Aimes sharing and caring as always Starting at the beginning (which seems as good a place as any), after our slightly extended sojourn in Sydney (3 weeks somehow mysteriously becoming 8 through a mixture of work and playstation) we finally made it to a quite warm London. The home of football hooliganism, pasty white skin, bad teeth and page 3 girls, had decided to put on a 28 degree effort to welcome us to her shores. Unfortunately, it didn't take long to become clear that we were merely being mocked, as the temperature soon plummeted and our decision to leave behind the blue skies, beaches and surf started to seem somewhat insane as we became accustomed to day after day of grey skies, cold winds and drizzle.
At this point please note that incessantly harping on about the weather is part of our attempt to assimilate into the British way of life :)
Asiana delights
However, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, en route we had a brief stopover in Seoul which warrants at least a passing mention. As well as allowing us to see what DJ loved so much about the place, the stopover also allowed us to experience the ‘heated floor’ for the first time - a good idea until you find the melted cherry ripes in your bag…
The thinker
One thing immediately noticeable about the Korean members of our flight was the depth of their obsession with duty free shopping. It must be the first and only flight where most of the passengers spent most of its duration (when they weren't asleep) shopping. There were flight attendants constantly scurrying back and forth up and down the aisles delivering the recently purchased merchandise. This behaviour was to continue within the Icheon International Airport where the duty free shops were jammed packed as if they were all about to close down, leaving the rest of the terminal like a ghost town.
Other than this we didn’t get to see too much of the place, we did do a bit of a walk around town and fuelled up on some hot noodles and beer (reacquainting ourselves with the Korean beers we had been knocking off in Mongolia), but that was about all we had time for…
Hobbs' (sic) Pie and Mash Shop
So we eventually did arrive in London and had our first (second for some) experiences of the city we intend to call home for the next couple of years. Why we decided that moving to one of the most expensive cities in the world after having not worked for a year is anyone’s guess but here we found ourselves. Fortunately we had the hospitality of Pat and Emma, a recently purchased double airmattress from Argos (yes Argos, more about that later) and house of 20 other antipodeans to help us settle in.
These first few days proved a steep learning curve as we learnt the importance of the Off Licence, which of the 20,000 chicken shops are worth going to and that Fosters really isn’t that bad when you can get 8 cans for 5 squids innit.
Hobbs (sic) Barbers Shop
Basically much of our first couple of weeks has been spent walking, from Notting Hill to Earls Court, from Camden Market to Regents Park, from Euston Road to Islington, from Whitechapel to Old Street, from Shepherds Bush to Soho, from Greenwich to Canary Wharf you get the idea. We think there are about 6 locations on the monopoly board that we didn’t cover, but plenty of time for that during the forthcoming Monopoly Board Pub Crawl (when Hobbes learns to drink more than 10 pints that is). But it was a good way to get to know the place, not spend too many Aussie pesos and give the 20 other housemates a bit of space...
Hobbes, Ainslie and Rohie take on the English summer
Integral to our crash course in living in London we have been quickly acquainted with the many and varied ways to save a quid or two, among them being the wide assortment of oversized discount shops. Apparently at the top of the list sits Argos, where we have been faithfully assured that you can get absolutely anything you want, be it a length of garden hose, a plasma tv or an airmattress. This is not to mention Primark the home of the machine washable suit - it keeps on saving you money! With these chain stores on every second corner and the ubiquitous pound shops everywhere else, it soon became clear why all the spruikers out the front of the discount shops in Sydney are poms…
The white cliffs of Seaford?
Although it doesn't seem like we have done too many of the London tourist slights we've already checked out the Museum of London, The British Museum, the Royal Observatory, Hyde Park, Regents Park, Covent Garden, Camden Market, Westminster, Trafalgar Square - in addition to all the walking aforementioned. Though this has really made us understand why we are here – you can see all of this and have barely scratched the surface of what London has to offer!
Walking in the countryside - very English
Anyways, after a few weeks abusing the hospitality of not just Pat and Emma, but also Rohie and Ainslie down at East Grinstead (birthplace of L. Ron Hubbard for those Scientologists amongst us) and of Russell in New Cross, we found our own room in Shebu. For those of you not acquainted with Aussie life in the UK, Shebu is Shepherds Bush, a little piece of bogans-ville in London. Not only does it have a Walkabout, it has an Aussie Pie Shop and Pete Murray concerts on what seems a weekly basis.
A Greenwich pie shop
The boys cooking up a storm
The housemates (all 12 of them) are a pretty good group, even if they do manage to make us feel like ancient teetotallers most of the time. The can recyclers from Vietnam could probably retire after collecting one weeks worth of empty cans from our recycling. But you are never without someone to talk to and more likely someone to have a beer with. The boys splashed out on a pool for the backyard last week, and not some tiny wading pool, a 2m long, half metre deep effort – the first time either of us have lived in a house with a pool! Add in a couple of BBQs (not gas of course, this is Ingerland) and what more could you ask for?
The only bad thing about Shebu is that unfortunately it has far fewer chicken shops than Willesden…
Speakers Corner, Hyde Park
While down with Ains and Roh, we did a drive in the countryside, rolling green pastures, quaint pubs every couple of miles and newly born lambs made for a very English experience. We took in the white cliffs of Seaford and witnessed the crazy poms sunning themselves on the rocks below in the freezing conditions (wot, the sun were out weren’t it?). With the necessary bangers, mash and a pint thrown in to the mix it made for a great day and really sold us on the English countryside!
The Shebu pad
No comments:
Post a Comment