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Monday 8 December
This past weekend I was in Berlin. It is an amazing city with, needless to say, extraordinary history.
Berlin has not tried to disguise its story and it is visible in the bullet-holes in buildings and in the bombed church which
was purposefully not restored and has been left as a memorial. We visited an exhibition on the site of the Gestapo HQs
entitled 'Topography of Terror'. It was incredible to think that on this very site, men sat in their offices and
discussed how best to exterminate millions of human beings. Horrid.
We took a walking tour which covered the main sites such as the Brandeburg Gate, the remaining standing wall,
the site of Hitler's bunker and Checkpoint Charlie. It was all extremely interesting, if bitterly cold! I learnt
my lesson on Saturday and on Sunday felt, and looked, like the abominable snowman with about five layers of clothing to try
and keep warm!
Monday 15 December
Christmas is creeping up awfully quickly now. Just another few days at work before I head off to Ireland
for a week over the Christmas break. I'm looking forward to a busy week - I am going 'speed dating' tomorrow evening
with some girlfriends. This is the latest craze for singles where you meet about 30 guys for three minutes each and
tick the box if you think you'd like to meet them again! Worth a try anyway!
Thursday and Friday are the work Christmas parties and I'm hoping for a damn good time with some good people.
This past week rushed by as usual. I am still going to gym often - twice a week at 7:30am! On
Friday I decided I couldn't put off some vital clothes shopping any longer and so went shopping at Bluewater - an enormous
shopping centre in Kent with over 330 shops. It was beautifully decorated for Xmas too and was quite an experience.
As was the travel to and from. I hitched a ride with my colleague Clive who lives out that way. It took us two
hours in the car - which was slightly longer than the usual 1 1/4 hours it takes him to commute the 11 MILES as the crow flies.
I then shopped till I dropped four hours later, only to find that I had missed the last bus to the station. It was a
£5 taxi ride to the station where I arrived to see the train departing from the platform, with forty minutes until the next
train! Still, I got home eventually, just over two hours after I left the mall! Crazy.
Saturday night I went out with Toni to a couple of good old cheesy bars/nightclubs and enjoyed a good dance
with her. A late night which necessitated spending most of Sunday in bed to recover, getting up in time to go to a carol
singing service with my flatmates, at Kerry's church in Marylebone. It was a lovely, lively service and made a nice
night out.
Monday
29 December
I am all alone at work this week, holding the fort before most of
the team is back next week for my final week at Hackney! I received my notice the week before Christmas - final day
Friday 9 January. I am sad to be leaving but glad that within four days I had secured another job, also committee clerking,
at the nearby London Borough of Haringey.
I am rather tired today after getting back late last night from
a fantastic week in Ireland. I flew to Dublin last Sunday and spent the night with Megan at her friend's place there,
before ouy PaddyWagon bus tour started on Monday. There were about 20 on the bus, most of them Australian,
and almost all in our 20s. We had a great driver/guide, Charlie, who was a true Irishman and entertained us with stories,
history and songs, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The tour consisted of driving clockwise around the country in basically
three days, but it wasn't nearly as bad as that might sound! There were plenty of stops and we saw plenty of tourist
sights like castles and such. I particulary enjoyed learning about the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland and even went
and bought a couple of books on the history yesterday. A large part of our time was however spent in pubs - Irish ones
of course! I have never before spent six nights in a row drinking in pubs, and I am pleased to report that I was still
standing by the end of it all! Many a pint was drunk and I even downed a pint of Guinness at the brewery on Saturday.
All in all a great trip and I would recommend PaddyWagon Tours to
anyone. I think I might do a Haggis Tour of Scotland sometime soon - it is a great way to see a country and not have
to expend any effort!
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Monday 5 January
2004
I spent last week alone in the office, which was not an unpleasant experience,
if rather lonely!
On New Year's Eve I went to a Moroccan restaurant with Megan, Toni, Duncan
and about 20 others, where we sat in our own small room on low cushions around tables about a foot high! The evening
was very nice and Megan and I decided 2004 is looking good for us! Not least of all because we both had dates on New
Years Day!
On Friday I left work early and flew to Glasgow, for a weekend with Justine,
who leaves for NZ at the end of January. We had a great night out on Friday, although town was quiet. Saturday
we did a little shopping and then went the The Lord of Rings. There were not as many opportunities for us to say "I've
been there!" as we had hoped, but the film was good anyway. We then went for a curry before having a reasonably early
night.
