Good rainy Sunday morning!
I'm 11 days in and feel like an old hand already. After much fuss and bother and excessive paperwork, we have passed the reference checking for the house (thanks, Dad!) and we are officially allowed to move in on 1st July. Acton here we come!
I've also finished my first week of work. Day 1 was an adventure; taking the tube to Farringdon meant having to change lines at King's Cross at 8:30am, this is an experience akin to fighting your way through the Boxing Day shoppers to find the toilet, which is located at the other end of the megastore. So I quickly decided NOT to do that ever again unless life depended on it. My office is located in the Smithfield Market building, which is one of London's oldest grocery markets. At 3am every day, butchers from London and surrounds come here to sell wholesale meat to buyers from restaurants and cafes from all over the city. The public can buy meat too, there is a small butcher's shop across the way. I think I will try out some organic pork belly or fresh duck at some stage.
On Day 7 (Tuesday 7th June) I went with Wai Mon to visit Wai Lan & baby Ryan. He's now 4 months old and SUCH a cutie pie! He's grown a lot since I saw him in March, had his first haircut, and now smiles at people. Not me yet, because I'm a stranger :/ but hopefully I can fix that! Keep an eye out, Ryan is most likely going to be a regular feature on this blog so you can watch him grow up!
I'm 11 days in and feel like an old hand already. After much fuss and bother and excessive paperwork, we have passed the reference checking for the house (thanks, Dad!) and we are officially allowed to move in on 1st July. Acton here we come!
I've also finished my first week of work. Day 1 was an adventure; taking the tube to Farringdon meant having to change lines at King's Cross at 8:30am, this is an experience akin to fighting your way through the Boxing Day shoppers to find the toilet, which is located at the other end of the megastore. So I quickly decided NOT to do that ever again unless life depended on it. My office is located in the Smithfield Market building, which is one of London's oldest grocery markets. At 3am every day, butchers from London and surrounds come here to sell wholesale meat to buyers from restaurants and cafes from all over the city. The public can buy meat too, there is a small butcher's shop across the way. I think I will try out some organic pork belly or fresh duck at some stage.
Smithfield Markets
On Day 7 (Tuesday 7th June) I went with Wai Mon to visit Wai Lan & baby Ryan. He's now 4 months old and SUCH a cutie pie! He's grown a lot since I saw him in March, had his first haircut, and now smiles at people. Not me yet, because I'm a stranger :/ but hopefully I can fix that! Keep an eye out, Ryan is most likely going to be a regular feature on this blog so you can watch him grow up!
baby Ryan Wan
Days 8 & 9 were spent exploring the immediate surroundings of Smithfield Market. To my delight, I found these 2 gems within 2 mins walk of the front door:
Day 8
Day 9
On Thursday Wai Thing took me on a walk from Farringdon to Chinatown (by Leicester Square) via Covent Garden. There is so much to see in this city; it never stops, never sleeps, never stays the same and never stands still. Here's a snap from Covent Garden area. I love the colour theme of this city; white and red. Very regal.
Day 10
Saturday 11th June - weekend! I'd scored some free festival tickets through a good friend and Steffi and I dutifully trucked off down to Clapham Common - possibly the biggest expat Kiwi & Aussie enclave (bar Shepherds Bush) in London - for the Southern Sounds music festival. Headlining were INXS (meh) and Shihad (EXCELLENT). After being away from NZ for so long, it was a strangely stirring and patriotic afternoon, hearing my own accent and slang all around me. Not a British person to be seen. Could have been a summer gig at The Mount, Grey Lynn Park or any other outdoor area in NZ. Except for the crappy weather of course. My favourite moment is captured here:
Day 11
Today, Day 12, will be spent moaning about the rain, eating toast with peanut butter, surfing the net, watching some TV and finally getting dressed around 2pm. Ahhhhh Sunday!
Until next time!
x ML
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Impressive Smithfield Markets and I love picture of day 10,white and red.xx
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