Gung hei faat choi

The year of the pig was welcomed in traditional style with a big meal and a few beers with friends. In fact the theme of this blog could easily be simply eating with friends, as looking over the photos that seems to be just about all we have been up to recently ...

Snowy morning in Regents Park

More snow

Whilst perhaps not quite as traditional an experience as we are used to in Sydney, Chinese New Year did include a pretty impressive fireworks effort, which if lacking in colour, more than made up for it in smoke and noise. Once again reminding us of mans ability to blow stuff up! And Chinese New Year wouldn't be Chinese New Year without eating so much you feel like Mr Creosote from Monty Pythons' Meaning of Life...

Uni people on the Central Line tube

Lunch at the Bridge House in Little Venice

Jenai, Matt and Ainslie

Gastropub

The constant stream of visitors has continued unabated, despite this not being an ideal time of year to be here. Jenai and Matt called in a couple of times on either side of some warmer stops on the European leg of their American relocation tour. It was a little surreal to have more uni people in a pub in Putney, than are currently living in Sydney, but I guess that's the way things are at the moment? Anyways, was great to have so many of the old crew together in one place for a change, particularly as it might be the last time for a little while...

Queuing for a late night bagel

Chinese New Year dinner

Francoise also stopped by for a couple of days of high-octane shopping, eating and a little sightseeing. Her visit was highlighted by dinner at St John, a restaurant which describes itself as Traditional English Snout to Tail Dining. Dinner was awesome, with jellied pigs ears and bone marrow salad being the unexpected (?) highlights. Being a traditional English restaurant, Hobbes transition to a ale drinker was put to the test, and we are happy to say that progress is being made.

The tall peoples' table

Andy, Francoise and Ray

While too much time has been spent inside the M25 (actually too much time within Zone 2) we did head out to Wendover in Buckinghamshire for Sunday lunch at Rossini with Aimes' work colleagues. Little wonder we have felt the need for much gymming between our frequent dining.

Greek in Putney

St John

So although we have done a lot of eating and drinking, it is not strictly true that we haven't achieved anything else recently. We have managed to finally move house (more about that in the next post) and have almost sorted half our new visas (though there is still a little way to go on that issue). Although it is true that we have both been working too much, with Aimes' marketing campaign coming to fruition and Hobbes learning to have no life as it seems is standard for expat engineers in the UK?

Aimes and Francoise

Bone Marrow Salad

In other news, we had another dump of snow (refer photos below) which was a little more substantial than the previous effort. actually with the prolonged heavy snowfall, the novelty of it all started to wear off, particularly for Hobbes who due to tube problems ended up walking to work from Edgeware Road resulting in much wetness and near frostbite. As for the previous dump, the salting was too effective an not much of it settled, with most roads/footpaths resembling Friday Flat on a sunny day.

Sunday lunch in Wendover

It snow joke, winter's finally arrived

So after a couple of months of waiting for something positive to come out of the cold darkness, the snow finally arrived... it may have been gone by lunchtime, but for a couple of hours this morning grey old London was transformed into a winter wonderland...

Frosty on Fitzroy Street

7:15am, outside Oli's window

Heading to work

8:00am, Widley Road (yes we were up earlier than usual)

Hobbes rugged up

8:30am, Regents Park

More Regents Park

It wasn't all good news - severe delays all round

Further festivities & farewell Pennard Road

A few more photos from the festive season.... and also a very sad farewell to Pennard Road and some awesome housemates!

NYE @ Oxford Circus Tube
Pennard Road

Since we last posted, NYE has come and gone, with 2007 being welcomed in various styles in Islington, Pennard Road and... West Ruislip. Despite a chronic lack of planning on some parts (which resulted in most favoured locations being booked out) we ended up having a pretty good one by all accounts at the Cedar Room in Upper Street.

Mim at Wapping Food

Industrial meets Fashion meets Yummy Mummies With Nothing Better to Do Messy and Sara, on the Tube, NYE

'twas the night before Christmas

The new year hasn't brought too many changes thus far, with the break in scheduled programming of work and grey weather being waaaaaay too short. It probably doesn't help that much of our past few weekends has been filled with the thorougly unglamorous task of house hunting. Perhaps even less appealling here in London than in Sydney??

That paint wasn't there an hour ago...

The latest in London fashionsChristmas excess

However, all this seemingly pointless trekking about town looking at delapidated hovels, has not been for nought, as just when we were ready to give up and doss permanently in Aimes' nephew's bedroom (what, you never read that part of the agreement Sid and Simone?), we found somewhere not just liveable, but actually (dare we say it), nice... but more on that next episode...

Pennard posse
Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder, farewell breakfast shots
Leith, Aimes and Breeza

However, this breakthrough in the London housing market, has meant that we have said a very sad farewell to the awesome housemates (and dossers) that have made the past 9 months in London a constant party and have ensured that our accents have remained more 'you big bastard' and 'left one...' rather than 'you right?' or 'ahhh bless'. There have been many great times, and we have never gone short of someone to talk to or more importantly to sink a few cans with. Tonight is going to a bit of a test of our readiness to leave, as we have our first Sunday night/Monday morning in a while without a Ministry of Sound accompaniment...

Blast from the past, when Kath came to town

Hobbes at Nobu for Aimes' Birfday

So this is Christmas

Trafalgar Square gets a Christmas make overAimes turns a year older
The Christmas feast
Christmas Day
Christmas on Oxford Street

Carnaby Street lightsAustralia v Ghana at Loftus Road
Ainslie's magnificent chicken

Aimes and Kathy blag their way into Ronnie Scotts

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