little girl overseas

2008-02-09T19:01:00.000Z

been awhile since i last blogged .. mm where to start. August I went to Egypt with Kelly for 2 weeks, definately recommend going maybe just not at that time of year. Its like being in an oven with no escape even in the shade. Our guide Hani was brilliant and so passionate about Egyptology that you soon craved to know more and more. I finally got my dream of me with a camel with the pyramids in the background at sunrise (not sunset like I had dreamt of).

Little Bean turned 1 in October, scarey how fast that year has gone. He is now talking and walking - ma/pa put him on webcam for me so I can pull faces at him, he has a silly Aunty heee hee. Just hoping he will recognise me when he sees me again.

A few of my friends travelled home for good end of the year, which was a bit sad but exciting for them. All new adventures for them to discover. I still wonder when I head home and as I always say to myself ... end of next year .... one day I know that when I say that it will feel like its sits right and I will just know !!

Christmas was a little wild, had an orphan one with some friends from work. Was 2 days of heavy drinking, eating, napping, watching movies and dancing around to music. Unfortuantely no snow .... does it even snow in London at Christmas though.

New Years the Minowski gals went to Las Vegas .. Kelly also celebrated her birthday whilst we were there. I had terrible jet lag the 1st day urgh ... or could be old age starting to kick in?? We dressed as little bunnies and had singlets made up for Kellys birthday and went to the Palms hotel as Kelly is absolutely obssessed with "the Girls of the Playboy Mansion". New Years we went down to the Belagio dressed as "little devils" and spent the night on the strip with what seemed like 2 million others. The fireworks werent as great as I thought they would be and only went for about 5 minutes. I was pretty cold, colder than London at night but not so bad during the day. Our hotel New York New York was pretty cool, the inside where the casino was, was themed as Central Park, all the restaurants were in a little cobbled street area it was well cool.

Been up to Aberdeen a couple of times to see JP play in his band The Lorelei... I have turned into a little groupie. The band are great guys as are their wives and wee ones. It snowed on the 2nd trip which turned me into a little kid.

Thats it in a brief nutshell..... till next time.

2007-07-29T10:08:00.000+01:00

Alex and I went to Lake Garda, Italy .. was just stunning. Weather was ah 15 degrees hotter than London and NO RAIN !!!

2007-07-17T20:46:00.000+01:00

FCUK BALL - 07 July 2007

2007-06-07T21:36:00.000+01:00

Shouv, Meshall, Alex and I drove down to Bristol for the long wkend to stay with friends. We had hoped for summer weather, but alas it bloody rained all wkend !!! Roy introduced us to Wii bowling it was wicked ... I was rubbish but did however kick arse in the shooting !!??!!!

2007-04-16T12:15:00.000+01:00

Me, the bridesmaid

Penelope and Sacha 15th April 07

2007-04-16T11:33:00.002+01:00

xx kiss kiss xx

2007-04-16T11:33:00.001+01:00

Penny Hens Night ... all the old gang together again

2007-04-16T11:31:00.000+01:00

the Little Boy takes me for a spin on the bike .... eeeeek !

2007-04-16T11:30:00.001+01:00

spend 4 days down the batch in taupo .. yes caught 2 trout !!

2007-04-16T06:37:00.000+01:00

The Palmer Clan has expanded .... welcome to Laura Elizabeth born 4th April.

April 7th, Caelans 1st birthday and takes his 1st steps ... nooo hands mum ... !

2007-04-16T06:18:00.000+01:00

April 5th ... I arrive home to Auckland and a couple of new faces !!

Me, Ruth (sister inlaw) and my new nephew Andre 5 mths.

Me, Andre, Saffron, Caelan (1 tomo) and Chris

2007-02-18T17:21:00.000Z

Guess whose in print again .... ME !!! http://www.ttglive.com/KylieNicholson/index.asp Went to the BMI launch of their new Moscow route ...... intending to not have that bigger night (yeah right) I got home at 3am and had the sorest head the next day.

