My cat Kiddy has found someone to look after him

Many of you would have seen that I was looking for someone to look after my cat Kiddy whilst I'm away. I would like to thank my friend Dean for putting the word out and putting me in contact with the lovely Maureen. Kiddy is now living it up down the Gold Coast with Maureen and her cat Phoenix who is like Kiddy's twin (short black fur, same age, size). Apparently Kiddy is settling in great. A big thank you to Maureen and all the other people to contacted me - it's nice to know there's people out there willing to help.

Xmas Parties, Beatles, Oxford, Cotswolds...

Work xmas party – Saturday 1 December 2007

Photos: www.amanda.com.au/uk/workxmasparty/

What a great night. Our Christmas party was held at Tynley Hall in the countryside on a huge estate. It was black tie – and everyone dressed up. We all had our own rooms. At the beginning of the night, professional photographers took our photos. Then we had a big sit down dinner, and in between courses, there was these fantastic opera singers (that gave me goosebumps). Then dancing, more drinks etc. And at the end of the night, it turns out the photos that were taken were transposed onto a magazine cover – one for us each of us to keep - fun night!

By the way – my dress cost £15 – so many bargains to be had in Brixton, and I borrowed a pair of Steph’s shoes – hardly spent any money at al. Anyway, have several more Christmas drinks, lunches and dinners to go now – hmm and eek – I guess it’ll have to make up for the fact that I’m spending most of Christmas Day on a plane. Not long til I’m home now – yaaaay!

Beatles Walk – Sunday 25 November 2007

Photos: www.amanda.com.au/uk/beatles/

I’ve been doing a few walks around London through www.londonwalks.com/ – they’re only £6 each and a guide takes you around London and points out various landmarks, past and present. The history is fascinating. And it’s good exercise. Anyway, I did a Beatles walk. The guide who does the tour owns his own Beatles café near Abbey Road, has written his own book about the Beatles and has his own DVD. AND, he’s the world champion Beatles quiz master (or something). Basically, this guy knows A LOT about the Beatles.

We visited several historically important Beatle related places around London. Several recording studios, Saville Row – the building where they last performed together on the rooftop (which is sadly sitting there empty and closed up). Various clubs. And finally the infamous Abbey Road. Abbey Road is actually quite busy – so it’s hard to get a photo of you on it, without annoying motorists. There’s actually a live webcam of Abbey Road from the Abbey Road recording studio (right next to the crossing): www.abbeyroad.co.uk/virtual_visit/webcam/ - you’ll see what I mean about traffic.

Oxford and the Cotswolds – Saturday 24 November 2007

Photos: www.amanda.com.au/uk/oxfordcotswolds/

I did a day trip out to the Cotswolds and Oxford with Tracks Travel (very cheap again – only £17). The Cotswolds is gorgeous – we went to this cute village called Bourton on the Water. It has water flowing through the middle of the village. Lots of cute shops. They even had a model village of the village (which also its own model of the model etc). It was very cold! But bearable – however, I did have to buy a second pair of socks to wear – my feet were freezing. We warmed up in a café and had some yummy scones and tea.

Next we were off to Oxford. There is no actual Oxford university. Just lots and lots of colleges that fall under the umbrella name of Oxford university. We did the hop on / hop off bus tour – but if anyone ever visits there – I’d just recommend having a walk around and visit one of the colleges eg – Christ Church is close and huge. Bought a great scarf there (purple of course). One thing about doing site seeing in winter – is that there’s far less tourists – which is great. I’m handling the cold “ok”, so long as it isn’t windy or raining, its tolerable, especially if you’ve got the right clothes. I love my winter coat (and I’m sure it loves me too).

Natural history museum - Sunday 18 November 2007

Photos: www.amanda.com.au/uk/naturalhistorymuseum/

Loads of the museums here are free to visit. Decided to go check out the Natural History Museum one weekend. Outside, there was a real Christmas tree, an icerink, and Christmas markets. Inside there were loads of different exhibitions. I liked the dinosaur exhibition the best. You could spend days in these museums – good thing they’re free...

3 days in Paris

Firstly, photos are here: www.amanda.com.au/uk/paris

Saturday 27 October 2007: Awake at 4.45am. Does this time actually exist? It’s pitch black. Drunk people stumble around outside. I could get the bus. I don’t want to walk through the dodgy park and sit waiting at the bus stop in the cold. Screw it – I order a taxi. Arrive at Waterloo Station. I have a coffee (I hate coffee) – but it wakes me up.

Our tour group meets and we get on the Eurostar train. I meet two other Aussies. This is normal – I think half the Australian population is over here. We zoom over to Paris. Turns out Paris is COLDER than London – how is this possible? Very glad I brought my new winter coat with me – which I’m sure was made from a sleeping bag – it actually has feathers inside it.

We get to the hotel – the Ibis hotel. Our rooms aren’t ready. Everybody is dead tired. We sit waiting forever in the foyer. There’s not enough chairs. I curl up on the floor next to the radiator like a cat, half slumped on my backpack and have a powernap. Later I venture outside to find food and manage to order a baguette from a local café. Wishing I knew more French. Finally, we’re allowed into our rooms (twin share). Beds are comfy. Decent bathroom. Yay. It’s now time to (re)discover Paris!

We catch the Metro – which is like the tube / underground, but the stations are a bit more spacious and bright. It smells like piss. Homeless people sleep in the Metro and because you have to pay to go to the toilet, a lot of public places reek of urine – not pleasant. The smoking ban also isn’t in place. A lot of places such as restaurants and bars also reek. Apart from these 2 things – Paris is the most gorgeous city – just stunning.

