March 29

Argh. Today was the day to put plan find a job into serious action. But instead, I wake up sick with some horrible common disease resembling a cold and stay in bed allll day.

I note how absolutely great all the television advertising is in this country and there's roughly only one ad break per half hour show which is just fab.

March 28

Today is what I call 'admin' day which involves laundry and shopping and assorted other boriung passtimes. Discovered Alfred Hitchcock lived around the corner from our place in a scary old apartment/townhouse building. Now that I know this I'll be paranoid about swooping attack pigeons everytime I walk past.

March 27

Daylight savings begins today. On this freezing cold Easter morning we head home and laze about watching Press Gang all day (HooRAY I found it!!!) Except now I have to wait another month for the next two seasons to come out to get my fix of Spike and Lynda's wacky adventures. Redevelop my crush on Dexter Fletcher (American accent variety only).

Feel pretty homesick today.

March 26

Today's mission is Portobello Road markets with one of Shane's friends from work. There looked like there was some interesting stuff there but there were far too many people to really see much and Shane's friend made the mission more to get through the crowd than to take our time browsing. They say its the biggest antiques market in the world but I'm very, very far from convinced about this as it only seemed to extend about 3 blocks. We'll come back on a day when it's not so busy I guess.

See a few notable things...

A great contemporary art gallery where unfortunately everything was a bit overpriced, even though I took a liking to just about everything.

The travel bookshop as featured in the movie Notting Hill

Five little dogs set up in a caravan, one barking to get attention, whilst the other 4 sleep in a tray below. We theorised how the little dogs must drive their caravan there everyday and set up shop as we can't see a human in site.

Next we head for Picadilly Circus for a brief look around and a stroll through China Town. We have lunch at a pub (all the damn Chinese places were too packed) and watch some Football/Soccer. (Well, the boys do whilst I attempt to stop staring at a particularly attractive emo* boy in the pub.) *I hate to use the word emo here because I think its the worst subculture label ever invented. However if you were to distill it and pour it into one person, this boy was it.

I start to realise how absolutely packed and busy this city is when squished into the Tube later on. Makes doing anything terribly difficult. (BTW I have to mention here Mum just how extremely handy that fold out London map has been.)

After all this we head to Walthamstowe to visit another of Shane's friends and indulge in a great chicken chow mein, a vast variety of seafood and pork (no, I didn't try any) and 2 bottles of Jamaican Rum!

March 25

Today we head off to High Street, Kensington for a spot of shopping. Lots of good clothes stores and whatnot. Have lunch in my first English pub and my first pint (sadly a warmish Fosters which I've never actually had before, but its all they had to offer on tap). Have now got a new mobile number which I'll forward to you all.

I grab an application for Virgin Megastore in my endless job hunt. I figure this is about as retail as I'll go. Still haven't found the elusive Press Gang DVDs damnit! Shane buys some new clothes and seems quite pleased to have a female presence during this process and exclaims to me 'Thank God you're here'. He's always had trouble purchasing certain items by himself much to my amusement.

We discuss me finding a new place to live. Craig isn't keen to move and Shane isn't keen to stay but either way I get the impression Craig wants me to move somewhere else (Shane assures me this is not because he doesn't like me, just because he's extremely shy). So I'll attempt to find a bedsit for a month of two until they figure out what they want to do. However, with my lack of income I'm a bit worried about all this...

March 24

Woo! My first solitary tube experience today. Head off to Victoria Station for some bookshopping (the one I find ends up having a 'porn' focus when all I want is a good novel), a visit to the tourist information centre (only to find their brochures are unhelpfully BEHIND the glassed off counter) and a 3 hour meeting to learn about setting up a bank account and all those other fun admin type things. Manage to get lost (hell, these days I'd be surprised if I didn't) but then I find myself completely in the opposite direction from where I'm supposed to be.

Then off to visit the netcafe again to type up this wonderful literary masterpiece which you are now reading. Why exactly they call these places cafes when there is no tea or coffee is still one I'm pondering. On the way home I get accosted by ssome strange lady who appears to be abusing me in a foriegn language simply for opening my front door. Yay, my first London freak!

