Lloyd's Adventures in London 2005 Chapter 12

Everyone asks me, what has happened?? Has Lloyd gone through a
dryspell, his journalistic skills have just gone through a bad phase??
To answer the question, nah, just havent had the time of effort to
really right an update.
Right now I am in Bath. no not IN THE Bath, like about 5 different
people interepreted it to mean when i called them this weekend, but
the city. Its amazing. All the buildings are so old and there are the
roman bath houses.And all the buildings have to be built in the same
colour stone. Works well really. Am visiting my mate Tom and about to
go back to London again. Had a great weekend, chillin and enjoying
fresh air. Went to watch Tom play a union game yesterday and got
introduced to everyone as the Aussie League boy. So they all said,
dont worry, we will teach you the fine art of union. But the game was
cancelled so Tom, his mate and me went to a pub and had ale all
afternoon and watched a union match on telly. Was a lot of fun. Ale is
really good!
So yeah had a good weekend away from the business of london.
Back on the home front, just been working and getting more and more
involved with Dendy films, learning to work all the programs and how
things work in that industry of aquisitions. I love it, and sometimes
a bit surreal. Like the other day my boss wasnt in, but shared the
office with this angry producer and then this director and writer of a
new film that is in preproduction. They made Blade.. if u have heard
of that.
Well yeah just worked out its been about one and a half months since i
last sent an email out so thats probably bad. Im not dead.
What else..
Usually go out with mates most nights and chat and hang out. London
life is really based on social stuff at night, even all week, cause
these winter months can suck, so we gotta stay cheerful. But its
nearly spring and all the trees are starting to bud. Its even more
exciting that seeing it happen in australia. Cause I have learnt to
appreciate coldness and hotness. 5 degrees is a fantastic day here
now, i dont have to wear 5 layers, only 4!

I have officially agreed i love Wagamamas. Its a japanese restaurant i
go to loads. There was one in sydney too. But its like a staple diet
on weekends. Yaki Soba all the way! Japanese food is the best!
Brixton is also a great place, i like it and its become my home. Every
morning i go out of the house, go and sit next to the pond, usually
half frozen over, watch all the ducks walk on the pond. And then go
visit my 4 canadian geese i adopted, two of em i named Blake and Jake,
cause it rhymes with lake. Even though.. yeah its a pond. Wishful
thinking really. Then i walk along the streets of terrace houses for
15 minutes to the tube. I used to catch the bus but EVERY morning i
would walk out to the road the bus would go past. And when it happens
every morning and ur still waking up and a bit morning moody, this can
really make you mad. So I just avoid it and walk to save on many
mornings of kicking the bus stop pole.
Coming home is different though.. i get it every night and it stops
outside tescos metro and I go in and buy humous and pita bread and
salad and fruit and go eat it. Another useful fact for everyone
reading.
I really should think beforehand what I will write in these things.
Dad and Louise come in 7 weeks. So thats pretty exciting. We have
arranged that we will stay in London for a few days, go to Italy for a
week then come back to London for a bit longer, cause they have to
meet the geese. Oh and my friends. Will be great fun, and they are
here for my birthday, so that should be cool.
Plans for the next few weeks.. is to work hard and keep proving myself
so I can possibly get this extended visa. And to just keep having fun.
I made a new friend Mel, from brisbane, who I met through Jono, she is
working here as a nanny. My first australian friend in London, yeah i
know. But yeah she is cool and we plan to hang out more, she is
looking for a good church too cause she has been to a few and they
pretty much ignored her. Welcome to London!!
Sorry for the disjointed email. Once I click send I will realise you
can edit emails before sending, but yeah sometimes its interesting
this way!
Hope everyone is enjoying the disappearing days of summer, as you head
into winter.
Like i always say, email me, its fun. and Good for the mind.
Lloyd

Lloyd's Adventures in London 2005 Chapter 10 AND 11 (REDUX)

I learnt some polish today, but have already forgot it.
One of of my friends here Eliza, she taught me to say hello how are
you? but yep, its gone. I pretend im really naive about europe and act
like poland is part of russia all the time. She isnt impressed, but
the french woman here is more offended when i act like I wasnt aware
france had culture. Its fun playing an innocent aussie. But its ok,
they both know im just being stupid. I dont want to make us
australians look bad.
Its thursday afternoon and im about to leave to office, go buy a small
suitcase and pack some stuff and head off to Heathrow. Im going to

