Shila getting all smile pre-shopping


Acton Market Place


Eduardo getting all drunk when we got back home from Soho


Pasta challenge


Friday night at Soho



Im so absolutely excited right now, just received an email from Petr and Carola (germans) that they will be visiting me in London in two weeks´time...this cant be any more thrilling, ive always wanted to meet up my travel friends from New Zealand and now it is finally happening! the girls have also invited me to Oktoberfest in Munich and i might just take them up for it...and coincidentally, Chloe will be in Germany too, so i can actually crash at her place and save up some money, this is just too good to be true...

Also, the spanish boys in my house have asked me to follow them back to Valencia come September, and im giving the proposal a serious thought right now, that means my travel plans will have to change, i was actually planning to be in south west England to stay with Suya at that time...

it´s good that things are finally happening for me...i always do believe that things happen in stages...before this, i was in the settling-down-and-getting-complacent stage, right now im in the planning stage, and it is the most exciting stage of all!

like i said, things are pretty much routine now, i go to work everyday, come back home every evening to chill with the folks till night falls and then i go to bed, the same thing will happen in the next day, and the following day until friday night where we´ll head down town to party...

last friday we went to a very good club in Soho and had such a fabulous time, the music were good and the people were cool, had a few drinks, spent some pounds, played on the slots and lost 10 pounds, it was all good fun...

On saturday, Shila asked me to accompany her to do some shopping in Richmond, and of course, i bought something for myself too...apparently the only difference between high street and designer is a mere 20 pounds! i was choosing between a Gap jeans and a CK jeans, the former at 20 pounds and the latter at 40, after massive reduction...so i guess the choice is pretty obvious, right?

with that said, im adamant to save up some money so that i can travel later, will really need to watch that spending a lil´bit, it´s just so easy to spend money here in London!

oh yeah, weather is absolutely shit these days, it´s flooding every where in England, so i guess it´s only rational if i leave this place pronto...

later...

A quickie meal


The books that ive borrowed


Pizza at the Italian Restaurant


Fabian trying his hand on Korean chopsticks


London


Now that i´ve moved to Acton, i get to borrow my housemates´laptop to access to the internet, but i´ll try to restrict myself to once-a-week online usage...

every friday evening, we have our TGIF drinking session at home, and yesterday, i had two sessions...my polish coworkers have asked me along to grab a few drinks and they dont take no for an answer...so when we got off work at 5, we hopped into the nearest liquor store, which is everywhere, got ourselves some beer, and headed to the park...

apparently everyone likes drinking at the park here, well, when the sun is shining...so we drank for a couple of hours, enjoying the sunlight and the cool breeze, talking about our carefree lives and the neverending travel tales, and all the if-onlys scenario...booze tend to make you think that life is good and anything is possible...

before we know it, it was getting cold, and everyone needed to piss, so we relieved ourselves at the supermarket and henry cant resist the urge to buy more booze while we´re at it...so he got us another box of beer and we headed back to his house for round two...

at ten, when everyone was really drunk and happy, i excused myself and told everyone that i really have to leave, as ive promised my housemates to join them at home...everyone protested of my departure but i managed to persuade them that there will be other times...

when i got back home, i had my round three of drinking, the spirit was high and everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly...We all listened to spanish and japanese songs while savouring on sushis, paninis and dim sum, yeah, weird combination, i know...

i woke up this morning to a very dry throat and fixed myself some anti-hungover beverage of cocoa and milk...after that, i forced myself to do my weekly chores of laundry and groceries shopping...then i got fabian to accompany me to the local library to borrow some books...

it was a painless affair getting a membership at the library, it took us a mere 5 minutes and we got ourselves sorted out, with the help of the over-enthusiastic librarian who speaks multiple languages, it saved me lotsa time explaining to fabian of all the procedures that was involved, as the dude speaks minimal English, and between us, we required lotsa hand gesture and facial expressions to get the message through, but we´re getting better at the art of communication...

I can borrow up to 15 books at a time and it´s completely free! they dont take any deposits from us and trust that we will return the books when it´s dued, i can also make the books renewal online, how´s that? now im really utilising the tax that ive paid to the government...

once a week i allow myself to dine with style in the restaurants and pay tips to the waiters like a true gentleman...it feels really good leaving behind a 20 pounds note for a bill of 18 pounds, and to date, we´ve had Thai, Italian, Chinese, Indian, and lebanese cuisine...

was gonna go to the theatre for Les Miserables last weekend but everything was sold out, even other options like Lion King, Wicked, and Fame...you really needa book everything in advance here in London, there are just too many ppl here...

life´s all good though...

