good news!

I came home last night after an Ultimate Frisbee game where I let in only 3 points (a vast improvement), to find that my internet was working again! yay!!!

Funny thing was, I sat down on my couch with my laptop open and had absolutely no idea what to look at. I had no desire to surf the net, stalk ex boyfriends on facebook, watch random youtube videos...

...thank god that didn't last for very long!

Am very much looking forward to the weekend... drinks tonight with a friend, tomorrow I'm off to some farm party, back sunday morning and then dinner at another friend's house. Will also have obligatory skype date with my mom and one catch-up session with Ashley. can't wait!

temper tantrum

I full out just threw a temper tantrum over the phone with O2, the idiotic internet providers who, after a week, still hasn't managed to re-connect my internet. They've actually just informed me that it will be yet another 2 weeks until my internet is re-connected.

Classic case of how the stupid british system of utilities, phone lines, internet has managed to cause deep frustration and anger.

Thank god I have my blackberry and internet access at work....

No you're eyes aren't deceiving you, it really is a guy playing violin on top of a massive column. I went to Trafalgar Square with my flatmate because one of his friends was performing on the plinth in the square. Mind you, when I had agreed to go, I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about thanks to his thick midlands accent, but assumed that it was some sort of street performance.

Actually I was totally wrong. Think of any kind of performer, random bloke, protester, musician, you get the picture... getting one hour on top of this massive column to do whatever he or she likes. That's the idea behind this project titled 'One and Another' where for 100 days straight, for 24 hours, one person will be on top of this plinth, doing whatever they want.

When I got there, it was the violinist playing something, however he was being drowned out by the saturday afternoon crowd of tourists, screaming children and a random evangelical christian church service going on outdoors...(during a painful rendition of some woman warbling 'amazing grace' I put my headphones back on and turned up my ipod until it ended).

My flatmate's friend was this guy named Elliot who decided to organize the crowd of spectators into a series of "E-lympic" games, such as paper airplane javelin and egg toss. Probably the most memorable was trying to bounce a volleyball around the crowd without letting it touch the ground, although the sight of 50+ strangers doing a slow motion run across Trafalgar Square is a close second...

...really, it was just another day in the London-town.

I've been lazy

Alright people, I'm really sorry for not updating for a really really long time! I wish I could say that I've been out exploring London and working hard, but really I've just been lazy. Plus my internet in my flat isn't working right now (long story, not getting into it because it'll just make me angry for the rest of the day), so right now I'm writing this whilst at work. (and of course multi-tasking with all the other things I have going on... I'm just THAT efficient...)

So, the other day, one of my managers was talking about an event she had attended the evening before where the Mayor of London, Boris something or another had made a speech regarding how great London was, and he said that while our North American counterparts do speak English, it is only in London that proper English can be heard.

Which got me thinking about all of the terms and accents I've heard over the past 5 weeks. I'm not struggling as much to understand my co-workers, although I wish I could say that they've ceased to poke fun at my 'accent'. I've now learned that a 'quid' is essentially a 'buck', and that I am a size 4 in shoes (learned when I tried on a pair of size 7 shoes ). Southwark isn't pronounced south-WARK, but actually South-ARK. Same with Vauxhall being Vox-HALL...and not Vo-all (damn the french in me).

To make things more complicated, I've started to play ultimate frisbee... now those of you who know my athletic skills, you know that I have none. With brothers who spent more time playing dungeons and dragons growing up, I sadly never quite learned how to throw a ball, or more importantly, how to throw a frisbee. So you can imagine my terror when on the pitch, I hear the instructions called out - Ok alex, you're handling, rosie is first cut, you're second cut and Irene you stack.

Although I confidently nod as if I know what he's talking about, my mind is screaming at me "wtf is stack!?!? these stupid brits and their stupid terms and stupid ultimate frisbee, I don't even LIKE frisbee"

The game went downhill from there.

