Seeing the sights

I only had one thing to do today and that was go to the bank to get an account set up. In true Sasha style, I didn't scroll down the whole way on the confirmation email and thus found the part about "what you need to bring" that morning. I was missing documentation for my details of a secure UK postal address as I am using BritBound for the time being. There wasn't anything I could do until the BritBound offices opened at 9am, and so I decided I would do some sight seeing.

Laying in bed, I researched a few free walking tours as I heard they were a great way to get a feel for London. Perusing their tripadvisor reviews, I settled on Free London Walking Tours, partly because it got great reviews (an up-and-coming tour company) and partly because it had a more agreeable start time that would allow me to make it to my bank appointment without hassle. I chose the Royal London Walk as I even hadn't made it into the centre of London yet to see those sites and embarked to find my way to the meeting point at Victoria Embankment. In the meantime, I called BritBound, reasons for which were twofold: 1) to see if my phone worked (hooray! It did!) and 2) find out what I needed to take to the bank appointment - nothing, as it turned out, and all was well.

I was running early and wasn't exactly sure where to meet. I happened to look back over my shoulder and saw the specified green umbrella behind me, so a quick about turn and I introduced myself to Andrew, the guide for today and owner of Free London Walking Tours. He was a barrel of enthusiasm and energy as we waited for more people to turn up. A Canadian named Irene joined us shortly after, and two Americans (who soon realised they were on the wrong tour and joined another). And so we were two. This didn't faze Andrew one bit and I actually enjoyed the intimate tour - he was talking directly to us and not over us to a large group and could really engage with us as people rather than trying to herd cats.

I cannot even begin to describe what facts and figures and dates and trivia Andrew bequeathed upon us - it was complete information overload for me and I didn't take most of it in. It did allow me to begin getting my bearings for London (wait, not City of London, but City of Westminster - that's where practically everything is. Many tourists never even make it to the City of London - it's mostly office buildings. It's where money is made, Westminster is where money is spent - interesting distinction!)

At a glance, we passed the London "Definitely-not-a-ferris-wheel-but-an-observation-deck" Eye, through the town (I can't remember the names of some of the things we saw), stopped near Big Ben (why is it called Big Ben? No one truly knows - did you know it's not the clock tower that is Big Ben, but the actual bell inside?), past Westminster Abbey, onto 10 Downing St (the Prime Ministers residence, currently housing David Cameron - and he was home, judging by the security) and around to the Horse Guards Arch to watch the first Changing the Guard. This street is lined with all the flags of the Commonwealth (past and present), with New Zealand, Australia and Canada taking pride of place in the centre with the Union Jack. We watched as one group of guards gave way for the next in perfect harmony and the magnificent beasts with their ornately decorated riders atop them rode past, sending Asian tourists scattering as they refused to stay behind the line.

Continuing around, we made our way through St James Park (full of strange imported birds as one of the kings had a penchant for exotic water fowl) and over to Buckingham Palace where we couldn't necessarily see the Changing the Guard so well, but we were perfectly positioned as they marched past us back to the barracks in complete and perfect time. The Royal Standard was above the Palace, marking old Queen Elizabeth was inside. Continuing on, we visited some of the other palaces, learning their histories and that of the royal family, before returning to Piccadilly Circus to bid farewell to our guide. Andrew was an incredible wealth of knowledge, funny and theatrical and I would like to do some more research and then attend another of his tours a little better armed (so I can ask some questions!)

Irene, the other lady in the tour, then helped me find my way to my next appointment which was at the bank. Little to tell, this all went far more smoothly than I anticipated. While there, Yvette called me and we arranged to meet back in Town (Westminster is called "Town", London is called the "City"). After meeting her in Piccadilly Circus, we leisurely wandered around, chatting, getting advice, before decided to have a quick peek in the Huntarian Museum (as Yvette is a medical student). Basically, it was walls and walls and floors of specimen jars dating back to the mid-1700's. It was creepy and fascinating and I tried not to think how they would have gotten some of those specimens, animal and human alike.

