English Pie & some random pics

Apologies for not rotating any pics. I am in an internet cafe. Yes I am surviving without a computer & internet!

Big Ben & the London Eye

Phui & I had some English pie for lunch in Oxford. I had mine with minted peas and gravy. Yum!

So I'm going to start a funny fashions file. Who in the world wears pink trousers (not called pants in the UK)?

How cool are these director's chairs all decked out in the Wimbledon colours!

Ken Done Exhibition in London

Fri 30 June 2007.
Wei Ai & I went to our first Melbourne Uni Alumni function in London. It was full of grannys and grandpas! haha It was held at the gallery where Ken Done (famous Aussie artist) was showing his exhibition. We were privileged enough to hear Ken speak about his latest collection.

The legendary Ken Done.

Mel in front of one of Ken's works.

Wimbledon again - Day 4

Thurs 28 June 2007.
I enjoyed Wimbledon so much that I had to go again on Thursday. Lucky for Alisha & I, it didn't rain, but it did get quite windy & chilly. We queued for over 45 minutes!

Desperate die hard Wimbledon fans queue here the night before! They come equipped with tents, sleeping bags and the works.

We watched some mens doubles on court 3.

Mel & Alisha

SW19 - the grandest of all grand slams

Tues 26 June 2007.
SW19 - the postcode of Wimbledon. The grandest of all tennis grand slams...and the stuff dreams are made of. Shaheen and I went to Wimbledon on day 2 of the tournament. This is the highlight of my trip so far! There is this buzz in the atmosphere that I cannot explain. We got an after 5pm ground pass for £12. When the ball hits the line, the chalk flies up - it is just magical!


Wimbledon wouldn't be English if you didn't have to queue. In London, you have to queue for everything. They hand out these stickers to cheer up the plebs who have to line up. It even comes with a guide book on how to queue for tickets. There is even a code of conduct on how to queue.


Mel at Wimbledon. This is one of the back courts where some no namers were playing.

Mel & Shaheen

Strawberries & Cream!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Monday 25 June 2007.
It was the first day of Wimbledon. I had my bag packed and ready to go straight after work. Guess what? It was washed out...grrrrr

So I decided to go and see Mary Poppins the musical instead. I managed to get a cheap seat in the gods £15. The musical was so much fun because I new all the words to the songs! The special effects were sooo cool - eg Mary Poppins pulls the lamp out of her bag just like in the movie.

West End Live @ Leicester Square

Sunday 24 June 2007.
Alisha and I went along to Leicester Square to see a free concert. It was called West End Live and had live performances of some of the muscials showing in the West End. It was pretty cool except the Mamma Mia number was lip sync'd.

Oxford

On Sat, Phui & I went to Oxford for a day trip. It was a pretty little town. For anyone who hasn't been, just think of the Melbourne Uni law quad, but for the whole town. The town was packed with tourists, almost as bad as Prague! We had 4 seasons in one day. There were patches of glorious sunshine, then followed by rain.


Mel & Phui at Christ Church - the largest of the Colleges at the Univeristy of Oxford.

High tea at the Old Parsonage Hotel.

Afternoon tea at Old Parsonage Hotel. Scones with clotted cream and Jam were absolutely divine!

Please look after this bear! Mel & Paddington Bear at Padddington Station.

A typical English cottage & garden
Christ Church Meadow

Punting on the river.

The Dining Hall at Christ Church used in the Harry Potter Movies.

The staircase at Christ Church used in the Harry Potter movies.

Meet Alberto

I'd like to introduce two of my housemates, Alberto & Martina (fom Italy). Alberto is the basil plant!

Bangers & Mash

A hearty English meal with Phui at the S & M Cafe (which stands for Sausage & Mash) after Fri night drinkies.

Taste of London - Regents Park

On Thurs, we went to the 'Taste of London', a food festival held in Regents Park.

Yin & Mel

Foodies, please read on! Giorgio Locatelli sliced my proscuitto and was kind enough to pose for a photo. The other chick is a random from Sydney.

