Terry goes to the City (NL)

A First

2009-03-25T23:22:00.000+00:00

first. glasses. ever.

Frankfurt is ok

2008-07-04T17:51:00.010+01:00

I was in Frankfurt this week on training with my firm. We had to be there on Sunday night but I went in a bit earlier in the afternoon since I had never been to Ftown before. It was also the Euro Cup 2008 final and since Germany was playing, I was excited to watch the game in Germany. An old friend of mine Giovanna who I know from Singapore lives in Ftown and we finally got to meet up again after 7 years!
Like old times. We watched the game outside on a terrace with a lot of locals. I kind of got the feeling that most of them already expected Germany to lose. They weren't very upbeat. I was informed later by a colleague in the Frankfurt office that it's not that Germans are always negative, they are always just super realistic.

Spanish fans celebrating their victory on Ftown streets.

The river.Giovanna showed me around and informed me that the tourist sites would take all of about 5 minutes. This is 1 of the 2 things she pointed out. I think it's some sort of mayoral building.

Second thing she pointed out - cute German style buildings which were across from the mayoral building see above. The locals found it quite funny that the firm had organized a 2 hour city tour for us. Seeing that I had already seen the 2 touristic sites, I skipped it.

One night we went on a tour of a winery about 1 hour outside of the city. This is the outdoor terrace we had dinner on.

The spectacular view from the restaurant.

At LivingXXL.
Also met up with Amber from Toronto, now living in Frankfurt.

1 Grand Slam down, 3 to go

2008-07-04T17:02:00.011+01:00

I went to Wimbledon last Wednesday on the third day of the tournament. I had Centre Court tickets. Saw Federer beat Soderling. Who is Soderling you may ask? Well very coincidentally I saw the Swede play in the final round of the Rotterdam ABN Amro tournament a few months ago. I think that makes me his biggest fan. Also saw Djokovic lose to Safin. There were 2 other matches on Centre Court also but we opted to walk aroun da bit. The tournament was great though. So organized, especially considering the number of people on the grounds. The venue was much smaller and much more intimate than I thought it was going to be. Centre and Courts 1 and 2 are ticketed while the rest of the 20 courts not reserved.

Getting tickets to Wimbledon is a little bit of a process that starts in the fall before. You have to put yourself on the mailing list. Wait for a form to be sent to your mailing address. Fill out the form and return by mail to be entered into the lottery. There is a 1 in 6 chance of getting drawn. You don't get to choose the day or the court, basically you don't choose anything. Then maybe 2 months before Wimbledon you get notified by mail of the results of the draw, whether you got a pair of tickets and on what day. Then you pay for the tickets and then FINALLY they are sent to you a few weeks before the tournament starts.

Non-ticket holder line. If you don't have tickets, you can line up in the non-ticket holder line for the chance to buy last minute returns and releases.

This was me zooming past the non-ticket holder lineup with my TICKETS in hand. Many people going to Wimbledon were dragging suitcases with them. Were they so eager to get to the tournament that they didn't even drop their bags off at the hotel first??! I especially liked the father/son twin look .

My view from Centre Court seats.

Henman Hill where people can watch various matches on big screen.

Guarded entrance to the All England Lawn and Tennis Club (AELTC). A big crowd was gathered so I waited with them expecting to see someone famous come out of the club.

All of a sudden, the other Roger in my life zooms past from the right. Good thing I was quick on the trigger.

8 days 'til my Wimbledon debut (in the stands)

2008-06-16T22:57:00.003+01:00

Boy am I relaxed!

2008-06-16T20:43:00.007+01:00

The theme of May/June is holidays! I've been on holidays for the last 2 weeks in the south of France. Using Rogier's family house in St.Maximin as a base, we took trips to Nice, Aix-en-Provence, Cassis , Brignols and Antibes. The weather was touch and go but luckily we had several sunny days. I ate a croissant and a pain de chocolat EVERYDAY for 2 weeks. Ate tons of bread, everyday, morning noon and night. We had several bbqs. Had victories in chess, scrabble and poker. All in all a super relaxed vacation. I miss it already. Some lucky people who are named Rogier get to go back to France for another week with their buddies!!!

Long time no post

2008-06-16T20:21:00.007+01:00

Wow talk about radio silence. I guess it has been about 3 months since I last posted. It's time for a major update. I don't think anything exciting happened in March or April - I was just waiting for May to come. In May I went to Vegas for my birthday. It was blazing hot - a very welcome change from the day in day out greyness that is London. It is the middle of June and it is still not hot in this city. Here are some pics from Vegas (click to expand). As I had been refraining from shopping for a few months before the birthday trip, needless to say I went a bit wild at Fashion Show Mall. Like a seasoned Torontonian who had shopped too much on vacation, I carefully removed all the price tags from my garments, strategically selected 3 receipts that represented "just enough" but "not too much" shopping damage and disposed of the rest. To my surprise when I arrived at Gatwick and went through immigration - NOONE ASKED ME ANYTHING. NOONE CARES!! Wooohooooooooo. How fantastic. On a related note I flew to Vegas on Virgin Atlantic and had a great flight. They have the best entertainment system. 10 different channels of movies to choose from, tv shows and GAMES!! I hope they start flying London - Toronto soon.