We head up to Sacré-Coeur (Sacred Heart) which is a big church on top of a hill. The view would’ve been stunning if it weren’t so cloudy. There’s loads of people, street performers etc. A man plays ball with his dog. Dogs are an accessory – people take them everywhere. We head over to the art markets at Montmartre where artists such as Salvador Dalí, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh apparently used to hang out and syphilis was the popular disease or “in thing” of the day.

There are many little streets and alleyways, shops, cafes, restaurants and markets, all oozing with activity, creativity, passion, colour and life. There were a crazy amount of artists offering to do portraits. I didn’t really want a proper portrait – so I got this funky / arty piece done of me which turned out great. I imagine if I had my own funky alternative cartoon – this is what I’d look like / what my character would be. Was very happy with the final result.

We then passed down through some local streets – again all the shops and cafes just made me want to stop there for hours and take it all in. I also spied this gorgeous purple bag in one of the shop windows, but because we were on the move – I couldn’t stop (annoying). We also stopped at the café where Amelie was filmed. And at the bottom of the hill was the Moulin Rouge. Onto the metro again, and we headed to the the Arc de Triumph to drool at the shops and then onto the Eiffel Tower.

I had my first crepe. It had a chocolatey nutella sauce. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I now LOVE crepes. We then went on a river cruise, which was nice, but I was completely knackered – and it was getting late. We headed back to the hotel. Some people went out for a late dinner – the crepe seemed to have sustained me. So I went back to my hotel room and crashed.

Sunday – breakfast in the hotel. Croissants galore. Yum. First we headed to the Louvre. It’s so massive. So many floors and wings – you could get lost in there for days. Took loads of photos. Saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Angel Statue thing, lots of Egyptian stuff (is there anything actually left in Egypt? It seems to be in all museums over here!). Afterwards, me and my enemy Coffee met again. Made another attempt to speak French which of course they reply to you in French and you stand there going ummmm and just end up speaking in English anyway. I then wandered around the shops outside the Louvre and then had lunch.

We then headed to the island of Le Cite where Paris was founded. I managed to miss the Notre Dame on my last trip, so made sure I took lots of photos of it. It’s huge, beautiful and very mysterious. Very dark inside and the ceilings are insanely high with colourful and intricate stained glass windows. I’m not religious at all, but I love sitting in cathedrals, taking in the beauty of the décor, architecture and artwork. Again, we were off to the Eiffel Tower, and seeing as the top floor was for some reason closed, I saw this as a good excuse to eat more crepes and aimlessly wander the riverside and streets of Paris until we all met up again later to go back to the hotel.

Monday: free time. Me and fellow Aussie Najah headed off to the La Fayette Galleries. It was raining, so shopping seemed like a good indoor activity. What an exquisite shopping centre. They had a giant Christmas Tree on display in the centre. The ceiling and surrounding balconies were jaw droppingly stunning. Again, you could spend hours walking around these places in awe.

Next we headed back to Montmartre to the Amelie café. And then in search of the mysterious and fabulous purple bag I had seen on our first day. A lot of the shops were closed and we couldn’t quite remember which direction we’d come from. We headed down a street with lots of shops – and there it was. I ran excitedly across the road and there was the purple bag sitting in the shop window. And it was open. And there was a 25% off sale. It was destiny. I bought the bag. I then wandered into another shop with an even more beautiful (and more expensive) purple leather bag, but couldn’t justify buying 2 bags, let alone 2 purple bags in one day. Oh well, I’ll just have to go back there again some time ;)

Anyway, after moseying through these cute streets and its shops, it was time to head back to the hotel, collect our bags and head to the Eurostar. We got back to London quite early – 6pm – always nice getting home early after a trip away, especially when you’ve got work the next day. I got a packed bus home from Waterloo and stood the entire way - welcome back to crazy London. I dragged my backpack back to our house – I also had a bit of a limp – I’d pulled or strained a leg muscle somewhere along the way in Paris. It was really good to get away – the worries of everyday life seem to wash away when you're on holidays. The relaxed Paris pace was just what I needed.

Next trips: Aberdeen (for work). Oxford and the Cotswolds. Bruges (Belgium). Then HOME to Brisbane for 3 weeks at Christmas!! See you all soon - Amanda :)

Living in the ghetto - an update from London

I open this week's blog entry with the theme music from the tv show the Bill playing in my head. I hate webpages that open with music, however if you want to play along with me - click here to listen to the Bill theme. Saturday morning, I stumbled home after a night out where I drank far too much wine. Most of Saturday morning was spent catching up on sleep, passed out on my bed in my bathrobe, packet of pain killers next to my bed and an icepack on my head. As I'm trying to sleep I hear "ksssht" noise of a police radio outside. This is quite normal where I live. Sirens are always going off. Even the sound of gunfire is beginning to not phase me (but still scares me a little). So in my hungover trying to sleep state, I ignore the police and their radios outside. Steph comes upstairs to my room and says "Manda, there's a man in our garden". We both look out my bedroom window. Sure enough there is a man huddled in the corner of our garden. Me and Steph look at him from our window. He looks at us. Steph and I look at each other. He says "ssssh, I'm hiding". He looks about 16 or 18 years old. The cogs in my head slowly start to turn. My brain finally starts to function, and my brain says to me, "perhaps this is why there are police outside - they might be looking for this man". Steph tells him to get out of our garden. Brain and body decide to function together now. And I run outside to discover, not just the one policeman on patrol, but 3 police cars and a police van and cops everywhere. They look like they're about to give up, when all of a sudden, a crazy woman, looking like hell, dressed in a bathrobe (being ME), runs over to the police cars and says, "there's a strange man in our garden!". The police spring into action and say can we go through your house to get into your garden? I say yes, and before I know it, there's 6 or so police storming through our house. They get into our yard, jump our fence and capture our fugitive on the run. Steph and I watch them put him in the police van. One of the cops gives me a "well done" nod as all the police walk back to their cars. Well done me - the caped or robed crimefighter.

