Category Archives: London

Bi-Weekly Update

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I haven’t written much lately… I guess because there is too much going on at the moment. Pleasant things mostly and also stuff that needs to be done, so I ain’t complaining. AS. has been in Egypt for almost two weeks, windsurfing, so I have the place to myself and you know what it is like: while the cat’s away, the mice will play.

So I had fun, doing things that I wanted to do which makes me realise that I really need to get my life back. Kris sent me an email last week because a friend of his had a client who’s looking for Flash designers, so I sent my CV and cover letter to him last week. I have applied for a few other jobs but I’m still waiting for a response. They seem to take their time over here which can be quite annoying…

Anyway, here’s an update:

Wednesday August 15

Got email in from Kris about job. CS. called and came over for a few hours in the evening, she wanted to chat and I haven’t seen nor spoken with her ever since she came back from her visit to India. She brought a bottle of wine, I finished it and was a bit pissed after that… CS. asked me to meet up again on Saturday to hang out with her and her niece R., and go into town for some window-shopping.

Thursday August 16

Got email in from friend of Kris about job, sent out my CV and cover letter.

Saturday August 18

CS. called to meet up at my local Tube station, her niece R. is over from Canada and she promised her to go shopping. We were supposed to go to Oxford and Regent street but they booked tickets for her to watch the football match in the afternoon so we only had a few hours… We had a coffee near the Tube station and walked to the local high-street to check out some shops.

Later that evening I went over to IS. and CS.’s place, we were on the guest list of club Pacha through JS. [CS’s son] who is friends with the DJ. So we had to be there at 23.00, we took the Tube but CS. forgot that Victoria line was closed earlier because of maintenance so we had to take a cab to Victoria Station. Had a fantastic night: have been dancing for six hours which was great; I needed to get rid of some energy and this was the best way to do it, most of the time on my own.

Met some guy from Estonia who was really thick so I ended up showing him my bitch switch. I had to be rude to get the message across; I just wanted to dance on my own and be one with the music and not being bothered by someone who desperately wants my attention… I closed my eyes, thought of thunderstorms and lightning, turned around and ignored him. I was happy we were on the guest list and had a VIP room to ourselves and the DJs so I could escape from this guy and doze off on the bass… Hectic speakers!

Funny thing was that we had to wait in line each time we wanted to have a fag. There was this narrow alley on the side of the club, everyone there was really friendly, joking and having fun. It was pissing down and half of the alley was covered but no one seemed to care, it was hot inside so it was nice to cool off a bit. We left just before the club would close and waited outside for a cab to show up. JS. had called one but it took an hour to get there. I was home at 06.00 in the morning and couldn’t sleep really. Kept thinking about thunderstorms…

Here are a few pics:

Sunday August 19

Didn’t sleep for 48 hours… and it took me a while to recover from this and a night out clubbing…

Tuesday August 21

Met up with Kris at Holborn Tube station to have lunch today, walked around Covent Garden for a while and to my surprise I ran into Stu. who is over from the lowlands for two weeks. I was so surprised to see him that I even forgot to say hello to him. He felt the same, so it wasn’t just me being scatterbrained. I mean, out of almost 8 million people, that day, that place and that time; what are the odds? And we were supposed to meet up on Thursday, not that Tuesday… :P

Kris and I went to Satsuma to have lunch there. I had some delicious sushi, with smoked salmon and avocado, also nicked a few from Kris who had ordered crispy duck sushi and some spicy noodle soup. I wasn’t very hungry so the sushi was plenty for me combined with a nice pot of green tea. We stayed there for a while chatting and decided to walk around Soho and have a coffee bit further down the road at an italian place called Bar Italia which seems to be an all night Soho favourite since 1923. We walked back to Holborn and I went home from there.

Thursday August 23

Had to collect R., got stuck at Mile End and had to take a detour to get to the Times which took me 45 minutes altogether. Had a quick coffee with CS. and then we went to Camden Town because R. had an appointment to have a small tattoo done. It didn’t take long so when they were done we took the Tube and went to Covent Garden where we walked around a bit. I bought some brushes for my aunt and we had lunch at a vegetarian place at Neal’s Yard. We then walked back to Covent Garden Piazza to meet up with Stu. Meeting point the carousel at 15.15…

We walked a bit, checking out Covent Garden: showing R. around, and decided to go to a pub around the corner in Wellington Street, called The Corner Store. Unfortunately we had to leave after some time because some people had made reservations.

We walked around Soho and Chinatown looking for another pub but most were too busy. I called MvdM. to ask him about this Dim Sum place that he knows of, since we were getting a bit hungry and I have been craving for Dim Sum for such a long time. He gave me directions so we took the Tube to Oxford Circus. I’m not sure about this place, I’ve read very negative reviews and also, it isn’t really authentic, I’d rather find a cosy place in Chinatown to be honest. This place seems too modern, too yuppie to me perhaps.