MY GEESE

Ireland for the weekend. Get Friday and Monday off too, so loooong
weekend for me. Im going to a wedding. Yeah i know its random! An
irish wedding. my mate's cousins wedding, he was going up there so i
am tagging along, so i can see ireland.
Ok what has happened since i last wrote lots of ramble..
Oh yeah, the trouble with flats again... well last time i said i went
to this great flat and they had me for dinner and everything, and so i
got all my references and was moving in last weekend. BUT the landlord
wasnt informed and made a big fuss about how she didnt want another
person. So there was all this miscommunication. And I was pretty
devastated, cause I all had wanted was to just find a place i could
call mine and not live out of a suitcase finally. I spent the weekend
pretty anxious, until they had another meeting with the landlord and
they all agreed, until something was sorted, i could stay there, so i
had somewhere to stay for once. So right now im half unpacked in a
single room on the 3rd floor of this victorian house in Brixton. I
will hear more news when i get back from Ireland on the weekend.
I have managed to arrange to work 3 days a week at Discovery Channel
and 2 days a week with Iain, at Dendy films. So that has worked out
nicely. So hopefully can work out along the track, a transition
..>..> between the two.
I really cant think of that much news this week, just mainly the drama
of the flat. Which has made me quite flat. ha ha ha. Nah im all good,
the people at the flat said i can stay there till i find another
place, if i cant stay there permanantly.
I really am tired. I might finish the rest off on Monday, that way I
can talk about Ireland.

Ha ha well its 2 weeks later and I have been so busy with stuff i
havent written more. Ireland was fantastic. I could go into detail but
it would be too boring and long to read. The highlights were the
wedding and dancing till 3am, the waltz, set dancing, irish dancing
and then i tought people australian bush dancing. They loved it.
I had a great irish guiness, really really nice soda bread, and they
are more obsessed with cups of tea than britain!
The countryside was beautiful. I stayed on a farm and there were
houses there so old and run down .And everything was so green! But i
didnt understand any of their accents really. The speeches at the
wedding, everyone was laughing, except me. I just smiled. They could
have been talking Polish, and i would have understood more!!
And all Steven's relatives have invited me back, even if i come by
myself. So thats a bonus. Kerry was great. Thats the area I was in.

So what have i done since then.. umm worked. I started with Dendy
yesterday. Its really cool. An aussie film director called me up this
morning, i thought i would have been a friend or something. But no.
And he wanted to arrange a meeting with my boss. He didnt even know I
was australian! But was cool, this job will give me a lot of contacts.
His film is playing at the Berlin film festival.

My flat seems like i can stay. The landlord hasnt said anything and so
i am just going to privately rent off the tenants. They are all great
people. Dee, Olly, Emma and Rachel. Im sure you will hear about them
in my emails.

Well I need to sleep, and its a bit of a random update but it should
do the job all the same

Lloyd's Adventures in London 2005 Chapter 8 AND 9

Yes, a good deal i know, another 2 for 1 issue.
I wont hide the fact, its cause I have been busy, not cause its a
special deal about getting 2 weeks worth of news in one email.
OK where did i leave off.. before christmas.
Ok well I had a great christmas, in Windlesham, which is a nice suburb
of outer west london, in surry. Fergie lived just down the road. I
stayed with my friend stevens family and had a great christmas dinner.
And they even had gotten me presents, was so cool. good thing i bought
toblerone with me, they liked that. We played balderdash after dinner,
and i explained the rules. And I was reading out all the definitions..
and stevens mum said "oh that ones mine". She hadnt gotten the rules
yet. So we did it again, and we all finally came around to the idea of
how to play. Ignore this bit if you got no idea what balderdash is. We
also played trivial persuit, but yeah it was the english version so i
had no idea with 75% of the questions.
Boxing day, we went down to the village where the pram race was taking
place, lots of people dressed up in ridiculous outfits, running to
each pub, having a drink then goin to the next. It was so cold as
well.

