So here I am nearing the end of my first working week in London. I feel like I've been here for a month or more, rather than under a fortnight, so I guess that means I'm settling in somewhat.
I've managed to find another route to work that involves the DLR (light rail) and only one tube and I don't even have to leave the station where the DLR finishes and the tube starts. Life is sweet. It does however involve a 15 minute walk to work, so it won't be viable on those evil London weather days. The other down side is that the tube on the return trip is one of the most crowded, so I generally have to wait in line and miss a couple before I get to the front and squeeze into the tube...nose to armpit kind of squeeze. Personal space is now down to 1 mm or less, but I seem to be coping ok.
Still no sign of Summer as such, but I am assured it is on it's way, and I look forward to the arrival with bated breath.
Work is pretty boring, but the good news is I have an interview for a permanent position (which is also far better paid) on Tuesday. Unfortunately it means I'll have to spend some of my weekend preparing for it, but such is life.
I am still yet to find a good cup of coffee near work (sorry to sound like a whinger, but it's true!). All three have been rather watery and insipid. I will persist though.
Can't really report on anything else, as I've been working hard for da money this week, or at least, attending a place of work between the hours of 9.30 am and 5.30 pm.
The weekend promises to have something more exciting to report...
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Monday, 25 June 2007
Sylvania f#*king McDonalds
Well, first day of my new job today. It took me an hour to get there, via the DLR, and then 2 tubes. Seriously. I have since investigated my other options and tomorrow will only be getting one DLR and one tube, hopefully it doesn't add more time to the journey, as it's not as direct.
Unfortunately, I had a Sylvania f#*king McDonalds incident after arriving at Farrindon station. I managed to take a wrong turn and ended up going up the wrong end of the street, searching for the building, already late, to no avail. Two phone calls and two requests from people, I found it. Half an hour late and extremely peeved. On the plus side, I had a nice jaunt through a part of London that I would probably not have otherwise visited.
The people are nice, some are friendly, although it is early days. Apparently the last two temps lasted a week put together. It was a slow day because IT didn't have a login for me until 4 pm. I spent the day filing and yawning, as I'm a little sleep deprived from the weekend. Perhaps you can tell from the tone of my post that I'm rather underwhelmed by the whole experience. We'll see how it goes.
Unfortunately, I had a Sylvania f#*king McDonalds incident after arriving at Farrindon station. I managed to take a wrong turn and ended up going up the wrong end of the street, searching for the building, already late, to no avail. Two phone calls and two requests from people, I found it. Half an hour late and extremely peeved. On the plus side, I had a nice jaunt through a part of London that I would probably not have otherwise visited.
The people are nice, some are friendly, although it is early days. Apparently the last two temps lasted a week put together. It was a slow day because IT didn't have a login for me until 4 pm. I spent the day filing and yawning, as I'm a little sleep deprived from the weekend. Perhaps you can tell from the tone of my post that I'm rather underwhelmed by the whole experience. We'll see how it goes.
Sunday, 24 June 2007
Tourist bonanza
Had a great day yesterday and today. Did the lunch BBQ with S & K's friends and then went to Julian's (Lex's boyfriend) place (1.5 hrs later on public transport) for the afternoon BBQ. A very nice guy from the party, Shane, and I arranged to do some London touristy stuff together. We went to the National Portrait Gallery this morning and I saw some famous artworks. Shane also knew his way around, so I happily handed over the navigation duties for the place...I would have ended up at Sylvania f'n McDonalds in the first 10 mins...you should have seen the maze we had to get through to get to the toilets..there could have been an incident if he wasn't there!! Then we went to the British Museum and saw an ancient Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek exhibitions and conveniently, Shane was quite knowledgeable about some of that stuff too.
Walked around Covent Garden and some markets there. Had lunch at an "English restaurant" so I ordered the Shepherd's pie (but declined the side of chips). Unfortunately, this didn't cure my hangover, but it was a welcome respite. The weather turned too miserable to continue walking (in inappropriate clothing) so we got on one of those double decker bus tours (super touristy, but it has to be done). It was great! It was a hop-on hop-off affair and we got to see quite a ot of London's sights with amusing commentary. It did come with the obligatory set of annoying Americans, but such is life. Got a free Thames river cruise included, so did that too. Of course the bus just drives past these things, so I'll go back and do the tours another time. The crowds are impressive for these places, even though the weather was cold and raining today.
Tomorrow I'm starting work so I should totter off to bed for some recuperative sleep.
