So its been just over a week since I posted last so I will fill you in on what I have been out and about doing.
Saturday
Today I caught up with my kiwi girls from Topdeck and had a lazy chat sunning ourselves in the park. Later that night I caught up with my Californian girls from Busabout and we were joined by Leanne one of my Kiwi girls and we headed into Chinatown for a cheap meal and then onto Soho for a few drinks. The food was amazing and definitely cheap! I will be heading back into Chinatown and working my way along the streets of restaurants to find the best food. Once we were out in Soho it was just me and my Cali girls and we hit up a couple of bars before stumbling across a bucks night all dressed up in tweed coats and poor boy caps. We joined them on their drinking trail around the city and discovered a cool bar that I will definitely be hitting up again later. Since we were all London newbies it took me a little while to work out how to get home and I ended up making it in the door at 5am while the sun was coming up.
Sunday
After a bit of a sleep in (can you blame me really?) I spent the afternoon flat hunting. There is a site over here called Gumtree and its basically a classifieds website but it has heaps of flats and rooms for rent on there. After trawling it over a few days and then narrowing the search I went and checked out a place only to decide that is exactly what I didn't want! That night I had a nice lazy night and watched a movie while I recovered from the night before.
Monday
I had another flat viewing today and made my way out to Southfields (near wimbledon) where I checked out a room and pretty much fell in love with it and the area. Since the rent was at the right price and I got everything I needed I decided to take the room. That arvo I had a quick lunch with my Cali girls before we bought tickets to Dirty Dancing. That night Morgan, Danielle, Leanne and I went and saw the show in celebration of me getting a flat, Leanne nabbing a job and the fact my Cali girls were leaving soon and it would be our last outing together. The show was great although a little bit different then I expected. When Johnny said 'Nobody puts Baby in a corner' and I heard the first strains of 'Time of your life' it completely made my night. After the show me and the Cali girls had a few drinks at a pub nearby and a very sad goodbye.
Tuesday
I woke up to a phone call from a recruitment agency asking me to come in and register with them as they had a position they thought would suit my job skills. This meant I spent the morning doing typing and grammar tests online before trying (fairly unsuccessfully) to pack all my belongings I had managed to obtain over four months into a manageable load. To move between where I was staying and where I was going to be living was about a 45 min tube journey not to mention the walks to and from the stations. I did this trip with my backpack on bursting point, day pack, laptop, bag of food and handbag chockers with random crap. Once I arrived at my place, grabbed my keys and dumped by bag - I had an hour and a half to get ready for my interview and get back over that side of town. One quick change and rushed ironing job later my new room looked like a bomb site and I was on my way. The interview went really well and I had a chance to chat to two people about what I was looking for and the role they were putting me forward for. They seemed fairly confident they would find me something and it was nice to know that they already had me in mind for something.
After my interview I speedily headed home and finally unpacked everything after four months on the road. There are no words to describe the satisfaction of hanging something up in a wardrobe and putting things away in drawers. I know I sound incredibly nerdy and lame here but you talk to anyone else in the same boat and they will tell you the same. That night I headed over to Clapham Junction which is about a 20 min busride away from where I am staying to meet up with all the people from Topdeck that were in London. A few of them are living around that area which is good to know they are close by and we all caught up over a few drinks. We pretty much were all still jobless and only a few of us had places to live. Several of us were still on blow up mattresses and searching for something more permanent then a temp role or bar job. I know that we will all end up with something more permanent and eventually we will all be able to look back on this stressful time and laugh but it was pretty nice to know I wasn't the only one in that situation.
After a few drinks we grabbed some cheap wine and headed over to the Vietnamese restaurant where we had made our booking. Since we were 45 mins late they had given our table away. After waiting about 15 minutes on the footpath we decided to head to the Indian restaurant next door that wasn't actually BYO but allowed us to drink our grog in there anyway. The food was delicious and we had a great time drinking and eating - gossiping about people we knew and sharing travel stories. After the restaurant kicked us out at about 12am we decided to get the bus to Clapham Common which was an area nearby with a few bars because we were all unemployed and didn't have to worry about getting up in the morning. We found a place that was still open and had a couple more drinks before heading home in the wee hours of 3am. So my first night staying at new place I didn't meet any of my house mates and stumbled in at 3am. Not the best way to start your time in a new place but oh well!
