. 🙁

Gotta get more active too.. coz I have been pigging out waaaay too much lately. Ugh! I can feel the kilos starting to pile on! :\ Although, I have started running regularly. Been going once or twice a week – running around Clapham Common park, which takes me about 20-25 mins. Great exercise and outdoors too, which is nice. Just need do it more often and keep it up regularly. (I lost my overseas Fitness First pass… grrr… Thats why I took up running. Its free!)

Current listening :: “I’m A Slave For You” – Britney Spears (For some reason I love listening to this song when its really hot… it just suits that sorta weather…)

Eine reise nach Frankfurt

I had an awesome weekend in Frankfurt, Germany. It’s really nice there – the city is quite pretty. Its clean, smells nice, and has a really nice laidback feel to it – kinda reminds me of parts of Sydney at times. It’s quite modern too – with cool things like escalators that only run when the sensor detects someone approaching it, or the coolest toilet seat plastic covers that with just the touch of a button, AUTOMATICALLY rotate to give you a fresh covering to sit on!! I wish I had my camera! Those germans are really quite ingenious!

The weather was simply gorgeous while I was there. Really warm around 25 – 28 degs.. with blue skies and sunshine. Perfect summer holiday weather! On saturday I visited the main shopping mall and street markets in central frankfurt. I tried my first german Bratwurst (pronounced “bratvurst”) sausage. Very tasty! They’re also big on crepes there – with every other food stall selling either sausages or crepes. I had a cinamon sugar crepe, then later tried an apple sauce crepe.. both yummy. Sooo much better than the crappy crepes we get back in Sydney.. or London. These are BIG too.. and cheap! Next time I’m gonna try a nutella crepe…. coz for some reason… the germans really like their nutella!!! Hehe go figure? Anyway, the food there is quite good. Definitely cheaper and better quality than here in london. I also tried some german buttermilk from a stall in the street market. Very nice.. very filling. Chocolate flavoured of course!

They’re also really big on beer. And you can get alcohol anywhere – not just bars or pubs. They have street stalls at the street market selling vodka cocktails and different kinds of beers. They had a stall selling honey beer. And they have fruit beers. I’m not into beer, but my friend tells me the beer there tastes really different.

And these germans are rather liberal… not just with the alcohol but, err, s.e.x. They have this shop.. which is just on the main shopping mall.. selling all sorts of err.. s.e.x related goods. Books, dvds, toys, tools, blowup dolls etc etc. You get the picture. BUT its not a R18+ s.e.x store. It’s not hidden away with a discrete entrance like in Sydney. It’s a main line chain store.. just like a chemist or supermarket.. eg woolies, boots, soul patterson. And people just go in and browse like they would a clothing store. I went in and had a look around. It was interesting. We came across these funny figurines called Bad Taste Bears. They look a bit like those cute “MeToYou” bears.. but they’re posed in all sorts of… err bad taste… ways. Some are of a sexual nature… some are just funny.. and some are in rather bad taste.. but still amusing.

I’m glad I was with my friend, coz I couldn’t speak any german at all… except Guten Tag.. Guten Morgen.. danke.. and scheize. 😛 Now my vocab has expanded slightly to include “1” (ein), “2” (zwei) and “exactly” (genau). Not much of an achievement I know. But I find the gutteral throaty german speech really hard to pick up. Actually it was quite amusing.. we went to an italian resturant for dinner on Sat night, and the menu was in italian with german descriptions… and I found I could understand more of the italian menu items than I could the german descriptions. Just coz I’ve been to so many italian places to eat before. Hehe. But luckily, most germans also speak english.. and are quite happy to do so. The waiter at the restaurant even gave us (coz I obviously was a foreigner) a choice of a japanese or english menu. Hah now that is truly international. 🙂 On sunday we went to a sunday brunch buffet (they’re big on their sunday brunches there) at a local german pub/cafe.. and we ate for like 2 hours straight. I sooo must have gained a few kilos over there.