Sunday we got up and caught a bus to Edinburgh, only an hour away.
We did a city sightseeing bus tour there and then wandered about the old city and the Royal Mile after lunch. I very
much liked Edinburgh which is a dramatic city perched on high rocky cliffs. We also walked out of the main city for
a mile or so, to see no 13 Dalkeith Road where my parents lived for a year, about 30 years ago. It was neat to see the
area and think of them living there when they were younger than I am now. (Mum, Dad, I have some photos which I will
send asap.)
Sunday 11 January 2004
I have just ended my last week at Hackney. It will probably not hit
me until I get up tomorrow and have to go to a different place for work! It partly came real today when I shelled out
£24 for a week travel card to my new place of work in Wood Green, zone 3!
The week at work was spent doing not a lot of work, just some tidying up,
finishing off loose ends and showing my replacement the ropes. It ended nicely on Friday when I got a lovely card and
present from my colleagues and we went out for a couple of drinks after work.
Tuesday I went to Jerry Springer, The Opera, which was an experience to
say the least! Based on the infamous talk show, the musical was full of profanity from beginning to end so I was glad
I wasn't there with my parents or something! It was funny, but not my favourite show on the West End.
Wednesday Megan and I went to Black and White, an Australian movie to which
I won tickets thanks to TNT again. We gossiped over dinner afterwards and had a lovely night.
On Saturday Jeff and I walked to Hyde Park which was really nice as the
weather is quite mild at the moment. We then met some friends at The Puzzle at Hammersmith for a few drinks and a dance.
On Sunday I met Megan, Laura and Christine at Baker Street where we went to Madame Tussards. I really enjoyed myself
and went a bit nuts getting pictures of me and various famous figures. The highlight was getting the living daylights
scared out of me in the Chamber of Horrors. I haven't been that scared or screamed that much for a long, long time!
Brilliant fun! The Planaterium and London Ride were good too.
This week being the first full week of the year, I have started my exercise
and eat healthy regime again and have done well, although only made it to the gym on Monday as I have a racking cough and
spent the rest of the week coughing up my lungs every five minutes. I am hoping to get right back into the gym this
week.
Wednesday 21 January 2004
Last week was my first at the London Borough
of Haringey. My role here is Principal Committee Secretary and is really quite a step down from my last job as
Overview & Scrutiny Officer. Now my only job is to arrange meetings and take minutes, and I am bored!
I
have been hassling my agents about getting a legal job and my CV is being sent around the city a bit. I had an interview
on Monday and have another on Friday, so I am hopeful that I will get something soon. Before my brain atrophies anyway,
I hope!
I was back into the gym with vigour last week, my cough finally abating but otherwise didn't have a lot of
extra-curricular activities. I saw "Lost in Translation" which I really enjoyed at the cinema where I am working and
also checked out the shopping centre, which could be dangerous if I keep that up!
Friday night I went to Wagamama's noodle restaurant with my old flatmate Laura. Saturday seemed
to disappear by the time I slept in, went to the gym and got ready to meet Jennifer at her flat in the East London at 5pm.
The two of us and two more of her friends had a few drinks in her flash apartment before heading into Oxford Circus for a
dance. Sunday the weather was looking a bit better so I went for a long bike ride around the city, allowing myself to
get (slightly) lost before ending up in Hyde Park.
Monday 26 January
I had a crazy week, attending
two job interviews and getting booked for two more this week. I was then very pleased on Friday to get a job offer,
only to have it taken away (sort of) this week! I won't bother to explain here - hopefully by next week I'll have something
confirmed!
Thursday night I went to Bombay Dreams, a Bollywood-style musical show. There was some fantastic dancing
and costumes and it reminded me that I must get another trip to India organised! On Friday night I went out with some
girls for a Chinese meal in China town to celebrate Chinese New Year. The spring rolls were scrumptious! I was
woken early on Saturday morning by Suse, who had arrived back at Heathrow at 5:30am from her seven week holiday in NZ.
We went out for brunch in a little café at Victoria. We were served by a delightful Chilean girl and we found the prices
quite reasonable - £1 for my scrambled eggs! We wandered about gossiping and found ourselves in Battersea, so popped
into Megan's new flat there and did some shopping in South Kensington. Saturday night I went out with Megan again, to
a club,
Infernos, in Clapham. Sunday involved not a lot more than sleeping!
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