Workin'

Since moving I haven’t posted much, or at all really, about my job. Which is probably for the best really as it is not at all the most interesting part of us being here. That said, it did get us over to London in the first place, and it’s paying for us to live this life of luxury over here (see all the posts below, we don’t do anything except for explore and have fun ;-)
So I thought I would give just a quick note on my job. First off, I work for an Internet Retailer, which in the states meant that at any day and time I could where flip-flops and a t shirt to work, and probably be one of the better dressed people around (at least they’d be coordinated and I wouldn’t be wearing socks with the flip flops!). I loved that. Could dress up a bit when I felt like it but no pressure. I also tended to work a pretty consistent schedule. Into the office after carpooling in with Katherine by 830 pretty much every day.
Being here things are a little different. First off, here’s what I wore to work yesterday:

A slight change from the usual. First, although I feel like I look pretty sharp in a suit, I don’t wear one really outside of events like weddings. And second, I’m wearing a backpack with a suit, which seems a little off, certainly not the latest accessory. Which makes sense if you think about about my current situation. In order to get where I needed to be, I had a 15 minute walk, a 40 minute tube ride, and a 10 minute cab ride. Carrying a sweet bag, that goes over one shoulder? Not really an option. So there you have it.

And then there's the other extreme:

The other change in my working life is that on those days that I am not working with a client onsite, I actually work from home. The Internet Retailer's offices are in Slough, which, if you have ever seen the original The Office, is where that show is based. So that should tell you something. I've been to Slough 4 times I think since moving to London. On the other days, I wake up, make a point to shower and shave, to feel kind of official and work-ish, and then stumble all the way into our "reception room" which is almost the same as a living room, except English. So when that is my office, it's a little bit more casual. It's a very strange thing, this work from home. It takes away from routine certainly, no going to the office. Here, we don't have an office set up yet, so I'm just hanging out in the living space. And, it being 8 hours off from the home base where all the people are that actually DO stuff (the coders, etc), makes it very easy for work to bleed into life, and the back into work. And if that's going to happen, you should at least be comfy, and stylish.

Martini?

Andy and I enjoyed a martini (dirty vodka) after he took a run around Regents Park while I had boot camp. Nothing like celebrating working out! That's why we work out, right???

San Francisco

Peter (my brother) and Christina and their cute dog Rocky are officially in San Francisco! After a quick drive across the country Philly is a place of the past. I'm excited for their new adventures on the West Coast, sadly the timing to have them closer didn't really work out!

Patisserie

I spent the afternoon walking around. I had a few places in mind that I wanted to see, but everything in between was "extra". After going to the bank to get some money, I took the tube to Kensington High Street. I wanted to check out the Whole Foods that is there, the first international location of the grocery chain. I've been before, I made the mistake of going the day it opened, so this was a chance to go back when it wouldn't be packed with people. It's a beautiful store, three floors of amazingly beautifully presented food. Don't get me wrong, I don't shop at Whole Foods in the States, but something about it is intriguing and comforting.

From there I made my way, not very directly, to Harrods. I went there looking for something I didn't find. It's sad when that happens. Tomorrow I will continue my hunt. But, getting to the patisserie...as I walked from Kensington High Street to Harrods, I passed a beautiful shop window full of pastries. I stopped and peered in, thought about whether or not to go in and decided against it. But after no success at Harrods, I walked back to the patisserie and bought a strawberry napoleon for Andy and I to share after dinner. It was exactly what I hoped it would be and took me back to my short time at baking school. It makes me want to go to Paris even more than I already do...

Chinatown

Ah, Chinatown. We decided in some sort of subconscious way to make this weekend into one that was about exploring and FOOD! Which is something that we can both get behind. Last night we decided to head down to Chinatown, which is very close to the Covent Garden but worlds away, sort of. We checked the guide book, we researched Time Out in London, both the Cheap Eats version (which, so long as you think in £'s, is pretty accurate ;), and the regular one. Picked a couple of restaurants that sounded good, and caught the tube. We found Chinatown, or should I say Chinablock, quickly (notice the arch in the picture to the left). We walked down the street, turned around, and walked back, about 10 minutes in total. We could be crazy, but there didn't seem to be much more to it than that. Very suprised by the size of it in a city this big, compared to the size of the Seattle ID in a city much smaller. So you'd think what with all the research we'd done, and the small size of Chinatown, we would have our restaurants picked out, no problem. Except somewhere between our flat and Chinatown, I completely spaced on the names. Was it Royal Palace or Royal Dragon that you should never eat at? So, we did what most tourists do I think, looked at a couple of menu's, looked at the decor, checked the line, and said "Yep, this looks good". And what can I say, we made a pretty good choice. Good set menu, lots of variety, some great great dishes, some not so great. We will have to go back and do some additional research before we make any sort of recommendation on "this great little place we discovered in Chinatown". But a good experience nonetheless.

