I can almost taste it...

A beautiful and miraculous thing happened today. Daylight Savings started.

It only involves a small change in time, yet it has the power to change whole lifestyles.

It is one of the most exciting things to have happened since coming here.

Why? Well, for a start, I got home from work at 7.12pm tonight, and it was still daylight!




Look how pretty my street was at 7.12pm. This tree has been blossoming for a few weeks, but it's only now you really notice it!

The days have even been sunnier, with tomorrows temperature tipped to hit 15 degrees!

Not only has my overall mood become more pleasant, but I have been filling my diary with summer travel plans

This is awful, but I have to say it - while you Melbournites will be feeling the chills, here is how I will be maximising the sunshine.

May - Weekend in Copenhagen and thinking about a weekend in Paris in early May.

June - Glastonbury (ok, there may be no sunshine, but hell, there will be loads of muddy fun) and on the hunt for super cheap flights to Prague or Venice.

July - Spain, Spain, Spain - a whole 11 days in San Sebastian and running away from the Bulls, plus tickets to O2 festival where Fat Boy Slim and Chemical Bros are playing.

August - V-Festival - with the likes of Muse, Maximo Park, The Futureheads, The Kooks, The Prodigy, Jamie T, Kings of Leon, Amy Winehouse (if she turns up), Kaiser Chiefs, The Zutons, Reverand and the Makers, Chemical Brothers and Robyn - and that's just to name a few.

Yeah, I hate myself as well.

The end of August I finish my contract, and if all goes to plan, I will be lying on a Croatian beach, or possibly a Portuguese Beach, hell, I could even be on a Greek Island. I'm not sure.

Ahhhh, summer!

Oh, and I have finally joined the gym (Thanks Ash!) and working on acquiring a new body for summer. On Saturday, I ended up working out for 3 hours, 2 of which happened to be a free personal training session, with my (now) new, very buff, very cool (and even a tinsy bit hot - don't tell Ash) personal trainer! Woot Woot! Bring on a new Sarah Jessica Parker physic. I'm going to be the envy on those Spanish beaches.

Useless bit of information: I dragged Ash to Portobello Market.

International Relations over breakfast.

It's all over the media, it's on everyone's minds, the whole of London has been revving up this week for the visit of the French President and his beautiful, supermodel, wife, Carla Bruni.

Seriously, Carla fever has taken over. Well, that's what the media would have us believe. She has been photographed more than Jackie Kennedy, she has been linked with Mick Jagger (having an affair with him just after wife, Jerry Hall, had their second child), Donald Trump, Kevin Costner and even another French PM.

Her interesting persona has had conservative Britainites up in arms - they really didn't know what to expect with the arrival of Carla and President husband. The media didn't really help publishing naked photos of her before her arrival.


Despite this, Britain was mesmerised the second she walked off the plane, decked out in her specially designed Dior outfits. Here is a collection of some Dior.




So, why do we care? While the nation is falling in love with Carla, love-sick Nicolas Scarozy had his eyes on another prize - a long lasting and meaningful relationship with Britain. So, after meetings, discussions, dinner at the B. Palace with the Queen; Mr. Sarkozy and Britain's PM, Gordan Brown, agreed to work closer together on international issues such as immigration, building schools in Africa and human rights in Burma. Nice.

After all this, the French Pres. made a speech to the British Parliament, and said this of the new era in Franco-British relations (and this had me in stitches for my whole bus ride home) - He likened the new relationship between Britain and France as entente formidable (tremendously understanding) and stated "It is not simply a one night stand. I believe we can go to breakfast as well".

Aren't we all breathing a sigh of relief that finally France and Britain are now mature enough to go to breakfast.

Kissy kissy Nicolas. I like my eggs poached.

Easter (Snow) Bunny.

While all you kids in other places of the world received chocolate surprises from the Easter Bunny, us in London only received frozen chocolate eggs ... from the Easter SNOW Bunny.

This led me to having the quietest Easter on record. The warmth of the heater and the comfort of the couch (and the fact that I now have the box set of Sex in the City and season 1 of Grey's Anatomy) was just far too hard to leave.

