On Wednesday I had my day off and went shopping like a pro. Brick Lane, Oxford Street and Camden were my stops and this was a very good idea, because I got a lot of stuff that I wanted. (OK, I did not get the second hand Burberry trench coat I saw in Camden, but maybe I'll get it tomorrow. It's an investment, after all.)



So here a little guide to my day: Because it was a beautiful day, I walked to Old Spitalfields Market to stop by my work and tell them that even though I checked in two different stores, I was not able to neither get a can opener nor 100W light bulbs, because they were both out of stock and could not even tell me when they would get any in. Shopping for light bulbs in Switzerland is totally boring in comparison. I had a look around the market and found an early edition of Ian Fleming's "Dr. NO" from 1963 (with the tag line "Now excitingly filmed starring Sean Connery as JAMES BOND") for good old Krakus and also a little something for my dear Lori Star who promised to come by on the weekend of the 28th-30th of November. So looking forward to it!!!!! I also chatted a little with some of the stall holders and apparently there are fake £20 notes around and truly enough my money got checked pretty thoroughly in the other stores I went. After that I walked to Brick Lane and found a pair of cowboy boots at rokit (Yay!) and then headed for Oxford Street. Well, I ended up only buying stuff from UNIQLO a cool japanese store, not unlike H&M though the stuff is way better quality and of course a lot cooler (it also seems to be a place to get basics, because I did not see anything with prints or patterns, it's all uni. Go figure.). Oh and I found my perfume too in a little shop (costs about 90-100 CHF in Switzerland and was only £17.99 on Oxford Street! I officially love this city!!!) got to Camden where I did NOT buy the Burberry trench coat, but did buy some vintage jewelry (more presents) and a silver necklace and an egyptian pendant for me at the same place I got my sisters birthday present. And of course, I haggled him down again ;)

And tomorrow Banyana and I are going Reggae clubbing. Yay!

...for letting you wait this long. What can I say: I work 45 hours a week and am quite tired at night, because it is a lot of physical labour. On the plus side, I am droping weight like crazy without even trying (if anything, my calorie intake has increased). So tomorrow I will spend a significant portion of my first salary on new clothes. I need pants that are not baggy (because the jeans I just bought this summer have already gotten effing too baggy to wear in a club and apart from my jeans I only brought one pair of pants which I already consider to be a phase that is sooo over) and I want a cardigan and shoes and a jumper and a hat and..... I will spend a lot, but I think that's a good thing. I deserve it.



So let me recap a little: I moved into my first real place here in London with my room mate and it's really great, no drama until now and none expected. We are both too cool and laid back for these kinda things ;P We are also gradually getting all the stuff one needs.



The moving weekend also coincided with the Sarah and Ursi weekend which was reallyreally nice (the gloves are still a little stiff, but the fondue is frozen for later and the Appenzeller disappeared rather quickly). I think the cemetery idea was a good one. I really have to go by there again, when it's not so dark. Btw, Amy Winehouse's video to „Back In Black“ was shot there. And the guy who founded the Salvation Army is apparently burried there. The pictures turned out pretty spooky, but what else is there to expect of a graveyard setting?



The next day we went a little shopping, reading and hot chocolate drinking and then tried to find The Fifteen, Jamie Oliver's restaurant. I guess it was a little unwise not to look up the street before going there and we ended up getting chased in different directions and through the rain by different people who all tried to help us. So we got to a pub instead and had a lot of fun and a really nice meal there. A little later we went to the cinema to see „Quantum Of Solace“ which we more or less agreed on was not that good. Not at all. Poor Marc Foster, we all had such high hopes for you. Ashes on our heads, we went back to the hostel and I said my farewell, because I had to work the other day :(



Now more on the job front: all went quiet for a while with the arrogant, annoying South African until this Sunday when he said to me: „Back off or I'm gonna break your jaw.“ No, I did not find it funny either. And yes, he still works there. It stays interesting is what I'm guessing.



One more thing: the guy which first was „Risotto“ and then „The Hairdresser“, is now titled „Cold Sore Guy“ and while applying cream to the two growing on my lips, I am hoping it's nothing worse and am also guessing that this is the last nail in the coffin of that whole matter. Maybe I should join a monastery. No, I am just kidding. I actually haven't given up hope. Yet.

Hi there and sorry for keeping quiet for such a long time. I have been working the last six days in a row and I feel reallyreally tired, but also happy about the fact that tomorrow is my first day off. Yay.

So about my job: it is really nice, I like the people (with one exception) and the pies are reallyreallyreally good. Though about that: we get a free pie every day (with freshly made mash, peas and gravy) and that's really good, but now I am also having a leftover pie for dinner, because I am too exhausted to cook and that is getting a little bit unhealthy... Will have to do something about that in the future. And then there is also the exception at work, an unbelievingly arrogant and lazy guy and I didn't like him from the beginning. And I keep complaining to the manager when he does stuff wrong, which happens a lot. There you go, I am not his friend anyways. Hopefully in due tme they will fire him, because apparently everyone complains about him. By the way, today my colleague Mikey told me that I make the best mash ever. How cool is that! Take pride in whatever you do, I always say. Then I spent a lot of time tidying up the kitchen, which Mikey (our beloved pie-maker-in-chief) appreciated a lot. I know I am not the tidy type, but this kitchen was a mess. Seriously.