Thursday night I had offered to take Yvette and Josh to dinner in appreciation for letting me stay and for being so accommodating. We had a few drinks and then made our way to a well reviewed mexican restaurant, which was delicious, followed by some interesting cocktails in a near by pub. It had been a long, long day for all of us and so we made the long tube ride home, myself battling sleeping on the gentleman's shoulder next to me.

xx

Lazy days of getting lost

Squirrel count: 1
Fox count: 0

Despite the epic adventures of the previous day, I was compelled to be up at the butt-crack of dawn (which actually isn't the butt-crack of dawn here - that would be 4am..I was up at about 6am) to make my way to Hammersmith to see what will eventually become my new home. Naturally, I got horribly lost. I blame this on my lucky elephant necklace that I had omitted this morning (and getting lost was a theme for this day). I caught the train to Hammersmith without drama, but alighting from the station and being presented with multiple streets (and still no internet) proved my downfall. I started walking one way...ceased to feel comfortable and about turned to my starting point. Gingerly tried another street, and this one proved more successful (in hindsight, the first would have been fine but my hastily screengrabbed instructions meant that I couldn't afford to leave the beaten track).

I finally arrived at my destination and realised I had no idea where the front door was or how to get in. I knew the home was above a series of shops, yet no door with the number I needed was presenting itself to me. I walked back and forth. I walked to the little alleyway out the back but all the gates were locked. I returned to stand under the window, vainly hoping someone would look out and see little me, looking lost.

Thankfully, this is exactly what happened. The housemates had tried to message me but my phone had yet to be set up so no messages were received. I heard my name being called and followed a lovely girl called Alice out to the alleyway and through the now unlocked gate. To be fair, I am glad I didn't completely weird out my soon-to-be housemates. My level of functioning was very low, cold and jet lag and early morning start combined.

I was shown into the house through a doorway even I had to duck to enter. This made me laugh, and I followed Alice up the winding stair case. Bathroom as we come in, kitchen on the left, bedrooms here, my room up here. I'll be sharing with a girl named Alesha and I at last met Ally, whom I've been corresponding with via Facebook for the last few weeks. It is Ally's place I will be taking. I learn that Alice is also in the Communications sphere and I feel like I will get along with these folks just fine (once I stop being weird and jet lagged).

Descending the 40 stairs ("I take it you've counted?" I asked Alice), I walk with Alice back to the Hammersmith station and return to Ealing. Absolutely famished by this time, I pop into a cafe to get a veggie breakfast and a coffee for £5.95. What I was presented with was an enormous plate, complete with 2 large slices of bread, 2 eggs, a huge tomato, 2 hash browns, mushrooms and baked beans. I gawked as I wasn't expecting nearly that much food.

Once I returned home, I decided to let the rest of Wednesday take its course gently. All I had planned for today now was to organise my phone and try to get over my cold a bit better. Planning my course and setting forth, I met Yvette on the way who showed me a way to get to a different phone store but through a beautiful park. And so I did. And then got lost. As I wasn't in a rush, I simply wandered around until I found where I needed to go and voila! O2 was in front of me (a 15min walk took about 45). Entering, I explained that I was an idiot who didn't realise that a "nano" SIM was even smaller than a "micro" SIM (or that they were two different things), and she set me up with the iPhone's nano SIM. As an aside, why do Apple always like to make things difficult?

I leisurely wandered my way back home to Ealing, via an H&M where I bought a white dress for the tennis themed party Friday night. Wednesday evening saw good food and wine with Yvette and Josh, and another day was done.

xx

To jet lag, and beyond!

Overheard on the tube:
"Butterfly," says Mum.
"Butterfly," repeats her young son, "B-U-T-T-E-R-F-L-Y."
"No, no dear," she responds affectionately, "B-U-T-T-E-R-F-L-I-E," and she playfully ruffles his hair.