Stevens brother and his girlfriend came that day so we had another
christmas, and i got another present, the triology of taxi. A french
action film series. Seems cool.
We then played balderdash again, and noone shouted out whos was whos this time.
the next morning.... it snowed!!!! I looked outside and huge chunky
flakes of snow were falling, so i ran outside and caught some in my
mouth. I played up the whole aussie who had never seen snow thing a
bit, even though yeah i had seen it. It was a novelty for them anyways
to watch.
I got back to London and hung out with my scottish mate Jon who was
down, and then me, Jon and oscar hung out and went out that night, had
lots of fun. We watched this show called 3 non blondes, about 3 black
..>women doing random things in the streets to people. Chem, Karina and
Kylie, you would love it. As well as everyone else.
The next day, I met up with Jono, mate from my Chile team, who had
just landed in london, who is going to live up in Scotland for a year.
Was cool to see him, but bizarre cause it was odd seeing someone from
my life in australia, in london.
Ardon called me up and asked me if I wanted to go to Oxford the city
for new years and I said yes, cause it would be different. So me and
him and Oscar caught the train up on new years and turned up in the
old city of oxford. Was amazing, cause there were so many old
buildings. I was pulling around a suitcase on wheels and I fell over a
few times cause the suitcase kept getting caught in the old
cobblestones. The others found it amusing. I got angry at the bag.
We met up with ardons friend Eric and went to his pub he worked in,
and counted down to 2006. Happy New Year everyone!
It was then 2006. We said, hey everyone happy 2006. So we walked
around, in 2006. To another club. And danced to songs playing in 2006.
Had a late night and crashed at the hotel. Felt like grown ups booking
our own hotel.
Got back to london the next day and then just had a pretty laid back
few days, before I started work again.
I started looking for flats again, and i saw this good one in
stockwell so said id take it, and i was meant to move in last
wednesday, but the guy called me up and said he forgot he promised it
to someone else. That really annoyed me, but the same day I got an
email off Steven saying he was told about a flat in Brixton. So I went
to see it, and it was so good, they even asked me to stay for dinner.
I was there for 4 hours! We had so much fun. I decided to take it. So
now need to get the paperwork sorted.
and that takes me up to today, Friday the 6th of January. Tomorrow its
6 months since the London Bombings. So they are talking a bit about
..it. Speaking of the tube.. yesterday i got off at my station and
noticed i had my headphone plug swinging next to my legs.. no ipod
attached. I panicked and realised it was on the tube, but i was up the
other end of the station by then and the tube was about to leave, so i
dived onto the carriage just as the doors shut. Then I waited till the
next stop and jumped out, ran down to my carriage and right on the
seat was my ipod. Close call.
Alright then, thats my adventures. Will let you know if I actually
move into the flat and how it goes.
Enjoy summer for me!
Lloyd

Lloyd's Adventures in London 2005 Chapter 6 AND 7

It has come to my attention that people are becoming distressed cause
i didnt release an issue last week. That is because its christmas and
everyone knows, all top selling magazines sell a DOUBLE issue for
christmas. It sounds better so of course i chose to do it that way.
Well what have been the highlights in the last two weeks?
Well on the saturday after my last email, i went to a club for the
night. Man that was a unique night. On the way there, on the tube,
this russian guy just started talking to us (us being Matt, jamie and
jamies friend) and he asked where the club was and we said he could
come with us, so he did. he was a bit sore, he had just gotten out of
hospital, he was bashed up by some guys that broke into his flat with
a lead pipe, he got a collapsed lung, and had a huge hole in his
ribs.. all stiched up. his name was igor. of course it was! So yeah he
hung around us the whole night, he had some interesting stories.. like
being the member of a german skin head group. we kinda nervously
chuckled.. I left early cause i was tired.. at about 1:10am. I didnt
get home till 4am. I got lost and walked the streets of london by
myself looking for a bus. one took me to victoria. thats no where near
where i live, but yeah i felt comfortable being on a bus and not on a
street.
but i got home, and when i told people here i didnt get any sympathy..
cause they all say, you have to have one experience like that.
I went to the Tate modern and the Tate britain. Both pretty cool
places, i rate the tate britain better, cause they have a lot of
historic art. Very my thing. And The modern art can be a bit creepy
sometimes.
As I kept heading towards christmas, london continued to get busier
and busier.. and more and more lights. and roasted chestnut venders.
they are overrated.
I had my work christmas party, in a warehouse next to the thames. it
was a moulin rouge theme, and some people went all out. it was very
..>fancy and there was all this good food going around. Me and Jamie the
antipodeons, got so much food, cause it was free. They english guys
are now convinced its part of our culture. to scab. so we are good
reps!
I met up with andy, from teen missions last sunday, it was cool to
hang with him. He was meant to go on my chile team, but didnt end up
going cause of a car crash but met him last year when i volunteered at
boot camp, cause he was going to brazil. anyways cut a long story
short, ruth told him i was living here and he has been too so we hung
out. We went on a goose chase to find a church.. but with no luck ,we
just got cold. We had no map. Dumb thing to do.
This is now the 3rd day before christmas.. its pretty alive here.
Everyone is cheery and merry. I got Oscar a present for letting me
stay so long. It was singstar, 80's version. Its a PS2 game where u
sing like karoke and it marks you and stuff. pretty cool. We sung
along to such 80's hits as tina turners "simpy the best" and "karma
kameleon". We didnt realise that the whole of Faringdon Road could see
us and we had a few people standing and clapping.
The last few days have been pretty cruisy. I have been asked to come
back to work next month, so while my other job is being sorted i will
stay here, its worth the money and the friends. Yeah friends and
money.. they really come together...
Alright well I will end it there. Who said double issues are worth their money?
oh i saw king kong and narnia. both were great in my opinion!
Have a Merry christmas and happy new year! Email me :)