Walked around Covent Garden and some markets there. Had lunch at an "English restaurant" so I ordered the Shepherd's pie (but declined the side of chips). Unfortunately, this didn't cure my hangover, but it was a welcome respite. The weather turned too miserable to continue walking (in inappropriate clothing) so we got on one of those double decker bus tours (super touristy, but it has to be done). It was great! It was a hop-on hop-off affair and we got to see quite a ot of London's sights with amusing commentary. It did come with the obligatory set of annoying Americans, but such is life. Got a free Thames river cruise included, so did that too. Of course the bus just drives past these things, so I'll go back and do the tours another time. The crowds are impressive for these places, even though the weather was cold and raining today.
Tomorrow I'm starting work so I should totter off to bed for some recuperative sleep.
Friday, 22 June 2007
The rest of week 1 in summary
Tuesday: Lex in the city
The day began with Lex and I meeting in the city to walk around and have a look at some of the sites. It was the fastest tourist afternoon in history. Thank goodness for cameras, otherwise I'd have no recollection of what we saw! Lex was a bit fast for me, so I'll go and see it all again when I've got time to take it slow and absorb it all. We saw Trafalgar Square, Admirality Arch, the Horse Guards (complete with shift change), Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament & Big Ben, and the London Eye. The Horse Guards stand in their little huts for however long...just standing there. Not sure what they are guarding exactly, as I didn't do any preliminary research. However, they did the change over while we were there, which was a bit over the top - full of pomp and ceremony. Anyway, I felt sorry for the second shift horse, who had to walk through and then stand in the excrement of the first shift horse. Surely they could get someone in there to clean it up between changeovers??!! It'd be a nasty place to be on a hot day.
Wednesday: Greenwich and ASDA supermarket
Today I met Lex at her place and we walked to Greenwich together. We had lunch at the somewhat famous Gypsy Moth pub. On the strong recommendation of the bar tender, we ordered the pork and leek sausages and mash with a red onion gravy. He eats it every day apparently. I asked to try the strawberry beer, which still tasted like beer, so I declined a whole pint. I got a glass of rose instead...apparently wine comes in sizes here - we got large (250 ml), which perhaps wasn't the best idea at lunchtime, but you live and learn. It was a lovely relaxing lunch sitting in the beer garden, which had a bit of a Newtown feel with its eclectic furniture collection.
We walked out to the Cutty Sark (the famous boat) which was burnt down a few weeks ago. I didn't bother to take a photo of the empty shell of a boat, which was surrounded by boarded fencing anyway.
I left Lex and thought I'd take an adventure to Tescos (the super-supermarket) and took the DLR (light rail) and got off at a place called Gallions Reach. I thought it would just be a 1 mile walk from the station, but didn't realise there is no pedestrian access from that part of the road. A quick call to Shanil (who found this very amusing) prevented a Sylvania f'n McDonalds incident. I got back on the DLR and went to the next station (Beckton) where there is another super-supermarket called ASDA. I got a few bits and pieces, including a bottle of wine - going with what I knew, I got some Australian wine - Lindeman's (shudder) for £5 (my maximum). In order to avoid another incident, Shanil was kind enough to pick me up from here on his way home from work. I did consider braving the buses, but it would have been a lucky dip as I'm not familiar with them yet. The wine was as bad as I thought, but we drank it anyway.
Thursday: Back to reality
I woke up feeling horrendous after my measly 2 glasses of the cheap Australian wine...and I had an appointment at 10 am with an agency in the city. I was there a little early and then had to wait half an hour after my appointment time. I did the tests for Word, Excel, Powerpoint and typing speed and went through a few positions available with the woman from the agency. Two and a half hours later, I was finally able to leave....just in time to walk around the corner to the next agency to do it all again. It was a very draining experience and I'm glad its over, and it certainly didn't do anything for my headache. Although I'm pretty sure half the headache was due to the fact that I don't really want to start working! And that was pretty much my whole day gone! Roger and I went to Tescos supermarket (my second visit) for a brief visit, and I got to see the second floor with the clothing and entertainment section. The place is just huge - overwhelmingly so. Roger bought some Chilean wine which is apparently far better (and cheaper) than the Aussie imports, so I've learnt my lesson there.
Friday: Thames Barrier Park
Yesterday in my travels I discovered that there is a big park next door (yes, I am known for my astute observation skills). The park is located near the Thames Barrier (the device that will save us all if there is a king tide) which currently appears out of order, but hey, I'm sure it's on the to-do list. I went into the park this morning and got a coffee - for a low, low £1.50. I've discovered the cheapest cafe in London!! Picked up some touristy brochures in the cafe/information area and sat back with my coffee outside in the glorious summer day - overcast and chilly. My reverie was rudely interrupted by my UK mobile ringing (yes, I now carry 2 mobiles with me, just like a drug dealer). It was the agency offering me a job to start Monday. They are paying less than what I would get out of bed for, but it's a start, and gets me out of the house. So before I got to meander through the park I had to come back and re-send my CV. And here I am updating my blog and watching the ominous dark clouds come in. A storm is predicted this afternoon. So...now that I've lunched, I will go back to the park and have a look around. At least it will be one achievement in the day!
