Night Out with the Boys

It was the co-op's last weekend here in London, so a bunch of us decided to send him off (or celebrate him leaving) by going to dinner and drinks afterwards. For some strange reason, they decided to eat at Wong Kei in Chinatown. This infamous restaurant is known for their "service" and "food quality" - which definitely shocked a few people in our group. One person claimed he was "assaulted" when the waiter pushed his arm aside to put a dish down, and his order was mysteriously "missing"..

After dinner we went to the Porterhouse for a few drinks before a few people retreating home. Not me! We continued to Fabric, a dance club in north London. I didn't get home until a few hours ago..

Shopping Mall

After being here in London for a while, I have realised the lack of the ginormous shopping malls here. Perhaps it's the lack of space in central London, but all the so-called "malls" I've been to feel like those crappy ones with six shops and no major labels.

I think I just broke the myth this weekend by stumbling upon Bluewater. It is actually located about an hour away from central London by train, on top of a bus connection for ten minutes. Despite the traveling distance, I enjoyed the day thoroughly. It felt just like home - all the familiar labels (both in UK and Canada/US) were there, and it was HUGE!! Probably because it is located so far away from where land is expensive. In any case, I didn't buy anything (too poor to do that).. but I enjoyed a full day of indulging in window shopping again..

Weekend Destination : Amsterdam!

I must have talked about Amsterdam so many times in my journal here that you, my faithful readers, start to wonder when I'm ever going to stop. Furthermore, you are probably wondering why I keep going back to Amsterdam. (get your mind outta the gutter!) This time the co-op at my workplace wanted to go, and I didn't have much to do on weekends anyway.. plus, I think getting away helps keep me sane! :D

I won't bore anybody with the details of the trip, as I probably have said a million times what's worth seeing. It's worth noting this time I stayed at the Flying Pig Palace, a famous hostel in Amsterdam. I also went to the Holland Casino, the only "legal" casino sanctioned by the government. Lost a bit of money playing roulette (knowing when to get out is a GOOD strategy), and walked around town for a bit. Enjoyed spending some time in Teasers (those been to Amsterdam would know).. and walked around in the flower market and shopped for some tulips.

Today was a write-off at work. (duh) Fun weekend, nevertheless.

Chef's Table

Last night I was invited to dinner at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's along with a few of my colleagues. For those of you only familiar with Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay is the true celebrity chef. A football player turned chef, he is the only one in the UK to hold 7 Michelin stars. The restaurant itself was already really fancy, but we got something even more special - the chef's table. It's a table situated at the heart of the kitchen, allowing interaction between the patrons and the kitchen staff. In short, it had to be the best meal I've ever had in my life. We were served a bottle of wine for every course that came out (and we had almost 9 courses including dessert), so needless to say I wasn't my usual composed self by the end of the night.. My most memorable part of the meal was touring of the kitchen, and tasting that white mushroom truffle.. mmmmmm..

Now I have a headache (from the hangover) and a tummy-ache (from the eating)..

The Downside of Long Weekend

Short weeks are great, but coming back to work after a four day leave sure leaves my brain a bit numb. I couldn't think at work today, and that only led to mistakes after mistakes. Thankfully I don’t think I lost any money today... phew.

Only one long weekend this year

For my only (!) long weekend this year, I decided to take a break from the metropolis and took a short trip to Edinburgh for some R&R. Although it's been two years since I visited the city, I still remembered most of the street layouts and stores around the city. Unfortunately it rained for most of the time that I was there, so it wasn't too pleasant walking along the royal mile. I did meet up with a friend there, had sub-standard dinner(s) at a hotel restaurant and a Chinese restaurant, and shared a few laughs.

Before I left Edinburgh, I went to Ocean Terminal - a shopping mall much like ones back in Canada. Had my first taste (and hopefully last) of Haggis, a traditional dish of Scotland. That wasn't exactly the most appetising dish, at least to me!

Pictures will be posted soon!

Unwilling to settle for less than perfect..

As I was saying a few days ago, I have been completely swamped with work. I have settled into a routine that composes of nothing but working and sleeping. (with the occasional eating and showering in between) It's time for a change though. I've been relocated here for a bit over six months, and I don't think I have progressed as much as I had originally planned.

I'm not blaming anybody though - yes, my schedule had not been ideal, but that is not an excuse. I need to learn how to motivate myself, and really reach for the goal I had set for myself.

This has gone on long enough. It's time to action.

Missing in Action

So it's been three weeks since I wrote anything here, and it's for a damn good reason. I have been terribly swamped with work! Who would have thought that full-time work is even more demanding than school?! At least I work to a schedule.. wake up, go to work, go home, eat, sleep.. repeat five times a week. I check e-mails twice a week, reply e-mails once a month. *sigh* So I apologise in advance to those whom I haven't sent a reply yet!

Let's recap some of the more exciting things I have done in the past three weeks. I went to Cambridge two weekends ago for a bit of tourist action. Oh how I would have loved to study there! There is so much history in the institution, and the atmosphere was much more studious than Waterloo. There was something *different* about it.. something I cannot quite pinpoint. On the other hand, I guess if I did go to school at Cambridge or Oxford, I would not know how to appreciate it. The grass is always greener on the other side, right?

I also helped organise a Passover dinner with a few of my friends over the past weekend. It had been over a decade since I attended these types of rituals, let alone organise one. Everything turned out quite well, and I think we all enjoyed the evening of chatting around the table with some very delicious food.

Hopefully my next update won't take as long as this one..

Why am I so ill?

Better question: Why am I so easily ill? Once again I have come under the weather and gotten sick. Coughing, sneezing, headache, dizzy, and the symptoms go on. The good thing is that I get to take a break from work - which is what I'm doing right now. I think I went overboard with working last week, which also explained my mysterious disappearance from this space for the whole time. Average time to leave work last week = 8:20. The good thing is that I finally got back in the mode for work, so I don't make as many stupid mistakes as I did the first week back.

Now I'm off to drink some hot soup, and back to bed! (oh sleep.. how I miss you!)

I Broke the Broker

Some brokers decided to take my boss and a few of my colleagues out for the night on Wednesday, and my boss decided that I should go along too. Of course, later on I found out that it was because we had to keep the brokers entertained while my boss wanted to go home early. The upside of this whole arrangement is that I get wined and dined at the finest restaurant in the city, and waltz into nightclubs that most people are green with envy to get into. We didn't leave the club until 2:30am - and of course I was expected in the office at 6:00am sharp the next morning.

It's Friday today, and through the broker lines today I heard "I'm still feeling it from Wednesday night. You sent a wild one out to meet us!" My colleague turned to me and say, "Look what you have done! You broke the broker!"

Me?

How little they really know - I am not doing too well myself either. I barely got any sleep that night, not to mention that I "accidentally" dozed off for about 15 seconds.. (and caught by my senior, oops) Tonight I'm going to get my 15 hours and recover from that night out..