Mission Tankini

The Bevy's and I kicked the weekend off by a visit to the tree bar, AKA Waxy O'Connor, so called because there is a tree in the middle, with various cavernous woody areas that one might find if one were a little elf exploring the trunk of an old tree in Cornwall Park. We then moved on to Tiger Tiger, humoring the bouncer in order to get in with trainers and paying exorbitant door charges only to be faced with the phenomenon of "City Boys" who at 2am are still in their suits; not my idea of a good crowd but hey, the music was doable until the irritating sounds of some hyper android bands started filling the upper dance floor. The trip home was a mission and a half, missing two buses, getting a little lost, and then finally plonking ourselves down on a night bus that might as well have been driving off road in the Sahara Desert.

Come Saturday, the sun was shining, and London was ready to be eaten. In an event called EAT LONDON, different areas from around this multicultural arena came together to make a map of London out of food from ethnic feasts in Trafalgar Square, including the Gherkin constructed from black and green grapes, and a London Eye pizza wheel. Unfortunately by the time Fran, Thea and I made it out, London had already been taken apart, and the ques were reaching Africa as everyone eagerly awaited the chance for free food. Despite this, we stood in the que for the tent with the best food, berating people as they illogically pushed through the minuscule gap that we were standing in when they could have used the rather large opening a few metres down. After eating ridiculous amounts of cake, we sent Thea off in the wrong direction to meet a friend whilst Fran took me to Oxford Circus, via Hamleys, and counselled me through my idea of a bad day; shopping on the high street!! The archetypal moment that exemplified my whole gripe with shopping in this consumer crazed city, was the que to pay in the newly opened Primark that wound around the store and took a good half hour to reach the counter. Considering the fact that people got trampled on the opening day, it is no surprise that it had the atmosphere of a traveller coming across a table loaded with gourmet food free for the taking. Suffice to say, I will never be visiting that store ever again!!

Thankfully, Sunday was less manic, with a relaxing day of groceries, cleaning, and a lovely dinner at Wagamama with my family from Holland, finished off with a meander down memory lane (not mine but I love a good photo show) bathed in the pink glow of the girls lair.

Today is the reason for Saturdays shopping shenanigans; after work today, Mish, Nadya and I are going to aqua aerobics at the Latchmere Leisure Centre! With my complete and utter distaste for running, this seemed like a good option. Low impact, low sweating, medium chance of getting some deadly skin disorder from the water, and very high entertainment value!

Hello Mr Kipling

Last night, I had my first French Fancy; delightful fondant iced sponge cakes with a vanilla flavoured filling. Whilst it sounds fancy, one might not find the ingredients so delightful; it claims to have no artificial colours or flavours but.....

Pink Fondant (18%) (Sugar, Water, Glucose Syrup, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Colour (Cochineal), Preservative (Potassium Sorbate)), Chocolate Flavoured Fondant (18%) (Sugar, Water, Glucose Syrup, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Preservative (Potassium Sorbate)), Yellow Fondant (12%) (Sugar, Water, Glucose Syrup, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Flavouring, Colour (Lutein), Preservative (Potassium Sorbate)), Wheat Flour, Vanilla Flavoured Filling (10%) (Sugar Glucose Syrup, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Vegetable Oil, Salt, Modified Maize Starch, Dried Egg White, Emulsifier (Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Flavouring], Sugar, Reconstituted Whole Egg, Reconstituted Egg White, Glucose Syrup, Vegetable Oil, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Lactose, Milk Protein, Salt, Emulisfiers(Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, Soya Lecithins), Raising Agents (Disodium Dihydrogen, Sodium Bicarbonate), Maize Starch, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Perservative (Potassium Sorbate), Stabiliser (Sorbitan Trisearate), Flavouring.

If these ingrediants are natural, their names certainly aren't!!

Day for Paper

Yesterday was Claire and my one year anniversary since leaving NZ!! We celebrated at Henry J Beans in Chelsea, (talk about a posh neighbourhood, I felt like I shouldn't have been walking around there; Mum you would love the stores there!) and reminisced about the year that has been; from best meal and homeless night to merriest and scariest moments. It is hard to believe that a whole year has gone by, often phantasmagorical, sometimes confronting, and how many moments of marvelment and awe that we have packed into 365 days.