Later that day I managed to make myself human and headed into London for some essential winter clothes: I now have leather knee high boots, 2 winter coats (one for work, one for more outdoorsy survival stuff). All I need now is some gloves, but they can wait a bit. Saturday night, I managed to haul myself to Putney to meet up with some girls. Although I was pretty useless. Had 2 drinks, got the bus home, and fells asleep literally as soon as my head hit the pillow and slept solidly for 10 hours straight.

Work is sending me up to Aberdeen next month for 3 days. I doubt there'll be much "site" seeing, as I'll be working the entire time, and it's in the middle of the week - but it's always good to get away and stay in a nice hotel! I'd been hoping to get up to Scotland before the end of the year (on a proper weekend away), but time is running out - it might be something I'll have to do early next year.

I've also booked a day trip to Bruges (in Brussells), to the Christmas markets. Apparently this is what proper Christmas is supposed to be like. Ice skating (although I'm really crap / scared of ice skating), snow, markets with all Christmassy stalls, singing, carols etc. It's meant to be gorgeous.

I also went to Greenwich the other weekend for a picnic with my friends Emma and Liz. We caught the DLR which is an above ground train - so you actually get to SEE stuff on the way (this is a novelty when you get the tube all the time). We all stood on that Greenwich Mean Time line. There's an observatory and stuff and all the history behind it. Lots of clocks and old timey stuff. It's really quite pretty up there. We even saw an old movie being filmed so there were all these actors walking around in period costumes (who most of which were on their mobile phones), horse drawn carriages etc. Here's all the Greenwich photos: www.amanda.com.au/uk/greenwich

I've just RSVPed for our work Christmas Party as well. It's being held in Hampshire Countryside and looks absolutely gorgeous. It's a black tie dinner dance, and every stays overnight (and it's free!). Woohoo.

So I'll leave this week's blog entry there. The mornings are getting darker. The days are getting shorter. People tell me the sun eventually goes down at 3pm at it's worst.

But alas, I'll be back in the Aussie sunshine for 3 beautiful weeks before I know it...

Weekend in Wales

22-23 September 2007

What a lovely weekend.

Here’s all the photos: www.amanda.com.au/uk/wales/

First stop: Chester – near the England / Wales border. Very cute town. Most of the streets were shut off – so there were just people walking everywhere. There was some kite festival going on as well. Was quickly coming to the realisation that our driver/tour guide was actually the man who gives the tour of the Box Factory in the Simpsons.

Anyways, next stop – Conwy – just gorgeous. Beautiful green hills, big castle, also home to the Britain’s smallest house. We climbed the city walls and got some great views.

Next stop was the resort / seaside town of Llandudno. Gorgeous old buildings lined the beach. The water was blue and flat, sun was shining, no wind – perfect. And we got to stay in a proper hotel! Ie - not a crummy hostel, with 12 people crammed into a loft with bunk beds and 2 showers that dribble cold water – our room overlooked the bay, was twinshare, and we had our own bathroom! Strangely – it had an electric toilet with in built shredder which was very loud.

We were then left to our own devices for the evening and me and my roomie / fellow Aussie Tory headed off that evening and walked along the beach while the sun was still up. We had a small wander around the town – nothing much was open on a Saturday night – but we found a nice pub and had dinner there. Mid dinner, a group of 20 rowdy, drunk Welsh women on a hen’s night *burst* into the pub, yelling, squealing and yahooing. Was cringing slightly on the inside – the bride was .. old. Then all of a sudden, a “fireman” entered the pub.

Now having worked with firemen / at emergency services before, I can assure you that the sexy fireman is actually a myth. They’re generally overweight, old, or both. So stripper fireman provided well, everyone in the pub with a bit of entertainment / eye candy / beefcake. Was funny to say the least. Later me and Tory went for a walk down the pier and stopped and played air hockey on the way back (I love air hockey!). We called it a night soon after.

Next morning – we had a cooked breakfast in the hotel and we set off in the minibus to the nearby peninsula of Great Orme next to Llandudno (where we stayed). I don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden the skies opened up and it felt like a cyclone outside standing up on this peninsula. I thought my face was going to fall off. It was SO cold and windy, that you could lean forward like you were going to fall over and the wind would keep you propped up. And when you walked, the wind pushed you along like a leaf in the wind. After we left, we saw a lost sheep that had been “pulled over” by police who’d cornered him on a roundabout. Cute.

We then drove over to the Island of Anglesey, and stopped at the longest town name place: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch which means: St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near the rapid whirlpool of St Tysillio's church, by the red cave. Seriously the welsh language looks like someone has just mashed randomly into a keyboard – and to pronounce it is completely different again. We then headed to Caernarfon – where there was another castle. It had a swing bridge and I kind of got stuck on the other side when a boat came through. Luckily the bridge soon swung back.

We then headed to Snowdonia National Park. Which was “nice” but the scenery was very similar to the Lake District. For some reason I was expecting something more visually dramatic or more mountainous – but it was still pretty and we went on a steam train which was ok, but very squished and hot inside because none of us could figure out how to open the windows.