Well, I have the job, and will turn up bright and early for a 9.30 am start on Monday morning. It's a 5 week job at a Housing Group company in the city. I wish I could say I'm looking forward to it, but alas, I'm finding it hard to get excited. But I am looking forward to the weekend ahead!
The day began with Lex and I meeting in the city to walk around and have a look at some of the sites. It was the fastest tourist afternoon in history. Thank goodness for cameras, otherwise I'd have no recollection of what we saw! Lex was a bit fast for me, so I'll go and see it all again when I've got time to take it slow and absorb it all. We saw Trafalgar Square, Admirality Arch, the Horse Guards (complete with shift change), Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament & Big Ben, and the London Eye. The Horse Guards stand in their little huts for however long...just standing there. Not sure what they are guarding exactly, as I didn't do any preliminary research. However, they did the change over while we were there, which was a bit over the top - full of pomp and ceremony. Anyway, I felt sorry for the second shift horse, who had to walk through and then stand in the excrement of the first shift horse. Surely they could get someone in there to clean it up between changeovers??!! It'd be a nasty place to be on a hot day.
Wednesday: Greenwich and ASDA supermarket
Today I met Lex at her place and we walked to Greenwich together. We had lunch at the somewhat famous Gypsy Moth pub. On the strong recommendation of the bar tender, we ordered the pork and leek sausages and mash with a red onion gravy. He eats it every day apparently. I asked to try the strawberry beer, which still tasted like beer, so I declined a whole pint. I got a glass of rose instead...apparently wine comes in sizes here - we got large (250 ml), which perhaps wasn't the best idea at lunchtime, but you live and learn. It was a lovely relaxing lunch sitting in the beer garden, which had a bit of a Newtown feel with its eclectic furniture collection.
We walked out to the Cutty Sark (the famous boat) which was burnt down a few weeks ago. I didn't bother to take a photo of the empty shell of a boat, which was surrounded by boarded fencing anyway.
I left Lex and thought I'd take an adventure to Tescos (the super-supermarket) and took the DLR (light rail) and got off at a place called Gallions Reach. I thought it would just be a 1 mile walk from the station, but didn't realise there is no pedestrian access from that part of the road. A quick call to Shanil (who found this very amusing) prevented a Sylvania f'n McDonalds incident. I got back on the DLR and went to the next station (Beckton) where there is another super-supermarket called ASDA. I got a few bits and pieces, including a bottle of wine - going with what I knew, I got some Australian wine - Lindeman's (shudder) for £5 (my maximum). In order to avoid another incident, Shanil was kind enough to pick me up from here on his way home from work. I did consider braving the buses, but it would have been a lucky dip as I'm not familiar with them yet. The wine was as bad as I thought, but we drank it anyway.
Thursday: Back to reality
I woke up feeling horrendous after my measly 2 glasses of the cheap Australian wine...and I had an appointment at 10 am with an agency in the city. I was there a little early and then had to wait half an hour after my appointment time. I did the tests for Word, Excel, Powerpoint and typing speed and went through a few positions available with the woman from the agency. Two and a half hours later, I was finally able to leave....just in time to walk around the corner to the next agency to do it all again. It was a very draining experience and I'm glad its over, and it certainly didn't do anything for my headache. Although I'm pretty sure half the headache was due to the fact that I don't really want to start working! And that was pretty much my whole day gone! Roger and I went to Tescos supermarket (my second visit) for a brief visit, and I got to see the second floor with the clothing and entertainment section. The place is just huge - overwhelmingly so. Roger bought some Chilean wine which is apparently far better (and cheaper) than the Aussie imports, so I've learnt my lesson there.
Friday: Thames Barrier Park
Yesterday in my travels I discovered that there is a big park next door (yes, I am known for my astute observation skills). The park is located near the Thames Barrier (the device that will save us all if there is a king tide) which currently appears out of order, but hey, I'm sure it's on the to-do list. I went into the park this morning and got a coffee - for a low, low £1.50. I've discovered the cheapest cafe in London!! Picked up some touristy brochures in the cafe/information area and sat back with my coffee outside in the glorious summer day - overcast and chilly. My reverie was rudely interrupted by my UK mobile ringing (yes, I now carry 2 mobiles with me, just like a drug dealer). It was the agency offering me a job to start Monday. They are paying less than what I would get out of bed for, but it's a start, and gets me out of the house. So before I got to meander through the park I had to come back and re-send my CV. And here I am updating my blog and watching the ominous dark clouds come in. A storm is predicted this afternoon. So...now that I've lunched, I will go back to the park and have a look around. At least it will be one achievement in the day!