I have been doing some reading into brain exercise and according to the Franklin Institute, travel is a good stimulation for the brain. The evidence can be seen in our ancestors, the early Homosapiens, who's nomadic lifestyle led to the "development of superior tools and survival skills". Their diverse diet helped in brain development, and the flexibility and innovation required for such a strategic lifestyle gave them an edge on the evolutionary ladder. In contrast, the Neanderthals apparently did not venture far from their home and are now extinct. They were perhaps more content with their surroundings. Last night I discovered that I have been telling a lie all my life and do indeed quite like brussel sprouts (I'm sure that when I ate them at the age of eight, they didn't party with my taste buds). Perhaps this new entry into my diet will aid in my brain productivity!! I now officially like ALL vegetables : )

Oh oh

Yesterday morning I woke up to find that my bedroom window had cracked into two! All day I was worried as there is supposed to be scaffolding going up outside our house and I didn't want to be responsible for someone breaking into the flat through my already broken window. With a sigh of relief, there was no scaffolding when I got home, and our favourite landlord assured me that it would not blow in at night and kill me whilst I slept.

Eat Off the Floor

On Friday night we found ourselves driving (well Deacon was driving in his flash car whilst I relished in the potpurri scented lushisness of being in a car!!) to ASDA (literally down the road but an Everest journey if laden with bags) to collect supplies, and soap, the night before so that we were set for a flat warming with the potential to be a complete flop due to the lack of invitations that went out. We decided not to tempt fate and played Murphy off on his own game by deciding not to make punch, dressing up, or putting a beacon on the roof so that the hordes would be able to find us. Despite this, we managed to pack it out, and even meet our downstairs neighbours!! The state of our little caravan the next morning was evidence that a good night had been had.

After a very intrepid morning involving congealed rice, 3 bags of rubbish, and the odd random article of clothing, I partook in my first English BBQ, with Mish, camera in hand, plaguing our every move; well, heroic attempt at a BBQ at least. The disposable BBQ is a great idea, really just a foil tray containing charcoal and covered with chicken mesh, but it seemed to be more enthusiasm and less functional. Our sausages were smoked rather than cooked, branded with a mesh pattern, and still ended up basking under the heat of the oven grill to cook despite our best efforts to keep faith in the smoking box on the ground. But a barbie is a barbie, and there is nothing like it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG BROTHER!!

Toothy Truths

Yesterday I bought a toothbrush that I thought was 1.50, but it was in the wrong place and turned out to be 3.50!! After realising that I had bought a toothbrush for $10, I thought, "this better be a blimen good toothbrush", and it was!! It has one of those things that I presume is a tongue scraper on the back of the head which is cool but means that my cheeks are getting a bit of an exfoliation at the same time as my tooth are getting so well cleaned by that 360 attention brush!! This is, albeit the most expensive, toothbrush that I have ever had.

Krak

Last week I finally got to Camden Markets; a completely different part of London with a variety of hairstyles and shoe attire. It reminded me of Victoria Park Market in its hey day, with a section that looked like Kevin's Arcade complete with a stall selling NZ jade. Over the weekend I found myself in the vicinity again at a club called Monster listening to some Indie/Rock bands, reacquainting myself to Jeiger, and getting caught in a badge scramble. The night ended in Koko, apparently on invite only but after sweet talking the mangirl on the door we canoodled on down. To quote the gorgeous Mish, "Charlie Chaplin and the likes used to appear there, and when it was reopened as a place to hold musical gigs, the venue provided a platform for The Sex Pistols and The Clash, just to name a few". WOW! The weather has been on the up lately, with temperatures reaching 26 over the weekend!! By the time we made it out to the Common on Sunday, it was late afternoon and still shining like a 50p in the sun. Among the things to dodge were crashing helicopters, frisbees, and soccer balls. We had a Londis picnic due to supermarkets closing ridiculously early on a Sunday. How I managed to eat felafel's again after the onion ridden one that haunted me from the night before I don't know!