March 23

I just have to add, the only reason I'm including all this incredibly boring stuff is because some wise person (hi mum) told me to make sure I write something everyday. So guess you're stuck with it if you're still choosing to read it.

Usual slow morning of me waking up at some ridiculous hour as the flatmate's sleep on. Take a tour of Earls Court Rd and grab a job application for the local video store (even though their methods are particularly backwards - £3.50 for every night you have a video, new release or not, and you pay this when you return the videos). Note that if I were to get the job, if I quit within 3 months, I don't get paid for my last week of work. Still deciding if I can live with that or not. Head to the netcafe for an afternoon of signing up with recruitment agencies and applying for video jobs (nothing fancy). Spend the evening perusing travel brochures and making a list of all the things I need to see. Desperate Housewives is ahead here so someone will need to fill me in on what happens in between damnit!

March 22

It's raining today which intensifies my lethargy quite a lot. Instead of putting too much pressure on myself I decide to visit the laundrette (and pray that my clothes will ONE DAY dry) and spend the afternoon lost in a book. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is today's DVD of choice. A must see if you haven't already. I begin to wonder when and why I stopped believing in magic.

March 21

Full of grand plans today but Shane is sick so we laze about watching Family Guy on DVD until he has to go to work. I find out the job I was going to apply for at the hospital the boys work at has had its applications closed before I even arrived so I feel like I'm back at square one (despite never having actually moved from it in the first place). Shane heads to work and I head to the grocery store (Sainsburys) which is an experience in itself. I don't think I've ever seen so much alcohol in one place and its open 24 hours. A lot of the stuff is the same but the range of products and brands is quite different from Australia. Still finding it a little odd that you need to pack your own grocery bags. What the hell are we paying these people for!

Shane gets sent home from work and meets me in the store so my shopping experience gets hurried along (because as some of you will know, I tend to take my time when it comes to grocery shopping - specially in a whole new country). On the way home I admire the old black cabs (still working on finding out what kind of cars they are but they're very cool). Then I head off to the netcafe (which to both my horror and delight is only 20 steps away and costs £1 per hour) to look for a job, which is seemingly more difficult than I imagined.

Afterwards we take a stroll up the street to get some dinner and videos and I realise exactly how many things are literally within 5 mins walk away. Every bank I've been told about plus Nandos, Subway, McDs, KFC, Burger Kind (none of which I plan on eating anytime soon) as well as a quaint old pizza place and about 50 other handy things. Intend to explore all this a little more when I'm not so tired.

March 20

Wake up early and lie thinking about my life over the last year and reflecting on my early days in Melbourne. It's really odd how a change in location can change your whole outlook and approach to life. Over the last 10 months I've achieved virtually nothing, lost my ambition and zest. But here I am ready to work and get out and about. Brisbane seems to exacerbate my laziness and I'm not sure why.

When Shane wakes up we spend all morning on this overcast day (which I come to learn is pretty much everyday) watching more Viva La Bam. (Totally at his request I might add.) I walk him to work (1 min walk) where he gives me a small tour. Lots of interesting and necessary things nearby (bakery!, netcafe, bank, Sta travel office, recruitment agency, 2 pubs, chemist, convenience shops, tube station, laundry, photo developing, all in 1 block!) He seems excited for me to see his work and meet his friends and gives me a small tour of the hospital behind the scenes until I point out he probably shouldn't be showing me around while he's clocked on.

I ponder scouring the area until I realise my navigational skills are rusty at best and with no phone on me and a little paranoia about being out alone, I trot (neigh) back home where I settle for an afternoon of reading, and start to fear that my ambition and zest has gone again when it feels more comfortable sitting around the house (even though Shane's brother is trying to sleep). Will have to work on this.

After watching a bit of Teen Wolf and a short nap (seriously, I thought unlike everyone else in the world, jet lag wouldn't affect me, but alas), we have a few 500ml Stellas (6 for 6 pound!) and watch Seinfeld on DVD. Bed. ZzZzzZzzz.

Its already occuring to me how horribly boring these posts are hastily becoming if I don't get off my ass and do something interesting soon.