After that we had a long drive back to London via Cambridge (grrr) – so didn’t get home until after 10pm. Always good to get out of London I say. Next trip: PARIS (in October)! Oh and tomorrow night I’m going to see the only full live recording of Queen when they played in Montreal in 1981 on the big screen and in surround sound in Leicester Square – should be fantastic and the closest I’m ever gunna get to seeing Queen / Freddy Mercury live. AND I’m coming home for a couple of weeks at Xmas – from 25 Dec - 10 Jan. Flights are now all booked – YAAAY!!

Thames River Festival, 1000 gorillas, St Paul's Cathedral, and I'm coming home at Xmas for 2 weeks!

Photos: www.amanda.com.au/uk/thames

Transe Express perform Maudits Sonnants at the Thames River Festival – Saturday 15 September 2007

A giant moving mechanical chandelier contraption is suspended from a crane. The dropback is the London Eye and Big Ben. Platforms with fire torches surround. The musicians come out in silver costumes ringing bells, jumping around and yelling French from the fiery platforms. Eventually they make their way to the chandelier contraption and all of a sudden it lights up, expands and raises into the sky. The musicians dangle from it like christmas tree decorations and they play music mid air with trapeze artists moving and swinging around above them. The music is sweet and loud, like music box with tinkling bells, but amplified and with drums. If you are familiar with Sigur Ros – they sounded similar to some of their songs that sound like a music box or songs with bells in them. The chandelier expanded and contracted, changed colours, moved up and down and climaxed with a reddish pink smokey explosion below. Truly amazing.

Earlier that day I also went to St Paul’s Cathedral, and climbed the 1 million stairs all the way to the top – it’s worth it and the view is fantastic – and the weather was surprisingly nice – blue skies and even the “Sun” decided to make a rare appearance. I love St Paul’s – it’s so beautiful inside - I could just sit there for hours looking at the ceilings. In the gift shop afterwards, I was looking at books and postcards, and this old man had a name badge on for some reason. His name was Douglas Home. I’m not sure if he was deaf or just didn’t understand my accent, but we established that we both had the surname eventually. Strangely, if your surname is Home over here, you’re actually supposed to pronounce it “Hume” – weird. People have hard a hard enough time spelling Home (they like to add L or S), I think it’d even be a bigger pain to tell people how to pronounce it, so I think I’ll just stick to spelling it and pronouncing it HOME. Apparently there’s some society for people with the surname Home with about 4000 people in it (who knew there were so many?). His wife said we probably have the same ancestors in Scotland. He also said, gee you’ve come a long way visit here. Made me sound like an alien who’d travelled many light years from a far away planet to get here. Hmm.

Speaking of HOME, I’m coming home for Christmas for 2 weeks (hoorah!). It’ll be great to see family and friends, my cat!!, go to a real beach, go to my favourite restaurants, drive a car, see my Dad’s new house, dive in his new pool etc etc etc. It'll be nice to get a few things out of my system and also temporarily escape the middle of British winter and.. defrost. Meanwhile, I’ve got a few things to keep me going/busy – next weekend – Wales. October – Paris, November – Edinborough (these are all weekend trips), and 4 concerts to go to before the year is over (yes, poor me, life is tough). It’s so incredibly cheap to travel here – I can’t wait to plan more weekends away for next year when I get back! And all my favourite bands seem to play here all the time – whereas normally you have to wait ages for them to come to Brisbane – IF they come to Brisbane.

I also wanted to attend / watch the Annual Running of the Gorillas charity fun run, but alas, I got the date wrong and I’ll be in Wales next weekend when it happens. But I encourage you all to at least watch the video via the link above (it’s very funny) or if you’re feeling inspired, donate. More people run in this race dressed in gorilla suits than there actually are real gorillas in the wild :( And someone needs to organise a race like this is Brisbane or Australia. Anyways, that’s all for now. I’ve also included some photos extra random photos from here and there such as when I went to the Dali exhibition the other weekend. Enjoy! Amanda :)

PS: here's a link to the photos again: www.amanda.com.au/uk/thames

Lakes District and Liverpool long weekend away

Photos:

http://www.amanda.com.au/uk/lakes/

Friday night - as the English put it - "a nightmare".

Due to depart London 6.30 Friday evening. Left work with backpack on wheels. Carrying bag up tube stairs not fun. Booking agency sent me to wrong side of London for departure point. Nearly missed bus. Other tour bus rang through to let them know I was coming. Tubed it from Great Portland Street to Shepherds Bush on the lookout for bus near Walkabout pub. Arrive Shepherds Bush. No idea where Walkabout pub is. Asked newspaper boy - no idea. Asked Policeman - sends me in wrong direction. Start to freak out. Am now 45 minutes late for the bus. Phone tour company. Phone low on credit. Continue freak out. Get through and point me in right direction and I see purple bus. Relief. Bus full of 50 impatient/annoyed people await me. We finally depart. Sleepily watch Hot Fuzz on DVD on the bus. Due to late departure, we arrive in Lakes District at 1am and don't get to bed (which for me was the top of a bunk with a room of 9 other people) until 2am. Also started reading a book - Ex and the City - must read for any girl - v funny and author had same birthday as me and understands joys and pain of having your birthday on Valentine's day.

Saturday and Sunday - the Lakes District Walked around the hills.

Lots of Lakes - imagine they would be sparkly and blue if sun was out. Cute little towns (cute shops, and no Maccas, KFCs or Starbucks in sight!). Very green. Sheep everywhere (in various colours and breeds) - they keep their tales here. Stone wall fences everywhere. Old timey slate houses and buildings everywhere. Chilly cloudy weather (but no rain). Ate the best home made gingerbread ever. Caught ferries/boats around Lake Windemere. Went horseriding overlooking lakes - very scenic. Finished book.

