St Paul's and the Museum of London

There is nothing like spending a beautiful blue-sky summer London day out and about. What does Marky do on a day like this? Climb 528 steps up a cathedral, of course! As today was a lovely day, I decided to trek up to the Golden Gallery of St.Pauls Cathedral to get a different perspective of London. Finished off the afternoon learning about London itself at the Museum of London.

Woke up this morning and saw that it was a lovely day outside, which made me think "I should try and get a panoramic view of London". Great idea. So initially I was thinking that i'd visit Primrose Hill, up by Regents Park. So I popped online for some alternative ideas on how to get a good view of London and found out that I could climb up to the dome of St.Paul's. Fantastic! Given that it was effectively down the road for me, I was sold.

I thought that my journey to St.Pauls would have been uneventful. I was wrong. On the way over to the Cathedral I spotted a dobule decker London bus... with a twist. The bus had the words "The Wedding Special" and "Just Married", a bit hard to make out on the photo below... but at least the ribbon is on the front! Talk about a uniquely London way to get hitched!


Upon arriving at St.Paul's I milled about the perimeter, a truly marvellous building. No point bolting to the top without first admiring the building from the outside! Obviously, St.Paul's is a popular place for tourists - heck, I was there. I noticed a couple of German school groups, as well as a couple of bus loads of tour-guided travellers. Plenty of local English locals as well. Good thing, too. Apparenty maintenance and upkeep of the Cathedral is in the order of 3 or 4 million pounds a year! I didn't feel so bad about parting with 12 pounds and 50 pence after reading coming across that tidbit of information.



After paying the admission fee and having a brief chat with the chap who was guarding the South Entrance, I headed for the top - a journey that totaled 528 stairs (one way). It was actually a lot easier than I thought. The journey up to the Whispering Gallery is wide and smooth, a whole deal more comfortable and open than I expected. Once I got to the Whispering Gallery I was stunned. You just have to go to see, if you haven't already been. The dome above me was overwhelming in size and equally elaborate. A real shame that I couldn't take a photo.

Continuing my journey up to the top was different. The staircase was stone and cramped, just like it was in years past. Not quite the Chu Chi tunnels in Vietnam, but not the cosiest either. The Stone Gallery provides the first lofty views of London, I stopped to have a look for a little while before continuing. Moving from the Stone Gallery up to the Golden Gallery was the least pleasant part of the journey. There's a step thin metal spiral staircase that shoots straight upwards - thankfully there's only 152 of them though.

The view from the Golden Gallery is lovely. A small sample is contained below, beautiful isn't it?
(You can see what a lovely day it was in 'Sunny' England, haha!)




After heading to the top, I ventured down into the Crypt of the Cathedral. Not as breathtaking as the view up top, but it did provide some novel tidbits of information that I didn't know before - things such as... the crypt being the resting place of Lord Nelson (Battle of Trafalgar)!

Babbling on too much now. Just quickly, went to the Museum of London nearby and spent a few hours there. The permanent exhibitions on the history of London were quite interesting. (I didn't have enough time to look at the contemporary sections). Nothing like a bit of history and culture to finish off the day. Notting Hill festival over the next few days, so a packed weekend!

Election '10 and looking for Accomodation

Week 2 has passed by and it's been full of two things: looking for long-term accommodation and the Australian Federal Election. Not exactly the two items I was really banking on spending much of my time on when I initially signed up for a stint in the UK. I’ll be able to get onto the travel, culture, and all that jazz as soon as i’ve planted myself somewhere... having said that, the Notting Hill Carnival is in London over the weekend, so I won't have to go far!

Tip #2: When searching for accomodation start early.

My first tip for those who are planning on moving on over to work is to start early, and keep at it. Finding a place isn’t the easiest, and there can be quite a lot of competition in the London letting market. One frustrating thing to note is that some of the aggregators can be incorrect (in the sense that properties that have already been rented out or are under offer still show up as ‘hits’).

Given that I didn’t start early enough, nor hard enough – I’ve had to extend my stay at London House for another couple of days. I didn’t quite post up any pictures of London House (it's lovely), so feast your eyes on the pictures below. I'm not sure if I mentioned this last time… I did get a free upgrade from a one-bedder to a two-bedder due to the fact that all the one-bedders were fully booked!