2007-01-18T19:27:00.000Z

new york, New York, NEW YORK !!! oh yeah it rocks .... we only went for 3 nights, but you definitely need at least a week there to see it all and shop, shop, shop and shop some more. We flew over on Continental £160 incl taxes baby, love being in the travel business some days .... and they are pretty good to fly on. We got in about 2pm and caught a YELLOW CAB from EWR to the city - was $57 incl the tolls. Kelly had booked us into the wicked place although Paul and I did start to worry when we walked into reception and saw it was a hostel, my backpacking days are numbered and I was not wanting to do that in NYC, but trust me she said and trust her we did and she sure came through http://www.1291.com/gallery/index.html check out the one with the spiral staircase. The room has a massive king size bed that the 3 of us could have slept in comfortably, a big plasma screen, kitchen and my room had a double bed and a deck off it. So much cheaper than a hotel and you got loads more for it. Kelly had booked us to see the Knicks play that night and boy was it cool - only prob was it was at 7.30pm US time but 1.30am UK time and after the first quarter I could not hold my eyes open and slept through the rest of it. Paul and Kelly had a great giggle over that and of course at taking pictures of me asleep oh and they said that I had gotten on the big screen "asleep" and of course I believed them for 2 days doh. NYC is so alive, so many people, so many yellow cabs, so many bright lights, so much noise, the freaky steam coming up from the man holes, the constant beeping of horns, the noise and vibration of the subway as it goes under you, the buildings are enormous and actually so are the people - but in height too haaha. Its very easy to get around and being a grid system there is no way you'd get lost. On the Saturday night we went up the Empire States building at night, this was my favourite part of the trip. It was so quiet up there and had an eeiry but peacefulness to it. Was only $18 to get up to the top and we all took loads of pictures, luckily we went up that night as it was really clear the next 2 days were really foggy and you wouldn't have seen a thing. We went and looked at the World Trade Centre site, there is a lot of construction on for the new freedom tower which is due for completion in 2012. They have massive pictures up and a time scale of the hours/minutes leading up to the event. The area is absolutely massive and it really does leave you with sadness to know that so many people died in that very spot. On our last day we caught the ferry over to Statton Island which goes straight past the Statue of Liberty, its a free ferry and runs every 25 minutes .. bargain. It was still really foggy that day and when the ferry came back into the city it had gotten foggier. On TV the statue looked so big, not saying it isn't but I thought it would be bigger, still was a wicked site to see though. The city too looked incredible with the fog hanging low over the buildings made for some great pictures. It was such a fun trip and cant wait to go back again.

2007-01-07T19:06:00.000Z

from deciding to go away for 1 year to now being away for over 4 years ... wow !! ma & pa have just spent 2 months over here with me travelling around and it was really an eye opening experience for me. i didnt realise how much i changed and grown in the past 2 years since seeing them. i finally feel like an adult.

2006-12-31T23:37:00.000Z

Little Bean has arrived !!!

25 October 2006 - Andre Vincenzo Nicholson

2006-12-31T23:34:00.000Z

Christmas Day 2006, King George Bridge, Prague

2006-12-31T23:33:00.001Z

HOW CAN IT BE THE LAST DAY OF THE YEAR ...... where has 2006 gone???

The begining of year saw ..... Deano was over, rocking my world - yet again.

While I rocked his by showing him a new world outside of big NZ.

Kelly and I discovered Pacha ...... what a night ... took us a week to recover.

The little boy announced he was to become a daddy !!!
I went to the enhanting wedding of Fabrice & Tamsin just outside of Paris in Chantilly.

Kelly i ntroduced me to Majorca. Paul, Snoopys Bar .... and jagermeister.
ATL conference at Browns Hatch and that is where I cryed like a baby on the hire wire obsetical course. Saffron became a mummy to wee Caelan aka little Buddha. Also Nic had a wee girl Keira, I want cuddles.
The yearly Flight Centre ball .... and I was the bell of the ball in a bright red dress.

In July I handed in my notice .... YES, no more ticketing and started as a PDM oh yeah.
Kellys sister Karen came over with her partner Tristan, we spent a wild week of partying in Majorca

what a fantastic tan I had, best holiday ever.
The wee BEAN arrived ... wee ANDRE VINCENZO ... and oh he is gorgeous I cannot wait to meet him.
November saw the long arrival of Ma & Pa, got loads and loads and loads of cuddles.

Spent my 33rd birthday in Seville, Spain with ma, pa & Heidi. We went to a Flaminco Show was amazing.
And then it was December and I got my 1st Christmas with ma & pa in 4 years in Prague sooo special.

Oh yeah, its been a GOOD year !! Roll on 2006.

2006-10-11T17:52:00.000+01:00

WHATS going on in my world at the moment .......

Due to our landlord putting the rent up by £300 a month, Kelly and I have been looking for a new place. We thought it would be easy enough to find a 2 bedroom place but we found as soon as they had been advertised they were taken pretty much immediately, so we decided to take on a 3 bedroom place and get fit single guy in so that he can bring all his fit single friends over (great plan). For the amount that we could afford we were finding that the places were nowhere near the standard of the place we were in now. For what we were paying this place really was a gem, no wonder the rent was going up so much! Last Wednesday viewed a property which was about a 5 min walk from Wimbledon, it was a 3 bedroom and was in the process of getting a new bathroom and kitchen fitted. As we wandered around I managed to fall down the stairs in the bathroom and badly sprain my ankle - Kelly said it was the funniest thing she had seen as happened in slow and instead of me standing up I crawled across the floor as was too painful to put weight on it. I actually thought I had broken it for a minute as felt it crack as I went down - but its just about better now. We decided to take the property and then upon deciding the real estate agent said "oh you will have to put in a higher offer as someone has already put in an offer, and it would be 2 year lease". Yeah right, its not a hand of poker mate, there will be no upping the stakes it truely isnt worth it. The following night we viewed a property that we both quite liked except for the fact that it was in an estate with kids in hoodies riding their bikes around, it just didn't feel safe at all. Then on Friday when we had just about given up hope, we found it ..... a real gem amongst the stones. Its about 2 minutes from where I used to live when I first arrived 3 years ago in Colliers Wood. There was these little signs that the place was meant to be ours - the landlords name is similar to ours now, the road is my friends surname and of course it was still available when we got there. So all going to plan, we will be moving into it at end of the month wahoooooooo.