The main form of transport around frankfurt seems to be the bicycle. Apparently the germans are really quite environmentally concious. So they do all sorts of things to save electricity and reduce pollution and reduce waste/recycle. The bicycles rule the roads and the footpaths over there. You hear a *ding* of a bicycle bell behind you, and you get out of the way. And they basically can ignore traffic lights and everything. It’s a great way to see frankfurt, which is quite a small city. I went for a bike ride on Sunday, and that was just really nice. Esp on such a warm summery day. We road down to the river side, which was full of people out enjoying the sunshine.

Oh and I went on an autobahn!! On the way back to the airport, I was running late for my flight.. so had to catch a taxi for the last half of the journey. Now most autobahns don’t have a speed limit.. but this one did – 100km/h. Not that my taxi driver cared (or most germans I think). Maybe he sensed I was in a hurry, coz he was hurtling down at 160km/h!!!

Well turns out I didn’t need to hurry, coz my flight back ended up being an hour and half late (trouble at Heathrow…. fuel spillage on one of the runways). Grrrrrr. I didn’t get back into London till around 12:30am.. which meant no tube or trains. Which meant the night bus into town, and then another night bus out to clapham. Grrrrr. I didn’t get home till 3am. And had to go to work in the morning. Am feeling a bit better today though after a bit more sleep last night.

So… that was my weekend adventure. 🙂 Was awesome… I wanna see more of europe now! Methinks I’d like to see Italy next. Can’t wait to try their gelato… and italian food… mmmmm…. :D~

Oh and stupid me forgot to bring my camera. But my friend had a camera (digital SLR in fact) and took pics. So pics are coming… er… soonish.. hopefully..

Oh yeh, one last observation. The sun sets sooooo late here at the moment! We’re talking after 10pm sometime! It really doesn’t get dark until like 10:30pm… and then gets light again at 4am. Its pretty cool having so much daylight… but a bit decieving about how late it really is. So its like, crap is that the time!! But I’m really enjoying the ultra loooong days we have here. Esp with the balmy weather. 🙂

Current listening :: “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave” – Joan Osbourne & The Funk Brothers

Ankle update

Hey guys. Thanks for the kind comments. My ankle is feeling quite alot better today! Yay! Looks like it won’t take too long to recover. I can pretty much walk ok on it… I can flex and point my foot… just gotta be careful not to roll my foot outwards. Guess it wasn’t a very serious sprain… thank goodness.

Anyway, almost home time! Yay! This day has been *real* slow. Ugh. Just been very bored and waiting for the end. I can’t wait till this weekend too. I’m going to Germany. Squeeee! 🙂

Current listening :: “They Weren’t There” – Missy Higgins

Just call me hopalong

I sprained my left ankle last night. Not Happy Jan. Not having a good run of things this past week or 2. *sigh* Ah well… guess its just one of those things. Its not too serious luckily… and nothing broken. Just some hobbling around and elevating of said ankle. Last night was a bit hard… couldn’t sleep very well coz it was hurting.

So how did this happen I hear you ask. Well.. I’d love to have some cool, exciting and glamourous adventure story. But the boring old truth is, I sprained it whilst getting on the bus. Pretty lame (pun not intended :P) huh. I didn’t see the step down onto the road before the step up onto the bus…. and I was talking to someone and carrying something heavy onto the bus, I put my weight down on my foot to lift the heavy bag… and stepped on the edge/corner of the gutter, which rolled my foot outwards, landing rather ungracefully on the floor of the bus (bumping my knee on the bus step too).

So there you have it. My adventure in London continues. I’m more annoyed about it coz it takes friggin aaages to get anywhere as I’m hobbling like a cripple… and I can’t do things I enjoy like exercise (I was just starting to really get into going for jogs around the park) and dancing! Wahhh…. no dancing for a few weeks. 🙁

Current listening :: “Square One” – Coldplay

Contented

I’m feeling quite settled here in London now. Don’t even have to think twice about things like getting to places, using the London transport system, and navigating the crowded streets of central or south london. I’m even getting quite good at optimising my journey – to avoid crowds and save time. I also seem to be (like most other londoners) avoiding the tube where I can. I’m so glad I don’t have to rely on it.