Monday - Liverpool.

Liverpool: Major port city - trade and industry driven. Big American influence. Home of the Liverpool soccer team and giant stadium. Hometown of the Beatles. Where maiden Titanic voyage set off from. Where slave trade began (and was also first abolished). First Chinatown in Great Britain. Largest (Anglican) Cathedral in Great Britain - designed by same man who designed red phoneboxes (no, the church does not look like a giant red phonebox). Also home to ugliest giant pointy metal Catholic cathedral ever. Giant Beatles Festival going on - Beatles lookalikes and coverbands everywhere. Went to Cavern Club where the Beatles played before they hit the big time and where loads of other famous bands have played. All wheely bins in Liverpool are bright purple. Stopped at Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields. Saw house where John Lennon grew up. Long bus journey home to London. Watch 28 Weeks Later on DVD - this movie could solve London's population crowding problem. Home by 9pm, in bed at 10. Have caught a cold.

Other news.

Also saw Spoon, Trail of Dead and Tool (bands) over the last couple of weeks. Phew. Enjoy photos! Manda

http://www.amanda.com.au/uk/lakes/

PS: big big thanks to my old boss Karen who sent me over 2 tins of Aktavite, promite, tim tams, sweet chili and sour cream chips and dvd..

Weather comparison

I have the weather as part of my custom google homepage and every now and then I compare. So, if I hear anyone from home complaining about the weather or how cold it is - let me just put things in comparison / into perspective (of course I'm allowed to complain as much as I want ;) You're getting better and warmer weather than here and its supposed to be summer for me! I think I'm going to die when British winter hits.

Summer has definately arrived (for like, a day). Visits to Westminster Abbey, Regents Park and London Zoo

Firstly - photos: are here.

Friday 3rd August

Didn’t leave work til 6pm – definitely not enough hours in the day. Dragged my feet home, cooked dinner, had a glass of red and my head hit the pillow at 9pm. Was very tired! Had met up with an old friend from uni the night before which may have contributed to my tiredness as well. I’ve tracked down a couple of people on Facebook, and am meeting up with another friend from high school next week, both of which have been over here in London for a few years now. Highly recommend signing up to facebook!!

Saturday 4th August

Woke up at 7am (grrr). Did all my normal Saturday morning stuff (washing etc). Called my Dad. Decided to head off into London. Ran into a friend in Brixton. Tubes shut. Got the bus into Victoria together. Then went off on my own. Walked up the Birdcage and cut across to Westminster Abbey. Basically this place is full of loads of famous / royal dead people – and really – that’s it. The tombstones and sarcophaguses are detailed and extravagant but well it just goes on and on.

From memory – I found St Paul’s Cathedral much more enjoyable when I saw it in 2004 – I plan to go back there for a visit post renovations. Anyway, a few tombstones of note: Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare. Dad also kept telling me that Sir Winston Churchill’s tombstone was there as well – so was keeping an eye out for it – but seriously there’s thousands of tombstones there. As I was about to leave – there it was – Churchill’s tombstone – the very last one – it seemed to have made it all worth it. Dad – I took that photo for you if you’re reading this (you’re not actually allowed to take photos in this place). Westminster Abbey: DONE.

I then went outside, found a patch of grass and sat in the shade for a bit to figure out what I was doing next. That’s the cool thing about being a solo traveler (has its advantages and disadvantages) – is that you go where you want to go, when you want, for as little or long as you want. It would be nice to have a travel partner but if you want to stop for a rest, go into a weird shop or whatever, you can. I’ve seen a few tourists yelling / arguing with each other a few times now and glad I’m not in their shoes.

So anyway, I walked through St James’s park. There were pelicans in a pond. I wasn’t expecting to see pelicans this far from the ocean. There was also cool plant figurines of people on bikes. I walked over to Trafalgar Square, decided I’d had enough and found a bus to take me home. I actually got to take some really good photos from the top of the double decker bus as you’ll see.

Sunday 5th August

Today I slept in (hoorah!). I had quite a hard time trying to decide what to do today, but it all became crystal clear as soon as I looked at my London wall map – Regents Park and London Zoo. I packed a lunch of fruit salad and bussed and tubed it over to Regents Park. It was another hot gorgeous day – I actually wouldn’t have minded going for a swim. In the park there were people sunbathing in bikinis (even though there was no where to swim).

Anyway, Regent’s Park is massive, green and beautiful. I went to Queen Mary’s Rose Garden which is just gorgeous – I’ve never seen so many roses in my life before. There was a beautiful pond with giant fish in it. I found a shady tree and ate my fruit salad for lunch. I then trekked off to the opposite end of the park to London Zoo (it’s part of the park). I saw gorillas, a sleepy tiger (hey tiger, vake uuuup), two lions who happened to mate (yes I took pictures – but they’re tasteful!), giraffes, bears etc etc etc. I liked the gorillas and lions the best. The giraffes were pretty cool too – very pretty. Tip: do not buy the map when you buy your ticket – it’s a waste of money – there’s signs everywhere on where to go inside the zoo.

After the zoo, I came out at a weird exit which was actually quite close to Camden Town (10 minute walk). My feet were starting to drag and I looked up and recognized this pub that I’d been to before – the Dublin Castle – so stopped in for 2 drinks and kicked my feet up on a stool. My plan was to get the tube from Camden Town so I could get on the Northern Line and jump off at Stockwell and get the bus from Stockwell to Brixton. Camden Town tube was in exit only mode – so I had to walk what seemed like ages to the next tube station instead. Eventually made my way home – there was some sort of festival going on in Brixton and police everywhere watching by – but I just wanted to get home, have some dinner, relax etc.