Decided a wee while ago that it was time to get my eyes tested as by the end of the day my eyes were really sore and my head swimming. Sure enough and £200 lighter I have now have not 1 but 2 new pairs of glasses. 2 because they had a 2 for 1 on designer glasses ... great timing for me aye. Has made a huge difference can't believe how much my sight has changed in 2 years mmmm.

Just under 2 weeks now until Ruth and Ant become parents. Yep, me an Aunty and a real one at that.. I cannot wait. Ruth looks just gorgeous, she is all baby, love getting updates and pictures of her. One month today and Ma / Pa arrive for 6 weeks, I really cannot wait to have the biggest cuddle in history from them, been over 18 months since I last saw them - too long!! They have a wicked trip planned and I have taken 1 week off end of November to spend with them in Spain for my birthday, then 10 days off just before Christmas. I've booked us to fly into Munich for the Christmas Markets and then make our way over to Prague and spend Christmas - fingers crossed a white one there. Heidi is coming with me for the November trip and Kelly for the December trip, so will be nice for Ma/Pa to get to know my friends whom I spend so much of my time with here.

2006-09-21T21:01:00.000+01:00

BRIGHTON PIER ON A MID-WINTERS DAY

Decemember 2005

THE EYE OF LONDON

April 2004

RUSH HOUR IN VENICE
September 2003

SOAKING UP THE SUN IN SAIGON

November 2002

2006-09-19T16:02:00.001+01:00

COUNCIL tax, National Insurance, tax, tax tax, at the end of the month 90% of your wages have gone on it and for what??? Recently I had a great little experience with Council Tax, I came home to a letter saying I owed them £1394 on a property I had not lived in for 18 months with a couple of friends who now live in Australia. On contacting the most helpful call centre - yeh right, I was advised that actually it was £2599 I owed and why hadn't I paid it yet, many letters had been sent, 2 court summons and as not paid it had now gone to the Balliffs. I said to the most helpful call centre twat, "you were advised we were moving out as my flatmates had advised their new address details at the same as they moved around the corner, but they now live in Australia and I have no way of contacting them". The most helpful call centre twat said "we have never been told this, how will you be paying?", "I am not paying Council Tax for a property I have not lived in, who do I contact to dispute this?" I asked. She advised to email a copy of both tenancy agreements but that I would have to pay regardless. Two days letter I received a letter from the Balliffs saying they would be around in the next 14 days to collect the money or assets to the value of £2599. The next morning I went into the Council ready for a fight, I took a number and sat down and then for the next 20 minutes I was entertained by likes of woman yelling or crying at the workers or men slamming their fists on the desks also yelling abuse all the while these workers sit there calmly taking it all - not a job I would ever want to do. I was quite surprised by how nice the lady I got was and after 10 minutes she explained that it was an error on their part, she called off the Balliffs and would send me out a confirmation letter. I walked out of the Council feeling a huge wave of relief that it was all cleared up. A week later .... a letter from the Balliffs arrived this time in a bright red envelope explaining that I still owed £2599 and that they would be in the area in the next 14 days to collect. The Coucil received yet another call from me the following day and they explained that it was an error and would call off the Balliffs, but actually on looking at the account I was actually owed £139 !!! I asked her to repeat herself as did not think I heard that correctly, "we owe you £139 Miss Nicholson". "Oh" I said and was advised that a credit would be sent out to me in the next few days. A few days later however, I received another red envelope from my new friends the Balliffs saying that I owed the Council £139 and that they would coming to collect in next 14 days. Oh my would this saga never end ... I guess not. Another phone call to the Council and again "we are sorry Miss Nicholson, they have been called off it will not happen again". A few days later ..... oh yeah you guessed it ... another letter, but this time from the Council. "We are unable to send you a credit as there are more than one name on the bill, please get the approval of the others to get the cheque written in your name". What a joke, they know that they live in Australia and that I have no contact details ..... is the Council run by 5 year olds, no, they would do a better job of it .... the saga continues .... :0(

2006-09-19T16:02:00.000+01:00

3rd ROBBIE WILLAMS concert .... and still he hasn't declared his undying love for me in front of all his fans. The concert was in Milton Keynes about 2 hours from home. Heidi and I decided to take a half day off work to travel up early and hopefully secure a good spot. On the way up we stopped at Waterloo for lunch and then took the train from Euston, it only took an hour from there and wasn't packed like I thought it might be. From Milton Keynes station it was an easy 25min walk to the venue, I even randomly bumped into someone I knew - tis a small wee world. It's actually really cool venue as the stage is in the bottom of the bowl at the back, with the crowd filling the rest of the bowl and gradually gathering up the sides with tall trees lining the top of the bowl. It gives a wicked sound as it echoes off the walls of the bowl and trees. On the walk to the venue were men selling the usual tacky shite but this time "I WANTED IT". There were fluffy pink bunny ears which lite up with flashing lights but the MUST HAVE was the baby pink cowboy hats with fluffly pink trim and at the push of a button the front flashed a red light toooo cool and all that for just a fiver ! ! !

