Rob Hadden
I'm Rob. I am a doctors of medicine and I'm going to New Zealand to work cause it's a nice place.Dr Rob
I'm going to live with my friend James, in a house.
Travel Blog Posts
May 14th 2009
OK, quick update! So on Saturday James took me around to his school cause he had a few jobds to do! Bigger than the last one he worked in! Then we drove out to the coast for a beach walk and great views over to South Island. That eveing we went to see Steve Coogan Live! Ah ha!! Sunday was a great suprise as I got taken to the Wellington Food festival plenty of great wines and food to try... Headed over to South Island on Monday, felt queasy on the ferry crossing, but found a stray Metoclopramide in my drug supply.. Did the trick. Drove down to Blenheim and managed to fit an afternoon wine tour in (3.5hrs down the Road in Christchurch whilst writing this, have just bumped into 2 guys off Mondays tour!) ... read more
May 5th 2009
Landed last night and wen for many beers with James. There are one or two here that could compete with the English ales, but not many. Still after a long flight the liquid refreshment was most welcome! Unfortunately whilst removing my laptop from it's case in customs, I dropped it on the floor. Even tho it worked straight after (and once i arrived in Wellington), today it seems to be buggered... And proper buggered at that. So James is letting me use his for this! Today i went around the botanical gardens in Wellington and the Cable car museum. It was very nice. Then James came home and we ordered pizza, from Hell. Anyhoo enjoy the pics...... read more
May 1st 2009
Today I've been up the Peak to see the views from above the city. There's a funicular railway system to get up there and once at the top you're straight into a shopping Mall. Hong Kong is basically food and shopping... I was glad to see that after each trainload of passengers they stopped to wipe down all the hand rails with disinfectant. They are taking the potential swine flu pandemic very seriously here. Then headed back down the hill and wondered over to the medical Sciences museum (yes, I know, I'm a geek...) which is based in the Old Pathological Institute, founded during the bubonic plague outbreak in the 19th century. Basically all medicine in Hong Kong is based on public health (and midwifery + radiology) according to this museum. They've had their fair share ... read more
April 30th 2009
So... Woke up yesterday and decided to explore the local area. No matter where you are in the world, there always seems to be a Starbucks, so with coffee in hand I waited for the Noon Gun (a big gun that they fire at midday everyday) to be fired at 1200. Guess what, it was like a big gun being fired at 12:00pm. Then wondered into a local street café, unfortunately the menu was all in cantonese, but a nice lady saw me looking puzzled and ordered me a big bowel of soup noodles. Lunch set me back £2.50... On to Hong Kong Park with its conservatory and aviary. Also took a trip around the tea museum, which made me really want a cup of tea, so headed back to hotel and had a beer. Went ... read more
April 29th 2009
OK chaps! I'm on my way to New Zealand... Unfortunatly I had to calm my nerves with a couple of pints of Titanic Velvet Curtain (very tasty porter, moderately hopped) in Heathrow T5. Spotted one dude with a surgical mask on (paranoid per chance?). Once he was on the plane he took it off, I took this opportunity to cough an sneeze as much as I could and as close by him as possible. Needless to say he spent the rest of the journey with his mask on... I on the other hand might get swine/bird flu (depending on the day of the week)... So we're all settled in for the flight and the captain asks the stewards to "take seats for landing"... Followed by lots of laughing over the intercom.. I'm still nervous. On the ... read more
December 28th 2008
New Zealand Immigration have turned down my work visa application, resulting in me loosing my job in Wellington. Why? Because of slightly raised liver enzymes on my blood tests. I think it just shows that my liver is working, more work = more enzymes. Anyway I'm now on a strict(ish) weight loss regime and drinking only minimal quantities of ale. So i headed off to Spain cause Ellie was there for Xmas and new Year and I wanted to take a break from sitting at home in damp boring suburban Hampton and do something fun. We went to the bar on the first night and 4 rounds for 3 people came to around £12, result! We spent a day in Tarragona walking round the street market and roman ruins. It was great, there were baby chicken ... read more
My mate Max has a pub.
Published: January 16th 2009Europe » United Kingdom » England » Hampshire » Winchester
December 20th 2008
The clue is in the title... My mate Max bought a pub earlier in the year... So I paid him a visit. It's a lovely little pub near next to the Royal Hampshire Hospital. They had 5 beers on and they were all yummy. I had to keep trying them, pint after pint... Then i was hungry so on the advice of Ziggy I bought me a burger. It was the most awesome burger in the whole world, ever... Max is a good chef. I will be returning with Ellie to feed here awesome burgers and cider. So if yer in the region of Winchester or unfortunate enough to end up in the Royal Hampshire Hospital, visit the St James Tavern! Rob xxx ... read more
December 11th 2008
I've been pootling around Hampton and Twickenham the last few days waiting for news on my visa. Exciting things i've done include: Walking round Carlisle Park, going to a continental Market in Twickenham, falling over in a pot-hole in the middle of the road in Twickenham and watching much daytime TV. Unfortunately only an hour or so ago I got news from the embassy that all is not well, in particular they don't want to give me a visa on some very dubious health grounds (even though I don't have Syphilis). They quoted a blood test which I hadn't even had done, so I'm not sure where things go from here... Needless to say I'll be in the country over Xmas I should think and I'm going to apply for ST training in August. In between ... read more
November 25th 2008
Today my Mom made me go for a walk in the park. This is because the gastroenterologist said I was obese. It's one of the Royal Parks and is very nice, there were deer and trees. It was cold and sunny. The weather here is not too bad, just chilly. Fortunately it has behaved and not rained recently. We had a coffee in the local farmers market, which was very nice too... They had organic lager, but I avoided the temptation to destroy all my hard work I'd put into the walk. Now my legs are sore and I want to goto sleep. Hopefully I'll be allowed to go to NZ in a couple of weeks, where the sun is always shining and it is warm... ... read more
November 13th 2008
Well, I'm off to New Zealand to work for a year. Going to be based in Wellington and living with my good friend James somewhere near the city center and some good pubs! Departure date was 7th November, but due to a delay with my visa I can't go yet. My job is meant to start on the 24th Nov, but looks like I won't make it out for that... In the mean time I have visited such wonderful sights as Hammersmith Hospital and the West Middlesex Hospital. I really recommend the chicken kiev at Hammersmith if you happen to pass by there. Avoid the chicken stir-fry though. It's been rather chilly here and today is raining. Anyway, I'll keep you posted on when I'm actually going to leave! Rob x... read more
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