Paul and Mel's UK

I can see clearly now ...

2008-05-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

Phew! What a week. It's been crazy-busy for me this week. Monday was a public holiday so Paul and I went with S&M to a gorgeous country pub for lunch. The weather has been beautiful so we got to sit outside in the beer garden eating our meals, watching kids play and bumble bees fly.

On Tues I was in Edinburgh and Wed and Thur in Copenhagen. Whirlwind tours.

Today I spent the morning in the office and then in the afternoon got my Lasik Eye Surgery done. The surgery was at 2:30pm and it's now almost just midnight and I can see just fine. The surgery itself didn't hurt, it was just very wierd. The clamp on my eyes was extremely uncomfortable and it was a little disconcerting having a suction thingy put on my eye, but other than that, it was just fine.

I went straight to sleep after getting home (with these gorgeous eye goggles on so I don't bump my eyes during the sleep and dislodge me unhealed, unattached cornea) and now I have drops that I need to put in for the next 7 days. But waa laa! That's it. All done.

It's too early to tell but so far ... I recommend it.

M & A's Awesome Austrian Adventure

2008-05-05T01:49:00.000-07:00

Pics live here.

Enjoy.

The pitter patter of tiny feet

2008-05-04T01:19:00.000-07:00

And before you get too excited (mum!) it's not exactly what you think.

We have issues. Serious serious issues in our little house in Southfields. Paul and I are reasonably house-proud individuals, me more so than him and at the moment we're feeling kinda yucky about living here.

As you know, we live on the first floor and in the loft of a converted Victorian house and up until recently we've really loved living here. It's not the coolest place on the block - think blue carpet, yellow walls, daggy rust-red couch and green tiles in the kitchen - but it's clean and homely and big enough for us to hang out in all day without bumping into each other (important!).

But lately things haven't been so nice. Paul found a mushroom growing in our entrance way and it turns out we've got dry rot under the floor boards on the ground level. This is going to be fixed by someone coming in, pulling up all the floorboards in the entry and getting a humidifier in to dry up underneath. This could take weeks and meanwhile we will have an area at the entrance to our house that is completely exposed to the ground underneath - not ideal.

Well, it gets worse. I was in the kitchen last Sunday afternoon making a cup of tea when I noticed that the floor looked kinda swollen and when you stepped on it, it was squishy. I called Paul in (interrupted him playing his music - not happy) to confirm my fears and he proceeded to pull the dishwasher and washing machine out from underneath the bench top to see what was leaking - we found a bit of water but to our absolute horror also found MOUSE POO!

Eeooow!

So we spent the best part of last Sunday evening setting poison, plugging up holes with steel wool, bleaching everything we could possibly think of that may have come into contact with ungodly rodents and dry-heaving!

The landlord came to visit on Friday to investigate and the flooring under our lino in the kitchen is saturated (I don't think they connected the dishwasher properly) so the lino has been ripped up and we are attempting to dry out the floor. Our kitchen now looks like this ... The plastic bags around the dishwasher and washing machine are Paul's attempt at trying to ensure that mousey-mousey doesn't venture into our territory (he heard something squeaking last night so said poison clearly hasn't kicked in yet).

There goes my cooking mojo.

Things I learnt along the way

2008-04-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

... from Vienna to Zurich.

VIENNA

That two Australians living in the UK + an Israeli and a Norwegian, both studying pre-med in Budapest + dodgy karaoke in a bar outside of Vienna makes for one hell of a fun evening;
That I really need to take singing lessons and that corona does not make for better vocal chords;
That when Annemarie, my partner-in-travelling-crime drinks wine and corona in one evening she resorts to doing ballet and serenading Austrian boys;
That there must be really big chickens in Vienna as the schnitzels were all the size of dinner plates;
That there are no kangaroos in Austria;
If a Viennese violinist plays Mozart too hard on his violin the strings on his bow snap;
Citybikes are the coolest way to get around;
Bratwursts taste better when eaten with mustard and Austrian beer;
That I actually like the taste of beer, but only when drinking it in German speaking countries;
If you leave your boyfriend's camera hanging behind the toilet door of a museum it WILL get stolen;
That when your boyfriend tells you that you should have deleted the clip of him and you dancing to 'Soulja Boy' from the memory card prior to taking his camera to Austria you should listen to him. M&P on YouTube dancing to Soulja Boy does not make for good resume material;
Viennese women have a thing for dying their hair fanta-orange. Why, oh why?
That there are the bones of dead people piled up high underneath the square outside St Stephens church and if you pay €4.00 you can actually go underground and see them. Way cool;
Vienna has a lottalotta palaces and museums.

SALZBURG

Someone has a lot of time on their hands to persevere with hand blowing and painting all of these eggs;
That there really are boys named Chip from America who are in the marines and fly aeroplanes as inspired by Top Gun;
That when they filmed the Sound of Music, they shot the last scenes first and the first scenes last, so the kids look older at the beginning of the movie than they do at the end;
Mozart's balls taste like chocolate truffle and nuts;
Playing limited edition Sesame Street Uno in a beer hall drinking beer made by monks is an awesome way to spend an evening;
Hostels aren't necessarily a bad place to stay;
Austrian special breakfast = scrambled eggs, bacon, herbs, onions and tomatoes and is the breakfast of champions;
That Edelweiss is a very elusive flower;

INNSBRUCK

The Golden Roof is just that, a building with a golden roof on it;
If you climb to the top of a mountain in the snow whilst not wearing waterproof clothing you get very very wet;
Women look weird smoking pipes;
That if we had of pre-booked all of our train travel it could have saved us an absolute fortune;
There's a really nice woman in one of the Schnapps shops whose one goal is to have you taste every single schnapps flavour regardless of the consequences;
Supermarkets in Austria sell the BEST food;
Bert and Ernie also conquered the mountain;
If you look hard enough you will find that elusive edelweiss pin (alas, not the flower);
Notting Hill and the Mornington Penninsula are not the only places that paint their buildings in bright colours;

ZURICH

That everyone is stylish to boot (except the teenagers);
That the train from Innsbruck to Zurich snakes through the most gorgeous countryside I have ever seen;
That if you wait just one extra day you'd have a whole shop of Edelweiss pins to choose from;
That teenagers dress really badly and stand around in the main train station drinking alco-pops making eyes at each other;
That all toddlers should have a wooden bicycle without pedals - beats training wheels any day;
That eating Malaysian food after a week of Austrian food is pure heaven;
That there are some good looking men in Switzerland;
That everyone who lives in Zurich should feel blessed that they are living in a gorgeous, cosmopolitan, stylish, modern city with stunning mountains in their backyard and a gorgeous lake in their front yard;
That little Japanese girls snore louder than me;
That not everyone who works on reception in hostels is cool

And;

That partner-in-travelling-crime-Annemarie is the best travelling buddy!

Catch up

2008-04-05T06:02:00.000-07:00

Just on stuff.

Paul's been working in Frankfurt this week. He emailed me on Tuesday to say that his hotel was in the red-light district.

I've had a middle ear infection all week so have been dizzier than my usual self the past couple of days.

Paul went out on a big night with his friend MD last night which he hasn't done in a while. He came home feeling a little worse for wear with lamb kebab in hand! Lamb kebab at 1am in the morning apparently = good night!

I had a consultation for Lasik eye surgery yesterday. I've booked in to get my eyes lasered on 9 May. I've committed to £2000! Crikey!

Lazy bloody Saturday today. Liking it though. Started the day with bacon, eggs, french toast and spaghetti, followed by reading The Times. Now I'm glued to the Mac and Paul's glued to his keyboard.

Speaking of Paul being glued to his keyboard. Let me just fill you in on the tunes that are blasting out of his headphones. John Farnham! Followed by some AC/DC. Who is this man I'm sharing my life with? John Farnham for Pete's sake. That's embarrassing.

Paul's currently on the phone to MB in Aus. And I can only hear his side of the conversation and I'm hearing ... "Only as old as the woman you feel policy?" I'm not even going to ask about that one. ; )

Oh, and speaking of Paul. Despite his lack of posting recently; he swears he still loves you. Honest. He's just a lazy git. Oops. Did I just say that? Sorry PP.

Only 6 days to go before I'm off to Austria for a holiday with my dear Annemarie. We're in Vienna for four nights and will be going to Mozart's Orchestra, followed by three nights in Salzburg and the Sound of Music Tour, one night in lovely Innsbruck and then one night in Zurich. It's going to be fantastic!

Then four weeks after that Paul, MD, SG, MS and TH and I are all off to Malta for a long weekend.

Sunday lunch tomorrow afternoon at the Alma with MS and the lovely Laura from New York.

Gave some lub to the Kelvinator via text today as she was feeling a little sad. Lub to Kell via text = "Kellee is like a stained glass window. She sparkles and shines when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in her true beauty is revealed because she has light from within." Can't claim that as my own unfortunately. But it's sweet huh?

That's about it at the moment. Not much else to report.

Dubai ... that is the answer

2008-03-22T02:34:00.000-07:00

I'm going to Dubai!

Sometime in July (practically the worst time to start a stint in Dubai given that the temperatures get up to around 55 degrees) I will be heading off to the big new man made city in the desert for an indefinite period of time to start my new job (just an upgrade of the old one in the same company).

It's so exciting! I'm very trepidatious as I love living in London and a move to Dubai is one step to going back home to Australia. I am not 100% sure if I'm ready to leave London just yet, but hey, I can always come back huh?

And what about Paul you ask? Well, he's pretty mobile. We've got a couple of options for him but we're not going to think about that until it gets much closer to the time. However, a stint as house-husband living it up in 5 star luxury in Dubai is not off the cards. Gosh, can you imagine how much he'd love that? As long as I come home to a clean house and dinner ... I don't mind what he does. ;-)

Dubai or not Dubai? That is the question.

2008-02-29T06:11:00.000-08:00

A wise man once said, "When you get to a fork in the road, take it."

I've been offered a fantastic opportunity to head up an HR dept in Dubai ... that tax free man made haven in the middle of a vast desert. Do I take it?

It's a fast-paced, exciting, contradictory city with opportunities abound. However; I would imagine it would also be a very lonely place. A transient city. A melting-pot of morals, values, cultures and religions.

I spent the last week there. It's a city that doesn't understand the concept of equal opportunities. Am I being a cock-eyed optimist to think that I could walk into this role and change the mentality of people and stamp out discrimination that has been occurring for decades before me? And, what if it can't be done? Do I become an HR professional who just accepts discrimination because "that's the way it's done around here." Is that me? Would I sell out?

Am I being too dramatic? I DON'T KNOW! Am I thinking too much into it? MAYBE!

Facebook craziness

2008-02-19T13:57:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to put an RSS feed on my facebook profile. This post is just a test of that.

Fingers crossed!

Iced Volvo

2008-02-18T13:37:00.001-08:00

It's uber-cold here at the moment and everything is icing up everywhere, including Hand-me-down Helga our decidedly comfy, decidedly daggy gold Volvo circa 1986. She's lovely isn't she? MD and SG gave her to us when they bought a fabulous new car. Helga's comfy and reliable, has heated seats, bounces along the road with squishy suspension and has moss growing around the edge of her sunroof.

But we love her. I struggle to park her, but we still love her. A to B and all that! Gas guzzling monster!

Great Britain Rulez OK

2008-02-17T13:08:00.001-08:00

MS and SM kicked our butts.

Oh well, never mind. Better luck next time. Sorry fellow Aussies, we didn't do you proud. But ... we'll be back. Those smug Great Brits will be eating their words very soon. Don't you worry!

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi

2008-02-17T04:14:00.001-08:00

On the back of my very first tennis lesson yesterday (I know, at the age of 34) Paul and I have been chosen to represent Australia in the inaugural Wii Olympics against Great Britain.

Our friends (the Great British) MS and SM will be our sorry opponents in this battle of agility, speed, nimbleness and sobriety (SM has cunningly offered to supply the appletinis for this event - don't worry SM, Paul and I have our wits about us!) in what may prove to be a weary battle right to the very end ... of the day.

Opening ceremony will be at 2pm this afternoon and our photographer will be on hand to catch all the highlights of the day. Stay tuned for sporting updates as they happen.

Aussie Aussie Aussie. Oi Oi Oi.

... And a Festastic New Year

2008-01-12T02:28:00.000-08:00

Marrakesh and Fes were so different to anything we have experienced in our lives before. It's so colourful and vibrant with sights and smells and sounds overloading your senses every minute of the day.