We wandered around the crowd for a bit and then decided to walk up the hill a bit to take some pictures and realised that this was definately the place to be. Was a fantastic view and although you couldn't see him close up the screens were just fine. We had brought a couple of disposable cameras - buy one get one free and they also gave you 9 free shots on it so we got 66 pictures for the price of 24 and boy did we snap happy. Picture of Kylie in pink fluffy hat, picture of Heidi in pink fluffy hat, picture of both of us in pink fluffy hats, picture of the stage ....no pink fluffy hat ...

Orson came on first, the lead singer mmm whats his name dam I am rubbish like that, well he was wicked, had such a strong American accent when he spoke and he sure knew how to work the crowd. They were on for about 30-40mins. In between them and Basement Jaxx coming on the wind started to pick up and got quite chilly, unfortunately I wasnt the most prepared although I did take an umbrella as they said it may rain. We decided to move down the hill a little and found it was a lot more sheltered - suppose it ws the extra people around. At Robbies last concert I went to in Knebworth, Robbie had Moby play just before he came on, this time it was Basement Jaxx. Both were amazing sets and really amped the crowd up ready for Robbie. The sun was setting just as they came on and it was spectacular as it seemed to set on the top of the stage like they had planned it and looked on fire for a few moments. As usual the woman were dersed in vibrant colours although rather large, damn can they move, they had the crowd grooving away to the music as well as lil ole me. By the time that Robbie was due to come on the crowd were worked to a frenzy of excitment ... he came on to the stage with a blaze of fireworks, strutting down the runway with a staunch but sexy look on his face - like yeah I know, I am the man, you ALL want me - and well yeah we did. He lifted his shirt a little show his belly and the crowd seemed to tremble and screek with excitement at the same time. Johnny Wilks came on part way through the show and did a duo act with Robbie, when they had finished they both proclaimed to best the best duo in the UK then out of nowhere came "NO YOUR NOT WE ARE" and a roar came up from the crowd as Ant and Dec walked onto the stage. They seemed to upstage Robbie for awhile talking their antics and then singing their "lets get ready to rumble" song. Was brilliant though. Robbie sand a real varity of his songs and did put on a wicked show but after being on tour now for 5 months you could see he was really tired and that he wasnt putting in 100% so I am pleased that I did go to Knebworth as that truely was the best concert by far. But alas it won't deter me from going to more of them and waiting for his acknowledgement of his undying love for me in front of his fans hee hee .... hey dreams are free aren't they !

2006-08-31T22:19:00.000+01:00

RIDING that roller coaster of life again ...... sometimes I would love to go back to being a teenager and have the troubles of a typical teenager, like; - my best friend isnt talking to me because I didn't sit with her at lunch, am in love (even though I have no idea what love is) with the boy in one of my classes yet I have never even spoken to him, I hang out with a group at school who think it is cool to smoke, drink and cut class then get an hours detention in the hall, write poems about death and believe I can make connections to the spirit world, am supressed, repressed and depressed about just about everything in life ... haaha OMG what a laugh those weren't really hard times at all when I think about it ... that was just a sharp corner on the roller coaster. Moving on into my 20's and having to start taking responsibility for myself, my money, my job actually my whole life my little roller started to go up .. then down .. then up.. then down and further down ... oh it was hard to control.... thats when I started to realise that my parents well they actually did know what they were talking about so maybe I should listen to what they say .. !!! ??? They gave me the rails I needed at a young age when I didn't even know they had, they always left that end decision up to me .. for example at aged 14yrs "do you want to give up competive swimming even though you have just swum in the North Island champs and done extremely well?" ... "yes" I said, mmm one decision for years I wish had not made and continued swimming as ma and pa would have liked. But by making my own decisions, they were letting me make real life decisions and thus learn from my mistakes well not mistakes, just sharp bumps on the ride. Now in my 30's and on the other side of the world, I have learnt to stand on my own two feet and fight for what I know is right or wrong and am pretty proud of everything I have achieved whilst here. I tend to stress out over things like I did when I was younger as there is always a way of sorting things out. And my parents are always there on the end of the phone if I ever need their very very very knowledgable advice. The roller coaster goes up .. then down .. glides along for a bit ... goes up .... and very really now does down - but I have learnt to put the brakes on that!