After a nap (which hindsight dictates was a bad idea but the eyes were unwilling to remain open) on Monday evening, my wonderful hosts came home and I at last was given the chance to meet them. Josh arrived home first and almost instantly had poured me a red wine. Cheers! We chatted and ordered pizza and in short order his wife Yvette arrived home, soggy from an unexpected downpour. I cannot describe enough how friendly and accommodating these two are - opening their home to a complete (house-trained) stranger and doing everything in the power to make sure I am comfortable. After a little while, I noticed it was still light outside and, thinking it must be about 7pm, asked what the time was. "Almost 10pm," Yvette responded. I was taken aback - here I was struggling to stay awake because I thought it was early but it was actually past my bed time! The light in the sky was akin to that of about 5pm back home at the moment - and so my body clock decided it couldn't possibly be time for sleep yet.

Despite the coziness and my exhaustion, sleep was not easy coming and the next morning I woke to prepare for my job interview. I donned a pretty dress and splashed some makeup on my face and tubed my way to Imperial College, arriving about half an hour early (just in case!). My cold was at its peak and I was sniffling and coughing my way through the Underground and through the campus. The campus reminded me of Adelaide; big sweeping trees, impressive buildings (although their "Student Hub" doesn't hold a candle to either of our Hubs, but shhh, don't let them know that). I sat a short proofing test (which my jet lagged addled brain hopefully completely reasonably successfully) which was followed by an hour long interview. Again, I don't know if they liked me or if my damaged brain just rambled far too much, but it was reasonably enjoyable none-the-less and the interview panel were very nice.

I was meant to be at my BritBound Welcome Session at 11am, and the time now read 10.50am. I decided to still try to make it to the session even if I arrived late, and a couple of tubes later I descended upon the BritBound office, fancy dress and high heels and all. Justin and Kimberley from BritBound went through such things as what to watch out for when looking for somewhere to live, tips and tricks for jobs, tax, health care and more. We then went through some of the upcoming social events and I basically have to go to all of them.

We gathered our things and made our way to The Old Pube <-Family Guy joke, the Coat and Badge. At this point, I hadn't spoken to any of the BritBounders because I had arrived late, so I quickly went about introducing myself. At the pub(e), we had the  choice of fish and chips, bangers and mash or gnocci, so bangers and mash it was! Cider confidence in hand, I launched into conversation and soon found myself amongst a very friendly group of Aussies (including another Rads!), Kiwi's and Canadians. We kicked on at the pub for a little while, one saying to me "Shouldn't you sleep?" Never! More cider! You clearly don't know me yet, I thought.

We returned to the BritBound office, slightly tipsy and ready to splash down our cash for the Summer Boat Party happening this Friday. Now we had some familiar and friendly faces, it will be extra nice to go to and be able to pick people out from the crowd! A smaller group of us went on a trek to find icecream, and then we made our way back to our respective homes - when I realised that although it felt like about 2pm in the afternoon, it was actually bordering on 6pm (damn you extended daylight and your ensuing confusion!) Naturally, I stepped onto the wrong train that was heading a similar (but ultimately wrong) direction. I was luckily able to just step off at the next station and step on the right train, but it could have been a fraction more disastrous. I was intending to inspect the Hammersmith house but my exhaustion was so great that I simply could not step foot outside again. My gracious hosts cooked dinner and we wined and dined until my eyes could not stay open any longer. It was an incredibly long, exhausting, rewarding day!

xx

Sitting in Putney Bridge

I am writing this as I eat a very spicy Cajun chicken panini, washed down with a ginger beer. I am hoping the spice with sweat out the last of my cold so that I am not a coughing, spluttering mess tomorrow. It's all very calm now, 8 hours ago things were not this calm.

10.30pm Singapore time: I board the plane in almost total silence as this blasted cold had blocked my head up on the planes descent. Once in the air, my ears popped beautifully and I could hear as normal. No extra roomy leg row for me this time, just your average cattle class seat near the middle back. I whiled away the 13.5 hours through a mixture of dozing and reading a book I had accidentally downloaded onto my kobo. I had a small portion of one of my sleeping pills which afforded me a couple of hours sleep, enough with which to function. 

