work, life, and travel
It might be hard to see but this is Adrienne in the most absurdly old fashioned elevator. I’m actually quite surprised that there isn’t someone operating it, harrods is full of bizarre characters standing around doing not much but dressed in full ridiculous costumes straight from the roaring 20’s (or perhaps earlier).
Harrods of course was an absolute mad house but we came well equiped with our sharpened elbows.
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We actually had sun this morning. Sadly it was short lived, by noon it was clouded over. Bless that jet lag. At least I saw it. By mid afternoon I set out and like a typical London Saturday for me, made my way over to nottinghill, the portobello market and the kitchen and pantry. I’ve developed a deep love for this café, which surprises me since in Toronto I not only had no deep feelings towards any café, I hardly drank any coffee at all! And yet here I am in London in a steady committed relationship with the K&P. it’s a very happy relationship: me, K&P, an oversized brown leather couch, coffee and my travel magazine. And luckily K&P holds no grudges that I haven’t visited in over a month.
It’s good to be back.
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The jetlag from our trip to Hong Kong is still with me, although slowly getting better. The first morning I woke up at 5:30am, next 6:30am and today 7am. It’s progress.
Having drinks last night with my friend Heather the topic came up about the new Eurostar terminal at Kings Cross. Heather has already taken advance of the fabulous convenience for us North London girls, but she did note that the famed champagne bar was no where to be seen. Wide eyed and bushy tailed, I popped in early this morning to have a look.
It’s finally arrived, the most publicised part of this new terminal:
Tiny eh?
I took a peak around at some of the other services. It seems most of the cafes and eateries are French. I suppose that keeps with the theme of an international terminal linking you to France, but if I was French and came up to London I think i’d be a bit disappointed to see crepes … oh how exotic
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In other news some change is in the air. I’ve accepted a new job. Reasons aside, I will note that the new job is in Mayfair, one of three distinct financial districts in London (The City, Canary Wharf, Mayfair) and I’m very much looking forward to exploring my new area. Belgravia has been interesting, but Mayfair definitely sees more action.
The new ticket readers have been installed at kings cross. The funny thing is that the clever masterminds behind this display of pure genius put the ticket purchase machines BEHIND the readers!! How ridiculous is this:
It’s new year’s day in HK. We spent some time in the wan chai market picked up some new technology gadgets and had some steamed dumplings. Then we took the ferry out to kawloon to taste test two bars which claim to have the best views over the harbour back to hong Kong island: Acqua at 1 Peking Road and the lobby bar at the Inter Continental Hotel. Both amazing in their own ways it’s hard to pick a winner.
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51 minutes??! Why in the hell would they advertise that like THAT’s the big selling feature!
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We had mince pies and mulled wine at work yesterday. A nice break just before the holidays.
However, as good as mince pies are, I still miss Canadian butter tarts. Sigh.
With this many friends coming to visit it’s like we never left.
In the game that Matt and Nelson play I think they would guess correctly on this meal: bacon egg mayo sandwich with a side of crisps.
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It looks like Cambridge is installing ticket barriers at the rail station. I’ve noticed the same at the “annex train shed” at King’s Cross so I guess I’ll have to get used to it. It’s going to be comical to see all the people trying to get their bicycles past these when they go into operation. I can’t wait! 🙂
I may still be recovering from the food poisoning I picked up in Latvia yesterday, but the trip down to Clapham is worth it to celebrate with you. At least I can keep my oj down today! Cheers!
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I flew them once to ottawa just over a year ago. And one year later they are still amazing. Still serving juice in an actual glass, still serving a good meal, and still producing their amazing in flight mag (designed by the creator of Wallpaper magazine). Leather seats, loads of leg room… They just don’t do crap! It is such a joy to check in only 25 minutes prior to departure.
Any Brits reading this, if you’re visiting in Toronto and have a hankering for montreal, ottawa or Halifax I strongly recommend you give it a go.
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The polish are a clever bunch. This giant test tube of beer comes with it’s own tap.
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We’re in Prague, and we’re at a wine bar that has a cheese menu listed by animal: cow, goat, sheep etc … Brilliant! I love this city already
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Let’s be honest, you see a huge plume of smoke out your window everyone in the office assumes the same thing. So far word is it’s not. Apparently it’s just a fire.
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Less than 3 days to go and King’s Cross will be home to the new euro star station. I decided to take a quick peek before opening day on Wednesday. Seems I’m not the only tourist. People are already snapping photos.