Wednesday
After a seedy morning me and a few of the girls headed into Hyde Park for a bit of a picnic and chill out session. It was a good way to get out of the house and have a final catch up before going our separate ways again (at least for now). After snacking on nibblies we had a wander around the park and checked out the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain which I expected to be a big statue fountain where instead it was just like a normal paddling pool. There were little kids in their swimmers splashing around. At first I was a little startled and thought ' Wow if this was my memorial I would be pissed!' but after awhile you saw how much fun they were having and how it was different then what you would usually expect and I decided it was actually kind of cool. After a quick look in a couple of shops in Oxford Street we spend the arvo chilling at Leannes crash pad watching tv and bumming around. Oh the life of the unemployed!
Thursday
Moving day again! This time it was Leanne shifting from her crash pad to her new place and as I knew how hard it was to be a pack horse I was more then willing to help when asked. We made our way across town and into her new place. It was nice to be a bit nosy and check out her flat. She has a great place and its so handy she is so close by because it means when we want to catch up its not a massive trek across town. It also means eventually we can go to the same gyms and catch up for coffees and movies close by. There were also many pubs along the bus route so I expect there will be a bit of time spent testing out these places. After a quick unpack and a snack we headed down to the local shopping centre that is pretty much exactly in between both of us. We both stocked up on bed linen and housewares and after lugging a chunk of stuff around we had a nice relaxing coffee in Starbucks. I have actually really missed having girly coffee chats so it was fun to do something with a bit of normality like shopping and coffee.
Friday
Today was cleaning day. Whilst my house was relatively tidy sharing with four boys meant it didnt really have the cleanliness that a girl would like. After a few hours doing my washing and scrubbing the kitchen so it shined I realised that I must be growing up if finding something neat and tidy was the most satisfying thing I did all day. That arvo I caught up with Leanne and Toni (it turns out this whole week pretty much consisted of Bronnie & Leanne dates - which was really fun and I will be lost without her when she starts work this week!) at the shopping centre and grabbed a few more things for the house. That night after a quick Pimms at Leannes place we headed into Picadilly Circus to a place called Tiger Tiger for dinner with a friend of mine Danielle whom I had met on Busabout. We had grabbed a mojito during happy hour (only 3 pounds!) before getting a table for dinner. The food was really yummy and it was good to catch up with Danielle and meet her friend Estelle who was also new to London. After dinner we headed downstairs to the 'groovy wonderland' bar that had an old school disco dancefloor and girls in retro clothing dancing on rollerskates. After a bit of a groove to old school music we headed home before the tubes stopped running and we were stuck on night buses again. The last thing I needed was another night getting home in the early morning!
Saturday
Only in England is it ok to be at the pub at 10.30 in the morning. I was there to watch the All Blacks vs Wallabies rugby match with the kiwi girls and a friend from Topdeck Amy (who was also a kiwi). She was there with a few of her friends which meant I ended up being the only Aussie. In fact I was the only Aussie in the whole entire pub. Considering we got completely dominated 48 - 26 or something I am glad that I didn't rock up in any Australian colours or bearing any stick on Aussie tattoos (which I had considered). The rest of the day was spent bumming around with the girls, grabbing lunch at the flat and checking out the area around Clapham Junction. That night we had a quiet one and headed to the movies. It was a bit weird that on a Saturday night all together in London we were being nanna's but over here it doesn't matter what night you do anything and since I am unemployed every day seems to feel like the weekend.
I wont bore you with my lazy Sunday but it consisted of hanging out with a friend while we enjoyed a pub lunch, stroll around the park and grabbing a beer in another pub. I love London.
I would only love it a tiny bit more if I actually had a job! It would mean a big weight off my shoulders and a bit more money to check out more exciting things then my local area! Still in between all the adventures I have just told you about were many hours online applying for many jobs. I have a couple of interviews this week with recruitment agencies and a list of contacts to call tomorrow morning bright and early. Hopefully my next post is about an awesome job score! Or at least a mediocre job - to be honest it could be a completely shit job. I just want one!
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