Anyway when we arrived there was a line of people, at least about 80 of them probably more, it would’ve taken hours so we decided to go for a pub grub at Carnaby Street instead. We stayed till about 22.00 and walked back to the Tube station. I had to bring R. home, CS. already called because it was getting late. Unfortunately we had to leave in a bit of a rush, so said a quick goodbye to Stu. and walked to Oxford Circus. We were at IS.’s and CS.’s at 23.55; I. took me home at 01.00… A busy day but has been very good and it was really nice to meet up with Stu. and hang out for a bit!

Mac Stamps

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Living abroad means having to adapt to customs of the host country, which could lead to either total frustration or bliss. I think each expat out there has got some silly story to tell about their host country. Mine started off as a frustration and changed into bliss, literally over night. Last night I was busy burning a CD for CH. with pictures of the wedding. I have been a bad girl and been postponing it for weeks ignoring her request to send it to her asap *sorry about that dear*. I told her my reason for postponing was not the fact that I had to burn a CD, that takes only 2 minutes but the fact that I had to sort out the stamps… I know… it sounds lame but it actually became a major annoyance!

So last night when I had finally written some postcards and finished CH.’s parcel [even though it’s flat and smaller than a postcard envelop it is still considered a parcel], I started the dreadful journey online in search of the right stamp… 80

Let me explain the system over here…There are seven different ways of sending off mail overseas: Airsure, International Signed For, International parcels, Airmail, Surface mail, HM Forces Mail and HM Forces Special Delivery. Then within the UK there is: First Class mail and Second Class mail, Standard Parcels and Recorded Signed For. First Class mail is supposed to be delivered the next day [not over the weekend though] and Second Class will take two to three days, within the UK that is. Then there is Recorded Signed For mail, within the UK and there is Recorded Signed For mail, outside the UK. Both are different issues and require a different form to be filled out which you will be given at the post office; orange for within the UK and blue for outside the UK. I had to send out eight parcels over xMas last year with valuables therefore needed ‘signed on delivery’, it took two weeks to arrive in the Lowlands, you want to know why?

Because some idiot had given me the orange sticker forms instead of the blue while I specifically had mentioned the destination… A nice Indian man at my local post office took time to explain it to me a while ago when I asked for orange forms, he kindly told me that I needed the blue ones instead. He is actually the only person at that post office who really enjoys his job and it’s showing! I remember -in December- I was suprised to hear that for £9,- I had sent off, eight parcels, CS. was there with me to help me fill out those annoying forms. In hindsight I guess they were just arsing about at that particular post office [Lakeside Mall].

Anyway… Postage depends on weight, size and destination. There are pricing tables to be found online so once you know how much it weighs you can look up how much postage is needed to send it off. So far so good, I mean it still takes forever to sort out how you would like to send stuff since there are too many options but my major annoyance is the fact that there is no amount mentioned on the new stamps… It just says First Class or Second Class… So the other day when I was at my local post office the Indian gentleman gave me these First Class stamps called First Class Stamps for Large Letters, meant to be used for large sized envelopes within the UK. According to him I could also use these for postcards outside the UK, he again explained it very well and took time to help me out.

I ended up searching for images of stamps last night just to see how much one stamp was worth since I needed to put 69p on one envelope [parcel I mean]. 50 x Large Letter 1st Class Stamp Sheet = £24.00 so one stamp is 48p… Then I still needed 21p and again ended up looking online to find the price of one small First Class Stamp and ended up paying 13p extra because I didn’t have the 21p only 34p stamps. This is how they make huge profits each year… But… While I was searching I found out that you can now print your own postage online… They had the same system in the Lowlands but only for PC. Everything seems to be developed for PC users only most of the time so to my surprise I found out that it works for Mac as well!

I really don’t understand the ways of this country at times, they have fitted carpet in their airport corridors *yuk*, above ground telephone and internet wires that stop working when there is a slight thunderstorm, but they have a brilliant online postage system for ta da: Mac!

I think I’ll stay a bit longer :P

Noticeable Oddities of the Day:

Run out of stamps? Don’t panic, print your postage from your PC or Mac. Print your postage online directly from your PC or Mac. The service is free (you just pay the normal postage price), easy to use and, because you can print your postage whenever you need it, you’ll never run out again. Use Online Postage to buy and print postage straight onto envelopes, labels or plain paper.

-No need for complicated software or equipment – all you need is a computer and a printer

-Print postage and an address directly onto labels, envelopes or paper

-Select the right postage using the ‘Quick links’ below or with our Price Finder

-Make secure payments online using your prepay account, credit card (or debit card for purchases over £3.50).