Yin & Mel having some Viennese cake.

Phui & a glass of Pimms!

Wednesday Pub Club

I scored an invite to a Wednesday Pub Club (WPC) meeting. Founded by Emily (Jamie's housemate), Katie & Kate, it is a cult that meets every Wed for a few drinks/dinner. Each meeting is held at a different pub in London. There are strict rules and an initiation process. Excuses for non-attendance will not be tolerated, otherwise you will be deemed L L L Lame! and may be uninvited!



Mel & Jamie J


WPC Founders: Emily, Katie, Kate (all from USA)

An English BBQ

Last Sunday, Jamie J & his housemates hosted a BBQ at their place in Leytonstone. It was my first English BBQ. However, there weren't any English people there! There were Yanks, Aussies & a Kiwi. We sat in their backyard which consisted of a small courtyard. Mary made this really cool tornado dip.

Portobello Road

Last Sat, I went to the Portobello Road Market. In true English style, it rained!

Fish & Chips

Traditional English fish & chips, with salt and vinegar minus the mushy peas!

Pics from Praha - the Doorstep town

Thanks to Alisha for organising the weekend away to Prague. The weather was sunny and warm, and we even got a slight tan! Prague was a really beautiful city. We didn't meet too many locals there because it was jam packed full of tourists.

Stained glass window designed by Alphonse Mucha in St Vitus Cathedral.

View from near the Pražský hrad Castle.

Leanne & Mel having awesome lemon sorbet.

The astronomical clock in Old Town Prague.

John Lennon's grafitti wall. Anyone is free to write on the wall. It symbolises freedom and all that jazz.

Leanne, Mel & Alisha. Traditional Czech meal - meat, sauerkraut cabbage & dumplings. Yum!

I couldn't resist taking a photo with the guard. How cool are they with the sunglasses!

Russell Square

After wandering the streets of Russell Square one day, I came across this plaque. Anyone who worked at ANZ with me all those years ago might remember Sam Ly...

Pics from Lords

Sorry for the delay. But believe it or not, I do not have a computer or the internet...These are the pics from the test match at Lord's a few weeks ago.

View from one of the members stands at Lords. See the Spaceship media centre in the background.


As mentioned in a previous post, I bumped into Brian Lara at Lords.

'ave a good weekend

Yay, today is Friday! I'm off to Prague for the weekend.

Last night Shaheen & I hit the town. I had my first dose of fish and chips, followed by a few rounds of Pimms (an English cocktail popular to drink in the summer time). Yes, it is technically summer, but the weather here in London is still gloomy. I bet you the weather will fine up over the weekend when I'm away.

We had a small BDO reuninion on Monday. I met up with Kate H & Kristen at a local English pub. I also had my first English pie this week minus the mushy peas.

For all those back home, have a good long weekend. Did you know the Brits don't even get a public holiday for the Queen's b'day? That is ludicrous!

It feels like I've been on a 10 day bender. I've been out almost every night this week! and now Prague this weekend.

Tower of London

Monday was a bank holiday. Phui & I went to visit the Tower of London.

The crown jewels are kept in this building.

No matter where I went, the rain followed me regardless of whether I was in Denmark or UK.

H C Anderson in Copenhagen

A pic of me in front of the H C Anderson statue in the city square (Copenhagen). Anyone who has been to my house will know that my folks took a photo with this statue back in 1981!

Pics from Kobenhavn

Danish pastries in Denmark! Yummy

We were in town for the Whitsun Carnival. It was one big street parade with music and dancing. It was raining but the dancers didn't really seem to care.

Mel & Alisha at Wagamamma's in the Tivoli amusement park.

So this is what £55 pounds get you in Copenhagen. A single bed, basin and a communal toilet/shower. We certainly were slumming it.

The little mermaid. Apparently in the past, some vandals have sawed her head off! Now there is CCTV to catch anyone doing a dodgy.