I am looking very much forward to my day off tomorrow, after working 6 days in a row. And 9 hours almost every day. I have no idea what I am gonna do tomorrow though. Well, I'm really considering sleeping in.

Oh, before I forget it, one more think (everyone else ignores this please): Dear Mr Risotto, after thinking about it really a lot, I came to the conclusion that you won't be reading about yourself on this blog. So no one else will either, which is much more fun for me, because now everyone will beg me to tell them who Mr Risotto is. Hihihi, I know I am evil that way.

That is what I said to myself this morning, when I showed up at my national insurance number interview and I forgot my passport in the hostel. Now I have to reschedule, but I rather wait for that until I get my work schedule, because I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!! And I already start tomorrow! Jay, it's so cool. But I get to eat a free pie in my lunch break everyday. It's a little unhealthy with mash and loads of gravy. Still I have to try all of them at least once, don't I?

Will call the Apollo West End tonight to see whether they have any tickets for Quantum Of Solace available on the 1st of November. So looking forward to Sarah and Ursi visiting me! Also will be moving to my new place in Whitechapel on that weekend. So psyched about it.

I found a beautiful birthday present for my sister at Camden Stables, but since I don't know whether she is one of my beloved reader or not, I am not revealing what it is here. But just so you know, I managed to haggle down the guy to half the price he asked for, so people, Camden is really a place to haggle. And I wasn't really desperate to get the present yesterday, because I still have two weeks, so that helped too. Just start to become less interested and they really drop the price.

So Banyana and I paid our deposit yesterday, which meant I walked around with a lot of cash (300 quids). We agreed to meet at Whitechapel station, but Banyana texted me that she's gonna be late, so I spent thirty minutes sitting on the stairs in the Whitechapel Underground Station next to this sign:



Yes friends, this is where I am gonna be living pretty soon! And it was Banyana who took the picture when she finally showed up, I did not give my camera to a total stranger, if that's what you were thinking...

Met Jennifer in Covent Gardens yesterday and we managed to buy a nice birthday present for Olivier, le beau, before he showed up. That's just because we are professional shopaholics.



So Jennifer and I talk about sending Olivier's pictures to a model agency, but I am not sure whether Olivier really believes us! Also, Jennifer just loves my accent when I speak French, which I try to do, at least a little bit.

Tomorrow work. Looking forward to it.

So am looking into apartments at the moment and that is more tricky than I thought. Also there are a lot of horrible places out there.

Luckily I made a friend at the hostel who is also looking for a place in London and we are looking into twin rooms that we could share, because that is a little cheaper. Hopefully, Banyana (from Botswana) and me find something nice and cheap pretty soon.

Went to the British Museum with Banyana yesterday, still an incredible place. Just love it. Also found a big dvd and music store and even though they didn't have Rushmore in stock, they could order it with free home/hostel delivery! So I finally get to see it.

And I have a cold too, so I have to drink loads of British Neocitran..... they weather is getting colder too, but it is still not raining. I think that is just a big government conspiracy by now.

Uhmmm... I guess that's all for now!

EDIT: Banyana and I found a great place where we'll move into on the first of November. We are so psyched, since it is quite central, in a nice neighbourhood and the rent is reasonable too. (£ 240 pcm, plus about £ 30 for bills)

Tomorrow we're gonna put our deposit down and also celebrate Olivier's birthday in the evening. Who Olivier is? Well, Olivier is a French adonis, but I'll take pictures tomorrow, so you'll see for yourself.

Also, apparently someone told Julia that my blog is boring. I would really like to know whether said person has got the balls/ovaries to tell this to me him/herself? Yup, am a little offended. It's like As You Like It's worst critique all over again....

.....on some blogging. Yes, it's been a while and I do apologize. So let's catch up a little bit. I did some more Camden shopping on Saturday, which was really great and I found a nice wool jacket and a second hand copy of "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows", which I am re-reading right now. Still a great one and all the laughing and all the goosebumps come back to me like I am reading it for the first time.

In the evening the girls decided to take me out a second time, they were to meet Sean, some guy they met when they where in Spain. And yes, Sean was a knock-out:



But apart from that, he made us walk around Soho for about an hour, looking for a club, a pub, whatever. I didn't care so much for it, because I was wearing my new shoes which give you a grace period of about two hours and those where almost over. So I said goodbye to the lad and sorry to the gals and headed for Ku Bar, which I read so much about while doing my online research. Well, boy oh boy, what a dissapointment. I mean how hard can it be to find a dj that plays reasonably good music? I mean we are in LONDON for God's sake, home town of The Clash and others of the sort!! Still, I refused to leave right away, closed my eyes so I don't have to look at more of Barbie's boyfriend's gay roommates and danced for about an hour and a half, despite the chronic ear infection I was getting from what they claimed to be music, and then I left and felt defeated again. If anyone knows an attitude-free gay bar with decent music around London, please let me know. Otherwise I will have to settle for a decent straight club.

