British Puddings are AMAZING

First of all, my list of Britishisms has grown a bit so check out the new additions. One of them is one I've know of for awhile and that's "pudding" or "pudd" meaning dessert and in no way meaning the american pudding which is like a custard. Right, so one thing the brits do particularly well is their puddings, my god. I'm in chocolate heaven over here and only have to go as far as the market to get some impressively sweet and chocolately puddings. There's this brand called Gu (with the two dots over the u, whatever that's called) and they do fantastic puddings. There's one called a cheeky+saucy chocolate pot that's just pure dark chocolate mousse meant to be heated up and spread over something but yours truly is too much of a chocoholic to deal with warming it up. I plunge straight into it and look for more when the tiny pot is all gone.

Another recent discovery is this dark chocolate molten cake that takes 30 seconds in the microwave for it to be gooey, chocolately, sinful and absolutely delicious. Another pudding I'd never heard of was banoffee pie which is a mixture of banana and toffee and it's quite a delicious treat! I made one last night, take a look :-)



I LOVE the puddings here, definitely making me one happy (and unhealthy) chap. I've also started a Chocolate quest and mapped places out on google maps. Yes, I'm a chocolately geek!

Randomisms - Brockwell Park, a Wizard and a Ciabatta Bacon Sandwich

I just got back from a run in Brockwell park, which is only five minutes away. It's an absolutely gorgeous park with lots of wide open space and a cool cafe or pub at the top of the hill with tables to sit outside. I'll definitely be checking that out at some point!

As I was running, a couple of random things popped into my head that I wanted to capture somewhere and what better place than sending them to google to be stored forever? I can't think of any. A few weeks ago I was going to Argos, a catalogue store where you can pick things up as well, and as I was coming out there was a man dressed in a purple wizard's costume leaving a pub with a black cat perched on his shoulder. Very odd and I definitely chuckled at it, but not him directly of course. He probably would've cursed me if he'd seen me chuckling behind him!

Another thought that popped into my head was about the bread here. The grocery stores have excellent bread, and I've been to quite a few and they all keep a pretty good stock. They have fresh ciabatta, my favourite, and it makes an amaaaazing sandwich when mixed with the thick bacon they sell here (you could never find that in the states), some avocado, tomato and fresh mozarella cheese. Pop that into the oven and you have a nice, crispy but soft on the inside, ciabatta bacon sandwich with red pepper flakes over the top, of course. I'll have to give it a name as it's divine and I'm about to go enjoy one right now and I'm feeling a bit peckish (britishism).


Last thing was going to have carvery last weekend at a pub in Dulwich called the Crown and Greyhound. They serve a Sunday feast with pork, veggies, beef, potatoes and yorkshire puddings. Yum yum, it was a tasty way to spend a Sunday and pretty close to my flat as well. Served with a pint, it was a perfect Sunday afternoon meal!





Can you tell I'm hungry? Food has occupied my mind! Off to make my sandwich.

Oh! and I think I found the Yelp! equivalent over here which I am very excited about. It's just picking up speed but I can see it becoming just as popular as Yelp. It's called Qype, another weird name, but it has user reviews on things all over London, England and Europe! http://www.qype.co.uk.

Welcome Drinks & My Day Out In London

It's been a nice weekend so far, lots of things going on some for fun, some just to distract myself. On Friday after work, I arranged to meet up a few friends from work that I met at GS training in NY. We went around the corner to a place called the Centre Page and had a pint outside and chatted a bit. It happened that the same night another guy from training was leaving the firm and sent out an invitation for drinks on Friday as well. So we merged the two events and quite a few people turned up to the pub right across from our main GS office. I now forget the name of the place but it was a cool spot and you could definitely tell that's where loads of people went after work to cool down but cooling was definitely limited. The main area was really really hot! fortunately the back room wasn't taken so we meandered our way back there and found a few bottles of wine for us to enjoy. How could we pass that up? The group that had just left didn't finished a few full bottles of wine so we happily took over where they left off. :-)

Yeah, so it was a fun night, lots of catching up and seeing faces I hadn't seen in ages. By the sounds of it, a lot of people hadn't seen each other in donkey's years (britishsm for you) so it was a great night of catching up. Some people were definitely surprised to see me there and know that i had moved over here and of course i got the question "so why have you come to London?" a gazillion times but i was expecting that and had my answer ready, haha. It was good to see everyone, lots turned out like i said before and from what i can remember i saw: tim, stew, ash, alan, ali, john, alice, melissa, darshini, chris, simon, steve, eric, vicky and i'm sure there were others but the names aren't popping into my head.