Anyhoo, I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this but I’ve got a couple of small trips planned. On Sunday 19th August, I’m going to Cardiff (Wales) for the day. And there’s a long weekend at the end of this month, so I’m off to the Lakes District and Liverpool from 24th – 27th August – hoorah! Hope to plan a few more holidays when I get paid properly next in September (ah contracting..). Hope everyone is well - Manda :)

Left my soul there.. down by the sea..

Today I had all sorts of plans of doing things around London. Eg the red bull air race was on which looked pretty fun. But then I thought, I really really need to get out of London. So I looked up trains to Brighton late lastnight and saw it only took an hour to get out there. Having lived by the water most of my life, I do need to reconnect with it everynow and then. And the Thames is about appealing as and brown as our Brisbane river. Hence, Brighton was close and off I went. I got there at about lunch time - the weather forecast was average. It was a bit cloudy, but it certainly wasn't raining (compared to the rest of the country which is flooding - apparently this is the wettest summer on record - grr).

Now, I know beaches over here aren't like beaches at home. Brighton's beaches have giant soft round pebbles (no sand). They're actually really nice to walk on, and are quite comfortable to lie on as well. It was strangely refreshing to not have to brush sand off or have sand in every nook and cranny. I walked along the boardwalks and as the afternoon progressed, there were less clouds and more sun. I caught a mini electric train that runs along the beach up towards a marina. The beach was much quieter up this way. I also passed a place called CRAZY golf - a mini putt putt place on the beach. I found a nice spot on the beach and took in the blue sea and soaked up some rays. I even took a photo of the sun. I have missed the sea and the sun.

Later on, I got some fresh prawns and lobster and hot chips and ate them by the beach. There's loads of cafes, pubs, shops, rides, amusement type things - it's got a great atmosphere. It was starting to get late and I really didn't want to leave. It'd be nice to go there for a weekend. I returned to London feeling refreshed, warm and happy - that smiling on the inside stuff - it was just what I needed. Anyway, I've posted all my Brighton photos here: www.amanda.com.au/uk/brighton/

Enjoy!

Simpsons movie review

First tip, go to a late session when there’ll be no kids there. I’ve always thought the Simpsons isn’t a children’s show – small children will get bored or won’t understand what’s happening. Now that that’s out of the way…

The attention to detail in the Simpsons movie is amazing. I haven’t read a review yet that even mentions or acknowledges it. The animation is very different to a regular Simpsons episode. It is very polished. The angles that they use are very out of the box for the Simpsons, scenery and objects take on a very three dimensional feel. I’m guessing a lot of 3D technology was used to render various scenery and objects eg the lake, or the fire in the fire torches which would normally be a blue lake with some squiggly lines or a fire would just be red and orange with no detail. You get a closer and deeper look into the Simpsons universe simply because of the attention to detail. Normally when the Simpsons are driving in the car, the background whizzes past as a blur or as a loop of images. This time you get to see in great detail what is in the background. You also get to see things that wouldn’t be in a normal Simpsons episode – bart’s “doodle” or Otto lighting up a bong that push the boundaries and probably wouldn’t be allowed on normal tv, but make the movie hilarious. The creators of the Simpsons movie have really stepped up to the mark – and seeing it on the big screen amplifies this.

People who say the Simpsons movie is just like a really long regular episode of the Simpsons are completely wrong. And if you need a comparison – go watch the Family Guy Movie – which is literally three episodes tacked together (but three very good episodes at that). The well thought out plot keeps you wondering what’s going to happen next. There’s drama, there’s tension, there’s deep and heart felt emotion, and of course it makes you laugh. Years of Homer’s funny but stupid decisions, rudeness, selfish behavior and lack of consideration finally boil over to the point into real life seriousness where it’s no longer funny and threatens everything that is the Simpsons.

The acting is brilliant and real. In particular, my hat goes off to Julie Kavner who plays Marge, Patty and Selma (although Patty and Selma didn’t make an appearance in the movie). In a crucial family moment in the movie, I was brought to tears by the pure and raw talent and acting of this woman – a truly heart felt and fantastic performance. Marge truly is the glue that keeps this family together.

The Simpsons has been taken out of its restricted confines and limitations of a 22 minute tv episode and have now had the freedoms and luxury of time and technology, talented writers and actors to get it just right on the big screen. I’ll definitely being going back for a second viewing. 5 stars!

Weekend update

Typical English conversation, translations and observations.

Compulsory greeting: “Hiya” – not hi, but always hiya. Everything is generally referred to as “a complete nightmare”. Everything is also generally “completely rubbish”. Everything is also “pants”. On another note, pants is the same thing as underpants (not jeans or trousers). “Scum” is what the local drug dealers refer to as pot – so caution, they’re not calling you scum - they're just referring to the drug as scum. Duvet = doona. Plasters = bandaids. Lashed = drunk.

Extra! Extra! I can’t be bothered with a full on blog entry so here’s my weekend,(just for something different) as headlines:

Friday 20 July: Amanda receives package from Australia containing promite. Amanda stays in and sets up long awaited wireless internet, chaotic weekend ahead.