Alright, so I did venture out the front (in pyjamas), but it was only to take pictures to prove to you all that I'm not imagining things. If you look really hard, you can see snowflakes.

It is meant to be Spring here, so that's why you will notice the beautiful blossoming cherry tree that is out the front of our house.

I made it as far as Clapham Common to see the snow.

Hurry Up Summer. I just bought a hot new Bikini from Top Shop that I'm dying to test out.

Freeeee St Patrick

What better way to celebrate the good deeds of St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, and the saint of my primary school, but to attend a FREEEE concert in the city, and to invite all of Ireland's favourite performers to dedicate their talents to celebrate their Saint and their Nation. God loves you London.

Not that I'm really into Irish performers, or have ever really known many, but, the line-up did include an amazing and hat-tipping performance from Róisín Murphy. (She's massively on the tour circuit right now, so if you get a chance to see her, DO IT)

Farm Girl, my new blond best friend - because my other blond mates are either drinking Kingfishers somewhere in the Sub-Continent or riding my bike through Melbs with Spokey Dokes. (You both know who you are!) - took me out.

So, Róisín. For every song spine tingling song she belted out with her flawless voice, she changed her outfit. And, for every outfit, she had a different hat.

Here is a run down of her outfits.
She started off as a man.

And transformed into a cop. That is a little mini visor over her eyes. Wait til summer, these babies are sure to be the new trend in sunnies. (with matching police hat)

She then donned the silliest hat of all. Although, I did see similar hats for sale in Top Shop, so, maybe it's me that is silly. The super-hero cape, complete with pointy shoulders, made up for all the sillyness.

Then she turned woman! Hot, saucy, spider-like woman.

And then, angelic leather strap woman. (Her cool white hat is in her hand.)

Flawlessly, she transformed into a Red Riding Hood. Every freezing arse in the crowd wanted a piece of that jacket!

Since we didn't have a wicked red jacket like she, Farmy taught me a valuable lesson about staying warm whilst at an outdoor concert. Mulled wine. Genius. I never thought cheap red wine would taste so good warmed up, sold in a poly-styrene cup.

After this amazing performance, Farmy then taught me all about pubs in London. Particularly Irish pubs. The main lesson - don't talk to any Irish whilst drunk, they speak English, but not the type we speak. The other lesson, lots of beer on St Pat's day does turn you green.

The hunt is on....

... for somewhere to live.

It's not fun. At all.

(Nicki - In need your Gumtree skills so you could scope me put the good houses before they go online!)

In fact, I think I have seen about 8 houses, and, I'm over it.

I get nervous beforehand because I'm trying to impress these people and make believe that I'm the perfect housemate and much better than the hordes of others who have been looking, all within a 5 second window. My nerves make me extremely chatty, but I end up saying really dumb things. I then I decide the room is perfect and act to keen. And then I never hear from them again. All that stress for nothing and I'm back at square one. I'm finding that I need a Gumtree.com fix every 5 seconds, constantly checking if anyone has posted up a new room that fits my budget. Is that healthy?

So, my question - what is the secret to finding a house??? And is it really too much to ask to find a house like this, maybe around Kensington or Knightsbridge, possibly overlooking Hyde Park, for around £400 per month?

Surely Yes?

Who said London was expensive?

London, expensive? Bollocks.

It's as cheap as chips. In fact, I would go so far as to even claim that Melbourne is far more expensive than London.

Disclaimer: There is no currency conversion here - it's just straight £ for $AU, like for like.

Firstly, there are still 1 and 2 pence coins around, so there is no rounding up prices. So, already your on top. Shame your wallet is always full of useless pennies.



Here is my list of cheap things in the big captial.

Coffee

London - £1.89 (medium soy latte)
Melbourne - $2 for a The Body Shop latte or at lease $3 for a medium at Starbucks

Super cheap! Coffee chains, such as my new fave being Pret-a-Manager, are in over supply. Even Surbiton has a Starbucks, and that's saying something! Eat is also another favourite and offers fair trade organic coffee. Hell, I can even get a fair trade soy latte on the train platform for £1.79.

Food

Seriously, food is cheap. On Sunday I had £3 in my pocket and a ravenous Sunday morning appetite. With my church coins I bought enough to feed 3 people!