Good Food

Today Andy and I went to the Taste of London in Regents Park. It has loads of food options from local restaurants that you pay for with "crowns", the currency of the event. For between £3-5 each you get a healthy portion of what seemed like an endless supply of delicious options. The dishes we had were: Spice crusted tilapia with yogurt rice (v. good, Andy's favorite dish), Shezuan tiger prawns with blackened beans (my favorite dish), Chorizo and tomato salad (ok, not enough chorizo), Braised pork belly with chick peas and paprika squid (v. good), Mozzarella in carrozza - deep fried bread coated mozzarella (bit of a let down, too "eggy" for my tastes), Venison puff (v. good, first time having venison - pretty tasty), Chicken and asparagus salad (good) and Hot water crust pork pie and pickles (good). We also had some prosecco (I do love the bubbly). In addition to all the food available for purchase, there were tons of booths of exhibitors selling all sorts of food and drink items, and sampling beers, ciders, wine, coffee, etc. All in all it was well worth the trip out in the rain on a Sunday afternoon.


Oh, and Gordon Ramsey was there signing his cook book. We did not have one for him to sign, but couldn't resist taking his picture.

Random Friday Out

For starters, please note the new picture of the cute couple.

Last night, for the first time in a while, we had no plans to do nuthin with nobody. So, we decided to just hop on a tube, and see what we found. We decided to head into Covent Garden, get some food and some drink.

Another great thing about London is that it is a little disorienting about what time it is. Since we've been here we probably eat dinner between 8 and 9. So, we walk to the tube (Katherine hobbling due to boot camp ;), transfer once, and pop up to the surface. And now we need to figure out where to eat. So we walk, and we walk (cause of course we haven't pre-planned), and we walk some more. To expensive, to cheap!, not indian tonight, that place looks good but it's packed and we can't get in :( We're now desperate, it's 1030 and we haven't eaten, and pubs start closing in a 1/2 hour! So we finally settled on this place. And that's all I've got to say about that. In case you were wondering, I had the shepards pie.

Then we thought, well what's next. We went bar looking, and ended up all the way...next door. Had a pint, and then it's midnight and the lights go up, never a good sign if you want to have another drink, but has some entertainment value. The look of suprise you see on people's faces (that's what you look like), priceless.

So then we left, what to do, what to do. The answer of course, was bust a move! So we decided to go to a club, cause that's so typical of us. We went to one that I abandoned my brother at when he was out here, Verve, and got our swerve on to purely US hip-hop, like a little of this, and a little of that, and a 10 dollar bill make noise. It's great being in a place where you're amongst the better dancers...I think that one thing the English don't tend to bring to the table is an amazing dancing ability. Katherine showed them how it's done.

After this glamour evening, the question is what's next? And the answer of course, is ice cream. Yum. But after that, seriously, how do we get home (tube's shut down at 1230, taxi's are very expensive, so...the bus! It was very strange. We don't ride the bus much anyway, maybe 3 times since we've been here, so it's a totally different scene. But for £1, and 45 minutes of our lives, we got dropped off 100 yards from our house (vs. the 1/2 mile to the tube). Good stuff.

So really, a post about nothing. I guess just trying to give a tiny view into our lives, on the non-exciting stuff. The great thing about the blog, sort of like reality TV, is that you got to take a week's worth of living and talk about three hours worth of doing. So this my friends that make it to the end, is what we do on those other parts of days that don't get blogged about. If you tune in tomorrow you might here about how we cleaned the flat and walked a mile round trip for groceries, if you're lucky.

"Big" Americans

Here's a funny example of everything being bigger in America, verses the rest of the world:
The paper towels we bought in London are on the left. The paper towels we bought in Seattle are on the right - they are from Costco, but even from a regular store they would be way larger!