Raison d'etre, shoe-addicts

2008-03-10T15:16:00.010+00:00

If there was ever a reason to maintain a rainbow shoe collection, this would be it. Can't believe Rakku Designs beat me to the idea! Unfortunately this is not one of those times I can brag about seeing a great gadget at Selfridges, or how shopping in London is soooo much better than in Toronto. Note "Our product is not available in any stores in the UK." It will cost me US$90 to ship over

here. But all of you lucky people at home can pick one up at your neighbourhood Home Outfitters.

Oh yes, update on the holidays in Toronto

2008-01-22T00:40:00.000+00:00

I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT. Friends, family, Christmas presents, a new haircut at an affordable price and can't forget Dirty Dancing a story on stage... love love love.

Last weekend in the Dam

2008-01-22T00:26:00.000+00:00

Last weekend I was in the Dam. Yup, only back in London after the holidays for about 2 days but I was so miserable at work that I had to make the last minute booking. We went to a very cool restaurant called Entrecote et les Dames which only has 1 thing on the menu - steak which comes with frites and a salad. Simplicity at its best. There is of course a "veg" option - you can ask for the fish, which for consistency sake, also comes with frites and a salad. There is something quite relaxing about not having to think when you order. The best part is they come around AGAIN after you are done with your first plate to give you seconds!!

After dinner we randomly decided to check out the Robyn concert at the Melkweg. Yes remember Swedish Robyn - "show me love, show me life, show me baby what it's all about.. alright..". Well, she is back. And much funkier, hipper and more interesting than before!! I'm adding her to the gym playlist, it's pretty catchy stuff.

Skiing in Courmayeur, Italy

2008-01-22T00:02:00.000+00:00

I just came back from the annual firm ski trip for my banking and capital markets group. This year we went to the cutest little town called Courmayeur in Italy, 1.5 hours out of Milan. Lots of posh italians from Milan have weekend places here. We flew in from London to Geneva and had a bus transfer to the resort. Apparently this was one of the best years ever. The hotel was 4*, the skiing conditions were perfect, and it was a good turnout. I think I actually got a tan. I highly recommend this resort town if you want to take a short ski trip. The ski resort didn't have enough runs to last 1 week but for a long weekend this was perfect. Despite the perfect conditions, I am still a so-so skiier although I took a 2 hour private lesson on the Saturday morning with Frederico which helped. Here are some pics.

I Love Elena

2007-12-03T00:19:00.001+00:00

Guy Fox Day

2007-12-02T22:46:00.000+00:00

Guy Fox Day is early November, sorry for the delay. It's a time in London when everyone goes bananas for fireworks and bonfires. We went to the Battersea Park fireworks display which I can say was the best fireworks show I've ever seen. The reason behind the holiday is to celebrate that a guy named Guy Fox did not succeed in burning down Parliament. If you've seen the movie V for Vendetta, you might have an idea of the story. Turn on your sound for the video.

What The Guys Are Wearing

2007-12-02T22:34:00.000+00:00

I've wanted to post this observation for a while now but have not gotten to it until now. These Keds are what guys are wearing these days. Generally in black or in white but when you see guys wearing the white ones they are always filthy dirty because walking on the streets of London will do that. I remember I had the black ones that I put rainbow laces on in 1987.

Meet The Neighbours

2007-11-01T00:47:00.000+00:00

Southbank

2007-11-01T00:26:00.000+00:00

Another one of the many different areas of London, Southbank is home to many attractions such as Royal Festival Hall, the London Eye, and the OXO Tower Wharf. The night views from Waterloo bridge are pretty amazing.

Professional sand artists making their home by the river.

The British Film Institute. I'm not exactly sure how this place works but it is always very busy . There is a restaurant, a cafe and a bar inside and there seems to be tons of people just hanging around like it's some sort of library. Whatever it is, it seems like a very interesting place. I will find out more and let you know.

Places I've Been

2007-11-01T00:18:00.000+00:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Sanderson for drinks at the Long Bar. Apparently owned by the same people as the Gansevoort in NYC, it has a very similar indoor garden patio thing going.

The Movie Edition

2007-10-30T22:05:00.001+00:00

Recently I liked:

Superbad (2007)

Michael Clayton (2007)

Manhattan (1979)

The Hoax (2006)

Ratatouille (2007)

A Dutch Getaway

2007-10-30T21:27:00.000+00:00

After the craziness of last week, I felt like I really needed to get out of the City and catch up on some R&R. So I hopped on a plane and headed to the Dutchland. A 45 minute plane ride later and I'm enjoying village life. On Saturday, after a mid-morning visit to Rogier's grandmother in a town outside of Amsterdam called Almeera, we headed to the Beverly Hills of Holland .

In the glitzy town of Naarden.

Our touristic instincts in action - the local church.

I think this is Cornelius. Yes mom I did get a new scarf.