When we weren't being harassed for money or to buy their wares the locals were so friendly and accommodating. And the children were just gorgeous. The Riads we stayed in were so opulent and intricate in their design. The food we ate was rich in flavour, colour and spices. The souks we visited were full of amazing handicrafts and local fare.

Being on the edge of the Sahara desert it was surprisingly green with imposing snowcapped mountains snaking their way across the entire country.

The tannery in Fes with it's hand-dyed leather bags, jackets, shoes and wallets just screamed for you to buy something. I picked up some shoes and a gorgeous red leather jacket at a bargain price.

We spent Christmas day in the Atlas mountains and New Years Eve day in Middle Atlas and exploring the many villages around Fes.

We saw mosques, carcasses being dried out on rooftops, leather being tanned by hand, children learning nursery rhymes in their kindergarten, wood being intricately carved, argan nuts being ground into oil, a Berber family in their home, monkeys in the Cedar Forest, boys playing football with a ball of string, women carrying water on their heads to their homes for washing, a 70 year old Berber woman serving tea to an endless lines of guests in her traditional cave house, donkeys and camels and a lot of henna hand tattooing.

It was quite amazing. Click here for more pictures.

Merry Marrakesh

2007-12-22T13:49:00.001-08:00

We won't be in London on Christmas day. Paul, MS and I are flying out tomorrow for 10 nights in Morocco. First 6 in Marrakesh followed by a few nights in Fez - including New Year's Eve.

I'm quite excited and not quite sure what to expect. The chairman of the Co. I work for went there last year for Christmas, so the other day I asked him for some hot tips. The first thing he said was, "I hope you like snakes, because they are everywhere."

Not much scares me ... except fast cars, as SNAKES! Since his hot tip, I've been dreaming of snakes all night long. Nightmares actually. The other morning I woke up with a yelp which also woke Paul up. When he asked me what was wrong I said in a sleepy panic, "I was just bitten by a snake!"

Anyway, another Christmas away from home. They are getting harder and harder. Wishing you all a Merry Merry Christmas. Be safe.

M&P x

Dancefloor cropdusters - Subtle Butt required

2007-12-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

We had our work Christmas party last night which was an absolute blast. A great venue in Central London with circus acts, great food, lots of people dressed up to the nines and hours and hours of dancing. Here's some snaps of the evening: Party Pics

But ... what is it with packed dancefloors and cropdusters? So many times I was on the dancefloor getting my groove on, as I do, when a god-awful rotten egg waft would come my way from some stanky person. And of course - with all the movement on the dancefloor - no one is ever going to pick who it is. Gross!

I think I should start marketing these nifty little numbers to nightclubs. They could sell them in the toilets as vending machines. What do you think?

Gettin' to know Mrs E (aka Mum)

2007-12-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

SG sent this little quiz around the other day. I'm not normally one to forward on jokes or chain emails or junk like that, but these little quizzes, quite frankly, do it for me. So I did as asked, erased SG's answers, filled in my own and bcc'd it on to people in my yahoo address book.

My mum was probably one of the last people I expected to respond. But to my delight, she did. And (I hope you're not too embarrassed now mum because one of the things that you said you didn't like about yourself was your shyness - which I have seen dissipate quite quickly after a couple of wine coolers!) I thought I would copy and paste it into this blog:

Here's what she said: (I think it's pretty cool!). My comments are in blue;

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? yes my mum (My nana's name was a quadruple barrelled, Jean Jones Johnson Burns)

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Cried the other day watching a movie

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? its ok (typical old style cursive that puts modern handwriting to shame)

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? ham

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? yes

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I hope so

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? sometimes. (Oh yes she does!)

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? no (but she did para-sail in bali and had a lot of fun at Mt Druitt Waterworks!)

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? muesli with fruit

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? no

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? no

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM? take it or leave it (I don't think I've ever seen mum eat ice cream)

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? their eyes

15. RED OR PINK? Pink. (although, you never wear pink. Come to think of it, never wear red either).

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? shy (like I said - after wine ... dissipates quite quickly)

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? daughter, son, mum & dad (she's only human. I'm extremely missable!)

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? yes

19. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? shorty pj's no shoes (mum, you shoulda lied here! Shorty pj's?)

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? pork chop with salad ("Pork chopsch and apple schauce" a line from Peter from the Brady Bunch - Paul would say here ... "Smell of an oily rag." Private joke)

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? nothing

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? crimson

23. FAVOURITE SMELLS? fresh cut grass, roses, oil burners (she missed out jasmine, I know she loves jasmine)

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Liz (that's my cousin)

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? love her she is my daughter (that's me!)

26. FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? netball, outdoor bowls, tennis (mum was a kick ass netball player - never did rub off onto me).

27. HAIR COLOUR? light brown

28. EYE COLOUR? Blue

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? no

30. FAVOURITE FOOD? chinese

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? happy endings

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Watch so many they all blur into one eventually.

33. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? green pj top (let's hope for fashion sake that it matches the shorty pj bottoms mum)

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer

35. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs

36. FAVOURITE DESSERT? pavlova, cheese cake

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? No idea

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? No idea

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? none at the moment.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? plain grey

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Heart beat

42. FAVOURITE SOUND? birds (oh - and those wind chimes you have up everywhere!)

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Scotland to Australia. New Zealand

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? no (Mum can sex chickens!)

46. WHAT IRRITATES YOU MOST? people who are loud

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? All

While the cat's away - Part II

2007-11-27T12:43:00.000-08:00

Part I of this post can be found here.Have you ever thought that as you get older you become more and more like your mother or your father? Paul says he sees a lot of my mum in me sometimes. I don't necessarily agree, but then again he probably sees me differently than how I see myself.

Paul on the other hand, he is well aware of his own personality traits and the things that make him (as TMcC once called him - which to this day he hasn't forgotten) "eccentric." One of them is his sudden desire to germinate plants from tiny little seeds into what you see above.

It all started off with a trip to Kew Gardens. We picked up a very small propagator and some packets of seeds; a venus flytrap, poppies, pansies, a peanut plant, a banana plant and one other that we can't remember. The banana plant grew like crazy and the venus flytrap has the cutest little teeth.

But from this, Paul was hooked. So one Sunday he dragged me to Homebase to pick up an even bigger, more sophisticated propagator and even more seeds. Among these were cactus seeds and a daffodil bulb. From when we first met Paul used to tell me how much his dad loved growing cacti at home. Apparently they had loads of them. He used to tell me how gorgeous they looked once a year when they flowered. He never really showed an interest in gardening at all. Until now.

Last weekend, now that we have a car (thanks S&M - that's another post) we were at Homebase again and Paul couldn't resist picking up a freestanding shelving unit-cum-greenhouse which now takes pride of place on our tiny little balcony next to the outdoor table and bbq. The first thing Paul does when he gets home from his week long stint in Dublin (after kissing me hello) is go and and check on his little plants.

Oh ... he's such an eccentric and the apple, from what I hear really hasn't fallen far from the tree - his sisters will attest to that. They get great joy in teasing him about how much he looks and sounds like Dad.

Oh ... we crack ourselves up

2007-11-22T13:58:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the large bags of MS (talk about double entendre) I now own a Macbook. Anyhoo, this is what happens you combine some two-bit effects with a built in webcam. Christ, I hope this is not one of things that seems really funny at the time and then is somewhat less than.

Pitch black

2007-11-17T12:45:00.000-08:00

Mel and I got talking today and I realised that I have seen two 30+ degree days in the last two years.

This is truly depressing.

Almost makes you want to go out and by a sun lamp. Almost.

Next summer there will be no mucking around - it will be sunny and it will be hot. None of this mid-September shoulder season malarkey. I want to run the risk of getting burned to a crisp. I want to wade in the water because I will die if I don't. I want to live in my sunnies.

Coincidentally, it is 32 degrees in Melbourne today.

Sometimes, it just fits

2007-11-10T05:38:00.001-08:00

I recently went to Brussels with my sister, MS. Brussels does not have the reputation of being a must see, European hot spot but I have to tell you, I really liked it.

It is easy to get around, everybody speaks English - along with seven other languages - and everyone was accommodating and friendly. Well, with the one exception of one ticket seller guy at one of the metro stations (you know who you are).

Anyway, aside from sampling a wide range of beers and immersing myself in the local culture - well, as much as a whistle stop tour on the obligatory double decker tour bus will allow, of course - I got jiggy with it with a couple of locals. Kudos to whomever can tell me what the hell that massive, colourful concoction of a triangular stringed instrument is.

Here's two thumbs up for Brussels

3rd time around

2007-10-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

We're coming into our third winter in England.

Growing up in Sydney I spent my summer holidays at the local swimming pool. Summers were long and hot and humid with fantastically amazing thunderstorms. Some nights after it had been over 45 degrees for days on end, it would be so hot in our little fibro house with no air-conditioning and only one ceiling fan in the lounge room that we would sleep in the lounge with the front door and all the windows wide open - just to get some respite.

The tar on the road outside our house would bubble and stick to the bottom of our thongs. We'd stick a hose on the trampoline at our next door neighbours house and make an impromptu mini swimming pool. We'd get the slip'n'slide out in the backyard and lather it up with soap and slide around everywhere on it. We'd take the inners of truck tyres and styro-foam boards down to the river after school and brave the moving sands, submerged logs and deep holes and paddle around in the not-so-murky waters of the Hawkesbury River, watching the brave teenage boys jump off the bridge and swing from ropes attached to trees into the water.

I'd wear the same swimming cozzie day after day and be as brown as a berry by the end of summer with freckles all over my nose and natural blonde streaks in my brown hair.

We'd play outside until midnight on the weekends around the streets with the rest of the kids in the neighbourhood whilst our parents sat outside on the front lawns in folding chairs drinking beers and West Coast coolers listening to Tom Jones and Foster and Allen.

It seemed to last forever.

Ah, summertime in Sydney in the 80's.

But I digress.

You would think with all this summertime nostalgia that I would be dreading the cold, grey, misty and dreary England winters. But on the contrary. It's just starting to get cold again now. Yesterday for the first time I wore gloves, scarf and a winter coat to work. Last week I wore knee-high boots for the first time. My heating has been on every day for the past week. But as the darkness comes earlier and the frost settles thicker there is a slight feeling of anticipation in the air.

Winter in London is gorgeous. I can't wait to wake up in the morning, open the blind on our loft window to find that snow has piled up on it overnight. I'm really looking forward to deciding which ice-skating rink I'm going to try out this winter. I can't wait to feel all cosy and rugged up with layers of wool and gloves and boots and scarf and a hat whilst walking outside with the air all crisp and the sun shining to coming home to a warm centrally heated house and hot chocolate!

I love not feeling guilty about staying indoors and watching cooking shows and recorded tv shows and dvds all day long then cooking a big hearty dinner with gourmet sausages and mashed potato and gravy and drinking loads of red wine by candlelight.

They've starting putting up the beginning of the Christmas lights on Oxford Street already. And the lights in Regent St will go up soon and they are also just gorgeous!

It's such a nice time of year. My only wish is that, come the end of February when it's meant to be kicking over into spring that it gets real warm, real fast! Because there's nothing worse than a winter that won't go away.

Can I resist the urge to be juvenile?

2007-10-21T03:29:00.000-07:00

Nope, probably not. But I will type this post with as much restraint as I can possibly muster.

Paul and his sister M went to Brussels for the weekend this weekend. So, in my time at home alone I thought I'd go to London Zoo. I've wanted to go for ages and Paul's really not keen so I thought this was the perfect opportunity. I was very disappointed actually. Growing up, I had been to Taronga Zoo in Sydney so many times and it's one of my favourite places. London Zoo pales in comparison, they would have half the amount of animals that Taronga has and the ones that they did have weren't that interesting. With the exception of the meercats, otters and monkeys. I spent ages watching them.

They have this Meet the Monkeys enclosure that you walk through which is in with the monkeys. You are literally face to face with them. And, if there wasn't a keeper in the enclosure with us watching our every move I so would have reached out to touch. One cheeky little monkey spied a little girl eating a cookie (her stupid mother clearly didn't read the signs) and jumped down and swiped it out of her hand. It was hilarious. Anyway, here's the cheeky monkey and here are the funny little meercats.

Okay, okay ... juvenility has gotten the best of me. Regardless of how mature and grown up and responsible one is, there are two things that will guarantee to make you giggle. Poo and farts. Always. Regardless. Get a bunch of grown ups in a room (generally with some wine) and eventually the conversation will at some point turn to poo or farts. It's just the way things are.