Right, so today I had a lie in and puttered around until about midday until I decided to head out and explore a bit of London. I didn't really know what I wanted to do so I looked up a few places on my list near Green Park which would be my last stops and then took the train into Blackfriar's station and started walking. It was such a beautiful day and i stupidly brought my coat with me which after about 2 minutes of walking was taken off and stuffed into my backpack. There was a cool breeze, blue sky and sun shining down on London. Lovely. I headed west through a few areas and one really cool street i found was Denmark street which is perpendicular to Charing Cross and SOHO. It was lined with guitar and music shops and I wanted to explore all of them. I'd been meaning to get new guitar strings so I headed into an acoustic guitar shop that smelled of polish. I saw the familiar elixir nanoweb's behind the counter and inquired how much they were. £12 was the answer which was crazy as that's how much they are but in dollars! I was a bit shocked so I decided not to buy strings until i really needed them (i.e. one popped off) because that price is just outrageous to me, that's about $24! I passed a pub along the way that caught my attention...see the picture below. he he.



I continued on and hit Oxford street, a very busy shopping area and lots more people were out and about. I stopped in John Lewis which is a large department store over here and picked up a few kitchen items that I've been meaning to get. I continued on, stopping at Boots (pharmacy like CVS) to get some water and a few things. The odd bit is they didn't have non-spray deodorant which is the opposite of what you'd see in the states, well at least in the past. They only had stick and that was the major stock. But here, at least in Boots, they only had spray deodorant which i thought was a bit weird but I purchased a can and continued on my way.

I kept going on Oxford street, and passed by a belgian waffle shop that looked VERY tempting. I had just eaten a snack so i wasn't too hungry but was very intrigued and starting to feel hungry after seeing a chocolate covered waffle advertised. I kept going and headed towards Hyde Park. I passed another waffle place and couldn't resist this time so a VERY tasty chocolate covered waffle was purchased and carried to the park. Along the way, passerbys stared hungrily at the chocolate mess that I was holding. I tried to stop myself from chuckling as their eyes widened once they spotted my tasty treat. I would be doing the same if someone was walking down a busy street carrying a chocolate covered waffle. That would be grounds for pinching it, me thinks. I'm a chocolate addict and in times of need, drastic measures must be taken. he he.



Right, so i arrived at the park, ate my waffle and found a nice tree to rest under for a bit. I explored a few other places, stopped in at an old fashioned shaving stored called Taylor's of Old Bond Street and bought a few items as an impulse buy. They've already been tested out and approved so it was a worthy buy even though it was a bit pricey.

All around it was a nice day out in London and I liked walking around and just getting my bearings about where things are. I now can pinpoint oxford street or at least the relative direction it's in and have a better grasp about where things are and how far apart they are. Much more exploring to come, hopefully with some company along :-)

Marble Arch


Hyde Park


Hyde Park


Relaxing in Hyde Park


Wellington Arch


Sliding down a fountain in Green Park


Buckingham Palace


Buckingham Palace

Settling into British Life

It's been quite a busy few weeks here. After extreme hassle, hours on the phone and lots of nerves on end and frustration, I FINALLY got BT to hook up my broadband. It's wonderful to connect to the internet again, check my email, look up train times and just browse around and send email. It's amazing how much I took that for granted and being internetless for two weeks was very painful. I'm an addict, I'll admit but it doesn't take away from the annoyance that I had to go through to set this up in a new flat, nonetheless. They didn't have to even come out and hook anything up, all they needed to do was flip a switch on their end or whatever they do.

Right, enough ranting on BT (useless buggers) and on to other things! I made an IKEA trip the other weekend and stocked up on things for my flat. I've just about finished assembling them all, just a bookcase to go and I'll be set. I'm still waiting on changing out the small, dinky, and uncomfortable bed I have in my flat for a bigger one, just a few things to follow up with that. I'm all sorted with paying bills (hooray?), there's lots to pay! council tax, electricity, gas, water, bt phone, bt internet, O2 mobile and that's after a painful 40% tax and extra 9% for National Insurance taxes. I'm not looking forward to seeing how much my net salary will be, yikes...

