Visit to Sheffield

As part of Christina's birthday present to Gav, Christina organised a climbing session with one of Gav's climbing idols Steve McClure. Christina asked me if I wanted to join them for the weekend which I happily tagged along. You're probably thinking when was the first time or last time I climbed with Gav...the answer would be NEVER. So what was I going to do when Gav and Chris went for the climbing session with Steve. Well I spent the day exploring the city and seeing what was on offer in this small town.

Our trip out to Sheffield started off with a 3.5hr coach ride from Victoria bus station. The ride was rather uneventful although it was quite nice to see a bit of the scenery outside of London. We arrived at the Sheffield bus/train station quite late and had to catch a train into the town centre. After a late supper, we settled in for a relatively early night since Gav and Chris both had a big day of climbing ahead of them.

What I found about Sheffield ppl is that they were super friendly. Even early in the morning when we went out to get some breakfast all the shopkeepers were helpful when we needed to find things and the town folk were helpful when I needed directions too.

More about the town, it has bit of a Perth feel. The Saturday where I had to explore the town on my own felt like a typical Saturday in Perth with ppl coming out to do their shopping or families coming out to enjoy the sunshine that was on offer that weekend.

I hit up an art gallery and museum that day where the museum had examples of what was Sheffield primary industry back in the day which was steel. Unfortunately there was a no photograph policy in the museum and art gallery so I can't show you the fine examples of craftmanship that occured. Nowadays Sheffield is an education hub, from what I saw there seemed to be a multicultural feel with students from all nationalities walking around the city.

One thing that Sheffield has that Perth doesn't have is that they have the Sheffield Eye (i.e. ferris wheel) But sadly it seems not many ppl actually go on the ferris wheel. Besides just walking around the town I did a bit of shopping and bought a long sleeve and some boardies which were on sale.

In the evening, I met back up with Gav and Chris after their climbing session to have dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. The meal hit the spot and the service was really good too. The next day I walked around town with Gav and Chris showing them some of town since they were out climbing the day before.

By mid afternoon it was time to head back to London by train and in FIRST CLASS...hahaha. The train was quite a lot of fun since we got a booth seat with a table so we ended up playing Big 2 all the way back to London. I'll add that I went on a 5 game winning streak and would say much to Gav's disagreement that I dominated those games!!!!

All in all it was a great weekend away to see another bit of the UK.

London....I'm loving it!!!

Much like the Macca's slogan, I'm loving my time in London so far. There's something about this place that makes me feel quite comfortable. It's a big city but it doesn't have a big city feel. After being here for a week, I've grown accustomed to the weather, the price of things and short commute to the places that I want to see. It's a bonus where Gav, Chris and their housemates live since we're literally a stone's throw away from the River Thames.

One of the things I've noticed about the city and this could partly be part of their build up to the Olympics is that everyone is quite friendly. Ok, I know that I've only been walking around mainly the city and tourists spots but I've noticed even the taxi drivers are polite to pedestrians. While galavanting around the other day, there were numerous times where taxi drivers actually gave way for me to cross the road. The layout of the whole city especially the walkways along the River Thames are really well marked out that it's near impossible to get lost....I dunno it's these little things that make me like London more and more.

Who knows this TB could be like BP's (the petrol company) old slogan and be "On the Move".

Me @ Somerset House

Gav's 30th

One of the main reasons for me coming to London was to celebrate Gav's Big Three Oh.

So on his birthday morning we all had a very lazy morning in. Chris did a fry up for all of us before we went for a short walk around the city to get a coffee from Monmouth and some cup cakes from Hummingbird Bakery. Then it was back to the apartment to relax before we headed out for Gav's birthday dinner and after dinner drinks.

Whoopie pie and Chocolate cupcake

Dinner was at Med Kitchen in Leicester Square which was organised by Chris. We also got to meet Gav's relatives who are also living in London. After dinner, Gav's rellies recommended that we go to the Albannach for Gav's favourite poison....whisky. This bar specifically specialises in whiskies so much so that their whisky list spanned over 6 pages of their drinks menu. We ordered a couple of whisky horns (i.e. whisky tasting plates) to begin with and then the rest of the night was full of more laughs and whisky tastings.

To end the night off, in true Perth tradition we headed to Chinatown to fill our bellies for supper to absorb most of the alcohol we'd consumed that night. It was a great night and I'm really glad I was able to make it over to the UK to celebrate Gav's 30th.

Shredded Duck & Preserved Vegetables with Rice Vermicelli

New City....Familiar face

London being a big city is home to quite a number of Perthians/Perthites....so yesterday I caught up with Minh and we hung out for the day. I got to know Minh and her bro when they started attending the church I go to back in Perth quite a number of years ago. We'd kinda lost contact over the years but when Gav mentioned to me that Minh was now living in London we organised to catch up and explore the city together.