Anyway, I was in the gorilla viewing enclosure and this is what he did!And ... a bunch of about 20 people all stood there and watched. Mainly all adults. All making "Eewww gross," noises. A little bit of vomit even came up into my mouth. But still, I watched and I took photos. So of course, I had to share it with you ... all of you. I'm a child! But that's just how my mind works.

I'm going now to do something grown up, like make the bed or do some washing.

Corsican and Sardinian Reflections

2007-10-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

Things I loved about our Corsican cycle tour:

Getting my tongue around French phrases and actually being able to string sentences together in French and be understood by the locals;
Cycling around the rugged coastline and overlooking the crystal waters 100's of metres below;
The triumph of finally getting to the top of that hill or mountain knowing that we would have kilometres of downhill coasting to come with the wind in our hair;
Discovering a gorgeous waterside restaurant in St Florent;
Cycling through a mountainous desert and standing at the top of the mountains seeing just how far we had come;
Staying in a remote mountain-top village called Piaggola in a B&B and sharing dinner with the owners and Belgian fellow travellers and having interesting conversations in broken English, Belgian, French and Italian;
Meeting a Belgian man who himself had cycled Corsica 27 years earlier on his own carrying tents and all luggage on his bicycle;
Stopping in small villages to eat picnic lunches of mortadella and cheese baguettes;
Meeting French locals and English travellers in a funky bar in Ile Rousse and sharing Australian experiences with them;
The friendly and helpful locals who were always greeting us with a warm smile and didn't mind our struggling broken attempt at the French language;
Stopping off at roadside wineries and sampling and purchasing gorgeous Corsican muscats and rose';
The welcoming smile on local's faces when we told them we were Australian and not British;
Getting to see the sites up close and personal. Smell the smells of the villages, flora and fauna and really feeling like you are seeing the island at ground level without any barriers;
Arriving at a destination after 30, 40 or 60kms of cycling to a long shower, afternoon nap and big big hearty dinner

And not so fun:

Getting an awful heat rash after the first day of cycling due to sunscreen and sweat and feeling like a leper for 3 days afterwards;
Numb bum - although our padded gel seat covers did work wonders;
Undulating hills. Sometimes more up than down;
Stifling heat in 2 star hotel rooms without air conditioning
Last chance Saloon town of Ponte Leccia and our grumpy B&B owner;
Bad transfer timings at the end of the tour, costing us up to €300 in taxis and car rental costs;
Discovering the gorgeous port town of Bonifacio right at the end of the tour and not getting a chance to explore it further.

Things I loved about our time in Alghero, Sardinia:

Arriving to discover that we had been upgraded to a nice new hotel as opposed to a B&B free of charge due to overbooking at the B&B, a welcome break after 5 days of gruelling cycling;
Discovering the gorgeous medieval old town with it's labyrinth of cobbled laneways;
Lazy on the stunning beach of Lazzaretto;
Quaffing yummy local Sardinian red wine night after night;
The restaurants and the gorgeous food and mine and Paul's competition of oneupmanship when it came to picking restaurants;
Riding on the back of a Habana scooter;
Catching up on sleep and relaxation;
Stunning sunsets through ominous cloud formations;
Friendly/helpful Italians;
Cheese and salami for breakfast each day;
Catching up on some reading;
BBC World News and MTV in our hotel room - a godsend during the bad weather;
Picking up leather jackets and demin jeans at bargain prices.

And not so fun:

Only two days of sunshine for the duration of the 6 day stay;
The stench of seaweed wafting through the town at high tide (rotten eggs!);
Paying €35 to get our laundry done;
Missing out on the boat tour to the renowned Neptunes Grotto due to bad weather and choppy seas;
Wearing the same clothes four days in a row due to packing for summer weather as opposed to cooler autumn weather;
Paying €1 to pee in unsanitary public toilets;
The end of another summer holiday and facing the reality of the daily grind again and the post holiday blues that come with it.

Here's a link to more pics on my Flickr page: Corsica/Sardinia Holiday Snaps

Greetings from sunny Sardinia

2007-09-30T02:30:00.001-07:00

Well, sunny for two days of our holiday anyway. We spent 5 days in Sardinia and unfortunately 3 of them were cold, windy and rainy. But we did manage to make the most of the two sunny days. One of them by lazing on this gorgeous white sand and turquoise watered beach!

While the cat's away

2007-09-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

The mouse will air his dirty little secrets ...

Paul is not particularly tidy. He'll be the first to admit to this. For those who have worked with him and endured the mess of his desk, his living accommodation, if he didn't have me and his conscience on his case, would be much much worse. But all is not what it seems with Paul. And these photos are living proof. His dirty little secret.We are leaving for our two week holiday early Saturday morning and because Paul is working away all week in Dublin he packed his bag last Sunday. What you see above is almost his entire holiday clothing and essentials, including beach towel packed away in this reasonably small bag. I was a little sneaky and unpacked his bag for you so you could see the contents laid out on the floor.

Is this crazy-anal or what? I'm so so impressed. Who is this man? Where's my Paul?

Wardrobe Malfunction x 2

2007-09-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

We've had a pretty bad time of it this week with a massive Tube strike going on. Our normal line is down so I have had to make my way via Clapham Junction to get to work. This involves a walk to a bus stop, 15 minute bus journey, 10 minute train ride, 10 minute tube ride and then a 10 minute walk to the office.

Today it was rather gloomy out so I decided to wear my bright yellow polka dot flouncy sun dress to brighten up my already dysfunctional day. Cute dress huh? And even cute shoes.

Well ... I hopped off the bus at Clapham Junction, walked through the station, turnstiles, the tunnel and then halfway up the stairs when I felt fabric brushing up against my upper thigh at the back and a rather tell-tale breeze on my butt. After careful (but not too obvious) examination I found that my bright yellow polka dot flouncy sun dress was tucked right up near my underwear! I instantly went into the following modes:

Panic mode:
"Dammit! How long has my butt been hanging out?"
"Cripes! Am I wearing my nice underwear?"

Survival mode:
"Stay calm Mel, don't make eye contact with anyone, just slowly remove your dress from your underwear and continue casually walking up the stairs to the platform."

Relief mode:
"Good underwear ... check! Deflected eye contact ... check. Managed not to miss a step ... check!"

Seriously though, it mustn't have been that much of an event at Clapham Junction station. No one applauded or offered me any money for the peepshow. Commuters just went about their journey as if nothing had happened. I was almost disappointed. Almost tempted to do it again, just to see if I got a reaction second time around.

Then walking from the station to my office the strap on my shoe broke so the remainder of my journey was spent hobbling into the office with one hand holding a broken shoe and the other trying to hold my flouncy skirt down. Classy!

London CSI

2007-09-01T04:08:00.001-07:00

I just recently got the chance to take advantage of a gift that Mel picked me up for my birthday earlier this year. It was three laps in each of a Porsche 911 and a Ferrari around a race track. Good fun.

Anyway, this is a photo Mel took of me coming away from the Porsche after my hot laps. She is quite please with her shot because she feels it has that CSI, people walking in slow motion with Jet in the background feel.

Hell, if Eric Bana can do it ...

Just goofing around

2007-08-18T04:10:00.001-07:00

I'm not very technical. If I was I would have come up with a better way to showcase the font that I have just installed on my MAC, but unfortunately all I could do was save it as a jpeg and upload it to this entry. If you click on the picture above it should be more readable.

The font in this picture is my handwriting and I used this site to design and download it. Fun!

Check out my undies!

2007-08-11T02:43:00.001-07:00

No. That's not my butt in these awful green grundies. This pic was taken from this website.

But, I did purchase myself a pair of these ultra-sexy padded poop-catchers.

Before you begin to think I've gone stark raving mad consider this ... summertime in the Mediterranean and cycling for up to 40km per day for 7 days straight. Girl's gotta get herself some serious tush protection.

And, before you post comments about incontenance pants, panty-liners with wings etc ... don't worry, I've heard it all before. Let me tell you this though, I'll be the one smiling at the @$$ end of our cycling trip, don't you worry.

Guess where we went last night ...

2007-08-11T02:23:00.001-07:00

I am not alone

2007-07-15T05:45:00.001-07:00

I am a regular visitor to this site. The secrets are updated each Sunday and some of them I can really relate to. But secrets being secrets - I'm not prepared to divulge which ones, with the exception of the one above.

Paul and I talk about this all the time. Every time I see a pigeon on the street I really really want to kick at it. I hate them. The only thing that stops me, isn't my love of animals (and I generally do love animals) but the fear of retribution. What if someone sees me doing this, thinks I'm a really bad person and gives me a good hard telling off right in the middle of the street?

Boy, I would hate that.

A World of Adventure

2007-07-15T05:17:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, my friends NC and MH and I decided to have a little theme park fun. We spent the day at Chessington's World of Adventure. It was such a fab day and without planning, was timed with precision. We got there early, went on all the rides with long queues early, had lunch early which means that we had time to go on all of the rides that we wanted to and still managed to check out Chessington Zoo before we went home for the day.

Highlights of the day:

NC braving her fear of heights and conquering the Vampire and Devil's Fury and LOVING them;

NC and MH thinking I'm some kind of freak for staying on the Rameses Revenge for an extra go and loving every minute of it even though it resembles a tumble dryer on fast spin (see the pic top left, that's me with two empty seat next to me ... where NC and MH used to sit);

Deciding to go on the Rattlesnake (main pic) thinking it would be a slow and calm ride as MH was feeling a little bit worse for wear after Rameses only to discover that it was fast and furious and throws you round like crazy (MH's expression sums it up nicely). Then purchasing the picture and laughing non-stop for ages afterwards;

Witnessing a 10 minute duel between two bull seals at the zoo and finally getting to see the underdog trump the bully in the end and push him into the water;

The serenity and calmness of Bubbleworks (coloured lighting and waterfall pics).

All in all it was such a fun day where three grown women acted like giggling children for 7 hours straight. I went straight home for a nana nap afterwards - adrenalin-exhaustion.

"The sun'll come out ...

2007-07-08T05:02:00.000-07:00

... today!"

Finally. We hit Regents Park yesterday for a super long walk in the glorious sunshine. I even managed to get slightly pink (ever so slightly). We haven't been to Regent's Park before and I think it is now my favourite London park. There are flowers everywhere (albeit a little bit water-logged and brown from the rain) and a pond with carp the size of dolphins! Paul was in awe of them. There are also cafes and sporting grounds and paddle boats and icecream shops and rose gardens and sculptures and deck chairs and people flying kites and and stuff. It's lovely.

Some things come in their own sweet time

2007-07-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

Almost one year ago Mel and I went to the Greek Islands to have the kind of holiday you write about. And I did.

It has only taken me one year to complete, but here it is: Paul and Mel's Greek Islands '06. It is insightful. It intelligent. It is witty. What can I say, it is all me.

What was our favourite island? What was the island with the best Moussaka? What does an octopus have in common with a pair of Speedos?

I hope you pay it a visit and I hope that you enjoy it.

S.A.D

2007-07-01T04:14:00.000-07:00

Seasonal Affective Disorder.

A type of winter depression which affects approximately half a million people between the months of September and April (but heightened in Dec, Jan and Feb) due to the shortening of daylight hours ... yada yada yada.

Well, I'm SAD! It's been raining here for - I can't remember how long. It's miserable and it's awful and we are meant to be in the height of summer! We are meant to be picnicking in the park, having barbecues, playing frisbee, going to outdoor concerts and movies, exploring the countryside and lunching outdoors. But no ... we're inside, listening to the rain belt down on the roof feeling absolutely miserable and depressed. The forecast ... as far as I can see it, is for rain. Rain. Rain. Rain.

Call me selfish, as I know we haven't had a lot of it lately so we do desperately need it. But in moderation please!

Anyway. Enough of my rant. On the upside ... all of this time indoors has forced us to focus on booking our summer holiday. This year we are doing an 8 day cycle tour around Corsica and then catching the ferry to Sardinia for 6 nights of recovery and relaxation. Heaven.

We're also booking our Christmas holiday soon too. We're going to be renting a room in a Riad in Marrakesh over Christmas and New Year. It's reasonably inexpensive ... but oh-so-opulent.

Melimel's got her mojo back

2007-06-17T02:14:00.001-07:00

Cooking mojo that is.

Yesterday I was cooking like a woman possessed. I ate out three times last week. The first a lovely dim sum restaurant at London Bridge called Dim T, with my friend SM. On Thursday it was mine and Paul's five year anniversary (I KNOW!) so he took me to a tapas bar called Meza in Soho. And, on Friday evening on the way home from work I popped into Ping Pong for a quick drink with my friend JS from work so he could tell me all about his wonderful new long-distance love affair with a girl from The States. The waft of the yummy dim sum ended up getting the better of us so we decided to hang around for dinner.