It’s funny how in Sydney I couldn’t do without having a car to drive, but here, I don’t even think twice about not having a car. Everything is so convenient and accessible via public transport. Most things are within walking distance – like going to buy groceries, or going to the train or tube station. I quite like this about London. And Clapham is a great place to live too… lots of shops and supermarkets within 5 mins walk, with easy and quick transport links into central london. I think I’d like to stay within this area when I move out (yes I’m still sponging off my cousins – I have no money yet!) I feel quite safe here too – no qualms walking home from the station at midnight.. whereas in Sydney I’d prob feel a bit freaked in my area.

I’m also feeling quite content being on my own. I spent almost the whole weekend by myself. And I was quite happy doing so. I think I’m getting used to my own company…. maybe I’m becoming more independant. I was just thinking to myself whilst standing at Leicester Square tube station tonight.. (after having dinner by myself in china town, after evening service at St Helens).. and I realised… I really am feeling quite content. I don’t mind the fact that I’ve just spent the whole day by myself. Of course it would be nice to have friends to be able to hang out with… but that hasn’t really happened yet.

Maybe I’m just not very sociable. Perhaps I should put a bit more effort into making friends and finding a social circle. Sometimes I feel like I’m a bit of a recluse.. maybe I am an introvert. I know back home I gave the impression of being a bit of a party animal… but on the inside, I’m think I’m not really. I actually much prefer staying home and being comfortable, having a nice dinner and meaningful conversation with a good friend, maybe watching a dvd… and just chillin. I do like to go out clubbing etc… but thats just to get my dancing fix… and to be able to dress up once in a while 😉 (which reminds me… really need to go clubbing soon… STILL haven’t gone yet!) But I’m really not into the whole mingling at bars or pubs thing. I’d much rather socialise with people over a nice cup of coffee at a cafe. I don’t see the point of trying to hold a conversation with someone at a noisy bar, where its all smokey, crowded and loud. And one thing I quite dislike about London – people still smoke indoors. Even in coffee houses. Yeuch. Gives me a headache. They really should ban smoking anywhere indoors.

Anyway… err this has turned into a bit of an introspective rant. Its almost midnight – and I have work tomorrow. *sigh* We have team meetings every monday morning too…. pooey. 🙁

Current listening :: “Close To You” – Maxi Priest (Ahhh… bring on some good ol old-skool r&b..)

Dancing Joy

Well, I’ve certainly been getting my dance fix these past few days. Went to salsa class on Thurs AND Fri night.. and then went to Zoonation today. All at Pineapple Dance. Whee. 🙂 Salsa is fun!! Did a beginners class on Thurs night and that was enough for me, on Fri moved into level 2 intermediate. Hopefully I’ll get good at this quickly and be able to dance at Salsa clubs with my friend (who happens to be quite a good salsa dancer).

I tried Zoonation for the first time today. Man it was quite hard! The style is difficult to describe.. very smooth and flowy but fast movements. The teacher described it as modern, new-school hiphop. I think the style looks a bit like Mario’s vid clip to “Let Me Love You”. The routine was to an old Destiny’s Child song “I love you”. Slow paced song… but damn the steps were fast! I like it though – it challenged me, and I like that. I think I’ll be going back to that one again. Pity the class is so crowded.

Well.. better go shower coz I stink. And then gonna have a quiet one at home, cook myself some yummy dinner (sukiyaki steak with rice and steamed bok choy – yummo!) Maybe I’ll watch a dvd or something. I can’t really afford to go out anymore…. I’m watching my money disappear into negative. Prob shouldn’t go to so many dance classes.. but I get bored staying home too much. Thank goodness for overdraft and credit cards. But I sooooooo need to get paid (haven’t been paid a single penny yet… they only pay monthly here, I missed last months pay day, and have to wait till end of this month for my first pay check!!! Another 2 and a bit weeks away..)

