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Published: December 6th 2009
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It has taken me a long time to put this blog together, but that is simply because there has been so much going on in this amazing city. I am living in West London in Acton Town (affectionately known as Action Town) and have had an action packed time.
Summer started with a bang for me at the Royal Ascot races, I had my first encounter with English scalpers (got tickets for less than face value as the first race had already been) and my first jug of Pimms, that refreshing summer drink full of mint, cucumber, strawberries and citrus fruit. I unfortunately didn't make my fortune off the horses or meet any royalty but had a fantastic day.
For me summer was about great music. I have been lucky enough to see the Kooks and the Killers at Hyde Park, Dave Dobbyn at the Toast New Zealand festival, Groove Armada and Lady Hawke at the Love Box festival, U2 on their 360° tour at Wembly, Fat Freddy's Drop in the Hammersmith Appollo and a special highlight was my side trip to the Oxegen festival in Ireland. It was great to catch up with all my old friends and
workmates from Ireland. The festival was awesome and included acts such as Kings of Leon, Lilly Allen, Sneaky Sound System, Snow Patrol, Razor Light, The Killers and my favourite of the festival, Blur. It was a weekend of very little sleep, plenty of rain, a HUGE ammount of mud and a collapsing tent, so essentially a real festival experience.
Of course the UK hasn't been only about concerts, there have also been the sporting events. I have been to see the 20/20 cricket world cup match of NZ vs South Africa, a charity Seven's tournament at Twickenham (dressed as cow boys and girls), been swimming in 'pools' in Hampstead Heath (more like ponds), to my first English Premier League football match of Fulham vs Bolton Wanderers and watched England reclaim the Ashes by attending the last day of the Lords test match and by watching the final day of the series with 10,000 other English supporters on a big screen at Regents Park. I have done my part to support the All Blacks to, heading down to local hot spots such as the Shepards Bush Walkabout and the Fulham Slug to cheer the boys on, but the best experience
was a trip to Cardiff to see the AB's take on Wales at Millenium stadium. The atmosphere inside the stadium was electric, and despite having seats in the very back row (yes up with the gods) we had a fantastic view and were able to appreciate the amazing sound generated by having the roof closed. Cardiff is a great little city and the Welsh were super friendly, a true highlight of my UK experience so far.
It wouldn't be London without a little culture from the West End, and I have taken full advantage of all of the shows on offer. I have been along to the musical Wicked, plays Breakfast at Tiffany's, Peter Pan (in a marquee in Kensington Gardens) and Romeo & Juliet (in Shakespears Globe), Ballets Sleeping Beauty and Swann Lake and last night headed to my first Pantomime, Jack and the Bean Stalk. I have plenty more plans for theatre, it is amazing how much is going on in this city every day.
I got an introduction into the Indian Culture of the UK by going to a Bollywood dance and dinner evening with the girls, where we had a dance lesson. Little did
I know how useful this would be later in the year at my work Christmas Party! I landed a job at an Indian food company, we make samosas and onion bhajia's for supermarket chains, including Sainsbury's and Mark's & Spencers. I am a Quality Assurance Technologist and am continuing my career in the food industry with some great chilled food experience, it also helps that I have all the samosas I can eat. Working for an Indian company has some unique aspects, we got to celebrate Diwali (an Indian festival) by getting sweets from work and a bonus (instead of at Christmas time). And of course there was the winter party where everyone dressed up in their finery and carved up the dance floor with bollywood moves.
If all of that wasn't enough I have also been up to Cambridge several times to visit my cousin Fe and been punting on the river Cam (including an incident where our guy lost and then snapped his pole!), headed to the famous Notting Hill Carnival for a day of mahem, had a curry in Brick Lane, viewed free films in Trafalgar Square for the London Film Festival, watched fireworks on
Bonfire night and possibly my favourite activity: High Tea at a fancy hotel in Mayfair for my birthday.
Life in London sure is action packed, and is unlikely to slow down with Christmas approaching. I just want to say a special thanks here to Joce and Dan for hosting me when I first arrived, without your help and support I am sure I wouldn't have been able to pack in so many adventures.
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Mum
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Hard Life
Hope you can bear up under all this strain Jo - time to put a bit of effort into your travels!!!!!!!!!!! LOL Mum XXX OOO