London - £1.49 Fresh Wholemeal Cob from the amazing and expensive deli on the High St and £1.19 6 Organic eggs from Corner Shop. Total £2.58, talk about budget food!

Same thing in Melbourne - $3.30 wholemeal cob from Bakers Delight and $2.97 for a 6 pack of eggs from Coles. Total $6.37. Nearly triple the price!

The look on my face when my poached eggs on toast were steaming in front of me. Priceless.

(Alright, that is just a shameless excuse to include my face! hahah)

Chocolate.

Yes, chocolate falls into this non expensive category, and that makes me, the happiest person on earth.

London: Kinder Bueno 40p, Mars Bar 39p, Maltesers (they even have less calories here!) 49p. You can even get 2 Lindt bunnies - 2 for £6! (I just love Sainsbury's 2 for £3 deals - beats Red Spot specials anyday!) In fact, any chocolate from Europe i.e Lindt, or for that matter, any produce from Europe, here is cheap!

Melbourne: Kinder Bueno $2.50, Mars bar $2.10, Maltesers $2.10. I'm guessing the prices here, but hey, I'm sure they are roughly correct. In general, European products = expensive.

God, I love London. My waistline doesn't.

Newspapers,

(And, I'm talking the type that you can finish in a bus ride) - FREE!

Yeah, I know the MX is free in Melb as well.

But, get this for cheap - Magazines!

London: Harpers Bazzaar £3.80, Vanity Fair £3.90, Grazie and Hello £1.90. The only downside, no Madisson.

Melbourne: Harpers Bazzaar $7.95, Vanity Fair $17.95, OK $1.95 - really the only value trash mag and NW $4.70 (Has that gone up?)

The perfect afternoon delight for someone on a budget. How can you go wrong?



Alcohol

Now this is the important one.

London: Vodka, Lime & Soda - £4, Large Glass of NZ Sav Blanc£6 (because you can buy a small glass), bottle of cider £4. But, the Offie is where it's all at - Bicardi Breezers are about £2, Pimms and Lemonade in can is about £2 and beer, well, it's cheap.

(I just got Photoshop from work, so I'm mucking around with it, hence the 'It' like shot!)

Melbourne: Vodka, Lime & Soda - $6.50, Sav Blanc - a good one, about $7-8 and a bottle of cider, at least $5.50. Need I say more!

Oh, and the local Offie has a deal - Buy 2 New Zealand wines and the 3rd Free! In Melbs, bottle of NZ Sav Blanc - c. $18 - per bottle!Wicked.

Fashion

This one gets tricky, because a stroll through Harrods, whilst getting lost in the Egyptian section, drooling over the food section and then not being able to leave the rooms displaying amazing designer handbags, is far more expensive than a stroll through Myers or DJs.

Here is my Egyptian bud from the Harrods. He/She guards the handbags.

BUT, my one consoling evidence for amazing and cheap fashion in London is my AMAZING Vintage Boots I found for £25 in Camden. One thing about London - Vintage Store Heaven! They are everywhere, and they are GOOD.

Things to Do.

This is where things get crazy. On Saturday, I managed to score a free trip through time. Sounds ludicrous, but I did. I probably went as far back as 500AD. I wandered through Medieval Europe, strolled through Mughal controlled Indian, met up with the Tokugawa Shoguns in Japan, stepped across a magic carpet from Persia, looked at renaissance sculptures and even looked a knight in shining armour directly in the eyes. How you might ask? I went to the V&A Museum in Knightsbridge (and for all you ex-Londoners - how do I get a place to live in Knightsbridge??). And, it was all free. ( I must sound like an ad for the V&A, but Kylie, you were RIGHT!)

Oh, and I know this is pushing it a bit because, well, Banksy art is accessible and free, (and Kallin, you will love this!), but I went to a Banksy exhibition for free! Woohooooo




Ahhh, London.

Me and the Nuff.

I survived my first week as a Nuffield. Thank god it's the weekend now and I can take my Nuff badge off and turn back into the Yeeooohhh!

In my first week, I have learnt how they perform a face lift or to be more technical, a rhytidectomy. (I'll find out about new boobs next week!)