Current listening “California Love” – 2 Pac

Yet another week flies by

Wow… this blog is really being reduced to weekly entries huh. How the mighty have fallen. 😉 Well… the past week since my last blog entry has just flown by. I’m getting pretty settled into my job now, which is good. It’s been quite hard so far – as in, the work itself is hard and I wondered if I was ever gonna understand. My brain just couldn’t cope – I was going home every day with a headache. BUT as I thought (well hoped), it is actually getting easier! I have actually accomplished a fair few tasks today, and on my own too, which I’m quite proud of! 🙂

My body has had a pretty tough time lately too. Been through a rather nasty bout of UTI/Cystitis over the weekend. This is the first time I’ve ever experienced UTI.. I used to wonder what was so bad about it. Boy-O-Boy… it is NOT fun. Try having the burning need to go pee ALL the time – even if you don’t have much/anything to pee.. and when you do pee, then damn its painful! I slept for maybe an hour max on Fri night coz I kept going to the toilet like every 20 mins. Ok too much info I know. 😛 But I NEVER want to go through that again!!! I’ve only just gotten better from it after 3 days on antibiotics (which as a side-effect, also made me feel a bit nauseous.. ugh.. and might have also given me a bit of thrush). And now to continue the fun…. I just got my period. Woohoo. It’s all fun and games down there huh. *cough* Okaaaay… yes.. time to stop.

Lets talk about the weather shall we? Its been a loverly sunny day today, and is getting warmer too. Yesterday was quite cold though… but the next few days are forecast for the 23 mark. Yay! 🙂

She wants to move

I just discovered a few videos I uploaded to my server during my last few weeks at Laura’s hiphop class, and I never even posted the links here! Well… here’s a treat for you! If you wanna see me dance (ha!), then click on the links below. They’re all compressed wmv files, around 1 to 2 megs in size. I’m the chinese girl. 😛

1. 50 Cent – “Disco Inferno”
2. Beyonce – “Lose My Breath (remix)” (Take 1)
3. Beyonce – “Lose My Breath (remix)” (Take 2)
4. Ciara- “1,2 Step” (Very rough run through – I couldn’t remember some of it coz we learnt this routine so long ago. Also watch me get my feet confused and stack it at the end!)

*sigh* I miss Laura’s hiphop class heaps. She was an awesome teacher… probably my favourite regular teacher (yes even beats Rrrramon!) I improved heaps whilst taking her class. I miss the hiphop scene in Sydney in general – esp DanceKool!! It’s just not the same here. I haven’t found a class here yet that is of similar style. I think Oz’s hiphop style more closely matches US style. UK has it’s own style, which is more funk/popping oriented. But hey, I’ve only tried a few classes. Hopefully I’ll find a good one I can settle into soon. 🙂 In the meantime… I need to learn me some lockin and poppin! Everyone tells me Jimmy William’s class at Pineapple Dance is the best for this… gotta go check it out! As well as the many many other classes they have on offer! I need a dancing fix – haven’t gone to a class in over 2 weeks (no £££)! And I STILL haven’t gone clubbing here. Was supposed to go on Sat night with a friend… but alas the UTI. Grrrr.

Sin City

Instead of clubbing, we caught a movie instead – Sin City. Boy was that a shock to the system! I totally wasn’t expecting it to be such a violent, graphic, gory and.. disturbing.. movie!! I thought it was just your typical comic book action, like other Marvel comic movies. It doesn’t come out in Sydney for a while yet hey? Well.. if you don’t like explicit gory violence… then don’t watch it! The cannibal guy freaked me out the most. Like seriously, the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end in some parts of this movie. Not coz it was a horror movie.. but just coz… what was happening was so.. disturbing! *shudder* I probably could have happily lived without seeing this one. But I thought it was really quite well done.. very creative. Kill Bill ain’t got nuttin on this one in the graphic violence arena (even with this one done “comic-book style”).

Phew quite an update. Just got invited out to drinkies with a few work mates… so gotta go! Outstanding pics and vids coming soon… I promise!!!

Current listening :: “Good Foot” – Justin Timberlake

Updates

Hey guys. Sorry for the lack of updates! Things have been rather busy here… apart from starting work, I’ve been going out heaps as well! Really need to catch up on sleep..

Work

Ok so, work. It’s my 5th day here at Adgistics (err yes I’m blogging from work again). Work has been not bad thus far. The people are very nice – the environment is a fun and laidback, yet hardworking one. And everyone is quite young.. my manager, the IT Technical Director is only 31! I went out with a bunch of my work mates last Friday night, which was nice. I thought it would be a good idea to try and get to know them a bit better in a more relaxed environment at the pub/bar.