Things at work have been good, very busy, but good. I'm still adapting to my new role, spending every other week on production support and full on with design of the new system. There's TONS to do and learn and I have a full plate and it's not getting smaller any time soon, only bigger and bigger and I learn more and more. I've been trying out the local cuisine during lunch and found a few good places. Here's my write up:
*Gourmet Burger Kitchen (went here for dinner) - massive burgers, very nice but a little pricey. they have milkshakes that are very nice but a bit too milky and not shakey enough
*Ensalada - cajun chicken wrap is really good and it's £3.40 which is just about the best one can do around there for a decent lunch
*Cafe Veloce - very tasty pre-made sandwiches on ciabatta bread. They toast them as well. This is my favourite place so far!
*Japanese Canteen - a bit more expensive but a nice meal is the chicken katsu curry. mmmm, very tasty!
*Fresh Italy - pasta in a cup. I didn't like this all that much but i'll give it another try some time as it's cheap and close.
*Carluccio's - you can get take-away but it's nice to sit down. very yummy bread tin with different sorts of bread and their pasta is quite tasty. I definitely like this place a lot!

Those are the one's I've tried so far, I'm trying a sausage and mash place tomorrow near spitalfields and hitting up Montezuma's afterwards. mmmmmmmm, dark choco mango. yum yum!

I've collected quite a list of Britishisms over the past few weeks and will have to write up an entry just about the ones I've heard. There are a lot of subtle differences that I've noticed which just really intrigues me and makes me chuckle.

Well enough typing for tonight, time to relax.

London Marathon

I'll let the photos do all the talking :-)

Snow in London!!!

April 6th 2008

I woke up today feeling a bit under the weather (Britishism cockney: tom and dick) with a sore throat and just a bit weak and tired. But, it was SNOWING outside so I could I not go outside, especially Brockwell Park. I got out of bed around 11:30 and made my way to the park to take some photos and enjoy the pretty whiteness all around and collecting on the trees and flowers. It was stunning, really gorgeous how the snow collects and bunches up on the different plants. Lots of people were out and playing in the snow and I was really wishing I had someone to play around in the snow with. Still haven't had a proper snow ball fight, snow angel's or snow man making since I've been in colder regions where snow is possible in the winter. It's a bit odd that snow came in April of all times, that was a bit shocking but then again I welcomed it and so did everyone else in the park :-) I passed a few people and was taking photos as they passed. Most of them commented on the scene like "it's beautiful isn't it?" or "what a gorgeous park in the snow!" It was nice to have people just chatting around, I don't think I ever had anyone speak to me when I was taking pictures in NY. It could just be because I looked like a goof with my hat and camera around my neck or it could also be that snow doesn't come all that much in England and people were just in a happy and talkative mood. Either way, it was nice.

PICTURES

My Move to London

I'm in the cafe of the Ritzy cinema with Stew about to see a film and connected to wireless. God, it's wonderful having the internet!!!

* * *
April 5th, 2008

I left New York Thursday evening on Virgin Atlantic. I packed up all my things, had a car ready for me downstairs but the driver took one look at the 2 suitcases, 2 boxes, backpack and guitar and said "no way, that's not going to fit!." After a little pushing and shoving the boxes fit in the trunk (the boot - Britishism) and he caved and let me put the suitcases in the back seat. After shooting me a few stink eyes (hairy eyeball - Britishism) he finally went silent and after an hour we arrived at the airport. Checking my things in was no problem, even with the extra luggage. One of the attendants told me i couldn't take my guitar as a carry on but someone later told me to try and take it on, might as well give it a go. So after paying my $240 for the extra bags (might seem like a lot but it was nothing comparing to shipping them!!) I was off to the gate and boarded shortly thereafter. My flight was okay, couldn't really sleep much as every time I started to get comfortable I felt a twinge or pressure from my knees or legs pressing against the seat in front of me. No fun. But soon I arrived and was ready to move-in!

After a bit of hassle at the letting agent's office and needing to run to the nearest NatWest branch (my UK bank) for a bankers draft to pay my deposit, I got the keys to my flat and off I went! I arrived at my flat, walked up to the front door and my key wasn't unlocking the front door. I had a jangle of keys to try before I started to worry but none of them fit. One slipped in and turned but it didn't open the door. Fortunately, someone else was moving in at the same time and they opened the front door for me. I was relieved and walked in to my flat, #8. I tried the key in the door and it was the same deal...it slipped in but didn't unlock the door. Crap!! Was my immediate reaction and i tried a few more times but nothing worked. At the time I was definitely tired and not thinking straight and hungry which didn't make anything better, especially since i can't think straight on an empty stomach! I called letting agents and someone came down with a master pair of keys which worked on the first time! The guy shot me a "you're an idiot" look that made me feel completely stupid. It turned out my keys were right but I needed to turn them the other way and push the door to get it open! ahhhhhh, such a silly move on my part but then again I had somewhat of an excuse as my mind was definitely not working properly.