Then ... of course my Saturday morning staple of "Saturday's Kitchen" got me in the mood for some serious cooking.

So I searched the web for recipes, shopped for ingredients, came back, put some loud music on, grabbed a drink and cooked for over three hours.

I was in my element. Loving every minute of it.

The end result was a deliciously fragrant and spicy chicken and sweet potato curry with pork filled Chinese steamed buns on the side. The recipe for these and more pics are here on this secret little site ... Food For which I don't keep up to date as much as I should I'm afraid.

The kangaroo mafia

2007-06-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

One weekend in a time not so long passed, in a land far away, I head off to Selfridges department store for a bit of sniff around. As best I understand the story, Mr Selfridge - an American - defined department stores as we know them today. Perfume department on the ground floor, lights on at night so that people can see into the store ... I am sure there are other things worth noting but I imagine you have the idea. Anyway, he opens up Selfridges on Oxford St and Oxford St goes on to become one of the world's true shopping Meccas. But that is enough of the history lesson.

En route to the aforementioned ground breaking (and - I must say - really, really large) department store I stop off at an HMV music store, almost directly across from Bond St tube station. I was due to head back to Oz at the time and was hoping to buy a CD for one of my nieces. Unsuccessful at that task, I head out of HMV ... when it happens. In the corner of my eye I see it. Like a vision in the night ... except that it was during the day, of course. I see The Voice, John Farnham, in the pop rack under 'F' (no surprises there, I suppose). And not the current, teddy-bear-with-short-hair John Farnham, but business-up-the-front, party-up-the-back Jon Farnham. Oh, what a treat that was.

This, coincided with my siting of Chicago posters all over the tube stations of London announcing that Tina Arena is the new Roxy. Tiny Tina Arena. Now that was a surprise. Not that I am going to see it. Nothing wrong with our Tina, I will have you know, more that I find Chicago fairly well ... well, boring. If you haven't seen it, let me save you the trouble: it is kind of like Natural Born Killers in tights.

Now all we need is for Paul Hogan the next cameo appearance in the next series of Extras (should there be one) and that will be the completion of a beautiful trifecta.

5 favourite things this weekend

2007-06-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

1. Conversations on the couch with Paul on Friday night
2. Trying out a new gym near me in Wandsworth (let's hope this time I can stay motivated)
3. Scrummy Vietnamese food on Saturday evening with Paul, S & M
4. Getting to wear my new halterneck summer dress today
5. A surprise text message from the Delectable One Miss KW

Tick!

2007-06-03T03:10:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we ticked off one of our "Ten things to do in London" list. We walked the Thames, all the way from Blackfriars (the city) to Putney (near home). It's about 7.5 miles from our place to the city, but walking the Thames is further. Yesterday we covered just over 10 miles. The weather was absolutely stunning, as you can see from the photos and it took us about 3.5 hours.

It's such an interesting walk though. We started at the touristy (we are one of them of course) Southbank where you have the London Eye, London Aquarium, The Oxo Tower, British Film Institute, County Hall (which was showing an exhibit of Star Wars - I nearly lost Paul), through to the Battersea which boasts one of the most impressive buildings in London, the Battersea Power Station (pic below) and then past the gorgeous Battersea Park which is an absolutely stunning urban park that hosts a variety of events and activities.

Some of the bridges crossing the Thames are gorgeous. We passed 11 bridges on our walk yesterday. With the exception of Tower Bridge, my favourite would have to be Albert Bridge (below). It's the cutest pink, blue and yellow suspension bridge which looks like it should be made of gingerbread and icing. It was also the theme of a science lesson from Paul (see second pic), all about oscillation and resonant frequency and glass shattering and stuff (he articulates it so much better than me).

After Albert Bridge and Battersea Park it was pretty much residential all the way through to Putney. In my opinion, London doesn't do water-front living as well as Sydney and Melbourne yet. The apartments we walked by yesterday, were all very nice but they were just that ... apartments. You can see that they have plans to put some more infrastructure in place such as restaurants and shops etc, but at the moment living there means being pretty isolated. It's still all rather bland ... and in some instances, right next door to a garbage tip. I don't think I could see myself living there.

Our walk ended in Putney through another gorgeous park onto Putney High Street where we plonked our butts in a cafe for lunch. We were absolutely exhausted and straight after lunch we caught the bus home to Southfields for a nana nap.

A fun day - with blisters on my feet to prove it.

Paw Taste

2007-05-27T03:40:00.000-07:00

This picture is quite hard to make out ... and it should be as it was taken by me on the tube with my mobile phone.

I know, I know ... it's rude of me to take a picture of someone on the tube without them knowing it. And, it's even ruder of me to post it on my blog. But ... seriously, there is absolutely no excuse for a grown man to be wearing a paw print fluffy jumper. None. Zip. Nada.

That's all.

I am not a midget

2007-05-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

midg·et (mjt)
n.
1. Offensive: An extremely small person who is otherwise normally proportioned.
2. A small or miniature version of something.
3. A class of small objects, as a class of very small sailboats or racing cars.

adj.
1. Miniature; diminutive.
2. Belonging to a type or class much smaller than what is considered standard

I was just speaking to Paul on the phone about 15 minutes ago (he's in France at the moment remember) and he apologised for not calling me earlier ... which is cool, I don't expect a clock-in every day. Then he went on to say (to make me feel better), "You have been referred to quite a bit though to the people here. The word midget came up. I think I referred to you as a midget."

I am not a midget. Yes, I am small but I am 5ft 3 inches (okay 5ft 2.5 inches - but we're rounding up here okay). That's not midget sized. This is a midget.

Service (sic) charge

2007-05-21T23:28:00.000-07:00

I remembered this story at 5am this morning. Don't ask me why, my memory works in mysterious ways sometimes.

One Sunday, Paul, Mon, S & M and I all went out to lunch to a place that I recommended. Now, I have been to this place a lot of times, but always with G-Roov. I've always had a good time, the service has always been fantastic and the food has always been good, or better than good. So when I suggested we go there, I was pretty confident that it was a good pick.

Well. Let me tell you! I was wrong.

Let me just run through the list of things that were wrong with this place:

Menu - at least three things that we asked for weren't on the menu that day
Drinks - came after the meal
Condiments - we had to ask twice for them
Bread - we had to ask twice for this too and then our waitress gave us a dirty look when we asked for more.
Waitress - rude and bored. She didn't even take Paul's coat, he sat the entire afternoon with his coat draped over his lap
Paying - went M went up to pay the bill as by this time we had had enough he was told to promptly sit down as they were dealing with something else at the time and they would come over to the table when they were finished.

So when it came to actually paying (you know, when we were eventually allowed to pay) our bill came to £104.00 which is inclusive of 12.5% service charge (presumptuous of them huh?). So, M counted out the cash less the 12.5% discretionary service charge and passed it on.

As we were walking out, the girl at the front counter pulled me & Mon up and said,

Waitress: "Excuse me, you've short paid your bill."
Us (Me and/or Mon) "Actually, no. We paid the bill less the discretionary service charge."
W: "That's a compulsory service charge."
Us: "No, it's discretionary, we're happy to pay for the food, but we weren't happy to pay for the service as we weren't happy with the service you provided us, so we're not including it in our bill."
W: "But you have to. It's compulsory."
Us: "Since when?"
W: "Since always."
Us: "Well your menu says that a discretionary 12.5% service charge will be added to your bill. We're more than happy to speak to your manager about this if you would like to get them out here."
W: "No, that's fine. Just go."

And to top it off. They didn't go and get my coat from the cloakroom ... I had to get it myself! How appalling is that?

Not sure about you, but I always feel personally responsible if I recommend a place and it doesn't turn out to be as good as I had recommended it. Needless to say, I felt pretty awful that Paul and friends had to endure that for their Sunday afternoon.

I'll be letting others make recommendations from now on. Less stress. Less guilt.

Home at last ... thank god almighty he's home at last

2007-05-12T05:10:00.000-07:00

Don't get me wrong, Paul and I lead relatively independent lives; I do my thing ... he does his thing and on weekends it's generally, one day on, one day off. It's perfect.

During the week it's hectic. I don't get home from work until around 8pm and that's if I come straight home from work. And, Paul may not even come home at all (he works away, a lot of the time). So when it comes to spending time together during the week, we pretty much write that off. Friday nights tend to be our evening. Saturday and Sunday nights tend to be our evenings too and possibly one day in between.

Him going away to Australia for four weeks however put a spanner in that thinking for me. Socially, I was busy. Busier than I have ever been before. And not by design either, generally by coincidence. My friend AM came and stayed with me first for two nights and then again for a full week. This entailed lots of girly evenings and even more touristy days and nights. At one stage I was sharing my bed with the lovely Marg whilst Nic and Annemarie slept downstairs ... oh the visions many of my male friends conjured up! There were evenings out to pubs, dinners out with friends, brunches ... you name it.

But during this time, a day didn't go by when I wasn't in contact with Paul. We would instant message on Yahoo first thing in the morning and then on messenger during the day when I was at work, we chatted on the phone a couple of times (and for us to speak on the phone for any longer than one minute is generally a miracle) and of course there were the long emails. I felt like I was in more contact with him whilst he was on the other side of the world than I am with him in my everyday life. I LOVED it.

But four weeks is four weeks, and regardless of how social I had been and how in contact we had been I really started to miss him. So when Tuesday 8 May came around, I skyved off from work early to surprise him at the airport. That was 4 days ago and I have barely let him out of my sight since. He ain't going anywhere until I get my fill of him. No more staying out late during the week, and one day together during the weekend? Forget that! Of course, next week I'll be back to normal, I promise (Paul ... I promise!). Besides, the rat is off to Provence, France for 6 days from next Sunday ...

Not so sure about that Pauly

2007-04-20T04:29:00.001-07:00

This site tells me I'm Superman

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman		65%
Supergirl		63%
Wonder Woman		63%
Robin		55%
Iron Man		50%
Hulk		50%
The Flash		50%
Catwoman		50%
Spider-Man		45%
Green Lantern		45%
Batman		25%

You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

It's official: I am Superman

2007-03-31T07:57:00.000-07:00

I have had this link to MyHeritage sitting in my eail account for more time than I care to imagine. Well, in the lead up to my Oz trip, I am trying to knock things off my to do list. Including testing the MyHeritage face recognition online application.

This application requests that you upload a photo and then matches it against its database of celebrities. Nifty.

So who do I most look like, according to the cold and calculating eye of MyHeritage's AI?

1) Tom Welling. I did not initially recognise the name but it turns out that he stars in Smallville, the TV show that centres on a young Clark Kent (A.K.A Superman, The Man of Steel, Son of Jorel)

2) Dean Cain. Funny, this one. I have a sister and a niece that have always subscribed to this theory. Not me - there is no way that I bear a resemblance to Deano, star of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Well, okay, if MyHeritage says so ...

3) Nelson Mandela. Sure, this is a stretch. He is black. I am white. OK, white-ish. He is a champion of the people and liberator of the oppressed. I am a CPA. He may not be Superman, but he might be seen as a super man. I'll take it.

4) Fernando Redondo. No idea. According to Wikipedia, the F-Man is " ... a former Argentine professional football player. He was a defensive midfielder of outstanding skill and culture ...". My god! He is SO just like me. Except for the soccer, the skill and the culture he could be my physical AND mental twin!

And of the rest? Well, if beauty is in the eye of the beholder then so is facial recognition. Which, of course, sums up the MyHeritage facial recognition application rather nicely - flawed. Just like the rest of us.

Except me, of course. As it turns out, I am Superman.

It cost more than a p.

2007-03-30T03:47:00.000-07:00

But it was well worth it. To hang out with KW and her new beau for the weekend in stunning Lucignano and Milan ... I would have spent 10's of 1,000's of pennies!

I arrived at my hotel in Florence at around midnight on Thursday evening and not being one to waste any time I dumped my bag and headed straight out the door to explore. The first sight that hit me was the Duomo right outside my door, lit up splendidly and bearing down on me in all of it's imposing, breathtaking glory.

Florence at midnight was beautiful, but not really the place for a lone female tourist to be lurking around in so I did a quick lap and took myself back to my hotel to get some sleep.