5.30am London time: The descent again was dreadful and once again plunged me into silence. I took my time meandering my way through Heathrow in the hopes some of my hearing would come back before dealing with customs. Luckily, some of it did, allowing me hearing enough to learn that I could not enter the country. 

I finally made it to the front of the line and presented my customs card and my two passports, one valid and one with my visa. The gentleman was confused and spent much time punching his keyboard and asking me the same questions worded in different ways. I began to panic. He filled out a form saying he is taking my passport, to sit "over there" while he makes some phone calls. 

I join one other gentleman in no-mans-land and are soon joined by 3 others. I quietly descend into a state of panic, not caring how much it would cost and checking my emails, taking screen grabs of anything useful. I Facebook Alistair who calls BritBound for me, who on their end begin to look up why I would be rejected. Roughly 45 minutes pass and I am oscillating between what to do if I am let in and what to do if I am not. I come to terms with the fact that i will be sent home before this all begins, and that I'm 

Simply not cut out for adventure. 

Time passes. Eventually the gentleman returns and takes a casual seat next to me. "Your visa is ok," he says, "but you must transfer it to your valid passport." My deafness from the descent prevents me from getting too hopeful and I ask him to repeat himself. He is patient and gives me instructions on how to transfer and who to call saying he had never seen anything like it, then standing, he lead me through the gate and on my way. 

I quickly cross the threshold lest they change their minds and stand, trying not to hyperventilate. I gather my things and my wits and continue on to collect my baggage. 

2.18pm London time: So here I sit, near Fulham, eating my spicy panini and ginger beer. I made my way to the lovely Yvette and Josh's house who are kindly

Putting me up for a few days in Ealing. I have caught a number of different tubes on different lines all without incident (touch wood). The tube is a lot easier on comparison to the subway on Tokyo, let me tell you! Not least that everything is in English. I let myself into my home for the next few days to find a bed made, a little pack of maps for London and things to go and see. I am very very grateful and almost weep at the security of it. 

After a much, much needed shower and a nap, I brave the tube again (two different lines, even! And Wimbledon traffic) to head to BritBound to collect my SIM and meet the team. 

Now back to Ealing to prepare for my job interview tomorrow. Wish me luck Nd keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!

Xx

Why not a second?

Sitting now in Singapore Changi Airport - of course I've checked in, silly! - waiting for the next leg. Figured I'd so a second post. Sue me.

First flight went surprisingly quickly - watched 3 films and that filled in the time perfectly. Thor, Cuban Fury and the Lego Movie (everything is awesome!). Sadly for me, my ears are completely blocked from my slight cold and thus I am sitting here in almost total silence. It is not comfortable  and I understand why babies become so distressed. I'm about that distressed, but sort of trying to settle into the deafness because it will clear once I'm in the air again (and then hit once I land in London...I'll deal with that when it comes). 

And so this is a fairly mundane entry (btw, total leg room on the flight for the win! Most undeserving person of leg room as I weight in at a mild 5" but I wasn't going to complain!). See you in London!

Xx

And thus it begins

As I sit (or, truth be told, stand at the iPhone power station) in Sydney International Airport I decided to begin my blogging adventures about an hour before I go. I sit (stand) here completely unfazed, oddly enough - it hasn't sunk in. It hasn't hit me that I will be traversing Singapore airport for the first time alone. It hasn't hit me that in 22 hours I will be standing (sitting?) in Heathrow airport, collecting my wits, finding my bearings and attempting to organise my way through a city I have never seen - by myself. It hasn't hit me that I have absolutely no idea what the future will hold. 

Oh wait, I think it just hit. 

I've truly done it this time- to the four winds I have thrown my caution and hoping the fates catch me in one piece. Thrown to the four winds indeed. 

The knots in my stomach are equal parts fear, excitement and airport sushi I probably shouldn't have eaten. In a little over an hour I will be boarding the first haul to Singapore - another first for me - and I shall see you on the other side.

Xx