Spanish Potato Omelette


Muffin and TV are a good combination


Beef Tacos


Big Ben


attempted to take an artistic picture, failed...


River Thames



North Acton, London


this is just great, i've just moved out of Camden Town to North Acton like two days ago, and everything is settling down perfectly, just the way ive anticipated it...

right now im sharing room with Zeus, a mexican guy, and he, being a bad influence that he is, is really easy to hang around with...the first thing that we talked about when i moved into the room and have barely sat down was:' Hey listen, you wanna go to the bar with me later?' and then we just hit it off like that, they say drinking is the best way to get to know someone and aint it just so true?

My other housemates in this beautiful two-storey English house include a Korean girl, an English Girl, and two spanish dudes, and they are just how an ideal housemates should be...

Due to my age, i'm sorta like the big brother in the house now, with exception of Yun, the korean, everyone else is around 22, 23 y/o...but the thing is, i feel like they know more stuffs than i do, giving me advice on London and other European countries, where to go and where not to go...the spanish told me that ive just missed the run-with-the-bull insanity at Pamplona and ppl-throwing-tomatoes-at-each other festival in another city and urged that i really needa SEE IT...i guess im more keen on the latter as i really hate animal cruelty, on the contrary however, some PETA activists have decided to go NUDE to protest against the festival, now that's really something else that i can look forward to... :p

on the first night, Yun cooked us some Korean delicacies that involved shrimps, veges and beef, it was really good having home-cooked meals again after surviving on fast food, pasta, cous cous, and bread...then yesterday i tried some potato omelette thingy prepared by Ando and Fabian and it was scrumptious! Zeus also attempted to impress me with his Mexican beef tacos and while i love it, i miss the americanised Mexican food at TGIF and Chilies back home, cant help thinking of the nachos and fajitas...

it's just so shameful that i have no Malaysian food to reciprocate to all these displays of different cuisines, but i really cant cook! so to make up for it, i offered SUSHI to everyone, pretending to be a japanese instead, it worked, :p

So this would be the senario at dinner time, Yun, who works at Starbucks, would bring back coffee and muffins every evening, Zeus would bring back beef and meat from his restaurant while i'll be handing out sushi boxes, the spanish are still looking for jobs, so they joked that they should get a job at Tesco and bring back household supplies instead, now that sounds like a fine idea, dont u think?

yesternight Zeus (he's a self-proclaimed alcoholic) dragged me to the supermarket to get booze...just when i've promised myself to go easy on drinking and save some money for later, now im being arranged to sleep with this dude who HAS TO drink every freakin' night, i guess im just destined to have to spend that SIN money...to look on the bright side though, we bought two dozen calsberg for only £10, so it's less than 50 pence per can which means it's only rm3!

i'm telling you, the purchasing power is that good here, with £10 in your pocket you can walk away with loads of goods in the supermarket...Haagen Daaz ice cream selling for only £2 for a 500ml tub, and lotsa other good deals...i guess ive turned myself into some cheapskate shoppers looking for bargained products all the time, but what to do, im not really earning the big bucks here...

will probably stay here until at least end of next month as im really getting to like all the ppl that ive met...looking forward to chill out tomorrow at the free music festival...and i heard it's not gonna pour, so it should be a fine day out...

Freak storm


Money Money Money


Red Alert


A bowl of tomyamkung for 6pnds


It's getting pretty unnerving these days, what with the city going into red alert with all the threats and going-ons, everyone's feeling pretty touchy..

i escaped a tube derailment this morning where 800 tubers were stucked underground for 2 hours! i would have been caught as well should i get on a later train...

The met department has announced that there shall be no summer this year, with the only summer day being on 15th of July...it's been raining every freakin' day and im not enjoying it at all...There are lotsa activities taking place in town despite the shitty weather, and this weekend 'Le tour de France' is kickstarting in central london...i guess i will be witnessing it, to see what the hoohaa is about...

been looking for a place to move out too, cant crash at the girls' place forever, albeit it saves me some 100 pounds a week...but there is only so long that dossing is allowed, you know...i know i'm always welcomed to stay as long as i like, but im not gonna risk trespassing ppl's hospitality...

now that i have some income, i guess i should be planning for my next destination, will get myself sorted out for all the fantastic deals and travel as cheaply as possible...i still cant get used to the idea that im paying 90 pounds a week for tax...why should i be contributing to renovate the queen's palace? it's just pure absurdity...

anyway, im really looking forward to Harry Potter next week...the casts were at Leicester square for the premiere but i didnt join the screaming kids in the rain...im not THAT into it...

later...