The following day was spent sightseeing, including the open top bus tour which took me around to all of the must-see sights and gave me an idea of the places I wanted to stop at for longer (thanks Paul for that tid-bit. Yes you were right. You are always right). I spent a couple of hours exploring the Uffizi and not enough hours meandering around the many cobbled laneways of Florence. But ... as far as train timetables go, my not enough hours meandering was unfortunately still too many hours as I missed the train that I was meant to catch to meet KW. Oops.

I eventually caught up with KW and her new beau (herein called Michael) at the train station in Arezzo and they took me back to Norm and Jane's villa (KW's Dad and his partner in crime and Italian adventures) where we spent a fantastic evening devouring delicious italian food and wine (thanks Jane!). Their other dinner guest was a charming worldly lady by the name of Claire who was a model in the 60's and who has lived the most amazing life. Claire entertained us with her fantastic stories of being a Vogue covergirl in the 60's!

Before leaving there for our four hour train trip up to Milan the next day we posed for our obligatory photos with the boxing kangaroo outside N&J's villa ... see below;

Next two days was Milan. And, Milan is stunning. We shopped, walked, danced with (or should I say, tried to palm off) sleazy Italian men in a Milanese nightclub (poor Michael had his hands full with us two!), drank champagne, ate really yummy food and took in the sights. The Duomo in Milan is stunning. It's one of the largest churches in the world with it's gothic facade and skyscraping spires. It was definitely one of my favourite Milanese sights.

But alas, Monday morning came around far too quickly and before I even had a chance to say arrivederci i miei amici I was on my way to the airport.

A weekend just wasn't enough. Lucky KW and Michael had another two days there before spending 5 nights in Mauritius. Dream!

Two lovely ladies from across the pond

2007-03-30T03:15:00.000-07:00

A couple of Sundays ago my dear old friend G-Roov (old because we've been friends for over 10 years ... not because he's old!) invited us out to The Alma, a pub in Wandsworth Town to hang out with his dear old friends Angie and Laura from New York. His golfing buddy Mark and his girlfriend Aina joined us also. We started out at around 3pm (was meant to be much earlier but that's another story about unreliable cabbies) and ate and drank and chatted and debated (rather loudly at times too) until around 9:30pm. That is my kind of Sunday afternoon!

Angie and Laura were staying at G-Roov's house for the weekend (I know ... two gorgeous girls all to himself, all weekend, I don't know how he does it - it's the G-Roov charm) and he took them on a fabulous whirlwind tour of all things London which included London Eye, Soho House (what's a weekend with G-Roov without a visit to Soho House), lots of beer, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London etc etc etc.

From the photos they've sent us, they seemed to have a fantastic time. And, from the photos attached here you can see that Paul got up to his usual cheek squeezing antics (with Laura).

It's our turn next to go and visit them in New York and tag along with them to a Yankees game. And if Laura's biggest crush (Derek Jeter) is any indication of the talent in the Yankees ... I'm so there!

No way is it going to be as comfortable as it looks

2007-03-10T04:41:00.000-08:00

I got this photo from an airline's web site. As a (now) experienced long haul traveler, I can say that the 22 odd hour flight and the 11 hours time difference makes the Travel from the UK to Oz, well, just a tad trying.

Sure, in flight entertainment has made things a lot better. I mean, I wouldn't read more than two books a year. In the old days, making the long haul and back would mean that I would need to lug around at least five of them. And all that reading ... messed with my equilibrium ...

So why do I do it? Because I need to refresh the batteries. I need to get my fix of all those things I love about Australia. I need to catch up with friends and - as I am getting on in my years - their new children.

And with that in mind, I will be spending Easter back in Australia. I have just booked in my flights and look forward to it immensely. Now where are my noise canceling headphones ...

Homeless

2007-02-24T00:56:00.000-08:00

At the moment, the route to work in the morning takes me through Waterloo station. I walk out the main front entrance and through the subway that takes me passed London Imax. I then walk through an underpass that is painted bright blue and turn right at the National Gallery.

Every morning and every evening there are homeless people sleeping along my route. And not just one. Usually several.

Two things caused me to reflect on this.

One morning, I was following my usual morning route, in particular the part that takes me through the bright blue underpass, when I was hit - like a punch in the face - by the strong smell of stale urine. There was a man sleeping there, covered in blankets with a crutch near by. He was mumbling something to himself - I could not make it out. I mumbled something to myself as well, something about the offensiveness of his smell. The next day I did not see him. Nor the next. Then the evening following I saw some writing on the pavement, near where I had seen him sleeping. You can see for yourself what it said (i.e., look at the picture). Had this guy died just after I had seen him? I felt a little bad for having complained about his waft.

Two days later I walked through the bright blue underpass again. I got hit in the face with the smell of stale urine. I saw the crutch. While it would be an exaggeration to say I was pleased, I can say I was not nearly as offended by the smell.

The second thing I thought about were the upcoming London Olympic games. If you walk through Waterloo, either early in the day or late, and you do not see a homeless person - not a one - then you should know that the government and/or the Olympic organisers have done a clean up. A temporary clean up. A cover up, if you will. Just like Melbourne did for its recent Commonwealth Games (or so I have been led to believe). And you have to ask yourself, why do they do that? What is cover up? Are they ashamed?

The answer to the last question, I think, is yes. They are ashamed. Just shamed enough to cover it up, but not quite ashamed enough to do something about it.

Not that I can take the high ground on this issue. I did not give the man with the crutch any money. I did not approach him and ask him if he was OK (I have seen people doing this - they must be really good people). I did not even say hello. Until I change my ways, perhaps I should not expect the government - any government - to change theirs.

Through Rain or Snow or Sleet or Hail

2007-02-17T08:22:00.000-08:00

Back in Australia, you might have heard the news that London has had more snow since ... well, since a while.

Yeah, I like it too. Adds a bit of excitement, it does. There is only one problem. More on that in a moment.

Compared to Melbourne, the public transport system in London is more than fabulous, it is unbelievable. I don't own a car. Don't feel the need to. I can get around fine without one.

But outside of any comparison with a chronically under-developed public transport system like the one that serves Melbourne - and I use the term serves rather loosely - the public transport system in London leave something to be desired.

The biggest problem is overcrowding. I have no problem having to stand for the entire one-hour length of my journey into the city but, gee, on some days it would be nice to have some room to stand.

Another problem is that it is hot. Not a problem during the winter, of course. But come summer, it will easily get to over 40C on an overcrowded underground train. This, in turn, is due to the chronic lack of air conditioning in the UK. This is conspicuously obvious heading down Oxford St on a very warm summers day. All the stores are stiflingly hot. Portable air-con units and fans are dragged in but they do not help.

The third problem is that the smallest things can throw of the entire system. On several occasions, the explanation for delayed underground services are leaves on the track. Leaves - what is that? I recently did some work in the mid-lands. On one Thursday in January, overland train services were halted due to wind. Even a windy city like Melbourne with its under-developed public transport system doesn't suffer from that one.

Which brings me to my point: when the heaviest snow since ... well, since a while ... were forecast, my thought was 'Oh no ... here we go ... it will be a nightmare getting into work tomorrow ...' (Oh ... I used the word 'nightmare' ... picking up local vocab!). If wind brings the public transport system down and LEAVES bring the public transport system down ... it did not auger well.

Thankfully, millions of other Brits must have thought the same thing. Unlike millions of other Brits, as it turned out, I still tried to make it into work. The trains were markedly less full than I am accustomed to at peak hour. At least I had room to stand.

So what was a potential disaster had turned out to be anything but. Bring on the snow.

One minute reprimand

2007-01-23T01:08:00.000-08:00

Text message conversation between Paul and I after I got home on Monday night to find an empty jar of Nutella in the sink with tell-tale signs of having been eaten with a spoon (as opposed to spread on toast).

M: "Excuse me, but did you eat the entire jar of Nutella?"

P: "No! Well ... Yes. It was a moment of weakness ... Prince of Tides was on ... "Lowenstein ..."

M: "That was full! That's really bad. And you wonder why Nutella isn't ever on my shopping list. But ... hey, I'm so pleased that I have a man whose moment of weakness is a jar of Nutella and Prince of Tides. There are so many other moments of weakness you could expose yourself to ..."

He didn't respond to this last text message. I bumped into him on MSN later and asked whether he disliked my comment about moments of weakness as I thought it was funny/cute.

He replied by saying that it was funny/cute but as the beginning was bad he didn't respond so well.

Mel says, "The beginning was a one minute reprimand. Then it ends in how fabulous I think you are."

Paul says, " That is really funny. Almost makes me want to cease retaliating."

Can't half tell that we've both just read "One Minute Manager."

We are lame!

Our mission ... should we choose to accept it

2007-01-21T06:59:00.000-08:00

With the exception of our ski trip, we've been particularly lazy of late. Our weekends have been consisting of ambling out of bed much later than we would like, sitting in front of a computer screen for more hours during the day than we would like, washing, hanging and folding more clothes than I ever would have liked, staring at the television for far too many hours, procrastinating for far too long before we decide we're actually going to leave the house and do something for the day only to find ourselves out somewhere (not particularly anywhere of note) wandering around wondering what to do. We have managed to get some running in which has been good and a few movies and restaurants ... but that's about it. Weekends come and weekends go. All too fast, yet all too slow for my liking.

Around this time last year Paul and I had the perfect weekend routine happening. One day would be just him and I together - walking, sightseeing, discovering, taking photos, eating out, indulging etc and the other day we would do our own thing. This could be for Paul; playing music, tinkering on his laptop, watching endless episodes of Star Trek, going to the gym, window-shopping and for me it would be; walking, photography, cycling, shopping, meeting up with friends, blogging and cooking ... lots and lots of cooking. It was perfect harmony, like ying and yang, two peas in a pod yada yada yada.

For various reasons our applecart is upset. So this morning (after waking up far too late again) we gave ourselves a challenge. A mission ... should we choose to accept it. That mission was to write down a list of 10 things to do in London ... and do them gosh darn it. Just do them! Simple. Right? We'll see.

So this list of top 10 things are (in no particular order)

Madame Tussauds
London Zoo
London Eye
Windsor Castle
Bluewater Shopping Centre
Kew Gardens
Billy Elliott @ the Theatre
Cycle along the Thames
London Dungeon
Go to a concert

For those who live here, or have visited London, feel free to add some suggestions to our mission. We're open to them.

To Florence for a P

2007-01-14T06:17:00.000-08:00

Well, not quite, but almost!

Budget airlines are really big here and a couple of days ago Ryanair announced flights for 1p. Of course, the obligatory tax and levies were to be added on top of that, but given that these only equate to approximately £20 at the most that's a pretty cheap flight!

As timing would have it KW confirmed her itinerary with me for her and her new (new to me, not so new to her anymore) beau's OS holiday. What a perfect opportunity to 1. take advantage of fantastic airfare prices, 2. catch up with the delectable Miss KW and 3. check out the new beau who seems to have swept the Delectable One off her feet.

So on 1st March I'm flying into Florence, meeting The DO and the NB the following day, catching a train up to the DO's Dad's rented villa in a village near Florence for the evening and then training it again up to Milan for two nights where the DO and her NB are off to catch some sporting action and I'm off to catch some action of the shopping kind. All at the remarkable price of approximately £48.00. Train fares and accommodation not included.

I totally disagree with anyone who says living in London is expensive.

The 4 S's

2007-01-02T02:46:00.000-08:00

Sun. Ski. Snow. Saucisson.

That's French for sausage.

Sausage rolls in France are different to the sausage rolls I'm used to. They're pretty much just some flaky pastry (think croissant) wrapped around a hotdog type sausage. I think I prefer the English version with it's big fat lump of sausage (sic) meat encased in not so flaky pastry.

Seven days of sun, ski and snow can really take it's toll on you. Our holiday was exhausting. But ... fun. We had a fantastic time. As we were in the South of France the sunshine was spectacular yet, we were lucky enough to still have a reasonable ground cover of snow. It didn't snow once whilst we were there - actually, I can barely remember seeing a cloud in the sky the entire time, but with a big dump prior to our arrival and the snow cannons working overtime in the night the snow did manage to hold up quite well for the full 7 days.

A typical day for us started with an 8am breakfast and then a 9:30am ski lesson (Paul in beginner, me in intermediate - but he quickly caught up!). Then if Paul's legs held up he'd come and do some extra hours on the slopes with me from 11:30am. Lunch, then maybe another ski, maybe not, 4pm obligatory snooze, pre-dinner drinks at 7pm, dinner at 7:30pm and then apres ski activities in the evening (generally organised by the rep that was looking after our group).