2006-08-13T22:25:00.000+01:00

OH my what a hard week it's been. We arrived back on Monday from Majorca and then I started my job on Tuesday so my head was struggling to swim at the end of the week, I couldn't even manage getting to the gym as came home exhausted each night. Am so pleased though that I have changed jobs as am just loving it. Claire and Vicki have given me the Northern shops to look after which is fab as knew them all before when I was ticketing so have brilliant repore with them. I was on the phones this week and next week Claire and I will be doing the 2 days intermediate training and then Jonny and I will do 2 days advanced training, I will just be shadowing them this time and then they would like me to start taking the sessions. Am a little scared about that as never done any teaching before but am told it is pretty laid out in the manual with examples to put up etc. I stayed at Marks Friday and Saturday night, hadn't seen him in far too long so had a huge catch up and he had been at Helens wedding when it was his birthday so we called it his birthday weekend. I got his this retro little sheep that made him giggle... I put them on a little shelf when you walk down the stairs and told him he had to "baa baa" every time he walked past them. We just chilled out really the whole weekend watching movies, eating loads and he had me laughing heaps too as he always does. Saturday night we went for a few drinks at The Green in Islington which is our favourite cocktail bar and then had Turkish for dinner, on Sunday morning went to his local funky cafe for breakfast - they do fantastic coffee. The weekend with Mark was just what the doctor ordered hee hee (he is a doctor) after my huge holiday. Back to work tomorrow to start my shadowing of the training sessions eeek !!!

2006-08-08T21:35:00.000+01:00

MAJORCA ….. Was my second adventure there with Kelly and gawd I love the place. Kelly, Karen, Tristan, Kate and I all went for a wild weeks holiday and came away feeling like we needed another holiday to get over this one. I have never partied so much and so hard in 1 week was WILD and I loved every minute. We spent every day on the beach soaking up the rays, taking many dips in the the sea (or the pool) and floating around on our lilos and then at night in Pauls bar - running up a fabulous little tab - and in total Paul style he kept us all entertained (along with the rest of the bar) with his mad antics. He has acquired a water gun since we were last there and gets you when you least expect it the little “shite”!!! He’s also aquired a wide variety of mad hats, which “you” seem to end up wearing by the end of the night, but I must say though his bongo drumming has improved since March. It was Karens 28th birthday on the third night we were there and Kelly had gotten us all t-shirts made up with her nickname on the front and an we each had an arrow on the front pointing in all different directions, on the back was our nicknames and also a little promo for Paul “join the party at Snoppys Bar Santa Ponsa”. On Karens t-shirt was a picture of her as a kid and the words 21 with a few years experience, the back had a list of tasks for her to do - I think she did about 3. 2 nights later we again decided to dress up, Karen went as Rambo, Kelly a bunny and me a school girl. Again we all got a huge amount of attention - especially our sexy little bunny !!!! There seemed to be a night where one of us was terribl drunk with a revolting hangover the next day - I managed two … one of them being the final night, not something I would recommend when travelling on an early morning flight….. Mmmm silly girl. Bring on adventure number 3 ….

2006-07-31T23:21:00.000+01:00

THE WOMBLES go to Dublin to party ............. and boy did we party ........... we started drinking at 9am while waiting for our "delayed" Ryanair flight (we reckon the pilot had been drinking by the way he bumped us down on the landing straight). We stayed in Temple Bar at Blooms Hotel, fantastic location had a pub downstairs and also a nightclub. Kim and Dave had been out the night before and were quite hungover so decided to have a short lay down before meeting up with us later. We decided to have a quick bite at the pub downstairs and then start our pub crawl ...... there were heaps of hens and stags do's all with crazy outfits on. One guy who we saw at the start and kept bumping into was wearing the most hideous dress and hat, was quality. I bumped into a few Kiwis in one pub who had been watching the rugby game that morning, one of them lived in West Harbour back home (about 20mins away from where I lived) and knew someone I knew back home... he had been living in Dublin for the past 10 months and was thinking about moving to London when his visa ran out. As the day went on Temple Bar grew more and more packed and madder and madder. Kim and Dave joined us late afternoon - by this stage we were well on our way !!! Heidi and I lost the gang for a bit, too many lovely men to chat too but finally caught up with them later on. The hangovers the next day we all had were awful ... will never learn aye :0))

2006-07-23T22:07:00.000+01:00

ONLY 5 working days left of ticketing ... yeeeehhhhh ... Dublin next weekend with my team .... back for one day of work ..... then off to Majorca to lay in the sun for a week - ahhh life is GRAND !!! This email came around at work this week and its so on the nail in some points about being a "Londoner"......

1. You say "the City" and expect everyone to know which one.

2. You have never been to The Tower of London or Madame Tussauds but love Brighton.

3. Hookers, drunks and the homeless are invisible to you.

4. You step over people who collapse on the Tube.

5. You've considered stabbing someone.

6. Your door has more than three locks.

7. You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.

8. You call an 8' x 10' plot of patchy grass a garden.

9. You're paying 1,200 a month for a studio the size of a walk-in wardrobe and you think it's a "bargain".

10. Shopping in suburban supermarkets and shopping malls gives you a severe attack of agoraphobia.

11. You pay more each month to park your car than most people in the UK pay in rent.

12. You pay 3 quid without blinking for a beer that cost the bar 28p.

13. You actually take fashion seriously.

14. You have 27 different take-away menus next to your telephone.

15. The UK west of Heathrow is still theoretical to you.

16. You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.

17. Your idea of personal space is no one actually physically standing on you.

18. 50 quid worth of groceries fit in one plastic bag.