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It’s a well known fact that years of sketchiness has resulted in kings cross becoming home to the most CCTV units per capita in all of London.
And as you can see we have 2 right outside our house. It’s nice to pull our curtains open in the morning and taken that nice urban view of a maze of electrical cables and CCTV cameras. …. And not a patch of green in sight!
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Friday night, district line. 1 Ginger and 2 blonds and 2 bottles of rum bacardi breezer.
I’m not sure I like this public drinking thing any more. At first I thought it was quite liberating …. But now? It’s quite annoying. God they are on quite the piss up.
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Lately I have been tempted to use my free newspaper as a fly swatter for the tourists who get in my way. Move! And stop leaving that giant suitcase in the (sidewalk, escalator, platform) such that I can’t get past.
Such is life when you commutte between 2 out of London’s 4 most-visited-by-tourists train stations.
Bonus points if you can name all 4.
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In a very last minute decision to dash up to Cambridge to meet Jason for dinner and drinks, I find my self on a commuter train. Here I am thinking the tube is bad! You probably can’t see in this photo but people are sitting in the aisles while others stand over them. I chatted with one woman beside me who tells me that most people don’t even buy tickets because as a regular commuter you know it’s always this bad, and there is no way a ticket collector could ever make it down the aisle to spot check tickets. Nice. So due to the crowds this service desperately needs more trains on it, but due to the crowds people aren’t paying the money to fund more trains.
At least dinner with Jason’s coworkers was absolutely delicious. Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device
… Or what we canadians would call a cherry picker.
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Slowly making progress. This guy had to call someone else to come with the ‘long ladders’ … All this for a phone line
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Um, excuse me England. You can’t just take an ordinary snack product and relabel it as a seasonal product. Witches toes?? They are called cheesies, cheese doodles, or cheesy poofs!!
You’re making a mockery of Halloween!
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The mood was quite electric at the start, but as reality sinks in … The pub is quiet. Congrats to south Africa.
Ps. Thanks for a boring as sin game.
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The Flying Scotsman made some changes this weekend: by adding fancy new awnings for the smokers! It’s frightening because it makes the place look almost respectable. But don’t be fooled by the gloss – you’ll know as soon as you step in that there’s nothing respectable about the Flying Scotsman.
Today is my birthday, and I continued our four year tradition of “having a glass of scotch that has been aged in a cask longer than I’ve been alive” with a 35 year old Dalwhinnie. This tradition certainly gets more expensive after a nice round number like 30.
Excuse the crappy photo.
I can’t resist the commuting pictures. Temporarily closing stations due to sheer volume? That just doesn’t happen in Toronto! (I’m sure the Torontonians will correct me if I’m wrong)
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What happens when you take a bunch of British teenagers, dress them up in what they think is 80s clothing (having no living memory of it), feed them alcohol, give them roller skates, and put them all into a small club? If you guessed a recipe for disaster, your right! Welcome to Roller Disco at King’s Cross.
Kasia was in town and we wanted to try something new for her only Friday in town. Sylvia suggested Roller Disco and the plans were in place. I actually used to go roller skating in the 80s, so I had dreams of revisiting my childhood with a big skating rink with Belinda Carlile replaced with banging house music. Sylvia had similar aspirations; probably related to the days she used to ice skate like a champion (though not dressed as a Treasure Troll). Needless to say it wasn’t quite what we expected.
First of all, there was mass disorganisation. And trust me, if there’s one thing that pisses Sylvia off the most it’s disorganisation. “Why the hell don’t they have a different queue for skate pick up and returns? If I ran this place ….” Combine that chaos with sweaty drunken people on roller skates. Good times! It was a great show: as soon as one drunkard fell over the rest fell like bowling pins:
The most difficult part for me is that it’s tough to get your grove on whilst on roller skates. Bottom line: great to do once for the experience but we won’t become roller regulars. My childhood memories will never be relived. Oh well, at least Jesus approves:
And back to the moaning about the tube. I missed my themeslink connection this morning and had to take the smouldering Victoria line. Maybe it.s a good thing, this is a shot of the districtcircle line platform I would have had to have been on.
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Oktoberfest day 2 is in the Paulaner tent for us. We got here early enough to grab a table, and thankfully, unlike the first day, they serve beer right from the start. Everyone is standing for the band’s entrance:
Sylvia is starting on her second litre and the band has started playing:
These 15 year olds lucked out – their fake ID was accepted. Amazing:
Ah Oktoberfest. Joy of joys.
It’s slow service but when we have a fresh litre of beer, it’s pure happiness and kitten tails
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