Lloyd's Adventures in London 2005 Chapter 5

I cant see anything out my office window this morning, its very foggy.
Another Friday morning and we have the afternoon off, and there is
chrismas markets in the courtyard outside our office this afternoon,
all a big thankyou from discovery really.
I am a bit tired with Discovery now, glad its only a temp job, have
decided I will probably finish the week before christmas, and have
another mini holiday before I work again next year on my other job.
Ok so what did I do this week.. highlights....
Saturday was very chilled out, rested from a long week. Had thai for
dinner. The restaurant was covered in pink gaudy paint, very tacky.
but amusing, and the woman who served us was nice but malevolent at
the same time..
Sunday I had a very odd day. In the evening I went with my friend
Steven to Soho house, which is a function centre for the film
industry. He was going to visit his ex wife he is good friends with,
who was running a big function there. So I was left to just chat to
randoms.. and this party was full of film elite. I had quite a few
people coming up and introducing themselves to me, including broadway
musical directors from New York, asking if I was an actor.. ahh no.
there were big actors there and everything. hehe and a drink was about
7 pounds. 7 pounds!! for you aussies thats like 18 dollars. It was all
rather amusing. And surreal. a few people gave me their cards.
then it was back to work monday.. and im so tired now. Cant wait to
have a rest this weekend. But its coming up to christmas, and Its all
really cool here, the vibe is great. Putting up decorations and
snowflakes actually makes sense here, and christmas lights through the
parks at night look fantastic, walking through them in the cold.
I might go out tonight, friday night.. I got invited to go to a party
by another aussie guy.
Post offices here are called post offices and they offer everything
from home loans to being a travel agent, to their own phone cards,
mobile phone services and christmas hampers. Talk about being a post
office!! yeah!..
Then this weekend i want to buy new ipod headphones, one is hanging
out of its socket, crying in pain. Stupid train doors..
I might also buy a christmas tree, and decorate it. Something festive.
Alright I will leave it there, I had positive feedback from people
saying they want me to keep writing, so I always fall to popularity,
so will continue. I hear thankyous already.
Hope your all well and safe, let me know whats happening. You will
always get a friendly reply, unless you offend me, then you might not
get such a friendly one, but an email full of luke warm sentiments.
Lloyd

Lloyd's Adventures in London 2005 Chapter 4

m sitting waiting for Jamie to finish his work cause we are gonna catch the tube back together. I just finished my third week at discovery. Another very full week.
Last Saturday me and matt looked at a flat in Elephant and Castle. Was a really nice and cool place, but we were going to have to share a room, he looked at me, i looked at him. Both knew it wasnt going to happen.




