Spain!

Hey gang,
Well, we arrived in Madrid last night on the overnight train from Lisbon after having spent four days in (O)porto, Lisbon and Sintra in Portugal. The weather has been pretty crap and didn´t help our morale much. After spending almost a whole day here in Madrid I sort of miss Portugal (mmmm... the delicious soups, pasteis de natas and nice coffees). Got off the train this morning at 8am and some old dude tried to pickpocket me pretending to be all friendly and stuff asking for directions (as if I look like a local anyway carrying a big backpack and looking all Chinese). But after that time in Brussels I knew what he was up to. Plus I had everything in lockdown anyway so there´s no way he woulda been able to get anything. Booyah!
The rain in Spain blah blah blah...
More updates laterz.
Adios,
D&T

Last days in London Town

We've been based over here in London for about 16 months now and we're finally nearing the end of our big Euro trip. Tomorrow we fly out of here for the penultimate time. We're embarking on one big backpacking final leg of this trip starting in Portugal, before catching the train across and all over Spain, before flying to Rome again and catching the train to the French Riviera. In a month's time we'll be back in London for a day and a half before flying out of here for good to Hong Kong.

Tam's been glamming it up in the temp industry for the last couple of weeks. Ok, slumming it really and catching up on some long overdue shopping sprees. I finished up at my work on Friday and am now happily unemployed and a man of leisure.

Here are some photos of my "good riddance" party/my boss Dee's "congratulations you're getting married" party. Here's my boss Dee, Rebecca, Jane and me out on my big boss's balcony (the only one in our building). The building behind us is a maternity hospital and is one of the reasons I won't be missing work there as you can always hear the screams.


This is Dee's gift of a UCL bus


On Friday night we had some drinks with Cam (our housemate from Melbourne), Kelly (our previous Kiwi housemate). Here's some photos of us posing curiously diagonally.




We had some drinks and snacks at home we headed up to a local Italian restaurant (Renezio) for some delicious pasta, side salad and garlic bread (for £6) and a couple of carafes of house red. Feeling thoroughly fed and drunk'd we left, and stopped over at the Bush Bar for a cocktail. We then came home and that's all I've got to say about that.

The next morning we got up really late and we visited the Portobello Market for the last time. Tam made her first and last purchase there of a very cool top by designers Emily & Fin. We also had some fantastic vegetarian fare from The Grain Shop. Then we headed to Hammersmith to get some couture from Primark.


Tam then went to meet her Hungarian friend Eva in Greenwich whilst I headed to Heathrow to pick up our friend Jesz, who's been living up the good life in Shanghai as part of "The Lion King" team. We then met up with Tam and Eva at the Clock Gate at Greenwich for some pub grub and some drinks.

Tam and Eva


Tam, me and Jesz


The next day we took some photos of each other on the tube.


We stopped off for lunch fromat near the Portobello Markets at that cool little vegetarian place and sat in the children´s playground to eat.


Then we visited the Camden Markets once more for the last time.
































Then we returned to London Town and indulged in some Ben & Jerry´s ice cream and a waffle from Oxford Street.






Jesz had been in Shanghai for four months working on the Lion King musical there and we just had to snap some of the local Disney propaganda.


Jesz and Neil

(Almost) Random Photos of London

Hi there,
Thought we'd put up some photos of stuff... Everyone likes photos.

We attended the free yet craptastic and deceptively-named "Regent Street Festival - A Walk Through Spain". It would have been more apt if they had called it "Regent Street Festival - Try to walk through the thousands of other people trying to grab freebie brochures whilst getting bored and annoyed as we haven't really organised it that well and we don't really have much else for you to do or see"


Another photo from the Regent Street Festival. These two photos happen to be of the only two slightly interesting things. Then again, it only really captures your interest for maybe half a minute while you laugh at the guy's jumpsuit in the first picture and then as you ooh and aah whilst they construct a human pyramid.


Statue of Eros at Piccadilly Circus


Kathryn outside the National Gallery and with the St Martin-in-the-Fields Church behind her.


Inside Queen Mary's Blizard Building, which houses Queen Mary University's Institute of Cell and Molecular Science. We saw this as part of the Open House London programme where they let people in to lots of famous, interesting or historically significant buildings across London for free. This is the separate below ground lab workspace.


A lecture theatre (spiky black thing) and a meeting room (airplane engine shaped white thing) inside the Blizard Building. Tam was quite impressed with this building and thought the red blood cell-shaped stools in the Cafe were novel. However, we did question the separation of office and lab workspaces and the unenclosed design of the lab space.


A view of the "Gherkin" building. One of the other London landmarks you could visit, but only if you pre-booked a decade in advance.


The Lloyds Building, which was designed by Richard Rogers who also did Le Pompidou in Paris.


Inside the Lloyd's Building


Escalators in the Lloyd's Building


Statue of Eve


Statue of a hare


Me with Nacho Libre in Covent Garden! Some guy yelled out to him that in the movie he had no hair on his chest. He replied back (in a Scottish accent) that that was true and that he did remember to shave it again but that was last week.


The Brixton Academy where we went saw Xavier Rudd supporting Michael Franti & Spearhead.


Inside the Brixton Academy (1)


Inside the Brixton Academy (2)


Xavier Rudd playing everything but the kitchen sink (1)


Xavier Rudd playing everything but the kitchen sink (2)


Michael Franti pops out on stage during Xavier Rudd's set to add some vocal firepower.


Michael Franti & Spearhead


The Tate Modern on the banks of the muddy and brown Thames River


Tina modelling a funky beanie from the Camden Markets


On top of the Liberty London building


Tower Bridge


Building near London Bridge


Southwark Cathedral with a scary sculpture of a knight


Ceiling of Shakepeare's Globe stage when we saw Coriolanus


The bloodied hair that almost landed on Tina


Farewell dinner for Tam and Ana in a Moroccan Restaurant with Imperial College people


Farewell dinner for Tam and Ana with their Imperial College friends


Farewell party at O'Neill's pub in Shepherds Bush for Ana (Tam's Brazilian friend from Imperial College), with her boyfriend Felipe, and other friend, Eva and her boyfriend Roland.


The London Symphony Orchestra in the Barbican Hall, which we saw for free last week as part of the Open Rehearsal programme. They were rehearsing Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (very good!) and Steve Reich’s Three Movements (very dull).


They brought out some marimbas for the Steve Reich piece. They weren't as good as you Tom. However, like all typical percussionists, they were very eager to show off. They also had four pianists playing on two pianos for this piece. Wasn't he a minimalist dude?


A minotaur (and the Gherkin in the background)


Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall


Regent's Park


Euston Road (before we moved buildings, this was one of my fave views of London, as it meant that I would be on my way home from a gruelling day at work)


Wolfmother rocking out at the Hammersmith Palais (1)


Wolfmother rocking out at the Hammersmith Palais (2)