An few unexpected surprises, Squizzy my hero and a quiet weekend (yes I do have them!)

Another week here in London and the weather has turned foul. It's cold, wet and freezing. I have come down with a nasty cough and blocked nose. Not sure what could have bought this on, could be the Subway Diet I'm on, would have nothing to do with my lifestyle that's for sure!

Jenny, Neil, Jorge and I

Got a text message on Wednesday from Jenny, and Neil. They were in town on a work trip. On the same flight was my old flatmate and friend, Jorge. It was an unexpected surprise to have a visit from friends back home so soon. It was great to see them again, catch up and of course have a few beers. There's something about catching up with close friends away from home that is so special, it really makes you appreciate the time you have together. You will be happy to know that I did make the last Tube home, though I nearly did toss my cookies in the Tube on the way back (oops!)

Squizzy and I

Friday night was my chance to catch up with my cousin Victoria, as you know from my previous Blog she's affectionately known as Squizzy. We had dinner in Soho, sat and chatted for a couple of hours and caught up on things. It has been difficult to have some quality time alone with Squizzy since I have been here as we have always been on the run (or I have been on the run!). It's funny, Squizzy and I even though we are worlds apart, have had very similar things happen to us in our lives. It was nice to finally spend some time just chewing the fat and getting to know each other that little bit better.


After dinner we went to G.A.Y for a few drinks then onto the club afterwards. We left G.A.Y about 1.30 AM and were heading up Tottenham Court Road. I was tanked (no! really?) and had the urge for some grease, so I ducked off into Burger King for a Bacon Double Cheeseburger Deluxe Combo Meal (I can feel the arteries hardening just typing this). I left Squizzy on the corner chatting on her mob to Aunt Beth.
When I floated out of Burger King on a grease fuelled cloud 9 Squizzy was no where to be seen. There was a crowd of people about a block up standing around, and the Police were in attendance. As I started to walk towards the crowd, Squizzy came out of the crowd towards me. While she was waiting she had seen two guys get into a punch up. One fella had the other pinned down and was punching him repeatedly in the head, while the crowd stood around and watched. Squizzy being an officer of the law, even though she wasn't on duty, ran over into the fray and broke them up. She pulled one guy off the other and started to diffuse the situation. The Police in uniform arrived shortly after, but Squizzy had already saved the day. My cousin the hero!!

James, Beth and Josh

Come the weekend I thought it would be good to Spend some quality time with my family here in London, not to mention give my liver a well deserved break. Beth and I went for a drive down south to get the boys and take them to go and see 'Fantastic 4' , which by the way is much better than the first movie. We went out for dinner before hand and then went back to Jason and Lizzie's afterwards.

Lizzie

Jason

Sunday night after work I went for dinner with Beth, Uncle Vic, Dave, Heather and her Mum who was visitng from South Africa. It ws nice to have a good feed (the food was amazing, much better than Subway) and to catch up with everyone.


It seemed to be the week of unexpected surprises. Yesterday while I was sitting in Soho having a coffee, who should walk by but Wayne. This is my dear friend who I have known for years and who I will be staying with while I am in Barcelona. We are also going to Ibiza together with Susie and Cissi. He had just finished his flight for BA but ws unable to get across to Spain as the flights were full. We caught up quickly for a coffee and made a few plans for August. Will keep you posted on the developments.

Wayne

The Subway Fresh Diet

It really works!! I have been living on the Chicken Breast Lite Lunch meal option (pictured). It's £2.99, which is dirt cheap (under $10 AUD) and it's quick and easy. And with only 5.2 grams of fat you're laughing. Consume one a day to start with, more if your budget allows it.

After 3 weeks of living on this diet I have successfully lost 3.5 kilos. You also need to be working a waitering job that has you on your feet all day, combined with a maximum of 5 hours sleep a night and you too can lose weight just as easily as I have. But don't worry, you can easily add Carbs to this diet simply by drinking beer (I have chosen this option, regularly too I might add). You can regulate your Carb intake with the number of Pints that you consume in a sitting.