I was trying to find my way back to the bus stop, when something totally weird and surreal happened. Something you would find in a Lewis Carroll novel. If he had written adult stories that is. So I was walking down the street, when a woman came to me and asked me what I was looking for, saying that she's got a couple of girls in an apartment upstairs. I told her that I wasn't into girls at all, so she asked whether she can help me with something else and sniffed her nose, how subtle was that. I was just explaining to her that I don't take any drugs and we were chitchatting about prostitution (what else do you chitchat about with a pimp at three thirty in the morning?), walking in the direction where I believed the bus stop to be and then she said, rather casually: "I also have men, by the way. He is one of them." and we stopped in front of a guy who did not look at all what you would imagine a gay gigolo to look like. He didn't even look gay for that matter. Honestly, he was really handsome. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture, so you'll have to take my word for it. Anyways, the whole scene was really picturesque: the pimp, the really handsome whore and me, looking more than slightly amused at the turn of events (because I was actually just trying to find the bus stop and that was all). So - to somehow talk my way out of this thing - I explained that I don't have that much money and even only spent 5 quids on my shoes and he answered, looking directly into my eyes with his beautiful blue eyes (which apart from the whole male whore bit was a really romantic moment): "Well, we can also go upstairs and do something for just half an hour or so." But I told him even though it was tempting, because he was really good looking (you know, handsome, but in a real life and normal way), I had to say no and I said bye and that was it. Hihi. Still funny when I think about it.

I finally went to the TATE yesterday and it was very nice and I found a couple of interesting postcards. I went shopping again in the afternoon, found a pair of simple black pants at Primark which is reallyreally cheap, but the clothes there looked sad, like they knew they weren't anything special and not unique at all. Also went to Topshop and bought a nice yellow cardigan (for I decided it is finally time to show some colour), which cost enough. Probably won't be shopping there too much. By the way, that was the first store where I found skinny jeans in a 38 (my size!!!), so I tried them on and omg, that was really uncomfy. Kudos to all of who put up with it. But I won't.

So that's all for now, am applying for jobs at the moment, let's keep our fingers crossed that will work out somehow or other. Should go to tesco's and pick up an application form there, come to think of it.

Well I guess I had fun, so that's something! The girls were all excited to go clubbin' last night, so they spent two hours getting ready, while we were having a pre-party in our room, just to get in the mood. Booze and music, what else does one need?

(German Guy and the Swedish girls, all dolled up)

Then we finally got out of the hostel, got into the tube and headed for Leceister Square and from there through Chinatown to Soho. Weirdly almost everything was closed already. Kinda weird. Well, I wasn't planning on giving up that easily and neither was German guy who tagged along, but the girls were. After having spent two hours to doll themselves up. They turned and got back to the tube station and left us standing, dumbfounded. Well, so what we said and found ourselves a pub that was still open, called "The Village", which already should've been a clue. I guess it wasn't to us. But this was:


(I mean the flag, not German guy!)

And this:



Of course I didn't mind, but German guy (whose name's Dennis, btw) thought his girlfriend back home might get jealous. We had a couple of pints there anyways (£ 3.50 each. Just wondering whether this is a lot or not...) and I danced (there was music, just so you know) and had fun. Then we went around the corner, where I met Hannah (lovely girl from Brixton with the most beautiful freckles one can imagine) and the other German guy, (I told you I felt surrounded by those!) who even made me write down the name of my blog in his fancy blackberry or whatever that was. He was kinda cute too:


(I have no idea why I am holding his chin like this, probably so he can't run away....)

So as it turns out, we were standing in front of this entrance which turns out to be another gay club (The Shadow Lounge) and I wanted to get in. Dennis not so much though, but he said "You go ahead, I'm gonna head back to the Hostel." Ok, I thought, the next person bailing on me. Wasn't gonna stop the fun too much though. So I was just about to get into that Shadow thingy, when doorman guy stopped me. Apparently it was "members only" and you had to be on a guest list.... blablablablabla. So I did one I am best at. I talked to him and just didn't stop that at one point he must have considered his options and decided that he would rather let me in, then hearing anymore of the stuff I was telling him. (I mean everyone knows that I can go on for hours...) So I got in, but had to pay the five quids for a ticket. That was ok. Not so much ok was the music, which was quite bad and the fact that most guys in there were of the "I-really-want-to-resemble-barbie's-boyfriend-as-much-as-possible-so-I-shave-my-chesthair" variety wasn't really a selling point either. Well, to me at least.


(These two just wanted to get photographed by the way. Can't remember why though.....)

Even though I did the dancing for a while, I just remembered how much more fun 80s night at Bierhübeli used to be....

But the real fun came later, when I tried to find the freaking bus that would get me back to the Hostel. After walking around for about 40 minutes, I finally found a bus stop that got me to Elephant and Castle and I just walked the rest from there, which is only about ten minutes and I just was there the same day with my bike. Oh and I saw a fox running around the streets at about a quarter to five in the morning, which the Swedish girls did not believe by the way.....

So probably going to Popstarz tonight, even though I am close to falling asleep too!