Adventures in London: Issue 14

Well it is a Sunday and issue 14 is being distributed, this can only mean one thing - I HAVE BROADBAND!!! Furthermore, I have cable TV! It feels so nice to be back on the web in the comforts of my sofa!

This week has been rather uneventful. The most eventful thing has been getting internet and cable. I also learned how to cook burfi! Tonight I am off to an American Football party (the Chargers and the Saints are playing in London). Pretty bummed about the Red Sox not making it to the world series after making such a lovely come back - guess you cannot have it all. Was hoping to give Kadin back-to-back wins for his 1st birthday, but looks like I will have to think of something else. 

These past couple of weeks it has truly hit me that I live in London. It is such a change of lifestyle and the customs are definitely different. A part of me feels like I am back in college. You are immersed in a new environment forced to develop new circles and friends. The hard part is that you just left a circle and lifestyle that you did not have to work at. I have taken a million steps back on that front. Feel like I am dating again - you want to get to know people, but you are cautious of what you say/do so you are not taken the wrong way. You want to be yourself, but also don't want to scare people away with your OCD habits - haha. Thus far, I am doing pretty well, but I have had my hiccups of misunderstandings. Americans are quite quick to forge friendships, but they tend to fizzle out too. Brits on the other hand are hard people to crack, but once you do they are friends for life. 

I was talking to a friend of mine from home the other week. We were talking about how with this move I will go to the 5 stages of mourning - denial, depression, anger, negotiation, and finally acceptance. I think I am at the "depression" stage right now. I have been missing everyone from back home - my family, my girls and most of all my nephew. I had a dream the other night that I came back to visit and he was already talking. The dream got me thinking that I am going to miss out on all of that stuff - first steps, first words, first tooth... suppose I have to use that as motivation to make most of this experience. Need to make it worth it (and I would like to think that I have been). But with all the said, I cannot wait to come home - see you all at the end of the week.

If you are interested in Skyping then please let me know.  I hope that the blog works out better - I will be sure to post more photos, sorry I do not have any photos from this week. My camera equipment and cords are at the office. 

I will go back and post the old entries (so you can clear your inboxes) with more photos. 

Miss you all and love you with all my heart! Happy Diwali! 

xoxo

T

 

Adventures in London: Issue 12

Another week come and gone! There is a LOT to cover this week, so I am going to jump right in.

I am still playing tourist which is lovely - each day offers something new to see, an area of town to explore. This week I realised how lovely the neighbourhood around my office is. It is amazing to discover what attractions and sites are just a stone throw away from the office. Early last week, during lunch a co-worker and I walked to Buckingham palace then back through St. James Park passing the London Treasury building and walking through Trafalgar Square. I am definitely enjoying my months as a tourist...have less than 4 mos to sort myself out (have given myself 6 months to play tourist, after which I am hoping to know my way around - so far so good).

Wednesday, the worldwide floor had one of our "bonding" events - Pub Quiz in the MindShare bar. I was pretty consistent and brought much value to the team as the token American. I am proud to say that I got almost every US question wrong. The operative word there was ALMOST! I got the most important question correct - "What year did the curse of the Bambino start?" Now some could argue that the year should be 1920 (the year the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth), however if you do the math (which I did), the 86 year old curse was broken in 2004 implying that it started in 1918. I definitely argued the answer (before it was officially announced), which was good because our team ended up winning by a very close margin!!!

I have been doing a fair job of adjusting to life here in London. I have gotten accustom to the 24hr clock, saying "take-a-way" rather than "take-out", "minding the gap", using coins to pay for items, and I have even gotten used to the treadmill being in kilometers. All was going well for me, until Thursday evening when I hosted my first dinner party with a very dear friend of mine (that I knew before I moved here) and two of her mates. I decided to cook a favorite dish that my sister-in-law makes - Fillet Florentine. Got the secret recipe from her and was pumped to cook it. I should have known that I was off to a rough start when I could not find Flounder, but that did not deter me. After prepping the starters, I started on the main course and preheating the oven, I was a bit confused that the oven only went to 250. Figured that was okay, would just keep it in for a bit longer. I was rather shocked by how hot the oven was, but given that I did not use my oven much in NYC - I did not think much of it. After prepping the rest of the dish and putting it back in the oven I am thankful that I notice how quickly the breadcrumbs turned dark brown. It was at that moment that I realised that my oven is in centigrade NOT Fahrenheit!! Thankfully I was able to save the meal and we all had a lovely evening (I am speaking for the others here). The debacle aside, it was quite lovely to have friends over. We listened to country, drank wine, laughed, share stories and had a relaxing evening. If I can admit something, I know I have met a number of people and have made some good friends since moving here. Not to discount all that (cause I am not), but it was this friend that made me look forward to moving over - they were the only friend "outside" of work that I had before moving here. They have been there for me at my lows and my highs since moving here. It has been hard some days not having my network of girls to go to, so I am thankful to have someone on this side of the pond that I can trust and call a dear friend...