I won't get into how I pathetically struggled along the pitch and let in not one, but two goals... however, because I am such a masochist, I continued to play more games... and such as my knowledge of regular british terminology, my understanding of ultimate has also grown.

I can also kind of, sort of, throw a frisbee now too.

the art of rice

I have a confession... I cannot, despite my best efforts and hours of research, make a proper pot of rice.  I feel that this confession may strain my relationship with my asian elders, however it's sadly true and at this point, I need to reach out to you, dear reader.  

How do you cook rice?  And I mean, in a pot with boiling water, not a rice cooker... 

My mother makes a perfect pot of rice with each and every dinner, it's never burnt, mushy, watery or hard.  And the crazy thing is that she eyeballs the amount of water needed to go in!  No measuring cups, no fancy instruments, just a natural sense of the water to rice ratio. 

The other day, after being frustrated with my watery and mushy rice, I turned to my trusty friend - Google - for answers. 

Other than numerous suggestions to buy a rice cooker, I came across one post that outlined the "Index Finger Rule to Cooking Rice" 

Here's how it works, wash the rice as usual and drain out the murky water without dumping the whole pot of rice into the sink (I've done that before...) 

Next, rest the tip of your index finger on the surface of the rice, and fill up the pot with water until it reaches the first joint of that finger.  

That's it!  I have yet to try out this technique, but it seems relatively simple and idiot-proof.  

 

keeping up with the brits' version of thursday night drinks...

This thursday, I was staying at work a little later than usual when my team leader asked me if I wanted to join a few of them for after-work drinks.  Not having much else on my social calendar, I agreed and off we went a little while later to a nearby pub.  

In my mind, I was going to have one pint, then head home and cook whatever was on the menu of my weekly food planner.  Yes, I do realize that having a food planner is slightly geeky and neurotic, however, with food being as expensive as it is, I have to plan out my meals and groceries on an excel spreadsheet so that I don't end up buying a bunch of crap and throwing it out when it rots in my fridge.  I'm not at the level of cooking where I can just look in my fridge and pantry and throw together a meal.  Combine that with the fact that my fridge and pantry are in a very sad stage of emptiness... 

But I digress... back to thursday night...5 drinks and a handful of nachos for dinner later, I'm noticeably slurring my words and stumbling a bit to the bathroom.  My colleagues on the other hand seem fresh and completely sober... 

I'm happy to report that I did not puke on my team leader, nor did I reveal anything too embarrassing about myself (to my knowledge)... and it might just be me, but all of the sudden, my co-workers seem friendlier.  Could it be that beer brings people together?  

Next week's food planner will include bringing a large(r) lunch on Thursday, as well as many snacks, as a precaution against another night of debauchery.  One can never be too prepared for these things - wish me luck... 

Blog Post #1... (for lack of a better title)

My decision last year to leave my banking job and return back to school was made with much trepidation.  While I was unhappy with where my life was heading at HSBC, I was hesitant to leave the security of a full-time job for unemployment and student life.  Making big decisions has always been hard for me.  I'm the type of person who can spend upwards to 20 minutes in the shampoo aisle of Shoppers trying to decide between Dove or Pantene Pro V.  One might be on sale, but the other donates a proceeds of its sale to a self-esteem fund!  

In the end, I made the leap from lowly banker to a Humber PR student.  Fast forward 10 months and here I am...living in London, UK, working at a travel PR company and learning how to cross the streets of London without getting hit by a car driving on the "wrong" side of the road.  

I really have no direction or theme for this blog.  Mostly I plan to write updates on life here, little tidbits/events/happenings that have caught my attention and want to share.  Knowing me though, much of this blog will focus on my love of food.   For example, the food here really is as horrendous as people have warned me.  However if you're willing to part with your cash, sushi in the food hall of Harrods is surprisingly good.  (My advice, skip out on the green tea...it'll set you back about $5). 

Welcome to my blog