Having said all of this I have actually found longer-term accomodation, it's an expensive shoebox in Bloomsbury. Thankfully it is a hop skip and a jump away from Kings Cross St.Pancras and Russel Square tube stations, so it's a expensive shoebox that happens to be convenient! Just for reference, I was initially looking in and around Angel (Islington), but I was quickly running out of town. Even though the inside is a shoebox, the front of the building looks half-decent! More on the shoebox later, once I move in.



For the second part of today’s blog: the Australian Federal Election. Well, well, well. Very interesting to see a hung parliament! At least I can tell myself that spending the first couple of weeks in London getting involved in campaign work (admittedly only a few days worth) wasn’t a complete waste of time.

Working the booth at Australia House (also known as Gringotts Bank in the Harry Potter movies) was reasonably entertaining this year. Had a great conversation with an Angolan security guard about growing up in Africa and how he wanted to go to Australia when he was younger, discussed the differences in political systems with a lovely Conservative lass from Oxfordshire who had an Aussie friend that’s hardcore Labor, and tried to convince Greens volunteers to consider a 1 Green 2 Libs UK Only “preference deal” (they weren’t biting). Haha! Hillarious.

It’ll prove interesting to see what the result will be! I knew I was onto a good thing when the Libs were out at $4 at the start of the election campaign! Risk-return wise, great odds… so I thought anyway.

First week in London town

One week in London has passed. My how time flies! Only one week in and already falling behind on the blogging. Ok, so a few notes on getting into London - Heathrow Immigration took a bit of time but the process was quite smooth, lugging around luggage on the tube isn't the easiest... and there are alot of people from Australia in London!

Landed at roughly 7pm on a Tuesday morning and all seemed to be going peachy. I get off the plane and head to the immigrations and customs area. Big lines. The tv screens perched on the ceilings provided a distrcation, but after a few minutes there was nothing new. After about half an hour of waiting, I hit the "45 minutes to go" sign, and started looking around the room... trying to guess the nationality of people based on their look and attempting to verify by looking at their passport. Wasn't having too much success. I either looked very suspsect or bored, at this stage.

Finally, it was my turn to head up to the counter. As I approached the counter, I heard the immigration officer next to me was telling a bloke "ok, what we are going to do is send you home - do you understand that?". The guy next to me was being deported! Ouch. I moved up to the desk without looking at the scene unfolding next to me and handed in my passport, landing card, and my letter of assignment. A few questions later, stamp stamp, and I was in!

The good times didn't quite begin straight away though, as I had quite a bit of luggage. The tube is excellent, I was able to get into town with no major troubles - hopped onto a train and I was in Central London. Easy. Public transport in Sydney is so far behind London that it's just not funny. One thing that you'll find (not really a complaint) is that there are a fair few stairs about the place as the underground stations are... underground. Hauling luggage up the stairs isn't the easiest - but I got there in the end.

Tip #1: In London you stand on the right rather than on the left on the escalators.

Nothing groundbreaking to report in the first week though, as i'm still getting sorted. For the first few days in London I was staying at the Travelodge, and then later moved to the much nicer (read expensive) London House serviced appartments. London House is great, I really enjoy staying there - a few minutes away from work, and it's a pretty swish place with all the amenities... unfortunately it costs over 800 pounds a week! So... i'll be out of there by the end of the month as I need to search for longer term accomodation.

As for exploration in the time i've spent thus far in London, not much. I haven't really done all that much as of yet, and what I have done is mainly centered around tube stations. The stations that i've been to thus far include: Angel, Kings Cross St. Pancras, Temple, St.Pauls, Moorgate, Holland Park, and Shepards Bush.

As much as i've said that it has been largely uneventful, this doesn't mean It definitely hasn't been a boring time thus far. It turns out that there are quite alot of Aussies up here in London, and that includes people that I know (whether it be for work, study, or travel). So in some respects, it feels almost like home. Definitely a smooth transition into the UK so far.