March 18/19

Had an early breakfast of miso, cold tea, yoghurt and hot chips (oh yes, those quirky Japanese). Head off to the airport early for toy shopping. Unfortunately I don't manage to find much of interest except Pokemon and Studio Ghibli related toys, even though I scoured both the international, and after a short shuttle bus ride, domestic terminals.

Board the flight, my seat was crap, but YAY had its own TV. (Tip #2 - Window seats are overrated - it's a mission to pee and you can't readily get up and steal snacks). Was seated beside two potential 'new friend' candidates, but in the end they just ended up being boisterous, obnoxious Aussie chicks who befriended me at the start of the flight and then didn't speak much to me again. Didn't help that I couldn't find my passport and for the whole 14 hours suspected one had picked mine up by mistake. Watched Shark Tale, Ray, Criminal, and part of SkyRocket World of Tomorrow Future something or other and mused over the icey landscapes and complete straightness and uniformity of London from the air. (OK, so the window seat DOES have some advantages).

And then, here I am in London (with passport, I discovered). Entry was much easier than everyone had lead me to believe (I'm actually even surprised by the ease of it all) and Shane with his new short blonde hair (marvel) was there to meet me. Hooray!

London, surprisingly, is exactly as I expected it. Got my first tube, in rather fabulous weather to my new home in Earl's Court. This consists of a flat in a little townhouse style apartment block on a very quaint, pretty street. The flat is one room with a small bathroom, roughly 7m x 5m big, give or take (that's the whole apartment my friends, not just the toilet). The sleeping is bunk beds (I'm on top, Craig on bottom and Shane on a mattress on the floor). It's cramped but also homely. I'm exhausted but attempting to adapt to the time difference so Shane and I have some pizza (yes his home delivery take away diet is still intact) and watch Buffy (yay first episode ever, and Shane claims it's never been on TV before in his 2 years of living here - they must have heard I was coming.), a Dr Who special, Bo Selecta (this show is weird man), and some Viva La Bam on DVD.

I realise through my exhaustion that I am very happy and excited to be here and all the stress and worry was virtually for nothing. And now I've just jinxed myself haven't I...

March 17

Well, hello all my lovely friends. I thought it was about time to join the online world of the self indulgent and start my own digital diary. Heaven forbid! Hours and hours of boring things I've accomplished with the expectation that you'll all read it with much enthusiasm.

Thank you to everyone that called me on Friday morning to wish me goodbye. Sorry I didn't call back but I didn't get your messages until I was in the queue to board the plane which just didn't seem the most appropriate time to be making calls. Same with the emails and phonecalls I never got around to returning in the lead up to my journey. I was a little rushed for time and incredibly stressy so yeah... Usual excuses I spose.

Annnnyway, to get this started I'll tell you about my airport adventures, or mishaps shall we say. Despite arriving the required two hours early I still managed to be the last one to check into my flight, only to find that I'd well exceeded the baggage limitations and at $64 per kilo extra (with me being a good 7 kilos over the limit) we figured a last minute repack would be the wisest move. Tip number 1: You can take 10kgs on board - Matt, tell Pete his backpack saved my life. Whilst this is going on my seat goes into standby and I almost have a sigh of relief at the possibility of delaying my trip a little longer. But alas, I finally manage to get a seat and am on my way.

Luckily, this all happens so quickly that I've no time to dote on my fears or sorrows. The flight to Japan is fine. Was seated next to a slightly annoying couple and with no individual TVs to tune out (which prior to this I thought would be the entire highlight of the journey), the flight is mostly pain free.

Customs in Japan takes forever but once through many memories of my time in Japan before come flooding back. I put this down to the smell. Japan has its own clean, fresh kind of smell without being overtly noticeable.
I am surprised, however, at the amount of Japanese people wearing face masks like a fashion accessory.

The hotel is quite nice. I order in a club sandwich (the menu was distinctly unJapanese) and have a laugh at the excessiveness of Japanese adverts and game show style TV programs. There's a particularly odd one focussing around Dracula which I find intriguing as I just can't understand the point of it. Time for bed and I begin to reflect on how, while being organised for this adventure, I'm not at all ready mentally. But then, would I ever be.