We met some great people and had a lot of good laughs. I am pleased to say that I'm very confident on blue runs now and getting there on the red runs (sometimes!). Paul started as a beginner but due to either a really really good ski instructor - or just sheer talent (I can't decide) he's managing to keep up with me pretty easily on the slopes.

Montgenevre is gorgeous. A picture perfect snow resort with imposing mountains looming behind a snowpacked playground and a cluster of old and new chalets and hotels, a good range of beginner and intermediate ski runs and some great off piste skiing as well, (or so I'm told by our new friends Jeremy and Helen - crazy snowboarders from Devon who jump over creeks and logs and hoon down black runs like they are tiny anthills). The village is really small and all of the village shopkeepers are charming and lovely and have the patience of saints when it comes to dealing with the non-French speakers like us.

There are a bevy of great bars and restaurants to choose from and it's just a short 2km stroll through gorgeous snowcovered parkland into Italy (and the village of Claviere).

We managed to take some nice photos so here's a link for your viewing pleasure. If I can work out how to load a video clip the next entry will be of me and my new-found-friend-Helen daggy dancing to a song from the Blues Brothers whilst out on one of our evening excursions.

Enjoy!

Will it, or wont it

2006-12-16T02:19:00.000-08:00

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Montgenèvre Snow Forecast | Snow Report | by E-mail

Hello all. I know it has been a while since I have posted an entry, but with Mel-the-blog-nazi on my shoulder I have all of a sudden found the time to post.

Our ski trip is just around the corner and we are both sweating on the snow (pardon the pun ... to become obvious). Unseasonably warm weather on either side of the equator - I have been reading about your hot hot weather, to which I can retort that I don't think it has gotten below 12 deg c up here, which is unheard of for this time of year - and, well, this might just affect the snow we need to have a ski holiday.

Fortunately, Mel chose a spot with more to recommend it than skiing. It is a proper village (not purpose built) is picturesque and has other stuff to do. Nevertheless, this is a ski trip.

Finger crossed ... and keep an eye on the forecast.

Pink Lady has all grown up

2006-12-07T15:46:00.000-08:00

Remember the first pic? Taken in December 2005 at my work Christmas party. It was a Hollywood theme and I went as a Pink Lady - Marty to be precise. Well this year, the theme was 50's and guess what the girls in my team wanted to go as? Pink Ladies of course. This time I got to be Rizzo - much cooler, much sassier, much naughtier!

You try and tell me we're not excited

2006-12-05T00:11:00.000-08:00

This is just a typical Sunday evening for us. You know, ironing for the week, packing Paul's bags so he can go and work 4 hours away for the week, eating dinner, dressing up in ski gear, watching the West Wing etc etc. Nothing out of the ordinary really.

Only just over two weeks to go before we hit the slopes!

Better late than never

2006-11-19T04:04:00.000-08:00

Remember this pic? Well that was December last year when Paul and I went to the Mambo store in Putney to purchase our ski outfits so we could go to the snow. Well disappointingly we didn't make it to the snow last season. So this season I decided to book well in advance! On 24 December Paul and I are off to Montgenevre, a resort in France for 7 delightful days of skiing.

I am so so excited. Apparently the village is the oldest ski resort in France and is meant to be just stunning. A truly white Christmas. Splendid! Here's a pic of the resort:

We'll keep you updated.

Un acto duro a seguir

2006-11-11T14:54:00.000-08:00

A hard act to follow ...

This week was a week of excess for me I have to say. Monday was SG's birthday so MD got us a reservation at The Ivy. I tell you, my head was craned for most of the evening trying to do some celeb spotting but unfortunately all we saw were a lot of silver-haired sugar daddys. The food and the service were stunning though, and although there was no Kate Moss or Jude Law on the menu, I think we all left there very pleased indeed.

On Thursday evening MS and I went to the fairly newly opened High Road House in Chiswick. Soho House's sister establishment. It was stunning. The barman was one of those cute-flirty types (a younger looking Brad Pitt with a not so great haircut) who is really big on cheeky eye contact. One of those who winks at you and tells you that he'll make you a cocktail that you are guaranteed to like. Well he did, and I did. After pre-dinner drinks MS and I shared oysters, duck, pheasant and the most delicious dessert I've tasted in a long time, smashed chocolate cake with to-die-for caramel icecream.

Today, in complete contrast, I spent the entire day indoors in sweat pants and socks - studying. I have just started studying my CIPD which is a UK HR qualification in Leadership & Management. My course materials arrived two weeks too late so I am panicking that I won't be able to catch up. I'm already disheartened, I spent hours studying today only to realise that I haven't even made it to the "Getting Started" section of the very first workbook. Oh my lord ... I've got a lot to do!

Tomorrow is MS's birthday and we're off to another restaurant, this time in Clapham called Scoffers. It's no Ivy or High Road House (my wallet thanks me I'm sure), but it has come highly recommended and I have no doubt that we will live up to it's name!

Oh, and ladies, I bought the cutest little houndstooth swing coat this week -Next week ... head down, study and detox.

City sunset

2006-10-21T04:23:00.000-07:00

I was walking to the tube station last Friday night and was very glad to have my camera in my bag as this shot of the sun setting behind the city is fantastic! I thought I'd share it with you.

Life can be funny ...

2006-10-21T03:53:00.000-07:00

"Life can be funny. No cabs available in W (Worchestershire) when I needed one so I took one 1 hour earlier. 1 hour early at the station meant a slow train was available to Oxford, so I took it thinking I would catch a fast train from there. Slow train is so slow that it turns out this fast train is the same fast train I would have caught in W if I had waited. Only now I am going to fight for a standing spot. Was cursing ... till I found out the fast train was cancelled. This would have made me 2+ hours late. Instead the slow train will get me to Paddington 30 minutes after the W fast train would have. Again, life is funny."

Five minutes later:

"Nope ... Just saw the fast train go passed. Cursing again."

"Right, that is officially 3 hours on this train."

"Arrived in P (Paddington) and awaiting the dreaded NHG Special." (Notthinghill Gate Special - A nototiously slow line to Wimbeldon!)

"Just announced that 3 district line trains have been cancelled."

The above dialogue are texts I received from Paul yesterday (Friday afternoon) detailing his dilemma in getting himself home from where he is working/staying during the week. I hate to laugh in the face of his adversity ... but the first text in particular is hilarous - and the situation on the whole ... a comedy of errors that only London (and England) transport can provide.

Needless to say he arrived home at around 8pm after travelling for around 5 hours (this would normally take 2.5).

Happy Birthday KW

2006-10-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to a girl who:

restored my faith in friends cohabitating
makes a killer chicken pie, bolognaise and garlic prawns
dances like a diva,
knows exactly what it means when I say, "Swords!"
is a great champagne drinking buddy
the perfect skiing companion
can belch better than any guy I know
can look downright sexy in a pair of jeans and killer heels, but at the same time incredibly cute when coupling those jeans with a pair of hot pink converse
looks like she should be turning 30 when in reality she's older than that (cow!)
has a wit and acid tongue that can floor the most accomplished of linguists
knows how to throw the perfect outfit together ... and WORK IT!
and, who I miss very very much!

Looking forward to doing Tuscany and beyond with you next year ... so get your butt over here!

It's a dogs life

2006-10-14T04:30:00.000-07:00

I know, we were meant to come straight back from our trip and post loads of photos and give you a full account of our fabulous time in the Greek Islands and we didn't! But, there is a reason for this. Whilst we were in Greece, Paul wrote a daily account of our island hopping adventures which he plans to type up into a travel journal and publish on the web. He's now working away all week so is really finding it hard to find the time to type up his mammoth journal. And, whilst he is writing his journal I am under strict instructions not to publish my photos or give any part of our trip away so as to spoil the surprise.

But I can't help myself. So I had to post this cute shot. This was taken in Santorini and because of the content of this photo and Paul's public dislike for four legged furry creatures (I know KJ - it's terrible!) I knew I'd be safe publishing this photo without giving away any of the photos or stories he wants to tell.

And while I'm at it, I may as well post this one too. HOW CUTE IS THIS! I am wearing a gold necklace with shells and bits hanging off it which they seemed to want to play with (rip off my neck!) Oh and great tan too huh? Sadly it's fading already.

It's all Greek to us

2006-09-09T01:53:00.000-07:00

Paul and I are off to the Greek Islands first thing tomorrow morning for a spot of Greek Island hopping for two whole wonderful weeks. We haven't booked any accommodation yet. We're just going to turn up and see what tickles our fancy.

Looking forward to:

long hot sunny days
exploring the sights
the amazing sunsets
a bit of ouzo
breakfast on the balcony overlooking the Caldera in Santorini
exploring volcanoes
lazing by the pool and on the beach reading the books I have just bought.

See you when we get back, with no doubt a full account of our holiday with pictures included.

Happy Father's Day

2006-09-03T01:34:00.000-07:00

This is my all time favourite picture of Dad and I. This was taken at my cousin Annette's engagement party and I was so excited as I was wearing my new dress and shoes. Dad and I were grooving on the dance floor in this shot. Well, as much as a 5 year old can groove anyway.

The only other part of this night that I can remember is my Dad and my uncles who are all bricklayers singing and dancing to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall." It was like their theme song! That and every song ever written by Tom Jones that is.

Anyway, Happy Father's day Dad. I miss you and love you loads! If I could write poetry I would write something for you, but instead I found this one which I think sums up how much a girl needs her dad.

A little girl needs her dad
To love her with manly charm,
To soothe her when she’s hurt
And keep her safe from harm.

A girl needs her dad
To show her a man who’s good,
To help her make right choices,
As only a father could.

A woman needs her father
Just to be aware,
He’ll always be there for her
To sustain her and to care.

You’ve been all these things, Dad.
I hope that you can see
How much I treasure you;
You mean everything to me.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

For heaven sakes let's go to the Lakes

2006-09-02T04:32:00.000-07:00

On the last bank holiday weekend (which was the last weekend in August) Paul and I went with MD, SG and MS to the Lakes District. We stayed in a houseboat on the lake for three nights and went trekking.

It's a six hour drive to get there and is close to the border of Scotland and the scenery up there is absolutely beautiful! The village that we stayed in reminded us of the Dandenongs. We walked, ate, drank, played Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit, read magazines, browsed the shops in the village (I've never been to a place with so many outdoor camping/adventures shops in one place), took photos, ate homemade icecream etc etc. You know, the normal things you do on a weekend by the Lake.

I've uploaded a few shots on my Flickr site. Happy viewing!

Poledancing on the Piccadilly Line

2006-08-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

Give us, a night out with MP and DP at MP's sisters house in Sth Harrow (glad to see you back in the land of perenial sunshine MP/DP!), a late night and an empty train carriage and what do you get with Paul and Mel? Poledancing on the Piccadilly line of course topped off with ... shenanigans ... tom foolery and bally hoo!

You see, Vanity Fair said ...

"How to look good in a photo.

Make eye contact with the camera [check!]
Always have mouth slightly open, enough to put a penny between your lips, as this will make your lips look fuller [check!] &
For full eyes, tilt your eyes down and look up just as the shutter is clicked [check!]"

Do you think we perfected the look? Or do we look like seriously inebriated tossers on an empty train at the end of the night trying to pull off some glamour magazine's tips on looking [sic] fabulous?

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.

2006-08-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

Brighton - 060806

9:45am

Right ... we made the train to Brighton, if only just. And I never have been good at rushing - I have been flailing about and cussing all morning. Poor Mel.

My favourite moment, however, was putting two of my ATM cards into two adjacent, automated ticket machines simultaneously entering PINs on the two machines for the two separate transactions. Those years of keyboard playing paid off.

Still, here we are approaching East Croydon on the way to Brighton, on time and in one piece. If a little frazzled.

3:05pm
Brighton is a funny place. An eclectic mix of the bourgeois, the pierced and the gay. On the final count, today is gay pride day, it seems, so we have been seeing much man-to-man and woman-to-woman 'friendliness'.

The beach is not much to write home about (pardon the pun) - in a word: stones. Pebbles if you will. Certainly no sand.

But we do the seaside thing anyway. Check out the Pier, go on the Crazy Mouse, eat a donut etc. But on a morning after a Saturday night, Brighton by the seaside smells of urine.

But I really came to warm to Brighton once we came off the beach. It has some really quirky shops, never-ending streets and nooks to explore - I am certain we only scratched the surface.

We came across 'English's Cafe' and were hoping to find it again to eat there. Alas, the crannies
got the better of us and while we were tempted to eat at Wei Kika Mu Kow - we have had to settle for Gourmet Burger Kitchen - a chain food store - instead.