(This is Steven and Becki)
We then went and met up with steven and becki in Camden Town. So fantastic there! Camden markets. shops everywhere, alleyways everywhere full of little stalls of either clothes or other things. and fairly cheap too!! was really good! I bought two big coats, one that smelt like a llama, cause the outside is made out of wool, llama wool at that. And i was walking through a stall and these two women asked me to try on clothes for them cause I was the same size as one of the girls boyfriends. The men at the stall were impressed and so i got a cheap coat off them for even cheaper. They said I should go into modelling. I flashed my smile and kept walking.
Last weekend the weather was so cold. Even colder than a sydney winter!!
Saturday night we ate in and watched little britain. Entertaining! That reminds me, for all you little britain fans, the new series just started over here. Just as good I think.
Sunday we helped steven move all this stuff into his new flat. I was jealous cause I want a flat and a room, and a chest of drawers! Never take them for granted. Really.
We let Steven settle in and so me and Becki, she is from New York. A hippy chick, me and her went to find a pub to have a traditional beer, on a cold depressing day. The first pub, had a big sign saying OPEN so we pushed to go in, but the door didnt open, so we went around to the other door, and the same thing happened. I looked inside and there were people scattered around, drinking etc. We were very confused. So continued on, but found a little pub called "the beaten path". Old men having a yarn, old women sculling beers together.
We all then went out for dinner, after watching the children version of eurovision. the european countries, having children perform pop songs, more painful and amusing than eurovision. WAS FANTASTIC!
We went to a columbian restaurant in a real 80's style mall. IT was very creepy. And I had to take my hood off when I went into the mall, the sign told me to. So i didnt look I was mugging anyone. The restaurant was fun!
Then back to work on monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, and now its friday. Didnt really do anything in those days except eat, sleep and be merry.
Going to more markets and the Tate Modern art galley tomorrow at london bridge, should be cool.
and thats me for another week. Please tell me if I should stop these. Boredom can kick in I know.
cheers
Lloyd

Lloyd's Adventures in London 2005 Chapter 3

The sun went down at 4:18pm.
I can feel the cold radiating from the glass... trying to cling to the
warmth inside, as it touches my cheek.
Am at work, and cant really do anything cause Im waiting for some
people to follow up some technical issues on some programs im working
on.
This great town of London, I will walk out into in an hour, walk
through the executive revolving glass doors,swept up into the night.
I have a flat viewing in brixton and one in Elephant and Castle. The
one in Elephant and Castle has just been built. And rather cheap. Nice
complex really. And handy for the tube. Thats all most people care
about, whether they are close to the tube. It is a handy thing, trains
every 2-3 minutes, around the whole network. Sydney, get your act
together.
What have I done this week? Well last week was first week of work, it
went well. I had a 2 hour lunch on thursday at a spanish restaurant.
And then Friday me and Jamie went shopping for party food for a girls
birthday for 2 hours. Then at night Jamie and I went to Ardon's
birthday night out. I met lots of aussies and kiwis there. Was at a
place called trash palace. They are trying to be retro and cool.. 80's
music, bright red lounges. The red lounges were very bright, and
covered in people's jackets. Thats the thing, everywhere inside is too
hot, and can wear a t-shirt, but outside, you gotta put the layers on.
Sucks really. Australia is convenient. For more than just Burger
Rings.
I left fairly early cause I was so tired.. the next day me and Matt
had a flat viewing in Brockley.. like the vegetable. The tube was half
closed for maintenance (it cant be perfect) so we got to the place an
hour late. was a rather cool place, we got shown the rooms, and one
was difficult to look at cause there was this moody bjork looking
aussie girl with the flu inside. Kinda awkward really. We nodded at
the room and walked out, so we didnt have to feel the death stare
..>anymore.
The landlord liked us and asked us to move in. but We felt like we
needed to look around more, it was a fair way away.
Saturday night was Matt's bday dinner. But the arvo we both went
shopping in oxford street. I bought new dunlops. If you recall in my
last story.. i bought blue dunlops. They were stolen in the lobby of a
mates flat, which i found very amusing because everyone leaves their
french leather design shoes there and my dunlops got stolen. So yeah
i bought another pair.
So we went out for dinner with his mate and mate's flatmate and two
girls he knew at a summer camp in America. We had so much in common.
no really.. not.
Interesting though.
I was tired from my big week of first week at work so i went home.
I went out on sunday with oscar to see.... yes thats right.. Harry
Potter. I wont spoil the ending. but it was ok, like the others
really. Entertaining, a little long, The chick actress is the best i
reckon.
And UK cinemas are exactly the same. They have just as many ads too..
My mate Jamie at work is in Narnia too. We saw a preview of it at the
movies.. he is a fawn.
Then I just stayed up and read scripts for Iain then went to bed. Then
I have had another full 5 days of work. But enjoying it. Thats about
it. Its friday now.. think Im just watching DVDs tonight. Its 3
degrees outside today. The puddles were frozen over today when I
walked to work. its so different, so cool. literally..
What the weekend will hold. I dont know.
Lloyd
P.S.
If anyone isnt getting these emails, feel free to forward them on. And
if anyone emails me, I think I have been pretty good and I email back
everyone!