#2

Yesterday it was official that London is the second most expensive city in the world, behind Moscow. The article I read about this said London is getting more expensive because all the rich people from Moscow are moving here. I'm hoping this will push us to number one next year! Give the city something to work towards :)

I knew it was going to be expensive when we moved here, paying more for our maybe 600 sq. ft. flat than the mortgage on our house, but actually being here it doesn't seem that bad. I've quickly stopped doubling every price to convert into dollars and just understand everything is more expensive, there's no way around it.

This Weekend....

This past Saturday Andy and I went to Borough Market for the second time. It's a great market here that is basically a huge Farmer's Market. Lots of fruits, veggies, cheese, meat, plants, etc. While we were there we also checked out Neal's Yard Dairy, a famous cheese shop. We sampled so much cheese there I thought I was going to explode! It was so good and yummy we bought 3 kinds (Cardo, Sleightlets, and Montgomery's Cheddar). There was a lovely Scottish woman helping us, as she rung up our purchase she asked us where we were from, Andy said "West Hampstead" with a smile :) Then told her Seattle, WA...and asked where she's from, it's funny, no one is "from" here. I think I've met 2 people so far that are actually from London proper.

(Please notice that I have an umbrella now and that it came in handy on Saturday, as much as I don't want to admit that it did!)

Whew.

Wow, it's been a busy week, and on top of that no internet access, or limited anyway (currently I'm in the window in the living room barely picking up a wireless signal, glamour indeed). I think this is one item where we might both do a post, you know, fair and balanced coverage and all that.

We moved last Saturday into our new flat, and on Monday our things arrived. I am very excited about the new flat and how much space it gives us, relatively speaking, the location, and the access to the city. We've got two full sized bedrooms and a good sized living room, which is excellent. Eventually, I'll be able ot have a little office in the second bedroom. The kitchen is a little cramped but does have a nice sized fridge. And the bathroom is fine, certainly no more than that, maybe a little less. Locationwise, we're close to a lot of amenities, nice High street, some pretty good restaurants, but we'er off the main road, so it is pretty quiet. Well, except for all the birds. As for access, we've got 2 bus lines right off our street, and we're about 10 minutes from 3 different tube stations with access to different tube lines. Pretty good coverage. So, pretty happy, although very much open to moving if we can find something better.

The other piece of it though is after living in corporate housing, using random dishes, hotel towels, and all that, we've got a place to call home, and it's got our stuff in it! Want a glass of wine? You'd recognize the glasses. Our covers on the bed, our towels in the bathroom, our wedding picture on the book shelf. It feels really really nice. Home? Not quite yet. But getting there.

Mexican Food

Last night we went for Mexican food with a group of Andy's co-workers, some living here, some here from Seattle for work. The American's actually out-numbered the Brits! It was good...no Matador, but good. Probably more authentic. It was quite a trek from our flat, so don't think we'll be going on a regular basis, but good to know about when people come into town. Some of the Brits last night had never had Mexican food. Funny how that works, it's so big in the States, good or bad Mexican, and they have about 10 "Mexican" restaurants in all of London, and from what people say most should be avoided. But they have food here you don't really find in the States, well at least not really in Seattle...

Internet Problems....

Andy and I moved into our flat this past weekend, and ever since then I have not been able to get online with our personal computer...hence the lack of posts.

Being in our own place is good, really good. There are lots of good things about it and a few not so good. The flat is close (10-15 minute walk) to 3 different tube lines, good neighborhood with lots of amenities, it's big (2 bedrooms), pretty good amount of storage, all our stuff seems to fit, nice neighbors, etc. The not so good things are the kitchen and bathroom leave something to be desired. They aren't bad, but aren't exactly what I'm used to either. And most of the furniture isn't all that great. We are trying to get the landlady to take away some of the furniture that we don't like or don't really need. She said ok, but at the same time doesn't seem that into removing the stuff. The best part about the whole thing is that we signed a 4 month lease. At that point we can decide to sign another lease or leave. We'll see how we feel in September.

Tonight we're going to a "Mexican" restaurant with some of Andy's co-workers, I'm sure there will be something to report about dinner tomorrow....

Movie Theater (theatre?)