So I moved all my things in, did a bit of shopping and sorted things out then had a nap on the sofa as I ran through a list of things I needed to do. Sleeping seemed to be the best thing to do when I had a tangled head of todo's that I couldn't get done. That list included calling and setting up the utilities in my name, topping up my O2 mobile phone (it didn't like my credit card for over the phone payment), calling BT to setup a phone and internet, getting my train pass for work on Monday and various other tid bits. I went out later for dinner at a nice japanese noodle house that had AMAZING fried chicken for appetizers. It really reminded me of bon chon and had a delicious dipping sauce.

So here I am, Saturday night in my new flat and just trying to get my mind around living and being here. I tried to tackle some items on my shopping list today at Curry's (like Circuit City or Best Buy), the super market and Woolworths (target) but there was a fire in one of the buildings in the city centre and Woolworths was completely blocked off and closed. I was able to picked up an iron (but not an ironing board) and some new speakers (I tried plugging mine in even with an adapter and they were blown out almost instantly...yikes!). I also walked around the police line, did a bit of shopping at Marks and Spencers (clothing and food) and picked up some items to make for dinner. I made a pasta with penne and added in some sausage and made ciabatta bread on the side. It was very yummy and it gave me some more items to add to my list as I started cooking and was missing certain items.

One thing that was resolved after today's shopping trip was the doors. They have a chain built into them that pulls them closed so each door needs a stop underneath it to keep it open. I constantly hear doors slamming outside in the hallway and it's because they're all built this way, very silly and a bit annoying but I'm sure I'll get use to it. The bathroom door is a little tricky but i suppose always having it closed it okay however there is no vent (edit: I found the vent so I'm all sorted!) so any dampness collects inside unless the door is open. The shower and water pressure is REALLY nice and the reason i mention this is the Living and Working in London book I have explicitly said to check for dodgy water pressure and faucets as it's common. There's not a lot of storage in the bathroom so I will need to pick up shelf at some point but for now it's stacked around a little shelf under the sink. I'll need to pick up a proper telly (television) at some point but I've got a small one to hold me over for the time being. It looks like an IKEA run would knock out a lot of things on my ever growing list and it will probably get bigger as I've stupidly brought a lot of American appliances that I'm afraid to plugin because I don't want the speaker incident to be repeated.

I've been complaining mostly so far but they are very minor things, the flat is FANTASTIC! This place is so nice and I love that it's furnished, the space is great, I love having a separate bedroom from the lounge area and there's a big storage closet for my suitcases. The closet is massive and will definitely fit all my clothes and with enough room on the bottom to fit a small chest of drawers. I was very productive today and after a nice sleep, I was able to get out and pick up my train pass and photocard, top up my mobile at Superdrug and get groceries. There are so many others thing that happened but there's just too much to write about and I'll need to stop somewhere. I was looking forward to watching Dr. Who tonight which was the first episode of the season but for some reason this telly doesn't pick up the station which is BBC 1 and is definitely broadcasted. So maybe the antenna just isn't powerful enough or it's being blocked.

Anyways, I'm off to unpack a few more things and then crash in bed. Thank god tomorrow is Sunday as I really need another day before I start work. Stew just gave me a ring and we're going to meet up tomorrow for lunch. Awesome!

Eve of my move to London

less than 1 day until I move.

It's the final night here in New York and I'm pretty much packed. I'm going to meet Eliot at the Telephone Bar in the east village as he couldn't make it (he forgot!!) last night. Last night was jolly good (note the britishism :-)) fun and we had a good turn out at Ulysses after work. Thanks to everyone who made it out to bid me farewell, it was great to see everyone out there. It was really funny as we had a big table in the back and I was literally sat right in the middle of two tables: to my right were my work colleagues (John, Matt, John, Paras and Purvesh) and to my left were my GSEEC buddies (for life dude!) and my NAPA friends that came out to see me off. It was a fun evening, lots of chatting and laughs and just all around good fun.

Man o man, definitely feeling the butterflies today and hoping everything comes together smoothly. I think I've prepared pretty well but my mind can't help but think of all the "what ifs" it's just trained to do that and I have no control over it.

Moving day comes tomorrow, a very packed morning with meetings until 11, then Steph and Andrew want to see me before I leave which is really sweet and kind of them to do, I feel very honoured that they want to see me off on my departure day. I'm going to miss those two and all of our eating adventures as well.

Well time to pack last minute things up and head off to meet Eliot. I'm hoping a little social activity will help distract me from worrying about tomorrow...

Tomorrow brings me to London. Unbelievable.