Note.. Don't try what I did last week and get the whole weeks Carb intake in one Sunday afternoon sitting, and miss the last Tube home...or it's the Night Bus for you!! (Read previous Blog)

London Lite, Edna and the Tale of one pint too many and the return of the Night Bus Home (Again!)

The London Lite, essential free reading that is thrust into your hands as you enter a Tube station on any given day. It's full of such useful information as what Posh Spice was wearing when she threw a ball to open a baseball match in the US, or what she wore to the Fashion Awards (not much but a corset,heels and nickers) and what an amazing push up bra she has (it's called a boob job). Oh ..it also has some news and weather squeezed in between all the pix of Posh and the occasional C list Big Brother celebrity who has made a racially inappropriate comment, been kicked out of the house and is now hated and hounded by the press and the entire nation at large. (If you really care what happens to them you can follow their sob story in Heat magazine, another quality publication).

I ensure that I get my FREE copy each day on my way to the Tube at Wimbledon. Makes the Tube bearable, and passes the time quickly.

Forgot to mention last week that I went to the Simon Webb Concert at Hammersmith Apollo with Beth, Squizzy and Lara. Simon Webb used to be in the boy band BLUE, so I was expecting more of the same, but we were all pleasantly surprised. the guy can sing and man can he dance! It was a great night. The Hammersmith Apollo as a venue is great, it's a big old theatre with crappy seats and looks a bit run down, but every seat has a great view (sounds a bit like a 747-300 doesn't it?)

Beth, Squizzy and I at the Simon Webb Concert

So when I haven't been working as I mentioned earlier in my previous post, I have been catching up with friends. I had lunch with my girlfriend Cissi in Soho the other day. I met Cissi years and years ago, when I was much younger and used to go to TRADE when I was in London and not much else. We would meet at the bottom of the stairs at Turnmills nightclub every second Sunday when I was in London. Obviously TRADE no longer exists, and when you stop clubbing as much as we used to people go by the by, but not Cissi. I have visited her in her home town of Stockholm, Sweden and she has also made the visit 'Down Under' to visit me. So it was great to see each other after so much time and catch up. Cissi will be joining me on my Ibiza stint late on in August, along with Wayne and Susie.

Cissi!

Friday after work I caught up with my younger Cousin Dave and his girlfriend, Heather. We met at Ember Bar in Farringdon for a few rounds before going to their place for dinner. Dave and Heather had already had a more than a few by the time I turned up (late as usual) and as it was a Friday arvo the place was in full swing. We proceeded to get pleasantly smashed which made the train ride to their place very interesting. I had to front up to work the next morning at 9 am and man did I feel it!

Heather and Dave

Later in the night...

So I guess you are all wondering....'Who is Edna?' Well on a Sunday afternoon, at Vauxhall Tavern there is this famous Drag act. It's based on Dame Edna. But there's no lip syncing to show tunes here boys and girls, no this is sing along , stand up comedy, live performance at it's funniest and best. I was in absolute hysterics!

Edna

Everything was in bad taste but it was so funny. She didn't pick on audience members and make fun of them, or any bitchy crap like that. It was witty satire and took digs at everything from gay marriage to Grease to current affairs. She was unreal!! She got the entire audience to sing along at one point...I even ended up singing along to Elaine Paige's 'I know Him So Well', and the scary thing was that I didn't know the words until they were coming out of my mouth (Must have been all those years Mum played it over and over on the LP player..along with Dolly Parton, ABBA and Juio Iglesius)

I went along with friends of mine who now live in London, Andrew and Marcus and friends of theirs that were visiting. I proceeded to drink pints of ale, which went down rather nicely after the Sunday shift at Balans (now that's another whole tale in itself..think a Jo Burg trip but in a restaurant and instead of 15 hours, everything happens in 3!! It was manic!)

Andrew and Marcus

So as I mentioned, I was happily downing pints of beer like the locals (man can these British lads drink!) and after a hectic day at work, and averaging not more than 5 hours sleep a night since I have been here...well I'll let a picture paint a thousand words huh?

No caption necessary!!