19. You have a minimum of five "worst cab ride ever" stories.

20. You don't hear sirens anymore.

21. You've mentally blocked out all thoughts of the city's air/water quality and what it's doing to your insides.

22. You live in a building with a larger population than most towns.

23. Your cleaner is Portuguese, your grocer is Somali, your butcher is Halal, your deli man is Israeli, your landlord is Italian, your laundry guy is Filipino, your bartender is Australian, your favourite restaurateur is Greek, the watch seller on your corneris Senegalese, your last cabbie was African, your newsagent is Indian and your local English chippie owner is Turkish....and your local bobby came fresh of the boat from South America.

24. You wouldn't want to live anywhere else until you get married.

25. You roll your eyes and mumble 'for f**k's sake...' at the news that someone has thrown themselves under a tube train.

2006-07-16T15:45:00.000+01:00

OUR annual ball was just as wicked as always. Was at Billingsgate Market same venue as last year - such a wicked place, right on the Thames overlooking Tower Bridge. The theme was Arabian nights and Kerryn (the organiser) did an outstanding job again with belly dancers everwhere strutting their stuff. We had pre dinner drinks outside and then moved inside for the dinner and awards. Distribution got and award for Top Globally which was fantastic as I finally got to go up on stage yahooooo. Heidi got the Top Ticketer award this year and was so excited. I was quite shocked to see a huge picture of me up by the stage .. seems I am the face of Flightcentre !!! Marketing asked a few weeks back if they could take a few photos of a couple of us and well they didnt say they were gonna be blown up that large for all to see. So, finally I am famous haahaa.

2006-07-08T15:14:00.000+01:00

WHEN on your big OE one of the top 10 things to do is go to Wimbledon Tennis .... and finally I got there this week with Kelly. As you probably know I've never followed tennis let alone know the rules of it but wow .... the atmosphere, the prospect of seeing someone famous and the look of excitement that crossed Kellys face walked as we walked through the gate was priceless - it would also be a crime not to go when we only live across the park!! We were told that going the second week it would be easier to get in and lucky enough that bit of information was correct. The street was lined with baracades and officials pointing you in the right direction,"with ticket or without ticket?" The traffic was crawling up the road and there were loads of people but we walked straight in with no queuing and were offered tickets for No 2. court which were £26 and Venus Williams was playing doubles on it later that day. As we arrived it started to rain a bit which continued on and off during the day which delayed a lot of the play during the day but it didn't our spirits one little bit. The ticket allowed you to walk anywhere in the grounds and of course sit on Henman hill - which is wickedly designed. Has a wee river flowing down the side of the stairs leading up the hill. Unfortunately it rained quite a bit in the morning, not heavily but enough to dampen the courts and get played delayed for a number of hours. There are food courts, drink stands and ice cream stands, its all well over priced but the food tastes quite good - especially the roast pork bap with apple sauce. A bottle of bubbles is £50 (when a few years ago it was apparently £25) and it was pretty cheap stuff too. We watched a game on No 2. court but sat mainly on Henman Hill as was so much fun. A lot of people dress up for the day, either in posh clothes or costumes clothes - the pirates - then there was the Aussies they were over taking the place with their Green and Yellow shirts all because an Aussie was playing and damn where they loud mouthed esp those pirates. As the rain delayed a lot of play when we went to watch Venus play they had moved her game to another court as the doubles game on No 2. had not finished and we were unable to get close to watch due the crowds of people. Oh well at leas we got to see John McEnro walk past us haahaa.

2006-07-02T21:09:00.000+01:00

JUNE was one of the quietest months in a long time at work, considering it is usually our best month and last year I did a personal best. Has a lot to do with the Football World Cup on. Its a huge thing here, cars / windows with England flags there is a great feel to the place a real buzz of excitement. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday turned out to be really busy for my team as we were one down but we had fun at the same time and didn't let the stress and pressure get to us... we are great at that now, lifting each other up if you see them not coping. Work hired a bar out down by Kingston river and when we finally finished work we all caught the train down there for awards, drinks and dinner. Was quite a fun night as all of Head Office was there - the big celebrations are in 2 weeks at the Ball so really looking forward to that. As a few of us were working the next day we didnt really have a big night. I phoned Mum to wish her a Happy Birthday, Dad had organised a surprise lunch for her which was lovely. Unfortunately my present for her hasnt turned up - :(( stinky person on Ebay has done a runner with the money I think.

Saturday was Kelly, Kat, Sarah and myself. Kat and Sarah were rather hungover poor things and as it wasnt that busy we put Big Brother eviction rerun on and watched it. Then at 4pm the England vs Portugal game was on. When Kelly and I were leaving the game had not finished so we went over to the overflowing with red and white covered people to watch the last 10mins. Turned out to be a lot longer than that as went into over time then onto penalties. Unfortunately England failed to come to the party and Portugal won. The outrage of the people was unbelievable and Kelly and I decided to quickly leave and head for the station. We saw one guy balling his eyes out !!!

On the way home we went into the pub up the road for a quick drink with a friend and ended up staying there all night was great.... Kelly and I were fozzball champions - got better the drunker we got. We got a bit of sad news when we got home our flatmates mum passed away suddenly, so today we phoned one of the shops and got her and Jim on a flight home to NZ. Was a bit of a shock and not something that you would want to wish on anyway esp when on other side of the world. Lucky we are in the right industry to be able to help her.