Saturday 21 July: Amanda enjoys long awaited promite on toast for breakfast. Sorely missed. England is flooding – where is the sun? Lambeth Country Show is in town. 2 freakish / random bird incidents: A bird does a giant shit on Amanda’s bag whilst lunching in the park. A large escapee vulture nearly lands on / flies into Amanda at Lambeth Country Show from Birds of Prey exhibition. Amanda has a few drinks, misses a gig - sleeps for 14 hours instead. Oops.

Sunday 22 July: Giant sleep in needed badly. Amanda watches everyone at the Lovebox weekend get shitfaced, smoke dope and snort coke off credit cards. Amanda most sober person at Lovebox weekender, yet continues to have good time and dance. B52s and Groove Armada rock out. Feet ready to fall off again, collapses into bed.

Monday 23 July: Amanda visits Crazy Bear cocktail bar with secret mysterious mirror menagerie bathroom. No bears in site. Amanda enjoys sirloin steak risotto at the Risotto Bar. (MEEEAT - haven't eaten steak in quite a while). Amanda annoyed at tube for being shut - begrudgingly has to get tube plus bus to get home.

And that's a wrap..

Giant blog entry

Hello everyone! Sorry about the lack of blog entries - it's been annoying without internet at home. So to get things started, here are all the photos I've been taking: www.amanda.com.au/uk/weekends/

Sat – Sun 14-15 July 2007

Friday night I met up with my old work mate Nicole (from QFRS at Whyte Island) who’s out here for a short holiday. Was good to catch up with someone from home! We met at Covent Garden and headed off, ending up in Soho at a pub, then made our way to the Masala Zone Indian restaurant – very yummy. Nicole was staying at her sister’s out in Slough (middle of nowhere) so had to get the last train. Was a great night none the less. I think we're going to try and go see a musical next week.

Saturday morning I had to wait for the Virgin Media technician to come back and “fix” my internet. Not that it’s ever worked since the previous Saturday when it was installed. Turns out my area isn’t ready for cable (even though they installed it). Grrr. Have cancelled my account and am signing up for ADSL with another provider. Such a muck around. The unsecured wireless started working again, so am taking this opportunity to update my blog. Anyway, after that, I had to wait for some concert tickets to arrive – KT Tunstall. And then tried to go to the post office, but alas it was shut by the time I got there. Can’t remember what else I did – oh had a giant Mexican cook off – loads of left overs. Watched a DVD, painted toenails, did a French polish – relaxing girly stuff.

Anyway, Sunday time for more site seeing. First stop: Harrods. Was very busy. Had to restrain myself. Bought a couple of presents. Everything there is just so nice.. and expensive. I went into the food hall at Harrods and salivated. My mouth, stomach and eyes were excited. The food there looked.. amazing. So I bought up on some Middle Eastern food – vine leaves, falafel, hummus, tabouli, pita bread, lamb kebab thing etc – all in takeaway containers and headed off to Hyde Park. Plonked myself on a deck chair in front of the pond/lake, munched away, read the newspaper, relaxed, got my a-z (refidex) out and figured out where I was going next. I make a point of trying to walk as much around central London itself, so set off along Park Lane (which seems to go on forever), by which point it was raining. I then hit Marble Arch – which I was expecting to be this impressive monument, but it was quite boring. Then headed down Oxford Street, and escaped into the famous Selfridges Department Store - again in awe, but was starting to get cranky, tired, sore feet and a headache. Made my way to the nearest tube and headed home and fell down tired when I got home into a deep powernap.

Sat – Sun 7-8 July 2007

OMG – the sun came out. After an atrociously dreadfully depressing long week that left me wondering what the hell am I doing here, my friend the sun finally reappeared. I read the book that everyone wrote in before I left and I started a list of places I wanted to visit in London, the UK and the.. world. It’s a big list, but I think it’s doable. Anyway, there was loads going on in London this weekend – Wimbledon, Tour de France and Live Earth. On the Friday night, I saw some bands in Spittlefield. My favourite was this crazy Japanese techno band Lucha Libre - with live brass, drums etc. Had a well deserved sleep in on Saturday. Hung around for Virgin to come install my internet and watched Live Earth on tv that afternoon and evening. Incidentally, the internet didn’t work at all and a technician is coming back the following Saturday – grrr.

Sunday, I did loads of housework, mowed the lawn and headed out on a big weekend walk. The sun was still out – hoorah! First stop – Westminster Abbey. It was closed on Sundays but I took some photos of the outside - will have to go back. Then headed off in the direction of Trafalgar Square. Le Tour de France had passed through there the day before but there were still grand stands and huge screens still broadcasting it from there. Then headed down Regent Street and hit Piccadilly Circus. Then headed off to Chinatown, and had Chinese for the first time since I’ve been here – my serving was way too much for one person. Yum. Later on I headed over to Battersea Park. Feet were ready to fall off yet again.

Sat – Sun 30 June - 1 July 2007

There were tube works on the Victoria line which meant my tube station (and many others) were shut the entire weekend. And it was bucketing rain. Parts of England have actually been flooding. Eventually ventured outside to pick up a package from the post centre which just turned out to be tickets that required signing for. Bought a few more concert tickets: Keane, The Bravery, Michael Buble and the Lovebox weekender festival (Groove Armada, the B52s and the Presets are the ones I want to see). KT Tunstall tickets are onsale too – dying to see her. Tickets are fairly cheap/reasonable too. There is certainly loads to do and see here.. Just a pity the weather is so CRAP.

