8 posts tagged “london”

The new World/ Global edition of the Monopoly board will be available from next week - and lucky for us Sydneysiders - Sydney has actually made the cut.

Sydney is the only Australian city to make an appearance in this version, also marking one of only 22 cities to actually make it on to the World Edition. ABC Online has even reported that Sydney is located next to London and New York on the board.

I am yet to check in out this fantastic feat! I'll keep eyes and ears peeled for its availability in store.

 

 

Some random observations for you from London...

The following are my topline hot topics:

1) The national diet here is not so great - it is very difficult to find a decent, healthy meal. Heaven forbid that you happen to be gluten-free because then you are really stuffed, as i have found over here to date. As a result, there has been plenty of tummy acheing, bloating and nausea. Also, all the food is pre-packaged - sandwiches, salads, fruit, desserts etc... Great if you want to pick up a lazy meal but not so great if you like your food fresh and whole!

2) As much as the whole green debate is topical here, i don't see much action - people do not practice what they preach. Where are the green friendly bags at the supermarket, where are the solar power gadgets, energy saving devices, water saving gadgets, recycling system. Nowhere to be seen, forgive me if i am wrong! I think there is big business opportunity here. Only problem is there may not be too much money to be made in the field given that the whole idea should be pretty charitable.

3) What is the obsession with foreigners and the red phone boxes - i know that i too have fallen under the spell of the red phone box. I imagine, you would have already seen my photos in front of it. EVERYONE who comes here seems to have the exact same pictures with the phone boxes! It's a tourist destination here.

4) International exchange program - i don't understand why Australia and England don't just temporarily swap countries while the fad is still hot. Perhaps a sea change is in order. We are all in London (and if we aren't there then a lot of us are talking about moving there) and the Londoners are all in Australia. We love it here and they love it in Oz. I think the majority of people that i have met here are actually from Australia and they have all recently taken up residence here. That and i have bumped into a lot of South Africans here. Who would have thought it.

5) Newspapers and TV - also not so great - How does The Sun have a page three topless girl gracing the pages consistently? How is there a porn channel readily available? Perhaps i am wrong on this one, and it is in fact the people i am staying with that have requested this :) What about the poor children that stumble across it at night? I thought you might also be interested in some of the stories that have recently made front page news here:

Teen sisters get stabbed to death by mother

Severed head found in Thames

Man gets stabbed to death out front of local corner shop

Dead body found in pool. Barrymore accussed

Young Maddy's body still not found - dead or alive

Rate rise potentially on the increase

Kiera Knightley and Sienna Miller on the town together

 

I'm sure get my drift on the observations. I just thought i would share them with you all. This is what has been keeping me up at night and keeping my mind ticking given that i am not at work - that, and keeping updated on all my email (sad, i know). It's a compulsion. I just cannot stand being out of the loop with regards to what is going on. I like being updated.

I will post some more pictures for you in a few minutes.

xx

 

The past two days went very quickly. Al and I have been staying at the Danubias Hotel at Regents Park. I have been taking it easy the past couple of days and mainly hanging out in St Johns Wood. The streets are amazing. No such thing as an average car in that place. All i have seen are Mercedes, BMWs, Bentleys, Rolls Roys and the like. The boutiques are all designer and i have quietly fallen in love with a designer called 'Joseph'. The dresses are beautiful, very elegant and i have been too scared to look at the price tags or even hazard a guess as to how much they would cost.

Alan has left for Monte Carlo for work. I should have probably considered going along with him. I spoke to him last night and he loves it over there. He said it is absolutely beautiful and he was also lucky enough to be bumped up on the plane. I believe he is also staying at an amazing hotel.

I caught up with Mia, one of my girlfriends, last night. She is an air hostess for Qantas and i luckily was able to catch up with her before she jetsetted off. I will probably catch up with Claire tonight in Soho.

Well anyway, short and sweet - but this is the news from the other side of the world. I am off to Paris on Wednesday and I can't wait. I have never been so it will definitely be an eye opener.

Love and peace to all. xx

  

I feel like i am wondering through the original Monopoly board being here in London. The names of all the places i visit are so familiar from when i was a child playing the game for hours on end with my sisters. I have visited Leicester Square, Fleet Road, Oxford Street, Piccadilly, Mayfair, Euston Road and so on and so forth.