Back in Amsterdam - a typical autumn evening.

Getting ready for the holiday season on the Zeedijk.

My Second Flat

2007-10-30T21:13:00.000+00:00

I might have forgotten to mention that I've moved - this folks is where I spent a gajillion hours last week. Not quite the duplex penthouse that I used to live in.

The Housewarming I Never Had (in Toronto)

2007-10-14T21:19:00.000+01:00

We had our housewarming party on Saturday night. There were about 30+ people and still plenty of space in the flat. Half my friends, half Jacky's. Good turnout considering I don't even know anyone here.

I walked my mug around a few times, so it was almost like you were all there.

Me and the Dutch contingent.

View from above.

You may recognize AJ from such places as the TDot.

My flatmate Jacky on the left and Julianna on the right.

Worst Tourist Ever

2007-09-28T00:12:00.000+01:00

I am officially the world's worst tourist. Since I'm trying to stick to my very tight budget over here - I refuse to buy a guidebook because let's face it all of the information is online anyway. So as a consequence of this cheapness, I usually have no idea where I'm going or what I should be seeing because I don't have a printer to print all this great information. Generally I have been just bumping into landmarks when I'm "in the neighbourhood" to do something else. For example, two weekends ago I went for dim sum at Bayswater/Queensway station tube station. After dim sum I decided to wander around and low and behold... I stumble across Hyde Park and Kensington Palace. Being the horrible tourist that I am, I can't remember if I came here the only other time I visited London.

This is one of a number of flower sculptures created in memory of Diana.

Gardens outside the Kensington Palace State Apartments. Was going to go in the State Apartments, but again that cost money :)

Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill

2007-09-25T22:16:00.000+01:00

One of the best things about living in London is the many markets all over the city. Portobello Road Market has so far been my favourite - sure I've only been to 1 other one but still. Fruit, food, clothes, antiques, jewellrey - makes for a very interesting stroll. I think it would be nice to live in the West but it's just too far from work and since I'm a bird that works ridiculous hours for a living, that's just not going to do.

This stand had 3 different giant pans of Paella cooked fresh in front of you.

On my wishlist - this 1950s abstract painting. Approximately 250 pounds.

I came home with these cheap finds... Yes "vintage", I'm a new person now - in London I buy vintage :)

It's HR not HAYTCH ARE

2007-09-24T00:39:00.001+01:00

Hello everyone! I'm alive and well - literally alive in the online world again. We finally got internet here at the flat after a few weeks of requesting it. My life is SO MUCH BETTER now. All is well on the work front too. After a slow first week, last week was actually quite busy and I think this week might be more of the same. This weekend was pretty relaxed.

Saturday:

Brunch in South Kensington at Aubaine - http://www.aubaine.co.uk/home.html with AJ and Maja.

Went to Selfridges for the first time. It wasn't really all that I was expecting it to be. Didn't buy anything for a few reasons. 1. I have not been paid yet and 2. I am broke. Then AJ and I went to Primark. This is a truly unique experience. Primark is a discount store where you can buy for eg. 3 pairs of tights for 2 pounds or say a tshirt for 6 pounds - obviously very cheap by London standards. I guess since there is no Walmart here, this would be the equivalent but much less comprehensive. Basically it just sells clothes and house linens. The line up for the cash is about 45 minutes and I made AJ wait with me while I bought 1 roll of wrapping paper and a few pairs of socks. Hey, it's not really like we had anything better to do :)

Dinner on Brick Lane, lots of little indian restaurants.

Sunday:

Attended a baby christening in Loughton. Would have some very cute baby pics to post except that my camera ran out of battery. Just before it ran out however I was able to get these less than professional shots. Not my best work. There were lots of kids there it was like nursery school. British kids are just extra cute because of that accent.

Oh yes re: my subject line - one of the very annoying things about brit talk is the fact that people here insist on pronouncing the letter "H" as HAYTCH. Since I'm new and getting set up I have a lot of contact with these HAYTCH ARE people and/or people refer me to HAYTCH ARE all the time. Soooooo annoying. It's H not HAYTCH!!!! (Or is it? I guess they did invent the language.)

First day of work

2007-09-10T19:45:00.001+01:00

So today was the first day of work. It was just basic induction stuff - basic IT primer, met all the support groups and filled in some forms. I think I was expecting work here to feel completely different but surprisingly everything feels the same. I guess at the end of the day a law firm is a law firm wherever you go. Even all the programs they use are the same as the ones I used in Toronto. The offices are really nice and modern but so was my office at BCE Place. The only main difference I guess is that I have no friends here yet and I feel much more awkward. Ahhh... the joys of starting a new job :)

Picking up internet signal in my new flat

2007-09-09T20:52:00.000+01:00

Just wanted to give a quick update - I am picking up an unsecured wifi network here at the new flat. However there were about 20 different wifi network signals that I picked up which were all SECURED. Wow... London is selfish with their wifi!! Anyway this is making me very HAPPY (now I know how you feel Karin!!)... I will now surf around as my flatmate cooks dinner :)