Well, I have the job, and will turn up bright and early for a 9.30 am start on Monday morning. It's a 5 week job at a Housing Group company in the city. I wish I could say I'm looking forward to it, but alas, I'm finding it hard to get excited. But I am looking forward to the weekend ahead!
Monday, 18 June 2007
Lishi has landed!
Welcome to my blog! After a most enjoyable flight with JAL (including overnight stopover in Tokyo complete with kimono), I arrived at Heathrow on Saturday afternoon, for my first introduction to the famous British efficiency. A painfully slow queue at immigration was made worse by the man behind me trying to reduce his waiting time by coming so close he was practically mounting me. I had to bring the carry on luggage into play to try and get him to keep his distance, but he was not to be dissuaded. It was quite a dance with him and my luggage through the queue, but in the end I accepted that my personal space has now been brought into line with that of Londoners...approximately 1 cm.
On the car trip back to my hosts' abode (S&K), I saw Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Big Ben, The Thames and the like. I was about to ask S&K to drop me back at the airport, seeing as I had pretty much seen all London has to offer, but thought I'd give it a few days and see if I could find anything else of note.
On Sunday we had a BBQ with guests from Finland, Samoa, New Zealand, Italy, US, Australia, and some locals just for good measure. London put on its finest weather and spewed forth about 20 minutes of sun. The clouds and wind followed for the rest of the day. Not to be put off, I braved it outside until my fingers went purple...after all, its Summer for god's sake! I did manage to get a little bit of sunburn on my face (or cloud burn as the case may be) so I feel like I've gotten my money's worth.
Today I went into the city, taking the DLR and the tube successfully...and pretty damn proud of it too. I managed to complete the round trip without any wrong turns to Sylvania f'n McDonalds (I apologise for those that don't know the private joke there). I got my second taste of British efficiency by waiting 45 minutes in a queue at the bank to pick up my card. It wasn't too bad though, as they had a waiting room with tea and coffee facilities. By some strange twist of fate, Lexy who arrived this morning fresh from Sydney, walked into the waiting room and so we caught up on the last few days of news.
Lexy has to pop out of the country in order to come back in to activate her visa in the next week, so we might trot off to one of the Nordic countries, or perhaps Spain, for a quick trip. You know how it is. So that sounds nice.
In any case, I must totter off to complete my CV in order to become gainfully employed...the conversion rate is killing me, I think I paid a week's rent for a snack this afternoon!
I'd love to attach a photo, but all I have is one of me in the kimono from the hotel...and I'm not making that publicly available. I'll start taking some pics when I see something of note...like the sun for instance.
Bye for now...
On the car trip back to my hosts' abode (S&K), I saw Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Big Ben, The Thames and the like. I was about to ask S&K to drop me back at the airport, seeing as I had pretty much seen all London has to offer, but thought I'd give it a few days and see if I could find anything else of note.
On Sunday we had a BBQ with guests from Finland, Samoa, New Zealand, Italy, US, Australia, and some locals just for good measure. London put on its finest weather and spewed forth about 20 minutes of sun. The clouds and wind followed for the rest of the day. Not to be put off, I braved it outside until my fingers went purple...after all, its Summer for god's sake! I did manage to get a little bit of sunburn on my face (or cloud burn as the case may be) so I feel like I've gotten my money's worth.
Today I went into the city, taking the DLR and the tube successfully...and pretty damn proud of it too. I managed to complete the round trip without any wrong turns to Sylvania f'n McDonalds (I apologise for those that don't know the private joke there). I got my second taste of British efficiency by waiting 45 minutes in a queue at the bank to pick up my card. It wasn't too bad though, as they had a waiting room with tea and coffee facilities. By some strange twist of fate, Lexy who arrived this morning fresh from Sydney, walked into the waiting room and so we caught up on the last few days of news.
Lexy has to pop out of the country in order to come back in to activate her visa in the next week, so we might trot off to one of the Nordic countries, or perhaps Spain, for a quick trip. You know how it is. So that sounds nice.
In any case, I must totter off to complete my CV in order to become gainfully employed...the conversion rate is killing me, I think I paid a week's rent for a snack this afternoon!
I'd love to attach a photo, but all I have is one of me in the kimono from the hotel...and I'm not making that publicly available. I'll start taking some pics when I see something of note...like the sun for instance.
Bye for now...
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