The weather has gotten really hot again and is just gorgeous - 32 deg today. Meant to hang around for a bit which is nice. Kelly and I have Wednesday off and are going to try and get tickets for Wimbledon wahoooo.

2006-06-18T16:30:00.000+01:00

KELLYs friend Becky was up from Cornwall for a few days. I had heard about her for such a long time and it was great to finally meet her. We had decided to up to central london to either Pacha or The Cross. Kelly and I had to work that day and as the day dragged on we decided to go somewhere lcoal instead as couldn't be bothered with the difficulties of getting home from the city. A few months back I came across a little clup not too far from home called Inigo, it goes nuts, the DJs are great and everyone is up on tables the tables dancing and best thing is that the night bus stop is right outside and drops us right at our front door! Was a great night and at the end we were invited to the lockin party but we were all doing something the next day so gave it a miss.

2006-06-11T21:42:00.000+01:00

THE weather in london is so unpredicable and can easily put you in a gloomy mood if overcast, but when the sun comes out WOW, all is forgiven. People seem to appear from no-where, the parks overflow with activity and the smell of BBQs is just devine. Kelly and I decided to blow up the paddling pool and invite a few people over for what was Kellys and my first BBQ of the year. As our fridge was on the blink we got a bag of ice and poured it into a cooler bag to keep the meat and drinks chilled. Heidi and Ismini arrived over and we lay in the sun, listening to music and chatting, was great fun. I made up a big jug of Pimms - mmmm my favorite, we put the beers in the pool to keep them cold was a brilliant plan. Heidi lay on the step to the lounge watching the England football game - they won 1-0. At about 5pm Ismini, Heidi and I walked up the road to collect Brucie from the station, I didnt realise it but we have a South African shop up the road which sells borewors and many other foods so we got a couple of them and some chicken pieces. Brucie got a dried Borewors which is just devine so will defo be going back there again, they also sell creamed corn and milo YUM. Neil and Kate came over around 6ish and a few of us got together making salads etc. Ismini made some fabulous sausages - with coriander, mince and egg they went down a treat. We all caught the sun by the end of the day and my tan is looking great. I love Summer !!

2006-06-03T19:19:00.000+01:00

STRANGE happenings go down on 3rd June! An email went around work on Friday from the building management to advise anyone working on Saturday not to park in the outside carpark as a crane was going to be there picking stuff up and putting it onto the roof of our building. Kelly, Richard, Malcolm and I were all rostered on - Stephen was working in the sales team - none of us were happy, as Kelly and I wanted to be out sunbathing in the balmy 24 degree heat, while the boys wanted to watch the Jamaica v's England game. The crane was huge and the workmen were picking up big crates from trucks and put them onto the top of the building, we were all kidding around saying imagine if it dropped it! At about 11am we heard this huge bang, the 4 of swung around towards where Stephen was sitting to see him legging it away from the windows. We then saw debris and glass falling. We wandered over to the windows and looked down to see the driver of the crane getting out of it and looking up and shaking his head - people along the street had all stopped what they were doing and looking up too. Before long police, fire engines and ambulance were everywhere cordoning off the area and we all decided to evacuate the building - no fire drills went off. Upon looking up we saw that part of the crane had broken, dropped its contents on the roof and swung down hitting the building when swinging down. No-one was hurt or injured but found out today that there was a man on the roof that had just dodged the crate falling in time. We all decided it was a good idea to go to the pub as could not do anything .. ah shame, but after about an hour one of the IT guys turned up and set us up at our other building up the road ... bugger. While walking to the pub though Kelly and I saw a guy on his skateboard cane it badly, and old lady fall over on her face - dislocating her thumb, cutting her head and chin, it was mad we thought gosh what could happen next. At the other building we head sirens and thought oh they must be for CI Towers but no .. the police car jumped the curb outside and a policeman got out and ran behind the casino shop. Then while walking home Kelly and I saw a couple of kids about 9 or 10yrs having a full on fist fight over a bike and little scooter up the road from house. One kid had the little scooter in his hands and was trying to whack the other kid with it - some adults intercepted and broke them up, they had to restrain them pretty hard as they were feisty little things. MADNESS was it a full moon on Saturday???

2006-05-29T19:09:00.000+01:00

HOW fast do the years go by but at the time it seems like forever. Over the next few weeks I have going to write a blog for some of the adventures I have been on .. starting with the first big trip ... Vietnam.

Most people would immediately think of the war when you mention Vietnam and yes it is still very visual - from the tanks left rusting on the side roads and tours the tourists can do of the areas where combat took place. But Vietnam had untouched beauty that took my breath away. We started in Hanoi and over 3 weeks we travelled down Vietnam using local trains, buses, cyclos, boats and bicycles. We decided against doing a tour and found it so easy to get around, you book your travel in cafes, yep cafes and yep, you can get eat your lunch there too or surf the net. They are brilliant as you can pay in either USD or Dong and offer a huge range of products, we even left our luggage in one for a few days while we took a 2 day trip.

