Catching Up

Sorry for my absence. How about this for a grand entrance:

Last weekend I saw fireworks in Greenwich, where 80,000 people were in attendence!! The reason for the fireworks, or bonfire as they call it here, was because every 5th November they celebrate with a weekend of fireworks in commeration of the capture of Guy Fawkes, who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder in the 1600's.

On the weekends I have been enjoying Chelsea. There are so many wonderful shops around and the neighbourhood is very charming. Every weekend in London there are tons of markets all over the city. The market in Chelsea has all sorts of ethnic food already made as well as cheese, vegetables, and meat that you can buy. I got two mini quiches: bacon and cheese and leek and cheese that were really good!

They are especially good heated up!

As promised, here are views of my patio on a sunnier day:

Are those palm trees? I am literally just noticing this right now haha. It's always dark by the time I get home because the sun sets here at 4pm so I haven't spent much time here.

Here is the view from my patio- it's the view of the communal gardens. (Think Notting Hill.)

This weekend I went to a Lebanese restaurant that was a set 35 GBP rate. There was so much food- 5 courses! We had two appetizers, a main entree, and two desserts. After we got to the second course I thought that was the whole meal and I was already stuffed...I barely ate the rest of the meal. Then a belly dancer danced around the restaurant and at the end of the night everyone at the restaurant was dancing...including families with grandparents!

Jessica and Joe finally arrived to the UK, so I also helped them get set up here! It's great that you can have a cell phone here practically when you get off the plane.

So Long Ice Days, Hello Tube Strike Day

So, there's a hot new excuse for getting out of work. Meet the tube strike day. Guaranteed to happen once a month and guaranteed to wreak so much havoc on the city you get a free pass to go home early (before 7pm) and a free excuse to be late in the morning :)

I actually had no problems on tube strike day- some lines are still open and it really didn't affect my journey. In fact it helped a little because the tube stopped at less stations and there were less people around.

In other news, I found the most divine breakfast ever. God must have been reading this blog and he answered my blog prayers. I think this might be in my top 5 breakfasts ever. It's incredible. The secret item is cold overnight oats in banana mango flavor from Pod. My mouth is watering right now thinking of it. It's soooo good, I can't even describe it! I tried to make cold overnight oats before in the past but totally failed, now I see why. These are incredible. It's the perfect sweetness and happiness in a bowl. 'Til morning, my friends :)

Flat Reveal

Finally home sweet home, well sort of!

The flat is fabulous, and I love the neighbourhood around it!

I will take you on a virtual tour of my new home :)

First, is the Asian statue man that greets me to my bedroom. You guessed it...I definitely did not pick this out! I am dreading the possibility of accidentally breaking this thing! It belongs in a museum.

Here is my bed....already fitted with bedding....yep the landlords maybe went a little overboard in furnishing the place. There's tons of stuff in the kitchen (plates, cups, silverware, etc) - there's almost no room for my own things! It's a little weird.

And here is the wall facing my bed- lined with closet space!! Great organisation/storage opportunity here.

Here is my living room - it's actually not complete, the couch is going to be delivered in a few days. I'll update the blog for that. I can't wait to see what the couch looks like...I am not even creative enough to picture it considering the other things in this place.

Here is the wine rack on the end of the kitchen island, complete with some wine the landlord provided. I've never had my own wine rack!

Here is a view of the kitchen and dining table. This is where I am writing this right now!

Here is the living room with the "fabulous" red rug and blue space chair which was requested to be removed but the landlord refused....they really stick to their designer taste. I swear this place was designed for a man!

My stove.

Fridge- you may laugh at the size but this is actually pretty good for London standards!

The champagne the landlord provided. Saving it for something, not sure what :)

Here's an example of all the technical thingies. Lots of light swithes and plugs. That white box controls the heater....from room to room. Looks like a baby monitor to me. Like I said, not very female friendly here.

The freezer is separate from the fridge-a lot of freezers are just one tiny box so I'm happy I have three!

Trash can built in the counter.

Dishwasher

Bathroom- I like the sink

Bathroom, continued

Bathroom with towel warmer

Shower head

Shelves

All the wine and beer the landlord provided- I promise I haven't touched any of it!

The place looks a little gloomy because I took these pictures at night, but this weekend I'll post some pics of the communal gardens!

Proper British Halloween

Well, every year I say I'm going to escape dressing up for Halloween and every year I find myself in yet another costume! Even in the UK, where Halloween is more of an "American" thing, I managed to find a big Halloween party to go to. It was a party through the Guilty Pleasures club, which hosts a big party in London every month. Next month's theme is a slumber party.

Scary?

I decided to be a Japanese pop star. I even had fake silver lashes on.

Some fellow friends in costume
The entertainment at the club

The party was huge- the venue seemed like it was a theater and it had around 4-5 floors with balconies outside as well.

Right by the stage!

As you can see everyone was very happy and there was lots of dancing! I can't keep up with these British fools!

Breakfast Champions?

I'm finding breakfast here is quite difficult to master. They don't have frozen waffles, my staple back home. They don't have breakfast tacos- major fail. Basically, I've been eating a croissant every day...which is fabulous, buttery, and flaky but not nutritious or good for the waistline! I hear their hot porridge is really good, so I guess I'll have to try that next! Next on my list to try is English muffins, but the prospects aren't looking so good!

Granola bars are basically nonexistent here as well. Kashi doesn't exist here, and I've only seen one flavor of Nature Valley granola bars at the store, which were of course quite expensive! I had been buying this thing called a Love Bar at Pret a Manger, in a pumpkin vanilla flavour. It was fabulously delicious...but mainly because the main ingredient was butter followed by caramel followed by chocolate. There weren't calories listed on it but I'm assuming that's because it probably contains 500 calories!

Any suggestions on breakfast and snacks?!

Ice, Ice, Baby

Last night I went to Ice Bar in Mayfair, basically the poshest neighbourhood in London, and the entire bar was yes, made of ice!! You pay 13.5 GBP and get this thermal jacket to wear in the bar. The price of the ticket also comes with one drink served in an ice glass.

Here is the bar-
I wish I had taken more pics of the bar. They change the design every 6 months. There are seats made of ice, tables made of ice, tvs behind blocks of ice, everything!

Here is my drink in ice.

And here are the people I went with! Keep in mind I had just ran a mile because I was late and you only get 40 minutes to spend in the bar!

Real Life Harry Potter World

Today I went to Oxford for a little day trip with three other people here with my company- one from Chicago and two from Sweden. It’s a 20GBP train ride that takes about an hour each way. I don’t have too much time to write about it, but I thought I’d leave you some pics for eye candy in case you are having a boring Monday :) We had perfect weather for the trip!

Part of the River Thames

Bodleian Library - They used to give lectures and exams here in the Seventeenth Century. The walls are lined with windows so that they could have a source of light because candles were not allowed in the library, and exams were public so people could watch you take them!

Fear God. Love the Brotherhood. Honour the King.

This is the dining hall (students actually eat here) and it is also the dining hall from the Harry Potter film. There are also influences from Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland…but I didn’t quite catch it all. (sorry it’s a terrible photo, I’ll have to look for some better ones from someone else in the group)

Beautiful gardens outside Christ College….I could live here

View from the top of the University Cathedral
My fellow travelers in front of the copy of the Venice Bridge

Perfectly manicured lawns