...back to the update....

Friday night, a friend from work and I had our scotch tasting night. I supplied the movie pairings and he supplied the food pairing. I was extremely impressed by the food pairing that he did. Reckon that I am going to change the way I approach dinner parties and food preparation. For those of you who are interested, here is a sample of the menu - Penderyn (Welsh whiskey) and sweet shrimp marinated in fish sauce/soy with tobago, Springbank with yellow tail with jalapenos and scallions, Yamazaki (Japanese whiskey) and billinis with Salmon Roe (this was my favorite), Talisker 18 with gnocchi cooked with crushed red pepper and anchovies ...the list goes one. It was supposed to be about the scotch, but it just became about the food for me (what else is new).

For the first time on Saturday I re-thought my move to London. I went shopping for the first time since moving. Met with a friend at Oxford street to explore the shops for an outfit for a fancy dress birthday party that we were attending that evening. The theme was the 80s... I thought that I would have an issue finding stuff. Normally, I would either go to Ricky's in the NYC or travel to my closet in Niskyauna for a good outfit. The worrying bit, was it was quite easy to find an outfit here. In fact - a little too easy. I am convinced that London is not being retro with all the 80s wear, it is that they never progressed out of that era. Rather than explaining my ridiculous outfit, I have attached a photo of it so you can have a look - felt and looked like I was 10. At least I have an outfit for my marathon of 1 year old birthday parties in NYC at the end of the month.

Speaking of maratons, things on the running front have been slow. Took last week off cause I was not feeling 100% to train. Returned to the "Body Beautiful" regime today with a 8K on the treadmill. My boss was mentioning a 7mile route outside that goes by Parliament through St. James Park and around Hyde Park that I am going to try tomorrow. Why not?! Let's just hope that I do not get lost.

Other than that, life has been quite lovely. I am reading a new book - The Anglo Files: A field guide to the British by Sarah Lyall - that a friend back home sent me in case I ran into any Brits here. Boy am I thankful to have this book. The book is about this American writer who moved to London in the 90s and she documents the cultural differences between the Brits and the Americans. I have been cross-referencing the book with the people at work and I am astonished by how "accurate" some of her findings are. For example, the excerpt below is still relevant today....

"I have constantly been surprised, for instance at the way it is considered rude
at a party to introduce yourself to someone you don't know - the rule is, you're
supposed to wait to be formally introduced, preferably by your host"

How utterly shocking is that?!?! We all know how good I am at making introductions and how much I love talking to people I don't know...I am doomed here.

Well on that note, I am off - have a movie to work on. Fingers crossed my broadband will be up and running this weekend, but I am not going to be able to Skype as I am going to Edinburgh to visit one of my best friends from university - actually the first friend that I met at BU. Just randomly sparked a conversation while finding our seats at our lecture over a USA Today paper. Scary to think that was nearly 10 years ago...

Peace and love to you all. I miss you all so very dearly! I carry you all in my heart and my mom in my pocket cause she is small enough to fit.

xxx

T

PS: The photo of the week is from the Scotch tasting and my favorite pairing.