The driving there is total madness and it feels like you are being driven around in a Dodgem car. Before long it soon struck us that indicators had not yet been introduced in this country, instead everyone uses their horns to let people know they are coming thru and all at high speed of course. Back home we give Asian drivers such a hard time over the way they drive but when you think about .. they must think that we are mad drivers as they don’t know any different. Noise is the one thing that you cannot escape wherever you are in Vietnam .. its a 24 / 7 thing .... the drivers constantly beep their horns as they are about to pass a car / bus / or motorbike.

In Hanoi we stayed in the Old Quarter and WOW I had never seen anything like it before, it literally blew our minds. It's very old and very busy maze of tiny streets which are named after what they sell ie. paper street, pot street, and believe me when I say this but make sure you have a good map on you, we got lost even with one. The streets were tiny and with the shops completely crammed full of their contents reaching up to the ceilings and overflowing onto the street, their buildings so old, it looked as if they would crumble if you leant against it.

I had never realised what a strong French influence this country had until arriving there and seeing it for myself. Most Vietnamese speak it and you see it from the architecture to the food, oh the food. I was very worried how I would be as I am well known for having a dodgey tummy but I did not have one problem - until we hit Thailand again. Pastry shops are everywhere and many locals push little carts around offering you bread rolls or donuts and its so ridicoulousy cheap ... we were paying 1000 dong for a bread roll which is about 12cents. Each town throughout the country had its own local delicacy which we of course tried in each city – Hanoi was the light fluffy pastries and Hoi An is a flat potato noodle with pork and rice paper definitely my favourite. Fish sauce is used on nearly all dishes - its much like soy sauce only a lot saltier - by the end of our trip, I was hooked on the stuff. ?? Oh and the coffee, as its too hot to use milk as would curdle from the heat within minutes, they use condensed milk it sinks to the bottom of the coffee and looks like and upside down Guiness to start with and beware it will rot your teeth instantly it is soooo sweet.

My favourite part of Vietnam was Hoi An. Its quite little place but full of life and was a place we had planned to stay only a couple of days but then kept changing our minds and staying a few more days. The buildings are beautifully coloured in bright vibrant colours which has over the years has started peeling and revealing a multitude of other colours. The locals are so friendly and after a few days were saying hello and chatting to us like they had known us for years. The food was fabulous as Hoi An is located right next to the sea so the seafood was abundant and mmmmm soooo fresh. Theres great little markets, stacks of places to get clothes made, the sea was sensational and nightlife wasnt too bad either, definately not a place to miss.

I would suggest going to Nha Trang ... but as we discovered not good in December, it was very overcast and windy whilst we were there. I would describe Nha Trang as the Gold Coast of Vietnam, the sparkling emerald green sea, beach that stretches for miles and there are lots of islands scattered around which you can go out to and spend the day at or a few days and it is also a great place to diving - at the right time of year though. We experienced our one and only cyclo ride here … it was hilarious, my only regret is that I never took a photo of our driver. He took us from one side of the city to other and back again. He wore clothes that were falling off him, had a lovely big toothless smile and was all of about 70yrs old !! We thought he was going to die on us by the way he huffed and whizzed when cycling. We gave him an extra couple of dollars at the end of the ride and Barry gave him a smoke all of which he was very grateful for.

We went to the Chi Chi tunnels, they were tiny .. originally only 60cms by 80cms .. which they have doubled and brave Barry went thru them twice - they were 30mtrs long .... ooooh yuck gave me the willies just looking at them .. in one of the tunnels there was bats that flew past his head yuck !!! in one of the little huts that we were in the guide was explaining something and one of the guys in our group went "snake" .. lucky he did as although it was small it had a red head and green body which is apparently dangerous and was right next to where the guide was ... the guide was ever so thankful that he was told it was there !!!

One of our last trips was to the Mekong Delta where got up at 6am to go to the floating market and wouldn't you know it our boat broke down and we were stuck for about 40mins (luckily we had our books - geeks aye) ... the markets were incredible - everyone puts their produce on a stick and hangs it up high for all to see what they are selling - its was the biggest market on the river - and the boats literally overflowed with what they were selling.. little drinks boats were going around selling coffee / tea / cold soft drinks - incredible .. we tied up alongside a pineapple boat and all brought one for 3000 dong (about 30cents).... YUMMY.

I loved every minute of my travels around Vietnam and after 4 years of travelling it is still my favourite place - I will definatley be going back one day.

2006-05-28T15:16:00.000+01:00

LAST weekend was Heidi's combined birthday drinks with another friend of hers at a club in London. It was a black dress theme so all were dressed up. The night went quite quickly and it was so nice to catch up with Heather and Neil who I had not seen for a long time. The club was 2 levels, funky upstairs and then downstairs was a 70's disco dance floor with flashing squares - very cool. I found the locals in there a bit snotty but hey wasnt there to socailise with them. Heidi cracked me up as went from sober to drunk in a matter of seconds and walking her down Oxford Street was very amusing ... and a bit painful in my new RED shoes!