If you've ever considered a face lift, then consider what actually happens to achieve your new look. They cut the skin along your hairline, and literally lift the skin up off your face. If you were to be watching the surgery (and I have the opportunity to do this if I desire) (No Thanks!), you would be able to see the muscles and tendon's that are under your skin. They then pull the skin up, re-position it back onto your face so it's lifted, cut off the excess skin and sew it back on or attach it with metal staples.

Jocelyn's a fan.

Ok, so enough grossing out. The other bits of worthless information that you should know about me and the Nuff.

1. I work in The Crescent and I live in Crescent Court so I'll never forget my addresses.


2. My new work extension number is 7573 and my old work extension number was 7574. I'll never forget my phone number. (Except, I will because UK number's has about 11 digits, a few too many for my brain to remember)

3. After one week, and a bit of shuffling, I finally got my very own desk.

4. I spend countless hours surfing the internet, and, well, that's my job. Easy.

My first day.

Yesterday was my first day at my new job. My first day as a Nuffy at Nuffield Hospitals. My mornings no longer consist of juggling my cereal bowl and applying mascara whilst overtaking trucks on the Monash. Now, I sit, peacefully with a book or magazine in the comfort of the overland train. No squashing into the mini-tube.


Surbiton, home of Nuffy, is sort of like working in Mulgrave, except instead of the occasional Hawthorn footy player hanging around the half erect Waverley Park, I now fight off the oldies with walking frames and chavs with prams whilst trying to find a decent latte with real soy milk. Not the fake kind I got this morning. No more Waverley Gardens for me, it's all out the supersized Waitross that literally kisses my office's front door.

It's quite a funny transition. I've gone from working in the beauty industry, where the daily office banter revolved around the latest advances in cosmetics and the actual mineral content in the new generation of mineral make up. Now, working in the health industry, the conversation around cosmetics is all about the best way to market a tummy tuck and how to correctly price a new set of boobs. Rhinoplasty anyone?

It's definitely not anything like The Body Shop, and I sure miss the TBS team. There are no paper mache gorillas or rhino's out the front, the cleaner doesn't have a hook for a hand to scare the children from the Children's centre and there is no restaurant with the chef (?) serving his gourmet warped sense of humour. There is just product offers to make your tummy trimmer and your life much more fulfilling. Seriously, check this out - http://www.nuffieldcosmeticsurgery.com/katesdiary1.asp - a tummy tuck really will make you happy.

Oh, they did give me a laptop (Yeess) and the promise of a gym membership. Pity, I don't actually have a desk yet.

Umemployed and cashless

After the thrill of Amsterdam, the shock of reality started to settle in. Here I was, unemployed and cashless, in one of the most expensive cities in the world. All I had were some interviews lined up with recruitment agencies. Not real job interviews, but just meet and greets - "Hi, I'm from Australia, here is my CV, I have these transferable skills and I'm worth this much, find me a job that is exciting and pays extremely well.", and their reply "Hi, I see people like you everyday, you haven't done this and you want to do that? If your lucky, I'll find a bunch of jobs that may or may not match your skills, dependant on how much I'm listening and the level of care factor I have for your situation."

Well, I must say, the recruitment agencies weren't that bad. An hour after my first 9am agency meeting, I got my first call about a job. That fast. And, that's how I spent the next few days - battling through an array of various job offers, from Tesco to Royal Bank of Scotland.

I even got to the stage of knocking back jobs that didn't tickle my fancy. One of the first ones I knocked back, came back to me 2 hours later, offering me more money. They lined up an interview immediately for Friday morning at 11am. I accepted the job at 3pm, ready for a start on Tuesday. They don't muck around.

I then relaxed a little and left the comfort of my laptop. (Ash's laptop)

Thought I better see as much of the city as I could before being chained to a desk again.

I visited the Tate Modern, an amazing art gallery filled with modern art.

This is their latest exhibition. A big huge crack. It's about 2 foot deep running the length of the building inside. People keep complaining because they are breaking their ankles thinking it's a painting. Idiots.

I found the eye and that's Big Ben in the back. Haven't been on it yet. I can only doing free things.

I saw the Tower Bridge.

I stumbled upon Buckingham palace. Wow.