PPS: Please visit the following site. I have created a video summary of the sites from the first 10 weeks here. I have a another video that I am finishing up and will post later this week. You can probably check back here for other photos and videos - especially after my broadband is activated. http://www.dropshots.com/AdventuresInLondon

Adventures in London: Issues 1-9 (the Sites)

I have been rather poor at updating this site. It is not for a lack of content, rather a lack of internet access that prevents me from updating this site. I will try to be more on top of things when my internet is connected. In the meantime, please enjoy this video of my first 2 months in London. There are more videos to come. They are in final stages of editing...

xx

T

Adventures in London: Issue 11

Oh the adventures continue to roll in. This week was a blast! For starters I had my roommate from university visiting, so I had the grand delight of playing tourist. It was a good thing that I did not have to act, as I am still a tourist (am allowed to play tourist for my first 6 mos, then I need to accept that I am a resident). On Monday we rode the London Eye which was pretty flipping cool. The views of London that you get to see are quite out of this world. Shame I could only recognise Big Ben and as such have a million photos of it from every foot incline and decline - hahaha. It was really nice to have my first visitor, especially someone I used to live with (she is not shocked to discover how OCD I am). In addition to touring London, we watched movies, cooked dinner, made breakfast in the mornings...I forgot how lovely it was to live with someone. It made me wonder if I should have opted to do a flatshare...always next time - may even trade rings with the person before hand ;-)

On Friday, I went to Gordon's for wine and cheese - honestly this place is heaven. How can you resist a restaurant that only serves wine, port, cheese and bread?! A bunch of the American went there to "celebrate" one of us leaving MindShare. She was the first to move over here, but has decided to move onto other things. Thankfully she is staying in London, so we will still be able to see her and watch College Football :-) After Gordon's we went into Chinatown for dinner. Man that place is insane. Think that is just a given for any city that you go into - random shop signs, people heckling you to come to their place, etc. We dined at a fairly nice one (the one without the hanging meat) and ate some of the tastiest and spiciest Chinese food I've had in a long time. The soup dumplings were nothing like Joe Shanghai's, but I was told that this was the batch to judge on. Will be sure to go back and give them another chance.

Saturday I went to my favorite place in London - Borough market for Raclette (It is a Swiss dish of potatoes, melted Raclette cheese, pearl onions, and gherkins), oysters, coffee, and cheese. I honestly think I could live in this market - good thing that it is only open on Saturdays and only until 4pm. After our over indulgence at the market, my friend and I went shopping at a local Scotch market (yes a whole store for fine Scotch and Whiskies - they had a 1943 bottle of Glenleviet!!!). We decided that we needed to have a James Bond and scotch tasting night so we bought a bunch of mini-bottles ranging from Japanese whiskey to a 21yr Chivas. Should be a fun night :-) We decided to walk from London Bridge up to Islington to tour some of the sights. We walked through the city of London which is pretty desolate on the weekends. Reminded me of the Wall St area after the market has closed - not much to do down there and many of the restaurant and shops are closed. Pretty nonetheless. We reach Islington for our friend's housewarming party just in time to escape the down pour, which did not end until Sunday night ;-(

I cannot believe that it has taken me 4 paragraphs to mention this!! I finally signed up for cable and broadband today!!! How exciting is that. Should have it installed within the next 7-10days :-) Then you can look forward to more photos of the places that I reference in these updates. Xavier and Mini I have capture some lovely moments in the past 2 1/2 months here. For those of you who are not aware, I name my cameras (yes cameraS - have 2 digital SLRs, 2 digital point and shoots, 1 underwater film, and 1 regular point and shoot film). Xavier is the Nikon D40x that my Mom, brother and sister bought me for the holidays last year, and Mini is the Kodak point and shoot camera named after the first time I used it (the Mini 10K).

Well I think that about covers it. Looking forward to another week here. Training for the 2009 NYC marathon is going slowly. Am trying to be patient and not injure myself. Good thing that I have started to far out in advance - at the point where running 40minutes on the treadmill is rather painful. Not from an actually running perspective, but that running that long on a treadmill is simply dull. Am getting used to it though. I have taken spinning off the training mix, so I need to re-map my training schedule. Need to find something else that is just as satisfying, but "low-impact" on the knees, and ankles. You probably don't want to read about my running schedule do you....

So on that note, oidhche mhath (good night in Gaelic)

Miss you all! Please continue to write. As much as I love writing these updates, I enjoy reading about your adventures and time in the States, Canada, India, Jersey...(hahaha).

xoxo

T

The photo of the week is of St. Paul's catherdal on Saturday. should have probably had a picture from the Eye or the scotch market, but those are at home on a computer that is not attached to the internet :-(