Last night Andy and I went to the movies. It is a very unusual thing for us to do. The last time I went to the movies was in September with work, for free. Andy can't remember the last time he went to see a movie in the theater. We went to see Ocean's 13, on opening night. There are some key differences from going to the movies in the States that we experienced last night:

1. You can book your tickets online, and they make you pick your seat! The seats for the movies are assigned here. And, there are different "classes" of seats. You can pay more for a "premiere" seat.

2. The movies doesn't start until 1/2 hour after the posted time. Not only are there trailers before the movie, but there are over 15 minutes of actual commercials!

3. Everyone but us knew the movie started 1/2 hour late, and with assigned seating there's no worry you won't get a seat or that you won't be able to sit with the people you came with. So we sat there for 45 minutes before the movie actually started.

4. People talk through the ENTIRE movie, and answer their cell phones, multiple times. Very annoying!

Maybe these things aren't unusual, but it's been so long since either of us has gone to see a movie they stuck out to us. Reminds me why I don't go to the movies. I enjoy movies, but not in that setting. I prefer to watch from the comforts of my couch where, more than likely, I will curl up and go to sleep :) Ocean's 13 was very entertaining though, and a great Friday night activity for us, not having a whole lot else going on yet.

London - The Good - Continued

Continuation of an earlier post about London
Friendly with Cuba: So, a little late...But in one week, had the chance to do two things that are illegal in the states. The first was the absynth. Second, smoke a Cuban! It wasn't the highest quality cigar (cause hey, I know these things) but it was pretty sweet. And, well, you just can't do that in the states.
TV: So the country that gives you the BBC also gives you Pop Idol, Big Brother, Deal or No Deal, and The Weakest Link (still!). But it's really a great thing. You kick back (ie pay a TV tax, which will be coming in the London - The not so good post) for the BBC, they give you great programming, news and otherwise. A couple of very entertaining shows:
Worst Week of My Life
The Vicor of Dibley
Indian Food: Former colony. Open passport for years. 'Nuff said. Delicious.
Carbon Footprint: Do you know what that is? Here in the UK, they take global warming, and their impact on it, seriously. But in a good way. People make jokes about. They use it in advertising. And, as a bleeding heart liberal from green Seattle (who recently sold their W8, thank you very much), I take that as very much a good thing.

Olympic Drama

The Summer Olympics are in London in 2012. The official logo was recently revealed (to the left) to much objection. People here HATE this logo, someone even had a seizure looking at the logo on the Olympic website! Lots of people have come up with other, most of the time better, logo designs. The one I like best, and that seems to be the crowd favorite, is the logo on the right.

Dog Toilet

Over the weekend Andy and I cut through Holland Park after trying to find the Whole Foods in London (which didn't open until today, but we did not know that when we left the house on our adventure to hunt down possibly the most expensive grocery store in the world!). While in the park we came across this "sandbox" for doggies. Literally labeled as the dog toilet! Now we know where we can bring Middy to do her business, when she arrives in London in August, in a civilized manner. God forbid she use the grass!

Our First Visitor

My former co-worker Drew stayed at our place for a day on his way
to Turkey to visit his family. Drew and I spent the day yesterday going on the London Eye and walking around the city.

I saw more guards, still not the guys in the red jackets and fuzzy hats though. Don't know if you can read the sign next to the guard on the horse, but it says : "BEWARE HORSES MAY KICK OR BITE! Thank you". I believe the sign, this particular guard spent the whole time we were standing there holding the horse back, and there was another horse on the other side on the gate that was actually making biting motions at people! I didn't see anyone get attacked, but it is probably just a matter of time!

From the London Eye you can see most of the city. I would recommend people visiting here on a clear day to go.

First Full Weekend

This was my first full weekend here. It was a great weekend! Friday night Andy and I went to a pub he and Rich discovered when they were here together. Then we went looking for a pub that was still serving dinner (pubs stop serving food here usually around 10pm). We ended up in a cozy little pub that had every square inch of the wall covered with memorabilia from the Queen and random celebrities. A group of English people ended up sitting with us and we had a great time! They told us where Madonna lives, so the next day we found her flat!


You see the most interesting things here. We were checking out a mothercare store (Andy's client) and saw out the window a horse parade of some sort. Didn't see to be connected to anything in particular. People we talked to thought they were probably practicing for some future event.


Saturday night we went to Adrian's birthday party. He is the one in the picture wearing the Captain America outfit and Catherine, his girlfriend is wearing the Wonder Woman outfit! It was awesome! They looked great!! It was a really fun night.