I made a new friend in Trafalgar Square. Isn't he cute? Nothing like my Kitty at home.

I chased a squirrel in the park.

I found London's attempt at the Arc de Triumph. Notice to amazing blue sky. Who said London winter is bad?

I even found Piccadilly Square.

I wanted to call someone to speak of what I was doing, but the phone smelt too badly of urine. Where are those Dutch urinals when you need them?

I went to see the Templar Church, built by the Knights Templar. This is THE Knights Templar mentioned in the Da Vinci Code. These knights actually invented personal banking, and got extremely rich by doing it over centuries. King Philip IV of France got a bit jealous of their wealth and with some sneaky and clever planning, had all the prominent leaders killed, across the whole of Europe, all on Friday 13th. See, I even learnt some things.

I tried some shopping, But not your average shopping experience. I went to Argos. No visual merchandising needed in this shop. You walk in, look through the catalogue, write down the number of the product you want, pay for it, wait a few minutes until they call your number, and they bring you your items. I was buying pillows, and when they arrived, I thought I had ordered the wrong thing. They were tiny. I tried to return them and the lady laughed at me. She said they were shrink wrapped to save space. That's the Argos policy. And, that's a good example of British customer service - she laughed in my face. No 6 steps of selling here.

Tiny shrink wrapped pillows acutually suited me - easier to carry home on the bus. Pity they flatten after a few nights.

Since I spent so much time alone, one of my new friends, Lily, cooked a roast for the boys and I. I think it was the best meal we'd had in ages.

We got absolutely smashed on the '3 for the price of 2' on New Zealand wine deal from the local Offie (Off Licence or bottle shop) and we did some team building. I love the constant flow of 3 for the price of 2 deals everywhere.

I got a new nickname - Musty. (Boys just don't appreciate gold op shop finds. Or, musty op shop finds.) We were all so drunk, that Leigh turned green.

Lucky our street name is written on our house, so found our way home ok.

So, that kind of sums up my first week in London, and my first, and only week, of being unemployed.

The Dam... or what it has become.

We arrived and Ash woke up to take this photo. (See previous post)


Amsterdam welcomed us by teaching us how to spell its name with big letters. That's Ash inside the d.
Amsterdam was named after the Dam that it was built upon. Now, all that is left of the Dam is a huge memorial to the soldiers who fought in WW2.

In city, famous for sex, it's one very phallic monument. The homosexual war monument, a few streets away, is not anything as straight up as this.

Opposite the very phallic tribute, and across the picturesque square there is a magnificent palace for the King and Queen of the Netherlands, which rudely, and very purposely, cuts off and towers above, the almost-as magnificent church. Now, there's a struggle for power at play. (There are also lots of beautiful people in this beautiful square!)


...and lots of crazy bikes, of all shapes and sizes.


A possibly even quirkier way to get around.



It was absolutely freezing, despite the amazing blue, almost Melbourne like, skies.

The buildings and houses were absolutely incredible. The Amsterdam-ites are so proud of their canals, some even choose to live in the canals. They even have small backyards, with pot plants.

The view from their front yard is definitely worth it.

There are loads of cool sites to see, despite the sad reasons that they have become tourist must-sees.

And here is how they keep the drunken tourists, and locals, from pissing in corners. You wouldn't want to fall on that with your fly open. Ouch.

If spikes aren't your thing, and you really need to piss (and your male) they do have public toilets. Everywhere. Even in front of important monuments in the middle of the street. Very innovative of the Dutch.

We visited a small town called Delft, where my beautiful cousin lives. We're just like sisters.

We tasted some local beer.

And got a serious case of beer goggles.

Notice the church spire is severely leaning? I swear, it wasn't just the beer. The church is actually sinking, like half the buildings in Holland.

Aren't we cute?

Back in Amsterdam, we checked out some local art at the Sex Museum. This was Ash's favourite.

She is saying "Gail, Do you smoke after sexual intercourse?" and Gail says "No, I gave up ages ago."

Here is my favourite.

Here is our amazing hotel.

And me inside our amazing hotel. (Thanks Ash.)

Our last supper

After our sugar rush from Dutch Maccas, we had some fun on the plane home.