Friday, April 30, 2010

Working.

Well, sorry for the lack of updates. In between being incredibly sick, I have been working as a vote counter in the UK election. This job is by far, THE worst job I have ever had. I sit in a classroom, and open envelopes, all day. I sometimes consider stabbing myself with the letter opener to make the day a little more interesting. On top of this, after tax and transport costs, I am taking home less than $60 a day. SCREW THE UK AND THEIR CRAPPY JOB MARKET AND EVEN MORE CRAPPY MINIMUM WAGE!!! 3 years of my life at university was quite obviously the best decision I have ever made..... (please read that last sentence in a sarcastic tone). One more day there and I have decided I am quitting. I could be focusing the 10 hours a day on finding a job that pays more than I earnt when I was 15!

On a positive note, I have had a couple of phone interviews this week. Fingers crossed they come through with the goods as these jobs sound a lot better.

Went to the Temper Trap / Sarah Blasko show last night but forgot my camera so heres a quick summary -

Temper Trap - get better every time I see them.
Sarah Blasko - still dances like a retard.

Going to see them again on Friday and have a few 'cure my sickness/drink myself into oblivion to try and cheer myself up' drinks at the after party. Other upcoming gigs I am going to are - The postelles, The antlers, Still Flyin, The national, and in June.... Glastonbury!

Thats all for now. Wish me luck in my job hunting. Hopefully my mad skillz will shine through to some budding recruiter. After all, I am smarter than Google. This chrome browser pulls up 'earnt' as a spelling error! Even I know thats a real word...

PS, I also know 'skillz' is not an actual word.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

London update.

We have pretty much settled into our house now and starting to work out the local neighborhood. We are situated in inner east london, in a community that is multi-cultural to say the least. There is a big Bangladeshi community in our area, which means awesome and cheap food for us.

I have been looking for work. I am working as a vote counter in the UK general election for the next week and a bit just to pay this months rent. Then it looks like I may be starting work for a payroll company, which I am pretty happy about as the money is good, and its located close to Katie's work at Oxford Circus. Also means I will be able to cycle to work.

Speaking of cycling, I have been riding everywhere. London is a great city for cycling as its so flat, just gotta watch out for the crazy double decker buses.

I have footy training again tonight with the big match this weekend, the ANZAC cup. Its the only day of the year when the whole team is made up of Australians and apparently around 3000 people turn up to watch. Hopefully can kick a couple of sausage rolls.

Lastly, happy birthday to this big guy. I miss you. I will eat an eggplant parma in your honour this evening.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Brick Lane market.

On Sunday we went for a wander down to the Brick Lane market. Its not far from our house and has some of the most amazing foods and products for sale. If it can be bought, you can get it here.

Animal shirts -



Ukeleles! Yes, that shop is called "The Duke Of Uke". Amazing.



This was for sale amongst a stall of motorcycle protective gear. Was considering it for when I grow my moustache and look like Freddy Mercury.



I also found this photo in my collection. Nothing to do with the market but a great sunrise view from my house.



My life for the next week is job hunting, job hunting, job hunting, and um.... job hunting.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Being a tourist in London.

Last night Katie and I went down to London's famous West End and caught Avenue Q. Its a comedy musical involving puppets and was pretty funny.



Tickets were only 11 pounds but we were way up the top of the theatre. Still good value for money though.

An excited Katie waiting at the box office -



We picked up the tickets and went out for some delicious chinese at Mr Kongs. They give you oranges at the end of your meal. Yum!



Today we did our best tourist impression and went along the south bank of the Thames to the Tate Modern. Got to see some pretty famous artwork from Warhol, Picasso, Matisse, and many more.

Warhol -





I'm skeptical that these two pieces can be called art -





Was a pretty cool gallery in an amazing building.

Afterwards we went for a ride on the London Eye. It was ok.



My house is out there somewhere -







Big Ben and Big Ben -



A fun day out. Brick Lane market and curry tomorrow.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

A new bike.

I have been looking for an alternative to get around London to the underground. Travelling on the train is a)expensive and b)always underground, so you never get to see the actual city.

I found an ad on gumtree for a really cool bike so I went and met the guy today. He was dodgy to say the least, but the bike is rad and cheap. So I bought it. Its probably stolen I know, but I figure in a city of 7 million people, what are the chances of running into its original owner. For the price (150 pounds/$250) it was too good to resist.

Its a 2009 Giant Bowery Mashup. So heres a couple of photo's.





Riding it home I saw London Bridge, the Tower of London, and St.Pauls Cathedral. Hadn't seen any of them yet as I was always travelling on the train.

Fun times on my new toy ahead...

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The mighty Wandsworth Demons!

I had my first training session with the Wandsworth Demons today down at Clapham Common. Was a bit of a workout and also a bit of a hike to get there. There are closer clubs but there is no way I am pulling on a magpies guernsey.

Its like a typical Aussie bogan footy club, except in London. They like beer, and footy.

Bed time now. I am rooted from the run.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

My London home.

Thought I would put a little video of our new house up on here, as it seems half of Melbourne has announced they intend to visit at some point.



So there you go. Its pretty awesome and feels like a home already. Gonna be a fun year.