The work itself has been a bit slow – I’ve been just trying to wrap my head around this system and the code – its getting slightly easier as time goes by.. at first I wasn’t sure if I would be able to understand it at all. But now bits and pieces are coming together and making sense. It’s a much larger and more complicated system than I’ve ever worked on before, involving some rather abstract OO concepts (even though its just ASP/SQL). I like the responsibility though – I’m actually taking on a whole project (my client is Canon – I’m taking over their online advertisement management system). So my first task will be to make updates and enhancements to this existing ASP system.

Fun

So apart from work… things have been getting a bit better here. Am feeling a lot less homesick. It was pretty bad about a week back. I was getting really depressed and homesick and felt very alone. It was even affecting my ability to socialise with and meet new people, which wasn’t really helping my situation.

But now I’ve been going out alot more. Last night I went to the Ben Fold gig at Hammersmith Apollo. T’was an awesome gig… Ben Folds lives up to expectations yet again. 🙂 I had a fairly good view too, and this time I actually remembered to bring my digital camera! Woohoo! Took a plethora of photos and video. Hee. Will upload them when I have time.

So what else have I been up to… saw The Lion King Musical on thurs night with Annie and Andrew, went to a bbq at a CCiL friend’s house on sunday eve where we totally stuffed ourselves with food, monday was a public holiday (woohoo!), went to a karaoke bar on monday night (one of those at-a-pub-in-front-of-everyone do’s.. except these people could actually sing rather well!), “enjoyed” the night bus experience 2 nights in a row (one night with it actually breaking down.. luckily only one stop away from my stop), and otherwise just chilled at home doing stuff like washing my clothes etc etc.

This Thurs night I’m going to a friend’s leaving party at a Salsa club – should be fun! 🙂 And on Fri night, I’ll be going to Shakespears The Globe Theatre to watch “The Tempest”. Really looking forward to this! Got standing room tix for just 5 quid!

I’ve got lots of photos to upload. Just haven’t had time to go through them yet. So stay tuned. 🙂 Ok back to work!!

Current listening :: “Rush Rush” – Paula Abdul

More pics

Taken over the weekend.

Current listening :: “Sol Y Sombra” – The Cat Empire

G33k Quiz

Which File Extension are You?

Hahaha.. how appropriate. Hehe.. I found this quiz highly amusing.. as any true geek would. (Thanks to Joe for the quiz.. whose result of .ogg is so totally accurate :P).

Updates

Anyway, so one more day of freedom before I start work on wednesday. I hope it is as good a place to work as I expected. Today I met up with Annie and Andrew from my church back home, who are holidaying here. It was good to see a familiar face, and hear that good ol aussie accent again. We had lunch in chinatown (trusty asian food… always cheap.. and was quite yummy too! :)) Then after scrumptious dessert at Hagen Dazs cafe (man I love that place!) we went down to the British Museum. I saw real mummies!! And a well-preserved mummified corpse. Freaky cool stuff! Took lotsa pics which I’ll post later.

I also bought myself my first gig ticket today! Ben Folds at the Apollo in Hammersmith, 25 pounds not too bad (going by myself tho.. :|). Ooh… and the support act is Clem Snide! I remember seeing him aaages ago in Aust… can’t remember who he was supporting but I remember he was pretty cool.

*sigh* Never thought I’d say this….. but I miss my parents. 🙁 And of course I miss my friends. I miss home. I miss Sydney. I think I’m finally feeling homesick… now that the newness and wonderment of being in London is starting to wear off. *sigh* And I miss Coltrane…. I dreamt about him last night. And also my parents. And.. others. I feel sad and alone. (Not all the time. Just sometimes. Like now.)

Current listening :: “Breakdown” – Jack Johnson

I Got A Job!

Actually, I got TWO job offers! Yay!! 🙂 Both Dialaphone and Adgistics offered me a job on Friday. I picked Adgistics.. I was actually hoping that they would offer me a job. So my reasons?