I just went on the most amazing three hour walk through parks and woodlands at the Heath in Hampstead Heath, just to get away from all the action for a little bit and to gather my thoughts. My tune has definitely changed. The ponds are a little murky but the trees, bush area, plants have such rich emerald green colours - it is just such a powerful contrast to the rest of central London. I wandered upon a rabbit, squirrel and deer. Very unexpected.

I am struggling to get used to the fact that it doesn't actually get dark here until 10pm when back home it is pitch dark by 5:30pm. People only go to dinner late and the streets are filled with people. We went to a pub last night and people were pouring out onto the streets. The pub stunk on cigars (an absolutely horrid smell) and i still cannot get it out of my clothes despite throwing everything in the washing machine (with double the amount of washing powder that i usually use).

 

 

 

Hello all in Sydney. Things are well over here. I am learning quickly how to get around on the tube. I will even go as far as to say that i think it is a far simpler system than our transport at home. Everywhere in London seems to be a simple train ride or a quick walk from one end to the other.

There are a lot of fast food chains over here and pre-packaged foods - that part is freaking me out a little bit. I haven't been able to get a decent cup of coffee (no - not even the Starbucks here that the tourists swear by). Every bottle of wine we have had seems to be watered down. Two bottles later to no effect.

We have caught up with lots of friends, it's crazy how many of my mates are making this place home - perhaps i don't see the silver lining that they all see just yet. I'm sure i'll get there with one more week to explore this place on my own.

I'll give you a quick run down of where i have been the past couple of days - Oxford Circus, Piccadilly, Leicester Square, Waterloo, London Tower Bridge, Spitalfield markets and it goes on. I'll share some more photos with you. Miss you all xxx

 

 

 

 

 

Good afternoon from old London town. We've had an interesting time so far. It feels as though we have pretty much seen everything the first two days we have been here. The weather is very similar to Melbourne weather, experiencing four seasons in one day. We are just lucky because we are yet to experience the wet weather here.

We have seen a lot of sights and went to see a show called 'Wicked' at the Apollo Theatre last night.

I thought I would take this opportunity to share some photos with you. I hope my uploads work this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So Al and I are sitting in Sydney airport waiting for our plane to come in. Our first thoughts this morning were mostly around panic because we hadn't packed and we had so many last minute things to do. Anyway, excitement set in shortly after as we came to the realisation that we were actually getting away - especially now as the weather is MISERABLE in Sydney at the moment.

Finally after all the craziness, we got in a cab on the way to the airport, bypassed Alexandria where the roads were shut because of flooding and then shortly after we made it to the airport - stressing a little (me that is) thinking that we may be a little late. We check in, they get our seats wrong, apparently Flight Centre didn't link Al and I up, finally after a bit of a battle we get seats together. After all that stress, turns out the plane is late. We are sitting having coffee and our flight is delayed by two hours.

I took a whole bunch of silly photos in the airport to upload and show you the beginning of the trip, but stupidly left my transer usb in my bag that has already been checked in. Needless to say, I am a little frustrated.

The second frustration came after I messaged my girlfriend, Mia, who is a Qantas air hostess in first class and asked her whether she was on my flight - again, needless to say - she is not. She did, however, mention that had we given her warning she could have requested to be on the flight we were on, and also bump us up to FIRST CLASS!!! So we lost out.

NEWS FLASH!! I just messaged her to find out if she can request to be on the flight on our way home...and she replied 'yes'. She is already on it!!  Even better - she is on her way to Thailand for annual leave so will not be working in first class but will be chilling out in first class.....and best of all, we are joining her!!

First class baby, first class!!! I'll take pics from the plane.

Peace out kids. All my love....

Well I have worked the past couple of years without any leave time. In fact, I have actually cancelled two holidays that I was planning earlier this year. The first was meant to be to Thailand and the second to New York to visit my sister. This time is different! This time, I am off on holidays for two weeks so I am just taking this opportunity to say farewell. I am leaving for London and Paris (and potentially Israel - we'll see how we go) tomorrow.

I have made one promise to myself. I will make sure to get on my blog and keep you updated with the happenings from across the other side of the world. Fingers crossed I keep it.

I haven't actually taken a moment to absorb the fact that I am actually going away. It has been bum down, head up or head down, bum up - depending on the way I feel like working. It's nice to actually take a minute to slow down for once and have a breather. I feared that my life was starting resemble the picture below:

 

 

For now it is bon voyage. I'll make sure to upload my pictures at the Eiffel Tower for you!!