House hunting England style
It couldn't be more different over here than it is back in Vancouver. I've been house-hunting for a couple of weeks now without any real finds...basically checking out certain areas, seeing if I could live there etc.
I finally found a flat that I liked last weekend and was considering putting in an offer but just before I did I thought I'd check the train website to make sure trains ran regularly. Great result - they go into a London station way too far from work so that apartment was out completely...and pretty much everything else in that area which sucks cuz it's the one area I'd love to live in!
Half of the time you go and see places the realtor goes with you and the other half of the time you go by yourself and the owner of the flat shows you around - something totally foreign to me.
They also have this thing they call a "chain" which you don't want to get involved in. If you put an offer in on a place but the owner of that place hasn't bought yet you get stuck in a chain and you pretty much have to wait until that person has found something so that you can get something. So instead of putting a completion date on the contract you just wait it out. That's why I'm only looking at places that are listed as "chain free" because you could end up moving in in 2 months or it could be 5 months - who knows!
Other than that it's not bad. I've decided to check train links before getting too excited about certain areas and just have to keep seeing places - soon something will pop up.
Will keep you posted.
North Van Apartment
So I've had my apartment in North Van listed for about 6 weeks and on Tuesday night I accepted an offer! It was a little less than I was hoping for but I've made a great profit having only owned it for less than 3 years.
Hopefully all subjects get removed and funds get transfered in about 3 weeks. Then onto the house-hunt over here.
It's a bit scary finally getting rid of my apartment back home as it seems that my move over here is so definite. While it had turned into a more permanent move, I felt like I still had a back-up plan, somewhere to go to if things over here all went belly-up. Well...no more.
Hockey Night in Canada
It's so difficult to try and keep up with the hockey from over here but I'm tryin'. I was gutted to see the Canucks go out of course but hey - they've got a bunch of new players, lost a lot of old talent and have a new coach. And they got further this year than they have in quite a while so you can't really blame 'em.
I've also got James into hockey (yay!). After the football match last Sunday we made our way down to the Maple Leaf which is the cheesiest pub in London and has awful decor like stuffed bears (real and fake), fake moose heads etc. The Brits love it - I love it cuz it plays hockey! Every Sunday night at 6pm it's "Hockey night in Canada" so the place is packed with all of the NHL fans.
So....last Sunday was James' first hockey game and luckily his football team had won earlier so he was in a good mood. Because the games are all played at about 3am our time, they get recorded and played over on Sundays. So we watched last Saturday nights game on Sunday evening. So the four of us made our way from the Tottenham game to the pub - had even more drinks (yes my liver hates me!) and watched hockey. It was awesome! Luckily the Sens won that night but we didn't stay for the whole game - we left midway through the first OT cuz we had no idea how long it would go on for.
The NHL is also coming to London in September for exhibition games!! I've got four tickets to see the Ducks play the Kings. There were rumours that the Canucks were coming over but hey - I'm not complaining....I get to see hockey!!!!
GO SENS GO!!
Tottenham vs. Manchester City - my first game!!
Last Sunday James took me to my first football game. He's been saying that he'd take me to a game for the last 6 months and ended up waiting until the last game of the season!
We met up with his friend Matt and his girlfriend Louise for beers first, then lunch with more beers and some red wine. Then into the cab and off to the game. We so lucked out with the weather - it was pissing down all day. YUCK. Luckily we were sitting under cover.
The pitch looks about half the size in real life, not nearly as intimidating as it looks on the tele. The game wasn't particularly interesting, no crazy fouls, injuries or anything like that but it was exciting all the same. At the end of the first half we raced down to get more beers (well actually we sent James to get them hehe). Really yummy warm beers in plastic bottles which you aren't allowed to take back to your seats! Man I miss hockey.....
The second half went by as quick as the first. Before we knew it - the game was over and we (Tottenham) had won 2-1. So much fun to actually be at the game in person instead of watching it in some smokey pub.
Depending on how things go over here - I wouldn't mind investing in some seasons tickets! That's if they don't have the ridiculous wait list like the Canucks. We'll see.
David Gray in Dublin
One of the most amazing things about this country is the cheap travel. My friend Laura and I went to Dublin on Monday morning (yesterday) to see a David Gray concert and came back this afternoon. That's kind of like flying out to Edmonton to see a concert...not something we really do back home.
I'm a pretty big David Gray fan so when I heard he was doing a concert in Dublin but had no dates for London (or anywhere in England) I went onto Ticketmaster and bought two tickets. I asked Laura if she wanted to go and she said yes (even though she didn't know who he was until I reminded her of one or two of his more popular songs).
So, we got our tickets, booked our flights and got a hotel room, all of which came to less than 100 GBP each. Spending money was only about 30 GBP, most of which was spent on beer! Unfortunately we didn't get to see that much of Dublin as we were either shopping or in a bar for the majority of Monday. But I can tell you that they have some great bars over there!!
The other thing is that nobody told me that it was an outdoor concert! Apparently I should know that when it says it's being played at Dublin castle. I'm gonna use the foreigner card one more time - how do you expect me to know that!? Even the Brit I was with didn't know it was an outdoor concert. She tried to play the "I'm from Essex" card which worked surprisingly well.
The weather was awful, it had been raining on and off all day but we were so lucky that it didn't rain at all during the concert. Very cool venue, in the courtyard of some old castle right in the heart of the city. Amazing concert and well worth the trip!
My interesting trip on the 149 bus
So...I was out flat hunting on Saturday morning. After viewing several places in Beckenham (South East of London) and checking out the area in general, I headed for home as I had to shower and change and meet friends for drinks.
I got the train from Clock House to London Bridge station and then got the 149 bus which goes from London Bridge to a stop which is about 3 blocks from my house.
At about 4 o'clock and half way home, I was ridiculously engrossed in my book when I heard some shuffling but didn't pay much attention. Then all of a sudden I hear shouting and screaming so I look up and see two guys fighting in the middle of the bus.
One of them had been drinking (probably all day from the state he was in) and the other seemed totally harmless. The first guy had a beer bottle (it's common to see people drinking booze on public transit in London) and was throwing his beer all over the place while trying to kick the crap out of the second guy.
The bus driver finally pulls over and everybody piles off the bus except these two guys and three other guys who are trying to calm them down. What on earth is this guy doing completely pissed on a bus at 4 o'clock in the afternoon on a Saturday of a long weekend?! Of course the Police never showed up and the guy got let off the bus only to start throwing beer bottles at random people walking down the sidewalk. I love this city! No really....I do.