Well, they were in a better location in central london (right underneath Tower Bridge, London Bridge side – this was actually quite an important factor for me.. I like to work in a nice location that is central.. with shops and restaurants around – esp since I’m here to experience London), the role also involved more asp & .Net programming/development work (which is definitely better for my career), the company was more exciting and cool (being in online advertising – they provide online advertising management systems to big names like Sony, Adidas etc), the people are younger (the IT Director looks like he’s my age!!), really friendly and laidback.. and the environment seems just more fun and informal (they dress quite casual – 2 of the guys who interviewed me were wearing t-shirts). The hours are better too – they start later.. yay! Just seemed like a really awesome company to work with – I’m so suprised they offered me a job.. after only one (quite informal) interview too!! Was a very quick process! 🙂 Oh yeh, and extra bonus… they offered more pay!! I mean, how cool is that… I got the job I wanted, with better pay! This is so much better than I expected my first job here to be. Woohoo!! 😀 Will update as I start the job – I’m sure its gonna get stressful and challenging.. and I know I’m gonna have to work hard in this role, but I think this experience will be interesting, and also good for me career-wise. 🙂

So I start this Wed at 9:30am. Yay.. I’m actually looking forward to it. To meeting the rest of the company.. and yeh… doing something with my spare time. Oh yeh, and earning some money!

Anyways, time to sleep. Tonight I went to see Star Wars Ep 3. Hmm.. better than 1 and 2. Still had dodgy scripting and sometimes flakey acting. But I enjoyed it nonetheless. So depressing. *sigh* But of course, it had to be that way. *sigh* I missed seeing it with you guys in Sydney too…. I wish I could have gone to the midnight premiere with you guys.. and just shared in the enthusiam. Ppl here don’t seem to be as into it. *sigh* Ok really better go sleep, otherwise I’m gonna start wallowing in depressive thoughts again.


Current listening :: “Hello Stranger” – Bluebottle Kiss

Photos!

Yes finally. 58 new photos uploaded to my Gallery. This better be worth me staying up till 3:20am. Go check em out. Here’s a sample below.

In other news. I think I almost have a job offer.. or 2! I think I am going to get an offer from one company tomorrow.. and I’ve also had very good feedback from another company. So it’s looking good… two possible job prospectives on the horizon.. not bad in only 2 weeks! 🙂

Went out tonight with my cousin Samuel to see a play. It was really good. Its a christian play – called Hope’s Kitchen. They go around to prisons around the country. And tomorrow I’m going out with another cousin to see the National Beijing Opera. Anyway. Bed. Now!!

Current listening :: “Last Cinema” – Bluebottle Kiss

Updates From Chilly London

Hey guys. Sorry, long time no update. Things have been pretty hectic!! (Gee I hate using that word now… ever since KYC in January. :P) Anyway, a summary of my life thus far, broken into groups:

WEATHER

I’m slowly getting used to the weather here. It’s been sunny quite often, which has been nice. And Sunday was absolutely beautiful – it was actually singlet top weather!! Bring on more of that! 🙂 But when its cloudy.. its cold.. and if its windy too… then its damn cold!!

JOB HUNTING

This has been going fairly well actually. The main cause of my busyness. So far I’ve had 3 interviews, 2 with one company (dialaphone.co.uk) and 1 with another (IFX Markets). The interviews with dialaphone have actually been going very well – I just had the 2nd interview today, which consisted of an interview with HR and then an IQ logic test and a personality quiz. Then this very afternoon, I got a call from the IT manager (not the recruitment agent) who told me I had scored 100% in the IQ test!!! And that they wanted me to come back for the 3rd round interview – to meet with their senior developer… tommorrow morning at 9am. Ack early start.