Hurrah, say my feet, for the break.

4:50pm
You know what happens ... sit down for a rest and something to eat and then you are ready for a snooze. So we did a little lap of the town and made a silent vow to return to catch up on what we had missed.

And that sums up my feelings about Brighton - not the place by the coast I have come to expect in Australia. Nor was it the patch of perenial sunshine in the south of England I also expected. It is commercial. I do not think I would sun myself on the beach, but it is the first place I would come should I be looking for the company of a man.

Unrelated to the last comment, I will most likley have a hankering to return soon - the shopping, the eateries and the availability of a fast train to Clapham will see to that.

On the trip to Brighton I was prepared with my MP3-laden phone and my movie-laden PDA. Set for the trip, right? Would have been ... 'cept that I did not bring my headphones. Doh! On the return trip, it's WHS Smith (a book store) to the rescue with a copy of Sound-on-Sound for me and a copy of Real for Mel. Sayonara.

Words by Paul. Pictures by Mel.

Indulge me

2006-07-30T05:05:00.000-07:00

Excuse me, but sometimes a girl's just gotta shop. It's summertime, the temperature's rising, the sales are on ... what's a girl to do but indulge in a little retail therapy.

I try not to buy clothes unless they're on sale and I am pretty pleased to say that most of the clothing that I do buy is at a very reasonable price.

Take those three bandeau tops for example ... £5 each! The matching headbands - £4, the teal floral skirt - £17, the white halter top - £6.99, the brown summber dress - £20 and the swimwear, both for under £35. The only thing that cost me a pretty penny in this collage was my haircut - £56 (ouch!).

I went to Bluewater yesterday which is a big shopping mall in Kent, with a couple of girls from work. No bigger than Chadstone but the shops were fantastic! And everything was on sale. I didn't buy everything in this pic from there just the brown dress and the haircut. The rest is an accummulation of buys over the past few weeks.

I think I'm now 100% ready for my summer holidays.

Idyllic

2006-07-11T14:21:00.000-07:00

... is a perfect word to describe the Algarve coastline in Portugal. The beaches are gorgeous. Although, for the Mediterranean, the water was cold. Really cold. So much so that most of the swimming we did over the long weekend was in our resort swimming pool. We stayed here by the way. Great facilities, so so apartments, very big, a lot of restaurants and a lot of families. So if it's a party atmosphere you were after, I wouldn't recommend this resort, otherwise it's not a bad place to spend a weekend. They had some pretty dodgy karaoke on Friday night though!

I know I'm one for these picture collages and they don't show the best of the pictures, but it's really the only way I can provide a snapshot of a particular theme without posting loads of individual photographs, so ... forgive me. More pics can be found on my flicker site.

Paul is on a roll now by the way. He's already talking about booking our long weekend at the end of August. And come mid September there may just be some Greek Island hopping on the cards.

Alas, a holiday

2006-07-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

Enough was enough. After all the talk of how evil I have been depriving Mel of the travelling lifestyle that is part and parcel with a move to the UK.

So here you have it - a sneak peek at the weekend's trip to the Algarve, Portugal.

Excuse the Joe Dodgy phone-cam photos: I am sure that Mel will upload the proper photos soon.

Jackpot

2006-07-03T00:22:00.000-07:00

You remember Project Centurion? The goal was to average 100 hits per day over one month on Paul and Mel's UK. It failed.

Well, I run another blog for more geeky, Paul-centric stuff called Great Southern Lad. On it, I posted a response to the top 5 misconceptions I find people have about Australia.

It is currently averaging 4 hits. Every second. It has racked up 2000 hits in the first 7 hours of this day.

You might want to check it out.

I'm sat there ...

2006-06-27T23:16:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time between drinks, hasn't it? Work has been busy. Enough said.

The title of this blog does not read quite right, does it? Yet I hear this every day - 'I'm sat there, minding my own business ...' , 'So there I am ... sat there ...'. I am yet to hear a Pom on their home soil using the verb 'sitting'. I hear 'sat' on the radio. I see 'sat' in the newspaper. Maybe it is the Australians that have it wrong.

Is it just me?

Proof

2006-06-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a pic of my abseil. It was a bit of an anti-climax actually as it seemed to go so quickly and wasn't scary at all. I did manage to raise over £300 for Red Cross though. I raised over £170 and the Co. I work for matched it.

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!

2006-06-10T01:53:00.000-07:00

I, (being the risk taking adventurer that I am) am abseiling off a 150ft building in Central London in the name of charity on June 24!

I've abseiled before, about 12 years ago when I was a spritely young lass but the highest height I abseiled from was a measely 50ft and that felt HIGH! That was in the Blue Mountains in NSW and was loads of fun. This time it's for the Red Cross and right in the heart of busy Central London. I need to raise at least £100 before I can 'seil.

So off on my sponsorship trail I go ... Wish me luck. Photos to follow!

Music heaven!

2006-06-04T04:59:00.000-07:00

You know when dogs live with their owners for too long they start to look like each other? Well Paul's gadgetry fetish is rubbing off on me. Meet my tivoli iPal. I bought it last week and it's heaven! I finally get to hear my iPod tunes out loud instead of through the earphones and also have the radio on in the morning whilst I'm getting ready for work. I love it. And the sound ... for such a small gadget is amazing.

Anyway - enough gloating. It's a gorgeous day today so Paul and I are going to get out and about. No doubt some photos will follow.

As rare as hen's teeth

2006-05-29T06:44:00.000-07:00

Getting a photo of Paul and I together is as rare as hen's teeth. We are always out and about with our cameras and take loads of photos, sometimes of each other, but mainly of buildings, landscapes etc but never of the two of us together. This one was taken yesterday when we had a touristy day out with RA. It's a little blurry and I'm a little concerned about the matching coloured outfits (honest we didn't plan that!) but it's not a bad photo of the two of us.

Where for art thou ...

2006-05-27T02:28:00.000-07:00

... sunshine?

It has been raining for a week. It's summer next Wednesday and the average temperature at the moment is hovering around the ever-so-balmy 15 degree mark. Can you believe it? What am I, in England or something? Sheesh!

We braved the cold and the rain though last Sunday and hired a car and got out of the city for the first time since we arrived in London. We drove up to Oxford for breakfast and then onto Stratford-upon-Avon, which is Shakespeare country, for the rest of the day.

Despite the wind and the rain (there were lots of it) we had a really nice time.

I am forever astounded by the amount of history in England and Stratford-upon-Avon didn't disappoint. I was standing in a house that was built in the 1500s where William Shakespeare was born. Is that not mind-blowing or what?

Suffice to say, the sun showed it's weary head at around 5:30pm when we were due to start driving home.

Ode to mum

2006-05-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

I can't remember the last mother's day that I spent with my mum. Although I'm always there in spirit, I have lived over 1000kms away from mum and dad for over seven years now which makes bringing mum breakfast in bed on mother's day pretty hard.

This mother's day - being over 11,000km away from my mum I thought I'd put some of my favourite photos of my mum together for all the world to see.

Mum, although you're far from me in kilometres, you're never far from my mind. You're the strongest and bravest person I know and always live life with such gusto. Thank you for showing me that, no matter what life throws at you ... at the end of the day, the sun will always be shining.

I miss you and love you very very much.

Dear Diary ...

2006-04-18T02:42:00.000-07:00

Photo diarys are fun. And from the feedback I received from my last one, you seem to like them too. So I've put together a photo diary of my easter long weekend.

In a nutshell:

Friday - lazy. Long bath, tv, PC, sleeping in etc etc.
Saturday - Leicester Square, British Museum, Camera Cafe, the theatre
Sunday - Pancakes for breakfast courtesy of pancake king Paul, easter eggs, a long walk around Wimbledon Common
Monday - lazy again. A bit of shopping in Wandsworth and then gourmet delights for dinner.

Follow this link to my photo diary of the easter long weekend.

Enjoy

You know where the devil is

2006-04-16T16:41:00.000-07:00

DSCF0319_edited-2
Originally uploaded by bloggerpaul.

You know, I have been umming and ahhing about what new digital camera to buy.

First, I decided that I would by a super-zoom. I like the fact that they are reasonably priced have up 12x zoom. But I am concerned that the actual photos aren't as good as they might be.

Which then made me decide to buy an SLR. Great photos. Great flexibility ... but also a great hunk of camera to lug around. Not to mention the additional (and substantial) cost of extra lenses.

But then I read an article about the immediacy of compact cameras. So here I am, decided that I will buy the smallest, thinest camera possible. Until today.

Went for a walk around Wimbledon Common with MS's 10x super-zoom camera. It was not perfect(shutter lag, for one), but that zoom was great fun. And I got to get just a little artsy - see how the background of the photo in ths entry is blury ... fancy, eh?

Looks like I am back where I started.

London vs Melbourne. You decide

2006-04-15T02:36:00.000-07:00

The pic on the left was taken at Portebello Market in Notting Hill and the pic on the right was taken at the beach at Dromana in Melbourne's Mornington Penninsula. Two totally opposite settings, yet two very similar themes.

Telephone booth red

2006-04-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

Fire engine red? They should have called it telephone booth red! I took this whilst in Covent Garden last week. Five big red telephone booths all in a row. Very iconic.

Caricreature

2006-04-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

MS and I went to Covent Garden today and got these caricatures done (or as I like to say ... caricreatures) and we are not convinced that they look like us at all. Paul says it's certainly a caricature of my nose and chin and I think it's a pretty good likeness of MS's eyes and hair. But that's where the resemblances end.

What do you think?

Luke ... join the Dark Side

2006-04-08T02:28:00.000-07:00

So, look ... of course I was just looking for an excuse to put this very cool gizmo on our site. If you are interested in making your own (and I know you are!) you can click here. For those of you who don't know me, I promise it is much funnier to those who do.

Not much else to report. Work has me going all over the country-side, so I can tell you that I have developed an interest to go and visit the south-west part of the country. Really very scenic. And so green.

Right, I am about to head off to start the day. Moo is keen to go to Covent Garden and Sat really is the day to do it. Hope all is well with you and yours.

Learn from the apprentice

2006-04-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

Speak to your average pom and they will tell you that Australia (and Australians) are basically uncivilized, uncultured, and underdeveloped. The reasoning being that the country has only been around for 200 odd years (a sophism, in my mind). On returning recently, I thought I would highlight a couple of places Australia (or at least Melbourne) has it all over England in terms of how far along they are in the scheme of things.

Customer service

As rule, customer service is atrocious in London (can't say for elsewhere in England yet). They just do not want to be there. The excuse the locals give me for this is that they are not paid to be polite. I always retort, 'Should they have to be?'
Driver's licence

The UK still use paper licences. Worse still, in an effort to move across to a more modern card based approach, you are issued with both a card and the paper licence and both have to be presented when asked for. It will eventually move to a card-only basis, but the authorities are not saying when and don't seem to be in a rush.
PIN numbers

Up until Valentines day this year, if you went into a store to do a direct debit purchase (aka EFTPOS) you signed the receipt to confirm the transaction. You weren't asked for a PIN. You couldn't use your PIN even if you wanted to. The holes-in-the-wall used them, but in-store PIN ... oh well, better late than never.

Actually, banking is quite a bit behind here in comparison to Oz, but that will probably be subject to its own post one day.
Garbage collection

Is done the old fashioned way. This is not such a silly thing as a quaint thing. The streets are often very narrow so I imagine it is near impossible to get the big automated truck down them. Still, I find it novel.
Shopping hours

Or, rather, the lack of them. Thursday is late night shopping day when closing time is 7pm. Whoopie. On Sunday, most shops have to open late (10-11am) and close early (4pm) - including supermarkets - because that is what the law allows. Ok ... Oxford St stores close a bit late on Saturday, but all in all it can be tough to get to the store you want when you want.
Television licences

Up until the early 70's, Australia funded the ABC by issuing television licences to homes wanting to use their television. Clearly, the powers that prevailed around that time realised how draconian and inefficient that system was and simply incorporated said funding into the tax system. It is 2006 and no such change is due to occur in the UK any time soon. In the meantime, I will pay the 100+ pound a year to run a television in our home ...
Pennies

You can't buy anything with them, so why not get rid of them? When did Australia get rid of one and two cent pieces? Hands up who misses them?

Right, that will do for blight-bashing for now. One day soon I will do the opposite exercise - what the UK does much better than Oz (let's start with pay-as-you-go mobile ...)

