Just touched down in London Town...this is how we like to get down.

D-day arrived before I even had time to get my London countdown advent calendar up on the wall. No tears, no mess, no fuss.....so here I am, although I'm so far from home but I'd be lying if I said I felt far away. My little visit to Joe Kool's last night certainly made me feel at home.....who would've thunk it, Joe Kool's in the middle of Putney?...I may as well have been at Joe's in Dbn,or Tiger in CT....not a Pom accent anywhere, just the rowdy recognisable South African slang, even the bouncers and barmen are South African, only difference is that the bar closed at 1!Yip you heard me...1!!!!!How ridic?No more 5am mornings on the D-floor for me, you could actually go out every night of the week here and still wake up fresh for work the next morning-that might've been useful to a few of us RandY's!

First night in London.Success.tick.
Nick had arranged a little surprise welcome gathering at a pub in Wimbledon, I nearly had a stroke slash small child when I unexpectedly saw Nicola Stanley, Melissa Moon and Sandi Touzel...couldn't have asked for more really! Thank you Nick...too spesh.Suburban's half price cocktail's were followed by the above mentioned razzle at Joe's.....and then some mid night madness at KFC and what felt like an hour long bus trip home. It's not all fun and games when an hour on the night bus at 1 am is followed by a half an hour walk from the bus stop back home ( I may be over exaggerating but my feet will swear its true). It's a small world this....while on my walk to the station after last night some guy(who I thought was some one completely different) called my name from the side of the street and runs up to me and gives me a huge hug and tells me how long its been and that its so great to see me ( at this stage I'm still grabbing at straws trying to get him to at least hint where I might know him from or at his name), I eventually manage to get him to mention that I met him in Sun City about 3 or 4 years ago...still didn't help, then his friend called him Jason. Nope. Got nothing. He looks familiar but I cannot for the life of me place him....anyway apparently I made an impression, How'd he recognise me let alone remember my name?....To do list: make a new friend on the streets of London at 1am in the morning.Tick.

I'm staying in Herne Hill, a really cute little village (almost) with Nick, its pretty close to everything (I think), I have no concept of time or direction here(whats new on the direction part?) buses and trains all have crazy numbers that you have to remember and you have to learn routes and changes etc...hoping it'll be like riding a bike when I get the hang of it(pity there aren't fairy wheels for that type of thing).

For those of you Old Biscuit Mill die-hards (Caity and Luc); it ain't got nothing on the market I went to this morning. Spent the most part of morning/lunch time at the Borough Market at London Bridge.....well,I've NEVER! This market is massive and there is literally broccoli and herbs growing out of the ground, it wouldn't be a surprise to find yourself tripping over a boulder sized wheel of cheese. There are the most incredible food stores there; wraps, roasts,prawns, sausages......liquorice all sorts! It took about an hour to get around the market the first time, followed by another loop to decide what was for lunch.....if I had the money I would have had one of everything and stayed there until tomorrow eating. I eventually settled on a yummy steak Bap and rolled out on my belly.

Checked out London Bridge, did some shopping....not what you think unfortunately, just some shampoo and conditioner. Oh, and some oats. Ended off the day with an incredible Brit meal-little yorkie pud,beef bristle and some veg soaked in gravy and topped with salsa Verde-Divs!(thanks Athene and Rors) ....in case you feel like having an around the world night try out the sneaky little recipes hiding down below.

Tomorrow's agenda.....thinking a trip down/up to Camden Market is in order and a visit to primark (its 4 degrees here,I seriously need warmer clothes- left the airport thinking blue skies and sunshine meant warmth, well the chill bit me where it hurts, but nothing that some thermals and a shopping spree can't fix).

Missing everyone at home, wish you were all here.

x