So it begins

Midnight madness

Published Date : August 9, 2003

I have been drinking far too much lately.  I think I’ve been out almost every night since I moved into Olave House.  My liver is never going to forgive me.  I may have to give moderation a go!

The bank account still isn’t happening, but I am slowly making progress.  I’m sticking with HSBC because they’re the only ones that have been remotely helpful at all – I forgot that the British version of customer service isn’t quite the same as in North America. Lacking a bank account, the odyssey of the week has been trying to cash my paycheque.  That’s just as much trouble as trying to open a bank account.  They want the dreaded “proof of address” too.  I finally found somewhere to cash it, but they charge a 7% commission – ouch!  I don’t have any other option until I can open a bank account though.

The weekend was a good one.  I spent Saturday at Hyde Park with Wil (South Africa) and Ray (Ireland) from the hostel.  We went to watch Flugtag.  Basically, people build flying contraptions and launch themselves off a 6m platform into the Serpentine.  They get points for distance and creativity and the winner gets £5000.  We were supposed to meet up with some others from the hostel at the park, but it was way too crowded, and way too hot to search for them (hottest day of the year, I think it hit 36C).  So we watched a couple of “flights” and then just chilled in the shade for the afternoon.  On the way home Ray and I stopped for some drinks and got to chatting to Shane and Dave, a couple of Aussie guys in the pub. Ray later ditched me, so I went to dinner with the Aussies.

I also booked a trip up to Edinburgh to pick up the pack that I left with my bro.  I’m going up next weekend for a whirlwind visit.  I ended up booking a seat on the bus, because the trains and flights were just way too expensive.  But it means 9 hours on the bus on Saturday, I’ll stay Saturday night, and another 9 hour trip back to London on Sunday.  Not gonna be fun, but it has to be done.

Boys will be boys

Taking advantage of the gorgeous summer weather, on Wednesday a group of us – Deb, Chris, Jess, Emma (Aussies), Marco (Portuguese), Daniel, Mario, and Elcion (Brazilians) – went for a stroll up to Holland Park, stopping at an off-license on the way. We spent the evening just chilling and chatting.  It was a great way to spend the night.  The only problem was that we didn’t realize the park closed at 9pm, so at midnight the cops came around and kicked us out.  They failed to mention that all the gates had been locked though.  By this time it was just Jess, Chris, Marco, Daniel and I.  It was no problem for the guys to hop the fence, but Jess and I were in skirts.  A group effort finally got us over though.

I rounded off the week by heading into the city centre with Marco and the Brazilians for a night of wandering.  We walked all over Westminster taking photos, getting lost, and having an all around good time.  We tried to start a water fight in the fountains at Trafalgar Square, but none of the other people seemed too impressed.  I even managed to learn some Portuguese.  Overall, it was a very good night.

Burning the candle at both ends

Published Date : August 16, 2003

Swimming with the ducks in Hyde Park

Last Saturday was a fun day swimming with the ducks in the Serpentine at Hyde Park.  There is actually a designated swimming area, but they were charging £3 for the privilege, and it was full to boot.  Instead we – about 10 of us – just headed down the path a little further and made our own swimming area.  The water was nice and cool, we just had to keep reminding ourselves not to put our feet down – the bottom was about 6 inches of squishy sludge 98% composed of duck crap. Yuck!

I rounded off the day with a fun night of drinking and dancing at the Richmond with the gang.  I was supposed to be on a date with Sarmad who works the front desk at the hostel, but that fell through.  To be honest I’m kind of glad because I feel a little bit uncomfortable around him.

Friday night was not a fun night.  A group of us – Sian (SA),Jess, Chris, Marco, Sal (Moroccan-Kiwi), Karen (Kiwi), and some girls I don’t know – went to a bar in King’s Cross, the Backpacker’s.  A £5 cover for the girls, £7 for the guys and it was all you can drink before 10pm.  The night started out great, good drinks, good DJ, but things only got worse.  I was being groped by drunken bastards all night, and after a couple of hours none of the girls could walk across the main dance floor by themselves anymore without being accosted.  To make it worse, I hadn’t eaten anything all day, and I’d had a whole lot to drink so I was feeling really ill, on top of having to deal with a bunch of sex-starved drunks.  Add to that the stress of the last couple of weeks, and I pretty much just cracked.  I ended up walking home in tears by myself.  That was incredibly dumb!  It took about an hour and a half walking through some of the dodgiest parts of central London, but luckily I made it back to the hostel without a problem, only to find everybody worried sick and waiting up for me.  Awww! Thanks guys!

Saturday was a very long day sitting on a bus to Edinburgh.  I scored on the seats though!  I had the entire back row to myself.  Sweet!  It worked out well, because I haven’t slept more than 3 or 4 hours a night in the last week, so I could stretch out and have a good snooze on the way up.  I blame my lack of sleep entirely on Marco :p  He loves to dance, so we’ve been hitting the dance clubs and staying till closing at 2 or 3 in the morning.  Then we all sit around chatting on the front steps of the hostel when we get back.  Good fun, bad sleep.

Anyway, I finished off the marathon day today with drinks at the Old Bank with my bro and Beck and Jules.  None of us lasted too long though.  A couple of drinks did us all in – we’ve all been partying too much.  It was really great to see them all again though.  I’ll have to spend more time up here next time.  One night really isn’t enough!