Posh as Tosh

With little knowledge of the enormity of the Oxford/Cambridge boat race, Amisha and I decided to take the train, then the bus, then the train, then the bus, then finally settled on the train, to a rather peachy Putney, where we were met by streets filled with spirited people, french styled markets, and sad looking burger and beer deals. As we made our way to the river, scored a geeky flag and asked which way the race was going, (I would have given give me a wierd look too, but I have no shame!!) we were stopped in our tracks by a row of Navy Commando's. Turns out we were just in time to get a good squiz at the Cambridge crew in their hot one-piece-jobbies and the Oxfordians in their more stylish navy blue atttire as they came out of their garages with war expressions on their faces and took their places for some pics on the podium. I realised how far apart our worlds were as the posh people stood above us in their clubhouse looking all proper and a tad boring, although there was someone wearing a colourful stripey suit which was kinda comical; I'm not sure if it was worn with this intention. In fact the whole atmosphere was quite high brow in this area; even the cheers were all polite sounding, far from the endless screaming and grunting that one would find at a rugby game. When we were finally allowed to cross the foamy green carpet, we decided to turn back and find a spot over the other side of the river; we were again in the right spot at the right time as the crew came out with their boats, did the gumboot throw from their boat, and went off for a warmup. After a stop at a very busy offie, we found a bench on the riverside upon which we stood attempting to see over the wall of people that already lined the river, when suddenly the boats were off racing, half and hour ahead of schedule!! Utterly confused, we asked a policewoman whether it had indeed started and we discovered that it was the reserve team. With relief, that gave me a bit more time to weasel my way into a gap on the wall next to a lovely old lady so I could get some action shots. Sad to say, despite my lack of knowledge of either teams, my hopes were on Oxford, (based on the fact that I preferred the name and I didn't like the Girl Guide colours of Cambridge) but Cambridge took the race. All in all, it was an interesting sporting experience, and if I am in NZ when Cambridge goes to race us on the Waikato, I would be tempted to go.

Fish Eye

I found a really nice organic cafe around the corner from work after my plans to forage at the Borough Markets were thwarted by the drizzle. It was so relaxing, and I couldn't help but suit watch and overhear conversations as I drank my chai latte and read the Guardian. Cafes would have to be at the top of my list of holes to ensconce. Even better is brunch, outside a cafe, under an umbrella so that you can bathe in the sun whilst also having the option to cool down, wearing dark Audrey Hepburn styled sunglasses so that you can stylishly and surreptitiously stare at strangers; and for the ultimate experience it must be on a Sunday where you have that uber-relaxed feeling, the calm before the Monday storm. Whilst in Brussels, I met this Belgian who wrote me an itinerary of things that I could do whilst there. I was very pleased when he slotted in several people watching stops in recommended cafes around the city; that's my kind of day, 2 parts cafe 1 part sightseeing. You could say that I am a cafe anthropologist.

The Summer Extension

The weekend went by in a haze, as I slept for most of it due to feeling a tad run-down. I booked my flight out of London which was quite a feat; firstly because we sneak into one of our neighbours internet connections, and secondly, it felt like a really huge step!! I am flying Singapore airlines, (it'll feel like floating on a cloud after my marriage with Ryanair) and as I chose to sit in the two seater near the back, I ordered "special" meals so that I don't get all the crap leftovers (hopefully it doesn't mean that I'll be getting seafood for breakfast!!). Although I think it is very bizarre that you can order a "special" oriental or seafood meal, I mean are there people that don't eat anything other than seafood? Among the more interesting ones are "soft fluid", "ulcer diet" and one actually called a "bland meal", mm mm. Plane food is already so undesirable that I can't imagine what a special "plain" meal is like!! (ha ha pardon the pun) I am very excited as I will be staying with Keat, Belinda, and Sienna in Brisbane for a month and meeting my parents when they come over for Christmas; hopefully Sienna will be old enough to do finger painting and play tea parties with me, and give her mama and papa some time to do grown up stuff : ) My aims is to go seamlessly from one temperate climate to another so that I don't lose that European tan that I hope to steal back from this grim London weather; this year I have been the brownest and also the whitest that I have ever been, to the point that I have resorted to Johnson's holiday skin!! (That and it was on sale making it the same price as my normal moisturiser; although all day I've been wandering why my hands smell strange and it has just clicked as I write this) As much as fully paying for a flight out with no refunds seven months ahead is major in my current lifestyle of jetting to different countries at the drop of a hat, it is in actual fact a good way to make sure I see and do what I want to do before I leave as I have a fixed date to work towards. Carpi Diem!!