Lloyd's Adventures in London 2005 Chapter 2

Well. Things are settling down, So i dont think i have to write one
once a week. I know that would kill a lot of people, but adjustment
and change is always necessary. It makes you stronger. So bare with
me.
Well I got back to london after an interesting trip to Wales. Was
relieved to be back. I was ready to settle down.
I got back to oscars and went straight out to a random house party of
his friend. Was in a tiny flat in central london, most people were
speaking portugues and there were two little dogs running around. I
trod on them twice. Accidently of course. Then people attempted to
dance. In a room, and directly outside. .people were lighting
fireworks. It was guy fawkes night, was really cool. The whole of
london was just alight with fireworks. Sort of like bomb raids. 60
years on. Odd really.
Crashed into bed, then slept till like 1pm the next day. And then did
nothing but watch tv. tv is shocking here. What a great sunday. did
nothing.
Monday I started the task of looking for flats. Tis rather painful.
Especially when young sydney boy didnt know where any of the suburbs
were. So used a handy "A-Z london directory" to find each place.
Vauxhaull, Brixton, Pimlico, Stratford, Euston Road, Leyton,
Leytonstone, Covent Garden. And on and on. Phew.
On Tuesday I met up with matt, a kiwi friend who is 23 on this
saturday (19th). We decided to look for flats together. He was new to
london too, and is a school teacher so we combined our efforts, along
with a loot. That is a newspaper out everyday, it even changes colour
everyday! It has all the adds for flats/flatshares in london. It was a
nightmare. We sat in a starbucks. Yes I apologise, I am a traitor, but
they dont have gloria jeans here and they tempted us cause they have
special edition christmas red cups. So I got a gingerbread flavoured
latte and we scanned "the loot". No real luck. But earlier that day I
..>had a meeting with a company that helps with new starters from oz, nz,
sth africa. told us about bank accounts, tax, health care, shoes,
coats and Umbrellas. bit detailed. Then they set up bank accounts for
us with HSBC. I got my own bank card. Very cool. That meeting took 4
hours. Painful and i was in a room full of aussies. Painful again,
cause most were loud and annoying, some wore bright yellow australia
cricket shirts, and thongs. It was 10 degrees outside. Good luck to
em.
Wednesday I met up with my dendy boss Iain and he gave me my first bit
of work, reseached the films we are making etc and reading the scripts
and learning to look into how the industry patterns work. Was all
pretty cool. I had earl grey tea. Its bloody good. My favourite now.
And everyone has tea. I mentioned that before.
Then matt and I flat hunted again. No luck. I think other people found
a place that day, I'm pretty sure. Not us.
Thursday I had a job interview with a media agency, for the Discovery
Channel. We chatted for a bit, she called the channel and they pretty
much said, yes we will have you. Stoked.
I got a call on friday to confirm. So I was to start monday as a
scheduler. I program in tv shows. Friday night oscar and me and his
friends went out to a big club. Was so huge, never seen anything like
it. There were lots of rooms with different sorts of music. I stayed
in the indie room.
Saturday was a nothing day, slept in. Im sure ur all glad i am writing
this cause its so riveting. Went out with Lee on Saturday night, and
this chick performed. I had no idea who she was but everyone else was
screaming. so either they detested her or she was well liked. I found
out she was just voted off X factor. Shame. She sang "your beautiful"
by james blunt. I think you will know which one i mean. its been
played a few times on the radio back home as well as here hehe.
Didnt do anything sunday, but then hung out with Steven at earls court
..>on sunday night. I had work the next day so kept it early.
Monday my first day. Walked in the big doors, to reception. They had
these weird lounges and a huge poster of meercats. They phoned my boss
and they came down and i went up three floors. Huge open planned
office with huge pc screens at every desk. I met the guys around me,
all from uk except my trainer Jamie who was NZ and same with the girl
next to me. I dont know any aussies in London yet. Im proud. hehe.
Well I got the hang of scheduling pretty fast. We went down to lunch,
and everyday the menu is different, its a bug buffet, and all fresh
healthy hot food. really really cool. And we all have our own
television set on our desk "for work" but really everyone just watches
cable tv all day. its very relaxed here we can check email whenever.
so thats what i been doing. Its now thursday. And i am looking out
over london this sunny but 5 degree morning. Hope this email isnt as
long.
Miss everyone at home, but love it here, am learning so much and
enjoying it. Let me hear your news!! And I can email ya back. since i
dont do much work here. hehe.
till next time.
Lloyd