So I met up with her at the train station and we made our way to Borough Markets. I'd been told by Gav/Chris that there is heaps of things to eat and try there. So armed with an empty stomach Minh and I decided to check out what was on offer. Borough Markets is a bit like our grower's markets back in Perth but with HEAPS more food....and by food I mean all different types of homemade food. We wandered through the many stalls trying bits of cheese, dips, relishes and taking in all the mouthwatering smells that were wafting through the market. After walking around and seeing Minh buy a falafel and another thing to eat, I decided that the first thing to try was an ostrich sausage burger. I know it sounds weird but boy was it good especially with horse radish over the top of it. The sausage didn't taste fatty and the meat was very lean. Besides selling fresh meats and vegies they also had fresh seafood and Minh suggested that I try the fresh scallops which were lightly pan fried with bacon. For GBP4.5, it wasn't cheap but you got 3 very plump scallops pan fried and served in a scallop shell and they tasted sooo fresh and juicy that I could have really gone back for more.

Falafel and Ostrich Sausage Burger

Fresh Scallops Pan Fried with Bacon

The markets also sell quite a lot of desserts, freshly made pastries, chocolate coated raisans/peanuts, turkish delight (YUM)...the list goes on!!! We filled our bellies and then headed back into the city to go to Buckingham Palace and the National Gallery. Armed with chocolate and turkish delight goodness we decided to drop these off back at the apartment or else Minh and I (well mainly Minh) would end up eating it all.

After the quick pitstop at the apartment, we walked towards Jubilee bridge, which connects us to the city when it started to rain and then it started to pour....and then it BUCKETED DOWN with rain. Both Minh and I had these puny yet strong umbrellas but we were still getting wet so we sought shelter under an overpass with a couple hundred other ppl who were trying not to get wet. In the end we canned the idea of going to see Buckingham Palace and the National Gallery due to the crazy weather and we went for a coffee to have a think about what other options we could do. So in the end we decided to go shopping and Minh took me out to this GIGANTUAN Westfield out in the 'burbs. We just mainly window shopped as this was more to get out of the rainy weather. It was fun catching up and hanging out with Minh, and really cool to see familiar face in a new city.

Cheesy grins on the train

Galavanting...

Chris and I headed to Covent Gardens yesterday afternoon after spending a lazy morning in the apartment. Covent Gardens was packed full off ppl everywhere watching the street buskers, sitting outside cafes or food stalls sampling all the food that was on offer or moving between the many retail stores in that area. We hadn't had lunch so we were looking for a feed to fill our bellies, Q (Chris' housemate) recommended that we check out this Cornish Pastie place located in the market area. Being the FoB and Chris still getting used to her new surroundings we didn't manage to find the place but we walked into the middle of the market area and saw this dude with two massive pans/woks of paella and it look really good from where we were standing so we decided to eat that for lunch. It was really tasty and it hit the spot in terms of filling out stomachs. Then we hit the shops....and that's where I thought I would be able to find lots of cool stuff to buy.....WRONG...using AUD to buy things in GBP just doesn't work, because I don't work here I NEED to convert and after I convert I realise how expensive things are. But all is not lost since it was my first day of seeing a bit of London. ....there's plenty more days to come!!

Paella dude with his big pans

Where Gav & Chris stay at the moment it's very close to alot of things. Prime example is when we walk out the foyer of their apartment block, there, right in front of us is the London Eye. A short walk along the River Thames will get me to Big Ben and Buckingham Palace/Trafalgar Square are all within 20mins walk. The only downside is that the weather has been cold and wet.

London Eye and Big Ben from Jubilee Bridge

London!!!.....SURPRISE!!!!

I've finally made it to London after a 13hr flight...the flight was GREAT much better than I expected in terms of long haul flights. The air stewards constantly feed you food and drink which is a good thing.

Anyway about the surprise for Gav, Chris came and picked me up from the aiport then it was a 1hr tube ride back into the city. I dropped my bags off at their apartment, meet one of their housemates (Q) and then we walked to have my first meal in London and it was....Viet...hhaha....the food was pretty tasty although a bit more expensive than what I would pay in Perth. Anyway back to the surprise, I sat at the table waiting for Gav to arrive and when he turned up he was quite surprised that I was there..hahah...at first it was a quizzical look on this face which was priceless given that I had told him I wasn't arriving until the 16th..but later on he mentioned that he was genuinely surprised....MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

After dinner we headed to a cafe for coffee and cake, then we walked back through Trafalgar Square for a bit of sightseeing before ending the night at a pub for a pint of beer.

I think I'm still running on adrenalin which explains why I'm still wide awake when my body should really be sleeping....hopefully I don't crash big time tomorrow.

Outside the National Gallery

Chris & Gav

Check One....Two

Ok, so it's just over 4 hrs until I fly out for my UK/Europe trip and to surprise Gav earlier than expected for his 30th. Bags have been packed...repacked and then packed again, only a few bobs and bits to sort out around the house and then we'll be off to the airport. I'm starting to get excited about this trip and to know about the AWESOME things I'm going to experience whilst over there..... I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!

More posts to come....