Another round was on offer, as as I stood there (actually swayed there) , I thought 'Yeah there's time...I'll just get the last Tube home huh?'.

I've learned the hard way that the Underground on a Sunday closes at 11.30pm. So it was back to my familiar friend, the Night Bus. I'm getting quite adept working out how to get where, usually sometime between midnight and the hours of 5am... But the ride takes anywhere from an hour, to 3 hours. Try staying awake for that!!

Did I mention that I had to start work a 9am at Balans? .... only to turn up in a state in the morning, to have Max tell me that the shifts had been changed and that I was working that night instead.

Hope you get a laugh outta that, I didn't.

First week in London

My trip started off really well, with seat 26B all the Way to London Via Hong Kong (for those of you who don't fly, that's a Business Class seat!). I basically slept most of the way, only drank 3 glasses of wine and watched two movies (loved Happy Feet!). So I arrived feeling semi human rather than crap like one does after such a long haul.

Who me? Jetlagged??

As soon as I got off the planeI got myself an Oyster card for the Tube and I was off to Wimbledon to meet my Aunt Beth and get set up in my new home for the next month. I have my own room, my own set of house keys and Beth lets me come and go as I please. I'm feeling welcome and at home already.

The first night I spent at home having dinner with my Aunt and Uncle and my cousin Victoria and her girlfriend Lara. After dinner we went to Richmond park, a reserve not far from my Aunt's place where there are deer roaming around. It was quite surreal watching all these Stag just wander past the car. I was pretty jet lagged and kept falling asleep ( that is so unlike me!). I woke up once to find a deer blocking our way, so we had to wait for it to move before driving on. It was a great way to start my time here and probably the most relaxing night that I have had here to date.

Aunt Beth, Victoria (Squizzy) and Lara

The next afternoon I met with Max in Soho (he's the Manager of Balans west in Earls Court, the restaurant where I am working for the next 2 months). Here I was thinking it would be a leisurely lunch, followed by cocktails when Max informs me that training starts that night at 7pm. So I had 2 hours to get from Soho, to Wimbledon, then back to Earls Court to start work that night. It would be the start of a very busy week for me that has not seen me have a minutes rest.

Balans West Earls Court

It's great working at Balans. For once I am not a manager, so if there are any problems I simply pass them onto to Max. The staff are all great, some what young ( the average age is 25, so at 33 I feel like a fossil) and rather camp, but it's all in good fun. It's extremely busy there and you don't really get a moments rest, but it's a welcome change from my life in Sydney.

Max and a workmate Richard

So since Wednesday I have worked every night from 7pm to close, which varies on the night from between 11pm to 2 am. I have become quite good at catching the night bus home from Earls Court. I catch the 74 to Putney Bridge and then Change to the 93 to Wimbledon. Each day I spend roughly one to two hours on public transport, which doesn't bother me as I have time to read. I am tearing through my book (currently reading Stephen King's Dream catcher). The only hassle is u have to be organised and plan your day accordingly. I have to take my gym gear, my work clothes, and a change of clothes if I plan on going out afterwards.

But it hasn't all been hard work, those of you who know me know that i can always manage to fit in a good time or two and I have certainly done that :)

Went to Bar code in Vauxhall on Thurs night after work and then had a HUGE night at Club Fabric on Sunday (DTPM). It's hard though trying to get up the next day and having to face work. Working every day, even though it's shift work, is much harder than operating a flight then having a few days off.

I spent the days off over the weekend with my 2 second cousins James and Josh. They are best kids and I have loved hanging out with them. We spent the day throwing ball in the park and eating Burger King (I know I know..I spent 40 minutes on the treadmill after that day!). But I can tell you I was shagged having to spent all day with them before having to front up for a 6 hour shift at work. ( I guess I just don't have the stamina of a 7 or 13 year old for that matter)

James

I have just had the past 3 days off work and have spent them trying to catch up on e-mails (I'm sorry if I haven't mailed yet, I'm getting around to it), buying socks (I didn't pack enough) and trying to catch up on sleep..unsuccessfully I might add too!!

Post ya responses. you can also e-mail me direct as well.

Hope that you are happy and well.