One final note that i've been getting a few questions about. Details on my first weekend here. I'm probably one of the first ever to do this... but I spent a few hours on my first Saturday here in London campaigning for the Australian Federal Election down in Australia House. Crazy? Yes. However, it doesn't matter where I am - it's always hard not to help out. So for those of you that are in the UK, it's time to do the right thing. No prizes for guessing who I voted for, lol.

I really should be looking at accomodation rather than blogging, come to think of it. Will try and get some photos out in future posts as well. That's it for today.

Singapore's 45th Birthday

On the morning of the 9th of August I departed for Singapore, a stopover before beginning work in the UK. Little did I know that I would arrive on the day of Singapore's 45th birthday. Talk about good timing! As a result of the celebrations, I didn't really get all that far... not that it was bad thing.

I rolled out of bed at a quarter to 5 on Monday morning. Early. Had a quick shower, double checked what I packed and then headed out the door. On the way to the airport! No breakfast required as the 8am Singapore Airlines flight has breakfast included.

Flying economy only allows you to check in 20kg of luggage. I had more, given that I was relocating to the UK for work. Thankfully I was only really several kilos over, they let that pass... after I did a reshuffle from check-in luggage to hand luggage, of course. After a few teary goodbyes it was onto the plane and off to Singapore - A380 style.

Landed in Singapore mid-afternoon, and it was hot. 31 degrees Celcius. Typical Singapore, I was told. I opted to stay over in Singapore as opposed to fly direct to London. I didn't think i'd be able to deal with such a long transit time, and I thought that it'd be a good way to check out the new hotel - Marina Bay Sands.

Marina Bay Sands is a decent place - much of it isn't quite complete yet, but it's getting there. The SkyPark and the Hotels are complete, but some of the boutique restaurants and shops are yet to be filled out. Not quite the Venetian in Macau with respect to the overall package, but it's aiming to get there.

Upon arrival the place was packed. There were people everywhere. Since it was quite warm I decided that i'd go for a bit of a splash in the Infinity Pool and check out the Skypark (aka roof). Whilst lining up to get to Level 57, I found out two things - 1, entry to the top is granted by being a hotel guest or paying for an admission ticket. 2, it was Singapore's National Day holiday. Clearly point 2 is the reason why there were so many people strolling about at Marina Bay Sands.

I heard rumors of a spectacle, so I decided that I was going to camp out up on the roof. After about 45 minutes of waiting, I finally made it up to the top floor (the volume of people wanting to head up to the Skypark was just crazy!). Since it took so long to get up to the top, the decision to stay for a while was made easy. Quickly moving on: the atmosphere and the views of Singapore were great!

Marina Bay Sands - Roof

Marina Bay Sands - Roof view of Singapore

Perhaps waiting around for the celebrations to start (I ended up being on the roof for 3+ hours) wasn't the best of ideas, but since it took so long for me to get to the top... and since it was a national holiday - there wasn't really much of a choice. Watching the celebrations was entertaining, though... so it wasn't a total waste. Some of the displays on offer included parachute landings into one of the stadiums below, choppers flying around carring the Singaporean flag, newly purchased fighter jets (F-15s) performing aerial maneuvers (inc. a shackle), and fireworks!

National Day Celebrations - Aerial Shows

National Dy Celebrations - Aerial Shows

Could write more, but that's probably enough for now. Quick bullet points to finish off:

• Ate on the cheap - pork bun and cha sieu wonton noodles for dinner, and a chicken bun for breakfast.
• Airport, checkin, A380 to London
• Watched 1 film per leg: Kick As$ and Iron Man 2.

More to come about the UK soon!

Queenstown - the week that was

It's Wednesday and i'm back from a week in Queenstown, New Zealand. Fantastic place, and fun times! It's a real shame that i've had to come home so soon. Snowboarding and exploring was the name of the game for this trip! This week is also my last week in Sydney, the countdown to adventure begins!

5 of us departed for New Zealand on a gloomy Monday evening. Several hours later, 1am local time, we were at Christchurch Airport. With half of the airport closed off and the need to stay overnight we settled by the yellow arrivals wall for some rest. Sleeping by the yellow wall sucks... it's cold and the ground is uncomfortably hard. Shouldn't expect any less really. Didn't get much rest by the wall.