Lloyd's Adventures in London 2005 Chapter One Part 2

Random. Thats what i have to call it.
Ok. last time i wrote, i was in a computer lab in the university of
warwick. Now I am writing from a spare bedroom in a little house in
abedare. Its a town in the valleys in south wales.
Right. Day 8, Friday. Spent the morning at the uni, then we hung out
with a german guy Jan in the uni bar with his gf Laura.



ME with Scott and his friend from Wales. She has such a cute accent.

We then caught
the bus back to leamington spa, a pretty little city that is called
Royal leamington spa now cause
Queen victoria thought it was pretty swell. Scott's friends collette,
nathan and natalie came on the train that night, and we hung out in a
pub for most of the night.
Day 9. Woke up. I cleaned the kitchen, cause it was horrible, and i
cant handle mess, especially after working in Gloria Jeans Engadine.
And it was a bit extreme.. the lease papers for the flat were under
cans of used baked beans. stuff like that, u know.
Then the rest woke up and after I went for a walk by myself through
the old graveyard and church yards, the sun shining through the big
oaks that were coloured reds and oranges, we all walked into the high
street courtyard. And before my eyes i saw a village market. Little
stalls lined the stone street, selling really odd things, like soccer
shirts.. ash trays.. garbage bags, all the useful things I thought i
desperatley needed.....
I bought a fresh loaf of olive bread. Then we got a bus to leamington,
and went to Costa Coffee there. Its very muvch the same as gloria
jeans, but they have english accents, and different signs.. and
different drinks.. and furniture. So actually, no its not that
similar. But the concept.. is similar. yep.
We the went through the shops and i saw these really cool dunlop
shoes. They have more styles here other than dunlop volleys, and i
went to buy them but a vamipire served me, and that put me off. Well
not really, they didnt have my size. I did the stupid thing of asking
..>..> them if they have US or UK sizes though. I had it coming, especially
when the guy looked at me blankly. he was dressed as a vampire cause
it was halloween.. they actually celebrate it. Not like oz.
We then met up with another of scotts friends Abbey. And all got the
bus back to Warwick. We went to a frozen food shop, where they sell
pretty much frozen dinners. I got chicken tika, so did collete.
thought u would want to know.
Then went back to scotts, and they are real cheap, and started havin
vodka and bitter lemon in coffee mugs, wth pictures of the royal
family on them. ohh and every morning everyone would get up and have
cups of tea. everyone does. but they think im weird cause i have it
black with two sugars, and not white with no sugar plus digestive
biscuits to dip in the tea..
ok right back on track. We went clubbing that night to a place called
sugar. Was so funky inside, in the middle there was this long long
grand table with red lit up tiles inside the table, and big wooden
medievil chairs around it. and this huge ball that was hollow and was
a huge lounge inside, but it smelt like sick. we didnt stay too long.
After clubbing everyone here walks to a chip shop like its a
pilgrimage. And gets a box of chips, covered in cheese, curry or
mayonaise. right.
We crashed back at scotts then i got up early again and went for
another walk, through this big forest/park. there are squirrels
everywhere. And lots of posh dogs, but they have owners.
We were feeling peckish and little english towns are quite traditional
so all shops are shut on sunday. except the american fast food shops,
so subway and dominos were open. 2 pounds for a 7 inch pizza. we got
one each. and burnt our mouths on them, while sitting on a garden bed
next to a lamp post. yes. a lamp post, and there was a posh dog there.
All scotts friends went home and i walked to leamington (cause there
are no buses on sunday, good people) and met up with a guy who was
..>..> moving to london and looking to flatshare, same as me. Well it wasnt
too successful cause the guy was kind of disturbing, an edgey. so kept
it short.
Went to bed, then got up again.. next morning ,went for a run through
the forest.
Went to scotts uni again, hung out with him and his german pal jan. We
went to coventry. Which is next city along. man its ugly. The germans
bombed it to the ground, in WW2, and so they had to rebuild. Wasnt
