I Love Elena

Guy Fox Day

Guy Fox Day is early November, sorry for the delay. It's a time in London when everyone goes bananas for fireworks and bonfires. We went to the Battersea Park fireworks display which I can say was the best fireworks show I've ever seen. The reason behind the holiday is to celebrate that a guy named Guy Fox did not succeed in burning down Parliament. If you've seen the movie V for Vendetta, you might have an idea of the story. Turn on your sound for the video.

What The Guys Are Wearing

I've wanted to post this observation for a while now but have not gotten to it until now. These Keds are what guys are wearing these days. Generally in black or in white but when you see guys wearing the white ones they are always filthy dirty because walking on the streets of London will do that. I remember I had the black ones that I put rainbow laces on in 1987.

Meet The Neighbours

Southbank

Another one of the many different areas of London, Southbank is home to many attractions such as Royal Festival Hall, the London Eye, and the OXO Tower Wharf. The night views from Waterloo bridge are pretty amazing.



Professional sand artists making their home by the river.


The British Film Institute. I'm not exactly sure how this place works but it is always very busy . There is a restaurant, a cafe and a bar inside and there seems to be tons of people just hanging around like it's some sort of library. Whatever it is, it seems like a very interesting place. I will find out more and let you know.

Places I've Been

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Sanderson for drinks at the Long Bar. Apparently owned by the same people as the Gansevoort in NYC, it has a very similar indoor garden patio thing going.

The Movie Edition

Recently I liked:

Superbad (2007)

Michael Clayton (2007)

Manhattan (1979)

The Hoax (2006)

Ratatouille (2007)

A Dutch Getaway

After the craziness of last week, I felt like I really needed to get out of the City and catch up on some R&R. So I hopped on a plane and headed to the Dutchland. A 45 minute plane ride later and I'm enjoying village life. On Saturday, after a mid-morning visit to Rogier's grandmother in a town outside of Amsterdam called Almeera, we headed to the Beverly Hills of Holland .

In the glitzy town of Naarden.

Our touristic instincts in action - the local church.

I think this is Cornelius. Yes mom I did get a new scarf.

Back in Amsterdam - a typical autumn evening.

Getting ready for the holiday season on the Zeedijk.

My Second Flat

I might have forgotten to mention that I've moved - this folks is where I spent a gajillion hours last week. Not quite the duplex penthouse that I used to live in.

The Housewarming I Never Had (in Toronto)

We had our housewarming party on Saturday night. There were about 30+ people and still plenty of space in the flat. Half my friends, half Jacky's. Good turnout considering I don't even know anyone here.


I walked my mug around a few times, so it was almost like you were all there.

Me and the Dutch contingent.

View from above.

You may recognize AJ from such places as the TDot.

My flatmate Jacky on the left and Julianna on the right.

Worst Tourist Ever

I am officially the world's worst tourist. Since I'm trying to stick to my very tight budget over here - I refuse to buy a guidebook because let's face it all of the information is online anyway. So as a consequence of this cheapness, I usually have no idea where I'm going or what I should be seeing because I don't have a printer to print all this great information. Generally I have been just bumping into landmarks when I'm "in the neighbourhood" to do something else. For example, two weekends ago I went for dim sum at Bayswater/Queensway station tube station. After dim sum I decided to wander around and low and behold... I stumble across Hyde Park and Kensington Palace. Being the horrible tourist that I am, I can't remember if I came here the only other time I visited London.

This is one of a number of flower sculptures created in memory of Diana.


Gardens outside the Kensington Palace State Apartments. Was going to go in the State Apartments, but again that cost money :)

Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill

One of the best things about living in London is the many markets all over the city. Portobello Road Market has so far been my favourite - sure I've only been to 1 other one but still. Fruit, food, clothes, antiques, jewellrey - makes for a very interesting stroll. I think it would be nice to live in the West but it's just too far from work and since I'm a bird that works ridiculous hours for a living, that's just not going to do.

This stand had 3 different giant pans of Paella cooked fresh in front of you.

On my wishlist - this 1950s abstract painting. Approximately 250 pounds.

I came home with these cheap finds... Yes "vintage", I'm a new person now - in London I buy vintage :)

It's HR not HAYTCH ARE

Hello everyone! I'm alive and well - literally alive in the online world again. We finally got internet here at the flat after a few weeks of requesting it. My life is SO MUCH BETTER now. All is well on the work front too. After a slow first week, last week was actually quite busy and I think this week might be more of the same. This weekend was pretty relaxed.

Saturday:

Brunch in South Kensington at Aubaine - http://www.aubaine.co.uk/home.html with AJ and Maja.

Went to Selfridges for the first time. It wasn't really all that I was expecting it to be. Didn't buy anything for a few reasons. 1. I have not been paid yet and 2. I am broke. Then AJ and I went to Primark. This is a truly unique experience. Primark is a discount store where you can buy for eg. 3 pairs of tights for 2 pounds or say a tshirt for 6 pounds - obviously very cheap by London standards. I guess since there is no Walmart here, this would be the equivalent but much less comprehensive. Basically it just sells clothes and house linens. The line up for the cash is about 45 minutes and I made AJ wait with me while I bought 1 roll of wrapping paper and a few pairs of socks. Hey, it's not really like we had anything better to do :)

Dinner on Brick Lane, lots of little indian restaurants.

Sunday:

Attended a baby christening in Loughton. Would have some very cute baby pics to post except that my camera ran out of battery. Just before it ran out however I was able to get these less than professional shots. Not my best work. There were lots of kids there it was like nursery school. British kids are just extra cute because of that accent.

Oh yes re: my subject line - one of the very annoying things about brit talk is the fact that people here insist on pronouncing the letter "H" as HAYTCH. Since I'm new and getting set up I have a lot of contact with these HAYTCH ARE people and/or people refer me to HAYTCH ARE all the time. Soooooo annoying. It's H not HAYTCH!!!! (Or is it? I guess they did invent the language.)

First day of work

So today was the first day of work. It was just basic induction stuff - basic IT primer, met all the support groups and filled in some forms. I think I was expecting work here to feel completely different but surprisingly everything feels the same. I guess at the end of the day a law firm is a law firm wherever you go. Even all the programs they use are the same as the ones I used in Toronto. The offices are really nice and modern but so was my office at BCE Place. The only main difference I guess is that I have no friends here yet and I feel much more awkward. Ahhh... the joys of starting a new job :)

Picking up internet signal in my new flat

Just wanted to give a quick update - I am picking up an unsecured wifi network here at the new flat. However there were about 20 different wifi network signals that I picked up which were all SECURED. Wow... London is selfish with their wifi!! Anyway this is making me very HAPPY (now I know how you feel Karin!!)... I will now surf around as my flatmate cooks dinner :)

Back in London

So I'm back in London and work starts tomorrow. Currently I'm using internet from my service apartment but I'm staying at my new flat starting tonight. Apparently in the UK you can't get broadband until you have a working phoneline. You may not even "order" internet until you have a phoneline that works - there is no putting in an order for both at the same time. So I may not have broadband for a few more days since the phoneline will start working only tomorrow. Oh the thought of having no internet is quite painful... but like all the other inconvenient things I've encountered - I will just have to deal (what a tough life!). I will write about my first day at work as soon as I get back online.

I'm with the Band

One day I will be able to say that I was there when it all began.

My favourite band member. You may recognize his guitar from such places as - my Shanghai blog "Shanghai Shopping Bonanza Part 1".