And then I also have another interview tomm afternoon with another company – Adgistics – for an asp web development role. Looks like a very good role and a good company actually. Also they’re in a more central location at London Bridge. Anyways…. we’ll see how things go! Looking good so far! 🙂

CHURCH

For the 2 sundays that I’ve been here thus far… I’ve gone to CCiL on both sundays (11:30am english service), with my cousins. I’ve found the people at that church quite friendly and welcoming.. which is probably why I went back again last sunday. However, I found the teaching to be a bit… not-so-solid. Esp the sermon last sunday… ack. Talk about direct application of OT, skipping of hermeneutics and not much mention of Jesus. I took some notes… coz I’m not sure if my thoughts regarding the sermon are correct or not. I guess my theological and biblical knowledge is a bit rusty too. I don’t wanna jump too quickly to wrong conclusions.. but my “dodginess” bump was itching throughout the sermon. For my notes, click on the “more” link at the bottom of this post.

So, for this reason, I’ve been wanting to visit other churches – namely All Souls and St Helens (well actually, I had planned to go to one of these churches before even arriving in London, but wanted to visit CCiL too coz my cousins went there). I finally went last sunday to All Souls 6:30pm service. Which was quite huge. Around a couple hundred I’m guessing. Firstly, the sermon was GREAT! Really solid bible teaching… just like a KYC talk back home. It really struck home for me too… about the danger of hard hearts (passage was Ezekiel 2 & 3, sermon title “God Appoints A Watchman”). However… I was lost in the numbers there – nobody noticed I was a newcomer, and nobody really talked to me. I pretty much came and left on my own. Oh, but the music was phwoarsome. They had the All Souls Orchestra playing (as they do once a month) and that was pretty amazing. Very majestic and uplifting!

So now I’m stuck…. I like CCiL coz of the ppl, I feel comfortable with them, and they are so friendly and welcoming…. but I prefer the teaching at All Souls. Still have yet to try St Helens – will do so next Sunday methinks.

SOCIAL/PERSONAL

Have been making friends with CCiL ppl. After the All Souls service I actually met up with some ppl for dinner nearby just down Oxford Street. (Went out with them for lunch too!) So that was fun… am getting along quite well with these guys.

But other than that… I don’t really feel I’m at the stage yet where I can just call one of em up during the week to chat, or meet up. I mean.. maybe I could… but its early days yet, and I feel a bit hesitant to do that so soon. The familiarity is not quite there yet. So during the week I still feel a bit lonely. Esp when I go home and have nothing to do… wanting to talk to and share with someone about my day, the interviews I’ve been to… or just hang out. But I think with time this will get better… just need to be patient. And also once I start working I’ll have a lot less time to feel bored and lonely, as I will probably be so busy with work and stuff, that I have little time to spend alone.

But still… at times.. it kinda sucks doing all this alone.

FOOD

Save the most important for last eh. 😛 I am rapidly getting sick of having toasted panini sandwiches. So tonight, I cooked myself (and my cousin & her husband) a pasta dish. Yummo. I enjoy cooking I realised. It gives me a sense of satisfaction and contentment. 🙂 Anyway… food is expensive here. And fresh groceries are hard to find. 🙁 Not like Australia where we have mountains of fresh fruit and veges to choose from… grrr.

Oooh I discovered one gem of a cafe today. Haagen-Dazs cafe! OMG it is soooooo gooooood *drools* They have icecreams, sundaes, hot and cold drinks, cocktails. desserts. I went there today…. and ordered the Chocoholics Sundae. A scoop of Belgian Choc (rich choc with belgian choc flakes all through it), a scoop of Choc Choc Chip (rich choc with chunky dark choc chips), cream, hot choc fudge and a wafer cone. It was to die for… and I nearly OD’d on all that chocolate and cream. Hahaha. Dearie me.. think I need to hit the gym again real soon!!!

Okies… well I think thats about all for now. Need to go sleep soon so I can get up bright and early for tommorrows interview. Photos are coming soon… err… I promise!! I know, I know, I’m just a lazy sod who can’t be bothered going through and resizing images. Well you try sorting through 150 photos. 😛

Current listening :: “Ounce Of Your Cruelty” – Bluebottle Kiss
(Argh I miss Aussie music…. the radio here is truly awful, esp the stuff they play at the gym…. crappy british commercial dance crap everywhere.. yuck. I noticed in Aust we have more US or Aussie music.. but here they have not much US or Aussie music – which sucks coz they don’t have much decent R&B/HipHop or good Aussie bands. Though I did here The Vines “Get Free” on radio once, which was kinda cool… wooo! Go Aussie music!)