much of an improvement.
Monday night i just stayed in, watched a cool bbc documentary on
egypt. Got up the next morning. .as i do.. and packed and my mate
steve picked me up from warwick cause he was up that way for work, and
we headed for wales.
We stopped in at stratford. Thats where shakespeare was born. Its a
very old little town with lots of old english houses. Very cool. And
swans. They think they are so good.
We left there.. after being served a pasty by a woman that i swear was
a man.. but we wont go into that.
anyways, technically the drive from warwick to cardiff is meant to
take 2 hours. It took us 4. We got so lost. We ended up in the
countryside.. with hedges on both sides, and sheep across the road.
Like some movie. Then we asked a woman for directions. I couldnt
understand here, steve could. Im glad. Ok so we got to wales and all
the road signs were in welsh. plus english.
I was dropped off in the city where my friend andy picked me up. We
walked along the cardiff bay harbour. Was so so cool. If your a doctor
who fan, its right where one of the episodes took place. so i was
pretty excited.
Just went back to andy's house and had chicken. But got to his house
and found out an aussie guy my age was living there. Shane. So we
chatted in the kitchen for an hour, about australia. Quite sad really.
He went to cardiff cause every other aussie did the london thing. i
agree with him, but yeah not much of my work up in cardiff. Then andy
..>..> has a work party on at a pub so i tagged along. So many random welsh
people chatted to me. I cant understand them. But they found it
hilarious at how i spoke. I got a lot of free drinks out of it. Can
say to this day that I still havent bought a drink in the uk.
Got home and crashed. Got up.. and i had no idea what to do. Had
nothing planned and no schedule. Andy took me into the main centre and
i bought a tshirt. then we had lunch at henry's with tarrun, another
guy who lives at andy's, a 21 yr old kiwi guy.
then Andy headed to his work, but took me with him, he is a hotel
manager in the only 5 star hotel in cardiff on the bay. I got into the
marine day spa for free. So just chilled there for a few hours, then
had some dinner, and went out clubbin with tarrun the kiwi and shane
the aussie, it was his birthday.
I slept till 12 the next day, then got picked up in the arvo by steve
again, who drove me to wales, and we drove back to his house and i
stayed there the night. I couldnt understand his dad, his friends, or
the man who sold me some chewing gum. We went to the pub on thursday
night with steves mates. A 24 year old guy tyrone who is ex army, and
was part of the invasion team to iraq, he talked so so fast. and then
there was his other friend dan, who is an american. put tyrone
together with dan about iraq, man..
And they had no idea about anything to do with australia.
Went home, then stayed up for ages, couldnt sleep. Day 15.. Steve and
I drove around south wales in his red BMW convertable. the best thing
was, i got to drive! Along windy roads next to the seaside, with
hedges and old castles. Was a good highlight!
Then went to factory outlets and bought more clothes.. that are
actually warm. Its getting colder everyday. Had chips at a little
window cut into a surf club at a beach, two old welsh men chatted to
me, but they mumbled and spat. Said something about india.. being near
..>..> australia. And that they liked chips. Real chips, not the silly french
fries. We left it there. Said goodbye and went back home. And that
keeps everything up to date. Oh apart from the fact we went to another
supermarket. Good news everyone. they sell vegemite AND tim tams here.
and milo. im set.
So its night time day 15, and some man is interviewing harry potter
guy on late night tv. He is slapping his mouth. making noises.
So I am back off home to london tomorrow or sunday. The only incentive
to stay in beautiful south wales tomorrow is the huge rugby game,
wales verse NZ in cardiff. Right near me, and the city is alive with
activity, very very big here. 200 000 people are estimated to be in
pubs around cardiff. Tarrun and shane want me to go to the walkabout
pub (aussie pub in cardiff) to watch it. But i just want to get back
to london.. and get settled now, get some more routine.
Ok well there u have it. thanks for reading.
Chapter three, next week, only 50pence.
Lloyd
p.s. u can write to me, and i will reply. not like some people. esp those..