With my jacket over my head, there was more than just the cold and the solid ground to contend with. I struggled to sleep as there was gunfire (arcade gunfire) chattering through the terminal. After a while I decided to wander out and a pair of tards were playing Time Crisis 4. They were clearly in for the long haul as they had a mound of coins on the ground next to them. The benefit of not being able to sleep was that I got to explore the recently opened-up sections of the airport!

Now if you're going to sleep at Christchurch airport, try the soft benches in front of the International Departures section. Part 2 of the Christchurch sleepover was much more comfortable... but even this location is not ideal. I awoke approximately an hour and a half later with a pair of elderly people sharing my "bed". Awkward. I then proceeded to search for another resting place.

As the idiom goes, third time lucky, and this is what it was like with the search for a peaceful rest. Upstairs in the cafe area (on the way to the obeservation deck) is the best pace to sleep. Up in the cafeteria area there are some comfortable long soft seats, a dream to sleep on. If you manage to get up there, sleep there. Simple. Strange start to the post... but thought i'd share this little tidbit! Once 9am hit, I was on a plane to Queenstown.

Queenstown is a lovely place, and accomodation wise... the closer the better. That's the way I see it anyhow. I stayed at the Four Seasons Motel. The accom was clean, close, toasty... and not overly expensive. A decent place to stay. No complaints from me.

Day 1 in Queenstown wasn't a full one, so we decided to go Clayshooting. Now this was good fun! Didn't know what to expect but the instructor, Blake?, was a really down-to-earth guy who took us for a bit of a tour in his van before taking us down to blow clay disks out of the sky. Now I wasn't the best at this, and one of the girls came out on top - but this is a must do in Queenstown in my opinion.

Obviously shooting clay wasn't really the main aim of the holiday. One of the main aims was to get some more experience with snowboarding. I've only ever been once before, so trying to master the S-turns was something that I wanted to do. Reasonably successful, but at a price. Spent plenty of time on my backside and knees. One stack was so severe that my beanie, goggles, and glasses went flying!

Spent one day on each of the nearby ski fields around Queenstown. First up was Cadrona, then the Remarkables, and then Coronet Peak. Each had it's advantage - best runs go to Cadrona runs, best view is from the Remarkables, and Coronet Peak has the best food/organisation. Since i'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to boarding I didn't quite get to all of the runs across the different snow fields... but as always, the newbie areas are the worst. People everywhere, and many of them without any semblance of control. As soon as you learn the basics, my tip is to head out and practice in some less crowded (albeit harder) areas. No pain, no gain!

After a few days of boarding it was time to chill out, and we decided to go and visit the Onsen Hotpools. Apparently this is the thing to do after a few solid days in the snow! I would recommend it, as it's not too expensive... and much cheaper than a massage. We went in the evening (the last session was at 10pm), and it was a treat. You get to sit in a hot pool (a little too hot at times), muck around with the roof so that the stars can be seen, turn on the pressure jets, and get sprayed in the face with cold water. Entertaining. Oh, and I also got addicted to the Apple and Guava (organic) fruit juice.

The following day was wet and gloomy, so didn't really do all that much. We quickly found out that there isn't all that much to do on a rainy day in Queenstown. Funnily enough we ventured down to watch Inception. I thought that this was a great film... thrilling and thought provoking albeit with a predictable twist at the end.

The final day in New Zealand was a treat. Rented a car from Apex, a Subaru Legacy, and took a cruise out to Glenarchy, to do a bit of trailwalking. This has to be New Zealand at its best. The drive out to Glenarchy was amazing - snow capped mountains draped with puffy clouds, windy roads following the shoreline, and the pristine blue waters of Lake Wakatipu. Unfortunately we had a limited amount of time and was only really able to do the Lake Sylvan trail walk. Some of the most fun i've had on that track - wet, boggy, and full of adventure. Great times! A great way to finish up in New Zealand.

Back on the home front. Things are quickly coming together. I've booked the short term accomodation in London - a couple of blocks out from work. Furthermore, i've managed to successfully create a UK bank account (fairly painless), and suspend health insurance cover. Only a few days to go... how exciting!