Bought a couple of pairs of shoes for work of which one of gave me blisters – ow, and a rubber bath mat so I don’t fall over in the shower again (very slippery), and bought a pair of scales which was scary – haven’t put on any weight – hoorah! People keep asking me about the “Heathrow Injection”. Apparently the traditional thing for us Aussies to do, is to come over here, drink like fish (ie pints), eat a lot of hot and wintery comfort and junk food and gain 10+ kilos. I’m sure for a lot of Aussies this is true, but for me it’s not. Me - I’m flat out drinking a pint. In fact, if I do drink a pint, I can’t even fit dinner in coz I’m so full. Haven’t eaten any comfort food – I get free fruit and lunches at work – so loads of salads and veg. And usually a very light dinner coz of the giant lunch. And not having a car means I am walking everywhere - so getting LOADS of exercise.

On the Sunday, they broadcast the Princess Diana concert live on TV. She would have been 46 on that day. Have to say, Prince William and Harry are quite down to earth considering.. everything. And what a great lady she was – so tragic. Anyway, was a fun concert to watch. Had a few drinks in the garden with Steph and sung along to all the Andrew Lloyd Webber songs in the kitchen they were playing / singing at the concert. Never realized how many of his songs I knew and used to sing in my high school choir / in concert band as well. Loads of memories came flooding back. Was also probably a good weekend to stay in coz they found all those bombs around London..

Anyway, I need to have a small whinge. I’ve been wanting to go to Wimbledon (didn’t end up going, and tickets were limited / expensive or had huge queues) – but it’s been raining heaps. Today, as I stood waiting for my BP minibus in the shelter, it of course started to rain and then started to hail. I stood there shivering thinking – is this what they call summer? I miss Australian weather. I then prepared myself for the joyous walk in pouring rain from the tube and home in my painful new shoes. I had a long hot shower when I got home and squeaked with pain when the hot water hit my blisters. I also stood on a piece of glass in the kitchen the night before (it was tiny).

And a number of times on the way to work or on the way home, my tube has been cancelled due to “a person on the tracks” – which they announce loudly over all the speakers. I couldn’t quite believe my ears the first time I heard that, but I’ve head it so many times now that it’s normal. In fact it’s so normal that it annoys me that this selfish person has decided to commit suicide and inconvenience thousands of people who are trying to live (and get to work / get home etc). Of course, then you have to get a bus instead, which of course are so packed or crammed with people from the tube. I remember one time I had to get the bus home because of a “person on the tracks” – you never get a seat, a young toddler had crapped its pants, there was some crazy dude swearing randomly (as there are everywhere), and you’re crammed in like sardines. Ah London life.. it has its ups and downs.

Sat & Sun 23-24 June 2007

Ventured to Leicester Square for the first time. Free musical show case going on. Loads of people. Walked round in circles / blocks before I actually found it. Got a free show bag of stuff. Wandered off to Covent Garden. I love Covent Garden – so many nice shops, places to eat, drink, the markets were amazing. I found this handmade purple bathrobe – it was beautiful. And only 165 pounds. I didn’t buy it. Did however buy a really nice pair of red earrings for 3 pounds (pictured). Watched some street performers and statue men.

Saturday night, went out to Clapham Junction to see Australian comedian Adam Hill. Very funny. Loads of Aussies and strangely groups of guys on bucks nights (who heckled him). The dancefloor had squares that lit up. Caught the nightbus home and had a giant sleep in. Watched the Glastonbury festival on TV the next day which looked like mud city. Was glad to be indoors.

Sat & Sun 16-17 June 2007

Queens Birthday weekend here. Saturday there was “Trooping of the Colour” which is basically a big horsey parade for the Queen. She certainly knows how to have a birthday. Loads of horses, troops, marching bands, cannons going off and planes flying over. The photos of the planes are awesome - from WW2 planes to current planes. In particular this one is just amazing (can’t believe how well it turned out!). The following day a lot of this official / ceremonial stuff was repeated for the 25th anniversary of the Falklands Island thing.

Saturday night, went to my first festival over here – the O2 wireless festival in Hyde Park. It went for 4 days – I just bought a ticket for the Saturday. I was too late to buy tickets for the Thursday night – I really wanted to see Queens of the Stoneage (DOH). Anyway, the main acts I saw were LCD Soundsystem and Daft Punk. LCD Soundsystem really funked out (in a good way – music was faster than their LP and bass guitar was really loud and funky just how I like it).

The stage / lighting show for Daft Punk was amazing. When they came on, the crowd suddenly went crazy and it turned into a mosh pit. Was quite close to the front. Daft Punk came out wearing space men outfits and matching helmets. After being elbowed in the head about 10 times (from people who were moshing to dance music) I felt as though I should be the one wearing a helmet and not these 2 DJs on stage in safe confines of their pyramid on stage. So I made my way to the side where the crowd thinned slightly so I didn’t feel like a sardine and actually move and dance like a normal person and enjoy it. Still had a fantastic view of the stage as well.

Sunday, slept in and went for a bike ride in Brockwell Park in the arvo. Rediscovered hills and calf muscles. Suddenly heard music playing somewhere. A band was playing in one of the basketball courts there under a camouflage tent. They sounded very funky/jazzy and most their songs somehow sounded like slowed down versions of Blue Suede Shoes – so quite catchy. Set off peddling again, stopped at a pond and rode home, didn’t fall off or get squished by a car (amazingly). And why are bike seats so uncomfortable? Owie. I also discovered there is a pub literally 10-20 metres from my house that I had no idea that it even existed on the way home.


ANYWAY, if you've managed to get this far through my blog, congratulations. And I endeavour to keep it more up to date when my REAL internet gets installed. To see the rest of the photos go here: www.amanda.com.au/uk/weekends/ - Speak to you all soon - Manda.