(more…)

I said Brrr its COLD out here

Ok, its officially freeezing. I think temps have been around 6 to 14 degs. I certainly pick the right days to go exploring London. I spent about 7 hours walking around London today.. and even though it was sunny, it was still cold, and windy. That wind is quite nippy. It was like our coldest days in winter today.

Anyway, other than the cold weather, I’ve been enjoying London. Have seen a fair bit now. Today I spent the most of the day exploring London. I walked along South Bank from the Blackfriar Bridge down along the Thames River to Westminster Bridge. Saw the London eye along the way, and then crossed the bridge to see the Houses Of Parliment, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. That was pretty cool. Those buildings are magnificent… really amazing to just take in. Took lots of photos, which I’ll upload later.

After gawking at these buildings at Parliment Square, I walked down to St James park, and took a lovely late afternoon stroll through the park. Its very pretty, and english! 🙂 There are lots of ducks, swans, pidgeons… and squirrels!! They’re so tame! I fed a squirrel out of my hand!!! Sooo cute! 🙂 Even got a pic of it eating out of my hand. Anyway, walked down to Buckingham Palace which was pretty unexciting.. then walked up to Soho/China Town to grab some dinner (found a jap place for some udon… but damn I miss Sydney food… I miss Ichi Ban Boshi… *sigh*) After which I walked to Charing Cross, caught the train to Waterloo then back home to Clapham. That’s alot of walking today.. like around 7 hours. But I must be getting used to it coz I’m not actually that tired. Oh yeh, also tried to open a bank account today (with my cousin’s help), but no luck.. grr.. what a hassle.



Anyway, I also did some sightseeing on Wednesday. Went to Leicester Square, walked down to Picadilly Circus (which i thought was cool… so vibrant… and they have this huge neon sign… like our Coca Cola one at Kings Cross, but BIGGER), then across to Trafalgar Square, then up through Covent Garden (I found the Pineapple Dance Studios incidentally.. gonna do dance classes there). Then went into China Town for dinner with a friend… after which we took a stroll through Soho. Quite a “colourful” area at night. 😛

So other than sightseeing, things have been going ok. Been hanging out with my cousin Andrea and her husband a bit.. or hanging at home. Went out to an english pub called The Blackfriar last night. That was cool. And I went to my first Wagamamas here in London for dinner. Was less than impressed – Sydney food kicks its arse. I’ve been living off mostly toasted panini sandwiches actually – its just about the cheapest thing you can get. A decent toasted panini for 3 pounds. Not bad. But I can see myself getting sick of it very soon. Someone send me some good jap food… *sniff*

Job hunting is going ok. Its slowed down a bit. I still have that 2nd interview with that company, next Tues. But this is the only company I’ve had an interview with still. Nobody else has gotten back with any positives yet.. no more interviews yet. I hope I can get a job… I’m worried that I’m not technically skilled enough… :\

Okies.. should go to bed.. its nearly midnight now. Hope to hear more from you guys and your news. I feel kinda wierd spending so much time alone. I don’t think I’ve done so much alone, experienced so much alone, and spent so much time alone before. I think I’m handling it alright… coz there’s just so much newness and exciting things to take in and see. But at times, I stop and wonder what I’m going to do with myself and my spare time, without anyone to share things with. Don’t really have any friends to call and go out with, like I did in Sydney. I’m starting to miss having friends.. just having someone to talk to. The cousins are fairly busy doing their own thing, though I do hang out with Andrea and Iain a bit. Hrm.. I guess I’m learning to be alot more independant. Learning to do things myself, and be by myself. Learning to be content with my own company. (Which I think I was already starting to do back in Sydney over the past couple of months anyway.) But I do wonder… how long it will take to establish a group of friends.. how does one go about doing that from scratch? How do I meet similar minded people who share my interests? I kinda miss my friends. And family. And Coltrane!! My cute kitty… I miss being able to hug him. 🙁 Ack.. ok enough ruminating. Time to sleeeep.

Current listening :: “Breakdown” – Jack Johnson