Crazy Nights

OK. Well, first things first.

I am semi lucky to still have a job as it seems that this recession is still going with the architecture profession. Only recently, the powers that be have let 3 staff members go. Wow oh wow, I thought as they confirmed that it wouldn't be me they were getting rid of. Phew.

It definitely is nervous times though.

Especially since I have booked in all these holidays, and it would completely suck if I had to find a new job and convince new employers to let me go on holiday straight away.
Never mind.

Renee and I have both booked in a 4 day all included stay in Iceland. It was a ripper deal and we were considering it for about a couple of days before some wise advice from Yifan convinced us to do it.
"Just do it" he said
I think he got it from an advertising campaign or something.
So yeah, we are flying into Reykjavik on the 14th November and staying at a 4 star resort till the 17th. We get a trip to the blue lagoon included too, which should be awesome. Wait for it.... here's a link to give you an idea of what the blue lagoon is.

Shot-ski, goal-ski. How tech is that!!!!

To celebrate our booking, we caught up with Tara (a friend from Contiki last year) at her central city pub and went on a party night in Camden town. Met up with Yifan and his girlfriend Shan there and we drank the night away. Renee and I then strolled from Camden to Trafalgar Square to catch a night bus home that night and we got home in the late hours of the morning.
What was Camden like? you ask.
Meh, it was OK.
I was expecting cool lounge bars but instead it was all teeny bopper crap. The final bar of the night had a movie theme song night and played all the songs of the movies such as 'Time of my life' by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, and John Parrs chart topping hit 'Man in Motion'. Ripper.
Really, the only good thing was the free popcorn they handed out at the end of the night. I was soooo hungry that I ate it like cookie monster had switched snack foods. There was rapid movements of my hand from popcorn bag to mouth, resulting in more popcorn being strewn over the pavement and getting lost in my collar than ending my in my belly.
Good though. Salty.

Just last weekend, Renee and I had the flat to ourselves as it was a long weekend and all the flatmates decided to ship out to different parts of Europe. We didn't go anywhere because we have Scotland in a few days time. So anyway, we were pretty lonely and turned to fish and chips on the Friday night followed up with a few bottles of wine. That next day, at the supermarket, we decided to buy a big bottle of vodka instead of wine so that it would last longer.
At 10pm, wen we had finished that bottle, we decided no more drinking for the weekend.

So Pom shows up on the Sunday and its off to the bar.

We had a few beers before shit got rowdy, and Pom pulled out Absinthe shots. Double shots actually. Then we had a brilliant idea to go all the way to Camden again and keep the night alive. It was a better time in Camden than the first time, but we were shagged and headed home early.
That Monday, our day off, we went to the Notting Hill Carnival, which is apparently the second largest carnival in the world, slotting in just behind Rio de Janerio and apparently bigger than New Orleans Mardi Gras.
Apparently.

It was busy, that's for sure; about a million people. But it was too spread out. It was like you were walking empty streets between small hot spots of activity where people were all pissed and eating Jerk Chicken, the dish of choice for the carnival. There was a parade and stuff with people wanting to dry hump more than dance, so we got out of there, and fast.
It must have been the largest gathering of scum of the earth.

Too honest?

Hmpf.

Anyways, this was just a short update. Will have a big one next time after Scotland.

Ciao

Booking Holidays

Ahhh, still haven't been anywhere exciting since my last blog but plans have been made.

Renee's Friends came over from oz and they are currently on a contiki trip through Europe. Once they have that finished we are off through Scotland for 9 days in a rental car. I was fortunate enough to grab 5 seconds of my bosses time and he drew out a fantastic map through the Scottish countryside and pointed out the must see places. He even got down to the finer detail of what restaurants we should eat at and who we should ask to serve us. These Scots are a proud folk.

So that is exciting. We are leaving on 4th September for that mission. I am semi worried due to the fact that you can only really hire manual cars here and all the Aussies only know automatic. I hope it means I wont get lumped with all the driving. We may have to pay extra for an auto if we can get one.

Renee and I have also booked in our flights to Portugal and Spain for the Christmas / New Year period. We are flying into Lisbon on the 27th Dec and flying out of Madrid on the 4th Jan. We will probably spend new years in Portugal and only spend a few days in Spain, though I am keen to get a train or bus up to Bilbao to see Gehry's Guggenheim museum. Our flights were £70 return at that time of year so we were pretty stoked

Right now, we are considering a short visit to Iceland in November. Yes, I know it will be freezing but I can man it up. Don't know about Renee though. Mu haha
We can get return flights and 4 star hotel, transfers and entrance to the blue lagoon (siiiickkk natural spa with snow all around it and so forth) for £290 so we are definatley considering that.

I sound like a travel promoter

The reason why I haven't booked Iceland already is because I don't know how much longer I may have at my job here. Everyone is on edge and the office is super tense because the directors are going mental at anyone. We all know we are being underpaid and I have been considering looking around elsewhere. Its not really a fun environment at the moment. Now they have scheduled staff reviews for.... tomorrow, and we are all kind of stressing as to whether we will have a job at the end of it or not. I don't really want to look for other jobs but I don't want to stay in an office like this for too long. It is miserable at the moment.

Onto brighter subjects..........

Darren and Nicky stopped by for a brief visit recently. We had a few beers at a pub local to my work and then a quick bit of dinner. It was good to see them. They are now making their own way through Europe right now.

Ryan and Jo got back from their European trip and Ryan stopped by for a night of wine drinking and to pick up some of their stuff. He had tried to ring me about a million times but my phone was left behind at my flat so he had to wait around drinking beers at the local pub until my return. Poor guy. I really felt for him.
The reason for my absence was because I had spent the whole day shopping with Renee and carrying all her bags. Stupidly, for our one year anniversary (which was a while ago now), I had made her a set of redeemable vouchers that she could use at her leisure. One of them was a 'shopping assistant for a day, carrying all bags, and giving honest opinions on clothing'. What an idiot I am. That voucher alone was worth an anniversary present, but instead I gave her 8 different ones. Yes, 8! At the time I thought I was clever because I was essentially giving her a present without spending money.
Now I am paying for it.
In blood.

And manliness.

So yeah, I was a fur ball of shopping bags when Ryan arrived. That girl can shop!

Right now, Ryan and Jo are making their way through Scotland and Ireland and I think they have just booked Egypt also so props to them. I suggested they come to Portugal for Christmas if they are still here. That would be sweeeeeet.

Last weekend, I caught up with Yifan, his girlfriend Shan and Tara, our friend from Contiki in town. It was a relaxed night and Yifan sounded highly excited about Iceland.

Looking into the near future, we have Jason Derulo playing a gig near us for £20 which is fairly cheap so I think Renee is keen to see that. She may be riding solo, riding solo, riding solo, solo. (Literal humour for those in the know- clever huh)

So there it is, the last four weeks of my life in a short summary. Enjoy.