OK Paul, get on with it

2006-04-02T00:48:00.000-08:00

Right, so I have gone walkabout for a bit. No rhyme nor reason, just the way of things. So I will get on with it.

I don't know if Mel has covered this off yet, but my sister, MS, has moved in with us over the last couple of weeks. During this time she would have picked up on some of my quirks. Certainly, that I do not throw anything away. And more recently that, as effeminate as it sounds, I am really into bags.

Not girly bags. Not man bags. But my thought is that there is a perfect bag out there somewhere. Buggered if I can find it, though. My criteria are thus:

One that can hold your laptop in case you need it. But this laptop holder should not take up too much space in the bag
It should hold all your gym stuff. I like to go to gym in morning (not that you could tell at the moment) and that includes showering and heading off to the office. So the bag needs to hold a lot of stuff. I have found that 35 litres is about the right size.
It should hold a magazine in a separate compartment to the main compartment - which is where the gym stuff would go - because I like to read magazines on the way home from work
It must be small enough to take a carry-on luggage onto a plane
The jury is out, but I think it has to be a backpack. And if it is a backpack it has to have those seat-belty things across the straps to secure it properly to ones self
It has to aesthetically pleasing (read, conservative) enough to take to work

And it is this point I have had a problem with. Some of you would know that I picked up an-almost perfect Quiksilver bag. Does everything. But she's bright. Oh so bright. White camouflage. Can't use it in the office (well, not when seeing clients anyway).

So the search continues. Yesterday, I spent a good 2 hours opening and closing bags at Selfridges. I think I found my looking-like-business-laptop-come-overnight-carry-on-bag roller by a mob called Travelpro, but I resisted buying it just yet.

But resistance was futile as I moved from the luggage section into the Selfridges Technology section. Massive. Just massive. I managed to walk past the walkie talkies, the PDAs, the B&O, Bose and Tivoli sections, the camera and telescope sections. But I did buy one very small thing, the telephone you see in the picture. Actually, it is a Skype phone which plugs via USB into the PC. What for, you ask. For me, making or receiving a skype call meant running around the house and finding a mike and a pair of headphones. I had to reject a few phone calls because of this. The Tosh in the picture is rugged(-ish), portable and (almost) always on.

All we need are a few more takers at the other end ...

Hope all is well with you an yours.

Word jumble

2006-03-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

There's this great program on the web called snapshirts which takes snapshots of words from blogs and puts them together like the picture above. I think the above is a pretty good representation of what Paul and I write about in here. Don't you?

Sugar and Spice

2006-03-10T00:15:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in my last post one of the highlights of my Oz holiday was rummaging through old family photos at mum and dad's place in Country NSW. While doing so mum pulled out this one taken by the Windsor Gazette of my first day at school. I actually remember this day pretty well ... and even remember the photo being taken. Check out my school bag. Those of you from NSW will remember Paradise Gardens really well. What ever happened to those fun amusement parks? Paradise Gardens, Bullens Animal World. African Lion Safari, The Waterworks etc etc. Good old fashioned fun!

Highlights

2006-03-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

Just when we were getting used to the 30+ degree weather in sunny Oz we head home to the UK and the (as MS so elegantly put it) "nipple crackling cold" hits us like an iceberg.

So as I reflect on the warmth that is Australia ... I think of all the fabulous friends and family who made our trip such a great one. Thank you to those who gave up their spare beds for us, cooked for us, ate out with us, drank with us and shared lots and lots of laughs with us. Although it was three weeks, it really felt like such a whirlwind tour.

Here are some of the highlights of my trip:

Meeting the lovely little SGP, S&S's miracle baby and being privileged enough to attend her christening;
R.bar with M&D. I've always loved that place;
Friday night drinks with the old crowd at The Blvd;
Checking out M&J's stunning new house in Flem. Congratulations you two. Engagement, wedding and first home in the space of 12 months. When you know ... you just know huh?
Cooking up a storm with my brother B for mum and dad in Windeyer. And mum and dad scratching their heads wondering where we got our cooking talent from;
Scouring through old photos of our fam and scanning them to take home (I now have a small photo album of childhood family photos);
Playing cards til the wee hours of the morning with bro B, mum, dad, and their friends, B&S. Not to mention drinking way too much wine!
Footscray market, girly chats, facials, bubbles of trouble, putting on a fabulous spread for N&J and H, A and little R and walking 5 kms in the pouring rain for DVDs and snacks with the gorgeous Miss KW;
BUZZ! and other cool trivia games with P's fam. Miss ND - You are the GuessMaster!
Feeling proud of CF and her triathlon accomplishments. All this exercising makes you positively glow - or is it the new beau?
Hearing about KJ's new love of sailing and vet school. Your new-found escapisms from all the craziness.
Longrain restaurant - and those oysters! Great choice TMcC.
Becoming friends with Little Miss IMcC. A beautiful 2yo with the vocab of an 8yo!
LG's great new courtyard and stories of the hard yakka that has certainly paid off. Congrats on your lovely home.
Dinner at R&TS's house and picking up some great Europe travelling and UK savings tips from them - although I probably won't walk 1.5 hours to save Â£2.00! R - you still have to send me the recipes from that night.
Hibiscus flowers and syrup in champagne (great choice again TMcC). Or, aliens as CF calls them.
Lunch (twice) at the Boathouse (great choice again TMcC - do we see a pattern forming here?);
And of course, mine and Paul's two night holiday within our holiday to Manton's Creek Vineyard in the Mornington Peninsula. The type of place I would love to wake up to every morning.

And those were just a few!

But alas, we are now home and getting over our jetlag before we get back to work next week. Thanks again all ... and also a big thank you to MS for housesitting our place whilst we were away - it was so cool to come home to fresh flowers in the loungeroom.

The above collage are just a few of the shots I took whilst in Oz. Unfortunately I didn't take many of people. More photos can be viewed on my flickr page, click here.

Until next time ...

Adieu Australie

2006-03-06T14:43:00.000-08:00

From the Plaza Lounge in Singapore during the stop over I find myself with some internet time. Thus, the first P&M UK entry in a three weeks.

During those three weeks we have been catching up the inner sanctum and have been reminded that the inner sanctum is good. And for that we must thank and curse in equal measure (the curse being, of course, the difficulty of returning to the UK where the inner sanctum is much much smaller).

Special thanks to M&J B, M&D P, the McCs for giving us digs and - from my point of view - a special thanks to my own CD for saying yes to everything (well, almost!). Fingers crossed I have not forgotten anybody from this list (If I have forgotten anyone, I will blame the Mersyndol which is still in partial affect). Mel will have her own thank yous I am sure (looks funny, but I think this is grammatically correct) .

To everyone else, thank you very very much for either making the time to see us or having us over. Again, you have made it tough return to the UK.

Anyway, stand-by for pics and stories accumulated.

Burden of choice

2006-02-02T09:57:00.000-08:00

Paul must be a glutton for punishment. Either that or this is all part of his grand scheme to keep me occupied and out of his hair for hours on end.

Some of you would know that when I am given the option (think ... burden) of choice I turn into a indecisive schmuck. And, with age, it's not getting any better. So you would think that for my 32nd birthday Paul would make it easy for me and buy me one very simple, very plain gift. But no ... three fabulous books and one fabulous breadmaker with a plethora of recipes included for various types of scrumptious bread ideas that has certainly put my head in a spin. So now, my weekends are going to be spent either rugged up in bed with my head in a book or attempting one of many of the bread recipes that came with my new bread maker.

Glutton for punishment? I don't think so. Grand scheme? Most definitely. xxx

I wouldn't be smiling if my leg was missing!

2006-01-28T09:39:00.000-08:00

Broken Snowman2
Originally uploaded by meljenglish.

I took this shot on my walk today around Wimbledon Common. A little eerie don't you think? How on earth would that get there?

Ssshh ooh ooh sshhh aaahh

2006-01-27T00:05:00.000-08:00

I spent the day in Cambridge yesterday for work and these shots were taken as you walk out from the train station. I have not seen so many bicycles in one spot in my life. Instead of a carpark full of cars, Cambridge has two large bicycle parks.

Cycling is really big over here (and yes, even in this weather). In our Co. alone our staff cycle over 74,000km per year to and from work. Just a bit of trivia I picked up along the way.

You've seen one roof

2006-01-24T14:51:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. Yet another roofshop from the team at Paul and Mel. But I was running around the house this morning and saw this out the window.

Also, it was a chance for me to have a play with Photoshop Elements to edit photos. This is a very average job, but I will show you another verson of the same photo once I know what I am doing.I think it would make an interesting comparison.

Easy like Sunday ...

2006-01-22T10:26:00.000-08:00

... afternoon.

Now this is my kind of way to spend a Sunday afternoon. SG, MD and Paul and I spent a long lazy Sunday afternoon at a Gastro-pub Wimbledon Village called Firestables. We've been meaning to go there for months. Today ... we bit the bullet and finally went. We were certainly not disappointed. We waited almost an hour for a table, but that's okay as there were places to stand/sit and drink. The food was very nice, I ordered the roast without the roast. Those who know me know that I don't eat red meat ... but love my veggies, so I ordered the roast beef without the beef. It came with some very scrumptious roast potatoes, carrots, parsnip and ... yorkshire pudding. YUM!

As you can see from the photos, dessert was a chocolate torte with espresso icecream.

No dinner for this little pisgsy!

Long Johns at the ready

2006-01-22T01:55:00.000-08:00

The news of the moment - besides the poor whale that got stuck in the Thames - is that Russia has been experiencing temperatures around the -35c mark. And that whether is moving in the direction of the UK. Brrrrrr. Spare I thought for us all if we get the full force of it here.

Today, though, is a great day. Cold, but sunny. Yesterday was the same.

All in all, there has been very little to complaing about this English winter. It has been cold, but miserable days have been the exception rather than the rule. Melbourne has certainly dished out worse winters.

Still, I am looking very much forward to the odd approaching 40c day in Melbourne when we get there in Feb.

Not much other news to report - it is really steady as she goes in preparation for the home trip. It is out for lunch today in Wimbledon Village with M & S and then back into the working week.

What's in a name?

2006-01-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I ever said this before, but have you noticed that the name for this blog is just slightly different than the URL (or web address, for the latter-day-luddites)?

After all, we could not call the site paulandmelsuk.blogspot.com.

Now why didn't I think of that?

2006-01-17T12:37:00.000-08:00

Remember Project: Centurion? With the goal of getting Paul and Mel'sUK up to 100 hits a day? Well, the good news s that we get double the hits we used to. Huzzah! The bad news is that I am still about 80% away from the lofty goals set by Project: Centurion.

'Why did you fail, Paul?'. Well, in the tradition of The Curiosty Show's Deane I say, 'I'm glad you asked'.

If I have said it before I will say it again: Gumption, gumption, gumption. Witness the 2006 Australian Blog Awards. Listed as nominees are in the Best Overseas Australian Blog category are Spirit fingers, Maytel (Cambodia), The Road to Surfdom, Whitebait in the city, Two Minutes Happiness, The Sun Shines & The Igloo Melts, Caseyporn, Down and Out in Saigon, Alien Ted, Boring Like A Drill, Jungle Jamie, Yatima, Courting Disaster, What’s new, Pussycat?, Antipixel, Simonworld, Staypuff.net and, leonthelion. Where is Paul and Mel's UK? Nowhere to be seen. Why? I did not submit. Why? I admit, my research was not up to scratch: I should have known about it. Some of these blogs are fantastic, a couple are a bit average. Others occupy the middle-ground. Damn-it, Middle Ground is our middle name! Or should that be, our second and third names ...

Anyway, best of luck to the participants. We are all joined by one thing - being away from home.australia, uk, england, blog, competition, melbourne, london, boyfriend, girlfriend, paul, mel, travel, visa, passport, excursion, gumption

Rebel with a cause

2006-01-14T12:29:00.000-08:00

Mel thinks I have a James Dean look in this photo, so I did not get much of a say in the title ...

This is me on the way home from our NYE dinner.

We went to a fairly well-to-do Italian place in Putney. The food was good. The service was good. The bill was horrendous.

Oh, I never did like James Dean. But I had a good night.

Better late than never

2006-01-14T12:20:00.000-08:00

Where the hell did this photo go?

MP comes all the way over, comes out for bevies ... gets in a pretty reasonable photo with us and I go and bury the photo in a pile of megabytes.

Sorry about that, M.

Suffice to say that it was great to see M when he was here last and we look forward to the next soccer World Cup. Not for what I find to be a very slow game, but for your next visit, buddy boy.